The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 25, 1867.

ter before long. It might be sir months or more,
but it was premature yet to fix any time.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report,
-which was seconded by Mr. Farrar, and agreed to.
'The dividend of five per cent. recommended in the
report was adopted, and after the usual formal busi-
ness and votes of thanks, including thanks to the
managers, the meeting passed off apparently very
satisfactorily.

of the competitors, the Snider rifle with the Boxer •
ammunition, was first in three, and second and
third in the other. Its remarkable performance at
500 yards, at which range Corporal Andrews, of
the 26th Kent Rifle Volunteers, succeeded in firing
50 shots in five minutes, of which two only missed
the target, and making a total of 133 points, has
already been notified in The Sun. A report has been
circulated that Andrews had continually practised
the use of the Snider rifle ; it is right to state that
he had previously to the Wimbledon meeting used
the arm only five times—viz., three times at 200
yards and twice at 500 yards, and that he had, in
these trials, fired altogether only about 300 rounds.
Any handy man could obtain the same rapidity of
fire with the Snider rifle in a week's or a fortnight's
practice, when the number of points obtained is a
mere matter of accurate shooting. It should be
pointed out that the very satisfactory results of the
trials of the Snider rifle at Wimbledon are due in a
great degree to the Boxer ammunition, which
throughout the meeting has performed admirably,
as regards accuracy, facilities of loading and extrac-
tion, and certainly of ignition.
The Royal Engineers at Woolwich have been en-
gaged for some weeks past in tunnelling and prop-
ping up the outer walls of the Herbert Hospital,
consequent on the yielding of the foundation, which
began soon after it was handed over to the Govern-
ment for use. The rent—the cause of which was
discussed at the time in Parliament—was cobbled
up, and somewhat obscured from any but close in-
vestigation. Nevertheless, an order has been issued
to proceed with inquiries, and the Royal Engineers
are now seeking the real cause of the defects.

The Commander-in-Chief has approved the an-
nexed arrangements iu connexion with the camp at
Colchester :—Capt. Westley, 2d battalion, 16th
Foot, to be sent home for duty with the depot, vice
Capt. Helyar, promoted to be tvlajor in the Ist bat-
talion, 16th Foot ; Lieut. Johnson, 100th Regi-
ment, to join the depot; and Lieut. Nicholls to
join the service companies. The Commander-in-
Chief hae granted leave of absence to Lieut. Powys,
Ist battalion, 16th Regiment, pending his retire-
ment from the service ; and to Lieut. Gillespie, 96th
Regiment, to August 31, when he is to be prepared
to embark for the service companies of his corps.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Captain W. R. Rolland to the
Lord Warden, commissioned ; Captain J. 0. John-
son to the Liffey, commissioned ; Josh. G. Dathan,
navigating lieutenant, to the Cumberland; Albert
Gain, navigating lieutenant to the Fisgard, for the
Rosario ; -J. G. Fowling, navigating sub-lieutenant
to the Speedwell ; E. M. Stone, pay-master, to the
Liffey ; E. P. Rimell, assist.-paymaster, to the
Liffey ; J. G. Card, assist.-paymaster, to the Vic-
tory ; J. K. Bell, assist.-paymaster, in charge, to
the Speedwell ; J. E. Dyas, surgeon, to the Doris ;
J. Fisher, surgeon, additional, to the Cambridge ;
J. B. Creagh, clerk, to the Liffey ; W. B. Clark,
assist. clerk, to the Liffey; W. B. Stephens, chief
engineer, to the Sphinx ; P. Richmond, engineer, to
the Speedwell ; and IV. Hopkins and W. T. Searle,
first class assist. engineers, to the Speedwell.

THE EXTENSIVE EiIIBEZZLEMENTS BY

A STOCKBROKERS" CLERK.

