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76 THE LEADER. [No. 305, Saturday,
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A CROP OP MURDERS. WXPH MOHBETt IN DA.TH...
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OTJR CIVILISATION. An Epitome of English...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
| Mrs. Palmer And The Forged Acceptance....
wick , therefore , was a creditor for £ 1 , 000 , for which he obtained a warrant of attorney , issued execution , and arrested William Palmer on the 12 th of last December . During the time Palmer was thus in custody , he "was removed from the care of the sheriff ' s officer and taien into that of the criminal officers . The defence was that the signature of Mra . Palmer as acceptor was a forgery ; and the principal witness in support of this was Mrs . Palmer herself . Her evidence is of sufficient interest to be given in full : — " I am a widow , and am mor « than sixty . I saw this hill for the first time on Saturday last . There is not one letter in my writing . It is not my acceptance . I first heard of this bill on the 12 th of December .
No application had been made to me before for payment . I never gave any one authority to sign that acceptance for me . About three years ago , I accepted two bills for my son William . The two did not amount to £ 700 . I had security for them . ^ I never accepted for so large an amount as . £ 1 , 000 . " Cross-examined . — "One that is not a forgery is not yet paid . I accepted one in favour of Mr . Buckstone , & grocer at Stafford . It was to oblige my son "William . It might be seven or eight months ago . My son applied to me to accept it . My security , I dare say , would cover that . It was oa real property in
Staffordshire ! for £ 5 , 000 or £ 6 , 000 . It was for advances of money made at different times . I did not know who the last bill was to be given to at the time . My son assured me I should not have to pay it . I have paid £ 260 towards ifc . I believe I never accepted jnore than three bills for him . I did not give a check an favour of Mr . Padwick for ^ 1 , 000 . I have banked for many years at Rugeley and Lichfield . In December , 1852 , 1 did not give a check in favour of Mr . Padwick . My son George had all to do with the money . , I don't know that I gave him a check for £ lj 000 , payable to KTr . Padwiek . I am sure aa to whether I drew such a check . The whole of the
money I advanced for Williara was £ 5 , 000 or £ 6 , 000 , and it was upon th ^ Lichfield Bank . It was advanced to him more -than three years . 'Indeed , I do not know whose hand writing this acceptance is . These receipts are mine . I never was asked to pay on any other bill than the on . e on -which I paid the £ 260 . I have never given tny son money to pay bills . He is indebted to me now . I don't know what he owes me . I have not made a calculation at all . I did not know a claim was made upon me for £ ljOOO upon a bilL drawn by my / son upon me . I never heard of it . I found the money to pay . the bills 1 accepted ; but I did not expect to be called upon to do so . I have not made pTomissory notes for my son . "
; Mr . George Palmier , and Mr . Thomas Palmer , sons of Mrs . Palmer , Sarah Palmer , her daughter , and various other witnesses , were examined to prove that the signature was aiotthatof the defendant . William Palmer , who had been brought up from Rugeley strongly guarded , was then put in the witness-box , and the ensuing co-nversatiom took place between him and Mr . Edwin Janne . 3 , . / soinxsel for the prosecution : — " Take that bill of exchange for £ 2 , 000 in your hand . Ts the signatvire to the drawing and endorsement youra ? " " Tea . "— " You applied to Mr . Padwick to advance "money on that bill ? " " , J did . "" Who wrote the acceptance , ' Sarah Palmer ?'" " Ann Palmer , "—" Who is she ? " " She is now dead . "— " Do you mean your wife V " Yes . "— " Did you see her write it ? " " Yes . "—" You may now retire . " William . Palmer then retired .
Mr . James immediately afterwards intimated that his client would withdraw from the case . Mr . Serjeant Wilkina ( who conducted the defence ) said he waa bound to admit that Mr . Padwick had acted with great propriety , and Mrs . Palmex-, accordingly , would not press for costs . The Serjeant , in his opening speech for the defence , alluded to William Palmer aa he victim of" most infamous calumnies "—of " wicked , unconstitutional ,, and cro « l attempts made for weeks past , by those who ought to' be the protectors and guardians of our liberties and rights . " Ho also reproved Mr . Janues for liaving alluded to Palmer ' s y catalogue of crimes ; " which , no doubt , was injudicious , considering that the accused ia not yet
tried . But Mr . Wilkins's pathotic appeals to public ( sympathy in favour of hi 8 client , ? ia an injureql and calumniated being , was equally uncalled for , and Hob open to the extra ohargo © f being simply ridiculous . The appearance of William Palmer in the witnessbox was in no respect singular . Tho vicinity 'of the couvfc ^ was densely croivdod ; b ^ ut , owing to tho exertions o f a large body of police , tho court itself Wits not inoonvoniently flllod . A largo number of porsonB waited outside to sec Palmer brought forth ; bu , t a cab having been stationed at ono door , as a sort of dummy , tho ^ riaonor waa brought out at another door , and dvivew rapidily off in a vehiolo whioh thore awaited him .
76 The Leader. [No. 305, Saturday,
76 THE LEADER . [ No . 305 , Saturday ,
A Crop Op Murders. Wxph Mohbett In Da.Th...
