ANOTHER ASSAULT IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.

Patea Mail, Volume I, Issue 79, 15 January 1876, Page 3

ANOTHER ASSAULT IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.

Vf, - A LADY K [SSI.MI AN OF Fit'HU, At the Singh-well (Kent) Petty Sessions on liu* iJTth ( •etuber, a ease that excited considerable public interest was heard by the justices, of which 1 Moil'd Frccston, of Erccst.on Ha!!, tJohlia.ni, was the ehainmui. The fact*-, which are of a somewhat singular nature, will he gathered from the following u umil i v* 1 ■ 'The com pin in.ant was Mr .Fames Ti-cmlett, a, yonug ollieer of Maiines about to join ai Gbatke.m. The accused was Alias Seraphims 11 igin botham, a ladv st.mewiifit over the middle age, and at present walking the London hospitals, with a view to practising as a surgeon and doctor of medicine. Tho complainant deposed (hat on tho previous day lie brnk a first class ticket at .London Jb-idge for C’hutham, and entered a carriage which he had ail to tiiins-df until he roach d Woolwich (Dockyard) Hiation, where tho accused got into tho compartment lie occupied, and took- her scat in the right band corner facing ihc-engine, while ho sat with his Lack to tho engine on the opposite side, in tho far coiner of the carriage, lie said nothing whatever to the defendant, ln;t was reading, in tie* Saturday ib-vuw/'an article entiiEd “ Mistaken Affinities/ 7 He was inlly ee-upi; d wit it (hat article, which seemed, lie said, in explanation, to refer in some im-asur,* to the evs-* of GoltUiel V (dentine iinker, wh*.n tho accused, taking off her sj ect.aeh s, 1 -ft her sea 1 , looked him full in tho face, and said, “ You are a very nice young men ! 7 j lo r -plied that he had not the pleasure of her in ipiaiiilanee, when she suddenly seized the Kevi,-w' 7 he was reading, and, throwing herself ni her knees before him. exclaimed, " ()h, don’t read that !” I le iv-speei fully requested her to rise; Inti, as she did no! do so, but clasped her hands, and said she was sure she had ‘sva Liu s nne .vli-tc ho fore, he loft his emit and moved to the other end of the eomparlne nt, whither she followed, him. holding on by the tails of his coat, and protesting ti at she must kiss him. for his mothers sake. Upon, her promise that she would not r. p *ut the offence, he allowed her to kiss him. He was, however, much alarmed, especially as they were passing through a tunnel. Just as they ((merged from the. tiium-l, she made a grub s.t his whiskers, and declared that she had met his sister at Si. Larilndomew’s Hospital. She afterwards said she was a lone, unprotected female, and he had hetUr take care ! He assured her t! Nt she need he under no apprehension, when she caught him by the collar, and protested her innocence. He struggled, but she was strong and resolute; and in the end, he put his head out of the carriage-window and called fur “help,” just as the train reached the M-ophan station, where, he obtained the company of a railway porter, who protected him to the end of his journey. Evidence having been given by the stationuiasler and the porter at Meopham as to the agitated demeanour of tho complainant, and to the finding of Miss Higinbotham’s spectacles in the coattails of Air Trernlett, the accused was asked what she had to say to the charge. Hi reply, Miss Iliginhotham said that the complainant had greatly exaggerated the idle ged assault. She had merely requested him to put down the paper, us she wanted to talk to him. _As he would not put down the paper, she snatched it from him and gave him a kiss. All she desired to do was to show her admiration of a handsome young man, against whose moral character ho had nothing whatever to say. After hearing the explanation, the magistrates retired, with tiie clerk, and upon their reappearance the chairman said, addressing tho accused, that lie thought a serious offence had been committed hy her. There were many young and inexperienced men travelling by rail, totally unprotected; and it was known that young oflieers in the army, joining their regiments, were not always proof, as tho complainant happily had shown himself to be, against the blandishments of the other sex. He, and his brother -magistrates thought the accused had taken an unfair advantage oi the complainant, although no doubt ir desire to kiss him arose from a

nmiherly or matronly feeling; however, thy (the {i.-nch) had conn* to the conclusion (hiit tii<! justice* of the disc would he met hy the imposition of a j ri 11 ;>! 1 fine, ;>,s for a common assault. S 'Miss 1 liginbotham would therefore b- | fin.-d AM <tiid costs, ami lie ((.he ehair- | man) !!<ji:«m lit Vroiil lhe a warning io i her for the future. It .seemed, how-■ ver, j cei t iin to him and his fellow-magistrates, I i.h;il if. was iihsolnlely necessary to hud | carriages—not merely smoking carnages, for some men abhorred smoking—(or gentlemen ; and. lee h<>j>•-■< 1 railway companies would lido- the hint. it wus under,-hood that- Miss Hiniubollnim [mid the tin'-, and (he ease ended, tile complainant leaving the court with his friends, some ol whom, hy their demeanour, and, io their shame, he it. said, seeming to treat the whole aliair iis a joke. A message oi condolence has, however, we niulciMaml, been received hy the runny ollieer irom a high quarter.