npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-01-19 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

ASTROLOGICAL SCARE.  A singular evidence of the survival of superstition in the nineteenth century, and of the strong grip which it retains on the fears of ignorant persons, has been furnished in Birmingham. Some days ago the newspapers contained the bold prediction of some sapient astrologer that on the 11th of January, in consequence of the " violent fiery planet Mars" forming a conjimction with "the evil planet Uranus" in the 18th degree of the zodiacal sign Libra and at the same time of the evil aspect of Mercury which was mischievous enough to present itself %deg. distant, the unhappy denizens of this globe might look out for all manner of calamities. Among these were named "many sudden deaths among the nobles of the land, numerous accidents in collieries, fires, explosions, murders,wars, and earthquakes,"and lastly, as a makevveight,"etorms and high winds, with niany untoward events, resulting in. much fatality." The wide comprehensiveness of this programme of prophecy, while instructive and amusing to the judicious, seems to have had a very different meaning for the unskilful. To them it was explicable on:y on the sepposition that the last day was at hand. The occurrence of thick darkness at an earlier hour of the day that it might have been expected in the absence of a fog was accepted by more than a few as a startling confirmation of the prophecy, although it had not been specifically named by the prophet. The police report that not only did old women betake themselves to their Bibles with unusual zeal, butyounger women remained in bed All day, dreading the coining earthquake. Children were kept away from school as a similar precaution, ar.d those who attended school came home full of fear and alarmist rumours. Two little folks, the children of a police-inspector,begged their father at dinner-time not to be out in the streets at midnight, for two stars were going to meet and burst and set the world on fire. In Constitution-hill the new cable being set running as a trial of its working, a tradesman, startled by the unusual noise it made, rushed out of his shop with a pale face and called the attention of a passer-by to it, offering the suggestion that it was the first symptom of a convulsion of the earth's crust. From the Ladywood police station it was reported that there seemed to be a general state of fear. Some women i called at one of the police-stations n the hope of deriving con.fort and support from the constable in charge of the office, and seemed a good deal shocked at the levity with which he treated their forebodings. They went away at last to buy a copy of the. Bible for which three of them clubbed together their coppers. At Moor-street police-court, in the morning a woman of the same class, on'.being fined a shilling for uttering threats of bodily harm,had. accented the alternative of a week's imprisonment with the observation that it didn't matter, for the world would be at an end soon. At night a half-drunken soldier wa- und praying in Holloway Head, with all the term ,d fright and a troubled conscience.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-07-19 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

HORRIBLE SCENE ON THE SCAFFOLD. Robert Upton, agei 61, labourer, was executed at Oxford Gaol on Tuesday for the murder of his wife Emma, on the 23rd of May, at Milton-underWychwood. The crime was of a very brutal nature; the prisoner, who was of a passionate disis,sition, having instantly killed his victim with an iron bar. Quarrelling had been heard by the neighbours, and Upton was seen chasing Ids wife with the bar, he having previously threatened to kill her. He was knocked down, and the bar taken from him and thrown some distance. but he by some means gained possession of it, again pursued Ilk wife, and with a fearful blow across the upper part of the face, which smashed both jaws, the nose, and the base of the left eye, instantly deprived her of life. He admitted his guilt, both before the magistrate and Mr. Justice Denman, and no effort to obtain a commutation af the death sentence was n.ade. Berry carried out the execution, and at the at time the bolt was drawn, and the culprit disappeared through the trap. The prison officials and the reporters then heard a peculiar sound, and 1' king into the cavity they saw that the shock of the fall had torn the flesh of the culprit's neck, from which bi o3cl had poured into the pit below, and splashed on to the side of the scaffolding. Death had, of course, been instantaneous. Berry ace, iiiii ted for the occurrence by stating that the culprit's neck was thin. and that with a man of his age such a thing was not al way BLI be prevented. A drop of tire feet had been given.  