npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Widnes Examiner. — 1913-01-04 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

WERE A MILLIONAIRE." Great thoughts for January (Smith's Publishing Co. 61) is the double Christmas number, together with the popular sheet almanack, containing a helpful thought for every day in the year,dates of notable anniversaries, &c. The literary contents are remarkably interesting. In the course of an interview, Mr Norman Angell, the author of " The Great Illusion," is asked, " Has this present war changed your old opinions ?" " No," replied Mr Angell: " Certainly not ; why should it ? Surely we are not to say that because war has broken out that fact disposes of all objection to it. I suppose cannibalism and infanticide polygamy, judicial torture religious persecution, witchcraft, during all the years we did these" inevitable" things, were defended in the same way, and those who resented all critictsm of them pointed in triumph to the cannibal feast, the dead cAid, the maimed niLness, the slain heretic, or the burned witch. But the fact did not prove the wisdom of those habits, still less their inevitability ; for we have them no more." Among many interesting articles is one by Mr G W E Russell, on "If I were a millionaire." The famous Churchman says : "Whenever the opportunity served I should buy slum property in big towns, make a clean sweep of insanitary areas, add secure open spaces for public gardens and playgrounds for children. If this process involved the destruction of workmen's houses, I should be much inclined to contribute to "Garden Cities," taking pains to secure that only a" living rent" should be demanded. I should leave Public Libraries to Mr Carnegie, and a Nationll Theatre to those who believe in it, and Punch and Judy to the rates. To hospitals I should contribute on the largest scale, always taking uncommonly good care that any tendency on the part of doctors to experiment on the patients should be carefully watched, and not a penny of my money was bestowed on scientific torture. All forms of physical exeicise and outdoor recreation I should encourage by stibstantial prizes, doing all I could to enforce the distinction between—on the one hand—the games which discipline the human body; and—on the other—the brutal sports which torture dumb animals, and the systems of military training which would teach boys to;be murderers before their time.'  Ebenezer Church, Buttermarket-street. On New Year's Day a Band of Hope tea party and concert were held in the above church, and was well attended by members and friends. At the concert the chair was taken by Mr H Thornton. The programme included recitations by Lilian Shaw, Mrs Taylor, Miss Daisy Boughey, Miss Annie Boughey, Elwyn Reece and George Hazior. An action song was given by the children entitled "The Christmas Stocking." Solos were rendered by Miss Sarah Fox, Mrs Behbington and Mr Walter Ward, A duet was admirobly given by Miss Emily Higham and Miss Alice Gough. Songs were given by Miss Annie Boughey end Miss Minnie Shaw. There was also a dialogue given entitled '" The New Kitchenmaid,"
Widnes Examiner. — 1913-12-20 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

WEIRD STORY.  One of the most devoted bookmen of our day is Sir William Robertson Nicoll, and he has just published a volume of " Bookman's Letters." We cull the following creepy story Iroin the chapter •4' Stranger than Fiction'":— The husband of a ct rtain lady was a singular chara(ter, and passionately devoted to, antiquarian pursuits. He converted the upper part of his house into a-museum, and built a special room for himself, lighted and ventilated in a peculiar manner. Among his other peculiar.ities there were two skeletons, which he dusted and brushed himself. The dread of the skeletons was so great that not one of the servants willingly approached the staircase leading to the room in which they were deposited. They all united in declaring that very strange sounds were licard to proceed iron') the floor. By and by his wife died, and he came into possession of an ample fortunet-- A great change passed over .his appearance. He began to be spruce in his dress, gay and courteous ih his mannerS,. and accessible to strangers. By and by he prevailed on a very beautiful young lady, a portionless daughter of a curate, to become his Wife. He told her plainly beforehand that if she married him she must submit to Some. disagreeable restrictions, as he had made up,his mind never to leave .the town in which be resided; there would therefore be no bridal tour. The lady agreed, and she WAS treated with .a great deal of kindness, and allowed .iceasionally to leave the' home, though her imsband never accompanied her in any of her ,xcursions. In about ten years'after the marthe vault in which .the remains of the first wife were deposited was opened in consequence of some necessary repairs. It appeared, that the undertaker had abstracted the leaden coffin in which the .body had been encased, and' the Nvoodez, one fell to pieces, disclosing the corpse. The perfect state of the body attracted attention, a face,' ghastly it is true, but still unflecayed, appeared beneath the 'mouldering shroud. On examination the supposed corpseDroved to be a wax figure, and ,amoutcry arose that' murder had been committed. One of the magistrates of the plare proceeded to the antiquarian's abode, and bluntly told him the facts. After a few mil-Rites 'of strong perturbation the man exclaimed: Gentlemen', I have a living witness to prove my innocence of the crime imputed 'to me." lie led the way to the upper floor, opened several doors, and .brought out a person who was no other than his first wife. Tie had contrived to keep her in close c.onflne7 intent during this long portion. of her existence. The agitation produced ~by the discovery and the dread of consequences brought on an attack. which in a few hours carried off her husband. The second wife quietly removed to the Comtinent with her children, while the first wife. accustomed to confinement, seemed to have lost all enterprise and energy, and was quite, content to occupy the part of the house in which she had endured so tedious an imprisonment.
