The Glamorgan Gazette

AAU .1.J.t.AJ.U Ot A I (JUNG LADY. Miss Marguerite Humphrey was lately found dead in bed at VValtou Leigh, Addlettoiie, Surrey, the msideuce of her father, Mr. J. A. Humphrey, who tvproseiita Addlestone on the Surrey County Council. Air. Hmuphrej ie alsoowiierol a pack of greyhounds, and his family are widely esteemed in the district. The deceased young lady was aged twenty-four, and (1h re are evidences that she caused her death by tak- ing carlKtlic acid. She left no letters, however, • x| lainirtg her motive, and her death has caused a paiului stiusatiou.

RAILWAY PASSENGERS AND EXCCTHSION TICKETS. An important case atiVcting railway paosen- Hfrs was heard at Nottiugliam recently, a local iKickmnker named Alfred Atkinson being summoned i.-t irn veiling on the Midland Railway from Leicester id J>eont<ui by an ordinary train with an excursion ticket. Mr. Turner prosecuted, and Mr. H. P. Day lioiendod.—The evidence allowed that defendant liavelled from Leicester to Beeetou by an ordinary truin with a ticket which was available for a race excursion train ouly. When asked for the excess fare lie refused to pay it, but he tendered his name and address. Mr. Day, in defence, said the point he had to raise was that the company had come to the wrong Court. This was really a civil case, and in ouier to bring it within the jurisdiction of this Court there must be evi Unce that there was some 1 intention to defraud beyond the mere fact. of travel- iing in a traiu with a ticket which was not available by that traiu.—The liench took this view and die- missed the case, saying it was one for the County Couit.—Mr. Turner said he did not know what effect t- is tiecisiou would have. If the compauy had to put up with this sort of thing from passengers, the benefit of the general public might have to be with- dnwu.—Mr. Francklin, the chairman of the Bench, said the railway company had an easy remedy. They coulrl have the tickets examined before the traiu started.—Mr. Turner asked the Bench to say that the defendaut was travelling by an ordinary train with an intention of not paying his fare.—The Bench declined to depart from their decision, and Mr. Turner theu said he would not carry the case any t urther.

THE HON. MRS. R. W. FITZ WILLIAM'S JEWELS. In the Queen's Bench Division, London, before Mr. Baron Pollock aud a special jury—the case of l'itzwilliam v. Benson, was heard. This was an interpleader issue. The plaintiff was the Hou. Reginald W. Fitzwilliam, son of Earl Fitzwilliam, and the defendant a jeweller in Bond Street. Mr. Murphy, Q.C., was for the plaintiff, and Mr. Cock, Q C-, Mr. Bray, and Mr. Gill were for the defend- ants.—In opening the case, Mr. Murphy stated that the action was in respect of certain jewels seized by the sheriff, which the plaintiff said were his pro- perty. Judgment was obtained in this case by the defendant against Mrs. Filzwilliam forgoods supplied before her marriage, for which, of course, the hus- baud would not be liable. The judgment was obtained in February, 1894, and the sheriff seized the jewels in question in a box belonging to the lady. Unfortunately, it would be necessary (coun. sel said) to make public certain matters of a very mi pleasant nature. At the little of her marriage Fitzwilliaiii, who was before her marriage a Miss Edith Fox, had incmred considerable debts, amounting to something like £9,000 or £ 10,000. By an arrangement the husband (the plaintiff) was going to pay off a large amount of these debts, which he did after his marriage. Prior to the wed- cJ iug she had sold her' jewels, and the plaintiff re- bought them, and a marriage settlement was drawn I:p bylll-ltich he undertook to pay her debts.—The plHiutiff was called, and in answer to Iti-.Cock-,said his wife was in debt to the extent of 1;8,000 before her marriage. He did^ot Rive noti'ie to the credi- tcrs that he was gojM^to pay the debts. The consideration of the setUerront was, he supposed,the pxynient of the debts.—Mrs. FiUwilliaru also gave evidence for the plaintiff. In reply to Mr. Cock,she p i,i that before her marriage she had no expectations or means except of £ 2,000, which was mortgaged. She bought a di imond suu star for 100 guiueas, aud mllSI. have had some mouey by her. Site used to go in for racitig. Som" days she won a good deal, and at the time she might have had 1;1,000 by her. She coukl not say why she did not pay for the star, but tii- jewellors took the risk. She did not know what luid liecome of it. She thought olko had lost it. She had not pawned it. The defence set up was that the marriage settlement was not a real one, as the lnxrriatte was not a consideration. Mis Lordship put tc be jury the question whether the settlement was II rial transaction or was it a mere sham, the plaititifl and his wife intending the jewellery to remain lipi pioportv. The jury found that the settlement wai 3t goiltiitig oike, nitit not a aliottit. His lordship gavo judgiueut for the plaiutiff accordingly.

