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that of a man . "In pursuing my examination of the remains , " continued Mr . Payuter , "I found some stray hairs adhering to the flesh . They appeared to have fallen there . Some that I now produce seem to be hair from the head of a man . It is not black , though very dark . There are likewise some dark hairs from whiskers . I also found a few hairs which , from their length and fineness , must have been a woman ' s . I have no doubt the dark short hair belonged to the deceased . I think the body was mot cut to pieces until the rigidity of death had set in some time , because , in fitting together the portions of the right leg , I found the right knee-joint and hip-joint firmly fixed , so that the thigh must have stiffened completely at right angles with the rest of the body . The right arm had also stiffened with the forearm under and pointing towards the body . The decomposition I observed in the left hip-joint could not have been produced in less than a week before I saw the remains . " Mr . Paynter added that he should not be surprised , from the appearance of the remains , if it was found that they had been partly boiled . He imagined so from the extraordinary tightness and rigidity of the tendons . The amount of evidence tending to throw light upon the committal of the murder is very scanty . On the night of Thursday week , about haff-past eleven , an elderly woman , rather short and stout , came from the direction of the Strand towards Waterloo-bridge . She carried a carpet-bag , long , of rather peculiar shape , and having a large bright flower in the pattern on the side . It appeared to be very heavy , and the woman , after paying her halfpenny to the toll-collector , had some difficulty in getting it through the turnstile . In endeavouring to do so , she turned the stile twice , and the toDcollector said , " Why don ' t you ask people to lift up your "bag for you ? See what you have done ; you have made me lose a halfpenny . " She muttered something in reply in a gruff , and rather masculine , tone of voice , apparently simulated . Errington , the toll-collector , then stooped down and lifted the bag over . In doing so , he observed that it had leathern sides , handles , and bottom ; and the bag found by the lads on the abutment in all respects corresponded with the one carried by the woman . The woman ' s hair looked as if it had * been powdered , and plastered thickly down on her forehead . She seemed agitated , as if in a hurry ; and Errington conceived she -was desirous to catch the train which was to start from the Waterloo station at a quarter to twelve . He has no recollection of her going off the bridge again at the same end . Besides the carpet-bag , she carried a brown paper parcel , supposed to contain the head , &c .
It has been suggested that the c elderly woman' was in fact a man in disguise ; but to this it has been objected that , if sue was short for a woman , she must have been a dwarf for a man . Errington stated on the inquest ( which stands adjourned to next Monday week ) that she seemed , at a rough guess , to be about five feet three inches in height . In that case , the individual might well have been a man ; and several of the circumstances seem to point to that conclusion . Some further details are thu 3 given in the daily papers : — " The police , under the directions of Mr . Superintendent Durkin , arc engaged in active search for arty clue -which may lead to the detection of some one of the persons ( for there is no doubt that there were several ) who hav « been concerned in the murder . As yet , only very slight traces have been obtained . Kilsby brought to the station on Monday the missing sock and part of the neckerchief of the deceased , which were overlooked wlien the contents of the bag were first emptied out into the barge . The sock is , of course , the fellow to that in the bag , and both , there is not the slightest doubt , are of German manufacture . They are cotton , ribbed in a very peculiar manner , and such , it is stated , as are only made in Germany . This quite bears out the opinion expressed by tailors who have seen the clothes of the deceased , that at least the greator part were made abroad . Of course , with a foreigner who may have had but few friends in London , or possibly was only here on a short visit , this Btill further diminishes the chance of his clothes being recognized . The half of the neefctio which has been found in the barge is a black silk one , with a smallpatterned blue silk end . As with the other portions of the dress , it has been . cut in half at the back , and only one half appears to have been put into the carpet-bag . From the make of the deceased ' s shirt , it is evident that ho must have worn his shirt-collar turned down over tlio necktie , which again confirms the suspicion that ho was not a native of this country . " Among the several guesses , more or less probable , which have been put forward , it hns been suggested that the murder was committed in Germany , and the body brought over here , to bo more safely got rid of ; that the murdered man was a refugee , killed for political reasons by some of his comrades j and that ho was n g ranger in London , and was decoyed to some infamous « cn , un ( ier pretence of being taken to a respectable waging for th « night , and there slaughtered for thosake oi liw money . No coins were found in the clothes , the pockets of which were turned inside out .
