npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Staffordshire and Potteries Examiner. — 1881-04-23 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England)

CHAPTER LXV.  PEACE AT LAST.  -—-- - Sir Ilulbert's accident was for some days the sole subject of conversation. It was a positive benefit to the society journals and the weekly papers then it was forgotten. Something else happened—a murder, or a divorce—and the whole affair was forgotten. Sir Hulbert was ill, and unable to be removed for some time. The duchess told her husband that her nerves had been terribly shaken by the accident, and that she should like to go to the south of France for some months. They could leave Saxonhurst at the disposal of Sir Hulbert and Lady Estmere until he recovered. As she -was looking pale and ill, the duke at once agreed to her wishes, and they spent the winter in the south of France. When they returned to England two events had happened. The first was the birth of a son and heir for the Mere, the second Sir Hulbert's complete recovery. He kept faith with the duchess. She became one a the most brilliant queens society has ever known, and he became one of the most powerful statesmen in the world. Lord Gerant's most ample expectations were fulfilled by him—his name became a power in the land; but those who knew him best said how completely he had changed. Something of sadness always hung about him; he lost his brilliancy; he occupied himself more with the business and less with the pleasures of life; and it was remarked of him that he turned with a shudder of dread even from the least flirtation. He kept his word faithfully to the duchess; although the duke demurred at it, and was hurt at his coolness, he refused every invitation sent to he never saw beautiful Saxonhurst again. When. ever he could avoid meeting the duchess, he did so ; but there were times when the exigencies of society compelled them to meet. They then exchanged but few words, they never shook hands' they never looked into each other's faces; each knew of the other a secret more binding than death.  The Mike had no children at his death, which did not happen until many years after Sir Hulbert's ac. cident. Lord and Lady Waldo succeeded to thE title and estates. Irene was still in the very pridc of her peerless beauty when she became one of th( richest widows in England ; and then her life be. came a poem; she did more good than any womar in England. Her father went to live with her on the beautiful estate of Glenfield, which was one parl of her rich inheritance. Irene's wishes were granted to her. She helped the needy, she nursed the sick, she taught the ignorant, she comforted the sorrowful.  _ If she were more kind, more merciful, more tender of heart to one class than to another, it was to those whom the world calls lost, and from whom society draws away the folds of its dresses, lest they should suffer by the contact. _  She must, however, have married again; for in the Royal Academy of this year hangs her portrait, and underneath it one reads the name of "
The Staffordshire and Potteries Examiner. — 1881-05-28 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England)

WEEKS' IMPRISONMENT FOR WIFE  KILLING. At the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, John Hunt, 31, labourer, wasocharged with the wilful murder of his wife, Sarah Jane Hunt, at Eltham, on the 14th of May. The prisoner, who was engaged at the Sewage Works as a navvy, was seen on the evening of the 14t.h of i'.day chasing his wife, a woman of about 30 years of age, across a piece of ground in the neighbourhood of his house. He had a dog in his arms at the time. He was seen to overtake her, throw her on the ground, and kick her several times on the back of the head and neck. He had heavy boots on at the time, and appears, after having, kicked her several times, to have fallen down himself. Quarrels had taken place before between the prisoner and his wife, and there was no doubt that the prisoner, who had been drinking had some altercation with her before assaulting her. On prisoner being followed to the spot where ha committed the assault by a witness, and being asked if he were sorry for what he had done, he replied, " It served her right." Information was at once given to the police, and on the arrival of a mounted constable, the prisoner was told his wife was dying. He replied, 'Never mina me: I shan't run away, go for a doctor." Before medical .assistance arrived the woman died. When taken into custody the prisoner said, "If she is dead I suppose I most suffer for it; but the quarrel we had is not so bad as tiling:muds we have bad before. I should like to see her, and should not mind doing 15 years for her if she was living." Mr. Gill, for the prisoner, said there was every reason to suppose that whatever did take place was unpremeditated; and he would ask the jury if they did not think that the whole affair was a pure adcident.