NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 268, 17 November 1874, Page 7

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

REVOLTING MURDER IN YORKSHIRE. A man has just been hung at York for a murder committed under the most revolting circumstances. His name was Jackson, the son of a labouref near Ripon, and for several years he was absent from home, having enlisted, and being sent on foreign service. When he left a sister had just been born, and on his return home a few months ago, he found this same sister grown, to a woman's estate. Her age was sixteen, but she was more like a woman of tjventy, and in appearance she is described as having been exceedingly .handsome. Indeed she was celebrated <*s the rustic belle of that part of the country. Jackson and she were - , as you may suppose, almost like strangers, and in an evil hour they conceived an incestuous passion for one another. Jackson was a man of very violent temper, and it seems that he soon squabbled with his father and mother, who, however, had no idea of the existence of improper relations between the brother and sister. Eventually the son was ordered by his father to leave home, and packing up his swag he set off. The sister, however,.followed, him, and the murderer's, own confession tells the rest. After walking some distance on the road, the girl in great distress, he urged her strongly to return home. This she refused to do, and Jackson, partly annoyed by the spectacle of the d/eadful ruin he had created, for the girl was -tndente, and partly driven to distraction from fear of exposure, drew out a, Tazor and cut his sister's throat in a most horrible manner. This was done in the dusk, and no one saw the deed, but Nemesis could not fail to overtake such a man, and at i, village where he arrived a few days afterwards he let fall certain expressions which betrayed him. No eflort was made for a reprieve, for it was felt that his fate was well deserved. THE PECULIAR PEOPLE. At the Central Criminal Court, on "Wednesday, Thomas Hines, a respectable-looking man, uirrendered to take his trial for the manslaughter of his child, Joseph Fines, two years old. By another indictment, the prisoner was charged with neglecting to provide proper medical attendance for the same child, at a time when he was seriously ill, and by this means endangered his life. The prisoner, who pleaded not guilty to both charges, is a labouring man, and resides at Woolwich, and is a member of a religious sect called the Peculiar People, one of whose tenets is that it is contrary to the Divine will, in cases of illness, to call in the assistance of a medical man, and the only means of attempted cure that they resort to are prayers by the elders of the sect over the patient, and anointing the body of the sick person with oil. In some cases recovery ensues. Several cases of manslaughter have, however, occurred, and some time back a man was convicted of that offence in this court, under similar circumstances, but he was allowed to go out upon his entering into a recognisance to appear and receive the judgment of the Court if called upon to do so—a sort of promise being given that in future, in cases of serious illness, the assistance of a medical man should be provided ; but it would appear that the members of this peculiar body of religionists still determine to persevere in carrying out their original notions. On the present occasion the charge of manslaughter was not pressed, but prisoner was tried on the second charge, of neglecting to provide medical assistance for the child when it was seriously ill, and thereby endangering its life. The circumstances appeared to be that on the 26th of June the child was first seized with convulsions, but got better ; on the 30th of June he was worse, and on the 6th of July he died. During the illness it was admitted that the prisoner behaved very kindly to the child, and provided it with brandy and arrowroot, and other things of the kind ; but he ob[stinatelv refused to call in the assistance of a I medical man. After the death of the child, however, the authorities interfered, and a coroner's inquest was held. A post-nwfptn examination had taken place, and Dr Sharp,

a medical gentleman practising in the neighborhood, said, according to his opinion, it was absolutely necessary that medical aid should have been called in, but of course it was impossible to prove that the assistance of a medical man would have been attended with any beneficial effect in the condition the child was in. Baron Pigott, at the otftsefj of the case, expressed great doubt whether the mere neglect to provide a child, who vtras ill, with medical assistance amounted to a leg"al offence, and he said at one time it was sidered that when death arose from the ad- j ministration of homoepathic medicines it [ amounted to the worst description of manslaughter. The question was whether the mere omission by a parent to call in a medical man to a sick child amounted to a criminal offence, and he thought a judge ought to be very careful before he ruled that this was the law. He would, however, hear the evidence. The witnesses for the prosecution were then examined, and they proved the facts as narrated. Dr Sharp, who was called in, stated that death arose from inflammation of the perecardium, and he should have used leeches, and probably calomel, with the object of reducing the inflammatory symptoms. In answer to questions put by the learned judge, the witness stated that many medical men would object to the employment of calomel in such a case, and homoeopathic doctors would almost think it madness to employ leeches. Baron Pigott, at the close of the case, expressed his opinion that no culpable negligence could be proved against the prisoner, and that the mere omission to call in a medical man in such a case aid not amount to a criminal offence. He therefore directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty, and the prisoner was ordered to be discharged.