Potter's Electric News

ACCOUCHMENT OF THE PRINCESS OF WALES. The following bulletin was issued from Marlborough °use on Monday morning:— ( Jaly 6, 5.30, a.m. «er Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was safely delivered of a Princess, at 4.25 this morning. Her Royal Highness and the infant Princess are 5°mg on perfectly well. 'ARTHUR FARRE, M.D. EDWARD H. SIEUEKING, M.D.' Immediately after this interesting event occurred, telegram was forwarded to her Majesty at Windsor, similar message was despatched to their Ma- *88 the King and Queen of Denmark, and the PrJncipal crowned heads of Europe. — -0 IMPORTANT DECISION.—In the Court of Queen's ^flch the case of Aldous v. Cornwall was called on for judgment. It was an action on a promissory note, to which the payee, the plaintiff, had added the on demand.' The question was whether this .™ated the instrument. Mr Justice Lush delivered '%nent to the effect that the alteration did not "ate the note, a3 it was legally immaterial. It l be repugnant to justice and to common sense 8ay that the maker of a note was discharged from obligation to pay it merely because he had put 8°niething which the law itself implied for the lament. Judgment for the plaintiff. MORMONS ror< UTAH.—The exodus of Mormons to4i this port, en ronte for the Salt Lake, continues. Jveral vessels have been chartered by the Mormon in this country for the conveyance of emigrants America. Some hundreds of the followers of Joe sailed a short time ago, and no less than 700 jp their departure on Saturday from Liverpool for i^'York on board the Emerald Isle—one of Messrs pott's magnificent packet ships—commanded by 'JPUin Gil! espie. The emigrants were chiefly I^Qians, Welsh, and Scotch; a good proportion of were females. They all appeared to be persons .'le middle class, chiefly small farmers and artizans. { Seemed to be well supplied with luggage and "is, ^he vessel in which they all sailed is well in the passenger trade, and was admirably 5oe<* up with all the neeessaries for the health and ¡:;forl cf he passengers during the voyage.—Liver Mercury, 5 ^NCEROUS ACCIDENT TO VOLUNTEERS.—A sad jj I(Jent occurred at the Devonport Rifle Range, L ani> on Thursday. There was a private match Of.jeen 10 of the Volunteer Corps and 10 sergeants battalion of the Rifle Brigade, quartered in tig Raglan Barracks. Private Keast had loaded his i|jje' but forgot that he had done so. He took the >,] e>and in order to clear the unknown obstruction, H 9(* a cap on the nipple The muzzle was towards p^.Btr°und, but the unexpected explosion altered its ind the bullet struck the ground, ricochetted, entered the thighs of Privates Norman and Gard, D0 0 Were standing together 20 yards off. They were Dj^d immediately to the Royal Albert Hospital, inL°nP°rt. Amputation was found to be necessary iri51 cases, and the operation was performed on at the hospital. Mr Norman's leg is taken off W S'X ^nc^es below the hip, Mr Gard's leg only olj-i ,lncbes below the joint. Mr Norman is the only 'Wk °* -Alfred Norman, architect; Mr Gard is ^Uvjryn l^6 Savings-bank with his uncle, the ^"AUKABLK TRIAL FOR POISONING.-The Berlin iti8)esPorident of the Daily News, writing on the 1st ^en SH.VS ^),ie °f 'hose causes celcbres has just L- _tried at Posen which would almost justify the that men are occasionally born into the world elllirely destitute of all principle of conscience as 'ehfrS are or hearing. The trial itself repre- l n° points of interest beyond that of tr|| r'y establishing the guilt of the prisoner, whose df(j es almost eclipse those of the notorious Palmer I "etestabl, memory. The facts are shortly as fol- of iv* ^he master bookbinder Wittman, was accused kjj jV,ng poisoned six persons in six years, namely, Vk°r vv'ives and two children. Wittmann had f as a journeyman for a bookbinder named .°f Wollin, where he made the acquaintance arie Gehm, Pirsch's housekeeper. Wittmann Jw0*! a visit at Wollin at the end of 1858 and 1859, on January 1st of which year suddedly, and Marie Gehm,accord- ^previous arrangement, came into the posses- X property. Soon after this Wittman ,1860 "ced business in Wollin, and in February, ^rscjj,^rried Marie Gehm, who in addition to 8ch thr0 « ProPerty had also inherited some money Jobn g. the sudden death of an aunt. Two sons, Paul, were the result of this marriage. L 'ttuian died very suddenly in 1862, leaving all r e!!ferty to her husband and two children,of whom lht dest dIed 10 the same mysterious manner ^hi 'a^er* June> '863, Witmann mar- Se Sec°nd wife, Charlotte Hohn, who possessed ill latter