The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-30 00:00:00

THE MURDERS IN HOLBORN.

The •following appeared in our third edition of last
evening :

The adjourned inquiry into the circumstances attend-
ing the deaths of the three children who were discovered
murdered at the Star Coffee House, Red Lion-street,
Holborn, on the 9th inst., was resumed this afternoon by
Dr. Hardwick, the deputy-coroner, at the Board-room of
St. Andrew's Workhouse.

The accused, Stephen Forward, alias Earnest Southey,
is now at Sandwich Goal, he having been committed there,
it will be recollected, for the murder of his wife and child
at Ramsgate. He was therefore not present at the in-
quiry.

- Mr. Smith, a barrister, was present to watch the case on
behalf of Southey.

Dr. Hardwick, in re-opening the proceedings, said Dr.
Lankester had been in communication with the Secretary
of State for the purpose of having the prisoner present at
the inquiry. He bad, however, failed, but if the jury
would wait a few minutes Dr. Lankester would be present
and explain to them how matters stood.
. _ _

In a few minutes after this announcement Dr. Lankester
entered the room, and iufbrmed the jury that ho had seen
the Under Secretary of State relative to the attendance of
Southey, but there were such difficulties in the way that
that was impossible. The Coroner at Ramsgate had com-
mitted the man Forward for trial for wilful murder, and
hence arose the difficulty. Had the Coroner adjourned
the investigation no difficulty would have existed, but by
his precipitous proceedings he had prevented the London
jury having him before them. Nothing short of a special
act of Parliament now would effect that object, because
no power existed to remove a prisoner from a part to
which he had been committed on a charge of wilful murder
to another court for examination. The prisoner had made
a voluntary confession, and therefore he did not think
there was any fear of miscarriage of justice in the case.
If the prisoner should by any possibility escape the one
charge ho would be tried on the other; but if, on the
other hand, he was tried and sentenced to be hung for the
murders committed in Ramsgate, there would be no neces-
sity of proceeding with the London charges.:
The following evidence was then taken :

Head-Constable Livid; of the Ramsgato police, said—
On the morning of the 10th of August I apprehended a
person who then gave his name Stephen Forward, but ho
said he had lately gone by the name of Walter Southey.
He was brought to the police-station at Ramsgate on a
charge of murdering his wife and child in that town.
While there, immediately after his arrival, he asked if I
had had a communication from Sir Richaid Mayne respect-
ing the death of three children. I replied, "No, but I
might have." He then said he wished to make a statement,
but he was not then sufficiently collected. I left him for
about an hour, and in passing down the High-street I saw
a placard relative to the death of three children. I after-
wards learned that a man named Southey was accused of
murdering his three children. 1 returned to the police-
office at Ramsgate, and had Forward, alias Southey, brought
to the justice room. His real name is Forward. He was
born within half a mile of Ramsgate. He was supplied
with paper, pen, and ink. I then told him that, in addi-
tion to the charge of murdering his wife and children, I
also charged him with the murder of three children at
Starr's Coffee-house, Red Lion-street, Holborn. He said
it was on that subject that he wished to write a communi-
cation, and wished that it might be sent by telegraph
to Sir R. Mayne. I left him writing for more than an
hour. He was then brought before the magistrates, and
remanded on the Ram.sgate charge. He applied to the
justices for leave to read the paper he had written in
open court. He was duly warned not to read it, but he
did so. I now put into the court the two papers written
by Forward.

A Juror—Can you swear they are in the handwriting of
the prisoner?

Witness—l gave him some paper like it. I was away
from him about an hour, and when I returned he handed
the two papers to me.
A juror—Then you did not see him write them ?
Witness—No ; but I have no doubt they are in For-
ward's handwriting. He had no other means of getting
any writing paper except that which I gave him.

Dr. Lankester—You have no doubt about tho papers
being written by Southey ?

Witness—None whatever.
Dr. Lankester—That is quite sufficient. You can read
them.

The papers were then read by Mr. Levick. They have
already appeared in The Sun. The writing was to the
effect that he had murdered his three children in Holborn,
but that he charged the consequences of it upon other
parties.

The witness said he had received a letter from the pri-
soner, written since he had been in Sandwich Gaol, com-
plaining of the retention of a photograph of a lady. The
letter was signed Southey, altos Stephen Forward.
A Juror—ls it the portrait of the woman murdered ?

