The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-01 00:00:00

TEE HAYMA.RICET MURDER.

In our late edition of Saturday we announced the cap-
ture of Lani, the Italian, who is charged wish murdering
the woman in the Haymarket: We now give some addi-
tional particulars.
When the first intelligence reached Mr. Hannant, at
half-past nine o'clock on Wednesday night, the facts could
only be obtained in an imperfect manner through the aid
of interpreters, and the description of the supposed asses-
-4n was necessarily incomplete, all the parties who were
questioned declaring that he was a foreigner, and that he
had never been seen in the neighbourhooi until the night
of the murder, or at furthest on the Monday evening pre-
viously.
Notwithstanding those manifest difficulties, Mr. Han-
nant applied himself personally to the case, and by dint of
the most strenuous exertions, before midnight a printed
description of the suspected person, with a list of property
rnitaing, was circulated throughout all the stations of the
metropolitan police, as well as those within the district of
the city of London.
Thus, on Thursday morning, the police throughout Lon-
don were on the alert, and before the close of the day a
highly-important clue to the suspected man was obtained,
thrpugh the intelligence and skill of Sergeant Huggett, a
well-known officer of the detective police attached to the
Citir of London. As soon as news of the murder had been
received in the City, Inspector Hamilton and Sergeant
Huggett set about making inquiries, and the latter very
quickly found that a person exactly answering the descrip-
tion of the missing man had been lodging for about a fort-
night at Klein's private hotel, a hislily respectable esta-
blishment much frequ, Wed by foreign visitors to this
country, at No. 38, Finsbury-square. The inquiries Hag-
gett made soon satisfied him that he was on the right
track, and after consulting with his inspector, the result
was communicated to Mr. Hannant, of the C division, who
at once desired Inspector Parke to accompany Huggett to
the' hotel in question.
On arriving in Finsbury-square on Friday morning, Mr.
Klein desired his servants to give the offieers every pos•
sible information ; and from the head waiter, an intelli-
gerlt man, who has been in •Mr. Klein's service several
years, Mr. Parke obtained the following facts :—That, on
the 4th inst., a young man, whose name was understood
to be Giovanni Lath, had arrived at the hotel from Italy
with the avowed attention of proceeding to Monte Video,
in South America—that he resided at the hotel uninter-
ruptedly until the night of Tuesday, the 23i inst. (the
night of the murder), during which he was absent, and did
not return to the hotel until four o'clock on Wednesday

