A STRANGE AFFAIR.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2633, 26 July 1871, Page 3

A STRANGE AFFAIR.

A strange sensational rumor was current in London a-fortnight before the last mail , left,, to the effect that a nursemaid had been detected whose mania was the.destrnction of the children committed to her charge. An r quest was then opened, at Newington Butts, ; on the body of an infant, one year, and two months old, who had unquestionably come ; By its death under very extraordinary and ( even startling circumstances. It, lyas the child of Mr Beer, - d respectable tradesman in i that nlghhorhood. Ihcfacts, .solar as they ; related to the case actually under' investiga'-' ' tion, were, in brief, those :—Mr Beer, with . his wife, went from home,to duic with some ! friends. The infant, with two other children, was consigned to. the cai’c' of a ‘yoiyig girl, ■ sixteen years old, who/had only been employed in that household three clays. Upon the rctiirh of the master and mistress, about ' midnight, they hoard a violent screaming upstairs, and naturally hurried to learn the cause. What the' cause of the screaming was the coroue: ’s inquiry has not told us; but a most mysterious s:ate of things was revealed. On the floor , of a bedroom lay one of thd children naked, but alive ; between the bedstead and a wall was found another—tile youngest—cold and ( perfectly dead, with w-ater running l ' from ils ( mouth. Whereupon, of course, a public in-vestigation-took place, and was adj owned to : allow of a post-mortem examination; The result completely‘bore out the. testimony of the father and mother, that v/hfTi'they last s iw their baby living it was in absolute good health. The surgeon reported it to have been a fine sound child, free from the slightest taint of disease ; but, he added, the face . even in death was very red ; there were two mark's, as of compression, on the lips, and he thought the poor little creature had been suffocated. How ? asked the coroner. Dr Lee could not stirm : sa. It is not stated .. whether- anyone eke was in Hie sleepingchamber wlmn the' tragic discover/ was " made, and we are most anxious not to give the mystery—for that there is a mystery will soon be seen—any jn-ejudieial coloring .whatever. It may be as well, therefore, to quote, without comment, a short colloquy which, at this point, took place between the representative of the law and the parent of the dead infant The father of thp deceased here said lie had witiicsscs present who oould give a history of the girl Norman. The Cofoner ! “ Have you witnesses who can say that this girl has murdered your child?” Mr Beer: “ I am unable to Say that, but I should like these .-persons-to be examine;!.”, •The Coroner : “I do not th-inkl should he doing justice to this girl if I examined them.” Beer ; “If a verdict is givenwithout, :I-shall think:.lt very.-.unfair.” Whereupon a statement was made of so singular a character that the inexplicable venlict subsequently given, “ that the deceased died of suffocation accidentally caused, ” does not dispose of it at all. There was no more proof ; rtf accident than .there was of violence, amt - of violence there was none, unless Wc attach importance to the •marks on the lips, and even with ivspect to them it was not sought to be shown (hat any particular individual was implicated. 'I he evidence given by Sergeant Milliard, after completing his researches, claims not less on the girl’s behalf than on that of the public that the horrible doubts suggested should be set at rest in one way or another. Dctective Mullard “ found, on inquiry, that several children had expired under circumstances similar to those of the case before the Court.” Twelve months ago, the nursemaid—then ho . more than fifteen years old —was engaged in 1 a, familjvafc Stock well-road. ‘ Two months afterwards a lady visited at tlip , ; hqqse,, bringing-a yearling hidiy—iyh^les, 1,0.0 • and rphnst—wit|i her. It was found,. lying qu a bpd, f a corpse, .in ,the eoiuse of the day. \\Tiatever the .secret may.have been, death appeared wherever this nursemaid went. ■ Three dogs,-a cab, a parrot, nearly a dozen other fancy birds, and a number of geld fish, •Were about the same time found dead at Grosveuor Villa j she was sent away, aud we hear of no such mortality as having happened aiuce. Next she procured a situation in Bark Road, Groav,error Itoad, to take care pf an infant. ’'She brought it homo -insensible one day, declarin' 1- it had fallen out of her - arms. Three weeks -later sire took it out again, aud this time brought it home dead. Her next situation was'in Tempi,cbtrcct, St George’s Road, and on one occasion a child aged seven years was ‘awakened by a' choking station, and stated to its father /that the girl had * placed her hand over its mouth, and that she had given him money not to say anything about it. At this place also several doniestie animals died suddenly. • - • At ar.oth r situation where she wa.sppgr^od o 'Vcbild was fdffnd’i!^ensiflfi when it recovered it great .forrpr at the

sight of 'the girl; In- her next situation she locked up a child in a wardrobe, and then to k it out and put it to bed, where it was found dead shortly afterwards. It may be presumed, of course, that Detective Milliard was upon oath’ when he gave the result of the information he had collected. Every one must be anxious that a part, at least, of this mystery should he dispelled, not only in the interest of society, but for the sake of the girl implicated. The girl, Agnes Norman, was taken into custody by the police on April 29, and charged before the magistrate at Lambeth Police Court, on suspicion of having caused the death of Jesse Jane Beer, ami three other children. After sufficient evidence had been adduced, the prisoner was remanded. On May 12 the prisoner was again examined, and still further remanded.