-----+

Yesterday the investigation of a case cf embezzle
ment, which from the first had excited, considerable
interest, and which was altogether extraordinary,
was resumed before Alderman Carden, at the jus-
tice room of the Mansion-house. The prisoner, a
respectably dressed man of 38, was William John
Hurst, and he was charged with embezzling and
stealing moneys to the amount of nearly £12,000.
Mr. Besley was for the prosecution ; Mr. Sleigh
for the defence.
The prisoner had been senior clerk and cashier to
Messrs. Seymour and Elwyn, stockbrokers, Throg-
morton-street, and great confidence had been placed
in him. He had been nearly 17 years in the service
of the firm, and had a salary of £3OO a year. His
duty, among others, was to keep the cash-books of
the Lirw. They had two banking accounts, one at
Messrs. Glyn's, and the other at the London and
County Bank, and they had a cash-book with refe-
rence to each account which he kept. One of his
duties was to receive sums of money due to the firm
from stockjobbers, to enter them iu the cash-book,
and pay the money into either of the banks. He was
now charged with embezzling, on November 4,
1864, a banker's check for £175; on the 3d of April,
1865, a check for £902 10s. ; on the 6th of April in
that year, a check for £2OO ; on August 16, in the
same year, a check for £1,507 10s. ; on September
1 a check for £lOO and £lOO inbank-notes ; on Jan.
16, 1866, a check for £6lB 15s. ; and on April 21st
in that year a check for £l3O. The evidence went
to show that the prisoner had received all those sums
from different stock-jobbers from time to time, and
had appropriated them to his own use. In the sum-
mer of last year he absented himself from the ser-
vice of his masters for a week and then returned,
when they accused him of having robbed them. He
replied, first, that his defalcations might amount to
£l,OOO ; but on being pressed he said they might
amount to £2,000, but certainly not more. After
that interview the firm received £2,000 from the
st
pri oner or his friends by way of restitution, as the
firm
shape of shares
which
pri-
soner afterwards went to America, and on returning
alhleagde beend of
b
lately was met by the prosecutors in the Strand by
chance, and given into custody, a warrant for his
onght property
with
their money. The in
th the
apprehension having been issued some time before.
The principal witness yesterday was 11r. Wm. A.
Stone, who said—l am a partner in the firm of Ed-
wards, James, and Stone, accountants, King-street,
Cheapside. The books of Messrs. Seymour and
Elwyn were put into my hands for examination in
August, 1866. I have gone through the accounts of
the firm from Jan., 1864, to June, 1866. The exa-
mination occupied six or seven months, the transac-
tions being very large. I produce the cash-book.
do not find in it any traceof the £175 check of Nov.
4, 1864, paid in any other way than is alleged by
the prosecution, nor of the check for £902 10s. of
April 3, 1865, nor of that for £2OO, or its payment,
on April 6, 1865, which is treated as £lO 10s.
throughout the books; nor of the check for £1,507
10s. on Aug. 16, 1865; nor of the sum of £lOO in
cash, or £lOO check, on Sept. 1, 1865; nor of the
check for £6lB 15s. paid on Jan. 16, 1866 ; nor of
the check for £l3O, paid on April 21, 1866. These
sums are not accounted for in the books of the
prisoner in any other way than is alleged by the
prosecution. I reported the defalcations as they
were discovered from time to time to Messrs. Sey-
mour and Elwyn. I
found in
September, 1866,
that they were considerably more than £2,000.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sleigh—l cannot say what
was the amount I discovered in Sept., 1866. I ex-
amined the ledger for the years 1864 and 1865, and
found in it an account with " W. J. Hurst" (the
prisoner), commencing in January, 1864, and end-
ing in December, 1865. The account shows tran-
sactions to tha extent of several thousands of pounds
—between £B,OOO and £lO,OOO. I cannot find any
other amounts paid in by the prisoner to Messrs.
Seymour and Elwyn's account than are mentioned
in the ledger. I find this account is credited with
about £1,300 in cash received from the prisoner
during the period the account runs over. In an-
other ledger there is an account in 1866 between
him and the firm. It commences in May, 1866,
and contains only six
or seven. items. The aggre-
gate ltransactions amount to about £2,700. The
amount of cash paid to the firm in this account is
£2,600 odd. There is an item of cash, £5OO, on
the 11th of July, 1866, and bills 1;1,500 ; and £5OO
in cash on the 10th of November, 1866. This ac-
count is in the handwriting of a Mr. Watson, in
Messrs. Seymour's employment. There are credits
in the banker's pass book of sums of which Ido not
find any entries in the cash botrks, nor who paid
them in. They amount to £1,700, and are as fol-
lows :•—On the 15th
of September, 1864, £l5O to
Messrs. Glyn and Co., as received of the London
and County Bank ; on the 19th of May, 1865, £4OO,
paid in as from Messrs. Glyn to the London and
County; and on the 10th of August, 1865, £7OO
credited by Messrs. Glyn as received from the Lon-
don and County. In April, June, July, August,
and December, 1864, there was £4,896 15s. 7d.
credited in various sums, against which there were
"it§ to the amount of £4,389 06. 2d. The diffe-

