The Sun. — 1860-05-23 (London, England)

HORRIBLE INCREASE OF CHILD  M URDER.  Yesterday Mr. Wakley held an inquest in the boardroom of the Holborn Union, Gray's Inn-lane, on the body of a newly-born male child, which was found in a piece of waste ground in Chapel-street, of that locality. The body was enveloped in a pillow-case, covered with four sheets of brown paper and tied up with cord. The neck of the child was tightly encompassed with string passed three times round the neck. It was a fully grown male child and had been born alive. Strangulation was the cause of death.  The papers and other articles forming the concealment of the body were produced, one of the papers having written upon it " Question," and " Three, to-day." The ligature appeared to have been made from a piece of check washing silk, and formed into a band, similar to an apron string, of 32 inches in length, and 11 inches in width. The jury returned a verdict of " Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown." Mr. Wakley held another inquest at the Balmoral Castle, Caledonian-road, Islington, on the body of a male child found in a ditch, in Stroud-green-lane, in the parish of Islington, wrapped in a piece of dirty cotton, and enveloped in a black apron. It was a full-grown child, and had unquestionably been born alive, but, as in the previous case, without the assistance of a medical attendant. The cause of death was a blow on the skull. It must have been a remarkably sharp blow, as though the head had been knocked against a wall. The jury in this case also returned a verdict of " Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown."  The Coroner said this was really a horrible state of affairs, for infanticide was getting worse and worse. The previous day he held, at one sitting, three similar inquiries at Paddington, and in St. Mary's, Islington, he had had three others, and here was a fourth in the same parish. In another parish, since November last, he had presided over upwaids of 30 such cases. He thought while juries returned verdicts of " Found dead," it would only be an incentive to women who contemplated juries simply acts, for when they found doctors and simply agree to such a verdict, they thought such might be the result in their case, and they would then escape punishment. It appeared to him that concealment of birth was premeditated murder, for no assistance whatever was obtained. Something should be done to prevent children thus being exposed to murder. There was the Foundling Hospital, which, if conducted as originally intended, would tend greatly to diminish this kind of crime ; but in order now to bring a child within its provisions, there must be an application from the mother, with proof that prior to her seduction she was of good character. About twelve months since a child was found near Hammersmith buried alive. It was extricated, and he (the coroner) endeavoured, but unsuccessfully to gain it admission to that establishment, and it was eventually received into the Fulham Union, where it is now doing well. He thought something should be done to suppress the increase of so awful a crime ; for a thousand children might now be murdered without the possibility of discovery. The jurors fully concurred in the remarks of the coroner. The trustees of the parish of SL Mary, Islington, in the three cases alluded to (in one of which the child had its throat cut, the second was taken from the canal, and the third found in a garden), have offered a reward of £5 in each case for information that may lead to the apprehension of the guilty parties.  A