afternoon. On then entering the waiter remarked that
Lani held a packet handkerchief to his face, which appeared
to have been scratched in several places. The waiter
added that he had himself remarked to Lani that his face
appeared to have been injured, upon which he replied in
Italian, " Yes ; I have been playing with the cat on board
ship, and she has scratched my face." The waiter play-
fully rejoined—" I think it must have been a human cat,
sir,"—an observation which appeared to annoy Lani con
siderably, for after going upstairs to his bedroom he paid
his bill, and shortly afterwards brought to the door a cab,
in Which he left the hotel, taking his luggage with him.
Nothing had been since seen of Lani at the hotel, but most
fortunately, Mr. Klein was able to give the police infor-
mation of the name of the ship in which his lodger had
engaged a passage to Monte Video.
On boarding the ship the officers found Lani and other
male and female passengers at breakfast in the cabin. On
perceiving strangers entering Lani appeared anxious to
avoid their observation, but on being told that they were
officers, and that they desired to inspect his luggage, he
offered no objection, and quietly stood by Huggett while
Mr. Parke prepared to examine his baggage. This con-
sisted of a small leather portmanteau, of foreign manufac-
ture, well fitte i, and secured with leather straps; a foreign
hat-box and an accordion in a mahogany case. The port.
manteau was first opened, and on raising the lid the rose-
wood cotton and needle box, above described, containing
the portrait-brooch belonging to the deceased, was dis-
covered immediately beneath. The officer, after examin-
ing the contents, held up the box to the ob ervation of
Lani, who merely remarked, in broken English, " Me
bought it—me bought it." Mr. Parke and Huggett
were now quite satisfied as to their man, and ex-
pressed to the mate heir intention of taking Lani
in to custody. When this was explained to him, Lani
declared in Italian that he would not go with the offi-
cers, adding, that if they attempted to take him he
would drown them before they got ashore. The pri-
soneee observation was translated by one of the female pas-
sengers to Mr. Parke, who thereupon exhibitea a pair of
handcuff:, which bad a wholesome effect on the prisoner's
behaviour afterwards, and he went ashore quietly.
On being identified at Vine-street Lani quietly observed
in Italian, " Yes, I was there. I did sleep with madame."
The ps4soner was now formally charged with the murder
of Heloisse Taubin. On being asked his name, the accused
handed to Mr. Hannaut a Sardinian passport, in which he
is described as " Giovanni Lani de Antonio, the va a
Monte Video, South America." His personal desciiption
in the same 40eument is as follows : —Age, twenty-one
years ; height, 5 feet 10 inches ; profession, tinsmith,
and born at Dom° Dossolo, on the Lake of Como. The
passport was vises/'by the French consul at Genoa, " bon
pour traverser la France, on the 27th January, and
arrived in London on the 14th ultimo. Upon his person
were found a number of letters, bearing initial signatures,
in which he is ,addressed as " C trissimo Ainico," evidently
written by woi nen of his acquaintance, and among his
papers is a stam pcd receipt for 30/. in gold, paid to Messrs.
Alex. Howden And Sons for his passage to Monte Video
and Buenos Ayres. The only cash found upon his person
was half-a-crown and JP. in coppers, and none has been
discovered in his boxes.
The accused is s remarkably fine young man, and there
is nothing in his countenance betraying a ferocity of dis-
position. His features are good, and his complexion, un-
like Italians generally, fresh coloured. The perfect cool-
ness with which he listened to the dreadful charge made
against him, and his subsequent apparent indifference at
the awful position in which be stand., is the worst phase
which his case presents to an indifferent observer.
It has transpired that a person answering the descrip7
tion of Lani offered for sale on Thursday afternoon at the
shop of Mr. Massy, a jeweller, in Leadenhall-street, a
watch which is be lieved to have been that of the deceased
woman. This watch is missing, and, as the reduced state
,
of the prisoner's .finances leads to a fair presumption that
he has sold it the
ends of justice would be greatly facili-
tated if any persons to whom the watch may have been
offered will come fa rward in order to see if they can iden-
tify the accused. Lt is also desirable that the driver of the
cab who took the prig-loner from Finsbury-square on Wed-
nesday afternoon shon,ld come forward and state where he
was diechargocl-
In previous reports it has not been mentioned that the
key of the room in which the deceased Was murdered is
missing. This is an important fact, and shows that th•
door must have been locked from the outside by the pri-
soner, who no doubt, took Tway with him and afterwards
disposed of the, key, •

