AN INHUMAN CRIME.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9418, 15 June 1882, Page 3

AN INHUMAN CRIME.

A discovery of what appears to be a most cold-blooded and heartless attempt to murder a young infant was made about 7 o'clock on Saturday morning, by Constable Southmier. Two young men, employed as telegraph operators at the General Post Office, who happened to be rowing on the Yarra at that early hour, were attracted by the cries of a child, which evidently proceeded from the south bank of the river near Edward's boat sheds. They immediately drew the constable'6 attention to the circumstance, and on that officer hurrying to the spot indicated he discovered 4, female infant, about three weeks old, lying within a foot of the river's brink, with a large stone firmly attached to its neck by a thick cord, which was partially concealed underneath its clothing. The surroundings of the affair afford the most palpable testimony of the callousness with which the perpetrators of the act had projected their crime. The bank of the river at the spot is some feet above the level of the river, and the infant had evidently been thrown thence into the river. It appeared as though a stone, which was intended to have obliterated all trace of the crime, evidently proved the means of preserving .the little victim's life, as, during the

child's descent, the cord became entangled in some projecting stump or root of a tree, which it hold firmly, and effectually prevented the designs of the intendiug murderers being carried into effect. When extricated the little waif was suffering from the effects of its prolonged exposure to the inclemency of the weather, and after being enveloped in some warm wraps was removed to the Children's Hospital, The police have arrested Emily Waite, a single woman, and charged her with complicity in the crime,—Age, May 9.