The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-18 00:00:00

*the street. The prie
No. 27, and went to sleep at the 13A house, also t quently meet et the corns o 1 uld come on
she
lelonday
belonging to the deceased, and also let out in apart- was
d toArs• So Imes' as if
sone!' told her Ora a leter we
morning, direct,
ments. They heard nothing more of the deceased
eeve, and asked Nyi
ess tot
duced. did come by
until morning, when she was found to be seriously hen letter pro
ill, with vomiting, and oliowing Monday _
purging, other violent post, and she (vetileBs)took it n. The prisoner
I
symptoms. A medical man was called in and at- came down staffs quickly, took thte letter from her,
ake it in. On the
tended the deceased. Miss Roe had only seen thwas
nor had s e
deceased once on that day, but on the followirg sent at the inquest,'
day, when the deceased wished to see P'rf there.
, and went up stairs again. Wihtnehsesewn
educed
I spoke to the letter pr
:Miss Slane Morelane er's
peison
namely, on the Friday, the prisoner told bill as being, to the best of her belief, in the s not pre
Roe that the deceased must be kept very (diet, handwrinng.
and it would be better not seeing her. Tie de- Mrs. Small Allen, who
lived next door to the
ceased died on that night, or rather betwee, three deceased, sait. that on hearing of the
the death of
and four o'clock on the Saturday morning. After deceased she went into the house of
Mrse
death, the
the death the prisoner called Miss Roe .nto her and on inquiring from her
the cause of Soames,
room and said, " I have something to tell3ou. Mrs. prisoner said siee was the only one that knew the
Soames's is not a natural death ; she foreed some secret that the deceased died of poison ;
u hter.
connection with some man who has premised her kept quiet for the sake of the deceased's , e
marriage, and had obtained money fro her ; she It being now long beyond the office o
found she had been deceived; she had taken poison prisoner was again remanded.
in her (the prisoner's) presence on Wednesday
night, and the deed was donee' The prisoner
added that there would be a letter cone in a day or dieut
ugr sth
it was
two from this man, and it would be all about
money, and that if the letter came, and she, Miss
Roe, received it, she was to give it to her. On the
Monday morning the letter did arrive, and that
letter was directed to Mrs. Soames, Alfred-street,
as though that lady was still alive, and that letter
he would prove to be in the prisoner's handwrit-
ing. The letter was as follows .
"Dear Maria,—l hope you was not 'very 11.0 at my not
being at home on Friday. I was surprised
.o hear a lady
in black wanted me. I can't let you have the £2O now,
but
if you will let me have ten more I NO/ by next Monday
come to the corner. Don't say anything of what you're
going to do to anybody ; send we word if you were not
well after you got home on Wednesday, as you was un-
happy in the afternoon. Dirt:et this letter as the first used
to be, for the postman found fault in the street. Be cheer-
ful, and come on Wednesday. I will be there. Write by
return.—Yours."
This letter was produced at the inquest, but as
the writer was unknown no inquiry was set on foot
with respect to it, and a loose verdict was returned,
though the inquisition was endorsed " Suspected
poison." He should now call witnesses to put in
proof of the facts he had stated.
Mr. Samuel Emery Barnes was here sworn, and
said he was a draper, living at Highbury House,
Holloway-road, Islington. The deceased, Maria
Soames, was his half-sister, and a widow. She
died on the 18th of October, 1856. On the
Wednesday preceding her death she came to his
house about eleven o'clock in the morning and
remained until between two and three in the
afternoon. She was then in her usual state of
health, which was very good, as she never
complained, and was seldom unwell, except
from a bilious attack, which did not occur once
in a twelvemonth. She came for the purpose
of borrowing £lO, and he found by his cash book
that he let her have £9, and he could not now say
why he did not let her have the full amount. As
to her pecuniary position, she had a small income
left to her by her late husband, amounting to from
£BO to £lOO a year. In the year 1855 he had paid
her about £6O, legacies left her by her father and
others, and in 1856 he had paid her £43 10s. These
sums were quite independent of her ordinary income.
On the Friday following he was sent for, and was
surprised to find her very ill in bed, suffering from
sickness, diarrhoea, burning at the chest and throat.
He saw the prisoner then, but had no recollection
of having any communication with her. In conse-
quence of a message he went there on Saturday,
and to his utter surprise found his sister dead. He
had a great suspicion at the time, and had caused
the inquest to be held. He caused the inquest be-
cause he thought there was something wrong some-
where, but where he could not tell. The letter
which had been read came to the house by post be-
tween 9 and 11 o'clock on the Alonday morning
following the death. He had got it from the pri-
soner and he had had it in his possession ever since.
Mr.Norton—You have stated that your suspicions
were excited ; pray what raised your suspicions ?
Witness—Well, she was in good health when she
called on me on the Wednesday, and on the Thurs-
day and Friday I had no suspicion that there was
anything the matter with her more than diarrhcce,
and when the messenger came for me in a cab on
Saturday morning I was perfectly astounded on
finding that she was dead. My suspicions arose
