Weekly News. — 1889-08-17 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

BREAKING A WIFE'S RIBS.  Henry Page, 28, stoker, was indicted at the London I County Sessions on Tuesday for maliciously infficting upon his wife, Julia, grievous bodily harm by fraeturing several of her ribe.—The prisoner, who pleaded not guilty, treated the matter with lint concern, and when the wife was called in to give her evidence she turned to hiiii on imploring look, and said, "Oh ! Henry, I did not lock you up," and begged his lordship not to send him to prison, but to let her go instead. She was allowed to be seated while giving her evidence. The parties lodged at Bromley, and one night, after Mrs. Stevens, the landlady, had gone to bed, she heard a disturbance in priFoner's room. She was going upstairs to see what was the matter when the prisoner celled her in to see hi, wife. On entering the room prosecutrix was lying on the floor partially dressed and so badly injured that for an hour they could not lift her on to the bed. At length they procured a cart, and she was conveyed to the Poplar Hospital. A policeman came up whilst she was being removed, and asked the prisoner what he had been doing. He replied, "It is only an accident." The prosecutrix said, " No, no; he has been kicking me." At the Poplar Hospital she was attended by • doctor, who told the officer to take the prisoner into custody, and afterwards sent the poor woman on to the London Hospital, where she was attended to by Dr. Reynolds, housesurgeon, who found she had three ribs broken, a tumour, a wound on the collar-bone, another on the shoulder-blade, and other injuries. The injuries could not have been inflicted by blows with the fist. The prisoner on being taken into custcdy said he did not kick his wife, but only punched her. In her evidence, which was given with very great reluctance, the prosecutrix said she did not know how she was injured—most likely she fell against the bedstead. She did all she could to shield the prisoner, and was so overcome with emotion that she had to be led out of the court to the waitingroom.—The jury immediately found the prisoner guilty.—Mr. Bosley said there was this mitigating circumstance in the prisoner's favour, that as soon as he found out the injury he had done he went to the landlady for help, and assisted to take his wifetothe hospital. Without such mitigating circumstances, he (Mr. Bosley) could hardly conceive a worse case.— The landlady, in answer to the Court, said the parties harillatied with her for three months, and always to be very fond of each other learned .—The learn appeared said one of the painful consequences of cases of this kind was that the wife suffered by im• prisonment inflicted on her assailant. The prisoner had been guilty of a very gross assault, for which he would have to undergo 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour.  On Monday morning Agnes McMuntree, or Walker wife of James Walker, photographer, living near Ayr, committed suicide by throwing herself before the halfpast 5 train from Ayr to Glasgow. The engine-driver saw her throw herself upon the metals, but was unable to pull up in time to save her life. The deceased had been living apart from herhusband. A serious boiler explosion has occurred at Billups's brickyard, Cardiff. The boiler,which weighed about 15 tons,was blown to a height of 50ft, and fell early 30 yards from its original position, where it lay embedded in the ground. The shed which enclosed the boiler was blown to atoms. A search among the debris checlosed the fact that a lad of:12 and a youth of 18 were killed, and that three men had been badly isjured.  Chicago hae just been the BOOBS of a distressing tragedy. A citizen named Christian Harder loved his wife so little ae to expose her to shame by bringing against her in the courts a charge of larceny. Whether the accusation was well founded or not is doubtful, but there was not evidence sufficient to I Prove the charge, and the judge acquitted the prisoner. Harder waited in court to heal the verdict, but when it was made known slipped out and await. ,1 his wife's exit from the court. As soon as she rraci, d the street he drew a loaded revolver from hie pocket and shot the woman dead. Before be could be arrested he had fired a chare into his own bead, and fell dead by the side of his wife.  MR. W. O'