Potter's Electric News

THE TAILORS' STRIKE. SENTENCE ON THE CONVICTED TAILORS. (Central Criminal Court, Aug. 23, before Mr Baron Bramwell.) On Druitt, Lawrence, Adamson, and the other defendants, who had been convicted on the pre- vious day, being called up for judgment, Mr Poland called the attention of the learned judge to the fact that when the trial of the first three men "was postponed at the previous session a dis- tinct pledge had been given that the pickets should be withdrawn. The defendants Druitt and Law- rence were now anxious, he said, to place before bis lordship an affidavit that they had used their best endeavours to carry out that undertaking, but a resolution in the committee had been carried against them to continue the system till it was de- clared illegal, whereupon the defendants resigned their position on the committee of the Tailors' Association. Mr Ribton, on behalf of Adamson, said his client had never been on that committee, as he repre- sented a Manchester society of tailors, but he had endeavoured with the others to put a stop to pic- keting, but had been over-ruled. The learned counsel went on to say that the existing committee being now satisfied by the learned judge's decision that picketing could not be enforced legally, had decided to withdraw all pickets henceforth from the streets of London. Sergeant Ballantine, for the prosecution, said he did not feel it his duty to make any observations -with regard to the punishment the court might think fit to inSict. He was extremely glad to hear the pledge just given, as he had long considered the picketing system as illegal. After this decision the most effectual means would be taken, in the event of parties endeavouring to violate this en- gagement which was now understood to be so- lemnly given. The learned judge intimated his intention of conferring with the Recorder, and left the court for that purpose. On returning, Baron Bramwell, in passing sentence, said You have been found guilty, and it is my duty to pass z, sentence upon you, and to say what shall be done in consequence of the verdict found against you. Now I ask you in all kindness to listen to me—to iisten to an impartial man, one who neither is nor can be an employer of labour, nor a receiver of wages, and who is unaware of anything to bias his judgment; because the only personal interest I can have between you and your master is, that my clothes will cost me a few shillings more or less. That I do not consider will warp my judgment. I am satisfied you have broken the law. I said, and I abide by it, if you could perform a picketing which neither annoyed, alarmed, nor intimidated, there -would be nothing unlawful; but I am satisfied that you could not perform a system of picketing which would be of any use to you without breaking the Jaw. To use the expression of your own learned counsel spoken this morning, I am satisfied, as he said you are, that it is impossible to have an effec- tual system of picketing, without being guilty of that alarm, intimidation, and obstruction which is a breach of the law. I put it to your own good judgments whether it is not so. "When you re- member that men who formerly came for their own work, have been deterred from doing so, and their wives and children have been obliged to come for it. Believe me, that when the jury found the ver- dict the day before yesterday, and yesterday, they found a true verdict. The law is as-ainst you, and I am satisfied, and I think if you will but reflect on it you will be satisfied, that reason and justice are against you also. What right can jou have to put a coercion on any man as to how he shall em- ploy his talents and industry? The men or some men at Sheffield, whom I see an American paper calls those wretches,' seemed to suppose they had some right in which the law ought to assist them, to put a compulsion on others of their own trade to join their union and T am afraid there may be some such notion lurking in some of your minds, because, without saying you would proceed to the fearful extremities proceeded to there, I find you use this expression, Dishonourable workmen and dishonourable masters,' meaning those who will not agree with you. I put it to your own judg- ment to reflect, what right have you to call on any man to throw his labour into a common stock be- cause he happens to be in the same trade. You have no more right to call on him to do that than you have to call on him to thro w what property he has into a common stock. Depend on it it is wrong. If any reason can be given for it, it must come from those who assert it, not from those who deny it. But you must be wrong in thinking it is a'desirable state of things. If all thejourneymen tailors ought to combine together, so ought all the journeymen shoemakers, and hatters, and agricultural labourers, and, in fact, every class and description, and