made her will in the fol- 'lij J! December, leaving everything to her husband, a week afterwards. In April, 1864, Witt- >||0 married his third wife Augustus Kornotzky, dnc'1fr ^an her predecessor. Her fate may bribed in almost the same words. She died in 1865, leaving her property between her hus- .lier mother- °n'y tWo months after her I'd) Wittmann married his fourth and by far the W^e' w^ovv ^ose> w^° had one child by m ,st marriage. This child sickened immediately 1 ^,1/? mother's wedding, and died in a day or two, hper Ich the fourth Mrs Wittmann inherited its "V" )^i^mann then removed from Wollin to Vty- hardly necessary to add that the fourth I* sjj9 .Ionian's life was not of very long duration, t) f4v0 le<^September, 1866, having made a will °f her husband a month or two before. No'.Pretext that she had died of cholera Witt- K niac^e arrangements for burying her the lj \xr-T death. But the extraordinary mortality A ij.^tmann family had already excited atten- Police here took the matter up, and their tyjtfCions were strengthened when they found 0131111 called iu no medical advice. Witt- to arreste<^ Just as funeral procession was ^ar^' an<^ ^'ie burial of the body was pro- tOn searching the house a large lump of ilj N |'Q 8,u^fficient to poison a hundred persons, was ijN f Up [l} a chest- A11 the bodies of Witt" fcq\iv6|?>riller wives, as also those of his two chil- the.n exhumed, and submitted to a chemi-; 'SaU°n- The result was the same in all V: lher' a large quantity of arsenic was detected, f0u'<1 not be the shadow of a doubt that C He K po'sonecl llls four wives and two chil- If kGen ^ound Kuilly and sentenced to 'V8 ^as We cor>s'der ^at motive for these \5Her ttf° ^gl»er passion than avarice, and then \ft in which he stood to his vic- \%ohe udeIiberate Per<idy w't'1 which he en- f'tr' °Se relations, I doubt if the whole can-show a blacker case. Indeed, it \h*that he committed eight murders, visij. Sudden death of Pirsch during Witt-- \3ely a?(| also of his first wife's aunt, are ^t^Q^P^ioas coiijcidences under the above A COAL PIT ON FIRE.—One of the coal-pits be- longing to Messrs Andrew Knowles and Son, at Little Lever, near Bolton, is now on fire. At a very early hour on Tuesday morning a large volume of smoke was observed to be ascending the upcast shaft. Fortunately, none of the workmen, and only a few ponies, were down at the timp. Steps were imme- diately taken to extricate these, and the frantic animals were successfully got out. Meanwhile, the pit was found to be thoroughly on fire; the heat became more intense, and the smoke came up in large quantities. It was decided to cover in both the up and down cast shafts, and with that object a number of the men were set to work. They finished at a late hour on Wednesday evening, all air, it is believed, being now excluded from the mine. The pit will have to remain covered for some weeks. THE DEBTS OF MARRIED WOMEN.—In the Court of Queen's Bench judgment was given in the case of Bonsley v. Poster, which wasan action for necessaries supplied for the child of the defendant on the order of his wife, who was living separate from him, and who had the care of the child (who was under seven years of age) by virtue of an order in Chancery. There was some slight evidence that the wife had withdrawn from her husband by reason of miscon- duct, and there was evidence that she had no separate income adequate to her support. The question was whether the defendant was liable for the necessaries supplied to her for his child. Justices Blackburn, Mellor, and Lush held that the defendant was liable, and that a wife separated from her husband on account of his misconduct was in the same position as if she had been turned out of doors by him, and was by law allowed to pledge his credit for reasonable expenses. As, therefore, the claim was for reasonable supplies for herself it was clearly supportable. The Lord Chief Justice was of a different opinion. He said that it was an established rule of law that a man was not legally liable for the support of his children unless by his neglect he brought himself within the poor criminal law. If in the present case the wife had been living with her husband she could not have pledced his credit con- trary to his directions. The majority of the court believing that the claim was a good one, judgment was for the plaintiff for the amount claimed. DESPERATE AFFRAY.