A CROP OP MURDERS . WXPH MOHBETt IN DA . TH . Jamjcb Howblk ,, ftcoBtomoionger nt Bath , haa murdered uifl wife under oirourwrtancos of more ^ han usual nfaaolty . . TUo man' hvod in Avon . irtroet—tho St
Giles's of Bath—a neighbourhood inhabited by the most desperate characters . He was thirty years of age ; and his wife , who carried vegetables about the streets , had reached the same time of life . Four children had been born to them ; but they are all
dead . In the course of last Saturday evening , the man and his wife had been drinking together at a publichouse called the Seven Dials . They quarrelled ; and Powell struck his wife a back-handed blow in the face . He afterwards left , and the wife went away with another woman . About midnight Howell returned to hie room . Some lodgers in the adjoining chamber then heard him tailing , apparentl y to himself . He muttered , " I will kill the cow ; I will kill her . God strike me dead , I will do some mischief . " The event showed that lie did not speak idly . While he was in this mood , the wife returned , and said outside the door , " My dear Jem , have you . come ? Are you inside ? " He answered , " Yes , I am . Where have you been all night ? " The wife said she had been looking for him , but could not find him . Howell
pushed her into the room , exclaiming , " I ' ll give thee something . " The sound of two blows was then heard by the listeners in the adjoining room—a labourer named Brown , and his wife . Something fell heavily , and Mrs . Howelb exclaimed , " Jem , you have killed your child , and you have killed me . " The woman was pregnant and near her confinement . She added , '' Jem , look about you , and see what you have done . " Howell ran ^ down stairs as fast as he could go , and his wife called out to Mrs . Brown , " Missus , for mercy ' s sake , come in to me . '' This request was acceded to ; and Mrs . Howell said to her friend , " He has killed me , " and screamed out . The woman Brown uttered an exclamation , of " Murder ! ' and her husband , following her into the room , found the floor covered Vith . blood , and Mrs . Howell prostrate in the midst of it . He was frightened , and , taking his wife away , called out to the neighbours and the police .
On leaving the house ; Howell went to the residence of Mrs . Webb , a midwife ; knocked up the landlord of the c house , and , with many oaths , asked him to bring the woinan- out , or his wife -would be dead before she got there . The man said she must have time to get lier clothes on ; but Howell , who seemed to be intoxicated , and who was naked with the exception of biis trousers and boots , urged the midwife to make haste . Being frightened at his manner , she went half dressed . On the road , the man said , " Make haste along , and I ' ve got a n oggin of gin for you wten you get there . " When she arrived , Howell lighted her up stairs , and said , " You may take me , or do whp , t you like with Hie ; I don't cai-e . " The wife
wa 3 then nearly dead ; and , shortly after the arrival of medical men , she expired . A lacerated wound at the bottom of the abdomen had been inflicted , and she bled to death . The body was quite blanched . After her decease , the Ctesarian operation was resorted to , and a male child was taken forth , quite dead . The probability appears to be that Howell kicked his wife in the abdomen ; but of this there is no direct proof . Murder at Liverpool . —A girl , named Drummond , has been murdered at Liverpool by a ruffian with whom she had lived . The motive seems to be that he suspected her of having given information which led' to the apprehension of some of his disreputable associates . Her head was nearly severed from her body ; and Ferguson , the murderer , afterwardB went into a public-house , and boasted that he < l had done the business for his wench . " When before
the magistrates ( by whom he has been committed for trial ) , he exhibited great dejection . MoRDETi neab , Riohmowd . —Mary Ann Peacock , a widow , and her child , have been found drowned in the Thames , near Teddington Look . An inquest has been opened , and twice adjourned , but has not yet come to a conclusion . It would seem , from the details already known , that George Ford , the mate of a barge plying between Kingston and London , was paying court to the woman , and had aomo cause to bo jealous of another man . About a week previous to the diecovexy of the body , he induced Mrs . Peacock , by threatening to stab her if she ref UBed , to go with him on l » oard the barge , and pass tho night there . She went , together with her child , and neither were ever again seen alive . Ford , and a man named Jackson , tho oaptoin of the barge , aro now in custody , and under remand .
Poraomiras at MANOHESTian . —Poisonings , for tho sake of deriving monoy from tho deaths of insured persons , is fearfully on the inoreaeo . Four men—ThomW Bull Holland , a Burgeon , Jamo » Monaghan , George Barry , and Edwnrd Dunn—arc now ia oustody at Manchester , ohargod with poisoning tho father of Monaghan , whose life was insured for £ 800 in the Diadem . Insurance Company , of whioh body Holland was the > surgeon . Tho latter baa turned Quoou ' u evidence , and , on tlio examination boforo tho Manchester magistrates , ho waa put in the witnosa-box , but prevaricated excessively . It appears that ho told the other prisoners that mixing sugar of load with whiBkoy would prevent its being detected , and ho had Hcvora . 1 conversations with thom of a kind whioh should have aroueod kin suspicions . The application , to tho
insurance office , after the death of old Monaghan , was refused . The prisoners were remanded . —An ' othei case is under investigation at Manchester , in whicl two children , whose parents would be entitled to £$ each from a burial club at their death , are suapect & d to have been poisoned .
