THE ALAMEDA TRAGEDY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1625, 25 August 1887, Page 3

THE ALAMEDA TRAGEDY.

Following are additional particalars of the murder A woman, tall, portly, and over-dressed, lingered about the Oceanic Dock on the morning of July Ist, from which the steamer A'amoda was advertised to sail at 2 p.m. <^ a P fc - Ke;,t S il , of the police force, noticed her when l;e first srived, which was nine o clock. . Sl.e explained to the police and ship's officers shorn sho accosted that she was waiting for a friend who intended to leave by the steamer. A suggestion that the steamer would not depart until the afternoon received this answer —that she would be “anrs to see my friend.” She ransacked the state rooms of the who!' ship in searc i of the friend, and (he search being uurewarded she walked on the wo.rt and looked anxiously up the slroct. r--singers began to arrive, and finally » nttl>' Old man, o Frying a lot of lugg g» and bundles, waddled pp the gangrpl* * H "“ made h s W H y (| o ' n the steerage quarters. The woman who had berm waiting suddenly grew animated with exci'omeut, and fadowed the little man down the hatch-way—she bad found her frie'd. A i moment or so latsr persons in the sleet >ge

were ftirt'fld by the report of a pintnl in their midst. The little rann, who had just slung his lucgage in a bunk, fcnrned round, and was now pressing bis hands to his abdomen convulsively, while he bent himself nearly double with every expression of pain. A few feet in front of him stood the woman, a smoking revolver in her hind, which she still pointed at the man. Ex-officer Patrick Coxle, who was standing near, sprang aboard, knocked down her arm, and took away the weapon. Captain Kentgill next appeared and took the woman into custody, while Officar Olindon called a hack and conveyed the woman and her victim to the old City Hall. Police Surgeon Martineaux examined the wound, and discovered a bullet in the back of the left side near the ribs. It had entered near the centre of the body, lust below the point of the breast bore. The surgeon cut out the bullet, as it had lodged near the surface, He considered the wound dangerous, but thought, with proper care, the man might recover. Whilst in the City Receiving Hospital, where he was taken, Bishop became troublesome, and refused to take medicine. Ha insisted on leaving the hospital, and the doctors, thinking it best to accede to bis request, permitted his removal. Bishop was tiken to a lodginghouse, where he died on July 3rd. At the inquest a verdict of “ Wilful murder ” was returned against Mrs Mary Van. Just as the steamship Alameda was about to leave San Francisco for New Zealand and Sydney on July Ist, she was boarded by a woman known as Mrs Mary Hammersmith, and more recently as Mrs Mary Y«n, who after a few words with George Vesley Bishop, an intending passaagers, shot him so that he died next day. The affair took place in the afterpart of the steerage. Bishop was an elderly person, and said to bo a druggist and chemist by profession, to have been born in America, and doing business in Christchurch or Canterbury. He arrived here on March 20th last, and during his stay in the city became acquainted with Mrs Van through the medium of a sheet called the Matrimonial Gazette, and according to the woman's evidence they lived together as man and wife. The unfortunate man was induced to furnish a house for the adventuress, and trouble arose when she failed to pay the rent according to agreement. He brought a suit for the rent, and also to recover 299d015. the price of the furnitWM. The plaintiff denied during the trial that ho had sought Mrs Van on matrimonial business, because he already had a wife in Nea Zealand. He confessed, however, that they were ‘'affectionate," and that he had made her numerous presents. When lollop applied for an interview with the “ beautiful creature,” as she was represented in the Gazette, he described himself as from London, aged 46, a chemist retired from business, and,travelling. Ho got judgment in the case, as the Justice could find neither the marriage nor a gift of the furniture prove!, but, at the same time, he recommended that ho provide himself with a guardian, as he evidently needed one. Blades and Hughes are two of the names Mrs Van has also been known by, and the trial revealed further that she had received a term in the State prison for an attempted murder.