THE RAINHILL AND WINDSOR MURDERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2337, 31 March 1892, Page 4

THE RAINHILL AND WINDSOR MURDERS.

London, March 25. Deeming's confession as to having committed two of the " Jack the Ripper " murders was first published in the evening papers and created a tremendous Bensation. Opinions regarding the truth of the confession are very conflicting. The Scotland Yard officials do not believe Deeming's statement, but admit possibility of his being Jack the Ripper, as his movements in 1888, when six of the murders were perpetrated, are unknown. His othsr movements are consistent with the theory of his guilt. Deeming frequently discussed" Jack the Ripper's " crimes, and is known to have possessed a number of knives. The head of the Criminal Investigation Department thinks of trying to secure Deeming's remand to England. March 28. The inquest on the body of Mrs Deeming and her children was resumed to-day. Twenty-two telegraph clerks were especially sent to Rainhill, and fresh wires were laid on to the village. Martha Deeming stated that her sister went to Rainhill on July 25th last year, and returned to Birkenhead on the 27th. The landlord of the Commercial H»tel at Rainhill said he noticed blood on Deeming's coat during the first week in August. The floor of Denham villa was cemented the same week. A man named Young testified that he assisted Deeming to cement the floor on July 30th. Ann Morley, of Liverpool, deposed that she had long known Deeming. In October she handed him deeds, for a legal opinion to be obtained, but he never returned. She stated that when she heard of Miss Mathers' marriage she fancied that Williams was identical with Deeming, whom she had long known, but she remained silent because she was uncertain. She thought that Deeming's wife (Marie James) was aware that he was a bigamist, but was not familiar with much of his career. A verdict of wilful murder was returned against Deeming. The jury expressed surprise that his movements at Rainhill had not aroused the suspicions of the police. Albany, March 28. During the journey from Perth large crowds of people, among whom were a number of rioters, met the train conveying Swanston at Beverley and York. They smashed the carriage windows, called Swanston a murderer, and threatened to lynch him. Swanston was quite unnerved by these demonstrations. During his confinement in Albany gaol lie secured a glass bottle which he smashed, and with one of the pieces chopped off liis moustache, altering his appearance in an extraordinary manner. Melbourne, ' March 28. The Governor has received a cable message from Lord Knutsford stating that if Mr Webster, ex-Governor of Hull gaol, who is now on a visit to Melbourne, identified Williams, the identification of the Rainhill murder will be complete. March 29. It is understood that Deeming's main line of defence will be that of insanity. Perth, March 28. Mr Haynes now denies that Swanston made any confession to him.

Swanston arrived at Perth in custody on the 18th inst. by mail train. When arrested, and the warrant was read, he said," lam innocent; I know nothing about it." A constable kept him in custody at an hotel till the following Monday, and during the interval he frequently endeavoured to gain further particulars of the charge from the police, who told him all they knew was that they had reeived instructions to arrest him under the name of Albert Williams for the murder of Emily Williams. He said he was not Williams, but Swanston. He was handcuffed during the whole journey. On Monday morning he left in the coach for York, a distance of 100 miles from Southern Cross, The police party travelled only by day and rested at night. • Swanston was hand cuffed all the time, at night he slept handcuffed, and the police kept watch over him by turns. The party reached York late on Thurday evening. Hundreds of persons waited for hours to see the prisoner arrive, and there was much excitement when they came. Swanston was confined in the lock-up all night. The party left York early next morning by train. The railway platform and all approaches were crowded with people, and the crush was so great that the police had to handle the crowd rather roughly in order to force their way to the carriage. Swanston maintained a cheerful mien, and before entering the carriage apoke to two Jadies who were on the platform, saying, u You need not look at mo, ladies; lam not guilty." At one,of the side stations he made some remarks protesting his innocence and declaring that he would come back with his character cleared. The prisoner strongly resented every attempt made by strangers to look at him. He also foiled several attempts that were made to photograph him by changing his seat frequently. When Swanston alighted at the Bast Perth Railway station handcuffed, he jumped out of the train aa it drew up, and turning to the police said jauntily, "Where's the carriage?" He looked travel worn, and a good deal of anxiety could be detected in his countenance, but to the casual observer he seemed much at his ease. He even put on an' air of bravado. The excitement throughout Perth was intease, a large number of work people having knocked off work in order to see Swanston. A fellow passenger of Swansi.on's, from Melbourne to Albany, has supplied the following particulars to the press :— # He stated that his only relation, a sister, had died in India, and that he had now made up his mind to get married, as he was earning l £2O a week. He asked me to allow him to pay his addreuses to my niece, aged 19, who was also travelling with my wife and family. I discouraged this, as I was not satisfied with his credentials. At Albany he wanted to take my niece out for a drive, but I would not allow it. He also asked her at Fremantle if she would like to go to Southern Cross to marry him. He told me that he had two boxes of his sister's clothing. He us«d to talk about his sister with tears running down his cheeks. He appeared to be very affectionate, especially to children/ 7