Otjr Civilisation. An Epitome Of English...
OTJR CIVILISATION . An Epitome of English " Civilisation . " — The contrast is a strange one between the destinies of the little well-born , well-nursed , well-weaned , well-frocked well-trousered , well-whipped , well-beLatined , wellbeGieeked child of the wealthy and opulent , and those of the stunted , deformed , pallid , unclothed , unwashed , untaught little vagabond , whose father and mother have nothing to bestow upon him but thumps , kicks , and curses . The healthy influences which the rich can bring to "bear upon their children are very numerous . There is the bevy of nurses—the coral , with its golden peal of bells—N " oah and his progeny in their
stately ark—a dissected map of Europe—a French governess—a German ditto—admission to the dinner table at half-price , with oranges and bon-bons as the rewards of infantine virtue—Dr . Portl y and the Catechism—a grey pony—Mr . Softly and the verb " I love , " in the Latin tongue—the Rev . ^ Eneas M ' Whack and the verb " I strike , " in the original Greek ;—Eton or Harrow—the Midsummer , holiday at home in the old Manor-house , with the first glimpse at the divine Sophia , rising fifteen with the brightest eyes and the most captivating -blushes;—Oxford with a good allowance—the continent with a larger allowance —the London Clubs with the largest allowance of all
—a seat in * Parliament , and some thousands a-year , more or less—and , to crown all , the identical Sophia of the schoolboy ' s dreamland converted into a portly matron in ruby velvet at one end of a rich dinner table , while the unflinching gladiator in the school of all the virtues sips a glass of unexceptionable Burgundy at the other ; and descants xipoti the frightful propensities of human nature , and the vices of the poor <* So much for young Hopeful ; now for young Hopeless . Born of a cadger and the heiress of a dog ' s-meat man in the back attic of a back street behind Clare-market , or haply in Bethnal-green ; wrapped in a ragged dishclout , his little lips placed at a breast which will
yield little but adulterated gin ; weaned over a cabbage-stall ; untaught in any science save sharpness , and that sharpness , the sharpness of London thieves ; ignorant of any distinction between himself and the street curs , save that he kicks the dogs , and the dogs bite him ; familiar from infancy upwards with the choicest phraseology of blasphemy and obscenity ; taken by his mother * on Saturday night to witness the ceremony of pawning the flannel petticoat and stolen kerchief at the sign of the Three Balls ; well-grounded from his earliest years in tho rudiments of picking and stealing , —removed in due course to Mr . Fsigin ' s Finishing Academy to practise on the mannikin with
its larcenous bells , —familiar with the police-court , in which he lisped hiB earliest public lie , — -with a stall at the penny theatre , when he has succeeded in ( stealing the penny ;—of his Sophia and of their courtship we dare not speak : the ' world is first made acquainted with the story of their loves when young Hopeless is placed at the bar charged "with having smashed in the nose , blackened the eyes , bi'oken the bead , and fractured two of the ribs , of the object of his affections . Why pursue the dismal tale ? The Quarter Sessions and the Assizes , the Hulks and the Penitentiaries , Norfolk Island and Calcraft , need not bo painted in .- — Tiniea .
The Attempt to Poison a Wipe . —Thomas Bobeon , a man who attempted to poison his wife with BUgar of load , has been committed for trial . It appeared that he had made offers of marriage to a girl named Jan © Timperley , to whom ho represented himself as a single man . This was his motive for desiring to get his wife out of tho way . : Woman Beating . —John Jenkins , a bricklayer , has been committed to prison for four months for a brutal assault on his wife , whom he knockod down
in a public-house , and kicked savagely . Before the Lambeth , magistrate ho blubbered a good deal , and said ho -waa drunk at the time , or he should not Imvo done it . —At tho Cldrkonwell polioo-ofiico , a master shoemaker has been sentenced to a month'i * inapriBonment for an outrageous assault with a soick ou hio wife . The sentence would have boon heavier , but for tho intercession of the injured woman , who mud ,, thun < could not bo a " better-hearted man , " but thath ' o luul boon ill lately and had got intoxicated .
Tiiievinu Soldiers' Clotihnu . —Solomon <^< " ><; portss , ft Jow . salesman in tho neighbourhood «' Whitoohapol , hna been ohargod tit WorHlup-Ht ^* - ' ; with being unlawfully in posBGBBion of u quantity of military clothing , tho proporty of tho Quoun . No loss than ono hundred and llfty different nrtiolos woro found on Inn premises by tho police . Tho Jow «»• sorted that ho had bought thorn at tho periodical aalea ; but thin voxn evidently fivlao , as nomo of <»« garment * wore new . Ho was therefore- ordered to pity penaltiott to tho amount of £ il 4 b . ( id . A Counisu Rival to AhiVE Gkmv . —Some HueI 1
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 26, 1856, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26011856/page/4/
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