The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-10-25

I
ton, whether she was insured in any other office,
| in the negative. At the Alliance Helen was more
severely tested by the consderate kindness of Mr..
Hamilton, who received the proposal and who was
not satisfied by her statement that suit was de-
pending in chanCery, which would probably ter
inmate in her favor, but that if she should die in
the interim, the property would go into another
family, for which contingency she wished to pro-
vide. The young lady, little iIritated at the
question, said, " supposed that what you had to
inquire into was the state of my health and not
the object of the insurance." on which he in
formed her " that a young lady, such as she was,
had come TO the office two years before, to effect
aninsurance for a short time; and that 1t was the
opinion of the company that she had come TO her
death by unfair means" Poor Helen replied,
g she was sure there no one about her who
could have any such object" Mr., Hamilton said,
" OF course not - but added, " that he was not
satisfied to the object of the insurance and I'M
less she stated in writing what it was, and the d.
reCtOrs approved it, the proposal could not I've enter
tanned" The ladies retired and the Office heard
no more of the proposal, nor of Miss AberCrombe,
until they heard that she dead, and that the
payment of other policies on her life was resisted.
Mr.. Wanwright's affairs soon approached cri-
sis for he had given warrant of attorney in Au-
gust and bill of sale of his furniture at Linden
House, both of which were become absolute, and
seizure under which he had postponed only till the
Goth or 2lst of December. Early in that month he
left Linden House, and took furnished lodgings in
his wife and her two halfssters. On the 18th of
that month Miss AbercrOmbie called on solicitor
named Lys, to whom she was stranger, and re-
quested him to attest the execution of a will she
desired to make, as she was going abroad he COM
pIied and she executed will in favor of her sister
Madeline, making Mr.. Wainwright its executor.
On the 18th, having obtained form OF assignment
from the office of the Palladium, she called on
another solicitor named Kirk, to whom she was
also stranger, to perfect for her an assignment OF
L.. 81.
the solicitor did by writing in ink over words pen
cilled in the handwriting of Mr. Wainwright, and
Witnessing her signature On that evening Miss
Abercrombie accompanied Mr.. and Mrs. VAIN
wright and her sister to the play, as she bad done
the preceding evening, and partook of oysters, or
Holsters and porter after their RETURN The weather
was wei she had walked home, she had done
the evening before; and in the night suffered from
illness, which was attributed TO cold.
She continued ill, however, and in a day or two
DIR. Locock was called in by Mr. Wainwright, who
found her abOring under arrangement of stomach,
and prescribed for her simple remedies. She con-
tinued ndspOsed, but he entertained no serious APP
prehensOns until he was sent for on the 2lst, when
she died. On that morning a powder, which DIR.
Locock did not recoect ever prescribing, was adj
ministered to her in Jelly, and Mr.. and Mrs Vain
wright quilted her, to take long walk for some
hours Soon after their departure she was seized
with violent commissions; the physician was sent
for and was shocked by her condition and by her
exClaiming, :" Oh, Doctor, these are the pains OF
death" He administered proper remedies for pres
sure on the brain, under which she was then labor
ing the symptoms subsidized and he left her in
state of c0mpOsure. The commissions, however,
soon returned with increased violence; the attend
ant in ALARM called in the assistance of neghbor-
ing apOthecary, in the emergency the young man
did for her the best that human skill could devise
but all assistance was in vain, and before Mr.. and
Mrs. Wainwright returned from their walk she was
dead. An examination of the body took place, with
Mr.. Wainwnghts ready concurrence, which, IN
Doctor Lococks apprehension, left no reason to at
tribute the death to other than natural causes its
immediate cause was obviously pressure on the
brain; and the sums, amounting to tl6,OJO, IN
sured on her life, became payable to MIR. VAIN
wright as her executor, though except as to two OF
the policies-those of the Palladium and the Hope,
which had been assigned to him by poor Helen
apparently at least, for the benefit of her sister.
Suspicion however, was excited the offices re-
| sisted the claim; Mr.. Wainwright left England for
| France where he spent several years; and after
DELAYS occasiOned chiefly by proceedings in equity,
the question of the validity of the policies tried
before Lord Abinger, the 10th OF June, 1888, IN
an action by Mr. Wainwright, as executor OF Miss
! Abercromhe, on the lmperial's policy. Extraor-
binary as were the circumstances under which the
| defence was made it rested on a narrow basls-on
the allegation that the insurance was not as 1t pro-
fessed to be- that of Miss AberCrOmbie, for her own
! benefit but the insurance of Mr.. Wainwright, eff
feced at his COST for purpose OF his own, and
OH the falsehood of representations she had been In
duced to make in reply to inquiries as TO assurances
in other offices. The cause of her death, If the In
surance was really hers, was immaterial; and
| though surely not immaterial in the consideration
of the question, whether the insurance was hers or
| Mr.. Wainwright's, was thrown out of the case by
Lord Abinger.
That accomplished Judge, who had been the most
| consummate advocate of bis time, disposed always
to pleasurabe associations, shrank, in civil Court,
from inquiries which, if they had been directly pre-
sented on criminal charge, would have compelled
his serious attention stated that there was no EVIL
dence of other crime than fraud and animated thal
| the defence had been injured by darker sugges-
| ton The Jury partaking of the Judges dislnclna-
ton to attribute the most dreadful guilt to PLAIN
tiff on a nsi priuS record, and perhaps, scarcely
| perceving how they could discover for the imputed
fraud an Ineligible motive without II, were unable
| to agree aud were discharged without giving a
verdict The cause was tried again before the same
iudpe on the Sd December following, when the
counsel for the defence, following the obvious in
clnation of the bench, avoided the most fearful
charge and obtained verdict for the office, with
out hesitation, sanctioned by Lord Abmger's prof
fered approval to the jury.
In the meantime, MIR. Wainwright, leaving his
wife and child in London, had acquired the conf
dence and enjoyed the hospitality of the family O
an English officer, residing at Boulogne. While
he was thus associated, a proposal was made TO the
Pelican Office to insure the life OF his most fO
E5CJ0: which, as the medical inquiries were salts
factorily answered, was accepted. The office
however, received only one premium for the life
survived, the completion of the insurance only {
few months; falling after very short illness
Under what circumstances MIR. Wainwright lei
Boulogne after this event is unknown he becam
a wanderer in France and being brought unde
the notice of the Correctional Police, as passing
under fegned name, was arrested In his pos
session was found the vegetable poison calle'
strychnine-whch leaves little trace of its Passag
in the frame of its victim-and which, though un
connected with any specific charge, increased M
liability to temporary restraint, and led to 81
months incarceration in Paris. After his release
he ventured to revisit LOndon where IN June
1897 soon after his arrival he was met in the stree
by Forester, the police officer, who had ldeIlLIle
, him in France, and was committed for triai OIL
2 charge of forgery. ,,,-.--iubt ,,,o
The offence for which Mr.. WamwFgnI Wa
hut his guilt was clear and the punishment al INA
time capital Il consisted in the forgery Oh u