—Between one and two o'clock on Sunday morning a desperate encounter occurred between a party of poachers and two gamekeepers, when the latter were left for dear). It appears that Emmanuel Cherry, head keeper to Messrs Wright, Newman, and Cooper, who have the right of shooting over lands at Ardsley and Cud worth, was engaged with another keeper named Jagger, in a pheasant cover called Oscar- wood in removing the pheasants to Laud-wood, when they heard the report of a gun, evidently not far from where they were. They then started off in the direction from which the sound proceeded, and in a field at a place called Burton-grange they saw one man sitting ill a hedge with a gun, and two others in the field adjoining, apparently driving game towards him. On seeing thejkeepers Z, "I the poachers commenced throwing stones at them, and as they approached one of them cried out, Shoot the Cherry and Jagger collared the two men who were in the field and a desperate fight ensued. Jagger got his man down, but the one whom Cherry had to contend with had a gun, with which he struck the keeper several blows, one with the butt-end across the side of the face, knocking him down and rendering him insensible, and while in that state it was evident that he had been severely kicked. Having rendered one of the keepers incapable, the poacher then rnll to the assistance of his companion (the third one having run away), but was knocked down by Jagger. As he had done so the first man Jagger had to contend with got up, and, seizing the gun, gave him a tremendous blow with the end of it over the forehead, rendering him also insensible. The keepers thus lay insensible for some time, not far from each other. Jagger at last, having become conscious, gave an alarm, and both were conveyed to their homes. Jagger is very seriously injured, while Cherry remains in a very pre- carious state. Mfdical attendance was at once called and every attention paid to the sufferers. The police had information given of the affray, but no apprehensions had been effected up to Sunday afternoon. A CONVICT'S STORY.—In the appendix to the 29th report on public petitions, just issued, there appears ''the humble petition of John Parsuns, a convict. No. under sentence in Pentonviile Prison," wbi' was presented in the House by Mr Denman. W I-i,, i i nix. teen years old, on the 20th day of October, 1851, ha was sentenced at the Birmingham Quarter Sessions to 15 years' transportation for house- breaking. He served the first portion of the term in gaol in England, and in March, 1857, was transported to the convict settlement in Western Australia, where he served four years and a half in the convict prison. He then received a ticket of-leave and worked as servant to the brother of Colonel Hender- son, the commandant of the prison, for two years and a half, and then left with a certificate for good con- duct, and obtained a pardon for the remainder of his term. Afterwards he lost the document granting his pardon, but he believed that it contained a con- dition that he might go to any part of her Majesty's dominions, except to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until the expiration of the term of his sentence. B-ing desirous of remaining in Australia, he went to Adelaide, where he was, imme- diately on his arrival, recognised by the police as a pardonedf convict, and taken before a bench of magistrates, who told him that he must leave Adelaide in seven days, or they would send him to prison for three years. He produced them his par- don, and was told by one of the magistrates that it was of no use to him there; that he must go back to England and that if he wanted the means to do so he should be supplied with them. Not wishing to infringe the terms of his pardon, he applied to a captain to be carried to Melbourne but the captain declined, on the ground that if he took a prisoner he would be liable to a penalty of £100. Before the seven days had elapsed, and to avoid the threatened imprisonment, he embarked in a vessel bound for Singapore. There, on landing he was told by the police that, being a discharged convict, he had no right to come. He produced his pardon, but was told they did not care for that, and that he could not remain. Thereupon he hired himself to a Dutch vessel, called -the Valvieh, bound for London, at which port he arrived in March, 1863. He returned to Birmingham, where he resided about nine months, waf-: r, cognised by the police, who knew that the term of his sentence'had not expired, but that he had received a conditional pardon. Then he went from Birmingham to reside in Worcester with his wife, and on the 3rd of February, 1866, was arrested there on a charge of being illegally at large. He was committed for trial without bail, found guilty before the Hon. Baron Pigott, at the ensuing Worcester Lent \ssizes, and at the following assizes was brought up for ju Igment before the Hon. Mr Justice Keating, [andWas sentenced to five years' penal servitude- I His solicitor had since memorialised Mr Secretary [ Walpole without success, and he now prayed the House to take the case of the unfortunate convict 1 into consideration. AMERICAN FENIANS.