after the death occurred, and I was then struck
with the suddenness of the death and the peculiar
attentions paid to the deceased by the prisoner,
which were more than could be expected from a
comparative stranger. I must say, however, that
my sister was perfectly satisfied with her, but I
thought the prisoner was a good deal too forward
and officious in her attentions, particularly as she
had her two daughters and Miss Roe to attend her,
which I could not in any way account for.
Mr. Neale—Then you say your sister was per-
fectly satisfied with the prisoner ?
Witness—Yes, I say so.
Miss Emma Roe was next called and examined.
—She said she now resided at 18, Alfred-place,
Bedford-square, and had lived with the deceased for
six years, and had been on tho moat friendly terms
with her, indeed, like one of her own children. For
six weeks before the death of the deceased she (wit-
ness) had slept at No. 13a, but took her meals at 27,
where she spent most of her time. On the evening
of the 15th October, 1856, the deceased, her daugh-
ter, and witness, were in the kitchen, and about 11
o'clock they parted, and the deceased went upstairs
to the prisoner to sup with her, on her (prisoner's)
invitation. The next morning, when witness went
over to breakfast, she found the deceased very ill in
bed with what she thought a bilious attack. She
was very black under the eyes, and her lips were
purple. She was rocking herself too and fro as if in
great pain and retched violently, but brought nothing
up in her (witness's) presence. The deceased told
witness she was very ill, and that she had never
such a bilious attack in her life. They talked to-
gether a little, and then witness went away. She
believed the prisoner came into the room while she
was there, but was not positive. The prisoner con
stantly attended the deceased and was her nurse en-
tirely. In the course of that day the prisoner told her
not to see the deceased so often, as she required quiet,
and she only saw her once on that day. She did not
see her again until the Friday shortly before she died.
Before that she had been in the prisoner's room, and
Mr. Meeker, a gentleman who lodged in the house,
was there at the time. She observed some bottles of
medicine on the mantelpiece. One was a small phial
which contained white liquid like water. The other a
larger bottle, but she could not describe its size or
contents. Pointing to the bottles she asked the pri-
soner what they were, and she replied they were Mrs.
Soames's medicine. She (witness) then asked her
why she locked up Mrs. Soames's medicine in her own
room, upon which she replied that it was particular
stuff, and was only to be given by herself. She next
inquired why the deceased's daughters or herself could
not administer it, on which the prisoner said, " No,
it must be given with my own hands." On the
Friday before the death she saw the prisoner, and
asked her how the deceased was. The prisoner re-
plied she was much better, and would soon be well.
She (witness) offered to sit up with the patient on
that night, but the prisoner told her that she should
do so the next night. Accordingly she and the de-
ceased's daughter Sarah went over to 13 to go to
bed. They afterwards went over to 27, and on
going into the room they found the deceased sitting
up out of bed, with a covering over her night-
clothes. The prisoner was there. The deceased
knew witness, and said, " Oh, Miss Roe, I am so
glad yeu have come. I have been looking for you
a long time. If I went on my knees for 20 years I
could not thank you enough for the kindness I have
received from you." Witness believed those were
the last words she ever spoke. Witness replied,
" Oh, never mind, Mrs. Soames ; I have only done
my duty." After her death the prisoner called
witness into her sitting-room, and said, " I have a
secret to tell you, but don't tell it to anybody."
Witness told her she should not do so unless she
Was obliged. The prisoner then said, "The de-
ceased's death was not a natural death ;" and she
asked her what she meant. The prisoner then
said, " The truth is that she was engaged to be
married to some man ; and more than that, she had
lent that man money to the amount of £80; she
was disappointed in the marriage, was tired of her
life, and she made away with herself." The pri-
soner further said that whatever the deceased had
taken had been taken in brandy-and-water on the
Wednesday evening upstairs hi her (the prisoner's)
room and in her presence. "Witness then asked the
prisoner why she allowed the deceased to take poison
and not to have acquainted her family and friends,
and the prisoner said, "That is not my business,"
upon which she (witness) told her she must be a
villain and a party to it to keep it a secret and not
to allow the deceased's friends to know it.
Mr. Norton—ln fact you accused her of poisoning
the deceased ?
I had that
I thought that she had done it.
Witness—Yes. I said, " You are a villain," be-
causesuspicion at the moment, and I
and then. expressed it there
The witness addee.—
Witness—None whatevheer.
prisoner, " You are a
Mr. Norton—Did the prisoner make any reply ?
At the time I said to t
villain," I had a suspicioneceased had not poisoned that she poisoned the
deceased, and that the
herself. What were the causes of your sus-
The fact of that medicine being kept
elNilorn. r Norton—
pi
Witness
the prisoner's. roots!, and the appear-
locked the suspicion.
pperfield,
I:ckee ofd themp
In reply to Mr. Chi
The witness said the prisoner told her she knew
the man that deceased was going to be married to,
and that she had seen the deceased and hint fre-

