MAIL NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 4052, 21 February 1876, Page 3

MAIL NEWS.

THE WHITECHAPEL MURDER,

The Lord Chief Justice’s summing up occupied nearly five hours. Starting from the fact of a mutilated body being found in Henry Wainwrigbt’s possession on 11th September last, the learned judge retraced his steps and carefully followed through all its stages the connection which subsisted between Harriet Lane and the prisoner Henry Wainwright. He pointed out that the importunity of the unhappy woman, coupled With his own pecuniary embarrassments, supplied the motive for the prisoner desiring to put her out of the way. As regarded the Frieake episode, the Lord Chief Justice thought it was not necessary , to adopt the theory put forward oy the prosecution, that the appearance of the so-called Edward Frieake upon the scene was a beginning of a scheme which had for end the destruction of Harriet Lane. He inclined to the hypothesis put forth by Thomas Wainwright’s counsel, that the prisoner Henry jeally intended to make a provision for the woman, and introduced his “■°~ er m name of Frieake as a guarantee that he meant to keep to his engagements. Upon the question of identification, his lordship submitted to the jury whether the prosecution had not proved that the body was that of Harriet Lane. If it was not, why bad stated the reason of his removing th© body of a woman unknown ? Although by our law we could not interrogate a man •barged with an offence, nor could he offer on < oath evidence which might tell in his favor, he might call witnesses, and give explanations through them. As far as the pnsoner Thomas was concerned, the Lord Unief Justice submitted to the jury whether ~ a conduct in helping to deceive the relatives of tho murdered woman might not “a™ been prompted by a desire to get his brother out of a scrape, and without his having any knowledge of the murder. The jury, after consulting together for nearly an •tIT’ Henry Wainwright guilty of the wilful murder of Harriet Lane, and Thomas Wamnght guilty of being an accessory after the fact. Henry Wainwright, on the sues5 uest * on being put to him, said Standing, as I now do, on the brink of eternity, m the presence of that God before I am shortly to appear, I swear I am not the. murderer of the remains found in iny possession. I swear I have never in my life fired a pistol. I swear, also, I did not bury those remains. The proof that I did not,exhume or mutilate them has been given by witnesses. I have been guilty of a great immorality ; I have been guilty of many indiscretions, but of the crime of which the jury have brought me in guilty I leave this dock with a calm and a quiet conscience.” The Lord Chief Justice expressed his regret at the “rash assertion” which the prisoner had made, for he thought that no one who had heard the trial could entertain the shadow of a doubt of the prisoner having committed a barbarous, cruel, inhuman, and cowardly act. His Lordship then pronounced sentence of death in the usual form, and warned the prisoner against , an y expectation of mercy, Thomas Wainwright was sentenced to seven years’ penal icrvitudo } and the Lord Chief Justice or-

dered a reward of L3O to be given to the witness Stokes, in recognition of bis prompt and praiseworthy conduct, which led to the discovery of the crime. In reply to a communication from the Home Secretary, the Lord Chief Justice has expressed his opinion that the conviction of Henry Wainwright for the wilful murder of Harriet Lane was quite justified by the evidence, and he sees no grounds why the lay should not take its coarse.

The ‘ Times ’ of December 18 says :—lt is stated that the condemned prisoner, Henry Wainwright, since he has been in Newgate has chiefly spent his time in writing, having been busily engaged in writing an autobiography. The manuscript he intends to present to his wife as the only legacy he can leave her. It is intimated that the work will contain a full account of his early career, and a full and reliable statement of his part in the late terrible tragedy. He takes every precaution to prevent even the warders, who are in attendance in his cell night and day, from seeing the contents of the manuscript, which at night he securely rolls up and places under his pillow, and when, in the daytime, he has to leave the writing-table for an airing in the yard, he carries the manuscript in his pocket. At night he is restless and wakeful, but in no circumstances whatever would there be any attempt to pry into his secret. By the last Australian boat, telegrams were received, stating that Henry Wainwright had been hnng in due course. THE BREMERHAVEN TRAGEDY, It is stated that the man Thomassen, who has committed suicide at Bremerhaven, had the clockwork to be employed in blowing up the Mosel manufactured by a mechanician named Fuchs, who resided at Bernburg, in Anhalt. It went ten days, working noiselessly, and at the expiration of that time caused ,a lever to act, which would strike with the force of a hammer weighing 30lb. Twenty similar apparatus had been ordered. The negotiations between Thomassen and Fuchs had been carried, on since the spring of 1873, at which time' Fuchs was requested to ca'l upon Thomson at bis house, No. 2, August street, Leipzic. As the object for which he wanted the clockwork, Thomson stated that he required it for his American silk goods manufactory—a machine which, after going for ten days, would with one stroke tear a thousand threads. Thomassen shortly after he shot himself confessed that ■he meant to leave the vessel at Southampton, and that the chest which exploded belonged to him and contained explosive compounds so prepared as to explode after a week’s voyage, when he expected the ship to sink. Thomassen in such a case would have become entitled to a large indemnity from insurance companies, and the goods on which the claim was to be based and , which were to be insured far above their value, were intended to be shipped at Southampton. He states that he constructed the chest, and fitted it with an internal clockwork so contrived as to cause an explosion after a certain time. 'lt does not yet appear to be clearly determined what explosive compound was used, or whether the chest also contained any bombs. Thomassen was occupied during a fortnight in filling the chest with explosives, and did the work in a coachhouse situated in the most frequented part of Bremen. The ‘ North German Gazette ’ recalls the mysterious disappearance, four years ago, of the City of Boston, steamer, with 250 souls, and suggests that the Bremerhaven disaster may throw some light on that occurrence. THE POPE. A special telegram from Rome to the ‘Daily News’ says that well-informed autnorities assert that Bishop Dupanloup has come to Rome on account of the expected reassembling of the Oecumenical Council. January 7. —The Pope received and gave audience to 2,000 youths, and in addressing them he suggested that their motto should be, “ Act but not agitate,” and their watchword, “Discountenance revolution.”