The scarcity of coal in South Russia is very great. Many of the mill-owners in the large towns are afraid that their works will have to be temporarily stopped if supplies du not come in quicker. The inhabitants of Odessa are about to petition the Minister of Roads for an impriivement in the means of transport,. the want of which is the cause of the present scarcity. -- .  Colour•Sergeant 'McAndrew. of the 92mi Highlanders, Stirling Castle, has been drowned in the river Forth, at Causeway Head, Stirling. He WAN angling near a dangercus pool, and it is stated that, although cautioned not to go too far into the water, he disregarded these warnings, with the result that he suddenly sank. McAndrew, a young married man, although a good swimmer, was unable to save himself, being hampered with his wading boots.  A case or 'metes', ia taeatrical circles came betore the Assistant-Recorder at the Sheffield Sessions on Friday, when George Lee, waiter at a public. house, was charged with doing bodily harm to an actor named Albert Gumnore. The latter was 3 member of a touring company on a visit to Sheffield. Whilst in the pvbliediouse he fell asleep, and the prisoner held a bottle of spirits of ammonia under his nose. A portion of the contents went into one of his eyes, which caused the loss of the eye. The prisoner was acquitted.  iTUE wiaBLEDoN
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-09-27 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE WHITECHAPEL MURDEP.B.  CLOSE OF THE INQUEST ON NICHOLLS. The inquest on the body of Mary Ann Nicholls,whs was murdered in Whitechapel on the Ist inst., was resumed and concluded on Saturday.—The only further evidence taken was that of Thomas Eades, the signalman, who had previously deposed to having seen a man carrying a knife near the scene of the murder. Eades now testified that since last giving evidence he had identified John James, of Hackney, as the man whom lie had seen with the knife.—The coroner observed that the man in question was a wellknown harmless lunatic, and then proceeded to sum up. After commenting strongly on the absence of a public mortuary in Whitechapel, where it was so greatly required, he proceeded to recall to the minds of the jury the salient facts of the case. Referring to the case of Chapman, on whose body an inquest was still pending, he said the similarity of the injuries in the two cases was considerable. There were bruises about the face in both cases; the head was nearly severed from the body in both cases; there were other dreadful injuries in both cases; and those injuries again had in each case been perfernied with anatomical knowledge. I Llewellyn seemed to incline to the opinion that the abdominal injuries were first, and caused instantaneous death ; but if so, it seemed difficult to understand the object of such desperate injuries to the throat, or how it came about that there was so little bleeding from the several arteries, that the clothing on the upper surface was not stained, and, indeed, very much less bleeding from the abdomen than from the neck. Surely it might well be that, as in the case of Ch..pman, the dreadful wounds to the throat were inflicted first, and the others afterwards. This was a matter of some importance when they came to consider what possible motive there could be for all this ferocity. Robbery was out of the question, and there was nothing to suggest jealousy; there could not have been any quarrel, or it would have been heard. He suggested to them as a possibility that the two women might have been murdered by the same man with the same object, and that in the case of Nicholls the wretch was disturbed before lie had accomplished his object, and having failed in the open street he tried again, within a week of his failure, in a more secluded place. If this should be correct the audacity and daring were equal to its maniacal fanaticism and abhorrent wickedness. This surmise might or might not be correct, but one thing was clear—that a murder of a most atrocious character had been committed.—The jury, after a short consultation, asked permission to retire, and after 20 minutes' absence returned into court with a verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons on. known. A rider was added expressing the full concurrence of the jury with the coroner's ueivarks as to the need of a mortuary for Whitechapel.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-11-22 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THIC OUTRAGE AT. CURTIN.S FARM.  