Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1888-04-28 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

SHOCKING STORY.  A Rio Janeiro correspondent of the Times, writing on the 21st ult., furnishes an astounding story. No fewer than 3,000 Indians in one part of Brazil, aud 800 in another, are said to have been poisoned by means of strychnine and chlorate of mercury, administered by " persons employed by the authorities." And further horrors are said to be imminent ; there is a scheme for poisoning 5,000 more of the miserable natives by means of some unknown drug. No circumstance of atrocity is wanting in the narrative. Senor Joaquin Bueno, if only a small part of what is told of him be true, has outdone all recorded prodigies of infamy. With a force of 70 men he attacked an Indian village, drove away the inhabitants, poisoned the wells, water, wine, and food leftby the fugitives with strychnine, and withdrew. When Bueno and his followers returned to the village sonic days afterwards, the poison had done its work; clouds of crows hovered over the scene of their crime, where lay 3,000 corpses. The murderers then fell upon another village of 800 inhabitants. Resorting to the same stratagem, they made use of chlorate of mercury, with the same effect, and at the time the news was chronicled they were preparing to attack a village of 5,000 inhabitants. And Senor Bueno boasts of what he has done. He says that anyone who exterminates Indians with a view to taking possession of their land deserves great praise; it is all done for civilisation. The correspondent adds that before sending any report of the alleged facts to England he waited five days, thinking that sonic denial might be made of the truth of the statements, or at least that some individual Brazalian would express disapproval of the action of the authorities, but no notice was taken of it until the day on which he despatched the news, when a statement was inserted in the Journal da Coininercio denying that such an occurrence has now taken place either at Rio Novo or San Jose, both places being 120 miles from Paranapanema, where this wholesale murder was reported to have been committed.  A fatal accident occurred on Saturday at Folkestone. A stone weighing a ton was being lowered into position at the new police cell which is being constructed when it fell. Four men were underneath, and one was killed, his head being smashed. Another man was terribly injured. William Henry Phillips, secretary of the: Atlas Building Society, which is now, under order of court, in liquidation, was chargedfat the Bristol police.court on Saturday with obtaining by false pretences £3,000, the property of the society. There were two other charges of embezzling and stealing money, and counsel for the prosecution intimated that further grave charges would beb rought. lie asked for a remand as the case was of such magnitude. A remand was granted,the prisoner being admitted to bail in 1'2,000.  The body of the girl ...vhich was IOlll4Ci in the canal near Driffield on Good Friday has been exhumed and identified by several people as Mary Holliday who, although living in the neighbourhood, was not miased until after the interment. The mother of the girl is in custody charged with murder. Mr. Brafflaugh's expenses in defending the libel case brought against him by Mr. Peters, amounted, including the fine, to £5OO. Mr. Labouchere at once opened & subscription in the House of Commons to meet the sum, which was all subscribed within an hour. by more than 50 members of the House.