npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Brighouse Gazette and Local Railway Guide. — 1898-02-12 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

STRANGER TILLN FICTION. --A novel of the most sensational order might be founded upon a remarkable accident which occurred not many years ago. The story runs that a man was found lying dead upon a couch, his life having been destroyed by a bullet discharged from a gun lying near. The circumstances of the matter positively proved that the case could not have been one of suicide, and, therefore, the only alternative which could be reasonably suggested was that he had been murdered. An acquaintance was charged with the crime, but absolute proof of guilt was not forthcoming. One of the parties engaged in the ease was convinced that there must be a natural solution of the affair, and worked untiringly to discover it. The rcsult of his observation and deduction was very curious. The rays of the sun had streamed in at the window of the apartment in which the man had encountered his end, and had been concentrated direct upon the explosive chamber of the gun by which means sufficient heat had been engendered to warm the cap and powder, and cause a diseharge. The gun having been inadvertently placed in such a way as to point to the unfortunate man, he received the bullet while he lay placidly sleeping, no doubt meeting with instant death. Schoolboys are fond of torturing themselves by concentrating the sun's rays on to the back of their hands, through the medium of a lens, which produces a small, brilliant spot of light, sufficiently strong to severely burn the skin after a few moment". duration. One can therefore readily believe that a lens of increased strength would cause the remarkable accident described.  Heiress to friend: You are wrong when you say he has no idea of the value of money. The man has propose 4 to me twice.  - 110 W 18 IT THAT Ct./oms% BLOOD MIXTURE obtained such popularity ?" is a question which has per plexed many. The answer 13, that it is unquestionably the finest Blood Puriflur that science and medical skill have brought to light. Thousands of wonderful cures have been effected by it. For Scrofula, Scurvy, Eczema, Skin and Blood Diseases, Bad Legs, Sores and Pimples of all kinds its effects are marvellous. Sold everywhere, at 2s. 9d. i.er bottle. Beware of worthless Imitations and substitutes. 2
Brighouse Gazette and Local Railway Guide. — 1894-11-24 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

NECNSSITY OF SLEEP.—There are thonsands of busy people who die every year for want of sleep. Sleeplessness becomes a disease, and is the precursor of insanity. We speak of sleep as the imago of death, mid our waking ideas as the image of life. Sleep is not like death ; for it is the period in which the watse of the system ceases, or is reduced to its minimum. Sleep repairs the waste which waking hours have made. It rebuilds clic system. -The night is the repair shop of the body. Every parb of the system is silently overhauled, and all the organs, tissues, and substances are replenished. Waking consumes and exhausts • ,sleep replaces and repairs. A man who would be a good worker must be a good sleeper. A man has as much force In him as he has provided for in sleep. The quality of mental activity depends upon the quality of sleep. Men need on an average eight hours of sleep in a day. A lymphatic temperament may require nine; a nervous temperament, six or seven. A lymphatic man is sluggish, Moves awl sleeps slowly. But a nervous man Ras quickly in everything. He does more in an hour than a sluggish man in two hours ' • and so in his sleep. Every man must sleep according to his temperament ; but sight hours is the average. Whoever by work, pleasure, sorrow, or by any other cease, is regularly diininishing his sleep, is destroying his life, A maim may hold out for a long time, bub the crash will come, and he will die. The is a greali deal of intemperence besides that of tobacco, opium, or brandy. Men are dissipated who overtax their systems all day, and uodersleep every nights A man who dies of delirium tremene is no more a drunkard and a suicide than the minister, the lawyer, the merchant, the editor, or the printer, that works 'as:m*l4y all day% aucl sleep buti 11141 111Vbti.
