The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1851-12-02 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

HORRIBLE MURDER IN ESSEX.—A cold-blooded and to pay periodical domiciliary visits rather to retail establish- determined murder has been committed at the villa of ments and truck-shops, and especially to those where the poor g are systematically deceived and defrauded." Tollesbury, in Essex, On Tuesday morning, a man named Cobb, a ere is left his cottage to pursue his The argument here just amounts to this. First, one avocation, leaving his wife and a little girl in bed. As the class of government officers are to be the means morning advanced some of the occupants of the neighbourof sending afloat spurious and poisonous commodities, and ing cottages, not observing Mrs. Cobb moving about, then our contemporary facetiously suggests that another went in the direction of the cottage, and on approaching class of government officers shall be appointed to root out heard the little girl crying very loud, and in a tone of and bring to punishment the dealers in those very articles fright. They found the door fastened, whereupon they for the legality of vending which they received the ex- burst it open, and following the direction whence the cries ample of her Majesty's Customs. But this idea, notwith- of the child proceeded, entered a back-room up steers, standing its facetiousness, has not the poor merit of even where they were horrified at discovering Mrs. Cobb, the originality. The very state of things which he alludes to mother of the crying chile, lying in bed in her nightclothes, exists at the present hour. Every dealer in tea is fur- and weltering in blood. Upon the side of the deceased's dished by the excise with an extract from the statute 4th head were marks of violence which appeared to have been George H. cap. 14, sec. 11, which enacts that every per- inflicted with a hammer or other heavy iron instrument, miBoll who shall have in his custody or possession any tea while, in addition, there was a deep gash in the throat, of xed with other ingredients, &c., shall for every pound some four or five inches long, so deep as almost to sever eight forfeit the sum of £lO. But what would be the the head from the body. We need hardly state that the Position of the Boards of Inland Revenue and the Cus- unfortunate victim was quite dead at the time of the disthe, s were the former's officers to seize upon that which covery, and the medical men were of opinion that death ,e latter's had admitted and received duty for as tea ? could not have been an act of suicide, but that a coldese evil doubtlessly lies with the Customs, in rendering blooded murder had been perpetrated. The next step, themselves particeps crimini in the first instance. Were therefore, was to endeavour to establish some clue to the ,ouch an unjust piece of jugglery to be attempted, both circumstances under which the murder had been cornboards would be laughed to scorn. milted. Police-constable Fox having heard of the occurAfter vigorously denouncing the appointment as "a rence, was soon on the spot; and ascertained, upon inpiece of absurd nonsense," but not proving his case, our quiry in the village, that Harrington, the only male person contemporary virtuously reasons that "it must not be who was left in the cottage in the morning, had subseforgotten that a vast proportion of our imports are re- quently gone to Salcot, a village a few miles distant, for ,exPorted to the Continent of Europe and to all parts of the purpose of purchasing a boat. In the evening, howPe world." This, verily, is the very acme of moral logic ! ever, Harrington returned to the village, and Fox having 48 England's commercial character and reputation of such managed to get into his company, discovered on his e,ll:leari importance that she will lend herself, through her trousersseveralstains, seemingly of blood, half obliterated. ;elstorn-houses, to palm off spurious articles as genuine Several other facts tended to fix the guilt upon Harrington, °tornodities, merely because they are to be sent to who is only twenty years of age, and he was arrested. oreigners ? It is not pertinent to the argument at issue, Later in the day a circumstance of great importance oc>lamely, the appointment of analytical chemists at our curred. A man, while proceeding across the fields to Salelfferent Custom-houses,—that we should follow our cot (where the prisoner stated he had been on the precedctltemporary through his other observations relative ing day), had his attention diverted to some unusual foote° the harrassing delays already existing in Customs' prints in a ditch, and upon stepping into it found wrapped „..?arainations. We are not going to argue that the up in a bloody handkerchief a razor, also stained with machinery of this !department may not be rendered blood. These were at once brought to the police, and e.:ali more effective, less tantalising, and carried Wash (at whose house prisoner lodged) immediately with a greater regard to economy than at present. identified the razor as being his; and Mrs. Wash, sister Is' e reiterate that the laxity In our customs' regulations to the prisoner, identified the pocket-handkerchief as one Pe one great cause of the immense adulterations which which belonged to him. No motive beyond plunder can lel afloat amongst society; that it is the duty of the go- be alleged for the crime. e_ernment not to encourage such a system, by lending its