—The Fenians under General O'Neill have made the threatened demonstration Canada-ward, and produced a decided result. They Save had eight tons of their weapons and war ma- terial unexpectedly pounced upon by the United States^ officers, and the two hemispheres and espe- cially the Dominion of Canada, are now pondering that great fact. Eight tons of possible ravage, conflagration, and homicide make a thrilling report and a strong sensation and though these have been "nipped in the bud" the Canadians must feel that they themselves have had "a very narrow escape. But they have no security against a re- newal of this deadly sort of strategy. More tons will be gathered together at some other certain place," and more Fenian outbursts will be gobbled up and-explated.Well may the unhappy Canadians echo the remarkable words of General Grant and say Let us have peace." THE PAYMENT OF RATES.—The select committee on the assessment and collection of rates have just made their report They embodv their conclusions in a series of twenty-six resolutions, the first six of which indicate the machinery by which local rates shall be made. The seventh recommends that where the rate exceeds Is in the pound the occupier of any tenement let at a rent payable oftener than quarterlv may elect to pay by monthly instalments, 't he occasions on which a special rate may be made. the form of the demand note, the employment of co;leetors, the delivery of the schedules, and the mode of assessment, are then severally dealt with. The power of excusing persona from the payment. of rates is to be transferred to boards ot guardians, and here a siifffrestion of some importance is made It is that the owner shall be liable to pay two-thirds of the rate when the occupier has been excused on the pround of poverty. This, of course, disfranchises the tenant so excused. Mr Ayrton moved a resolution setting forth the necessity of amending last year's Reform Act, so that no incon- venience might arise from the proposed changes. This, however, was rejected, the Conservative members of the committee being in a majority. Another motion of the hon. member for the Tower Hamlets was equally un- fortunate, and through the same cause. It was to the effect that the owner should be rated as well as the occu- pier, where the tenement was let for less than a quarter, and that if the rates were compounded for the tenant s-hould be entitled to vote. PROSECUTION FOR BRIBERY. — At the Bristol Police Court, on Saturday, a man named Charles Stephens was charged before the sitting magis- trates, Messrs Castle and Terrell, with having at the late Bristol election unlawfully atid corruptly offered a bribe to Albert Hawkins, Edward Ben- nett, and Aaron Stiles, in order to induce them to vote. Mr Box appeared for the prosecution, and Mr J. H. Clifton for the defence. Albert Hawkins stated that he was going to the poll to vote for Morley, when Stephens alighted from a cab and asked him where he was going. He said, "To vote for Morley," whereupon the accused said, Don't be a fool; vote for Mr Miles, and I will pay your expenses and give you 10s." Two young gentlemen were with Stephens, and as he did off-v the money they did nod. (Laughter.) Edward Bennett said that on the day of polling at the last Bristol election Stephens csrae to him to vote for Miles. He refused, and the defendant then said that he would pay him for his two days' work and give, him money—goid — besides. In answer to Mr Clifton, the witness said he could not say that the accused was drunk he was, perhaps, the worse for liquor, or rather excited. Aaron Stiles deposed that Stephens asked him on the morning of poiling to come and have some breakfast, hut he declined, saying that he had breakfast of his own. Saw him again .bout one o'clock, when he (witness) was with Bennett and Hawkins, and he said, Here is 10s each for you if you will jump into a blue fly." On their stating that they were going to vote for Morley, Stephens said to Bennett, Don't be a fool; 1 11 pay you for two days, and give you gold besides." On being cross-examined by Mr Clifton, the witness denied having said the night