Lizzie Curtin, examined by Sir H. James, said in 1885 her family were living at Castle Farm. Her father went to the landlord, the Earl of Kenmore, as spokesman to ask an abatement of rent for some of the tenants. Up to the 13th November, 1885, her father paid his rent without any abatement. On that day the servant came into the room and said something about Moonlighters. She went upstairs for arms and her father, who followed, took a gun and revolver from her. Her father went to the foot of the stairs and said, " Well, now, boys." She then heard a volley of shots fired. Her sister Norah then Caine upstairs, and said their brother Daniel was shot. She went down to the parlour door where he was shat; but saw no men at that time. Her brother George and her sister came down, and they went into the room. Daniel was struggling with some men. She took hold of a gun which was painted at Daniel. Norah pulled the mask off one of the faces and asked Daniel if he recognised the Lee, but no answer was given. The struggle went on, and carried them into the hall. She kept hold of the gun until she got it. She went upstairs to her father's bedroom, and found him there wounded by shot in the abdomen. She asked the servants to go for the priest, the doctor, and the police. They went for the two former, but would not go for the latter. On returning to the hall she found Timothy Sullivan dying. Only a few people attended her father's funeral. When the priest on Sunday mentioned the murder there was a noise in the chapel, but she could not see what, as she was in the sacristy. Before the murder they got their supplies of small things from the neighbourhood, but afterwards the people refused to supply them. The only way they could get the things was for the people who remained faithful to go and pretend that the goods were for themselves. Some of the workpeople left, giving the reason that they were afraid, and others without giving any reason. She and the other members of the family were hooted, and called murderers and informers. She had seen ballads about her family posted up. After the murder she continued to attend chapel. She could not occupy the same seat as the people had broken the pew. The chapel was closed for six weeks by order of the bishop. A new pew wa4 brought, but the people beat the carrier and broke the pew. Two persons were sentenced to 1-1 years' penal servitude in connection with the murder. All the servants then left, and the hooting was increased. The parish priest was president of the local branch of the League. Immediately after the murder he visited her mother, but not for 12 months after that. Father Murphy spoke kindly of her father iu the chapel. She knew 31r. Alfred Webb, of Dublin, as a member of the League. After the murder he came to her house and took a statement from her of what °min d. He later on chewed her a copy of a circular which he said was to be printed and circulated. It called upon all Nationalists to stand by the The Court shortly afterwards adjourned.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-10-04 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

ANOTHER HORRIBLE DISCOVERY  IN LONDON.  MUTILATED TRUNK OF A WOMAN FOUND.  About 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon a shocking *discovery was made in a vault beneath the buildings of the New Central Police Offices, Cannon-row, Westminster, the site of the Opera House which it was some year, since proposed to construct on the Victoria Embankment. A labourer engaged upon the works noticed a large bundle tied up with cord, and drew the attention of the assistant-foreman to it, who ordered him to pull it out and untie it. Upon doing so he found wrapped up in an old black skirt the trunk of a human being much decomposed. The police at King-street police-station were at once communicated with, and Inspector Marshall, from the Criminal Investigation Department, took charge of the remains, and immediately summoned a doctor. Upon a close examination it was found that the intestines were slightly prz.truding. The arma, the legs, and the head had been cut off, and were missing. Nothing in the shape of clothing beyond the black skirt referred to cevered the remains, which are those of a female of about 25 years of age, so far se it was possible to judge. The doctor gave orders for the remains to be preserved in spirits, and the coroner's officer having been apprised of the discovery, they were removed to the mortuary in Millbank-street to await an inquest. ' An opinion was expressed that the body had probably been dead for about a month. The general belief is I that the truilik forms part of the same body the limbs of which were recently found in Pimlico.