npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-01-12 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SOCIALISM AND THE SALVATION ARAY.  On Monday night a special demonstration was held in the Grecian Theatre, City-road, London, in connection with the commissioning of an officer of the Ealvation Army, for a new sphere of labour in the metropolis.—General Booth presided, and in the course of his address remarked that the Salvation Army was ever changing and finding new developments. In the immediate future, in harmony with its characteristics, greater attention than heretofore would be paid to the rising generation, whilst there would be no slackening in the efforts to rescue the miserable denizens of the garrets, the milers, and the slums. The great aim of the Salvationists was to make London—the biggest, the wealthiest, and according to its opportunities, the wickedest city in the world— the great oentre of their activity; and he was pleased to have constant testimony borne to the fact that, from this centre, their influence and power formed an ever-increasing force in the amelioration of mankind. The Socialists were said to have a plan for the raising of the race apart from religion. He took that opportunity of saying that he respected all Socialists who were in earnestaccording to the lights. He would not utter a word against them; his sorrow and anger were, on the contrary, reserved for those who did not care and did not feel for the appalling amount of vice and misery by which their daily life was surrounded. For himself he did not care where people went so long as they were anxiously striving after the good and the true. He was pleased to hear that day from an officer of the army who had just some from Belgium, which had hitherto been practically closed to them, that a field was now opened for their exertions in that country amongst the miners and ironworkers, many of whom, though Socialists and Atheists, were ready to give them a welcome. The Salvationists had had a wonderful beginning for the new year, and the speaker mentioned, by way of encouragement, that whereas on a given week-night it was ascertained by census that 10,000 people were in the wellappointed and richly-endowed churches of the Church of England, there was on a similar weeknight no fewer than 16,000 people in the halls and barracks of the Salvation Army within the metropolitan area.  EUSTACE HENRY STRIOELAND, who attempted suicide by shooting himself in a first-class carriage at Brighton station in November last, was put upon his trial at the Brighton Quarter Sessions this week. It will be remembered that in a letter he wrote to a friend. He said he did not consider life worth living unless one could live up to a certain standard of comfort. The prisoner now expressed sorrow, and he was bound over to come up for judgement when called upon. Boatua and Herzegovina are enjoying a novel experience. The provinces are now, for the first time for centuries, "entirely free from robber beads."
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-01-12 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

ROMANCE IN REAL LINE.  Some extraordinary disclosures were made in the course of a case heard at Bow-street Poliee-coart, London' in which Mary Wilson, aged 56, was charged with attempting to oommit suicide by taking laudanum. Mr. Marcus Lewis appeared for the defence. A Police-oonstable named Robertsonia3ed deposed that at two o'clock on the morning of the 4th inst. he was on duty in St. Martin's-plaos, when he saw the defendant sitting on the doorsteps of the Vestry-halL He asked her what she was doing there, and she replied that she had taken laudanum. She produced two small bottles and a large one, and said she had emptied the contents of the smaller battles into the larger one and had swallowed the laudanum. She mid she was in great trouble, and Was in arrears with her rent. She thought it would be better te do amik with herself. She bad been to the river will the object of taking her life but the waterlfinked so cold, dark, and dreary, ;hat mho ooald not epmmon sufficient oourage to make tfif attempt She was coon',eyed to King's College Hospital, whir...she had remained until the present 000asion.—Mr. Marcus Lewis, on behalf of the defendant, said he had known her for upwards of Niyears and her history was • most painful one. She had been well brought up, and at one time had lived in affluence. Many year' since she had lived under the protection of a gentleman who had died leaving considerable property. She had a son by this gentleman, and on his death he left the son a large sum of money amounting to some thousands of pounds. Unfortunately the son died without making a wilL The result was that the whole of the property was forfeited to the Crown, from whom she had since received £25 per annum. This was merely an act of oonoession as the had no legal claim. He (Mr. Lewis) could not say to &thousand what the actual amount left by the son Was, but he believed it was some seven or eight thousand pounds which he possessed at the time of his death. —The magistrate asked what could be done I—Mr. Lewis suggested that some assistance could be rendered by a remand, when be would communicate with one or two people on her behalf.—The magistrate suggested that it would be well to draw up a petition for presentation to the authorities.—Mr. Lewis thought it right to state at once that defendant's son had left an illegitimate son, and the Crown had allowed, in addition to the £25, a sum of £lOO per annum for the maintenance of that, child.—The magistrate asked the age of the grandson.—Mr. Lewis said 16, and at present he was iit the custody of an aunt on the mother's side. He (Mr. Lewis) was at school with defendant's son, and had done all in his power to assist her. The great difficulty met throughout with charitable institutions and benevolent persons was in the fact that this woman had once sinned.—The magistrate thought that if it were possible to secure her El per week she would be provided for, and again suggested that Mr. Lewis should petition the Treasury.—Defendant was remanded pending the adoption of this course.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-07-19 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