so, by a parity of reasoning, ought all masters and all other persons who had got some common bond of union amongst them. And what would be the consequence of that? Would it be for the benefit of society at large? You cannot think so. The only way in which it could be for the benefit of society at large would be if gthe object of common desire, which is called wealth, was increased by such an arrangement. But would wealth be in- creased? Certainly not because everyone knows that the aggregate happiness of mankind is in- creased by every man being left to the unbiassed, "unfettered determination of his own will and judg- ment as to how he will employ his industry and other means of getting on in the world. You must know that. 1 cannot help saying it is a. most remarkable thing-pray attend to this, for it is said in all kindness—that for more than forty years the best men of this country, the men you admire most, have been engaged in removing restraints from trade, commerce, industry, and labour. There is now no monopoly in this land. There is no class legislation. There is no law which gives one set of men an advantage for their own particular bene- fit. That you know as well as I do. But strange to say, you men are trying to legislate among yourselves in a contrary direction;'for, instead of furthering that freedom of action, freedom of la- bour, freedom of judgment, which the law has endeavoured to do, you are endeavouring to put restraints upon them, and create a state ot corpo- rate guilds, which were very useful in times gone by, I dare say, but which are mischievous in these times. I beseech you to think of what I am saying to you. Is it not a strange thing that you should be going counter to the legislation and conduct of men whom you most admire of all the statesmen you have had in this country ? Believe me, if men are not allowed to make laws of this description, they will not be allowed to break the law for their own benefit, which they would not be allowed to make. Take my word for that; and when I say mine, I do not ask you to put any value upon it but I am speaking not my own opinion only--1 ap- peal to your own consciences if I am not speaking the opinions of everybody who has reflected on the subject. Look at your friends—they who speak most highly of you, and who are anxious for the welfare of the working classes. Is there a man amongst them who can be found to support the practices condemned by the verdict of these juries ? There-is not a man, not a thinker, not a writer of eminence or distinction who can be found to justify f you in what you have done. I beseech you to do it no more. Do not attach any particular value to I my words unless you take them to be representa- tive words. I have had the advantage of consult- ing the learned Recorder and worthy alderman (Lusk) by my side, and the conclusion we have come to is this :—You have done wrong—you have broken the law—you have done that which, I think, as men, you should not have done but any man may do an unfair thing, and may take an erroneous view of what is right and just. I be- lieve—we are all willing to believe—that is what you have done, and though ignorance of the law is no excuse for any man, it is a reason why the punishment passed upon him for what he has done in that ignorance should be light—in some cases, at all events. And I think the right way of deal- ing with you-with an exception, that of Knox— especially after what I have heard from vour learned counsel to-day, is to pass on sentence upon you, but to take your own words, your own judgments upon the matter, that you know what you have done cannot be done without a breach of the law— to take your words for it, that you will not repeat it, and let you out on your own recognisances, to receive judgment when j'ou are called on for that purpose. As to Knox. I should do wrong if I did not sympathise with that reprobation which has fallen even from his own learned counsel, and J sentence him to three month's imprisonment. I trust he will have, in addition to that, a lively re- collection of the stinging reproaches he heard from those who appeared for him. So much for these men in the dock now before me. That leaves the case of Whelan unprovided for. The men who stand there at present may go, with the feeling, I hope, that what I have said to them has been said with the kindest and best disposition. The defendants were then discharged. # BARBAROUS MURDER. A little girl, named Annie Adams, the daughter of a. bricklayer, living at Alton, Hants, was the victim of a brutal murder on Saturday evening. The child, who was about eight years of age, and is described as pretty and intelligent, was in the habit on a Satur- day afternoon of playing with several companions, the children of neighbours, in some hop plantations, near the town. She left home about one o'clock, and as she had not returned in