before the election that he didn't care a —— which wav he went, and he should go for the one who gave him the most." Stephens wasn't mvir drunk. Had seen him a good deal worse." For the defence it was contended that the accused was very drunk, that he talked a iot of inflated nonsense, wanted to become member for Bristol. himself, and that his offers to bribe were mere idle words spoken while under the influence of liquor. Witnesses having been called for the accused the magistrates committed him trial at the assize for having unlaw- fully and comiptediy offered a bribe to Albert Hawkins, but they dismissed the cases in reference to Bennett and Stiles. The accused was admitted to bail on his own recognisance of £50, and two sureties of £25 each. 0 GREAT MILITARY AND VOLUNTEER REVIEW AT EDINBURGH.—On Saturday a review and sham fight, in which over 10,000 men were engaged, took place in the Queen's Park, Edinburgh. The forces, which were commanded by Major General Rumley, consisted of the Sth Hussars, the Fife Mounted Rifles, the Royal Artillery from Leith Fort, the 18th Royal Irish, and Artillery, Engineers, and Rifle Volunteers from the city and County of Edin- burgh, and the counties of Berwick, Haddington, Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Linlithgow, Fife, Clackmannan, Stirling, and Lanark. From an early hour the city was astir with the arrival of volunteers and spectators from a distance, and the day being fine an immense concourse assembled to witness the spectacle. The scene of the review was the same as that on which the Queen reviewed twenty-two thousand volunteers in 1860, and, as on that occasion, the slopes of Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags afforded a splendid amphitheatre to watch the evolutions of the troops. From 80,000 to 100,000 persons were present as spec- tators, and the appearance of the hifi swarming with life, combined with the brilliant and animated scene on the review ground, made up a picture of surpassing grandeur. To add to the picturesque effects of the scene the furze on the hill side, dry as tinder from the long-continued drought, was set fire to in several places, and threw up sheets of flame and smoke into the air. At two o'clock, when the troops had all arrived, the force was divided the first division, under Color.el Roche, proceeded eastward, and the second, under Colonel Graham, ISth Royal Irish, marched in a southerly direction to repel a foe who was supposed to be advancing by the Queen's Drive, round both flanks of the hill. After a series of manoeuvres the at- tack was repelled at both points. The first division, to which the cavalry and a portion of the artillery were attached, acted immediately in front of the hill, and the proceedings were in consequence best seen' Among the manoeuvres, at this point were a dash- ing charge by the Hussars and the Fife Mounted Volunteer Rifles, the latter a body of heavy horse- men splendidly mounted and equipped. In the proceedings of tae second division—the spectators of which were comparatively few—the principal event was the grand bayonet charge, with which the fight in this quarter was brought to a close. At the conclusion of the sham fight the troops marched past—this movement occupying forty minutes. The Edinburgh Cadet, Corps, number- ing about 250, organised and equipped by Mr John Hope, took part in the march past, and their ex- cellent drill and showy Garibali uniform attracted general admiration. The review was brought to a close shortly after five o'clock, and the vast con- ,course dispersed without accident. PAUPERISM.—The monthly return of th P)or Law Board shows that at the end of April the number of persons in receipt of relief from the rates in England, 954,128, was 3 5 per cent. greater than at the corresponding date in 1867. The increase was 76 per cent in Yorkshire, 5.5 percent, in the Northern counties, 6 1 per cent. in the metropolitan district, and 4*2 percent, in the West Midland district. In the other divisions of England the increase was less considerable, but in every division the number of paupers was larger than in 18G7. DREADFUL DEATH.