npedrazzini/19thc_murder_suicide_news huggingface dataset:
Glasgow Courier. — 1864-11-17 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

WEST COAST OP AFRICA.  Liverpool, Friday.—The African mail-steamer Caltrbar arrived in the Mersey this morning. Her dates are : —Benin, September 24 ; Fernando Po, September 29 ; Carneroons, October 1; Old Calabar, October 3; Bonny, October 7 ; Lagos, October 10; Accra, October 12; Cape Coast Castle, October 14 ;Cape Palmas, October 16 ; Sierra Leone, October 21 ; Bathurst, October 25 ; Teneriff, October 30 ; and Madeira, November 2. The news by this arrival is rather stirring. Commodore Wilmot, in the Rattlesnake (man-of-war), bad visited Benin in the early part of September, in order to enforce payment of the fine imposed by Governor Freeman at Lagos in the early part of last year. The natives of Benin refused to entertain the wishes of the Commodore or any of his officers. In consequence of this, Commodore Wilmot at once stopped the trade of the river until the original fine, together with an addition of a large quantity of palm-oil, would be paid. The Commodore, we understand, would return again in December, and if the fine is not then paid, he will resort to measures rather disagreeable to the natives. The natives are, however, determined to resist what they consider an unjust demand, and it is not all improbable that another African war will be placed upon the miserable record of attempts at enforcing "Governors' fines" on the West Coast of Africa.  Trade entirely stopped at Brass, owing to a war between the Brass men and a neighbouring tribe. The steamer Investigata had arrived from the Niger with Dr. Baikie, the celebrated African traveller, who had been for several years exploring the Niger and the adjacent countries.  On Friday the direct railroad from Turin to Florence, tunnelled through the Appenines, was opened to the public.  The suicides committed ,at the Rhenish spas have this season reached the awful number of thirty four. Seven fell victims to the roulette at Wiesbaden, three at Manheim, two at Wilhelmsbad, and thirteen at Homburg. Nine shot, hanged, or drowned themselves in that fatal neighbourhood without being distinctly referable to one of the severals hells.  PAINTED Docs.—The Paris correspondent of the Globe writes :—The latest fashionable freak noticeable on the drives of the Bois de Boulogne, probably suggested by the prevalent mania for ringlets coloured red, is the rather novel phenomenon of ladies' lapdogs similarly metamorphosed in a variety of fictitious tints. Green dogs, yellow dogs, and pugs skyblue, are at present much in vogue.
Glasgow Courier. — 1864-02-25 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

MURDER AND SUICIDE IN WALES.—The village of Hirwain, Glamorganshire, was on Saturday , thrown into a state of the greatest excitement in I consequence of its becoming known that an engineer, named Evan Williams, had murdered his wife by strangling her whilst asleep, and had afterwards put a period to his own existence by hanging himself from an iron crook in the ceiling of the kitchen of his dwelling house. The first alarm was given by a little girl, a daughter of the deceased couple, who ran out of the house screaming and in evident terror, and who, on being interrogated, said that her father and mother were both dead. The neighbours at first hoped that she was suffering from some childish fear, but on entering the house they were horrified at finding the man hanging by the neck, as already described, from the ceiling of his kitchen. They cut down the body as speedily as possible, but the vital spark had fled. They then went upstairs, where the wife was found in bed, apparently asleep. There was no indications of any struggle having taken place, but the poor woman was quite dead, and on her body being examined it was found that she had been strangled, apparently in her sleep, by means of a cravat, which was found drawn so tightly round her throat as to be, to an extent, embedded in the flesh. What motive led to the verpetratiou of the double crime hoe net been niscertamcd.  Mr. Thackeray's house is said to be sold. An ad. vertisement in the papers has caused many hundreds of people to visit the residence of the great humorist. It is said that a sale will be held of the books, furniture, and curiosities early in the coming month.  Another serious strike of colliers is threatened in the South Yorkshire district. The miners employed at the Oaks Colliery have turned out after the refusal of the masters to give an advance of 10 per cent. on their wages; and it seems not improbable that the demands of the men may lead to a cessation of work in other collieries, if not to a general lock-out.  PLYMOUTH, February 22.—The Danish sailors in Plymouth have been summoned home. Ptior to their departure they composed an appeal to the English public to help their country, and forwarded it for publication to the Western Morning .News. In this appeal they state that the British Government knows in what way i should interfere, but is afraid to do so until ordered by England. In conclusion, they call upon the English nation to give that order.
Glasgow Courier. — 1864-01-21 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