— Dr. Hibbert, who examined the body, is stated to have expressed an idea that the woman had been dismembered by an unskilful person, and further, he was fully of opinion that the arin found at Pimlico belonged to the same individual. The body must have been carried bodily and placed in the position in which it was found. It is impossible for anything to lodge in such a manner if thrown over the hoarding on the Embankment, and it would be equally difficult for any person to climb over at that part, in order to gain access to the building. The spot where the discovery was made is at the extreme end of a long subway of vaults, which are being constructed for store-rooms, and the bundle was deposited in a dark recess, about 100 yards from the roadway. The workmen engaged there state that, in their belief, it must have been left there between -Saturday and Monday last, and one man asserts that hesaw the bundle on Monday, but passed it, thinking it wee probably some old rags dug up out o the excavations. Some pieces of black material corresponding with the black skirt in which the body was wrapped have been collected from other parts of the premises, and they appear to be portions of the same covering. On the discovery becoming known hundreds of persons congregated throughout the afternoon and evening discussing the matter, the rumour having spread that the Whitechapel murders had been repeated in the neighbourhood.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1890-02-27 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

POLITICAL SPEECHES.  MR. CHAPLIN.  Speaking at Cambridge on Saturday Mr. Chaplin, M.P., confessed to surprise at seeing in Liberal organs that the result of the research.. of the Commission was a triumphant acquittal of the Irish party. But had there been a triumphant , acquittal? Eight of the respondents, including I Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Dillon, were proved to have Mined the Land League organise', Coo in order by its means to bring about the absolute independence of Ireland as a separate nation. Well, many of them had long suspected that this in reality was the root of the whole Irish movement, and now it was proved. Again, they found that 44 members of the Nationalist party, headed by Mr. Parnell, were guilty of criminal conspiracy, one object of which was to expel the Irish landlords from the country, because they were regarded as the "English garrison." Thirdly, they spread in every direction seditious newspapers, the teachings of which the judges found directly incited to sedition and the commis. lion of crime—and there was no education like that of the Press. Fourthly, they defended persons charged with crime, and supported their families. Fifthly, they were proved guilty of making compen• milieu to persona who bad been injured in the com• mission of trims. Si x thly, the judges held them guilty of inviting the amistanceof and taking subscriptions from knows advocates of crime and the use of dynamite, like Mr. Patrick Ford. All these charge.Wid been proved, and it wae a tolerably oontwehmisiv• list for a "triumphant acquittal." With regard 544 to the char of which they were directly hocriilt W 41 ' believed to lie two, or at most eir in ta on eome poigts did not appear tolner to improve In any respell their position upon others. If a man was convicted of a forgery or theft, it was no palliation whatever that he had also been falsely accused of murder. That was very much the position in which the Parnellites stood at the present moment. Secondly, they were soquitted of direct incitement to crime; and thirdly, of expressing no disapproval of mime. But they did not denounce the system of intimidation which led Merin)s and outrage, but persisted in it with full knowledge of its effect. There were some things which were not proved, it was true. But why were they not proved, and why were they not di.. proved? Because the only material evidence by which they could be proved or dis. proved was within the control of the Par. nellite party and was deliberately withheld. It was to be deplored that in the matter of the forged letters the Times did not exercise more care and vigilance than apparently they did. But whilst open to blame, and even severe condemnation, in this respect, yet upon the whole, in unearthing this great conspiracy which had prevailed for so long in Ireland—in undertaking this most hazardous, most difficult, yet meet patriotic task, they had, upon the whole, deserved the thanks of all good end honest people in this oountry.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1890-02-20 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

MORALLY GUILTY.  It is the Government who, in the opinion of the Economist, will gain by the publication of the report of the Special Commission. Everyone will rejoice that the Commissioners have been able to non eeeee the members of the Irish party from some of the most serious of the "charges and allegations" brought against thini, and to record in regard to others a verdict of "not proven." But the charges which are held to have been fully sub. etantiated are of the g t. With this report before it, the country will know what value to attach to Mr. Parnell's amendment 6o the Address, and which declares, in effect, that if Ireland is not peaceful, it is because the Government have enforoed the law with undue ity.The eriminal is always ready to cry out against the law, and that those who have, after the fullest and most impartial investigation, been proved to