rence £507 15s. 5d., I could not account for, or
from whom or by whom it was received.
Re-examined by Mr. Besley.—ln 1864 the priso-
ner's deficit was £1,896 7s. 9d., against which there
was the £l5O and the major part of the £507 15s.
sd. I have credited all the doubtful sums, as if the
prisoner had paid them in. In 1865 there was again
a deficit of £6,408 6s. 3d., and in 1866 of 2,333
4s. 7d. The total deficit is £14,293 15s. 9d., and
includes, among others, all the sums of which evi-
dence has been given in this court.

By the Court—l find many errors in the additions
in the cash-books and the carrying over of the ba-
lances. These occur constantly. In some cases the
numbers on the counterfoils did not correspond with
the numbers in the books. In the ledger account of
1865, under date of the sth of April, there is an
entry of cash £lO 10s., received by the prisoner ; it
is the same in the cash-book, where it refers to the
❑umber of the check as 402, which check is for
£2OO, and not for £lO 10s.
On hearing from Mr. Oke, the chief clerk to the
Lord Mayor, a recapitulation of the charges, and
on receiving the usual caution from the Bench as to
anything he might say being used against him on his
trial, the prisoner replied that he had had large
transactions with Seymour and Co., and incurred
heavy losses, which were settled by the payment of
£2,000 by himself and his friends. The rest of his
defence he left to his counsel.

Alderman Sir Robert Carden committed the pri-
soner to Newgate to take his trial at the Central
Criminal Court.

ASSIZE INIELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND CIRCURIT.—DERBY, July 22.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Lush.)
Elizabeth Wheeldon, a girl 17 years of age, was
indicted for the wilful murder of Joseph, the infant
child of Joseph and Ann Tomlinson.
Mr. Stephen and Mr. Cave appeared for the
Crown ; Mr. V. Blackburn and Mr. Mellor defended
the prisoner.
The deceased was born on March 6th last. His
father is a farmer at Shirland Delves, near Alfreton,
in this county, and in the beginning of April his
family consisted of himself, his wife, their seven
children, of whom the eldest, a girl, was 12 years
of age, and the prisoner, who came into their ser-
vice in the end of last January. The child Joseph
was of a healthy constitution. On Tuesday, April
9, the mother was left at home with the deceased
and the prisoner, the other children having gone to
school at 9 o'clock, and the husband having gone to
Alfreton at 11 to attend the County Court. After
the other children had left for school the mother
prepared some sago with milk and sugar, and, hav-
ing taken some herself, placed the remainder in a
teacup in the living-room for the purpose of giving
it to the child when it had been dressed. As soon,
however, as it was dressed the child went to sleep,
and the sago remained unconsumed. About 3
o'clock in the afternoon the mother went out of
doors to hang up some clothes to dry, leaving the
child asleep on the sofa. After an absence of ten
minutes she returned, and found the prisoner walk-
ing about the living-room with the child awake in
her arms. Mr. Tomlinson asked the- girl, who said
that the child had begun to cry, why she had not
given it the sago in the cupboard. The girl said
she had done so, and pointed out the teacup empty.
Her mistress complained that she had given the
child too much, as the cup was.three parts full, not-
withstanding which the child appeared very hungry,
and took the breast eagerly. It then fell asleep, and
so remained until 5 o'clock, when it woke up and
was sick. After a little while it appeared better,
and dozed again. Waking up a second time the
child vomited again, and appeared to be in great
pain, It continued to suffer until about 8 o'clock,
when Mr. Turner, a surgeon of Alfreton, was sent
for. On coming to the child and making inquiries,
Mr. Turner was led to believe that the child was
suffering from indigestion in consequence of
too much sago having been given to it, and
having recommended a warm bath, he left, pro-
mising to send some anti-spasmodic medicine.
The medicine duly arrived, but in the interval the
child had become much worse. The vomiting
and purging increased greatly, the limbs twitched
convulsively, the eyes rolled, the child struggled, then
grew weaker and weaker, and finally died between
10 and 11 o'clock on the same evening. Subse-
quently, in consequence of suspicious excited by the
death of another of Mr. Tomlinson's children, the
body of the infant was exhumed, and on the 7th of
May the viscera were taken out and forwarded to
Professor Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, for examina-
tion. It was then discovered that the whole of the
viscera contained arsenic in large quantity. It
turned out that some time about the middle of
January Mr. Tomlinson purchased some arsenic,
which had been coloured with an imitation of smalt,
for the purpose of killing rats. The arsenic was
kept upon a shelf in the cellar at such a height that
none of the children could reach it, but the cellar
door was not locked, and any member of the family
who could reach the shelf could get at the poison.
After it was purchased the poison was used from
time to time down to the middle of March, by
mixing portions of it with oatinc,„%l and placing it on
a plate about the house or outbuildings, leaving it
there the last thing at night and removing it again

