MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXI, Issue 2304, 28 December 1875, Page 3

MAIL NEWS.

COMMITTAL OF THE ■ WHITECHAPEL MURDERER, i '■ t< 'v ]j ,'. : On 2nd October^ Thomas Wainwright 30 years of age, described as an iron- . monger, at Eulham, was placedat ; the bar Jbefore Partridge^ at the Southward Police Court, charged with being an accessory > after the facfc in the wiKul murder of Harriet Lane a^ias King, on or about the 11th of September, 1874, at 215 High street,! Whitechapel. Mr Poland, who conducted the prosecution, Baid the prisoner was charged with being an accessory to the murder of Harriet Lane, alias King. The way he came in custody was that evidence was given at the coroner's inquest that Harriet Lane had* gone away with Mr Frieake, an auctioneer, of Aldgate, and was residing at Fulham. Mrs Wilmoie had made inquiries, and on the last day deceased was alive, Mrs Wilmore received,the following letter : — Charing Cross Hotel, Wednesday. Dear Mrs Wilmore, — T am verymuch surprised at not receiving a reply ■to my last letter, in which I gave you all the particulars of our arrangements. She is now quite content, and has promised never to see or spe,ak to; King, or any of her old friends again, as if she did I have told her we would have to part. If her her; promise is kept, : I intend to marry her in a few weeks. I distinctly told her that I will not allow, her to see any of her old acquaintances, as it will only cause unpleasantness. : ; With kind regards, yours truly, E. Frieake. We are' just off to Dover." Mr Frieake, auctioneer, stated that the letter was not in his hand.writing, and it would be shown that ii was written by the prisoner. It would also be shown that the< prisoner at ( the bar. purchased the ; chopper and jshoyel • ■v?hich^ , it was , belieyed . were used' in Mutilating the, body. The key. of the Hen and Chickens-had been in the custody of Mr Lewis, r pf th^ South-, Vrark Bridge' road] and was obtained from » boy ih'his" service by the prisoner.; ; All jthese. matters threw- such suspicion on the prisoner that it was deemed desirable that he should be apprehended. When he was told- he would be charged with b'eiiig. -ah aocessory to' the. murder of Harriet Lane, ; he iwfote : ' " Oh ; the lOfch of ( ■ September my brother ' asked me' ito purchase a chopper and a garden shovel. I took them to my brother, 28 New road, and gave them to him. I afterwards went to /the- 'Surrey Gafdenß." The day after that the body was removed. : ■ . j • . On 13th October the hearing of the case against Henry and Thomas Wainwright lraß resumed, when both were committed for trialj the first-named prisoner on the charge'of murder, and the second on that of > being an accessory. Mr Lane, the father of the woman supposed to have, been murdered, was then examined and cross-examined as . to his memory of the acar on his daughter's leg. Then Feeles, or Fowler, as he called himself, when pur(For continuation of News see tfhpage-)

Suing a private Inquiry into the fate of Harriet Late, deposed to the contents of a telegram, purporting to cpmefromFrieake or Frieke. 'Next a witness, Stokes, was examined by Mr Poland and cross-examined by Mr Besley. The cross-examination of this witness seemed directed to the point of there having been an abundance of light in the warehouse at Whitechapel, . where, 1 according to the theory of the prosecution, the murder was committed at a time fixed by the evidence of pistol-shots , having been heard ; by : three witnesses. Rogers and Tietjens were recalled by Mr Beuley expressly that they might answer , his questions tending in the same direction. Mr Chabot and other witnesses *01- : lowed during the day, which, however, •was principally consumed in the reading of the long depositions. The depositions being finished, Mr Benson said— "Stand up, Henry Wainwright and Thomas Wainwright." In the usual words Mr Benson told the elder prisoner that he was charged with the murder of Harriet Lane, and informed him that he was not obliged to say anything, and that whatever he did say would be taken down and used against him at his trial. He was silent ; and his solicitor, in the absence of counsel, reserved his defence, and did not here call any witnesses. On behalf f of Thomas Wainwright, an appeal was made by Mr Moody that the magiatrdtes'should admit him to bail. This was refused by Mr Benson, and both men were taken from the dock on full committal to the next sessions. CAPTURE OP A BRIGAND CHIEF.