SUPERSTITION.  The funeral of a tailor named M'Culloch, which took place a few days ago in Scone churchyard, was attended with circumstances of a somewhat unusual nature in this enlightened nineteenth century. It is pretty generally believed that Al`Culloch committed suicide; and it seems that an old superstition prevails in Scone, to the effect that the body of a suicide should not be admitted to the burying-ground by the gate, but ought to be lifted over the wall. The reason for this circuitous mode of ingress is said to be that were the body allowed to be carried through the gate, the first bride "kirked" therefore would commit suicide within a short period after her marriage; and that the first child taken to the church to be christened is "as sure as fate" bound to make away with its own life before it reaches the age of eight years. Impressed with these ideas, the gudewives of Scone mustered in strong force, and endeavoured, first by persuasion and ultimately by threats, to prevent the coffin, containing M'Culloch's remains, from being carried through the gate of the churchyard. We even hear it rumoured that Mr Justice, the undertaker, was threatened with a ducking in the "burn" because he insisted on having the corpse taken to the churchyard by the usual entrance. After a good deal of wrangling, the coffin was allowed to pass; but such is the strong feeling manifested, that we should not be astonished to hear that the next couple for " kirking," and the next child for christening, will pass over the wall surrounding the church, rather than lay themselves open to the untimely fate sure to follow their passing through the gate after the body of a suicide. Who will say that the days of superstition have passed away? —Perthshire Journal.
Glasgow Courier. — 1864-06-02 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

PAINFUL SUICIDE OF A LADY.—lnformation was received on—Saturday by Mr. Carter, coroner for the eastern division of Surrey, of a frightful occurrence, involving the death of Mrs. Greenhow, aged thirty years, who threw herself from the platform of the Esher and Claremont station of the South-Western "Railway, under the following dreadful circumstances: —The unfortunate lady was sister to Miss Harriet Martineau, and wife to Mr. Greenhow, a barrister, • residing at Esher. For some time past she had suffered much from illness, which seemed to somewhat affect her mind. On the Derby Day, as was the usual custom, her husband went to the races, and returned home in the evening in order to have a Party of friends; but it was deemed advisable that Mrs. Greenhow should go to relatives at Weybridge. Accordingly, in company with her little child, aged five years, and a female servant, she went to Esher station, for the purpose of going to Weybridge. While waiting on the platform for the train she seemed desirous every moment to jump on to the line, but was pulled back by the servant. Just as the train was, entering the station, however, with a loud shriek she bounded from the platform, and fell across the rails. She was caught by the wheels of the carriages, and whirled round and round in a most frightful manner. As soon as the train had- gone by a most frightful sight was presented, there being nothing but a headless and misshapen mass, the wheels having completely crushed and mangled the unfortunate lady. At the time of her leaping she had hold of the child's hand, and doubtless would have dragged it with her had it not been for the servant snatching hold of it as soon as possible. Dr. Izod, together with Mr. Williamson and other gentlemen, were in attendance, and the remains of the poor lady, which were scattered about the line, were collected and placed in a shell, and deposited in a room in the station, to await the inquest. She was well known and highly respected for her good and charitable feelings, and this dreadful occurrence has cast quite a gloom over the neighbourhood of Esher.
Glasgow Courier. — 1862-03-13 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

EXECUTION OF A SLAVER—Gordon, the slaver, who was condemned to be executed, and in whose behalf many fruitless endeavours were made, met his fate in a shocking condition. He attempted suicide by smoking cigars steeped in strychnine, and was only kept up by large doses of whisky and brandy. A New York paper says :—" As the procession moved through the yard all eyes were fixed upon the condemned, who tottered to the scaffold like a man half dead with fear, or stapitied with liquor, it is hard to say which. The feebleness of the culprit, the agony with which he viewed the preparations which had been made for his execution, the solemn and careworn appearance of the Marshal and his deputies, the presence of the military drawn Ain line, all contributed to render the scene a most impressive and painful one. When the culprit reached the gallows, and took up his position immediately under the fatal noose, there was a pause of a few seconds, but all was still as death. The work of adjusting the rope was quickly performed, for it was evident that Gordon could not stand long; but hardly had the task been completed when he showed evident signs of fainting. The cap was quickly drawn over the culprit's face, and the Marshal was about to give the signal to the executioner, when Gordon staggered, and would have fallen to the ground had he not been caught by one of the deputies. In another moment, however, he was straightened up, the signal was given, the axe fell, and the body of Gordon was dangling in the air. It has seldom been our lot to witness an execution where the ettl prit has suffered less than Gordon did. There was II) struggling of the arnis and legs, no upheaving of the chest or contortions of the body—a few nervous twitches of the hands, and all was over."
Glasgow Courier. — 1862-06-05 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