—The Lord Chief Justice having summed up, the jury retired to consider their verdict, and after an absence of half an hour returned into court and found the prisoner guilty of manslaughter, but recommended him to mercy on the ground that be had lived happily with his wife for many years. —His Lordship expressed his approval' of the verdict, and said that, taking into consideration tho recommendation of the jury, and yet with a desire to show that, in the eye of the law, human life should not be taken without some punishment, he hoped he did not exceed his duty by passing a sentence of six 'weeks' imprisonment.  A. STRANGE PIiDPLE.—Do you know there are strange people in our community? We say strange because they seem to prefer to suffer a-nd pass their days miserably, made so by Dyspepsia and Liver Complaint, Indigestion, Constipation, and Nervous Debility, when Dr. Bardsley's Antibilious Pills will cure them. Sold by all Chemists in Boxes at 13d. and 2s. 9d.  , , ,
The Staffordshire and Potteries Examiner. — 1881-01-01 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England)

CAPTURING TURKOMAN WOMEN. The capture of the Turkoman women is one of the great crimes of Persian rule in the district east of the Caspian. An order is sent to one of the governors to the effect that no presents have been forwarded the Shah of late, and another governor may be found to replace him. The distracted governor, who has already robbed the people until they have nothing left to take turns his eyes to the rich Turkomans, and sends spies to ascertain where are encamped the greatest number of Turkoman women and horses and the smallest number of men. Then at the dead of the night he swoops down upon his victims. Those Turkomans who are able to fight are ruthlessly murdered, and the old men, wives, daughters and sisters, are brought back into Persia. Then commences a scene disgraceful alike to humanity and morality. The young and beautiful women are sent off to the Shah and other great men at Teheran. Those with some defect are kept by the governor, and distributed among his favourites, high and low, and the horses and other stolen property are likewise disposed of. But what becomes of the old women and the little ones? These are locked up until some Turkoman relation can buy their release, for one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five dollars each, and if this cannot he done they die Of starvation. There is a regular season for these expeditions. A WOMAN'S VaLoun. —Visitors to Paris cannot fail to have seen in the great central market an old woman seated behind a goodly array of cabbages and cauliflowers, wearing the order of the Legion of Honor on her breast. Her name is Annette Drevon, and her history is a remarkable one. In her younger days she was cantiniere in a regiment of Zouaves who served in Africa, in the Crimea, in Italy, and on the banks of the Rhine. She was present at the taking of Magenta, and during the melee saw a couple of Austrian soldiers lay hpds on the flag of the regiment to which she belonged. Undeterred by the whistling of the bullets, the courageous Frenchwoman rushed forward to save the flag, killed one Austrian, wounded the other with her revolver, and returned triumphant with the standard she had saved from the enemy. For this act of courage she was decorated; but it is not her only one. During the Franco-Prussian war she followed the 32nd Regiment of the line as cantiniere. One day, after the armistice had been proclaimed, she was insulted by a Bavarian soldier near the gates of Thionville. The plucky cantinicre drew out her revolver ansl stretched the aggressor dead on the ground. For this she was arrested, tried by a court-martial sitting at Metz, and condemned to death. On the day when she was to be executed, Prince Frederick Charles happened to be passing through Metz. Having learned that a woman was to be shot, he inquired into the circumstances, granted her a respite and four days later sent her back to France, pardoned. Since then Annette has established herself as a market-woman, and, aided by a pension allowed her by the State, manages to live, as she is proud of saying, )ri,vnclently. 1.