The Times correspondent at Home Bends, {under date sth October, the following account of the slaying of Capraro, the Sicilian brigand :-r-^ Vincenzo Capraro, the leading spirit of Sicilian brigandage, has fallen. This redoubted chief has been the terror of the island for the last ten years, and his death is the cause of general rejoicing in the country places over which he tyrannised. His field of action extended over no less an area than from Sciacca, his native place, in the Jprovince of Girgenti, to Termini, in the province of Palermo— places situated on opposite sides of the island. How much the Government considered might depend on the capture of this brigand chief may be judged from the fact that, when a more energetic course was initiated last year, no less than 25,000 francs -was put ;upon his head. It would seem that the chance of participating in the reward elicited the information which enabled the public force to come to close quarters with him and his band. Early on the morning of the 28th of last month eight mounted militiamen, with their captain, Alessandro Albini, and four carabineers, commanded by Lieutenant Belletti, were making their rounds, patrolling the neighborhood of Mount Ceranie, in the territory of Sciacca, when they received intelligence that Capraro and his men were making for a cavern in the vicinity. Being still dark, the officers determined to take what advantage they could of the obscurity and of the formation of the f ground, in order to draw up their men in such a position as to prevent Capraroj so far as possible, from becoming aware of their presence until too late to retreat without fighting. The brigands, however, kept a sharp look-out ; they sighted the party at some little distance, and the moment they did so turned and fled, plunging into the brushwood. The soldiers at once fired a volley without effect and started in pursuit, but the ground across country was impracticable for their horses! In a second they were out of their saddles and after the chase on foot, and a few moments brought them to an open space, where a brisk fusillade was interchanged without harm to the troops, but in which Capraro fell dead and one of his men badly wounded, the others getting away. The object of the pursuers was evidently to have Capraro dead or. alive j all would seem to have made him their mark, for he was hit in five places, one ball striking him full on the forehead, and for this Lieutenant Belletti, who is said to be a practised shot, gets the credit. Capraro was armed with a revolver of the latest model and a first-class . breech-loader rifle by Lefaucheux. The rest of the band got away into the hills.

, A TEBMBLE TRAGEDY. * A singular tragedy, the culmination of a family quarrel, occurred in the village of Kqsedale, Pennsylvania, recently. About five years ago William Russell, a farmer, living a few miles from the village, was left a widower with one daughter, Harriet, aged 16, by the accidental death: of his wife and a second child, so Harriet and a girl about her own age, named Mary Stokes, whom Russell employed, were given the care of the house; Harriet soon discovered that too close an intimacy existed between the father and the girl Stokes, and, shocked and indignant, she dismissed the latter. Russell brought her back, and his daughter left home. After a time St.oke3 returned to her home, and Miss Russell resumed her old position in her father's house. Meanwhile Harriet had become engaged to a young fellow named Horton Hursfc, whose father's farm adjoined Russell's, but because, years before, Hurst had defeated Russell in a lawsuit about some division line of their farms, on discovering the intimacy between the daughter and young Hurst, he threatened to disown her if she did hot renounce her lover. She obeyed her father, and all went peaceful till about three months ago, ■when Russell astounded his daughter by telling her that he intended to soon marry the girl Mary Stokes, and bring her back to the farmhouse. Harriet assured him that when he brought his wife home he would find his. daughter gone never to return. Eventually he told his daughter, he was to be married shortly. She made no reply, but at once perfected arrangements pending between herself and ilurst for some weeks in view of the marriage of her father. On the day fixed for the wedding, Russell drove towards the house of Mary Stokes, and his daughter, after placing the house in readiness for his return, started for Roseyille, leaving behind a note explaining that his proposed action was more that she could bear^ and that she herself would be i married in a few hours. During the afternoon she and young Hurst were married, and, with a few friends, had nearly finished dinner at the village tavern, when Russell came in, pale with rage, and a singular glitter in his eye. His daughter ran towards him with outstretched arms, but he threw her aside and sprang upon her husband, and began stabbing him with a knife he had seized from the table. Hurst received the wows on his arm and shoulder, and tried