Brighouse Gazette and Local Railway Guide. — 1895-05-04 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

LECTURE AT BRIDGE END—On Tuesday evening, the Rev Thain Davidson, D.D , of London, gave a lecture in Bridge End Congregational Chapel, his subj-ct being ' £ s. d, or Hard cash : how to get it and how to speno it.' There wse a large attendance. In the absence of the Mayor, the Rev. A Galbraith presided, a vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer.  fS:ISSING A SECOND TlME.—Martha Piekersgill, aged 14 year, daughter of George Pickeregill, labourer, eflands-lane, has again run away from home. A few weeks ago, it may be r,.rnecobered, the mime girl left home, and %, tot found ly tog in the stre.rs at Miami, sufforing, eh) sAi I from pleurisy, She told a lot of untruths as to how be came in that. pighr, and she was ultimately removed to tbe Halifax Workhouse where her parents went and claimed net.. She left home on Saturday evening last, aril was not heard of until Tuesday, when her parents received a letter stating that she was at Northowram, and if tney did not felon ner she would commit suicide. Her mother went to Northowram, and brought the girl home, but she will give no reason for acting in so strange a manner.  THIC CUPEIOLDERS ENTEItTAINED.—On Wed nesday evening, me players and officials of the Brighouse Bangers F.C., to the number of 50 were entertained at Longroyd House by Mr. F. A. Cbeetham. The company assembled in front of the Hall and were photographed along tv.tl tiie Cup by Mr. John Wood, Mr. H. H. Waller (president) occupied tie chair at the proceedings, and after the toast of 'itie Queen' bad been duly honoured, Mr. J. Naylor proposed 'The Yorkshire Cuphoiders—Brighouse Rangers F.C.,' which was responded to by the Chairman. The Town and Trade' was responded to by Councillor Fairborn and Mr, R. E. Sugden. The toast of ' Mrs. Cheetham and family,' was drunk with triosioal honours. [be other toasts were The players," Committee," Secretaries and treasurer,' ' The press,' eta. A musical programme was submuted, songs were given oy Mr. White, Liverpool ; Mr. Thomas, sad humorous selections in character were rendcred by Mr. R. Renshaw, Brighouse, kitsers. W. Sykes and W. Leather officiated as sooompanist a.
Halifax Local Opinion. — 1892-11-01 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

NINETEENTH-CENTURY SUPERSTITIONS.  "I WILL not give you that knife," said a police inspector to a friend one day, "but I will sell it to you. I never give a sharp instrument to a friend. It is a bad sign and I am a bit superstitious." The friend wanto the knife and gave up a cigar in exchange for it. But he said:  "I don't take any notice of such supsrstitions, though I believe in luck. I never saw anyone who did not. There is something in it after all. Who does not, I wonder ?"  Very few, indeed. The great Napoleon did not believe in luck, but did in fate. Rothschild believed in lucky men and would have nothing to do with those who were unlucky, and the Stock Exchange gambler is just as superstitious as his less respectable brother, the card-sharp. There is a policeman in this city who will not walk under a ladder, and believes that bad luck will overtake those who do. He will tell you bow many times he has seen this proven, and you cannot make him believe that circumstances and not the ladder were to blame. In fact the " bobby " i 3 as superstitious as anyone in that respect, though he will hardly admit it.  The old police-officer will tell you that murders and suicides always go together, and that when there is a big fire two more are sure to follow. Should you dispute the proposition, he will show you the records, and nine times out of ten they will bear him out. It is a bit singular that crimes and accidents follow in threes and a long interval of quietness is broken by a series of calamities. There is a class of men who believe that to pick up a pin is a sure omen of good luck, and you will always find this crank with the lapel of his coat studded with them. Tell him that it is superstition and he will smile and admit it, but will always tell you a story of how the omen was prophetic. And yet the pins had probably nothing to do with it. Railway men are -very superstitious, and well they IT ay be. Take any locomotive manufactory, and of two locomotives turned out by the same workmen and built of the same material and upon the same lines, one a perfect duplicate of the other to all appearances. and one will be fast and the other slow. Some engines, so engineers say, are man-eaters, and are sure to kill human beings. Others are continually breaking down, while not a few will not make time and always come in late. The railroad man always believes that accidents come in trios. And the belief is amply sustained by proof. Take the gambler, and the bootblack who fails to black the left heel of his shoe will always get an extra penny. The cross-eyed man in the betting-ring always causes trouble, and the finding of a fourleaf clover is a sure sign of winning a race. One could write a long chapter on the queer superstitions of men.  A YOUNG lady, speaking of one of her aversions, said, " He's almost a perfeot brute; he only lacks instinct."
