npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1893-08-10 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

FAMILY TRAGEDY.  A rural tragedy of no ordinary kind is reported from Elleville, near Mantes, in the Department of the Seine et Oise. M. and Madame Regent, who occupied a small agricultural holding in tile locality, suffocated themselves and their four children by means of charcoal fumes. The causes of this sinister resolution on the part of the Regents had, says the Paris correspondent of the Daily Teleyraph, a rather trivial basis. The peasantfarmer and his wife, like most members of their class, were of a thrifty character, and had amassed a considerable amount of savings. Madame litigant had a dispute with a neighbour, and ae,afsed him of having burned down a small house which she owned many years ago. The neighbour, a sturdy fernier, retorted that he would make her prove hoe words in a court of justice, and that the result of the action might be financially disastrous to herself and her husband. The woman brooded moodily over the menace, and conjured up doleful risiGria ot the sale of her house, and furniture, and the ruin of her family. She accordingly prevailed tie her husband, who appears to have been a weak-minded person, to accomplish the terrible tragedy which took place on Friday evening. Madame Regant lighted a charcoal fire in a stove, placed th,, latter in her bedroom, and then shut herselt up with or husband and the four small children—two boys and two girls. Next morning the six were found dead by the neighbours. Alt were lying pell-mell ii, the same bed—the mother and children undressed, while the father had some scant clothing on. The mayor of the place was informed of the occurrence, and after the customary investigation, which takes the place of an inquest, orders were given for the burial of the bodies. The funeral tool: place without any religious service,as the parish ! -'est refused to receive the bodies into the church ow,ng to the fact that the Regants had committed suicide. The interment was an exceptionally doleful affair, as crowds of wailing women—friends and sympathisers of the deceased persons—followed the bodies to the grave.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-06-21 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

FRENCH LOVE TRAGEDIES.  Inability to declare his amorous passion in fluent and intelligible French has led to the self-destruction of a young Florentine named Luigi Marmini. This youth came to Paris some months since, and after having found employment he foolishly threw it up in order to spend his days gazing at a fascinating damsel of Montmartre, whose face was to be seen very frequently inside a window exactly opposite Marmini's abode. After much trouble the Florentine succeeded in securing a meeting with the captivating young woman. They came together under some trees in the most romantic part of Montmartre; but the Italian spoke such atrocious French that the girl only laughed in his face and mimicked his strange jargon. Marmini then went off to a tavern in anguish, drank several glasses of reputed brandy, and stabbed himself to death. A dramatic suicide was attempted the other night in a well-known café near the Boulevard des Italiens. A student had been supping there in company with a young woman when he suddenly pulled a revolver from his pocket and fired, wounding himself severely in the breast While he was being removed to the nearest hospital an investigation was held by the police officials, and it was ascertained that, whereas the bill for the supper amounted to 60f., the student had no money to pay it Be is in a very precarious condition.  Mr. Albert D. Vandam,Hie author of "An Englishman in Paris" and "My Paris Notebook," has Written a two-volume story entitled "The Mystery if the Patrician Club," which Messrs. Chapman and Hall announce for immediate publication. Captain Hawley Smut at the time of his death was engaged upon •novel,which was left unfinished. Mrs. Smart, who for many years an/listed her husband in his literary labours, has made ready this last novel for the press, and it will be published shortly.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-05-17 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE MARK LANE SEED MARKET.  8. 8. Tares, per qr., Sound Winter ... 60 to 90 Clover, Red, per 1121 h., English 75 tollo French and tiennan... ... 55 to 90 American and Canadian ... ... 60 to 90 White, per 1121 b., English ... 60 tollo French and German ... 65 tot® _ _ _  _ Alsike, per 1121 b. 75 toloo Trefoil, per 1121 b., English... ... ... 20 to 70 Foreign Linseed, per qr., English ... 60 to 63 He , per 3361 b., Riga ... 28 to 30 Mustard, per bus., English, White ... 11 to 14 East India, Brown ... 10 to 11  Lucerne, per 11211; ... 70 to 75 Buckwheat, per qr. ... 24 to 27 Ryegrass, per qr., Perennial (14-281 b. per bus.) 41 to 48 Perennial (28-30Ib. per bus.) ... 42 to 50 Canary, English (per 4801 b.) ... 40 to 70 Foreign (per 4841 b.) ... 55 to 75 Rapeseed, per qr., English „„ 58 to 83 Dutch ... ... 50 to 52  A sensational suicide of a soldier named Dochez is reported from Beauvais. Dochez had writteninn insulting name on the knapsack of a Jewish comrade. The latter complained to the lieutenant of his company, who severely reprimanded Dochez, and Dochez immediately went into his room and committed suicide.  On Sunday evening about six o'clock a balloon was seen travelling repidly over the Grand Boulevards, Paris. The occupant of the car, M. Gaston Vavrick, was throwing out ballast, but despite this the balloon quickly descended, and ultimately alighted on the top of a house in the Rue Saint Mae. M. Vavrick was rescued from his perilous position without receiving any injury.  i.qual to nim.—sorne years ago tnere nye(' in the city of X— a rather eccentric old man, remarkable for his shrewdness, who kept a pork shop. Some young fellows, thinking to have some fun with him, entered his shop one night and `asked what his pork was a yard. The old man promptly replied: "Five shillings." One of the young fellows tlken said: "I'll take a yard." "Where is your moue'?" said the old man. The five shillings were laid down, which the old man quickly pocketed, and then produced three pig's feet, with the remark: "Three feet make me yard."