On Williams taking his place in the dock in the Perth police court, the court was quickly crowded to excess, and Williams affected to be amused at the public anxiety to get a sight of him, but it was impossible for him to hide the nervousness which affected him when he had been charged with the offence of murdering his wife, and an order was made for the police to supply the prisoner with a list of the articles belonging to him in their possession. He was remanded for eight days, and will probably be brought up again on Tuesday next, A passage was made through the crowd, and he was quietly removed to his cell. In Williams' physiognomy may be noted a low receding forehead, decidedly lacking in breadth, the brow somewhat projecting, eyes blue and keen, a clear-cut short nose and fine nervous nostrils, a heavy blonde moustache quite concealing the character of the mouth, and then comes the most marked physiognomic trait, a broad, square, projecting chin, displaying a capability of ferocity such as is attributed to Williams. But for this the appearance of the man is distinctly pleasant. The statement that he is of gentlemanly appearance is, however, absurd. He is rapidly becoming thinner, and losing the freshness of color which he had when he arrived in Perth. The police authorities in Perth believe that Williams and "Jack the Kipper" are identical. Their theory is to a great extent based on a comparison of the dates contained in articles found in the accused man's possession, which seem to fit in wonderfully wall; on the fact that among the ladies' clothing found in his possession is a long dissecting knife, and a special instantaneous powder for cleaning it; by a passage from the books in his possession which would give him such a knowledge of anatomy as it is known " Jack the Hipper" possessed; besides one or two small threads of evidence wich are now on their way to Perth from Southern Cross. The police say that the only description the London police ever had of " Jack the Riyper" was that of a man answering the prisoner's description, and he told the woman who was able to give this description, and who barely escaped with her life, that he was an engineer. Amongst the articles found on Swonston were the certificate of his marriage as A. Albert Williams with Emily Lydia Mathers. Passing from the marrriage certificate to other articles, almost equally valuable evidence of identity is obtained. For instance, a photograph of Swanston and a little girl about six years old takes us back to 1887, when he was established as a plumber in Sydney under hh real name of Frederick Bailey Deeming. Then a silver smelling bottle, bearing the monogram " C.L.M." suggests his extraordinarily vigorous courtship under the name of Lawson, with Miss Matheson, in Beverley, near Hull, in February, 1890, while a sac coat, "F. F. Curtis, Hull, maker," speaks of his rapid flight after the shameless frauds upon tradesmen. A Master Mason's apron and some clothing branded Scott Bros., Cape Town, were veiy evidently used in his South African exploits. His boxes are full of relics of Miss Mather. There is a silver case, containing a pair of lady's white silk gloves, engraved " Emily " outside ; a Book of Common Prayer, with the date December 25th, 1889, and "Emily" on the flyleaf; a piece of blotting-paper with the impression " Rainhill, 7-8.,91. Yours truly, A. O. Williams; " a member's card of the Rainhill Band of Hope, signed " John Barton," dated March 28th, 1878, certifying that Emily Mather became a member at that date ; an autograph album, "To dear Emily, with love " ; and a book, entitled " Bible For-get-me-nots," " presented to Emily, from yours sincerely, Tom," and a pocket-book with a time-table of trams to and fro from Rainhilll and St. Helens Junction. Other articles identifying him with "F. Duncan," " Dawson," and "Baron Swanston."