The Staffordshire and Potteries Examiner. — 1881-04-02 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England)

OUTRAGE ON A RAILWAY.  At the Westminster Police Court, John Leonard, aged 28, labourer, of 31, Lancaster Street, Black. friars Road, has been charged with violently assaulting Thomas Hickling, in a third-class railway carriage on the Metropolitan District Railway, between Charing Cross and St. James's Park Stations. —The prosecutor, an elderly man, a waterman, living in Tachbrook Street, Plimlico, said that he and his wife got into a District train at Blackfriars. The prisoner and five other men were in the compartment and commenced to use disgusting language. Witness asked them to desist, when the prieoner jumped on the seat, and" kicked him. All the men set on to him and his wife, cruelly kicked them, and threatened to kill them. His wife's eye was blackened and she was also knocked in the side. When the train stopped at St. James's Park, their assailants got out of the carriage, and all of them escaped with the exception of the prisoner. A private gentleman, a passenger, fetched a constable from Birdcage Walk, or else the prisoner would have escaped.— Eliza Hickling, wife of the last witness, who had a blackened eye, said that she sat opposite to her husband in the train. About five minutes after they had started, the prisoner and the other men used very bad language. Her husband said, "Remember there is a woman here—my wife." They immediately set on him. She thought the men would have killed him. They beat him and kicked him unmercifully. Some of the men held her husband down and kicked him. Prisoner jumped on the seat and kicked him a dozen times or more. She said, "For God's sake, have mercy on my husband." Her husband's face was covered with blood. The men then took hold of witness and kicked her. They knocked her purse and money out of her hand, and she lost both. At the St. James's Park Station the officials came up, but the men escaped.— Frederick Dowsey, 46 A Reserve, said he was called by a private person, who said there was murder committed in the station. Ho proceeded there, and saw the prosecutor's face covered with blood. The prosecutor pointed out three men as his worst assailants, but not being assisted, two of the men escaped.— James North, station inspector at St. James's Park, said that his attention was called to the disturbance, and he advised the complainant and his wife to get out and change into another compartment. The prosecutor's face was bleeding.—Mr. Partridge: Why was not a constable called and all these men secured ?—The witness: The prosecutor did not charge them, and he (witness) could not keep the train waiting.—Mr. Partridge said that he supposed if murder were committed in a carriage on the District Railway, the officials would deem it of less consequence than the despatch of the trains. The railway officials had allowed a gang of men to corn-. mit a murderous assault, and made no effort to apprehend them. Sufficient care should be taken for the protection of passengers. He sentenced the prisoner to six months' bard labour, and the police would have warrants for the arrest of the other men.  A
Stretford and Urmston Examiner. — 1879-07-26 (Stretford, Greater Manchester, England)

THE RIC11110N1) MURDF.R.  DISCOVERY OF THE MISSING HEAD.-FURTHER STATEMENT BY WEBSTER.  The bead of a woman has been dug up out of the sand on the banks of the Thames between Hammersmith and Barnes. It was discovered by a waterman named Wright, who caught a glimpse of it ar ebb tide; but, as there were a number of men near him when he first saw it, he waited his oppor!unity, and then dug it out quietly and took it to Q.,een-street Station, Hammersmith. The head is much decomposed, and almost unrecognisable. It has been seen by several of the police authorities and also by the Richmond dentist who supplied the late Mrs. Thomas with a palate and set of false teeth. The opinion of the police is that it is undoubtedly the head of Mrs. Thomas, but no positive conclusion can be arrived at without minute examination and further official inquiry. As the place where it was picked up corresponds in great measure with one of the convict Webster's last gtatments that she went down by the waterside with the head, inquiries are being made for the purpose of endeavouring to ascertain whether she was seen going in that direction on the nitrht of the 4th of March, after she left the Porters in the Bridge House Hotel.  