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-07-12 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE INQUEST. On Saturday evening, Mr. Edwin Hooper (coroner for South Staffordshire) held an inquiry at the Stork Hotel, Heathfield Road, relative to the death of Alfred Bird (38), a widower, living with his daughter, at 134, Leonard Road, Handsworth, whose death is recorded above.—Albinea Mary Hore, of Yarmouth, said she was deceased's sister, and was on a visit to her relatives in Birmingham. Deceased had been a great sufferer from his youth up with a. painful internal malady. He had been in the hospital several times, and for some time past had been under the medical treatment of Dr. Garvey, of Losells. The doctor last saw him on Friday morning, and as he was in excessive pain it was arranged that he should come at, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and perform an operation.—Sarah Ann Woodward said she was a neighbour of deceased's, and frequently attended to him as his mother was too infirm. She was with deceased on Friday morning, and he appeared to be distressed at the thought of the operation. She returned to her home, and during her absence deceased sent his little daughter downstairs for his razor, saying he wanted to shave. When witness came back she found the bedroom door locked, and on bursting it open saw deceased lying on the bed with a fearful gash in his throat—in fact, the head was nearly severed. Dr. Ley, of Heatlifield Road, was sent for, but death ensued some time before his arrivaL— In reply to a question, witness stated that deceased asked her to get some laudanum to soothe his pains on Friday morning, but this she refused to do.--.% verdict of "Suicide while temporarily insane'. ma. returned.  A Lady Swimmer and the Baths.—An Akon lady, writing to a contemporary, complains about. the treatment of her sex at the Baths. For weeks past the ladies have had all the dirtiest and nastiest of the water in the swimming bath. It has been thick and greasy, and when some of it gets into some of their mouths it has a disgusting, flavour. She asks "When are we going to lune some steps to get in and out with.? For weeks, excepting at the deep end, where they are of no use, to non-swimmers, there has been no step-ladder, and we have had to help each other to scramble out by climbing up the side. Surely if an alteration la needed it is not necessary to keep us waiting en these weeks."  i --‘t, I
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-07-12 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SHAFTESBURY.  At the Marlborough-street Police-court, on Monday, Paul Koczula, 25, an iron turner, and Susannah Koczula, 24, his wife, a dressmaker, were again brought before Mr. Hannay, to answer the charges of having murdered Sophia Frederica Matilda Ruch, the wife of a restaurant keeper, carrying on business at 167, Shaftesbury-avenue; and of having stolen about £4O, and iewellery of the value of about ASO, belonging to Carl Basch, their master. George Schmerfeldt,- 31, described as • waiter, was on remand, with being an accessory before thahrraecde to the murder of Mrs. Pasch; with being an accessory before and after the fact to stealing the money and Jewellery; and with having attempted to commit suicide. —Helen Hamann, ef Charlotte-street, Fiotoz-square, deposed that for some time she I inthe same house as Schmerfeldt. The night witness heard of the murder she went to Charlotte-street, where she saw Mrs. Kempf. On the following day she saw Schmerfeldt, and told him that a policeman had been for him. She asked him what was the matter, and he replied, "Nothing." Schmerfeldt then asked witness for his razor, as he Wanted to shave. She retitled to give it to him, saying, "You will kill yourself." Shortly afterwards he again came to her, and asked for the razor, some whiskey, and ink, pens, and paper. She handed him the razor, and he next inquired from Mrs. Kempf where the Koczulas were then living. Some time after obtaining their address in liampstead-road, Schmerfeldt bade her "Good night," and said he was going to kill himself, as he could not bear the shame. They had been talking about the murder, and Schmerfeldt said that he could not survive the shame, and that he would rather die. She noticed at the time that he was very pale, and he shewed her a cut in his arm, lie left her a piece of paper, on which was written "York-street, Commercial-road."—The case was again adjourned.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-08-09 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

KISSING CONDEMNED.  Johannes Secundus in his "Bashi" might be thought (says the British Medical Journal) to have dealt with kissing from every conceivable point of view, but he lived in pre-hygienic days, before the fear of the übiquitous bacillus had eclipsed the gaiety of nations. Preachers of asceticism used to condemn kissing on the ground of its danger to the soul, but to the "average sensual man" the added spice of sin probably made it all the more delightful Now the apostle of sanitary perfection is denouncing kissing for its danger to the body. The Japanese, he tells us, are a hygienically-minded people, and they never kiss. The sanitary committee of the Orange (New Jersey) Board of Health has recommended that a circular be sent out to all whom it may concern, "urging everyone to desist as much as possible from kissing, as the touching of lips is likely to convey contagion." That foul and deadly disease may be, and often is, propagated in this way is of course a fact as to which there can be no sort of doubt. Many a mother has, like the Princess Alice, caught infection from the lips of her child dying or dead of diphtheria. There is every reason to believe that the seeds of tuberculosis may be implanted by kissing, and the too common beslobbering of children by friends of the family and by effusive strangers cannot be too strongly condemned on hygienic grounds. It cannot therefore be denied that kissing is dangerous; but will "Sanitary Committees" be able to put it down, as a too sanguine magistrate once undertook to "put down" suicide? Will love-making be conducted on antiseptic 'principles ? "Kissing goes by favour," we are told—is it for the future to be by favour of the county council P Great, no doubt, is Hygeia; but we will back human nature with some confidence against her.