Widnes Examiner. — 1908-05-02 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

DEBACLE.  Manchester has spoken : Free Trade is at an end. We do not wish to exaggerate . . . Remembering the facts at the Manchester contest and the furious attacks of the Protectionist Press on Mr. Joynson-Hicks for his base desertion of Tariff Reform, I wondered what this speciman of Lord Northcliffe's myriad newspapers would be like when it did wish to exaggerate.' Perhaps the next free copy will be less severely restrained. As it is my rule never to buy anything from the Harmsworth factory I am grateful for this opportunity of testing its moderation without breaking my rule."  * * The opponents who turned up at the Citizens Temperance League's public meeting in the National Schools on Monday evening did not spend a very happy time. They thought to cause consternation by silly interruptions but they were cornered on every point and the feeling of the meeting was so markedly in favour of the Bill that the would-be disturbers must have gone away much disconcerted, The Rev. R. E. Letheren,vvho made his first appearance on a local plat form,is to be congratulated upon his able and convincing address. He dealt with the many questions fired at him in a tactful and skilful way and we have no doubt that the objectors, if they were so disposed, might have learnt a great deal from his address. We hope to hear Mr. Letheren championing the cause of which he is such an able advocate at many future meetings in Warrington. ,  * * * We wonder if any of our Borough Councillors—or a nice plump Alderman for choice—could be persuaded to cycle from Mersey-street corner to Messrs. Fairclough's flour warehouse. The ride would only be short, but it would include Warrington Bridge and might also include the death of the rider. If there is a more dangerous piece of street-paving in Lancashire than the tramway track over the bridge, on the left going to Latchford, we should like to see it and have it photographed. Warrington Bridge is sufficiently trying to the cyclist under the best conditions, bat with pit-falls in the pavement added to the congested traffic it is positively murderous. Somebody ought to be made erztrainally responsible for such a state of things—then perhaps it would be remedied!  _ * * * Miss Evelyn R. Tait, the newly-appointed matron of the Warrington Infirmary, has had a varied experience of hospital work eminently calculated to fit her for Ithat important post. She is a daughter of the late Sir Peter Tait and received her training at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. After acting as sister at the Liverpool Skin and Cancer Hospital she joined the Army Nursing Service Reserve and served in South Africa for two and a half years on the staff of No. 7 General IHospital stationed at Estcourt and Pretoria. She holds two medals for that campaign. In 1903 she was appointed sister of the men's medical ward at the Sheffield Royal Hospital and remained there two years. She then became night superintendent of the West London Hospital and in 1907 was promoted assistant matron, which position she at present holds
Widnes Examiner. — 1886-05-22 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

THE INQUEST.  The inquest on the bodies of the three children— Lily, aged 6 years: Gertrude, aged 4 3 ears ; and Nellie, aged 18 months—was held on Monday, at the Kirkham Police Station, by Dr. Gilbertson. The first witnees called was  Mrs. Pickford, but she added nothing to what has been already stated, except that she could not make herself contented at the circus, feeling certain that something was going to happen," and she" thought possibly Thigh might have hung himself." She thought this because he had had a bit of trouble. She had seen him speaking to Superintendent Stafford, and asked," How have you gone on ?" and he replied, "It is as you thought it would be—it's domino.' He them, said he had been discharged from the police, and "ha had three little children and no work.' She said she would stick to him. He seemed hardly to know what he was doing. When she and her son got into the house at to 30 on Saturday night, her son said, referring to Bligh, "Mother, he's not on duty here; he's in. bed,he's snoring." Witness went to the bottom of the stairs, and heard groaning. She called for a candle, and I her son said, " Mother, I cannot; you frighten me." She got a candle herself, and found Bligh lying on. his right side on the bed, bleeding from a wound in I his throat. She said to him," What have you done thisut didfor notr' then et h but eh he edi did notb t speak.they w e Sheredead, saw the children, shechil dsm, b after found they were all strangled. Mrs. Camp, wife of Sergeant Camp. deposed to hearing Bligh go into the house on Saturday night, and to Mrs. Pickford telling her Bligh had cut hiff throat. Police Constable Knott deposed to finding Bligh and the children as above stated, and Mr. Stßiford gave some particulars as to his connection with theMrs . Ann Mellor, of Ashton-under-Lyne, Bligh'' sister, gave evidence as to the receipt of a letter from him on Sunday morning. Dr. Thomas Shaw described the strangulation and fractures of the skulls of the children. The jury returned a verdict of "Wilful musder against Alfred Bligh."  