The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-22 00:00:00

LAW AID POLICE.

THE SCALPING CASE AT WOLVERHAMPTON.-At the
Stafford Assizes, before Mr. Justice Smith, Thomas Dur-
ham, 45, labourer, was convicted of feloniously and
maliciously wounding Fanny Churn, at Wolverhampton,
on the 17th of April last. The prisoner, it will be remem-
bered, was in altercation with a female, when the prose-
cutrix came up and advised him to go home, observing
that he was the worse for liquor. The prisoner then,
without any further provocation, drew a razor, and,
taking hold of the prosecutrix by the back hair, drew the
razor from one ear right across the forehead and past the
other ear, the wound inflicted almost completing the
circuit of the poor woman's head, and very nearly de-
taching the scalp. The prosecutrix appeared in court
with her head still enveloped in surgical bandages. The
learned judge sentenced the prisoner to twelve months'
imprisonment.

UNWITOLESOMIC FRIIIT.—At the Southwark Police-
court, Mr. George Hill, a salesman, in Borough Market,
vas charged with selling baskets of fruit unfit for human
food. Mr. Partridge said that it was a serious offence,
and fined him £2O. He added that if he or any other
salesman repeated the offence, he should send them to
prison, without the option of paying a fine, as the public
health must be protected.
STEALING SILK.—At Nottingham, on Wednesday, four
nien were indicted for stealing 100 lb. weight of silk of the
value of £2:50; and another, named Macdonald, was
charged with receiving it. 'The court was crowded, as the
case has excited a great deal of interest. Powell,
one of the prisoners, pleaded guilty, and gave
evidence. He had been employed by Mr. Baker, the
prosecutor, 'and left without notice. He gave one of the
other prisoners the keys of Mr. Baker's warehouse to
obtain counterfeits. Mr. Macdonald, who was charged
with receiving the silk, also had a warehouse, and it was
stated in the evidence that he had bought the silk from a
manufacturer in the usual course. A number of witnesses
were called on his behalf.—The case was not concluded.
TWENTY YEARS' PENAL SERVITUDE.—At Aylesbury, a
man rnamed Charge was indicted for shooting Samuel
Beeson. The prosecutor was on his way home when
he was shot at, and the evidence was entirely circumstan-
tial. There had been uo previous communication between
him and the accused, but it was proved that the prose-
cutor had been collecting subscriptions for a club to which
they both belonged, and had the money with him. The
jury found a verdict of guilty of shooting with intent to
murder, and the prisoner was sentenced to twenty years
penal servitude.
PRINTING LISTS OF VOTERS--At Newcastle, at the
assizes, a day or two since, Mr. Brockett, a printer, and
the proprietor of the Gateshead Observer, brought an
action against the overseers of Gateshead to recover £46,
the balance of an account for printing the lists of
voters for the Revising Barrister. The lists were charged
12s. a page, and as they were printed under great pres-
sure, extra workmen being put on, it was contended that
this charge was only fair. The Revising Barrister bad
allowed is. a page. Verdict for the plaintiff.

AN EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL FOR

MURDER.

At the Worcester Assizes, on Tuesday, before Mr.
Baron Pigott, a woman named Fanny Frances Maud
Oliver was convicted of the wilful murder of her husband,
Joseph Oliver, at Dudley. The prisoner is a milliner, and
in the course of her business cleaned bonnets, for which
purpose she used poisonous drugs. The death of the
husband was attributed to arsenical poisoning, and the
motives by which it was presumed the prisoner was
actuated were, that she had contracted an improper inti-
macy with a man named Brice ; and that her husband
had money in a building fund, and that she, without his
.rnowledge had been drawing it out, and had exhausted
the fund. The purchase of arsenic by the prisoner in April
last was proved, and also that at the time she gave a false
name and address. Dr. Hill, who made a post-mortem
examination of the body, discovered arsenic in a small
quantity, and came to the conclusion that the deceased
had died from arsenical poisoning. After the jury had
returned their verdict the prisoner made a most
" agonising " speech. " I am not guilty (she exclaimed)
by my great God ! If I speak an untruth, Oh, God
!
(here the prisoner clasped her hands solemnly, and cast
her eyes upwards)—take my breath from me, and let me
die before my enemies. (Great sensation in court). As
for administering poison to my husband (here she raised
her voice and again clasped her hands) great God
answer for me ; Thou knowest that I am innocent,
Heavenly Father, of the charge they have brought
against me. And why dost Thou leave me in this terrible
hour of need? My God, I have trusted in Thee. I have
been wild and wicked, I know ; bet, Heavenly Father,
give me strength. I never possessed such strength as I
have possessed since I have been cast into prison. I
never knew the power of my Saviour until then ; and,
although death is to be passed upon an innocent
woman, Lord, receive my spirit ; and although I am
found guilty by an earthly judge and jury—(here she
raised her voice defiantly)—my Great Judge and Jury
who are in Heaven they will receive me to their
home. (Sensation). I am innocent in the sight of my
God, and I fear not what man can do unto me. What
even though you should put me to death to-morrow,
I would receive it cheerfully, my God, as it has come
from Thee ; for now lam left alone ; my home is gone ;
my friends are far ; I have but one, and that is He (point-
ing upwards). Lord, do not leave me in this terrible
hour. Lord, prepare me to meet this trial. Thou knowest
lam innocent. Murder ! I loved my husband. God,
thou knowest I loved him. Yes, and he loved me. Call
his friends ; call those who were with him when he died.
What is the reason this has been brought against me, 0
God?" The prisoner here made a rambling statement
about her husband's mother having accused her of poison.
ing her husband because she could not get some money
that belonged to him.