THE ORIGINAL OHRISTY MINNTREL.--OR the Bth of this month, E. P. Christy, the original negro minstrel, attempted to commit suicide, by jumping out of the second story window of his residence at New York. His history is a singular one. He made the first great success of the African opera. He was from Buffalo—a rough in that place, with a good voice; he got up a company of singers. He picked up a boy named George, to whom he gave his name, and he made it famous as George Christy. Succeeding so well in Buffalo, Ned Christy determined to try a larger field, and came to New York. Here he was almost drowned with success. Crowds thronged his place nightly, and hundreds were turned away because there was no room. He coined money, and was enabled to sport diamond breastpins and rings worth 5000 dols. Women fell in love with him. He was the rage. He bought houses—owned John Brougham's Theatre kept race homes bought heavily in stocks—gave magnificent feeds—and this continued for years. When the war broke out he took into his head that the rebels would land in the city, capture it, and deprive him of his property, in consequence of his endeavours to make the negro character of consequence. The result has been very distressing. In the midst of affluence, he thought of nothing but his probable poverty, and he who has caused millions to be convulsed with laughter, sat by his own fireside, day after day, a picture of the deepest woe. —Letter from New York. There are 50,000 Chinese in California, viz. 30,000 engaged in mining, 1200 in farm labour, 2000 in trading, and 16,800 in washing, ironing, and domestic service. There are 100 respectable married Chinese women with families in California. In 1861 the expenditure of the Chinese added three millions to the Californian exchequer. The Chineae miners are only allowed to work on claims abandoned by Americans. Out of 2783 convictions, only 168 were Chinese. One-seventh of Californian exports, exclusive of treasure, is to China, and last year three quarters of a million worth of treasure was exported from California to China, 57,000 tons of Californian shipping were engaged last year in the China trade. In some of the mining counties the Chinese form one-tenth of the population, and pay one-fourth of the taxes.
Glasgow Courier. — 1862-06-26 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

EARLY BERN. —A field of here, on the farm of Mr Alexander Meikle, Strath, parish of Galston, was in ear in the early part of last week, which is about two or three weeks sooner than usual on the same farm. Other crops with Mr Meikle look exceedingly well. Complaints are very general about the prevailing wetness of the season, and the injury that some of the crops, as well as the pastures, are sustaining. At the meeting of the Edinburgh Town Council on Tuesday, it was unanimously agreed to direct the Chamberlain to pay £94 10s to be distributed among the clerks in the municipal department, to enable them to visit the International Exhibition. It was also unanimously agreed to direct the Clerk of Police to pay £5l to enable the clerks in the Police Establishment also to visit the Exhibitim ; and it was agreed that the Council officers should each get 7 guineas, and the city civil and criminal officers 5 guineas. Five successive meetings of the Town Council of Burntisland have been summoned without producing the attendance of a quorum of members; and this although important business is before the Board, including the provision of money for the new drainage and sewerage works. Legal measures are likely to be resorted to, either to compel the attendance of the refractory Councillors, or saddle them with all the expenses connected with the sewerage, and throw up the scheme. MOFF 'a. —The Earl of Leven and Melville will, as usual of late, occupy Moffat House during the shooting season. His family are expected from Rockhampton early in July. The Right Hon. Baron Rollo will take up his residence for the summer on his maternal inheritance, Dumcrieff, at the end of next week. His Lordship's chaplain will, by license of the Bishop of Argyll, conduct divine service according to the forms of the Episcopalian Church, during the summer months, in Morison's School,Well Road.  baronial mansion of Brechin Castle '-‘r renovated and its appearance nf the curators _Ad on Monday, was elected Pro •. afternoon, a man named Alex. , seventy years of age, residing in draw, committed suicide by cutIi a razor within his house. that the marriage of the Hon. Miss third daughter of the late Lord ell, to Mr Vaughan Johnson, the
Glasgow Courier. — 1862-08-21 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

