The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-06 00:00:00

RA7TRAORDINdRY WILLD 111URDER.

Yesterday Mr. Wakley, the coroner for West
Middlesex, held an inquest at the Elephant and
Castle, King's-road, Camden-town, on the body of
a newly-born male child, which had been left at
the shop of Mr. Aitcheson, undertaker, Henry.
street, Hampstead-road, so far back as the 30th
November last.
Mr. John Aitcheson, of 43, Henry-street, Hamp-
stead-road, stated that two or three days before the
30th November last a well-dressed man called at
his shop, and inquired what would be the 'expense
of a coffin for a still-born child, and the expense of
its burial. Re told him the coffin would be Is. 6d.,
and the expense of burial, including the taking the
body to St. Pancras Cemetery at Finehley, if still-
born, would be 3s. 6d., but if born alive it would
be 6s. Bd. for the fees. He paid ls. 6d. for a coffin,
and took it away, saying he would bring the child's
body back in it. On the 30th November, three days
after, a cab drove up within two or three doors of
his shop, and the man got out, and came in :with
the coffin, which was nailed down, in a basket. He
offered to pay the 3s. 6d. for the burial, when he
(Mr. Aitcheson) told him he must have a certificate.
The man then pulled out and showed him in his
hand what purported to be a medical certificate;
and perceiving, as he thought, though he would not
be positive on the point, that the child had lived
three days, or it might be three hours, he told the
man that would not do—he must have a registrar's
certificate. The man then said it was a " chance
child," and he thought that certificate was sufficient,
but if not he must go to Ealing to get a proper one.
He went away saying he would go and get it, leaving
the child and coffin in the shop, but had never re-
turned. The coffin was put in the outhouse usually
appropriated to the purpose, in the expectation that
the man would come back, and in the multiplicity
of business witness forgot that the child was there
till a few days since, when his attention was
directed to it, and he opened the coffin and gave
information to the coroner's beadle.
The clothes, &c., in the coffin were produced.
They consisted of a cotton night-gown, a linen nap-
kin, and a fine towel with a red thread at the
corner, supposed to be a laundress's mark, a piece
of window-blind, and a lady's fine cambric pocket
handkerchief with lace border, from which the
initials had been taken or cut out in one corner.
Mr. G. F. Dansey, surgeon, of No. 24, Steb-
bington-street, said he had examined the body. The
umbilical cord hail been apparently tied in a pro-
fessional manner, but the external cord had not
been cut. There was about two spoonsful of fluid
in the stomach, and the whole of the organs were
healthy. The child weighed nine pounds and
three-quarters. Under the scalp of the right parie-
tal bone there was extravasation of blood, but no
fracture of the :skull. Applied the hydraulic test,
and the lungs, heart, &c., all floated. Was of opi-
nion that the child was born alive, and if so, that
the cause of death was congestion of the membranes
of the brain.

The coroner having adverted to the suspicious
character of the case, and the frightful increase of
the crime of infanticide,
The jury returned a verdict of " Wilful murder"
against some person or persons unknown.

THE SUICIDE IN WOLVERHAMPTON.

An inquest was held yesterday, before T. M.-
Phillips, Esq., coroner, on the body of Phcebe Davis,
a young woman, 18 years of age, who committed
suicide on Tuesday last by precipitating herself
down an old coal-shaft, in one of Messrs. Dodd and
Williams's fields, Bilston-road, Wolverhampton.
The jury first proceeded to view the body, which
lay at the publichouse at which the inquest was
held. It presented a frightful appearance ; the
neck and back were broken, and there were several
severe cuts and bruises, caused by striking against
' the sides of the shaft.
The first witness called was Thomas Pritchard,
who deposed that he was returning from
Bilston, along Rough-hills-lane about two
o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, he saw the de-
ceased walking across the field. She stopped
at a hovel near a pit mouth, and spoke to an old
woman who lives there, and then she walked
straight up to the pit, which is only about five or
six yards distant, leaned over the fencing which
serves to protect the shaft, and threw herself head-
long down the pit. Witness ran towards the pit,
but finding he could render no assistance, he gave
information to the police.
Margaret Erie, the old woman who lives at the
hovel spoken of, said that deceased called her out
and said, "Tell Jack Harris to give that handker-
chief to my mother ; but don't let mother know
what lam going to do." Harris is the young man
who kept company with her. She then walked
briskly towards the pit's mouth and leaped down it.
(This witness fainted while giving her evidence.)
George Russell, miner, the man who succeeded in
getting the body up, said, that when he went down.
several attempts had been made, but the men told
him they could not get more than five yards on ac-
count of the damp. He passed through about 50
yards of damp, and when he reached the bottom his
candle went out, and he became insensible. He
took some tackling with him to fasten to the body,
and he succeeded in bringing it up with him, but
he could not tell how, as he remembered no more
after his light was extinguished.
Ann Sweet, mother of the deceased, said that
deceased called at her house about two o'clock on
Tuesday afternoon. She appeared to be in good
health and spirits, and she partook heartily of
dinner. She went away and returned again in
about ten minutes and complained that the woman
with whom she lodged would not let her have her
clothes. She then threw a handkerchief on the
chair and said, " If you see Harris go down the
lane, give him this handkerchief, mother." Wit-
ness replied, " You see him oftener than I do •
give it him yourself." She appeared to be
quite rational, and again left the house, say-
ing that she would be back in a few minutes, and
went across the field. Almost immediately after-
wards witness's daughter, Sarah, who was standing
at the window, where she could see the pit mouth,
exclaimed, " Oh, Lord, Phoebe has thrown herself
down the pit."
Sarah Davis, deceased's sister, confirmed the
statement of the previous witness, and also stated
that when the deceased left she appeared perfectly
rational.