The convict Catherine Webster has made to her solicitor a continuation of the statement she began some days two relative to the murder of Mrs Thomas at Richmond. It, however, throws no additional light whatever upon the circumstances of the crime, beiwr chiefly a reiteration of her former statements. It concludes as' follows:—" For anything I have done, which I now declare before God to be as I have stated, I implore His mercy, and I heartily forgive those who have been so ready to condemn me of the actual murder, which I declare in this, my dying confession, to be as I have stated. Tho public mind, my solicitor informs me, was greatly Massed against me: and for all the harsh and untrue remarks passed upon me in the height of peril and trouble I freely from my heart forgive. Ido not complain of the fairness of my trial, nor have I any complaint to make against anybody ether than as I have now confessed. I thank the indge who tried ine for the fairness he showit, and his readiness to have me fairly dealt with ; and I now pray Almighty Gal to have mercy on me in the last moments of my mortal existence. I have been foolishly led away to my ruin by those who should have protected ins; and may my miseries, troubles, trials, and awful fate serve as a warning to young girls never to be led away from the path of virtue and honesty. These are the dying words of the unhappy and unfortunate CATTIF,uncE WEEtsryn."  . . A later statement on the subject of the skull found in the Thames, near Barnes Bridge. says it if, settled beyond doubt that it is not that of Mrs. Thomas. It isthe skull of a much younger person. Kate tWebster is also stated to he in an exceedingly prostrate condition. She persists in maintaining her innocence, and is most anxious to know what steps are being taken to teat the accuracy of her last statement&
The Tamworth Examiner and Working Men's Journal. — 1876-01-08 (Tamworth, Staffordshire, England)

DREADFUL SCENE AT AN EXECUTION. A shocking scene took place on the 17th December at the Tombs prison. New York, where three negroes were hanged for the murder of a pedler. The New York Heraid's...report says :—The sudden leap into the air made every one shrink, and a few of those who were before so anxious to see the progress of the execution turned away their heads, afraid to look upon the death struggles of those three black men who had between them murdered a poor old Man in the lonely Lydia''s Woods. Weston being of slender build and so nonchalant in his actions, died the easiest of the three. He had quietly submitted to the adjustment of the noose and had just raised the crucifix to his inuffied lips as the weight fell. Being so passive, he struggled very little, and although his neck was unbroken, he did not appear to suffer any pain. Thompson also died comparatively easy, but, being very muscular in the neck, his struggles were more prolonged. Ellis, however, met a dreadful death. Just as the weights fell he was noticed to quickly raise his left hand and clutch the knot, and he also moved-his head to the left with a sudden jerk. These two movements caused the knot to slip under his chin, and as his body sprang involuntarily in the air he dangled in awful torture, for consciousness continued. He thus remained for perhaps half a minute, presenting a most horrible spectacle to the shuddering spectators. Then there was a struggle. One of his hands rose and fell in spasmodic emotion as if to seize the rope, and next the unfortunate creature swung round until his feet touched the board screen. As they did so Ellis began actually to walk up the screen, using his head as a lever, thus relieving the strain upon his neck, and, to the horror of all, he uttered a terrible moan, and cried out in anguished accents " Save me! save use!" As the words were uttered his feet fell, only to rise again and encircle the body of Thompson. As if by instinct Ellis clambered up upon his fellow-convict, his hand clutching the cord. The scene AV itS a most dreadful one, and for a moment no one seemed to know how to act. Just at this juncture, Undersheriff Cuming passed through the executioner's door to order Ellis to be lowered, but as he dis-appeared the half-banged wretch struck the fatal  knot with his hand, and caused it to. slip to the side of the neck. In an instant of time Ellis's legs fell, and he began to die slowly of strangulation. The unhappy man suffered greatly even then, for his limbs moved rapidly to and fro until death relieved him. When the knot became adjusted, the relaxation of the body was so sudden th 4 the handkerchief in the hand that had clutched the rope was caught in the tightened noose, and remained danglieg in the air. Thus died the three murderers.
The Tamworth Examiner and Working Men's Journal. — 1876-01-08 (Tamworth, Staffordshire, England)

THE PRINCE AND THE ELEPHANT'S TAIL. •  Our h.t4i4l contemporary. the London "Examiner," recently made merry over the adventures of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales as "a pig-sticker." It does not seem to be equally well known that the Heirapparent to the British throne has lately figured in a still more ridiculous connection. having almost lost his life—all through having run off with an elephant's tall! Mr. Disraeli and his friends know best why the Prince WAS ,• MA to India; but none of us are ignorant of the very intelligent and very refining pursuits with which he has chiefly occupied his time! Like Nimrod, our future king is "a mighty hunter," but he is not particular as to the kind of game that falls to his rifle. In England, it may be pigeons; in Ceylon, elephants. The docility and sagacity of the elephant are touchingly described in our school-books, and most people with sensitive feelings would