GREAT WESTERN AND BRENTFORD.
The half-yearly meeting was held on Friday, at the
offices of the company, in Great George-street; Viscount
Villiers in the chair.
The report., which was read by Mr. C. Eley, jun., the
secretary, stated!, that since the lest half-yearly meeting
considerable progress had been made in the principal works,
and that arrangements were being made for laying the
permanent way, and providing such shed and other accom-
modation at the dock as would be requisite to meet the
traffic for which it was necessary to provide. A special
meeting had been held for the purpose of raising addi-
tional capital, in pursuan e of the Groat Western and Brent
ford Itailway Amendment Act, 1857, at which a resolu-
tion in favour of that proceeding had been unanimously
adopted ; authority was also given to the directors to raise
30,0091. on mortgage or bond ; but the commercial em-
barraesments which ensued had completely stopped all in-
vestments in undertakings of this nature, and rendered it
difficalt for companies to place debenture bonds. 'The
satisfitctory change which bad now taken place in the
money market, coupled with the inherent soundness of the-
undertlking, and its approach towards completion, led 'to
the belief that there would be little difficulty in raising the
remaiinder of the capital authorised by the act of 1857, and
in °braining loans at a moderate rate of interest.
Lo4d VILLrERs, in moving the adoption of the report;
congrlstulated the shareholeers that their railway and
docks had made as great progress, considering all the
drfficilties which had occurred it the last six months,
as could have been anticipated. It was not to be ex-
pected that they alone should have been exempted
from the presstre which had existed elsewhere, and
he trusted that they would think that the directors
hsd exercised a wise discretion in not unduly push-
ing on the works when the consequence would have been
that they would have had to pay an enormous interest for
the Money required to complete the undertaking. (Hear.)
The whole of the docks were now fini,hed, the bridges
were all constructed, the embankments were perfectly
ready for the rails and the machinery, and directions had
been issued for carrying on the works without any further
delay, Tlenler Cues° alastances he; believed that hee,was
justified in stating that before another-halt-year elapsed
the railway would be in full and efficient operation. (Hear.)
DARVILL, in seconding the motion, after expressing
his confidence in the board of direction and his satisfaction
that ho jobbery or speculation had ever taken place in con-
nection with the company, proceeded to remark upon the
prospective advantages to be derived from the undertaking
itself, which induced him to believe that it would be one of
the lmoat valuable portions of railway property in the
king4om. It would be the terminal litre for at least 1,000
miles of a system extending from South Wales and South
Devcin and Liverpool to London. It was not like the ma-
jority of railways, which had to look out for truffle that
might, or might not, come to them, for here was traffic
actually existing which must be carried on the line as soon
as iti should be completed. Again, it could not fail to be
a mast valuable adjunct to the Great Western' Railway.
It 'Would clear that line of the heavy traffic between
Southall and Paddington, and it would carry it from
Southall to 131ackwall at from 4s. to 50. a ton, when it
must now cost the company from 7s. 6d. to 10s. a ton to
convey it from Paddington to Blackwall ; and it would
be lost useful to the Great Western, by relieving it of
the enormous amount of smokeless coal from the. Mer-
thyr district, which that line would be enabled to
bring to the metropolis; and by bringing that line
into direct communication with the port of London in a
cheap and easy manner, it would afford great facilities for
the conveyance of goods from Liverpool, Manchester, and
the Manufacturing districts generally by that route. At
present there were nearly 200,000 tons of goods taken ufa:*
nually to Bull's Bridge by the Great Western, and tratfii
mit4ed thence to the Thames at Brentforsl. This walks
tedious and expensive process, and he presumed when thib
line, should be completed that the whole of that traffic
worild come upon it; and that alone ought to pay a fair
ancbreasonable dividend. When in addition to this, they
lookeda
nooitrLhh.
north-west,
et thesatl, es t h increased rime
commercialausset d
be cosaa lt,
satisfied
iron,stfirefrc from the north and
that their undertaking and stone traffic from
South
would prove a most remunerative one. (Cheers.) Incon-
cleion, Mr. Darvill expressed his approbation of the
coukse taken by the directors in not borrowing money at a
high rate of interest, which would have been an incubus
upon the 'concern fot years, and urged upon them that
they should now proceed with the works as rapidly as pos-
osifbte,onsothaLs to open the line, if practicable, within a couple

After a few words from Mr. Tramper, which elicited the
reply from the chairman that a satisfactory arrangement
had been made with the Great Western Company for the
conveyance of their traffic over the Breutford line, the re-
port was unanimously adopted.
Mr. Peter Davey and Mr. 11. Day were unanimouslyre-
elketed directors ; Mr. G. Wyatt was re-appointed auditor,
and the proceedings terminated with a cordial vote of
thanks to Lord Villiers and the directors for the manner
in which they had invariably Conducted the affairs of the
company.

SAVE ME FROM MY FRIENDS!

(From the Times.)