—The Union de la Sarine re- lates the following :—The Abbe Salvv, vicar of Senonches, bad been appointed to the Church of Saint-Denis-des-Puits, in the Canton of La Loupe. Three inhabitants at the latter place arrived at Senonches to remove his furniture. When on the point of starting the Abbe placed some bottles of cider in a corner of one of the waggons to refresh the men on the journey, and with them he brought a smaller bottle, well covered and tied up, which he told them they must not touch or permit any one to touch. When about six kilometres from Senonches, the day being very hot, one of the men said, That must be right good stuff which the cure told us not to touch.' No doubt,' replied another, 'it must be far better than the cider.' Let us try it,' said all three. The bottle was pro- duced. The man who took a good sup said it was not good. See,' said he. handing it to one of his companions. The second tried and pronounced a still more unfavourable opinion. I As it is so bad,' said the third, I shall not have any let us put back the bottle.' Scarcely was this done than the two who partook of the liquid fell on to the ground writhing in dreadful agony. In a short time both were dead. They drank a solution of nitrate of siiver, which the abbe used for photographic pur- poses. The circumstance had such an effect on the abbe that he requested permission to remain in Senonches, as he did not like to enter upon a new parish under such an inauspicious beginning. BABY FARMING.— A new case of baby-farming is reported. M r Richards, the deputy-coroner, held an inquest in Bethnal-green on Thursday evening respecting the death of a child named George Po- oock, and which, although it was eight months old, was no bigger than a newly-born infant. The first witness was the mother of the child, a single woman, who stated that she was cook in a gentle- man's family. Last October she left her place, and on the 1st of November gave birth to the child at a house in Lambeth. She suckled it a fort- night, but, finding her money becoming exhausted, she determined to seek another place, and put the child out to nurse. The child's father, the coach- man at her master's, contributed nothing to its support. The woman in whose house she lodged recommended her to give the child to her daughter-in-law, Mrs Moorer, of 3, Rider's-build- ing, Bethnal green. Mrs Moorer came to witness and promised to take care of the child. When asked what she would charge, she said she did not like to say, and witness asked her if 6s a week would do. She said it would do very well. It was explained to her that witness was paid quarterly, and that the money for the child's keep would, therefore, have to be paid the same, and she agreed to that. Witness could not get a place, untii her former mistress took her back. Within the quar- ter witness wrote to Mrs Moorer to say she was afraid she could not. pay (is a week, but that she hoped 2s 6d a week would do. Mrs Moorer as. sented to that. Witness paid her Ss for clothes for the child, and 5s at the end of the quarter, and 12s three weeks ago, and promised to pay her all at the end of this quarter and she agreed to that. Witnes had only £ 14 a year, and could not pay her all at once. The Coroner asked why the wit- ness undertook to pay 6s a week out of jEl4 a year. The witness said that she had not calcu- lated closely, and she then had hopes of being able to pay. In March last she saw the child. It did not look well, but Mrs Moorer said it was well, and ate bear ih. It nev r crossed witness's mind that it was starved, but it looked very thin. In the letters which Mrs Moorer wrote for money, she always said the child was well. Mrs Moorer was a bead-worker, and employed a couple of little gir!s. Her husband sold coals, but was not W\}ll.. off. At length a letter came from a neighbour saying the child was very ill from neglect. As a party was to be given next day at master's house, witness could not get leave to come to town, but i she wrote to the neighbour to take the child to a doctor. The child was brought down to her to see, and it was very bad. It died two days after, or, the 18th June. Dr F. J Burgess said that he had made a post-mortem examination of the body of the child. It weighed only SIb. The proper weight for a child of that age was 161b or 181b. It was emaciated to the last degree. There was no trace of fat. Even such organs as the liver, spleen, &c, had become shrivelled and diminutive from long want of sustenance. There was no disease. The cause of death was inanition, from want of food-in a word, the child died from starvation. Other evidence was given which went to show that Mrs Moorer locked up the child in the bed room from ten or eleven o'clock in the morning to be- tween six and seven at night. She was also ac- customed to go home rather the worse for drink and it was said that she fed the child very seldom. The inquiry was adjourned, and Mrs Moorer was hooted and mobbed by a large crowd of women as she left the court.