Hie bag with its contents weighed about a qunrter of a Hundred weiglit . The motive for lowering it by the string over tho side of tho bridgo was probably to ovoid
the splash in the water which would have followed had it been thrown over , and which would ! have attracted the attention of the Thames police . Had the bag been let down directly over one of the arches , it would of course have gone into the water ; but the person concerned , by a singular blunder , chose one of the recesses over the piers , and the bag was thus deposited on the abutment . On its reaching this , and there resting , the operator no doubt supposed that it had gained the surface of the water , and so let go the string . Every effort has been made to discover the missing parts of the body ; but to no effect . The police , however , have several times been put on false scents . A carpet-bag was washed ashore at Lambeth last Saturday ; but it was found to contain only a pistol-case ,, some bullets , and one or two articles supposed to have been used in a recent burglary . A report was also brought on Saturday to the police-office , to the effect that the head of a man had been found slightly concealed under the soil of the enclosure in Sussex Gardens , Hyde Park . On inquiry , it was found that two heads had been turned up there , one of a man , the other of a woman ; but it was soon made evident that they had been used for anatomical examination . Among these false tracks would seem to be a statement made by a Mr . Taylor , who is connected with the wardrobe department of the Adelphi Theatre , and who said on Saturday at the Bow-street station that on the Thursday night , between half-past eleven and twelve o ' clock , he was proceeding homewards from the Adelphi Theatre . " He saw at the corner of the Belvidere-road , " say the daily papers , " two persons walking together , one a tall , stout man , carrying a carpet-bag , and the other a shortish , ^ elderly woman carrying a parcel , which she carefully enveloped with a shawl . The man appeared to have some difficulty in carrying the bag , w 3 uch was a very long one , and appeared to be bulky . Every now and then he ' bumped' it on the ground , as though for the purpose of temporarily relieving himself from the burden . As there was a strong light at the time from several lamps , particularly from one opposite , at the Crown Hotel , Mr . Taylor had no difficulty in seeing the persons . He felt some surprise that persons of respectability should have been out at that time of night with luggage ; but he passed on , and thought nothing more of the matter until he saw the report in the newspapers .. The time mentioned by Mr . Taylor as that of his seeing these persons does not , however , tally with the statement of Errington , the toll-collector . " Mr . Taylor was not able to identify the carpet-bag , when shown to him , as that which he states was carried by the man whom he had seen .
" Another person who came forward last Saturday was a man who is known as ' Bill , ' a sort of lianger-on at the New Inn , opposite Astley ' s Theatre , and he stated that on the same night ( Thursday ) he was standing at the corner of the Belvidere-road , after his labours of the day were over , when a man and woman came up to the place where lie was standing , and hailed a cab- The man , he says , had in his hand a long and bulky carpet-bag , but he does not remember that the woman bad a parcel . He perfectly recollects that the man was fussy and fidgety about bis bag , and that when he attempted to take it from him , in order to put it in the cab , the man said , ' I can do very well without youir services , ' and prevented him from taking it . The man then gave him a penny , and the woman -went away alone in the cab , taking with her the bag , the man giving directions that
she was to be driven to Regent-circus . As soon as the cab had left , the man walked down the Belvedere-road , but shortly afterwards returned , and , hailing another cab , drove off in another direction—that is , towards the York road , where he was lost sight of ; and it ia supposed from this tliat the woman proceeded to the Middlesex side of Waterloo-bridge , while the man went on to the bridge at the Surrey end . 'Bill ' says further that tlie woman had a veil over her face , so that he could not see her features , and that he thinks she was about fivc-and-twenty years of age . He should not know the man again if he were to see him . " These stories seem to have very little bearing on the case , but are interesting as showing the fever of speculation into which people arc thrown on the discovery of any great and mysterious crime .
It has been presumed that , the bag being heavy , it must have been conveyed to the bridge , or its vicinity , in a cab or some other vohicle . The police , however , cannot discover tliat any one with a carpet-bag was set down in the neighbourhood in question on the Thursday night , at the hour fixed by the toll-collector . The murdered man nppears to have been attacked when portly undressed ; for the waistcoat is not pierced , though the breast of the shirt is , nnd the trousers are only punctured in one spot , though the lower part of the shirt shows marks of three stabs . The trousers must therefore have been partly open in front . A great number of persons havo been to the station , to hoc if they can identify tho clothes , but havo always failed . It would seem from these numerous applications that mysterious disappearances are of frequent occurrence in tho metropolis .