On Tuesday the funeral of the three murdere& children took place at the Parish Church, Kirkham. A large number of floral wreaths and crosses were sent by residents of the neighbourhood, including three from the Infant School which had been attended by the eldest of the children. The funeral was witnessed by about 2000, persons, who had come to Kixkham from miles round that town. It will probably be at least a fortnight before Constable Bligh will be placed on his trial. Since his re— turn to consciousness he has been exceedingly quiet, bat affects to be utterly unconscious of what took place on Saturday night. He is progressing slowly. The police have the letter the prisouer sent to his sister-in-law. In it he says he Las determined to destroy himself and children, and that he thus would never, as he bad told her, pay anything. He farther says the act is owing to his being summoned.  A GIiABTLY
Widnes Examiner. — 1886-04-10 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

STOEY.—One of the stories hi which a peculiar Christian name figures is of an accident that happened when Preserved Fish, just twenty-One years old, had been made captain of a New Bedford whaling vessel. A revenue cutter bore down upon him and demanded the name of the brig. "The Flying Fish," shouted back the young commander. "What's the cargo ?" was the next question. "Pickled fish," was answered. "And who is captain ?" "Preserved Fish !" That Government officer couldn't stand this. He did not propose to be fooled with and made fun of by anybody in this way, and on board he climbed with his lieutenants, only to find that the whole truth and nothing but the truth had been told him.—Americart Angler. A farmer living in one of the interior counties of Central Mississippi shipped ten bales of cotton to a New Or-. leans merchant, and in due time received a letter acknowledging the receipt of the cotton and giving market quotations, &c. The letter was written by; a type-writing machine. When the farmer got it he was quite angry, and immediately wrote to the merchant that " He needn't think that because he lived in the pine woods that he had no education; that he was very grateful to his father, who had sent him to school, and had had him taught not only to read, but to read writing, so the next time he had occasion to communicate with him he Could write, and not go to theexpense of having his letter printed." CABBY EQUAL TO THE OccAstox.—Elderly Party: Hi, Cabby! Drive me to Barnes, and—ahem !--I hire you by the hour !—Cabby (testily) : Couldn't do it, sir. Just removed a smallpox patient from a private 'owe to , the 'orspitaL Goin' to the yard to get disinfected.—Elderly Party (blandly) : Don't trouble aboutthat, my good man; I'm just recovering from a very severe attack of. the Selfsame dangerous complaint myself; so you will just suit me.—Cabby (fairly alarmed): Werry likely, old crumpet face; but you won't soot me. There's a hempty hambulance and a hempty 'earse a-follerin' hon. Pick yer chice o' them wehickels ; they'll take by the hour, day, or job, at a invalid's pace too, you bet. (Drives off at fire engine speed.)  AN EXPLORER'S TROUBLES ON THE UPPER For three weeks, Seago and I have laad a soul-siekening fight for the mastery with our entire caravan, and in the course of it we have had to brandish our revolvers like transpontine stage brigands, use our fists and our tongues like natives of Billingsgate, and hourly tear the passions to tatters, while our men have jeered at, threatened to murder us, and in a thousand ways to frighten us; and bring our plans to contemptible failure. Can you wonder now why I spoke of myself as a bruised reed? But, mark you, though bruised, I am not squashed. We have not indeed as yet got the upper hand; but we are making headway towards the victory .every day, and though we peel our knuckles in the necessary .battle, we mean to win and to implant that respect for the white man which the natives have failed to acquire under a foolighly indulgent government on the Coast.—Joseph Thomson in" Good Words" for April.