the next morning. Somehow or other, however
some fowls got to the plates r.nd poisoned them-
selves on one occasion, and a dog did the same upon
another. On the latter occurrence Mr. Tomlinson
was much put about, and cautioned the prisoner and
another woman who was in the house washing
against the careless use of so dangerous an article.
Mr. Tomlinson thenceforward discontinued the use
of the arsenic, and, having purchased some mineral
poison of another person, used the latter in the de-
struction of the rats by which he was annoyed.
Thia poison, however, was all consumed, and the
paper in which it was contained burnt, some time
before the infant died. Although the use of the
arsenic was discontinued its place was not changed,
and it was still kept on the shelf in the cellar, ac-
cessible to any grown-up inmate of the house.
For the purpose of connecting the prisoner with
the crime, it was shown that she had admitted hav-
ing administered sago to the child about 3 o'clock
on the day of its death, the only occasion on that
day, according to the evidence of the mother, when
anything was given to it except the breast, the
mother having given it no other food all day, and
the other children having, been away from home
from 9 o'clock in the morning until after the child
was taken ill. The arsenic in the parcel on the
shelf was coloured blue, and in the stomach of the
child a similar colouring matter was found. The
motive was suggested to be a desire to be rid of the
trouble the children gave, and a witness was called
who deposed to a conversation with the prisoner, in
the course of which she expressed satisfaction at the
death of the child, as it would no longer give her
trouble. The most important evidence upon this
point was, however, given by a witness named
Matilda Webster, who was summarily convicted of
stealing boots and sentenced to three months' im-
prisonment in Derby Gaol on the 10th of April.
This witness stated that she was in gaol when the
prisoner was there, and that upon one occasion they
met at the foot of the stairs leading to the prison
school-room and had a few minutes' conversation,
waiting for the school-room door to be unlocked.
The witness first observed that she had then only a
fortnight to remain in gaol. The prisoner answered
that she should be out soon after. The witness said,
" Then, did not you poison the children ?" The
prisoner said yes, she had poisoned them with some
arsenic bought to kill mice with, and that she did it
because they were so troublesome. The witness
added that she did not know the prisoner before,
and that it was the only ccasion of their speaking
together. Upon this part of the case one of the
female warders of the gaol was called and stated that
it was quite impossible that any such conversation
as that deposed to by the witness Webster could
have taken place, inasmuch as during her stay in the
gaol the prisoner was in the infirmary, and was
always let out last and accompanied by the witness
to and from the school-room.
His Lordship, in summing up, commented upon
the improbability of Webster's story, pointing out
, how unlikely it was that a prim= should state

that she was about to get discharged from prison,
and should then go on to make to a perfect stranger
a confession which, if true, could only take her from
the gaol to the scaffold. The rest of the evidence
bore very slightly against the prisoner, and, but for
the fact that she had given sago to the child, was
quite consistent with her innocence. As for the
sago, if that contained the coloured arsenic, it was
rather strange that none of the witnesses noticed
any colouring matter either in the child's vomit or
in the cup which had contained the sago.
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and
after a very brief absence returned into court with
a verdict of not guilty, adding that they considered
the father much to blame for the carelessness he had
displayed in dealing with the poison.
Ilis lordship said that he quite concurred in that
opinion.

The announcement of the verdict was received.
with some slight applause.
There was another indictment against the prisoner
for the wilful murder of Martha Tomlinson, another
child of the same parents of the age of twelve years,
but

Mr. Stephen, who (with Mr. Cave) appeared for
the prosecution, stated that as this case was weaker
than the former he should offer no evidence upon

.lis lordship concurred in the propriety of this

course.