The Government has offered a reward of 200 / . to any one giving such information na ahull lead to the apprehension and conviction of tho murderer or murderers ; and 100 / . to whoever shall give ouch information as
shall lead to the identification and apprehension of the person or persons placing the carpet-bag in the place ¦ where it was found . A pardon is also offered to any accomplice , not being the peison actually committing the murder , who will give such evidence as shall lead to the conviction of the guilt y parties . Mr . Richards , chief of the Stafford police , states that a Scotchman , of the name of Paterson , -was in that town on the 29 th ult ., and that he had a carpet-bag corresponding with the one found at Waterloo-bridge . Some of his clothes , also , were similar to those discovered in the latter bag . He had just returned from Melbourne , Australia , and said that his bag contained 3800 / . in gold . He intimated his intention of going tc London , and thence to Scotland , and of being back in Stafford in about three weeks . His shirt-collar lie won turned down , as the murdered man would seem to have done ; and the opinion of those who saw him is that ii is he who has been murdered in London . The London police-are of opinion that this story offer * an important clue to the mystery ; but the gentlemen on ¦ whom Mr . Patterson called in the metropolis think that the remains and the clothes now lying at Bowstreet are not those of the person alluded to . A young man in the employ of a grocer at Sawbridgeworth , and who recently came to London to see his sister , is also missing , after having gone to a coffee-house in the Borough . His sister says that the clothes are like those found in the carpet bag ; and he likewise carried a carpet bag with him . Another missing person is a tidewaiter , said to be of intemperate habits , and a frequenter of disreputable houses on the Surrey side of the water , in which locality it is now generally thought the murder was committed .
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Attempted Murder and- Suicide . —A woman jumped into the river Kibble at Preston on Thursday week , with her child in her arms , and was on the point of drowning when a ship carpenter went into the water after her , and seized lier round the bod y- The child was still in her arms , but at that moment she relaxed her grasp , and suffered it to fall into the river . The man brought her ashore , and then went after the child , which he recovered only just in time to save its life . The mother is the wife of a spinner , from whom she is separated ; and family differences are supposed to have led to the crime . She is kept in custody . The Bramaix . Murder . — James Henderson was finally examined on Friday week before the Stockport magistrates , and committed for trial at the next Chester Assizes .
A Clever Rascal ,. —John Williams , a middle-aged man , well known to the poliee , ha 3 been examined at the SVor . ship-street police-court , and committed foi trial , on a charge of defrauding numerous tradesmen by an ingenious trick . He was in the habit of going to Bhops , and ordering certain articles to be sent to the houses of neighbouring tradesmen , and then of returning in a great hurry , saying he had forgotten to give some other order , which he would then specify , and taking with him the goods originally applied for . He has only recently come out of prison , where he was undergoing a sentence for robbery .
Manslaughter . —Henry Welsh , the stoker at the London Gasworks , " Vauxhall , has been committed for trial on the charge of killing Im wife . Exasperated at finding her intoxicated , and neglecting the children , he struck her with his open hand , and she fell , her head coming with violence against the door-post . After lingering for some days , sho died . Murder and Attempted Suicide b-y a Maniac . — Ever since the late murder in Leigh Woods , a groom and his wife , named Andrew and Sarah Border , living in the parish of liathford , a few miles from Bath , have been in the . hubit of taunting a labouring man , one Thomas Miller , with being like Beale , the supposed murderer in tlie case alluded to . This appears to have preyed on Miller ' s mind , and to have produced a species of insanity , during which he was subject to strange delusions . On Friday week , he seemed to bo ill , and on Saturday evening he was visited by Andrew and Sarah Border . They found him sitting in tho kitchen of his cottage , and , on asking him how he did , he jumped up , rushed towards them , and stabbed them fatally . The husband , ¦ who received a severe gash in the abdomon , ran into an adjoining lane , where ho waa afterwards found in a dying state . Tho woman dropped a few yards from the door , and appears to have died at once from a stab in the left breast and a fracture of the skull . Miller was afterwards found at the end of tho garden with his throat cut , but not dead . His mother was partly a witness of tho murders . Andrew Border lingered for about two hours , and thon died . An inquest has been opened , but is adjourned . Tim Mukdkk NKAit Nottxsgham . —A man named John Rogers , forty-three years of age , was apprehended at Donciitttcr , on Friday week , on suspicion of Jiaving murdered tho boy , John Wesley Atkinson , in Nottingham Forest , and stolen his Loots . Tho priaonor waa sent in custody to Nottingham for examination .
Holywki . l-stiuckx . —Mr . Jimline , tho JJow-strcet magistrate , gave judgment on Tuesday on tho six summonses nguinst pr intHellura in Ilolywoll-strect , whoso books , prints , &c , wcro recently seized . In only two eiiflos tho defendants Appeared , and nttoinptcd by counsol
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No . 395 , October 17 , 185 ? . ] THE IiJE A P-iE-B . 993
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 17, 1857, page 993, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2214/page/9/
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