Mrs Gordon-Baillic.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 330, 2 January 1889, Page 3

Mrs Gordon-Baillic.

JLTsa^s much for Mrs (loidon-Daillio's ingenuity and audacity that Inspector Mar. shall should have had her case in hand for more than five years, and almost despaired of hunting her down. Her frauds were patent, to a child's eye, but the difficulty of proving them to the satisfaction of a jury proved ao-ain and again insurmountable. Tako theeascof thclady whom shepersuaded to fciust her witli £300 to invest m a Company that would yield perhaps 25 per cent, inteiest. Mrs Baillio vanished with the coin, which, (it course, was utilised for her own needs. When taxed with the robbeiy, houcvor, ,she pioduced a letter written by her victim in which tho latter stated she voluntarily lent Mis Bailhotho monoy fora teim of years and without conditions. Tim document Mr© B. had dictated and co/cnod out of the poor woman, oKplainin*; it was " only a form,"' in ca^o tho stockbiokovshould ask whether tho money sho was investing washer own. "The shares are much run after, my dear," quoth Mrs Baillio; 4> you couldn't £Ot them, but it \ou .sj<_jn that I'll <^ef them tor \ on. ' Ot course, the woman's cupidity wa- aroused and she signed the "nice foun' 1 little thinking what a tiap she walked into.

Sir R. Wotostcr n.ml the P.Trncllites. Su lliohard Wobstm 1 Lui'- all alon-; had (be greatest possible distaste tor the I'aincll Commission ca^c, and would gladly huvo thiow n up his brief had it been possible. Up to the \eiv lust moment he hoped either that ihe "Times" solicitoiß wo ild oon-scnl to replace him, or tlmfc Lord Esher would retire, in which case lie would have become Master of tho Kolls. Neither e\entuality coming oil, Sir Richard had leluetantly to tako up his brief and make tho best of it.

A Word for the Fallen. Ft in woith noting, perhaps, that very few of the people who uwe come into personal contact with the koi-i/twvf *Slvs dor-clon-Baillic speak at all harshly of her. On the last, day of the trial, the Com b over flowed with ]\or dupes, yet none of them seemed the least) vindiethe. They talked certainly , but it. was of the woman's audacity, adroitne&s, and resource, lather than of her swindling. One neighbour of mine, who knew "Annie Frost" dining hei campaign at I'rimrofcC I fill in the character of " .Mis* liruce,' had much to say in her favour. She was he declared, an angel of charity to the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate. Ko one ever applied to her for assistance in vain when she had money, and when she hadn'b any she would oive away anything pawnablo handy. More than this, iMi»s Bruce had, whilst at Primrose Hill, two good onVivs ot marriage fiom men oi means-, either of which v.ould have lendercd het' independent, tor life. l?ut she lo\ed the opeia bouHe tenor, Knight A&ton, a/ms- \Yh\tc, and wedded him. Tier alieetion^ have been shallow, perhaps, and fleeting, but genuine enough whilst they la&ted, The blackest on her character, no doubt many a\ ill think, ia her apparent "want of aflcction for her children. Even this, however, has been exaggerated. Ib is. not true they were allowed wilfully to <zo to the workhouse at Walthamsiow. 2sli-> Baillie leib them in chaige of their <_ro\erne 1 ?-, who promptly de-.eited them when iiie crash came. Directly she heaul of tin*> Mrs Baillie secretly despatched Frost to lelea-e them, and this he did at imminent ri.-k ot ane-t. They have latterly been in hand-.

A Royal Spiritualist. The latest thin^ in loyal scandals auVctthai feeble, consumptive ii-onareh, the Kincf of Wurtcmburg, ■who it appears has fallen into the clutches of two Ameiican .spiiituali^to. I r l --. relatives, and retainer- have made vigorous attempt to release the nii'-etable nnin from the bondage of fear and snpcistition under which he writhes-, but so far fruitlessly. In the end the Yankee- \\ ill ptobably have to be bribed to abandon their prey. At/ pre.vnt the attitude they take up is that they never visit the Kind's villa unless sent ior. What happen- at the vomits no one can ascertain, but it is certain that the kino: is terrori'-ed pomehow, as his prostiation atterwaids is de c ciibed a-5a -5 " pitiable to witnebfc."'

Gladstones Voice. At Bhmin^ham ihU week, during (he f^icat Liberal demonstration, specially propaved trumpet-mouthed phonoj^iaph.s utcto be placed before each speaker, and will, if. i<3 hoped, absoi b eveiy tone. " Send me,"' writes Edison to Colonel (iouraud, " CJladptono's voice." " I wish we could," rcfcoi ts the " St. -lames's Uazctte " grimly. Joking apart, if this, experiment succeeds, a new era of phonographic entertainments will be opened :— Theati c Royal, Aucklard, this evening- al 8, Mr Quintus Edison-Jones's World-famous Phonographic Selections from the Voices of Popular Actors, Orators, Vocalists, and Koyaltics. .Special features ;