. .
A change of Administration in the present day is looked
upon with a strange mixture of vexation and not unpleas-
ing' curiosity. Political feeling is not so strong but tbat a
man may consider the matter philosophically and inquire
into the good the community is likely to receive even from
the accession to power of an anti-popular party. Just at
the beginning of a promising season :It ib, indeed, rather
provoking to have the order of things disturbed, and to
know that the measures on which thecountry had set it,
heart—to say nothing of the necessary annual business
will. be neglected, delayed, or miserably huddled through.
On the other hand, there is the excitement of seeing new
men in responsible places, and forming conjectures as to
how far they will adopt their opponents measures and
frame plausible excuses for doing so. In the present case,
those who look on the whole affair as an amusing spec-
tacle will find more than the usual interest in watching
the change, for it is about as complete as any in our poli-
tical history. A Cabinet of old-official gagers is succeeded
by a Cabinet of semi-novices. The neaten which we have
been accustomed to for so many years will be replaced by
others which we have associated only with fine
Opposition speeches, or
popular novels, or the broad
acres of conservative magnates. The colleagues of
Lord Palmerston were veterans andsomething more ; most
of Lord Derby's friends have yet their spurs to win. Had
it not been for their very poor performance in 1852, and
their singular obstinacy iu adhering to their perishing
creed for the last six long years, learning
nothing and for-
getting nothing, there would doubtless be a better feeling
fully. As it is, they come into power with no help but
for the new men at the present time, and the cry for giving
them a fair trial would have been raised not unsuccess-
from their own narrow party, and amid
leas
silence of the political world.
Yet the Government of Lord Derbje the expressive
certainly the
advantage of fresh blood. It contains menT new men,
some of them of decided promise. The Lord L.hancellor is
not, indeed, a great equity lawyer, but he is active and
able, with a fondness for legislation, which, if diverted
from the task of tormenting
Papists and Jevrs into a more
worthy channel, may be of excellent service to the State.
He is also likely to be a popular President of the House of
Lords and a dignified chief of the legal profession. Lord
W
Stanley is a man of ability and application; his opinions On
colonial matters are those of the new school which Sir .
Molesworth may be said to have founded, and he has taken
the trouble to subject them to the test of travel. General
reel is the new Minister of whom we can
say least, because
we know least about him, but he is at any rate anew man,
and in a new position may throw off the prejudices of his
class and profession, by
given us anything very extraordinary as yet,
known him. Out of the Cabinet there are several ap-
pointments from which the public may hope something.
Lord Carnarvon is Under-Secreta. for the Colonies, and,
which alone we have hitherto
tkough the school of " earnest" r
young noblemen has not
still Lord
promise. Mr. Hard
Carnarvon may be considered as a neophyte of very fair
Estconet may also be expected to Learn their business, and
character and ability. Mr C •
to add to the number of politicians endowed with' that
Y. Lori Hardie e, and Mr. Sotheron
much valued attribute—official experience. The Lords of
the Treasury and of the Admiralty are mostly new men of
Cairns the
is a Chancery barrister, who has won his way at an early
age to the first rank in his fand may look for-
ward Premier had the Courage ortheeluawnaidselel athguosodtos
to the highest legal destinies,
be allowed that Lord Derby
hasmares. On the whole, it must
Solicitor-General,
is
batter judgment indicated as th.eofiettest men !
the mass of his followers.
What would not the Liberal have gained had any
geEloevceftoni_rott.nhh
of.
intoruogmh
the political highway and
official experience might have la
bring in th .se whom his own
yet the choice of an occasional ne
originality and breadth of view would be --/v man would have been
gratifying to the country, which wouldep at that some
of the bold deviation from routine. But we are sorry to
say that the Liberal party has had 110 such good fortune.
ets_dhoeeargoot
atnnhseiesecisdluleglnihketee,
Its constitution does not admit of it It offended
some Eastern race. The Wing/cure it r _
givelnt is only by long-con-
I e-weites its Brah-
mins, the hereditary possessors of all knowledge and the
guardians of all mysteries. They hey°
to their traditions
.
mankind to pene-
trate,hmeint.
ch usages,
less t
to interfere
fietr
ei s
with.not
tinned investigation that we are able to diseover the-prin-
ciples on which they distribute office and administer
and t
affairs, and a discovery of this kind ought to rank among
the revelations of science. If we may venture to guess at
one or two political laws which a series ofobserva-
tions seems to verify, we would
say that it is a
principle of Whig rule that eve
'7 roan should, if
he lives long enough, be put into every man
office,
and
that when a place is vacant it is wise to aPPoint the most
unexpected parson from among those who are eligible by
having been something else before. Lord Palmerston is
himself a man of energy, and has shown himself to be the
cause of energy in otherse-yet from want of will or power
he failed to deviate from the hereditary traditions. Three
and
ago he took office, supported by the
Viebigs, and by
Sir James Graham, Mr. Gladstone, a
Me. S. Herbert.
The Radical Party held aloof, and soon the Peelite trio
broke from their allegiance. Since then Lord Palmerston
has been content to preside over the old Whig priesthood.
He has been something more himself than a traditional
politician, but he has been w'lling that his followers should
be of the old stock and the old type. Perhaps it is natu-
ral in a statesman of the late Premier's age to select men
to whom he has been accustomed during many years, and
whose qualities he knows, not the least important of those
qualities being that they are not likely to thwart his po-
licy ; but, from whatever cause it arose, it is certain that
the late Administration counted more than the average num-
ber of men below the level of decent official ability. The
Chancellor,
Lord Cranworth, has held his post for the term,
long in these days, of five years ; but the learned lord wiU
hardly be ranked high among those who have attained to
the woolsack. With his judicial decisions we have nothing
to do ; but, since he has been benefited beyond any who
went before by the establishment of the Lord Justices'
Court, the public had a might to look for greater vigour in
the prosecution of those legal reforms of which his illus.
set the example. The first four years
trims predecessors had
cf his office passed with but littleprogress made, and it was
of until the public voice grew loud_ in remonstrance, and
the Premier took the matter in hand himself, that the two
measuree,which superseded the Ecclesiastical Courts were
introduced and carried throfigh in earnest. Lord Pan-
inure is a Scotchwan and a Wilig, and la both opacitieti