The Harvard crew has arrived from America to
take part in the international boat race.

A marriage is about to take place between
the Princess Santa Croce (eldest daughter of the late
Prince and of the sister of Mr. Vincent Scully, ex-M.P.
for Cork county) and the Marchese Macchiavelli-Rangoni,
a sergeant of Papal Zouaves, and representative of one of
the greatest Modenese houses.

THE ALDERSHOT MURDER.—The inquest on
the body of Corporal Brett, who was shot on Tuesday by
a Private named Dixon, has been held. TLe prisonar, it
was stated, had been drinking a little, but knew what he
was about. The jury returned a verdict of Wilful Mur-
der, and the prisoner was committed for trial.

THE QUEEN'S COUNTY MURDER.—Captain Lam-
bert, who was shot at Athenry, is rapidly recovering. It
is expected that he will be able to leave his bed this week.
The prisoner, Peter Barrett, was brought up before the
magistrates on Monday, and some witnesses were
examined. The proceedings were private. It is supposed
that there must have been more than one person concerned
in the outrage.

The organ of the Catholic clergy in Montreal,
the Nouveau Monde, wholly repudiates in two successive
leading articles the ideas which prompt the endeavours of
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
condemning, as both inhuman and ridiculous in the
extreme, any legal measures taken simply on their
account —animals having no moral standing, and therefore
no rights.

AN IMPENDING CALAMITY. —The inhabitants of
Durrenstein and the neighbourhood areliving a life of con-
stant dread. Near the castle which tradition points out
as the prison of Richard Coeur de Lion, a whole granite
cliff has begun to slide downwards, and it is expected
from day to day that the vast mass of rock will be pre-
cipitated over the road into the Danube. The highway
is closed from eight o'clock in the evening till six
o'clock in the morning, and during the day everyone
who wishes to pass is given to understand that he does
so at his own risk. Mr. Solch, a well-known engineer,
is engaged on works which are intended to diminish
as much as possible the destructive effects of the catas-
trophe.

SHOCKING OUTRAGE. —A private of the 97th
Regiment at Dover has been committed for trial charged
with a most dastardly outrage on a child. He first
criminally assaulted a little girl named Wade, and then
threw her like a bundle of clothes--as those say who saw
the occurrence— over the cliff. Ic seems marvellous that,
although falling on a projecting ledge of rock some distance
from the bottom, she should have escaped being dashed to
pieces. She not only escaped with life, however, but also
without any broken bones or permanent injuries, and has
been able to make her depositions in presence of the
magistrates. The populace are much exasperated with
the prisoner, and some attempts have been made to get
at and lynch him.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—An alarming accident
happened to the eminent French artist and singer, Mdlle.
Sthneider, at the St. James's 'Theatre, on Wednesday
evening. At the fall of the curtain in the last scene of
" Orphtle aux Enfers" her dress was ignited by the flame
used in making the effect of lightning, and in a
moment was in a blaze. Great alarm and excitement
prevailed, and two or three gentlemen jumped from
the private boxes on the stage and from the stalls,
but by the rapid action of the actors who surrounded
her the flames were extinguished. this was not done,
however, till almost the whole of her dress had been
destroyed. Fortunately, Mdlle. ,Schneider has escaped
without the smallest injury. After the curtain fell it was
again raised, and she came forward, the audience testi-
fying, by tkcjignalluqheiukciation, the plemiate
her =a/