Neither of the last two witnesses could assign
any cause for the commission of the rash act, but it
appeared from the evidence of the mother that the
deceased had led a somewhat dissolute life.
The jury at once
returned a verdict offelo de se.
We understand it is the intention of the coroner
and the chief constable to represent Russell's in-
trepid conduct to the Royal Humane Society, with
a view, if possible, to procure for him some re.ward.
After being brought up out of the pit he remained
in a state of insensibility for nearly an hour, arid he
is still suffering from the effects of the gas, and is
unable to resume his work.

LONDON COFFEE AND EATING-HOUSE
KEEPERS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.—Tho annual ball
in aid of the funds of this institution was held in the largo
hall of the Freemasons' Tavern, on Tuesday evening last,
when a very numerous company assembled, and the dancing
was kept up with great spirit until a late hour, under the
management of Mr. Frampton. The managing committee
left nothing undone that could add to the comfort of the
visitors. During the evening an excellent address, written
for the occasion by M. Carpenter, Esq., was well delivered by
Mr. Joseph Eldred, jun. Many leading members of the
trade were present, including the president, vice-president,
T. Sherwood, Esq. (treasurer), and Mr. J. Rogers (secre-
tary) ; also Messrs. Wisdell, Alldis, Hay, Groombridge,
and Harding.
TnE CASE OF EXTRAORDINARY SWINDLING.—
Elizabeth Ann Taylor, whose extraordinary acts of swin-
dling at Lincoln were mentioned in The Sun of yesterday,
was examined before a bench of magistrates at Boston, in
Lincolnshire, on Monday last, on the charge of obtaining
tho sum of £42 from Mr. Richard Hunter by false pre-
tences. The substance of the evidence adduced was as fol-
lows :—Mr. Hunter, who resides in Junction-street, Bos-
ton, had been for 22 years an officer in the Excise, which
service he had quitted on the ground of ill-health. Some
four years ago he was stationed in Lincoln, and while
there he became acquainted with the prisoner's hus-
band, Mr. Taylor, furniture broker. In July last the
prisoner and her husband came to reside next door to
the prosecutor, and continued to do so until Mi-
chaelmas last, when they removed to a house in
High-street. During the residence in Junction-street there
was no intimacy between the paittes, but when they re-
moved into High-street the acquaintance was renewed.
On four several occasions the prisoner borrowed money
amounting in the aggregate to £3l, alleging various causes
and pretences, which were all proved to be false. On one
occasion she said that she required a sum of money to pay
Mr. White, solicitor, for making a settlement. This was
proved to be false by one of Mr. White's clerks, who said
she had never been in Mr. White's office at all. Another
pretence was that the secretary of the Metropolitan Insu-
rance Company had absconded with some money he was
to pay her, and she required the sum asked for to go to
London to see after him. Mr. Hunter having discovered
that he was duped, immediately applied for a warrant to
apprehend the prisoner, which was done by Superintendent
Waghorn, who found her at a boarding-house near King's_
cross, London. The magistrates committed the prisoner
for trial at the ensuing local quarter sessions. The pri-
soner, as we stated in The Sun of yesterday, imposed upon
Mr. Taylor, and induced him to marry her by representing
that she was the heiress to a large estate known as " the
Gordon property" in Scotland, and in order to better carry
out her nefarious schemes she produced a document which
she represented was the Lord Chancellor's decree in her
favour. The following is a copy of the document, which
was sealed at the head with the in p-ess of a half-crown,
but which the l.risaner represented was the Lord Chan-
cellor's seal :—" This is a copy of tho settlement of the
said Anne Elizabeth Johnstone, a granddaughter of the
said Anne Elizabeth Johnstone, under her will of a Chan-
cery document by claim of heirship under the whole estate
in Montrose, under the Duke of Gordon's estates, and she
being the claimant on or before the 29th of Sept. 1869, by
seal of the Lord Chancellor, that the whole property be
given up to her in her own maiden name, and witnessed by
her trustees, in their own handwriting.—Jolty SCOTT,
solicitor; SAna, LRAM, secretary."