GHASTLY ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE.  A ghastly way of departing this life, writes a Paris correspondent, has been tried by an Englishman who lately arrived, in a small hotel on the Boulevard Magenta in Paris. The man had been for some m' ihre C e house, and it was noticed by everybody witt whom he came in contact there that he was subject to fits of melancholy and depression. He told the landlord tha4 he was going away from Paris for soint days. and that there was no occasion to clean his room until he came back. After this the man must have gone stealthily and unnoticed back to his room, for in the morning one of the servants of the hotel went into the place as usual in order to sweep it, and on opening the door the first object that attracted his attention was a long travelling trunk lying hi the mid,lle of the floor. As it was unhinged and unlocked the servant raised its cover, and started back half-dazed with terror as he saw inside it the apparently lifeless body of the Englishman, clothed in correct evening dress, white tie, white gloves and all. The servant ran down to the landlord in great terror, and the police and a doctot were sent for. The body was still warm, and neat it were a phial which had contained chloroforig, and a letter in English. Thanks to the skill of the doctor who was called in, the stranger was restored life, but he only upbraided his " resurrecticnists " for bringing him back to a world from which he had longed to escape. It appears that there was a woman in it. The stranger had been thrown over by Some "light o' love for whom he had pined, as the lette't was worded in the following terns: "She has left me. I can no longer live. Let her have my last sigh Ir The jilted lover had arrived in Paris from Nice about a month ago.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-09-13 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

ATTEMPTED SCICIDE OF A BIRMINGHAM MAN AT GLOUCESTER. —At Gloucester County Petty Sessions on Monday, a respectably dressed man named Arthur John Luke, described as a jeweller, and giving an address at 4, Kingswood-rOad, Moseley, Birmingham, was charged with attempt ing to commit suicide on the Ist inst. by taking vermin killer poison. The Deputy Chief Constable said the facts of the case were exceedingly painful, but very clear. On the evening of the day in question the prisoner went to Creed'. lodging-house in Littleworth, Gloucester, and asked for a bed. He went to bed, and between three and four o'clock awoke a person sleeping in the same room by his cries, saying he had taken poison. The police were called in, and prisoner stated to them that he had taken a packet of Battle's vermin killer. Mr. F. H. Knaggs, house surgeon of the Gloucester Infirmary, was sent for, ' and on his arrival ordered prisoner's removal to the infirmary, where he was treated, and had been I kept till that morning. A letter was received by prisoner's mother at 4, Kingswood-road, Moseley, Birmingham, which ran as follows :—" Ist September. Mother—l am away, as you can see. I have enclosed ticket and key. You can get the bag, and let Fred have the book. I shall be away from you when you receive this. I shall be in eternity. Good-bye. lam lost." There was no signature. These facts were proved, and prisoner, who was very pale and weak from the effects of the poison and the confinement to his bed, and who was allowed to be seated during the hearing of the case, attributed his attempt on his life to 1 his being unable to get employment and being hard up. He promised the Bench he would not make an attempt on his life again. —The Rev. G. Type, , pastor of Moseley-road Congregational Chapel, spoke to the respectability of the prisoner's connections, and pointed out that the trouble Luke had gone through during the last eighteen months had unhinged his mind. If the magistrates would discharge him he would look after him as much as he could, and the church, of which prisoner was a member, would heln him as well.—The magistrates committed prisoner for trial to the next Quarter Sessions for the city in October next, assuring the relatives present that Luke would be well cared for in the hospital of the gaol.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-11-08 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

