Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1884-04-30
An Epidemic OF Murder.
Some ef the Recent Sensational Crimes In
BeaRte Old England.

some ef the Recent Sensational Crimes In
sedate Old England.
From the London News.J
A perfect epidemic of murder seems to
have broken out during the past week. Much
az it Ia to be wished, even by advocates of
capital punishment, that Messieurs les Assas-
sins should commence the reign of clemenoy,
that happy time never seemed further off.
t'Ths little boys begin to shoot and stab, :" the
laureate says, with his usual want of sym
pathy for Political movements In France. In
England not the little boys, but the hopeless
oripples have become homicidal.
named Thomas, employed at the Midland
station in Birmingham, is accused, for exara-
pie of having stabbed Mrs. Hollis. Thomas
is a cripple, With q wooden leg and only one
arm. In spite of these Disadvantages he Of
fered marriage to Mrs. Hollis who was not
widow, bat the wife of soldier absent ON
foreign service. She refused, was stabbed in
the neck by Thomas, as is alleged, and Mrs
Hellis died in the hospital. Thomas after
ward attempted-to cut his own throat with
pocket-knife. The murder is attributed to
drunken passion. Murder, followed by q
more successful attempt at suicide, was also
committed by John Price. farmer, at Ysgn-
bornswydd, in Bangor. Price had q step
mother of about his own age. His father
was dead, and between him and the woman
quarrsls arose about affairs of money and a
joint interest in the farm. Price cut his
u
mitted suicide with the same weapon Here
We have the motive of greed inaaming pas
sion, and leading to an act which was prob
ably repented of soon as committed.
Price seems to have had no notion of at
tempting to escape or to conceal his crime.
more horribls story still, if possible, was
heard at the Hull Police court. Three mon
Hirst, Higgins and Akercyd-had been in
mates of Hull prison together. Apparently
the association ward" of Hull prison cannot
be very well managed. The men were to-
Rether there, and Hirst and Huggins are said
to have kicked and beaten Akeroyd till he
first becams insane, and, later, died. He was
removed to the borough asylum, whsre 1t
was found that his ribs had been broken.
Hirst and Higgins were charged with murder.
If the ch ar9e be true the crime had probably
the usual simple motive of all such crimes,
pure disintsrssted. brutal cruelty. Perhaps
no country in the world exists, except Eng.
land, whsre many murders are committed
yearly for no end but the qualification of the
brutal lust of giving pain. If such things
can be done within the walls of prisons, at
Hull or elsewhere, it is high time that the
management of prisons should be more
closelylooked into The case is worthnoting and
Keeping watch upon, a. when man is oncs
in jail he ought at least to be free from all
chances of bAing kicked to death. No one
can take stone walls and iron bars ''for
hermitage" IL actions like those of which
Hirst and higgins are accused can occur in
the association ward" Akeroyd had only
been ''sneak thief" or, a. the Americans
say, q snappsr-up of unoonsidered trides,
and probably was not burly man, able to
hold his own among his com panions, The
sale of crimes is not yet complete. In the
case of the alleged matricide at Brixton the
prisoner ''did not seem to understand the
nature of the position in which he was
placed" Nothing new and true has been
discovered about the Burton-cresosnt murder,
If murder it was The periIs to which women
of the class of the victim are exposed seem
very mysterious. Murders have not unfre-
quently been committed on such
girls, In the case OF the
Ooram street affair, and the criminals. whose |
motives are absolutely mysterious, slip away
with ease. A double COM Viction of man.
slaughter by poisoning ends the ghastly |
calendar of the day In Ireland people COM
plain that one agrarian murder causes more |
outcry in England than host of oar native |
crimes. The only reply is that our criminals, |
however sordid and brutal, never find public |
sympathy on their side; that no ons shields, |
ne one shelters, ne one apologies for them; |
that their guilt is nniv ersally acknowledged !
and the ackno wlsigmsnt acted upon in |
stantly