FUNERAL REFORM IN ENGLAND. For some months allusions have occasionally been made to what is doing in Australia in this respect, in a very commendatory spirit. At the Church Congress the Rev. Dr. Collis read a very able paper on “ Funeral Reform and Memorials of the Dead, ” in which he strongly advocated the abolition of scarfs, hatbands, unnecessary presents of gloves and silk,; and the nonwearing of crape; and suggested that the friends of the deceased should meet at the entrance of the church instead of at the house, and thus avoid the unseemly feasting that often disgraced such occasions, A number of clergymen, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Mr Beresford Hope, M.P., and others, took part in the discussion that ensued, and all the speakers supported Dr. Collis’s views. In many places the clergy have pledged themselvess to refuse the customary presents of scarfs, hatbands, and gloves. At diocesan con ferences the feeling has also been warmly evinced in favor of such a practice, and for reducing the expenditure at a funeral to a minimum consistent with paying proper respect to the departed. The funeral of Mrs Childers has given prominence to the movement; Owing to the deep snow then lying on the ground, a funeral cortege consisting of the hearse and a nnmber of mourning coaches was necessary, but otherwise, in accordance with the express wish of Mr Childers, the ceremony was plainly conducted, there being no hatbands, scarfs, plumes, or the usual insignia of grief.

THE SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE, Arrangements are now in progress in London for reducing the contract time between London and Sydney from forty-eight to forty-three days. On December 14, prior to the sailing of the Zealandia, a large company of gentlemen, including several of the Agents-General of the New Zealand aud Australian Colonies, were entertained in the grand saloon of the ship. Sir James Fergusson proposed prosperity to the company, and m replying to the toast Messrs Ure and Macgregor, M.P., the owners of the vessel, said the contracts which had been entered into with the American Pacific and the American railroads would enable them to reduce the tariff for passengers and goods, and also materially shorten the time between this country and the Colonies. For firstclass passengers the cost between Liverpool and New York would be reduced from L 75 to L 42, and goods would be carried by the steamers and over 3,000 miles of American railways at LlO per ton, or at the rate of a halfpenny per cwt. over the whole of the American continent.

Mr Clark, after the formal proceedings of the lunch had terminated, mentioned some satisfactory circumstances with reference to the working of tho mail to Australia and New Zealand, via San Francisco. He said that the day before there were received in London by the San Francisco mail duplicate letters of October 22 from Wellington, October 25 from Lyttelton, October 22 from Dunedin, the originals of which are coming via Suez, and had not yet reached Brindisi. Tho same thing happened last month, when Lyttelton letters of August 26 were re-ceived-duplicates, Octoder 16, via San Francisco ; original, October 25, via Brindisi; and also m August, when Lyttelton letters of July 2 were received—duplicates, August «au Francisco ; original, 13, via Brin-

miscellaneous, Ihe flooded state of the Seine enabled a steam yacht, belonging to Marquis Ailsa, to ttuke a passage by water to Paris from London,

It is stated on the most positive authority that large masses of Russian troops, chiefly cavalry and artillery, are slowly and steadily moving towards the Galician border.

(Borings for the tunnel between England and France are expected to be made in April next.

A Civil List pension has been bestowed on the three youngest children of Mr Birch, the British Resident who'was murdered at Perak.

A resolution discountenancing the idea of a third Presidential term of office was passed in the American House of Representatives, on the 15th December, by thirty-two votes against eighteen. A meeting was held at Southampton on the 15th December, for taking into consideration the best means of obtaining the release of the Tichborne claimant. Resolutions were passed pledging the association never to relax its efforts until a release was obtained. A penny subscription is being raised to bring witnesses from Australia and elsewhere.

The Princess of Wales and five children have left for a visit to Copenhagen. An initial paper was read at the Royal Colonial Institute by Mr Edward Wilson, of Melbourne, on acclimatisation. The Admiralty have made arrangements with Mr Allen Young, an experienbed Arctic voyager, to communicate with the entrance of Smith’s Sound in the summer of 1876, in the hopes of obtaining some information of the proceedings of the Arctic Expedition, Cambridge has unanimously resolved with Oxford to row the next Inter-University race next Easter.

The Home Secretary ordered the release of a little girl, Emily Davis, sentenced by the Ross magistrates to four years’ detention in a reformatory, for stealing a few apples.