Halifax Local Opinion. — 1892-11-08 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

HOW SOLDIERS BEHAVE IN  BATTLE.  DURING a war, says a contemporary, we read of companies falling back, regiments giving ground, and brigades becoming demoralised, and the average reader takes it for cowardice, and openly expresses his contempt. No man ever went into battle twice alike. No company, regiment, or brigade were ever situated twice alike. A man may be very brave in one battle and very timid in the next. His physical and mental conditions have much to do with it.  A private soldier knows the position of his entire brigade in a fight. If the position is a strong one, he is encouraged; if the flanks are exposed or the defences weak, he is nervous and apprehensive. In a panic I have seen men cry like children, _  I have seen others tremble and sit down from weakness. ..  Every fresh report adds to the feeling of terror, and by-and-by pride and discipliAe give way to a grand rush, and it is every man for himself. No one stops to reason, no one cares whether his comrade is ahead or behind. This is called cowardice, but it is not. It is panic—the terror of battle—a senseless but powerful something which seizes the bravest and makes children of them.  I have seen soldiers discharge their muskets in the air when the enemy was within point-blank range. I have seen plenty of them drop on their faces and tremble and groan and cry. This was a case where every man saw his hopelessness of attack. He felt that he was pushed forward to be shot down. There was no way for retreat until the lines should fall back. I have seen the best soldiers and the oldest fighters win their medals in one battle and show the white feather in the next. I saw a second lieutenant almost cry for the privilege of leading a charge. And yet at another encounter he fell into a ditch and pretended to be hit so as to drop behind in the charge. Cowards never go to war. If they get into the ranks by any chance they desert or commit suicide. It is only the brave man who faces the monster on the field of battle, and, next to the first, his worst enemy is a terror which seizes him as a chill or a fever might come on, and there is no remedy for it except to get away from the screaming missile of death until one's nerve returns.
Halifax Local Opinion. — 1892-10-04 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE BISHOP TOOK THE KETTLE. THE late Bishop Selwyn delighted to tell the following racy incident in his varied experience. While Bishop of Lichfield, he was walking one day in the Black Country, and observing a group of colliers seated by the roadside in a semi-circle with a brass kettle in front of them, he had the curiosity to inquire what was going on. "Why, yer honour," replied a gravelooking member of the group, "it's asort of wager. Yon kettle is a prize for the fellow who can tell the biggest lie, and I am the umpire." Amazed and shocked, the good Bishop said reprovingly, "Why, my friends, I have never told a lie that I know of since I was born." There was a dead silence, only broken by the voice of the umpire, who said in a deliberate tone, " Gie the Bishop the kettle." _ _ _  SETTING THE TRAP, "JENNY," called out Mrs. Wilson to her beautiful daughter upstairs, "I've got the washing ready for you to hang out." Then Miss Jenny put aside the novel she was reading, rolled up the sleeves from her lovely white arms, and going downstairs filled her pretty mouth with clothes-pins and hung out the clothes, just as young MacGarrigan went by to his dinner. The engagement will be duly announced in these columns.  HEALTH RULES FOR HOT WEATHER  DON'T lie on the damp ground; and to avoid lying on the damp ground unexpectedly, keep a civil tongue in your head at all times. Be regular in all your habits, especially that of drawing your salary, Don't sit down at a picnic party withoat first ascertaining that the place is not occupied by a small but frolicsome beer Keep your mouth closed when you are travelling, and if you are a married man, don't open it too often when you are at home. Always say a plain "Good morning " to your wife when you are leaving home for your place of business. " By-by " sounds very endearing, but she may misinterpret the remark and then buy a high-priced bonnet. Don't depend on your own knowledge of medicine if you are ill. The jury might return a verdict of suicide whilst in a state of temporary insanity, and this would give your late neighbours an opportunity of remarking, "I told you so 11  r).l 1"74. with hi