the evening her parents made inquiries respecting her. One of her little friends, named Yates, told her father that they had met a man on the road who had given them some halfpence and Annie Adams twopence, on condition that she would take a walk with him. The child consented, and she left her companions. From what subsequently transpired, there is reason to believe that the fellow took her to the hop plantation and there murdered her to hide an offence which he had committed. Having killed her, he mutilated the body in a very shocking manner, for when search was made her body was found to be cut up in pieces, and hid in various parts of the field. The head had been severed from the trunk, the arms aid legs had been cut off, and even the heart had been plucked out. The murderer had probably done this as a means of getting rid of the body. Two or three hundred people assisted the police in the search for the various parts of it; and the greatest indignation was mani- fested at the brutality with which she had been treated. A penny having been found by the side of the heart and one of the ears, suspicion was at once directed against the manj who had led her away from her companions. Acting upon the description which her companions gave, Superintendent Cheney, of the Hants Constabulary, arrested a young man residing at Alton, and a clerk to a respectable firm of solicitors in the town. It appears that he had been drinking during the afternoon, and returned to his employers' offices in the evening. The superintendent arrested him there, and upon examining him found that his shirt sleeves were stained with blood, and that his trousers had been recently washed. Two small knives were in his possession, but neither of them was large enough for the commission of the crime. The inhabitants of Alton exhibited such a hostile feeling towards the prisoner, that the police had considerable-difficulty in getting him to the station- house. — FRIGHTFUL TRAGEDY. On Thursday evening one of those thrilling tragedies which now and then occur in the me- tropQlis was perpetrated in the neighbourhood of Lambeth. The scene of the sad affair is a double*fronted house with a large garden situated upon Sir Gilbert East's estate "in Chester-street, which connects Kennington-lane and Kenuington' Road. For some years past, at No, 51 in the above street, Mr Charles Roberts has resided with his wife, Ann Roberts, aged forty, togetber with three children, who were respectively named and aged Charles Roberts, 12; Annie, aged be- tween nine and ten; and Frederick, who was about seven years old. The latter two were the victims of a fearful murder. Mr Roberts, the father of the unfortunate children, has long been known in the neighbourhood as a tradesman of good position. He was a master plumber, painter, and decorator, and employed several hands. From inquiries which have been made, it would appear that the family have lived upon the best of terms until recently, when the wife's conduct caused a deal of uneasiness to the husband's mind and eventually he made some communication to her relatives on fhe subject. The manner in which the shocking crime was discovered may be gathered from the facts sub- joined. As before stated, the house stands be- hind a forecourt, and at No. 53 a female named Hills resided. About twenty minutes before five o'clock this woman was aroused by hearing loud cries of Murder!' upon which she became much alarmed, and proceeded at once to the spot from whence she imagined the cries bad proceeded. On i entering the forecourt of Mrs Roberts's premises she was met by Charles Roberts, aged twelve, who, running up to her cxclaimed, Oh, Mrs Hills, mother's killed the two, and will me.' The boy clung to Mrs Hills, and appeared to be greatly excited. Seeing his agitated condition, Mrs Hills having her suspicion aroused that something was wronjj, directly hastened into the house by the front door, which had been opened by the boy. Upon entering the house she found both parlours were empty she then proceeded to the basement floor, where in one of the rooms she found Mrs Roberts lying near the doorway leading to the back yard in a pool of blood. Mrs Hills, on reaching the unfortunate woman, found her bleed- ing from a frightful gash on "the left arm just above the elbow. She said, Oh, Mrs Roberts, what have you done?' rlhe unfortunate woman had become so weak from the loss of blood that she could scarcely articulate, but was understood to make some mention of her children. Mrs Hills then found grasped in the prostrate woman's right hand a white handled table knife, with which the wounds found upon her had been in- flicted. Mrs Hills called in the assistance of a neighbour named Sarah Coleman, and with her help the almost inanimate body of Mrs Roberts was removed from the doorway of the room to the hearth rug in front of the fireplace. The alarm