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-08-09 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SUICIDES' LETTERS.  On Saturday, Dr. Danford Thomas held an inquest at the Hampstead Dispensary Hall on the body of Edward Maskell, 26, a carpenter, of Camden Town, who shot himself in the right temple on Primrosehill on Thursday, a six-chambered revolver, with one barrel discharged, being found by his aide.— Mary Masten, a widow, identified the body as that of her son, who, she said, was lazy, and out of work. She had missed money, and had accused him of stealing it.—lnspector Ross produced the following letter, which was found upon the deceased, addressed, "To the finder.—Dear Friend,—When you read this I hope to be dead haying shot myself. I have been very miserable of late through being accused of stealing money at home; but, God knows, I have borrowed of friends and pawned all I have of any good. But mother wanted to get rid of me (hence the accusation). She is thinking of getting married again to an old man 65 years of age. She will tell him she don't want him and drive him to the grave as she did my father and self. Good-bye.—E. Masten. Give my love to sweetheart, my only friend." This letter was identified by a sister as being in the handwriting of the deceased, and a similar statemenlwas written in a pocket-book found upon him, in NAM he declared he was not insane.—The jury returned a verdict of suicide whilst of unsound mind. . . .  Dr. Thomas also held an inquest at Hampstead, on the body of William Monies, 80, a salesman in the Metropolitan Meat Markt, who had been missing from his home, and was found in the waters of the Viaduct Pond, Hampstead-heath. The body was found by an engine-cleaner, who was walking across the Reath.—Dr. W. H. Payne, the police divisional surgeon, examined the body and found that it had been in the water about two hours.— Anne Motile identified the body as that of her husband, who she said had been strange in his manner for some time. In a pocket-book in his possession there was a long narrative of his movements and his pecuniary troubles, together with what was apparently an intimation of his intention to take poison. "Thousands of people," he sail, "went bankrupt for thousands of pounds, but I am going to die for £3 or £4. One pound would have saved me."—The jury returned a verdict of suicide whilst of unsound mind.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-07-26 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

ART EXPERT'S DISAPPEARANCE.  The disappearance of M. Gamier, the well-known speculator in works of art and picture expert, has been the standing mystery of the week, writes the Daily Nears Paris correspcndent. Ile was a clever writer on art subjects, lived in fine style in Paris, and had a villa at Champigny, close to Vincennes, which was a show place. Its greenhouses and hothouses, its gardens and Swiss dairy, proclaimed, or seemed to proclaim, great wealth. The town house in the Rue de Suez contained rare furniture and a picture gallery, which were in themselves a meat fortune. M. Gamier attended all the great picture auctions here and made sensational bids, lie was editor of the Guide des Amateurs, and he could make and almost unmake artistic reputations. It was he who bought Millet's "Angelus" for M. Chauchard for 800,000 f. He•bought the V,n Pract collection at Brussels for 2,800,00 Cf. A short time ago he appeared as a sensational bidder at a sale at the Petit Gallery, but taking umbrage, or seeming to take it, at something, went away before the cre.an of the collection was brought to the hammer. It was then reported that owing to the financial crisis in the United States he could not recover large sums of money due to him there. He is said to have threatened to embark on a ship at Havre and to throw himself overboard. He said the next news people would have of him would be about his suicide. The creditors would be able to sell the town house for £20,000, the collections for four times as much, and the estate at Champigny was at least worth £60,000. News of the suicide has arrived, and it would appear is well established, the Justice of the Peace of Champigny and of the district where M. Gamier lived In Paris having set seals on his house. Another picture expert not long ago left Paris 'under circumstances precisely parallel and has not been since heard of. IL. Gamier revived the vogue of the leading artists of 1830. He had bought many of their works cheaply and sold them at much higher prices. Latteily he was thinking of making a "plunge" in paintings of the English school, he having found that M. Rochefort awoke an interest in them.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-11-15 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

