“THE ONLY WAY.”

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9362, 3 February 1909, Page 2

“THE ONLY WAY.”

LONDONER’S COURTSHIP AND DOUBLE LIFE.

A murder and suicide at Brighton form the tragic end to a stolry in which a married of Ilford;an.* a' Forest Gate nurse are concerned. On Wednesday evening. December Uth, a young man and woman, both well dressed and ’ apparently in a superior position in life, arrived wiio tnexr luggage at tne Hotel Ourzon, in Cavendish place, off King’s road, and booked a room, giVing the names of Mr and Mrs Roberts. The man was tall, dark, cleanshaven, and apparently about thirty years of age, while the woman seemed to be about ten years his junior. She was very good-looking, and her appearance attracted some attention at the hotel. Next morning the couple were found dead in their room from bullet wounds. At first their identity was a mystery, but inquiries showed them to be Herbert Oammell Ranson, a shipping clerk, of 89 Wellesley road, Ilford, a married man with a delicate wife and two little children, and’Miss Elsie Gertrude Hitchcock, a trained nurse, of Forest Gate. There was nothing unusual in the behaviour of the pair before the 5 rngedy to fix the attention of the peoble at the hotel. They seemed perfectly happy and cheerful. The girl retired at about eight o’clock, while the man went out for a walk at nine o’clock. He returned twenty minutes later, and then went upstairs to their room. The couple did not put in an appearance at breakfast, and finally a servant was bnt upstairs to call them. She k nocked repeatedly, but raceivea no unswer, "and could hear no sound within the room. By this [time the hotel people were convinced that something was wrong. A duplicate bey was obtained, but all efforts to open the door failed, and it had to he forced. It was then discovered that various articles of furniture had been used as a barricade. BLOSSOMS IN DEATH CHAMBER.

■ A distressing sight revealed itself to the .horrified servants. On /the bod lay the bodies of the man and woman. The girl was lying on her bach with a wound on the side of’the left cheek, ana another in the right temple. A touch of pathos was con J . tributed by the fact that her head rested amid a cluster of pink carnations and white chrysanthemums,: which had been placed there after death by the hand that had only too; .surely taken her life. The mah ' lay; with his head and part of his body resting on the bed, a ghastly wound showing itself under the angle of the jaw. All the evidence pointed so Bausom having shot the girl, Vod, seating himself on the • side of. .be couch, taking his own life: with; lie revolver that, after death, still remained tightly clutched in his right hand. A medical examination revealed the fact that the. tragedy must have taken place five or six hours previous to the discovery.,, it i:; a remarkable fact, however, that though three shots were undoubtedly fired from the weapon, which [seems to have been a heavy one, no one in the ■ hotel appears to have heard’the ■slightest sound during the' night-! On a search of the room being made by tne nolice documents 'werefound which enabled the,identity gf v both :l.e victims to. be estabrished'. :Qnei ' "* '} etier;'', con tai n£d ‘,ins'tr pc,tipns * td oiumuhicafe with, the rat ■ Lord. Another letter, indicated that the' tragedy was the'result of. a niccoycaived. determination on the .Ipast o.f jbhe.,loyers> to. sdie'; together! ' Juo .latter was , ~a- ,-black-edged . n * r citope : bearing in- very distinct writing,' the characters of which -.in-* u»ated that it had been penned while the writer was in. a a state of uosiderable mental agitation, these words.:;- , y ... , : , fv 'v - > Ernest ( words unreadable) thed?es.t girl; who, was ever b0rn..... the 'voaly way.: , p.-, .' ■ , , THE AND THE. SINNED AGAINST.' ■ - The man Herbert Oammell Ransom was well knowh in Ilford’, where he / Had resided for some 1 years. He had ' 'a ivife and two ; charniing little baby ' boys. He appears, to : haye been ' Yjdpnlar with those who knew' 1 him,, ■f. ! ahd was akeehgolfer- He ; left dhijs home stating that he washing [tp Liverpool on business., .Nothing t : more ; was iVeard of ; him'until J> neighbour received, a letter ; from Brighton, in which Ransom talked of suicide. The police were communicated with, and Ransom was reported as missing. They at once communicated with the ;cMcB. and the decased was identi-

Sod by his clothing as the missing iniiu. The Ilford police asked Mrs Ransom if she thought her husband 1 Had become acquainted with any dirl| and she replied ; “Oh, ho ; I’hr tin re he did not.” The deceased girl, 'Elsie Gertrude Hitchcock, comes of a well-known family. Her father was for many years'a groecr in that, town, while his daughter was a trained nurse. “My daughter was, only twentytwo years of age,” said Mr F. W. Hitchcock, a white-haired old gentleman. “She was a nnrse, and had been trained at Epsom and Brompton. Recently t she had been acting as a maternity nurse in the neighbourhood of Forest Gate, and vvhcKJ she was not ont nursing she stayed with her married sister in Chestnut avenue. While at a patient's house in Sehert road about t wo months ago she met Mr Ransom. She told me that be was a widower, bat although I made several attempts to get an interview with. him, 1 1 could never succeed. Last' she came to me, and kissed me, saylug ‘ Good-bye, dad; I ,'am going; ftb at for a few 1 days with Herbert’s married’ sister at Kingston onT fiaiasa. ’ We "beard , nothing mote ri,-til today, whhn the police brunght'us the terrible news. We • -were told -he' was”, iff Messrs Shaw, Siicille’s shipping 'offices in the city.” ; At the house in Chestnut averiue ,i.f Bister of the deceased girl , l':--“Elsie has been staying here .I’dy, and about two months ago She ■ n.K,reduced the deceased man to ns as L- Herbert Roberts. We quite understood him to bo a single man, . jwi received him into the family rude as Elsie’s fiance. They wiere tupyosed to he engaged, and had announced their.-intention of getting married about Christmas time. Last Tuuadat evening he called for her, H() .i later they left together. We iiocerstoed they were going to stay. ilb his inarried sister at Kingston- ■ m-Thames fox' a day or two. We ic- ird nothing more until the police ' brought a pendant to-day which had h-longed to her. He gave her the ■nudafiE (-a valuable'gold, ornament -eying it fbad ' belonged to his mother, and he had promised to get

her an engagement ring before. Christmas. When they Were married ,we all understood that they were going out to New Zealand, where her mother is staying at present. ” [Later information shows that the police made a mistake in identifying .the dead man as Mr. Rkhsom, of Ilford. ]