to escape, but was forced at last to draw his pistol to save his life. As he levelled it and fired at Russell; his own wife sprang between them, and, received the charge in her brain, fell dead. Hurst knelt for a moment beside his wife's body, and, after appealing in vain to her to look up and speak to him, rose to his feet, and, before a hand could be extended to prevent him, shot himself through the head, and fell dead by the side of his wife. RELIGIOUS BIOTS AX TORONTO. The New York Times of the 4th October gives the following details of the second religious riot in Toronto: — "A serious riot occurred hereto-day between Orange * Young Britbns' and a Roman Catholic pilgrimage procession. Eight policemen were badly hurt, one it is feared fatally, and twenty were slightly injured. Several arrests have been made. The military were called out to aid the police, but their assistance was not required. A desultory street fight was maintained during two miles of the route traversed by the procession. It is impossible to ascertain the number of combatants hurt, but it is supposed to be very large. About 20,000 people were in the streets." Another account says: — "The pilgrimage of the Roman Catholics from church to church took place to-day. After forming at then? respective churches, they marched to St. Michael's Cathedral, and, after a short service there, proceeded along Adelaide street to St. Mary's Church, Bathurst street, a distance of a mile and a half. From this point a part of the procession returned by Front street, while others dispersed on account of the procession being accompanied by the police. A large body of the military having been ordered out for the occasion on the route of the • procession, the disturbance was much less than had been expected. As soon as the march from the cathedral began, stonethrowing, &c, commenced,; when the police charged on the! assailants, firing several shots. On the march up Adelaide street several attacks with stones, &c, were made.. At Bathurst street quite a number of shots Were fired, one or two of the police and a number of others being seriously wounded^ but no one was killed as far as known. / SINGULAR CHAHOB AGAINSX AN CNDER- - . TAKER.

Blundell, an undertaker at Southamton, on whose premises a number of dead infants have been found, his wife, and an assistant named Frederick Petty, have been charged before the Southampton magistrates with obtaining sum 3of money under false pretences from various persons as payment for the burial of the bodies of their children, and not fulfilling his] contracts. The evidence taken was in regard to a child, 19 day old, named Robert Edward Bennett, who died on September 30. The father went to Blundell's house the next day, and arranged with the female prisoner that the body should be buried for 5s 6d., and a coffin was sent in the evening, and Petty took the corpse away, promising that it should be buried on the following Sunday. An officer of health, acting on a complaint from a bailiff in possession at Blundell's, went to the house. Blundell was ill in bed, and the officer asked Mrs Blundell if she had any nusiances there. She replied "ISo." He asked her what was in a coffin standing on a shelf behind the shop counter, and she replied a child sent there, to be buried. . He asked her for the certificate of death, and she went upstairs to Blundell, who came down and produced the certificate referring to Bennett's child. . The officer as2ed if he had any more bodies there, and he replied that there was one in a drawer under the shop counter, and on opening it a coffin was found with a body in a horrible state of putrefaction. The police was sent for and the premises searched, and 10 coffins were found concealed under the rubbish in a cellar used as a workshop, four of them being close in a row, and two containing the remains of two. infants each. All the others had the body of a dead child in them, some having been there for 12 months at least. The three prisoners were apprehended, when Blundefi said he had not had time to have the coffins buried, but if allowed to do so he would send them- to the cemetery that afternoon. Petty said he only knew about Bennett's child. The prisoners were remanded in custody for a week, the mayor saying that the Home Secretary would be supplied with the depositions. The Bench hoped that the Government- would take up the prosecution.