SHUCKING DEATH OF A WEALTHY RECLUSE. At Chelsea, Mr. C. Luxmoore Dw held an in- qu«st on the b.dy of Arthur Green, aged between twenty and seventy-five, of 5, Smith Street,Chelsea, whose death occurred under shocking circumstances. Annie Edwards, a young wjman, said that for the past seveil weeks she had been employed by the deceased to do charing work. She used to go to the house every morning, but was never allowed under any pretence to go to the upper part of the house. The deoeaeed had often complained of being bad, but would never call in a doctor, and witness had never seen him speak to anyone but herself, He went into the parlour, and, as she could not make him hear, she asked the sanitary inspec- tor, who was inspecting the house on account of a complaint as to its condition, to see what was the matter. Alexander Grant, sanitary inspector to the Chelsea parish, deposed that on entering the parlour he found the deceased sitting in a chair in front of the fire quite dead. Some three years ago the house had been condemned as an insanitary place,and it was accordingly whitewashed and oleanned; he found the plaoe exceedingly dirty. Police oonstable Adie, coroner's officer, said he had been over the house and found it dreadfullj dirty, On a table upstairs witness found twenty- five pounds in Bank of England -noW, and b sides some loose cash and securities and bonds to the value of many thousand pounds. There was only a little food in the basement which lie gave to two cats which were apparently starving. The deceased himself was very emaciated, ami looked as though he had not had any food for a week. The deceased had hved in the house for fifty years, and had never been known to speak to any- one, or to be seen out. He was in receipt of a pen- siou of X190 per annum, which was paid him from Cox's bank. Dr. iliggs said a post-mortem exami- nation showed there was no food in the stomach, and that death resulted from exhatistion.-The Jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.

The Channel Fleet, which had been detained thr-ugta stress of weather, left Gibraltar recently for Vigo. Mr. Hubert Hall, F.S.A., a senior clerk in the Public Record Office, has been appointed honorary secretarv of th« Itoyal Historical Society, in succes- nion to iLn late Mr. Patrick Edward Dove. At Bow Street Police Conrt, London, Henry R. Bull, a sorter at the General Post Office, was com- mitted for trial, char«ed with stealing the contents post-packets which had passed through his hands.

NEW DEGREES AT OXFORD. Oxford University contemplates the cu r.tioTi o. two new degrees for those who wish to pureun special course of study, and the text of the piopn^-d statute dealing with them lias now been j-mumi. They are to be kuown as t-fie de^reeH lof Bachelor of Letters and Bachelor of Sci"n< and will be controlled by a delegacy con- sist.ing of the Vice- Chancellor, the proctor*, and twelve members of Convocation, elected follows: Four by the Hebdomadal Council, four by the Congregation of the University, and tour hy the Vice-Chancellor and proctors. Each can it- date must satisfy the delegetes that lie }lq passed the examinations required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, or has received a good general education; that he haa given evid-rico (.f his fitness to enter on a course of special study or research; and that the coarse of study or research oil which he pro, ^s to enter is such as may profitably be pursued within the University. Twelve terms by residence must be kept, but certain exceptionll are proposed for members of affiliated colleges. Many amendments to the statute havs already been sug- gested. Some wish to reduce the requisite term of residence, and some to entrust the oversight and administration of the soheme to the several faculties, instead of to a new delegacy.