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-08-19 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

NATTERS.  PITAPHS are of undoubted antiquity. Not only the Anglo-Saxons but also the Egyptians, the dews, the Greeks and the Bomans inscribed the virtues of their friends on their tombstones. But perhaps the practice was carried to its greatest length in our own country during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Since then public opinion has done much to regulate the epitaphs in our churchyards and cemeteries, with the result that they have become less like the pages of comic papers than was the case fifty or, sixty years ago. Many of the curious inscriptions, however, have not yet been obliterated by weather, or destroyed by man, for occasionally in some remote country burial ground, one may come across a peculiar or funny memorial of the dead. It must not be forgotten that all epitaphs are not laudatory. Some arc impartial in their review of dead person's character; others are distinctly uncomplimentary, as for instance the following, which may be found in the Kentish churchyard of Heber: "Beneath this stone lies Robin alone, Who lived and died at a venture. He wiui the plague of his wife, All the days of his life, And of his children A great tormentor." The rhythm of the lines was not always strictly coneidered by these mournful poets. Probably the grief of the husband was the cause of the following atrocity:  "She once was mine; But now, To thee, 0 Lord, I her resign; And am your humble obedient servant, Robert Kemp." Some of the best of these old epitaphs were given in commemoration of the occupation of the departed mortals, and indicated a keen sense of humour as well as a fine perception of character. The following was placed over the grave of Sir John Strange, an Eighteenth century lawyer: "Here lies an honest lawyer—that's strange." This was in memory of a tooth extractor: "A dentist—he pulled through life." The mourners of a coalheaver were told: "Cease to lament his change, ye just, He's only gone from dust to dust." Coroners will appreciate the truth of the following epitaph on one of their profession: "He lived and died By suicide." The "great Sarah" Bernhardt always carries her coffin with her, but she has not yet published her epitaph. Many eccentric people, however, have written their mourning inscription—it may be to save them from their Mends. During the first few years of the century, a William Huntingdon, who was a coatheaver by trade, created quite a stir in the southern counties by his evangelical preaching, and his rough rugged eloquence. As was usual in those days with enthusiasts, he incurred the anger of many; to whom, however, he replied in the epitaph  ...- ; t ,i, t" ,ce• 4 h d I , Ivii q
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-07-01 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

THE CRYSTAL DAGGER."  (Friel the German.)   disappointed  CHAPTER lIL con t HE paused, and looked at me for some moments steadfastly, as if she would see into my very heart, then added, in a low voice, "Don't you guess it? the murderer was himself." " Himself " reand mournfully. , wretched prisoner spoke only truth when he depoi?ea to having seen the fatal dagger in nri searetaire. It is true that I denied all knowledge of it; I must do so, for the very sight of that dagger, which he alone could have used, betrayed that he was a suicide. It was my duty to guard the reputation of a dear and excellent husband—to preserve untarnished the honour of his family and mine, for I well knew that to my levity of conduct would be ascribed that gloom and madness which led him to such a deed. I have, indeed, done more than could have been expected. It was from me that the prisoner received the fifty louis d'art', which I sent to him throufh his wife, a few days before his flight. His undeserved sufferings were to my feelings agonising, and I was in hopes that he would- have made his escape across the frontier, after which the whole investigation would be forgotten. Now you are in possession of the truth—act, then, as becomes a man—a lover of justice, and a Christian pastor. But spare and protect the memory of your friend and his widow's reputation!' "I shall go to the president immediately," said I, still quite confused, "and consult with him." "But take notice," said she anxiously; "beware that you do not say to him one word more than is necessary. Only. endeavour to