TRAGIC OUTCOME OF A PLOT.  The town of Stuposciane, in Galicia, has been the scene of a terrible tragedy. About three years ago a native of the locality left his home for America, promising his wife and children, who remained behind, that he would send them money for their journey as soon as he should earn it. About a week ego the magistrate of Stuposciane received from the United States a post-office order for 1,000 florins, accompanied by a letter in which he was requested by the emigrant to hand over the money to his wife, and to assist her in making the necessary preparations for her journey. On receipt of the letter the magistrate paid the sum to the woman, resolving at the same time to get it back into his possession. He disguised his wife and eldest daughter in some of his own cli.thes, and,blacking tie •ir faces, sent them at midnight to the woman's cottage to threaten her and her children with death should they offer any .esistance. Onarriving at the cottage they demanded the 1.000 florins. The emigrant's wife, who seems to have kept her preseme of nand, told them to follow her to the stable, where, she said, she had hidden the n.oney for safety. No sooner were the two women inside than she locked the door from without. Taking up a hatchet for self-defence in case of need. she sent her son, a boy of 11, for the magistrate. When the lad got there the magistrate thrashed him till life was extinct. His cries were overheard by the genclarmes,who came and placed the magistrate in irons, but not before one of them had been mortally wounded in the struggle. When the stable-door was opened the two women inside were found to have committed suicide by hanging themselves, fearful of the consequences of their intended crime.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-03-08 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SEQUEL TO A BUSINESS FAILURE.  The deputy-coroner for Westminster has held an invest concerning the death of Joseph Alfred Proraze, aged •38, whose body was found in the Thames.—Rachel Bevan stated that the deceased had lodged in her house, at Fulham, about seven months. He was formerly in business as a jeweller, in New Bond-street, but a few months mm he failed, and of late had been in very poor circumstances. He and his wife were often in want of a meal, and witness gave them what food and firing she could afford. She never spoke to Mr. Prorate, because he was such a gentleman. He had several times told his wirethat he should not return. Evidence was given by a coroner's officer, who saw Mrs. Prorate, who informed him that a man to whom she had sold some pawnbroker's duplicates, PO as to buy her husband a coat, had not returned with the money, and she and the deceased had a few words about it. But for that fact, she said, he might have been alive now. He had made every effort to get a situation. Mrs. Prorate handed witness a piece of paper, bearing the following words in Mr. Prorate's handwriting: 'Dear Louie, —Farewell for ever in this world. May von prosper better in future than you have done in the last, is the preseA hope of Joe." Evidence having being given of the emaciated condition of the body when found, the coroner said that the letter which the deceased wrote did not prove conclusively that be connuitted suicide, as he might have altered his mind after leaving home and fallen into the water accidentally: therefore, it would be quite competent for the jury to return a verdict of found drowned. —An open verdict was recorded.—ln the course of the inquiry it transpired that Mrs. ProLze, after being informed of her husband's death, purchased 6d. worth of laudanum, and was found dead in bed witli the empty bottle by her side.  The Spanish Government have ordered the pi osecution of two Republican papers and one Orleanist which circulated the rumour of the resignation (if the Queen-Regent. - -  •• The Oriental Express on its way to Paris has had a narrow escape of being maliciously wrecked. It was saved by thepresence of mind of a gatekeeper who, coming unexpectedly on a barricade thrown across the line, improvised with an ordinary lantern and a red handerchief a danger signal, which fortunately was seen at 500 yards' distance. The barricade was built of sleepers, rails, and stones which had been heaped up beside the line, and was so massive that a squad of navvies, fetched in baste, were more than half an_hour in removing it.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-09-27 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE INQUEST.  The inquest on the remains of the deceased woman was held by Dr. Wynter (Coroner for Central Warwickshire), at the Black Eagle Inn, Park-lane, Aston, on Tuesday morning. The following witnesses were called :—Mary Ann Eccleston, Albert James Eccleston, Prudence Eccleston (children of the deceased by a former husband); Martha Wark (a neighbour), Policeconstable Russell, Henry Townsend (a baker with whom the accused worked), Benjamin Rubenstein, pawnbroker, of Newtown-row, and Police-sergeant Parker. Nothing material in addition to that given in the above narrative of the crime was adduced. Perhaps the only witness whose evidence threw any fresh light on the matter was that of the son, Albert James Eccleston. He said on the Friday night he had heard an altercation between the deceased and Nicholson about money matters, when they quarrelled. Witness and his brother told Nicholson that if he did not pay some money they would put him outside. This quarrel was a general thing. Nicholson was in the habit of indulging very excessively in whisky, but he appeared sober on Saturday night. Witness had heard Nicholson threaten to murder his mother about four years ago, when they lived in Towerstreet.  In summing up, the Coroner said there could be no doubt whatever that the woman had been wilfully and cruelly murdered, there being no suspicion whatever of suicide. The circumstances related in the evidence, he pointed out, led to the direct suspicion that George Nicholson was the man who had taken the woman's life.  The jury returned a verdict of " Wilful murder" against George Nicholson, and the Coroner committed him for trial on that charge to the IVarwick Assizes.  The Foreman of the Jury stated that he and his colleagues were of opinion that great credit was due to the Aston police, and especially to Policesergeant Parker, for their conduct in the matter. The Coroner concurred.  Nicholson was not present at the enquiry.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-09-27 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