be morally responsible for much of the bloodshed and suffering that Ireland has of late had to endure, should seek to pose as the victims of oppression, is perhaps only what might be expected. But it will be surprising, indeed, if, fresh from the reading of the Commissioner.' report, any but the most hidebound of partisans are found willing to join in a vote of censure upon the Government because they have striven with success to put down a criminal conspiracy, illegal both in its objects and its mode of action, and to relieve the people of Ireland from an intolerable tyranny,which it was sought to maintain by murder and outrage. AN ABSOLUTE ACQUITTAL  The Speaker says that it is only upon those points an which the public was long ago agreed, and which have no direct connection with crime in any shape, that there is any finding against the Irish members. The whole of the allegations which were strung together for the first time in the venomous chapters upon " Parnelliinn and Crime" are shewn by the judges to be of a piece with Pigott's forgeries. With regard to a 1 of them Mr. Parnell meets with an absolute acquittal. Continuing, the Speaker says : "We prefer to leave to another occasion the fuller discussion of thin momentous document. We leave it for the moment in the possession of the English people—a race whose love of fair•plAy is as proverbial as their love of freedom—end we confidently anticipate the results of that revulsion of public feeling which must follow the final exposure and refutation of the most hideous series of calumnies ever invented and launched for the purpose of bringing undeserved infamy and destruction upon the members of a political party. We do not the lees confidently anticipate this result because of the laboured efforts made by many of the Ministerial newspapers to mislead the public as to the real effect of the finding of the Commission. Happily the report of the judges is too precise and emphatic to make it possible for these attempts to succeed."
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1890-02-13 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SENSATIONAL SHOOTING OUTRAGE. Simon Myatt, a farm labourer, aged 19, has been charged at Cheadle with attempting to murder his parents, John and Mary Myatt, by shooting them. The evidence was of a sensational character. On the night of the 23rd January Hr. and Mrs. Myatt went ho spend the evening at the Royal Oak Inn, Cheadle. They left about half-past 11 o'clock,and drove to their farm at Hatchley, a distance of about two and ahalf miles. They had nearly reached the gat. leading to their house, when siim e one fired from behind a hovel. Mr. Myatt received many of the shots and fell back in the cart, apparently fatally injured. Mrs. Myatt was wounded in the head, neck, and right arm. Fortunately, however, she remained conscious, and the first thing she did was to get out of the trap and to go the farm gate, for the purpose of opening it. To her surprise, however, she found that it was nailed up, and that she was unable to open it. Mr. Myatt was carried into the house, and both of them remained there until daylight, being afraid to go out,and them Mr.. Myatt drove to the Cheadle Police-station, and gave information of what had occurred. It  - -appeared that about 9 o'clock on the previous night the prisoner Sonon told his sister Alice to go to bed, but sne preferred to await the return of her parents. Between 10 and 11 o'clock he ached her for some paraffin oil for a lamp, and inquired what time the Royal Oak cloeed, and on her telling him 11 o'clock he left the house. When be returned his face was bleeding, end at first he evaded her question as to what had happened. Afterwards he said that some one Lad shot him when near the plantation. Alice noticed that • doublebarrelled gun was in its proper place the same evening, but on the following morning it was found by the police broken into several pieces. Evidently it had burst whilst being discharged. Part of the stock was found come distance away. To the police, Simon said that whilst 'tending in the field, near to the hovel, the genie shot that wounded his parents injured him, and that he had no knowledge of the person who need the weapon. No motive can be assigned for the crime, but it is reported that the accused has been paying ad dresses to the daughter of a neighbouring farmer, who is many years his senior, and that his parent% while Sot openly discouraging the acquaintanceship, had not sufficiently encouraeed it to please him. Marks of clogs found near the spot where the outrage was committed correspond with marks made by tiSOS• worn by prisoner. He was committed for trial at the Stafford assizes. The prisoner is entitled to • large sum of money on coming of age,  La explosion occurred on Friday night in thy Rbonney Level Colliery (Monmouth), by which U of his valuers were seriously inured.