assist the unfortunate man, and, for God's sake, don't mention that I have , had any interference with his wife. On her I have enjoined the strictest silence, and even extracted from her a solemn oath that she would observe it. If Rose could he enabled once more to make his escape, anA cross the frontier, for this purpose take half 'my fortune; take all if it can have any 'influence, but don't forget that you have now more than my life in your hands." I said whatever I thought likely to calm her agitation, but resolved, mmy own mind, that as I had; perfect confidence in the judge's honour and integrity. I should freely repeat to him the story as it had now been disclosed to me. He shared in my astonishment, "So, then, after all our doubts," said he, "it was even so as we had at first suspected?" He spoke in a tone of great vexation, and then fell into a mood of silent reflection. I was obliged to repeat to him several times her identical words, which I did unreservedly in so far as they related to the trial, but said nothing of her extraordinary emotion, and the anxiety she had evinced for the prisoner, which I thought no one but myself had a right to know. At last he summed up by requesting that I would call on him again on the day following; and instead of acceding to my request, that the sufferings of 'the accused might now be mitigated, he said that he would defer the next examination for -some time longer.  1  _l_
The Halifax Comet. — 1893-09-16 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

VERY PERSEVERING LANDLORD.  ISN'T there such a crime as oonduct calculated to provoke a breach of the per' asked a nervous -baking man of a magistrate yesterday morning. "Of course there is," responded the magistrate. "Then give me a warrant for my landlord," demanded the nervous man. "What has he done ? " asked the magistrate, eyeing the suitor suspiciously. "He comes to my house when rye got company, and says he wants the four months' rent I owe him, and sits out on the front steps and howls for his money. If I should kick the spine out of him I'd be arrested, wouldn't I ? "  "Yes, you would. Why don't you pay him?"  "That isn't the question. He comes to my house at four o'clock in the morning and yells through the keyhole, and then he goes up through the vacant house next door and gets on my roof and shouts down the chimney. He says he will have that money. If I should drop a fiat-iron on him, or blow him up with gunpowder, it would go hard with me, wouldn't it ? " "Certainly. Can't you come to some understanding with him ? " • "It seems not. Has he a right to climb over my paling and have fits in my back-yard just because owe him a little money? " "Does he do that?"  _ "Of course he does; and when we haul him into the house, he yells murder and draws a crowd. Have I got the right to maul the life out of him with a club for that ? " "I think not," responded the magistrate. "Why don't you move F" "That's got nothing to do with it. I want to know if he is entitled to slip up on the ice and fall through my basement window, and do two pounds' worth of damage to the glass? Couldn't I knock the stuffing out of him for that ? "  "Certainly not." "But when he lays down on the pavement and howls that his mother is dead and he can't bury her because I won't pay what 1 owe him, haven't I got any remedy?" "I don't know of any. I think you'd better pay him." "But isn't it conduct calculated to provoke a breach of the peace when he comes round with a quart of laudanum and a pistol and threatens to take 'em both on the premises if I don't pay up? Isn't it a crime when he hangs himself to a tree in front of my house with a paper pinned on him that I drove him to suicide ? Has he got a right to make faces at my children when they are going to school? Won't the law touch him for coming to my door at daylight as drunk as a lord and claiming he's me, and yelling that I want to get in and thrash my wife P" "r don't think you can do anything but pay him or move. That man has a right t,o his money." " That's all I want to know," replied the nervous man, appearing relieved. "I'm the landlord, and my tenant says he'll have me arrested for doing these things. Now he'll have to pay up or I'll fall off the top of the house and have the inquest in his parlour. '  "Ladies, are you fond of Sport?"  Szprzmant 16, 1893.  A man can't live four months in my house for nothing without going to some trouble." And the nervous man pranced off glowing all over with grim determination.