DEATH FROM TOBACCO POISONING. Mr. E. Hooper (coroner) held an inquest at the JAw Courts, West Bromwicb, recently, touching the death of Henry Knight (5), whose parent reside in Hargate Lane —The mother of deceased said he was in perfect health until lately, but on going to tied he complained of illness and had a fit. Dr. Sansouie I was called in next morning, but the child died in the evening.—A post-mortem examination made by Dr. Sansome revealed about 20 grains of tobacco in the intestines, and in his opinion death was caused by I tobacco poisoning.—Two little boys, examined by the Coroner, said deceased picked sonm thiug up and put it in his mouth.—A verdict in accordanoe with the Medical evidence was returned by the jury. 1

THE LATE DUKE OF CLARENCE. January 141b beina: the t.tiir>l anniversary of the death of the late Duke of Clarence, the Prince of Wales and members of his family visited Windsor for the purpose of attending a special memorial service. The Prince w"¡. accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of York, au'l the Duke and Duchess of Fife. Cliairs had been arranged for tbem about the Dnke of Clarence's tomb. The Dean of Windsor and the Rev. Canon Dal ton officiated.

PANIC AT A PANTOMIME. An alarming panic oecuued at the Darwen Theatre Royal recently, duriug the performance of the pantomime" Aladdin. Just before the per- formance a steam-pipe near the orchestra 1n tho stalls burst, and a volume of steam was ejected. The performance was commenced, but noon aft.-r the opening of the second s'etie chere came from the pit a cry of Fire." Flames were seen to break out, and a woman seated on the front row in the pit, rose, vith a child in her pow)", and tried to force her way through the audience. Screams were raised in all parts of the theatre.and ilt the balcony and the pit a panic ensued. The stage was taken possession of by members of the coin p ati y. and one or two gentlemen from the stalls, who called out to the panic-stricken audience thn impoit- ance of remaining still. For a moment there was quietness, and then the sparks were seen to fly up with renewed foreo. Mr. Ernest Carpenter, lessee of the Bristol Theatre, was in the stalls, and ho took up a position near the door of the pit, and re- assured the audience but almost immediately after- wards additional screams were heard, and strong men came climbing over the backs of the seats regard- less of the people who were seated, and a wild rush for the door occurred. Several persons were slightly injured by the violence of the pressure; but, loi- tunately, the doors were wide open, and no lives were lost, as would otherwise have been the case. A member of the company dragged a hoRO pipe across the stage, which wus thronged by tho actors and actresses "t the company, and a volume of water was poured upon the burning timbor. At one moment it appeared as though a very serious confla- gration would break out, but fortunately this waa averted.

BOMB EXPLOSION IN PARIS. SUPPOSEL) ANARCHIST OLTRAGE. A loud explosion, which is believed to be due to a fresh Anarchist outrage, occurred recently in the Plain Monceau quarter of Paris, causing great alarm in the neighbourhood. At ten minutes before mid- night the potter at No. 65, Rue Monceau was informed that a suspicious looking box had been placed on a window-sill on the ground floor. The man immediately went out- side, took hold of the box, and hurled it on to the middle of the pavement. Half a minute later a tremendous explosion was beard, and a shower of scrap-iron and other metal fell in all directions, hrealung all the windows of the neighbouring houses, although tbey were protected by shutters. The inhabitants of the Rue Monceau rushed into the street, and for a short time the scene was one of indescribable panic. It was soon found, however, that nobody had been hurt. In a few minutes the commissary of police for the district arrived on the scene, and imme- diately proceeded to make an investigation, which showed that, the infernal machine used was of the reversible kind. From debris found it also appears that it was contaiued iu a large square tin box of English manufacture, such as one of the ordinary hoxes in which biscuits are packed. The violence of the explosion seems to have been due to dynamite, while the box appears to have also contained gunpowder, since all the frag- ments collected smell of that substance. The bomb, like that used by Vaillaut, was charged with small shot, and also with bullets. The box waa surrounded by a thick band of alluminium. There is no clue to the perpetrator of the outrage. At the time of the explosion the police on duty in the adjacent streets saw someone running in the dis- tance, but they were not able to stop him. The effects of the explosion were very apparent. In the middle of the roadway were several large paving-stones with the corners blown off. The pavement was strewn with fragments of glass, and by the feeble light of the street lamps it was seen that large holes had been made in the solid stonework of the houses. Number 63—the house which was inhabited by Prince Victor Napoleon before his expulsion—seemed to have suffered par- ticularly in this way. The person who warned the concierge was a valet who was returning home. ]n an interview with a representative of the "Matin this man said When 1 saw a large tin box on the first window-sill I entered the house and said to the e ortcierge, There is an extraordinary thing on the window sill.' The concierge got up at once, and came with me into the street. lie immediately took the box and threw it as far as he could, and we then went inside again. A moment later a tremendous report, like that of a cannon, was hoard, and a volley of shot struck the house." The valet said that neither he nor the con- cierge saw any lighted fuse. It is, therefore. probable that the bomb was exploded hy being reversed. It was apparently not the shock caused by the fall which caused the explosion, for after the box had been thrown into the road the concierge and the valet had time to return into the house and shut the door before the report was heard. It is not believed that the attempt was directed against any of the inmates of the house, but facing the scene of the explosion is the Rue Verelay, in which M. At halin,the magistrate who conducted the enquiry into the case of Ravachol and other Anarchists, resides. The officials at the Perfecture of Police are dis- poeed to regard the affair as a dangerous practical joke, rather than an Anarchist outrage. The report that a suspicious-looking individual had been seen running away soon after the explosion is discredited by the fact that none of the persons who were in the vicinity at the time of the occurrence recollect having noticed anybody taking to flight.A polioeman on duty near the spot perceived nothing unusual,and certainly saw no one of suspicious appearanoe in his neigh- bourhood. The chief analyst of the Muncipal Laboratory and an official visited the Rue Monceau to collect the debris of the bomb and make an examination of the scene of the explosion. The bomb was found to be charged with ordinary gunpowder. The paving-stoues on which the bomb exploded were blackened, and amelt strongly of powder. The apparatus resembled a petroleum can, not an English biscuit tin as was stated at first, and was about thirty centimetres in length. The report of the explosiou was very loud, and was heard over a wide area. Many windows were shattered by the mere concussion, and others by pieces of tin and other debris scat torod by the bomb.