TRAGIC SEQUEL TO A SHOCKING  CHARGE.  On Saturday week a well-dressed, elderly man, of distinguished appearance, was charged at Southwark with assaulting a boy named Arthur Wayman. Evidence was given, and the accused was remanded, but later in the day Mr. Warburton, barrister, applied for bail for the accused. It may be remembered that he refused to give his name, and offered, instead, to write it on a slip of paper and give it to the magistrate. The magistrate, on receiving the paper, took the extraordinary course of agreeing not to allow the name to be made public, the idea being that a great scandal might be caused unless some such step were taken. The case was accordingly remanded for a week.  On Saturday morning, on visiting the cell of the accused man at Holloway, a warder was astonished to find him lying dead on his little wooden bed. The Boor of the cell was covered with blood, and in the man's throat there was a terrible gash extending almost from ear to ear, and ragged at the edges as if the flesh had been torn asunder by the hands Marks round the wound led the warder to think that the hands had been used largely to cause the wound, but this could not explain how the original hole in the throat could have been made. A subsequent search, however, explained this, for close by on the floor was found a piece of glass in splinters with which the deceased had first of all pierced his throat, and no doubt afterwards used with terrible effect. _ _ _ _  ..... Shortly before the hearing of the night charges at Southwark Police-court, on Saturday morning, had been completed the clerk of the court, addressing Mr. St John Wontner, said, "You appear in the remanded case of a man who refused to give his name on Saturday last, do you not I' "—"I do," answered Mr. St. John Wontner, "and Mr. Arthur Newton here appears for the defence."—"Then," returned the clerk, "I don't think you need wait. I have a letter here from the Governor of Holloway Prison, in which he regrets to inform me that the man committed suicide in his cell during the night."—Mr. Newton: I saw him yesterday afternoon about 5 o'clock in Holloway, and the matter seemed to prey very greatly upon his mind. Few can regret this tragedy more than myself, because I have investigated the matter with the very greatest care, and in my humble opinion I should have had a complete explanation in answer to the charge. The magistrate said that would probably be seen at the inquest,when doubtless the whole facts would come out.  Throughout the whole of the case no mention was made of the name of the accused.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1894-06-07 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SUPPOSED SUICIDE. On Saturday morning Mr. E. Hooper held an inquest at the New Inn'e Hotel, touching the death of an old woman who was found drowned in a field off the Orhill Road, Handsworth, on June lst—Wm. Thomas Gregg, a oarsman in the employ of Mr. George Bladley, and living at 28, Griffin Street, West Bromwich, said among other duties he bad to perform was that of watering a meadow at the bottom of Camp Lane. About 8.40 on Friday morning he went to the meadow at usual, and on paesuaga a stream which ran through the field he noticed the body of a woman lying therein. She was lying face downwards, with her head resting on her hands- There was only about a foot of water in the stream at the time, and this was the deepest part of it When he found the body he noticed that the head was only in eight inches of water. It looked as though 'deceased had mewled under the fence into the water, and stretching herself out, rested her face upon her hands, and deliberately waited for death. As the body lay perfectly still and motionless, he concluded that life was extinct and did not pull it out, but at once set off for help. Coming down the road were three ladiee, who went and looked at the body. They requested him to go for the police, and this he did. Polioe-conetable Tytherleigh and himself returned to the spot, and together succeeded in getting the woman out of the water. They also minutely examined the ground around for any marks of a struggle which might have taken place, but none could be found. There was no path through the field, and the woman would have to climb over or crawl under the fence to get to the 'dream.— Police-constable Tytherleigh said be searched for marks of a scuffle, but there were none to be found. The laat witness had accurately described the position of the body as be saw it when he came upon the scene. He searched the body and found in the pocket a handkerchief and a half-penny. He also looked for marks of violence about the body, but did not find any. Descriptions of the woman had awed in the Birmingham and Handsworth papers other means taken to secure the identification of deceased, but up to that time nothing had been heard from her relatives—A juryman asked whether it would not be better to have held the inquest on a later day, so that the relatives or friends of the unfortumatle woman might have been given an opportunity of identifying the body. The coroner said he should be happy to postpone the inquiry if the jury wished it. There was no one else, however, to hack up the questioner, sod the matter dropped in face of the fact that the body could not he buried until Monday, arid during the interim there would be an opportunity of viewing the body, and if pos'Uhl° of ascertaining who the woman was. An open verdict of "Found drowned" was returned.  ..ppeared I.and