Widnes Examiner. — 1886-11-06 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

SHOCKING DOUBLE MURDER AT LYTHAINI.—A most atrocious double murder was committed on Tuesday afternoon at Lytham, the murderer being a roan 67 years of age, named James Mellor, recently employed by the Local Board as a blacksmith, and his victims his wife and wife's sister. The former was 58 and the latter about 56 years of age. Shortly before five o'clock Mellor accosted a police constable on duty. asking him to go and look at two women who had hurt themseivea. Upon reaching Mallor's house, the constable discovered Mrs. Mellor on a couch in the kitchen quite dead, with her bead shockinzly battered. In the back garden he found her sister, Miss Kent, ;Os') quite dead, and the skull smashed. The officer at once arrested Mellor, and when charged with the murder the prisoner said, "I hope You will forgive me for what I've done." Upon a search being made, a large hammer was found in the garden, besmeared with blood. The heads of the victims had been beaten to pulp, sleazing the determination with which the foul deed was perpetrated. The murderer's wife appears to have been asleep when attacked. Miss Kent, who at the time of the attack, was hanging out clothes, appears to have been struck from behind. Medical men pronounced the murderer quite sane. Mellor and his wife had net lived on comfortable terms for some time past —On Wednesday, an inquest was held on the bodies of Mrs. Mellor and Miss Kent,. The circumstances disclosed showed that the crime had probahly been to a large extent premeditated. Mellor passed a restless night in the police cells, guarded by constables. His manner is described as reserved, and he makes no reference. to the crime. A verdict of wilful murder was returned. On Thursday Mellor was brought befere the magistrates and committed for trial. He put a number of questions to one of he sons with a view to showing that he had been ill-used by certain members of his family. . 11: U_ ON CONSUMPTIoN. 4:.--'' ONGRet'E 7.. FLOCTTIr .A.ND (mimes "—ln the iligh Court of Just,co, ChtnePry D,vision Notice is hereby given that on the 29th Sentemb.r, 1886 an interim Injunction was granted by Kr. Justice Grantham t, restrain tiffs defendants. H. E. Thomnson, otherwise T. A. Slocum, and Frank Bassett sued as n. a. Root. otherwiso Pissett, Court. Farringd:m fluset, E.C.. their agents, from printing or publishing a treatises "Consumption of the Lungs, and the Only Successful all its Stages," until the first motion day aster l sth November that formidable Diseace to he Curable In servantsTesnenertte aetttt.l°emfd eANnanotrdl dBB:l:twie ei nisß hereby further given that any person who shall, without leave ottathed from the above-named plaintiff. Mr. G. T. Congreve, of Coombe Lodge, Peekh -An, publish, or sell, or distribute auycopy or colourable imit.q.lon of his work, entitled .. Osi Consumption of the Lungs or Decline, and its Successful Treatment, showing that Formidable Disease to be Curable in all its Stages." will render himself liable to be proceeded against for an injunction and damagss.— Dated. this 18th day of October. 1886.— JAMES MoTS A
Widnes Examiner. — 1886-07-31 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN PENZANCE. FOUR PERSONS KILLED. About half-past one on Wednesday afternoon a shocking crime was enacted at Penzance by a man named James Hawke, who shot his sister, her husband, and the wife of a neighbour, and to complete the tragedy shot himself. A Penzance correspondent supplies the following details :--The murderer was the son of a shoemaker, and was fifty-two years of age. He had passed many years in Australia, where he attained some success in the wool trade, and returned to this 11 country about the end of last year. He had latterly visited Bristol, and came back to Penzance six weeks ago. He was of a quiet and sociable disposition. His sister Mary was many years his junior, and her husband, Charles Wren, shoemaker, was the son of Mr. John Wren, printer. They all lived together in Marine-place. The ether victim, Mrs. Gerrard, was the wife of a watchmaker in the town. Hawke had been in conversation with several young men at the bottom of Queen-street, and on going to his house one of the young men who had occasion to go to the same court followed him. Deceased went in, and in a few moments afterwards shot the sister and then the husband; eoming out to the door he followed and shot Mrs. Gerrard in the side. All three expired almost immediately. The young man previously referred to spoke to ' him, when he put up his hand and said, "Stand back." Placing the muzzle of the revolver under his ear: he fired, and fell dead in the doorway. The house is situated in a tolerably spacious courtyard behind the Queen's Hotel. The stone steps inside ,the little garden gate were stained with blood, and , inside the house the kitchen floor was also ailuilarly , marked, and the entrance into the small back yard was also stained with blood. The murderer and his victims were discovered stretched on the floor side by side in a large pool of blood. Wren was shot in the right breast, The murderer lay next to him. He is a short, thick-set man, dressed entirely in blue Adams b Green Green l4 serge. The faces of all wore a peaceful expression. G. Connolly b 'Davies b Green ....... o Mrs. Wren had evidently been shot near the mouth, Taylor b corner 0. Connolly run out Phillipa lbw. b Green 5 2 Eterrard's body lay to the right of the others. She Kaight not out Floyd e Burgeas b Oolier o had been struck in the back as she attempted to esilyoo6k b Colller o cape, and had evidently died at once. IRowarth c Bennett b Green 3 Superintendent Nicholas, with a sergeant and two ,BAldwin b Green constables, was soon on the spot, and Drs. Grenfell, Hooking, and others were promptly in attendance, but no sign of life was visible in any of the victims. The murderer had been ping about in the morning conversing with friends, but nothing unusual was noticed in his manner or appearance. There is no motive known which can explain the frightful  tragedy. Mr. and Mrs. Wren leave seven and Mrs. Gerard six children.