INTERCOLONIAL EXTRACTS.

Southland Times, Issue 1292, 12 August 1870, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL EXTRACTS.

At the Circuit Court, on the 23rd, Donald Cameron was charged with the wilful murder of Margaret Cameron, his wife, on the 14th May. Mr Macdermott appeared for the defence, and raised the question as to the prisoner's sanity, and his consequent ability to plead. He called Prßunce, who being sworn, deposed: I am the medical officer of the Ballarat Gaol. The prisoner has been under my notice since the 14th May. I have visited him at all hours of the day and night, and believe him to be unaware of the charge for which he is arraigned. He is suffering from a form of insanity known as homicidal melancholia. This is a special and distinct form of insanity. Believed the prisoner perfectly understood that he had killed his wife, but had lost all recollection of the event. At the time of the murder I am satisfied that the accused had entirely lost the power of his will, and his recollection of the event subsequently. Dr Butler corroborated the evidence of Dr Bunco. Dr Jordan deposed that he had known prisoner for twelve months, and had attended him for inflammation of the brain, rendering personal restraint necessary. Believed the prisoner to be of such weak mind as to be unable to control his actions. Ido not think he haa sufficient intelligence to understand the nature of the charge with regard to pleading. Ido not think he understands either the nature or consequences of his position. . Mr Adamson ; addressed the jury on the evidence, and his Honor pointed out the law of the matter to the jury as to whether the prisoner had sufficient mental power to understand: a plea of guilty or not guilty, or to challenge jurors, etc., or to properly comprehend the nature of the proceedings. The jury found that the prisoner was insane, and his Honor ordered him to be kept in strict -custody until Her Majesty's pleasure be knomx.— Ballarat Evening Mail. Perhaps (remarks the Geelong Advertiser) one of tho narrowest escapes from sudden death that has for years past i been recorded is that which occurredafew ' days ago hear Freshwater Creek. An old man nstmed Samuel Towns, a charcoal | burner, was following his avocation in the bush, and at eventide retired to rest in a sort of box, it would almost be unfair to call it even a " shanty." Suddenly he was awakened by a violent blow, and almost stunned. On " prospecting," he found that a gum tree, 2ft. 6in. in diameter, had been uprooted, and in falling had almost smothered him. An inquest was held on the 26th at Brunswick, by Mr Candler, district coroner, on the body of Edward Brunt, a lad twelve years of age, whose death was caused on Saturday in a rather remarkable manner. Ealph Brunt, the father of the deceased, was ploughing in a paddock near the house, and noticed in the course of the afternoon that a stack of straw in the paddock had toppled over. He had -noticed _his son near the stack previously, and feared an accident. rush at once to the place, and on the way he met a boy, who said he believed that the deceased was under the hay, as he had seen him playing about it just before it fell over, and had not seen him since. The father at once commenced to remove the hay, and Bent for assistance. In about ten minutes, after having removed nearly a ton of hay, he came upon the unfortunate lad, lying on his face, and quite dead, although his body was still warm. The father stated that he had no idea the stack was likely to fall. Dr Elmes, who had made a post mortem examination, said that the whole of the vertebra) were more or less fractured, and the spinal cord was completely severed. • Death must bave been instantaneous. A verdict of accidental death was returned. The Telegraph says: — There was " always something new " from Africa in Ptolemy's time, and in our day there is always something fresh, something provoking, some curious little surprise from the courts of justice in Victoria. Look at two of yesterday's sentences. Thomas Webb Draper makes away with £12,000, and fights against justice to the last, trying to give her the slip ; and nearly succeeding in doing so, stands out for his legal rights, and thereby defies the law to do its worst. The bank does not get a shilling back from Draper, who may for aught we know have his plunder lodged somewhere on deposit at a high rate of interest. William Elton Daniels is a clerk who terminates a long career of faithful servitude by yielding to a sudden temptation and embezzling a sum of £1,100. He pleads guilty, acknowledges ,ihe supremacy of the law, and craves its mercy. Draper and Daniels appear at the j udgment seat together. Tbe defiant and hardened culprit, whose whole career was an' imposture, received ' a sentence of three years' imprisonment. The trembling sinner who had confessed his first offence, and who had made restitution, received four years. The: man who stole his thousands, and stuck to them, will be liberated twelve months before the purloiner of the hundreds who surrendered^ the spoils. Draper, we are aware, received tne maximum sentence which could be inflicted for a | breach of the section of the Trusts Statute under which he was arraigned. Still we would have liked the Chief I Justice to have attempted something in the way of reconciling the two sentences. If he could give Draper no more, Daniels perhaps might have received a little less, without the Oriental Bank objecting. Truly our Statute-book is fearfully and wonderfully made. Would that it were less so.