Jamestown alert., 1878-12-19

"A QeSperat0 case u SulClQ6 D6yOnQ
question. The body was speedily identi
! ied--indeed,. there were two gentlemen
travelling by the same train who proved
themselves to be personally acquainted
with the deceased. He was Mr.. aol-
lingsworth, a great merchant, rich and
respected. ,afxasy~x.>,s,x
| Hnsetident case Of insanity it seemed
at first sight, for no house in the city was
frmer or better thought of than his.
Yet in one of the dead mans pockets was
found paper in his. own hand writing,
in which appeared the following words
"This is to certify that, being ruined, in
tend to shoot myself-if possible before !
| reach Chester. ~
- "Nov. 5, Isl" 7s"..- ~,
''Strange-very strange!" said his
friends. Evidently insanity; nothing
else could account for it. When we left
london yesterday evening Hollingsworth
& Co. were as solvent as we are"
And they looked around as if after
suchran assertion. the solvency Of Hill
ingsworth 6 Co. could no longer be
questioned.i { a2'' tt94 ;!tHtGE 5>!}I
But next day news Of a different char
acter reached Chester. That tnorning a
great, sudden, and unexpected failure,
accompanied by very suspicious ciIcum
stances, had been announced in the city
Hollingsworth & Co. had smashed-failed
for an extraordinary large amount, and,
i9its ruin, had dragged down many
smaller firms with it.
There was a long consultation at. the
coroner's inquest, and the Jury st length
returned verdict Of felo de Sc. For,
when matters were more closely. inyesti
gated, reasons, stronger, and stronger
appeared to show that the misar-
able mans rash act had not been
unprecedented, nor; caused by an
unsound state Of mind. Had he lived,
England would have no longer been a safe
home for him; the bankruptcy was a
fraudulent one; penal servitude would
have stared him in the face.
Many were the articles that appeared
in the daily journals on Hollingsworth's
bankruptcy and suicide, and. far and
wide was the suffering it caused spread;
and as l travelled back from Chester to
London, wondered if had done right IN
making bllndfold the promise [ had
made to the unfortunate man. But it had
been made, and I felt must abide by it,
and do the work had promised to do.
It was four days after my return to
town that I read, for the first time, the
address on the packet that had been con-
fided to me q .'D!t& b.l&. u nU&
"4Mrs. Gerald Connington, No. Vul-'
ture Court, Golden Lane, Gray's Inn
Road"
"a slum that, fancy" thought I.
''Wbo can Mrs. Connington be? 1 don't
much like the idea of penetrating into
such places alone, but l ssppose it must
be done,': and I put on my hat t'and coat
and started off to hunt out Vulture Court,
not, however, in the best Of tcmpers.
AS was walking down narrew side
street, in which groups of roughs STOOD
smoking idly, and knots of houseless,
shoeless women chattered and screamed
together, and dozens of dirty, dull-eyed
children shouted and fought in the gut
tiers, I saw man, ragged and miserable
looking enough, but bearing for all that
the stamp OF q gentleman about him,
coming down the; street in state of evil
dent agitation and distress. [~.,..
"What's up now? Here's Gentleman
Jack all of a huster," said dirty woman,
staring at the approaching figure,
90, aye; his missus be real bad, they
say. Maybe he wants DOCTOR" replied
a girl with bold black eyes, and arms set
akimbo, that prize-fghter might have
envied.
As she spoke, the man came up, and
his eyes fell on me.
s ,aFor the love OF tsHeaven, sir, if vow are
doctor, come with me! MY wife, l
be- 'ieve, is dying,"heS said. II - ~ &s
"Deat, dear!'' chorussed the women.
Poor soul, she did i. look mortal bad last
week." ''~' y"
An( they stared cpen-mouthcd at me.
t"I am a doctor, SIR" sald.s Lead the
way, and II do what can for your wife.
And down the street l followed him,
into q. .squalid, dark, dirty court, reeking
with filth and the. sairss loaded5wlth bad
smells, into dlngy house, and up three
pairs Of rickety stairs, till we stood in a
wretched garret, lighted by one small,
shattered window.
It was November, and bitterly cold
and dam p, but there was no. .ireY in the
fire on nthegahsstth and i a single, q, blanket
covered the bed whereon lay The sick
woman. 4 mans threadbare coat lay
over her feet.
twas Half dark, so the man struck a
match, and lighted farthing dip stuck
in an old tin candlestick, and held itup, to
let the light fall on the invalid.
( Great Heavensl what a. sight met my
Mortified gaze! On the BED lay girl,
beautiful still, though, as I saw, in the
last stages of exhaustion from starvation,
and beside her lay tiny child barely a
month cid.
~. NII oxno ,uoI, hro nd Z, y, nr;nd