The Blackpool Herald. — 1876-04-21 (Blackpool, Lancashire, England)

THE PRISONER BEFORE THE ILA.GISTR,ATES. The arrested barber, William Fish, was brought before the Blackburn magistrates on Monday. He was formerly a parish apprehtice, and was taken out of the Blackburn Workhouse by Chadwick Bramwell, with whom he served his apprenticeship. The prisoner's old master was on the jury, and circumstances which he pointed out to his bro'hor jurors fixed public suspicion xi the prisoner, which increased with every hour until he was arrested. lit. Potts, the chief constable, said the prisoner Wm. Fish; was charged with committing an outrage upon the girl, and with the murder and mutilation of her body, on the 28th ult. On the previous day a man from Preston brought with him two dogs, one a spaniel and the other a bloodhound and pointer. The dogs had been brought to Bastwell and Lower Cunliffe, but nothing was discovered. Afterwards the dogs were taken to Fish's shop. The does found in the chimney portions of a human skuli and parts of the arms, which appeared to have been partially burned. On entering the house Superintendent Eastwood informed the prisoner of the object of the visit, and prisoner was overwhelmed with consternation and dismay. The child's skull had three teeth in the lower jaw. No other child had been murdered that the pOice knew of. The , outrage seemed to have had two persons conoarned in it. Superintendent Eastwood proved that the dogs had " scented " very clearly all round the place before the 'discovery. A quantity of hair was found under the Islopstone, and the dog "scented" there very closely. I Detective Holden went upstairs, closely followed by the Idogs. The dog "scented " the chimney, and the dog's 'owner at once put his head and shoulders up the chimney, and brought out first a small bone, and ultimately the skull and other missing portions of the body. The skull had brown hair upon it. The prisoner and his wife were present when the articles were found. No fire had been where the articles were found. Witness took the prisoner into custody on the charge of murder. He said he knew nothing about it.  Prisoner was then remanded. A "Central News" telegram states :—The Blackburn ' Police Court was besieged by an excited crowd, and numbers were unable to get in. Fish was the first prisoner brought up, and the interest escited on his appearance and the production of the dogs was intense. A sensation of horror went through the court when the remains were produced. Several articles of clothing were with the renuilips., Mr. Potts, chief constable, said that recent investigations had led the police to believe that two persons might have been concerned in the murder, and a witness was prepared to swear that on the night of the outrage a man, answering to Taylor's description, entered the barber's shop and informed Fish the remains were discovered, to which Fish replied, "Never mind, so long as others are I secure." In answer to the magistrate, Mr. Potts said the police were acquainted with that fact before Taylon's arrest. The Chief Constable then detailed the icircumstances connected with the finding of the 1 remains in the chimney at Fish's shop. At the conclusion of the evidence, Fish, in reply Lo a question from the Bench, said, "I know nothing about it. I lam as innocent as a child about it." ,