having been given, and medical assistance called in, the unfortunate woman was examined, and it was found that she had inflicted a deep puncture in the left arm, by which the most important muscles had been divided. Medical assistance was, of course, sent for, and Dr, Wheeler and Dr. Cortis, of Kennington Park-road, and several other medical gentlemen soon arrived upon the spot. The rumour that a tragedy of a fearful de- scription had taken place soon got abroad, and so large a crowd assembled in the neighbourhood of the house that it required a body of police to keep the thoroughfare clear. Upon the entry of the police and the medical gentlemen into the house, their attention was at first attracted to the inanimate body of Mrs Roberts, who was, as al- ready stated, removed from the kitchen doorway to the front of the fireplace. Having found that the unfortunate mother had died from the self- inflicted wounds, they were induced from the expressions made use of by the boy Charles, and other circumstances, to make their way upstairs. On passing through the back bed-room over the kitchen into a small lumber room opening out of it, they found the lifeless body of Frederick Roberts, aged seven years. He was lying on his z' left side, with his hands clenched and covered with blood. The floor upon which he was lying was a large pool of blood. On examination it was found that the poor boy's throat was cut from ear to ear, and there was no evidence of any struggle having taken place. The medical gentle- men and police officers, in pursuing their investi- gation, found in the first floor front bed room, lying on the floor upon her left side, the lifeless corpse of the poor child, Annie Roberts, aged nine, whose head, neck, and bosom, was besmeared with gore. She was lying on her left side, be- tween the bed and the washstan. Her right arm was stretched out, and her left hand just visible from beneath the body was tightly clenched. The coverlet of the bed was stained with blood, as also the washstand. Here evidently a struggle had taken place between the poor child and her mother. The mother bad, as in the case of the boy, inflicted a fearful gash in the girl's throat. Z, 11 The eldest boy, Charles, who first gave the alarm to Mrs Hills, was afterwards taken to her house, where, on being questioned, he made the following statement: 'I was playing in the gerden with Fred between four and five o'clock this afternoon. when mother came down and said, Fred, I want you.' I went with her upstairs, and then heard a bump. I then ran up-stairs to the back room over the kitchen, and there saw Freddy sitting in the child's chair. Mother was then in the act cf 'sawing his neck with the knife. She then threw him off the chair down upon the floor, and the blood spurted all over the place. I then rushed down stairs, followed by mother. I said, lvhat's the matter with Freddy ?' She said, He's very ill.' Mother then ran up-staits again to the front bed-room, where sister Annie was lying on the bed suffering from a pain in the chest. Mother took hold of her. Annie said, Oh, mother, for goodness, what are you going to do?' Mother said, 'I will stab you,' and then drew the knife backwards and forwards across I Annie's throat. 1 was in the doorway and saw this. I was frightened and ran away down stairs z, through the front and back kitchens, into the garden, and cried Murder,' and 'Help.' Mother 71 stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, and I said, 4 0, mother, what are you going to do ?' and she answered I'll stab myself.' I then saw her tbrust in the knile in her arm, and then the blood spurted out all over the place.' The scene upon the arrival of Mr Roberts, who was sent for from a contract on which he was en- gaged in the Borough, was one of the most heart- rending description. Not knowing at first who the unfortunate gentleman was, upon presenting himself at the gate the constables who had been placed in charge of the premises naturally re- fused him admission, He anxiously, and almost in a raving state, asked what really was the matter. Mr Inspector Heath met the poor fellow on his way up the gravel path, and taking him I z;1 up the stairs in the hall of the house, intimated in most gentle terms that some fearful calamity had befallen his family. Mr Roberts exhibited great emotion, and upon entering the breakfast b parlour requested in urgent tones to be at once informed what really was the extent of his calamity. Mr Heath, as mildly as he could consistently with his duty, then informed Mr Roberts that some of his children were no more. Upon this poor Mr Roberts requested a second time fo be informed what was the actual position of affairs. Mr Heath then said he was sorry to inform him that two of his (Mr Roberts's) children were dead, and told him that they had died from violence. He then gently as possible broke to him the