The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-04-09
Novelties in Homicide.

There is time when crime seems to be.
come epidemic; when at various places, and
certainly without any collision or prearrange.
ment, a series Of atrocious murders, occurring
almost simultaneously, will be committed.
Snch seeming co.incidents have often been no.
tfced.
Tho files of English papers brought by the
last steamer furnish us with the details OF
three cases, happening all about the same
time of singular and shocking crime. The
first Of these is tho case Of Margaret Walsh,
aged seventeen years, teacher at a Roman
Catholic school in London. 1t appears that
Ellen Brown, four years Of age; a pupil had
for some weeks been very unwilling to attend
school, and had, when compelled to do so,
cried more or less. The teacher, after trying
various means to terrify her. carried her into
the wash room Of the convent, where there
was a large copper boiler partially filled with
boiling water, she placed the child sitting
upon the edge of the boiler, and in the efforts
Of the little one to escape and the other to
keep her there, the child got into the water
nearly to her hips, and the flesh upon her
limbs was almost Immediately boiled of. The
child was taken to the hospital and must die.
While this was going on in one part Of Lon.
don, Mary Sweeney and Mary Manning, the
former the mother of child ten months sold,
were indulging in an afternoons bottle. The
women occupied separate rooms in the same
house. Mrs. Sweeney had occasion to leave
her room for ten minutes, and placed her child
in its cradle. While absent she heard the
child screaming, and, on returning, found it
on the floor, dying. 1t subsequently appeared
that the woman Manning had taken the child
and, lifting its clothes, had placed the body of
the infant upon the blazing crate fire, and had
ctnNI Sct Horry yor1
The child, of course, died.
The third case was that of Miss Wetherill,
check weaver at Todworden, near York.
Wetherill had fallen in love with Sarah Bell,
anursemaid in the family of Rev. Mr.. Plow,
of Todworden, and visited the parsonage. For
some reason he was forbidden to visit the
house, but did do so secretly, which fact was
made known by housemaid, Jane Smith, and
Sarah Bell was discharged. Wetherill soon
after became loud in his threats, and his hos
tile demonstrations were so frequent that q
special policeman was employed on the prem
lses. All this excited the man more and more
and he purchased an armory of hatchets and
pistols, with which to work out his vengeance
After an Interview with his sweetheart, he
armed himself and proceeded to the parsonage
He tried to enter the house by the back door,
expecting to see Jane Smith, but was inter-
AuPICN ny AAI. INV. liz CuL ( ~" uOWu W I'LL
the Ratchet and continued hacking his body
until the woman pulled him off. He used no
violence towards any Of the servant womel,
until he saw Jane Smith, when he locked the
door of the room in which they were, and at
tackled her with the Ratchet The poor girl,
mangled in the most terrible manner, managed
to get out of the room into another. but Weth.
Grill followed her and shot her until she was
dead.
He then reloaded his pistol, and having lost
or mislaid his Ratchet, seized poker and pro-
ceeded up stairs to the room wheres Mrs. Plow
and her newborn babe were in bed. He
. stripped the bed of all its clothing and then
tired at the uncovered lady, but fortunately
missed her. He then assaulted her with the
poker, and while engaged in breaking her
skull, was arrested and carried off, The es-
cape Of the clergyman and his wife from death
is remarkable, and the murderer declares that
his greatest regret is after ALL he only succeed
ed in killing one of his three victims. The
others though cruelty and shockingly injured,
are expected to live.