-
RAILWAY AND PUBLIC COMPANIES rx

pABLIAIIIEIV T.

Yesterday the committee of the House of Lords!
Lord Portman in the chair, held a final sitting, and
settled the working and financial terms of the atnai"
gamation measure which has so long occupied the
consideration of both houses, and by which tbe
.
whole of the East Anglian system of railways
lt
hereafter be conducted under the designation of
" the Great Eastern Railway." Propositions were
laid before the committee by counsel for both cal"
panics relative to the dividends to be declared 00
Great Eastern A stock, whereupon the committee
decided that the profits of the undertaking, al3'
plicable to the payment of dividends upon oral'
nary stock, shall be divided at an equal rate
per cent. per annum amongst the proprietors
of the ordinary stock and Great Eastern A stock,
subject to the following additions and reduction,
with respect to the last-mentioned stock, that is to
say, the proprietors of Great Eastern A Stock shalt
be entitled annually to an addition of £6,936 (the
proposition of the Eastern Union was that the Ada'
tion should be £1u,569), being tour per cent. Per
annum on the amount over and above £316,330
(the Eastern Union Company's figures were
£489,728) expended by the Eastern Union Bail-
way in the construction of the Harwich and Wood.-
bridge branches; that if the Eastern Union
ties shall in respect of all fixed annual charges be
found to be less than £72,000 per annum, the pre'
prietors of Great Eastern A stock shall be entitled
annually to such an addition as shall be equal to the
difference between the amount of such flied charges
and liabilities and £72,000, and if such fixed charges
and liabilities shall be found to bo more thaa
£72,000 per annum the share per annum of the
proprietors of Great Eastern A stock in the divisible
profits shall be less by the difference between the,
£72,000 and the amount of such fixed charges 011'
liabilities. Provisions were also considered and
ratified fixing the share capital of the amalgamate('
company at the sum of £14,765,999, with poWer to
increase the same not exceeding £1,200,000, With
power to borrow on mortgage or bond, .£4,750,000,
together with £675,000 of debenture stock, to be
issued to the East Suffolk Company to be applied
in paying off their mortgages. If the year's revenee
is insufficient for dividend the subsequent anneal
revenue is not to be charged. The amount and
issuing of all newly-created shares is to be deter'
mined at general meetings of proprietors, and the
amount and number of calls is not to exceed 25 Per
cent. on their amount. The amalgamated division
of capital is fixed as follows—Preference stock in
theEasternCounties Company, £2,561,817 ; Eastern
Union, £686,866; Norfolk, £441,980 ; East All'
glian, £566,393 ; Newmarket and Bury, £142,425;
Norfolk 5 per Cent. Preference, £14,690 ; East
Anglian Guaranteed, £1,033,606; Great Eastern
Preference, £1,122,600 ; Ordinary stock, £8,195,621'
The provisions with reference to completed andall#
finished railways, tolls, and miscellaneous matters'
are also definitely settled. The committee have els°
finally settled the bill of the Eastern Union Ball'
way Company to enable them to make arrange'
Talents in connection with their capital, and a large
number of the holders of preference shares having
refused to accept new shares in lieu of them, and
whereby the company had only created shares t°
the amount of £330,000 instead of £490,000, and
whereby they had incurred liabilities to the extent
of £200,000, which the bill now gives them power
to raise by shares with a preferential dividend of 6
per cent., together with a sum. £50,000, advanced to
the Waveney Valley Railway; clauses are also is'
serted providing for the liquidation of the amount
of the money raised by the bill by setting apart
£5OO a year towards liquidating the preference
shares and mortgages. After several days' inquirf
the committee, of which Lord Donoughmore is the
chairman, threw out the bill of the Edinburgh and
Glasgow Railway. The opposition cases to the
West Riding Hull, and Grimsby and North Eastern
Railways are not yet concluded in the other cora-
mittees. In the Commons a committee, with Mr'
Buller in the chair, were empannelled to consider
the bill of the Mersey, Irwell, and Weaver navige-
• I tion.

COUNTRY MARK.L:L.S.

.u....

MANCHESTER_.JULY 17.
English wheat was in full supply, in moderate request'
at the currencies of this day week. American in steady
demand, and Id to 2d per 1001bs higher than previous glo;
tations. Oats and oatmeal were a slow sale, maintaisum,„
late prices. Indian corn and beans rather in favour of the
buyers. Four in moderate request, and no cheaper.

BIRMINGHAM—JULY 17.
There was a very short supply of English wheat. to,
day, which held for last week's rates, as also fine foreiO4'
All other kinds lower. Barley rather dearer. Oats, beia-0
and peas firm, Weather fine.

PLYMOUTH—JULY 15.
White, 62s to 665; red, 63s to 65s per qr; French, 6°!
to 62s ; American, 68s to 63s ; Spanish, 74s to 76s ;Bet
sian, 60s to 625. Barley at previous rates-34s to 38s Pa
qr for malting; grinding, 28s to 30s; oats, 22s to2Bs; 311
beans, —s to —s ; flour, 42s to 42s 6d.

EDINBURGH GRAIN—JULY 16.
A good demand for country wheat to-day, which sold at
rather higher prices than this day week.
Wheat on the top is Od up average Os 3d up.
Barley on the top is Od down ..... average Os 3d do'
Oats on the top is Od down average Os 8d up-
Beans on the top Os 6d down average is 9d up'