sad in- telligence that the two poor children had died by their mother's hand, and upon being asked where their In other was the scene became more painful than heretofore, as it was obligatory upon Mr Heath to state also to the unhappy husband that his wife had after inflicting the injuries which had caused the death of her children inflicted such wounds upon her own body as to deprive herself of life. So deeply affected was Mr Roberts on first hearing the sad news that he fainted away, and stimulants had to be administered to him before he recovered sufficiently to listen to the close of the sorrowful narrative. The inquest upon view of the bodies of Mrs Roberts and her children was held on Friday at the scene of the tragedy in Chester-street, Ken- nington-lane: It was shown that the wretched woman had long been an excessive drinker of in- toxicating liquors, and that she had exhibited a morbid jealousy of her husband for which there was no foundation. The jury, after a lengthened inquiry, returned a verdiet to the effect that the children had been murdered by their mother, and that she had destroyed herself, while of unsound mind. 10 THE CATTLE PLAGUE.—The official return, issued on Thursday, states :—' For the week ending the 17th August no fresh outbreaks have been reported from any part of England, Wales, or Scotland. One case of cattle plague is reported to have occuired during the week, being a decrease of ten on the pre- vious return. The deceased animal was killed. There were 103'healthy cattle slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease. In conformity with the intention announced by the Government, a series cf important orders has been made by the Privy Council respecting the cattle plague. The principal one is an order relaxing existing restrictions on the move- ment of cattle and the holding of markets and sales, and consolidating all the regulations on the subject. Another order embodies the special provisions requi- site for the metropolis. These orders will come into operation on the 16th of September. The orders gazetted on Tuesday, which revoke the permission to remove to the metropolis foreign cattle landed at Southampton and Harwich, will come into operation on the 1st of October. I CHOLERA IN THE EAST.—The Moniteur of Sur day publishes a report signed by M. de Forcade, and M. de Moustier upon the recent conference at Con" stantinople, held with the object of devising means to prevent the irruption of cholera into Europe. The labours of the conference have been extensive, and apparently felicitous, and the document, including3 special study of the epidemic, drawn up by Fauvel, will shortly be published. This year, itlS officially reported, the sanitary condition of the pII" grims to Mecca has been very satisfactory, and the improvement is ascribed in great part to the regula" tions enforced on th(proid and at Mecca. Djeddah haS been cleansed and transformed,' new and better buildings giving place tJ old. The shipping on the Red Sea has also been vigilantly cared for by the sanitary police. We are warned, however, not to lapse into a false security, but to continue on the spot the war declared against the scourge. HORRORS OF A FEVElt SIMP.—The brig Day Sfat arrived off Gravesend on Friday, in charge of the chief mate and portion of the crew of the ship Cloliell-, Dream, now on her voyage to Jaran, havii g picked her up at sea, with a portion of her own crew dead) under shocking circumstances. The report made by the chief mate of the Golden Dream is as follows 'At 6.30 a.m. of the 15th of July, St. Nicholas, one of the Cape de Verde Islands, bearing NE, distant 45 miles, saw a sail two points on our starboard boW, As we approached, saw a signal of distress flying In her main rigging, and her sails all aback. On getting within hail, asked what was the matter. A very feeble voice answered, The ship is half full of wate .r and our crew are all dyipg with fever.' Our captal" ordered a boat to be lowered, and I put off to the vessel, our captain giving strict orders to becareflll in boarding. On getting alongside found her to b<j the brig Day Star from Bathurst, Rio Grande, bound to London in ballast. On boarding her found the crew in the last stage of exhaustion they were lying on the deck, some evidently dying. The chie' mate could just manage to crawl about, and he re" ferred me to the ship's log book for information. 