STRANGE STORY OF SUICIDE. The following strange, true story is sent by the Paris correspondent of the haily Telegraph : Some weeks ago about 9 o'clock in the evennig, a cabman passing down the Avenue de Villiers was hailed by a young man, accompanied by a well-dressed lady wearing a thick veil. The couple, after taking a tour in the Bois de Boulogne, were driven back to the spot whence they had started. There the lady alighted. Her companion then told the cabman to go on to the Rue de l'Ourcq, but when he arrived there he found that his fare was dead. The medical examination showed that the young man had taken a strong dose of laudanum, and after a brief interval he was buried. The affair had been almost forgotten, when last week a friend of the dead man called on a police-magistrate and informed him that he had just returned from a mouth's sojourn in the country, and had found at his town residence a letter written by the deceased only a few hours before he committed suicide, In this missive he related that he was to have that very evening a rendezvous with a lady whom his friend knew; but, as too often happened, he had not a 8011 about luni. " You are not here to lend me 1e1.," he added : "we shall drive about for some time, and when she has left me, as I cannot liay the coachman, I shall take a dose of laudanum. ' The strangest part of it all, however, was that a banknote of 100 f. had been found in one of the pockets of the overcoat of the deceased after his death. What did it all mean ? His friend was very anxious to get at the truth, lie knew who the lady was wha had given the rendezvous, and an inquiry was set on foot in the most discreet manner possible, as she was a married woman and her husband was in a very good position. The lady gave the following account of the adventure; She had known the deceased a fortnight. They had met at a party, and he had written to her asking for an assignation, which she had agreed to grant. She knew that he was in reduced circumstances, soma a provident and charitable soul she took the banknote with her to the mule:rota, and during the (hi% e clipped it into her companion's pocket. 'When she read the account of his death in the newspapers she jumped at the conclusion that he had committed suicide through despair. He had begged and implored her to return his affection, and had frequently exclaimed that her refusal would be his death. "I consoled him as best I could,- she remarked, "and was painfully surprised when I learned the fatal news." This at least is the lady's version of the affair. If it be strictly veracious there has rarely been a, more extraordinary misunderstanding. She agreed to the rendezvous, as it gave her an opportunity of putting a bank-note into the young man's pocket, and he in his turn, after declaring that he would die for love of her, poisoned himself because be had not the wherewithal to pay the cabman.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-08-16 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

SAD STORY OF MARRIED LIFE. The Central Middlesex coroner has held an inquiry in reference to the death of Kathleen Fa'den, aged 29, the wife of a commercial clerk, which had resulted from poison.—Freeman Charles Fa!den, of Finsbury Park, said the deceased was his wife, but he had been separated from her for 12 months, and had commenced proceedings for a divorce on account of her having committed adultery. She was at times very excited, and had frequently implored his forgiveness, and he unch rstood she had once or twice taken laudanum to destroy herself. He allowed her £1 a week. She met him a few days before close to her home. She became hysterical, and fell on the pavement. He took her indoors and placed her on the bed, when she muttered something about taking poison. Thinking she was shamming, he told her if she did not recover he should send for the police. He did so, and on a constable arriving she said she had taken poison, and he seterwards found in the room a paper marked "Rat poison," on which he sent for a medical man; but she got worse and died at 2 o'clock on the following niorning.—Priscilla Wray, a friend of deceased, proved that she was frequently much excited at the fear of her husband's proceedings in the Di orce Court, but she had never known het threaten suicide.—A note was found in the woman's pocket addressed to her husband, in which she expressed her deep sorrow for what she had done, that she could not live without him, and she hoped "God would forgive her all her sins—she was not fit to die." The past year of her life had been truly wretched. She forgave him, but it was not all her fault. Better do this than anything else. It concluded by asking him to lcok after her dog and cat.—A verdict of suicide whilst of unsound mind was returned.
The Warwickshire Herald. — 1888-02-09 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

MYSTF.ItY OF A LONDON surfrunu.  A eingular case of inspected attempted suicide has been investigated at the Marylebone polie,court. Louisa Hall, 30, a domestic aervantwas charged with attempting to commit suicide, the chief witness being Mr. Henry tiasooyne, a gentleman living at St. John's Wood. He said that, with his wife. he returned to his house about half -past 11 o'clock at night, and, on entering his garden, he found the primmer sitting on the bottom of a flight of steps leading to the front door. There was a rope round her neck, the other end being fastened to the railings at the side of the steps. Her pocket handkerchief was fastened over her face, and her hands were tied together with a cord. The rope round her neck was loose, and she seemed to be quite sensible. In explanation of her being there she said someone had knocked her down and brought her there and tied her up. She had strange ways at times, and she had a bad temper. She had been in his service until six weeks ago, and he was under the impression that she wanted to come back again. She told the policeman who was called that she had been to the theatre, and as she VMS going towards Itakeroitreet Station, on her way home, two women and a man came up to her and said she was her mistress's spy. The shorter woman then pushed her, and her head went against a wall, and she remembered no more of what occurred until she found herself at Mrs. Gascoyne's house. Hall repeated this statement in court, and Sarah March, the aunt, said it was quite right; she was with her niece at the theatre, and she then seemed perfectly right. —Hall's father was also examined, and he agreed with the aunt that there were no signs of delusions about his daughter.—The magistrate said he was satisfied that there had been no attempt in the part of the prisoner to:destroy her life. As to the truth or otherwise of what was alleged to have taken place, the police would probably inquire into that. He discharged her, and no doubt her father would take care of her.