esteem it little better than murder to coolly shoot down one of thosi harmless and defenceless brutes. But princes and their sycophants are not troubled with sensitive feelings ; they are far above that sort of thing. Consequently, we should not feel greatly surprised to learn that, during his recent visit to Ceylon, the Prince was placed on an elevated- platform— in a sort of crow's nest, out of harm's reach —near a spot where several elephants were hidden. A number of flunkies were told off to drive the defenceless brutes within range of the Prince's rifle.. But the elephants declined to play their part in the performance, wisely conjecturing that what was fun to a Prince might be death to them. "If the mountain will not come to Mahomet," thouiht the royal attendants, "Mahomet must go to the Mountain," and so our raliant Prince was prevailed on to leave the sheltered crow's neat, a,nl encounter the perils of the jungle with a " crack " colonial shot for defence on either side. Presently the Prince's eye caught sight of an elephant, and a bullet from the Prince's rifle was lodged in the body of the huge beast, which fell to the ground, but got up again, and, to the Prince's great disgust, quietly walked off into the jungle. There it would probably die a painful and lingering death, for royal bullets are unfortunately as fatal as those of meaner men. Several other elephants were treated in a similar manner, only one being lucky enough to have its pufferings terminated by a speedy death. The tail of this animal was cut off and presented to the Princes who with this grand (but, as it proved, unlucky) trophy in his possession. ' began his return journey to Colombo. By this time it was dark. The Governor's coachman who drove the Prince, not being accustomed to have royalty grasping an elephant's tail in his charge, became nervous, and overturned the vehicle.. The carriag3 made It goutNOTICE TO CORRESPoNDENCE. , plete somersault, and was smashed in pieces, "Primitive Methodist New Mode" will appear next the Prince being dragged unhurt front among week the debris," much in the same manner—to
The Tamworth Examiner and Working Men's Journal. — 1875-11-20 (Tamworth, Staffordshire, England)

ALLEGED MURDER BY A BOATMAN AND PARAMOUR.  At the Wolverhampton County Police Court, on lioad.,y, Edward Musson. a boatman, and Hannah Maria Hilman, who was living with him, were charged with the murder of Elivabeth Lowke, a girl seven years of ago. Mr. Thorne who appeared to prosecute on behalf of the father of the little girl, stated that his client, John Lowke. had lent his little girl to the two prisoners for the purpose of attending to their canal boat. On Saturday week last the little girl woo found dead in the cabin of the canalboat at a place called Aldersley. between Tettenhall and Wolverhampton, under circurasanees which tended to excite grave suspicions Hart she met her death by foul play. She was very much cut aad bruised Amu: the head and back. The Coroner's ihquest on the body was still pending, and a sitting would be held the following day. Under ,e circumstances he did not propose to offer any (-6:knee before the Bench than wa, sufficient to justify a remand. Ho would put the p constable in the !!.)x who first saw the body, aid he believed if teere were a remand he should be able in a day or two to bring the clearest evidence into Court against both the pris.mers. Poli,-constable Clayton then deposed that he was a police-constable stationed at Hushbury. Had been investigating the circumstances of this case, and beli,ved. in a day or two he should be able to bring ! evidence into Court. Ii ,tly to the magistrates, who asked to be stippli! .1 Lii some particulars of the case, the constable sat. ,11.11, last Sunday week, about S a.m., he received • • -;•-ei that a child was dead in the cabin of a , , 1••.! at ',1•!••r ley. of wllich the ori-oaer Musson was ''• ' e:r.: He entoot the boat. and saw ,I..usson there. The female prisoner was with him. She was  not his wife. Went into the cabin and examined the body of the girl, who was afterwards identified as I Elizabeth Lowke. The child was cut and braised 1 from head to foot—regularly black. Witness asked the prisoners how they could account for the cuts and bruises on the child'a body, and they said the horse had trodden upon her. The male prisoner was then formally charged with causing the death of the child, but made no answer. The prisoners had now nothing to say against the remand, and they were accordingly remanded till Wednesday. Musson and Hillman were brought up on remand on Wednesday, at a special sessions of county magistrates, at the Town Hall, Wolverhampton, charged with causing the death of the child. Mr. Thorne appeared on behalf of the father of the deceased. The evidence given at the inquest and reported above was adduced, and the only additional testimony of importance was that of Police-constable Clayton and Frederick Lesley, toll collector to the Birminghian Canal Company, who both described I the injuries on Louke after she was found dead in the boat by Clayton. Prisoners were remanded till Saturday.