WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 229, 26 March 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(CeniuctWl )tj "Bitets.") REMARKABLE POISONING CASE CRYSTAL-GAZER'S DEATH. [ Calcutta, March 19. A remarkable poisoning case has been investigated by the criminal courts in this city. Miss Eva Mount-Stephens, a believer in crystal-gazing, was alleged to have poisoned Miss Garnet Orme, whom she had interested in the mode of divination. Miss Orme eventually saw in the crystal what she concluded to be evidence of her immediate death. She died in a mysterious manner directly afterwards, Miss Mount-Stephens being a beneficiary under her will. On a charge of having caused the death of Miss Orme by poisoning, Miss Mount-Stephens stood her trial, and after a lengthy hearing was acquitted. STRANGE EVIDENCE OF OCCULT INFLUENCE. Crystal-gazing, the foretelling of death, and other strange and romantic affairs, all wrapped in the glamor of the Orient, recently formed the subject of a dramatic investigation in India, the facts of which were given by an English contemporary as follows: — The person under examination is a young Englishwoman, who, it is alleged, claimed to be the daughter of an admiral and the sister of a K.C. in practice in London. She is undergoing magisterial examination on a charge of murder by poison. Her name is Miss Eva Mount-Stephens, or Mounee-Stephens, aged thirty-six, a governess, and she is charged with the murder of Miss Garnett Orme, aged 50. Miss Orme had resided for sixteen or seventeen years in India, and three or four years ago made the acquaintance of Miss Mount-Stephens, who became her companion. The accused was the sole legatee of the dead woman's estate. In September last Miss Orme stayed at the Savoy Hotel, Mussoorie, and. on the 19th of that month she was found dead in bed. Medical examination showed traces of prussic acid in the body, and after exhaustive police enquiries, Miss Mount-Stephens was arrested in December on a charge of murder. Several witnesses have been examined. Mr. Alexander Grant said that nineteen years ago Miss Orme was engaged to his brother, who died in the following year. Mr. Grant said he had kept up a correspondence with her, and in January, 1911, he and his wife paid a threedays' visit. He then heard of Miss Mount-Stephens for the first time. Miss Orme mentioned her as a great authority on spiritualism and a powerful medium. She also said she had found out that Miss Mount-Stephens was her cousin. -Miss urme regarded the accused woman as a sort of guru, or high priestess, and quoted her authority as one would the church. She believed she was also a great authority on messages from the dead. Miss Orme used to speak of the spirit of a Mrs. Winter, who had been killed in an accident, who used to talk to her at nights, though she never saw her. Miss Orme (continued Mr. Grant) was very easily influenced. She cared for people so much that he always felt he could have made her do anything he wished. Miss Orme also told" him "that Miss Mount-Stephens had seen in the crystal Mrs. Eennick (with whom Miss Orme was then living) stabbing her with a curious weapon, Mrs. Jacobs said she had met Mi»s Mount-Stephens two years ago at Miss Orme's house at Lucknow. Miss Orme , and Miss Mount-Stephens both went in 'or crystal-gazing, sometimes at the house of witness. Miss Orme always used to wear round her neck two keys and a charm, which, she said, ha-d been given to her by the spirit of a Mrs. Winter, "her guardian angel." Miss Orme once remarked that Miss MountStephens had the power to make people ill if they offended her, and accused did not repudiate. A police inspector who next gave evidence said he had examined the ashes in the grate of Miss Orme's room on September 19, and found part of a label which corresponded exactly with the paper on the outside of a sample bottle [ of prussic acid. Mrs. Mellor, wife of a judge in Bengal, said she met Miss Mount-Stephens m October, 1910, when witness engaged her as a governess. She said she was living with her cousin, Miss Orme. Miss Mount-Stephens got a telegram from | Miss Orme to say she ha'd been ordered homo by a doctor and had booked two berths from Bombay and wished accused to go with her. Miss Mount-Stephens was much agitated, and cried. She said that if Miss Orme went home she would marry a doctor she was engaged to in England and leave all her money to him. She said she would write to her cousin and warn her against going home. Miss Jackson said she received a letter from the housekeeper at the Savoy (who wrote for Miss Orme) asked witness to stop with accused at Miss Orme's house at Lucknow. Witness went there. There was no one else in the house. Dur- < ing the night of September 18 the ac-' cused woman woke winess. She said, "Oh, Miss Jackson, I have just seen my cousin." Witness told her it was a dream, but she was very persistent, i When witness asked her where she had seen her. accused replied, "Over there by the dog." The next day, getting no letter from her cousin, the accused woman said she was sure something had happened to her. She told witness that a lady in England had told her she would live with a rich lady who would die and leave her money m the year 1911, in the ninth month, between the 15th and the 25th. In a statement made by Miss MountStephens she said: "At the end of August I sat up with her (Miss Orme) one night. She said she would die that night, and put on white stockings, and asked me not to let anyone wash her. She wrote some letters, and gave me a packet of letters to put in her coffin. "Miss Orme always slept on her back with her hands folded on her chest. My banking account had swelled to several thousands, and Miss Orme's had decreased. She wanted me to take all the money and do the housekeeping, and she would come to me if she wanted any money. She said she knew sche was dying, and wanted me to have money to go on with." FRENCHWOMEN AND AFTERNOON ! TEA [ "Le 5 o'clock" being now firmly estab- | lished as a social function in France, j society women in Paris arc complaining of the display of luxury which is expected more and more at the tea-table. The rivalry between hostesses to strike an original note at their afternoon receptions has resulted in a notable increase of household expenses. Table linen in I'aris to-day is of the most elaborate and expensive description. Teaeloths are. made almost entirely of lace composed of' squares with insertions of finest embroid-ii-ry. and serviettes and napkins must also match the cloth. Another expensive I habit is to have all the crystals in colored liohemian cut gla.-s to match the hue of the hostess' afternoon toilette.

At a recent reeeption given by a society leader harmony of color was very successfully carried out. Plates, glasses and decanters were of pink cut crystal, while the lady of the house wore a teagown of ■ roae-colored mousseline de soie. The color scheme was also preserved in the flowers on the table, and long-stemmed pink roses were everywhere about the room. Colored glass is, however, debarred at dinner parties at present, only t'je finest and simplest plain crystal be ing the fashion. Sevres centrepieces are no longer seen. What are described as aquatic fantasies take their place. The centre of the dinner table is hollow and a small basin is sunk level with the tablecloth. Reeds thrust themselves out of the water, in which goldfish and tench disport themselves. A wealthy host the other day, according to the Cri de Paris, prepared a surprise for his guests by an elaborate "sea fantasy" built up as a table centre, with shrimps and tiny eels swimming about iu the miniature ocean. The guests entered so much into the spirit of the thing that they emptied all the salt-cellars into the "sea."