The Warwickshire Herald. — 1893-11-16 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

NOVEMBER 16, 1893  LOCAL NOTES.  Aston seems in a fair way for keeping up its reputation of being the White Chapel of Birmingham. On Monday Messrs. Hill and Smallwood were occupied nearly two hours at the Aston Police Court, on cases of a murderous character. Three men and a onearmed woman were each charged with unlawfully wounding. Broken glass bottles, pokers, knives, and a large axe were the kind of instruments used In one case two assailants, who each used a poker on another man's head, were remanded in custody for a week. The victim had his skull broken in several places and lies in a precarious condition in the hospital. In the case of the one-armed woman she VMS committed for trial at the Warwick Assizes. Her victim, a brewer, had his arm in a sling, and had been la;d aside in the hospital three weeks. She caused a wound two inches long, which penetrated to the bone by striking him with the broken neck af a glass bottle.  The third case might be termed the Montague-street one, the complainant and prisoner,beilig neighbours. Considering that a huge axe, a knife and a long iron chissel were the instruments of attack the wonder is ' complainant was so little injured. It must require the skull of a nigger to stand a blow of an axe Fuch as is used to fell a bull. Last week when the prisoner was brought up the charge was adjourned in order that the doctor might be present to give evidence. On Monday the doctor was present, but the principal witness was not. That morning the bailiffs had paid the unfortunate witness a visit, and were watching her front and back door, and she was unable to get to Court. Her only way of keeping the bailiffs out was by keeping herself in. Supt. Walker got another adjournment till Wednesday, and the witness will have another visitor armed with a subpoena, and between the bailiffs and the police will have a lively time.  The colliers' strike seems to be indirectly answerable for many things. The scarcity and consequent dearness of coal, coupled with the pressing demand on account of the cold weather, has caused a variety of methods to be devised for obtaining them. A Wheelerstreet landlord has recently found he was supplying the neighbourhood with coal as well as beer, only the former was taken from the back yard without application at the bar being made, Policemen were put on to watch the black diamonds, and a pair of married women, neighbours, gave another call on the coal stack, and the policeman took them into custody. Mrs. Nield, who had a 191 b. lump under her ulster, was fined 10s., but her companion was discharged.— Messrs. Parker and Probert, coal merehants, Witton, while carting from the wharf in that locality, to Messrs Kynoch's works, have experienced some annoyance and inconvenience at the hands of school children engaged in seeking or picking coal. The practice at Witton by the children has been to follow the carts and pick up pieces which might fall from badly loaded or overloaded vehicles. The youngsters, however, have got into the habit of knocking off coal which was not likely to fall, and in this way they managed to pick up 4 cwt. in a single day. As in the other case, the police had been put on to watch. The result was that four children found themselves in the lock-up, and had a narrow escape of being punished.  The Aston Guardians at their meeting on Tuesday ratified the recommendation of the committee appointed to consider an advance of salary to their clerk. At the same meeting the labour master made application for a rise on the ground of 31 years' service, and extra duty in the shape of pigkilling. The application was referred to the General Purposes Committee. The negotiations for the purchase of land for workhouse extensions were further considered, the Board recommending the Local Government Board to allow of the borrowing of £11,300 in order to complete the series of contracts about to be entered into instead of doing the thing piecemeal as seemed to be the policy of the Local Government Board. There are a great number of inmates in the institution at I present, and it is thought desirable to build cottage homes for children, and so isolate them from the influences of workhouse fife.