Witness—No. I have also had a letter from him relative
to a card plate. I have had a card struck from it. I pro-
duce it. The card simply bore the name, " Ernest W.
Southey."

Mr. Smith—Have you had any other written communi-
cation from Forward since the imprisonment of Southey ?
Witness—None whatever.
The photograph was here banded to the jury, and was
identified as that of Mrs. White.

Mr. Levick—l also took a paper from Southey's waist-
coat pocket, which 1 will read if the jury should think it
desirable.

The witness then read the letter in question. It was
addressed to Mr. Powell, cf the Worcester police, telling
him to inform the Earl of Dudley that he was under obli-
gations to the writer for the preservation of his life, but
that the obligation to protect him any further was removed.
The letter was dated July, 1864.
Arthur S. Blaxall said—l reside at 309, High Holborn.
On the morning of the Bth of August the man Southey
came and asked me to make him up a bottle of chalk mix-
ture, stating that it was for a child of eight years of age
who had been staying with some friends for three weeks
and had been fearfully neglected. While I was mixing
the mixture he asked me the wholesale price of Scheele's
hydrocyanic acid. I told him about Bs. a pound. He did
not get any from my shop.
The Coroner asked if it had been discovered where the
poison had been purchased ?
Superintendent Searle—Nearly every chemist's shop in
London has been visited, but we can get no clue about the
purchase of poison.
Mr. Smith—You don't know the man who purchased
the chalk mixture actually to be the man Southey ?
Witness—l believe him to be so from the description of
the prisoner given by the police, and the fact that the
bottle of chalk mixture was found in the house where the
children were murdered.
The Deputy Coroner thought there was quite sufficient
evidence before the Court to enable the jury to return a
verdict.
Mr. Smith said ho had a letter from Southey, stating
that he utterly repudiates the murder in Holborn, and
that he was very anxious to attend the inquiry in London,
and give his version of the affair. He did not think that
the paper put amounted to a confession, as he stated in it
that he utterly repudiated the charge of murder. He
thought it highly desirable that the prisoner ought to
be present.
Dr. Lankester—That cannot be done without an act
of Parliament.

A Juror—Then we ought to have one.
Dr. Lankester—You will have to keep your verdict open,
then, until the meeting of Parliament. The man Southey
is perfectly secure. If he escaped on the Ramsgate charge,
he will be tried for the Holborn murders.
The Deputy-Coroner said, if an adjournment was agreed
to, it would be merely keeping up a sensation matter with-
out advancing public business. He thought the jury were
quite in a position to return a verdict.
A juror thought, to get over the point of identification,
that if the person who gave the children into the custody
of Southey was sent down to Ramsgate to see the prisoner
the matter would be at once settled.
Dr. Lankester—The evidence, according to my view, is
overwhelming. There cannot be a doubt in the matter.
Southey admits the murder in one sense, but denies it on
other and higher grounds.

The jury then retired to consider the verdict, and after
a short absence returned with a verdict of Wilful Murder
in. each case against Ernest Southey, alias Forward.

Foreign Mail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.

Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton Sept. 18.
Ditto, via Marseilles Sept. 12.
Brazil and Cape Verde. by British packet Sept. 4.
Ditto, by French packet Sept. 22.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Sept. 21.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton—Sept. 1.
Ditto, via Marseilles
Falkland Islands

Gibraltar, via Southampton
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton sept. 1.
Ditto, via Marseilles . ....Sept. 1.
India (Bombay), via Southampton. Sept. 12.
Ditto, via Marseilles Sept. 4.
Mauritius, via Southampton
Ditto, via Marseil e Sept. 4.
Newfoundland
Portugal
Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon... ..•
United Mates and British North America, by Bri-
tish packet ..........5ept. 7.
Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp-
ton
Ditto, via Cork
Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry Sept. 1
West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Tencriffe Sept. 10
West Indies and Pacific (except Bahax as, Cuba,
and Mexico ................ ........ Sept.
Bahamas, via New York. Sept. 13
Bermuda, ditto Sept. 27.
Cuba and Mexico Aug.

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.--The ,Shipping
Gazette says the announcement made by the directors of
the Atlantic Telegraph Company, that it is not their inten-
tion to renew their attempt to recover the cablo this year,
is considered by the underwriters interested equivalent to
a total loss, and they have settled with the insurers.