SHOCKING SUFFERINGS OF A SHIP WRECKED CREW. Four of the crew of the steamer Rowan, which foundered in the Bay of Biscay, have been landed at Cardiff, having been picked up by the Danish schooner Fylia, after spending four terrible nights in their lifeboat. The Rowan was a acrew steamer of 6,612 tons net register, and belonged to Messrs. P. H. Dixon and Harrison, of Glasgow. On December 27th she left Huelva for Goole with a cargo ef ore. All went well uutil the boat arrived in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, when terrific weather was experienced. On January 2nd a heavy sea washed away the ventilators, with the result that the water poured into the holds, and the ship began to settle wn. At six at night the vessel was aballd and the crew took to their two boats. These got sepa- rated, and were at the mercy of the waves. The boat containing the captain and officers has not since been heard of. The other boat containing six of the crew was tossed about on the sea until sighted on the 6th January by the Danish schooner. The weather was bitterly cold, and the half-clothed men had neither food nor water in the boat. During the first night the steward—a man hailing from Glasgow—perished from exposure, and the cook, J an Austrian, also succumbed. The remaining 1 occupants lay huddled together at the bottom of the boat weak and helpless, their limbs swollen, 1 together with the dead body of the cook. The officials of the Rowan, who are believed to have been lost included the following :—James Toye, of Glas- gow, master James Rennie, of Lossiemouth, chief officer John McChine. of Glasgow, second mate Henry Crone, of Glasgow, chief engineer Oliver Hans, of Glasgow, second engineer; D: Hodge, of Glasgow, steward and C. Kay, assistant steward. «

Sydney Marsland, a well known master cotton spinner, lit Bulton, "hot liimself recentlv aud died shortly afterwards. J A telegram from Fort Stanton, New Mexico, aa-j nounces the capture at that place of Bill Cook, a J notorious outlaw, whose baud had been robbing J trains. 1 a women s ciuo upon novel lines is being formed J in Chelsea. It is to be called the Niuety-five Club, J A women a ciuo upon novel lines is being formed J notorious outlaw, whose baud had been robbing J trains. 1 a women s ciuo upon novel lines is being formed J in Chelsea. It is to be called the Niuety-five Club, J and while it is strictly nou-political, its aim will b« I to aid the progessive IAovement in looal and municipal affairs. The approaching County Council election it 1 to bs kept in mind, and the members will address | envelopes, traoe removals, conduct local canvasses. "I And read papers on such questions as the unification J of London, the work of the County Council, and the 5 equalisation of the rates. It is sought to obtaic members from all political parties. Work is the basis of membership, and the accomplishment of e certain amount will entitle a member to a certifi- cate. 1