he took care of his friends, and was laking e ;re of by them.
His qualifications for the poet of a Cabinet Minister
werenot of the highest order, nor was there any connection
between him and military matters, except that he passed
a few years in the army at an early period of his life. Mr.
Labouchere is a very wealthy and worthy gentleman, of
literary and elegant tastes, but without application, and
hardly suited to a post in which application is so much
required as the government of 40 dependencies scattered
over the globe. Mr. Baines is a good working man, and did
very well at the Poor Law Board, but why he should have
been placed in the Cabinet no one has ever been able to see.
Of Mr. Vernon Smith it is sufficient to say that he ad-
mitted his place to be beyond his strength by taking no
part in theindiandebate, whilehis management of the inte-
riorduties of his office is receiving strange elucidation before
Mr. Butt's committee. Mr. Smith, however,has been a steady
Whig all his life, and is connected with steady Whig fami-
lies. He has risen high, and there is no saying that he will
not rise higher should the system continue. It is the good
fortune of these politicians that they ean only ba moved by
being pushed forward. When their heavy wheels are in
the rut oa each side, not the waggoner nor Hercules to
boot could get them out of tho way for the passage of lighter
traffic. It is necessary to force them onward in the old
track- till they came to some high and dry ground where
they can be shunted off. The House of Commons can
never get rid of the obstruction until it has fairly pushed
them up into "another place." Of Lord Clanricarde, the
latest addition to the Palmerston Cabinet, we have long
since said enough. He has had the rare fortune of being
able, almost unassisted; to destroy by his mere presence a
Ministry fortified by repeated victories, and supported by
' the largest majority known since the Reform Bill.
Such politicians as those we have named certainly add no-
thing to the strength of a Government, and if ever Lord
Palmerston return to power it must be at the
sacrifice of all these encumbrances. That he was able to
work with thorn so well, and to govern the country so effi-
ciently, is a proof of his ability ; but it is also a proof of
the excellence of our Parliamentary machine, and the
thoroughness with which questions are prepared for legis-
lation by the Press and by public discussion. Lord Pan-
mitre conquering the Russians, Mr. Vernon Smith pre-
serving the empire of India, are witnesses to the strength
of the British Constitution, We certainly seem able to
have measures without men. But still the thing has been
carried too far, the strain has been too great, and the ma-
chine has at last broken down. If the next Liberal Pre-
mier will boldly overthrow the system it will be all the
better for the country and himself. Pure Whig though
he be, let him wash off his blue and yellow streak of caste,
tear asunder the veil of separation, and take half-a-dozen
of the most shrewd and active Liberals he can find into
his Cabinet. By so doing he will find the direction of
affairs more easy for himself and more advantageous to
his party, his country, and the empire at large.