MEDICAL ADVICE. —Dr Watson (of the Lock Hospital) on Nervousness, Nervous Debility, Loss of Power, and their train of evils, such as Self-Distrust, Timidity, Pimples on the Skin, Loss of Memory, thoughts of Suicide, Depression, and entire Postration of the System, fie., immediately checked and speedily cured by the Newly-Disoovered Mode. Advice and instructions post free on receipt of two stamps by Dr Watson, 27, Alfred Place, Bedford Square, London.— Consultations daily from n till 2 and 6 till 8, on all those ailments and infirmities pecuhar to youth, manhood, and old age, which tend to embitter and shorten rife. For distinguished Qualifications vide Diplomas.  SUPERFLUOVS HAIR REMOVED IN A FEW MINUTES WITHOUT INJURY TO THE SHIN,  .. dress, on Ten years trial has proved the Efficacy of Atkin% preparation for the immediate removal and destroyinp superfluous hair on the face, arms, and neck, witt...t. the least pain or injury to the skin. A sealed. parla reseicietipbtyopof sist: mwiotnhedyiroerdcteiro,nosrfosrtaumspe,.. t'c' any _ Copy of a Testimonial proving the efficacy of the above preparation. _ _  Eaton Square, London, June 20th, 1860. Miss Hamilton presents her oompliments to Mr Atkin, and respectfully states, and thanks him at the same time, for the complete success she derived from using his preparation: it was the means of removing the disfigurement on the face with which she had been previously troubled for many years. Numerous other Testimonials eau be seen (if required) as to its efficacy. Wholesale Agents, Barclay and Sons, :&ngers, 150, Oxford Street, London; Raines and Co., Rdruburgh, and 40, Hanover Street, Liverpool; Blanchard and Co., Bridge Street, York; Messrs Oldham and Co., Dublin.. Retail of all respectable Chemists, Hair Dressers, ro,rfumers, and Patent Medicine Venders. Prepared by JOHN ATKINS, Falcon Villa., Falcon Road, Battersea, near London.  GUSGOW —FOR TRJ_RIDAD. /
Glasgow Courier. — 1862-08-21 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

SUICIDE OF A SOLDIER.—On Sunday, an English soldier, named Higgins, of the 4th Hussars, ea route to the Curragh, shot himself in Carlow. He was wellienducted, and a favourite with his comrades. He had been singing with some of them at a public house. They interrupted him with laughter. He said he would shoot himself. Believing that he was joking, they laughed the more. He left soon after, and 'returned to the house in which he was billeted, when he took a gun and shot himself through the mouth. Death was instantaneous. NAVAL PRIZE MONET .--Among the monies distributed during the financial year 1861-62 have been £14,571, a portion of booty captured at Canton in 1857; £12,444 out of the Parliamentary grant of thirty days' additional pay to the naval force employed on the China station in 1856-58; and £630, balance of the Parliamentary vote to the officers and crew of the Fox, for service in the Arctic regions between June, 1857, and September, 1859. There still remains undistributed above £17,000 for slave and tonnage bounty, £6,968 for salvage services rendered by her Majesty's ships £6,966 bounty for destruction of pirates, and £7,657 Of the grant for special services on the China station. The Board of Admiralty has fully approved the model of an improved armour-plated cupola vessel, invented by Mr Turner, master shipwright at Woolwich, andone of these vessels is ordered to be constructed. The iron cupola will be fixed instead of movable, 200 ft. long, 50ft. broad, and 10ft. deep. Guns will be placed round the vessel from fort to aft, and will be able to sweep the water at such a depression that no gun vessel can approach. She will be fitted with a ram three feet under the surface of the water, eight feet long, and her rudder. tiller and propeller will be under the water. The ship will carry 26 guns' and her dimensions will be as follow: —33 oft. long, 64ft. broad, 25ft. draught, and 8700 tons displacement.
Glasgow Courier. — 1862-08-21 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

DREADFUL TRAGEDY.- The Canadian News says that, on the 21st July. a woman residing in the township of Stanfold, who had shown symptoms of insanity some years ago, and who was recently in great and unfounded dread of poverty, murdered her seven children during the husband's absence from home, and afterwards committed suicide. One of the children, the eldest, was from home, and escaped the doom of the others. The eldest of the murdered children was only thirteen years of age. The Oswestry Advertiser announces the fall of a bridge at Commins Coch, and says :—" To the finny tribes inhabiting the Dovey the consequence of the fall has been terrific. The vast quantity of lime which was used in the structure has been the death of thousands of salmon, sewing, trout, &c. A fisherman reports that tons have been destroyed, and that such a wholesale destruction of fish was scarcely ever seen." THE PRIVILEGES OF MANHOOD, —A few days ago in a train, running from Freeburg to Vienna, a boy apparently under ten years of age, travelling with a grown-up person, lit a cigar, and happened to be smoking it when the guard came round to collect the tickets. As the one held by the boy was only a half-price one, the guard remarked that the directors considered all smokers as men, and required the boy to pay full price. The elder traveller was accordingly obliged to pay the other half of the price for his young companion. The Cologne Gazettee gives the following statistics on the ptedominance of the nobility overother ranks in the Prussian army :—Of the 984 so-ealled staffofficers, from Field-Marshal down to Major, 193 are of the middle-classes and 791 are noble. Of 37 Lieutenants-General, all but two are noble; of 81 Major-Generals,.all but 6; of 123 Captains, all but 23. In the artillery and engineers, however, the burgher element predominates almost as much as the aristocratic in the other branches, those arms demanding brains and application, neither of which are the aristocracy ready to eye.