10 it I found that the day after the ship's sailing from Bathurst a fever broke out, which, in a few days' completely prostrated the entire crew, two only being able to navigate the shin, and these were subsequently stricken down, and the ship laid helpless. On thO 10th July an able seaman, named H. Nichols, waS the first to perish from the effects of the fever. lIe was found dead in his berth. His corpse as at once committed to the deep. The next victim was the master, Captain Lever, then a cabin boy, a d so it went on till only five remained alive, and these were considered in a dying condition when 1 went 0:1 board the vessel. The vessel, when off May, fisherman to ask permission to anchor the brig DaY Star off the island the Portuguese boat came off with a letter from her Britannic Majesty's consul* stating that as the ship had sickness on board,'jj would not be permitted, and directed her to proceed to St. Vincent, and it was while she was thus pro" ceeding that she was fallen in with by the Goldetf Dream. On attempting to leave, the survivors i111" plored to be taken into my boat, as they should aU die. I told them not to think T intended to abandol1 them, but I must report the condition of the vessel to my captain, and that I would soon return. I then had the steward lowered into the boat, and took hio1 with me to the Golden Dream. Captain Wise, <>» hearing the condition of the ship determined to remove the survivors to his ship, which was directly done, where they received every comfort and atteW tion. Five of our crew voluntered with me to return to the brig, and took to the pumps, and succeeded in pumping the water cut. They then well washed and fumigated the cabins, and made sail for Londol1. The crew of the Day Star went on in the GoldsU Dream to Japan.' ExTRAOK.-iNARY CASE,-On Wednesday EVETTFAS Mr Bedford, the coroner for Westminster, held 311 inquest, and the following curious particulars "V?efe adduced in evidence A person known by the of Fred Mitchell, and by the nickname of ScratcheJ11, was found dying, and did die on Saturday last, in a common lodging-house, at 5, Perkins-rents. West' minster. A. doctor was sent for, who discovered that this person, presumably a man, was in reaW a woman, of between 50 and GO years, of age. She was at the time stricken by death, and did not re' gain her consciousness. She had occupied a separate bed in the room where 22 men slept. She NV35 described as having a masculine face with a slight beard, a general appearance like a man, but a fefll1" nine hand—a very delicate hand; her hair white and cut short; she walked with a stick.$el mode of obtaining a livelihood was mysterious. She was accustomed to bring her food into the lodgi^S to :I ø house which she had frequented for the last nIP months—wrapped in paper, "and to eat it privately* The superintendent of this house affirmed that Sllo was exceedingly well educated, and that although she was 'ndge'-ty,' there was not the slightest SJgIt of insanity about her. 1 She never drank any thin? intoxicating; he never suspected that she was illy other than a man. A post-mortem examination showed that the body was well nourished, but tl1a. the brain was diseased in an extraordinary degree, both the lateral ventricles were broken down, cause of death was long existing "softening of brain, and the doctor thought that if she had neV& shown signs of insanity the fact was remaikable. gentleman identified the body as that of a suppose poor man wliomlie had relieved occasionally for the past fifteen years. When the woman died the A. White, a Roman Catholic priest, was in lodging-house where she lay, and to him the tendent handed the coat worn by the deceased, ln the pocket of which were two letters, one on b]aC edged paper, 'Mr George Ogle, 17, St. square,' and another i_i a woman's hand writ'0?'■ and signed 'Claude,' addressed from Edinbui'g to a lady in Ebury-street. The rev. gentler deposed that the lady to whom this letter %v3e directed had taken an interest in the deceased becau she was accustomed to attend a chapel near the la1dy residence. The letter was from a half-witted siste of the dead woman, inquiring after the health of < brother.' One day last week the deceased called the house of the lady and asked for news of sister, when this letter was given to her. This^.1 ness said that he had never entertained any susp1^ that the deceased was not a man and that he I1 heard a rumour to the effect thai both she and half-witted sister were illegitimate children of s0"'a Scotch nobleman. Mr George Ogle, the gentle"1}' j to whom the other letter was addressed, testified the letter belonged to him. In Aoril or May the deceased presented herself, hat in hand, be* the window of his lather's house, and solicited 3>p She said she had been in very much better c'lCl^as stances, has got gradually lower and lower, and then lodging in Westminster, somewhere Deal le, Pye-street. She said she had been a bank Cl,8 Ihey thought she was a man. Witness's fathei g her some bread, and meat and other tilings, an ness gave her a coat, in, the pocket of whic accidentally left the letter produced. The Jury follll a verdict of Death from natural causes.' Printed and Published, on behalf of the il1 by JOSEPH POTTKH, at the Office in ( the Parish of S&int. Mary, in the County Town of Haverfordwest. l Wednesday, August 28J 1867.