So far Williams is credited with eight aliases, which the Argus has arranged as follows :—He was known from 1882 to the beginning of 1889 in Sydney, Melbourne, and the Cape ? as Frederic Bayley Deeming; in 1889, on board the s.s. Jumna, as Levy ; in 1890, in England as Harry Lawson ; in 1891, in England and on the Kaiser Wilhelm, as Albert Williams; on December 16th, 1891, in Melbourne, as Drewn; from December 30th, 1891, to January 11th, 1892, at the Cathedral Hotel, as F. Dunoan } on January 11th, in Collins street, as Henry Dawson; from January 12th to the present date, in Sydney, Bathurst and Western Australia, as Barron Swanston. A telegram from Perth in the Age of the 17th inst., says on the field (at Southern Cross) the Baron, as he called himself, was quite a laughing stock on account of his peculiar manner and his frequent references to his approaching marriage. When in Perth, Williams proposed to three girls, but they treated his proposals as a joke. When in Perth Williams went to the Western Australian Foundry Company, and wanted them to sell him business. They stated that they did not want to sell. He replied, " I suppose you don't think I have got any money, but I can tell vou I am good at the Bank for £3000." * Regarding the theory that the perpetrator of the Windsor and Rainhill murder* 19 "Jack the Ripper," the Argus says ;=* f The impression having gained a distinct hold upon the public mind, follows as a matter'of course; that there should be a comparison of dates. This shows unmistakably that the theory need not at all events be dismissed on the score of chronological Impossibility. The first of the Whitechapel murdcjrg occurred on April 3rd 1888, and the last on July 17th 1889. Deeming, as is known, was in gaol in Sydney in connection with his fraudulent bankruptcy at the close of 1887 and indeed phased the Christmas day of that year a prisoner. A few days later he was released, and at once absconded to England, appearing at Birkenhead early in 1888. Thus he"was m the old country at the time the East End atrocities commenced. In the latter part of the year 1889 ' Mr Harry Lawson ' appeared at Beverley, which carries the reckoning past the date of the last Whitechapel crime in July 1889. Betweent these two periods, the beginning of 1888 and the end of 1889, it is only necessary for the stability of this theory to find a gap separating two of the Whitechapel murders long enough to enable Deeming to pay the visit which we know he did pay to South Africa, and make

his trip to Aden and back. There is a gap of four months between the first and second of the Whitechapel crimes and one of eight months between the seventh and eighth. The horrible outrages which are thus recalled to mind were, it will be remembered, all committed in the East End of London,, and all within a singularly small area of that neighbourhood. Women of ill-repute and of the lowest class were singled out for slaughter, and the peculiar mutilations effected by the murderer's knife led to the belief that he was possessed of some surgical skill. Although on more than one occasion the police must have been close upon the murderer's heels—once he was evidently compelled to leave the body almost at the moment of the crime—his movements were so marvellously swift and stealthy that he was never sighted and he escaped detection, although a cordon of police was drawn around the locality of the assassinations, and every other man encountered after dark was currently said to be an officer of the law disguised. His immunity from arrest created the idea in some quarters that he was a sailor, who found safety at sea in the intervals between his crimes. A thought that suggests itself is the disappointment that will be felt by the English police at the impossibility of trying Deeming in Liverpool for his fivefold crime at Rainhill. He can but be hanged once, and the dread penalty of the law inflicted in i Australia must end the chapter of punishment. The utmost that can be done at Home is to hold an inquest and return a verdict of murder, which wilt pass for nothing—as though the criminal had died by natural means before his crime had been discovered. A prisoner under arrest can be remanded to England, but a convict condemned to death may not pass from the sheriff's hands except to the scaffold. A NIGHT~ON THE RANGITATA PLAINS. I A correspondent writes: —lt was just about dusk one night, when I saddled my horse and started on a journey to pay a promised visit to a brother dominie of mine, who lived about six miles distant. The night had not a prepossessing appearance, but as the business was urgent I determined to chance the weather. The road was not a very pleasant one ; it lay across a dreary plain, and the farmers of the district had often related to me stories of how they had strayed from it and lost their way on dark nights. However, I thought this almost an impossibility, and took it for granted that if I did get lost, my horse, which was well acquainted with the roads, would take me safely home. I got about half way over the plains, and called on a farmer whom I wished to see. I stayed about half-an-hour with him and then proceeded on my journey. It was now veiy dark, and to make things worse a thick fog set in. I came to a corner, round which my horse wished to turn, but thinking that it was making for home, I kept a tight rein and pushed forward on my journey. Like the Captain of the Elginshire, I thought the best way to get out of my difficulty was to go at "full speed," but, sad to say, I landed—not on a reef of rocks but —into a wire fence, over which I was precipitated. I scrambled up, and to my great delight I saw a light glimmering in the distance. As there was no gate I secured my horse to the fence by the bridle, and set out on foot, hoping to reach the light and ascertain my whereabouts. I had travelled about a mile and a-half when suddenly the light was extinguished. I tried to retrace my steps, but could find neither fence nor horse. Here I was in the centre of a vast plain, with, nothing to guide me, and knowing not whether to turn north, south, east or west. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was roaring, and the rain began to descend in torrents. After wandering about for a while I ran into a gorse fence, and I determined to follow this fence to see if it would lead me to a road. The darkness was such that I had to continually stretch forth my hand to feel if the fence was there. I stopped doing this, however, and, presuming that I was beside the fence I trudged onward. After an interval I again protruded my hand, and found, to my great dismay, that I had wandered from the fence. By this time I was drenched through, for I was travelling through tussocks up to my knees, and it was raining very fast. I had also tumbled into the water-races about four times, so you can imagine what a state I was in. After exploring for about two hours I managed to . strike a fence, which I followed, and to my extreme delight I came upon a road. Now whether to go east or west was the question. I decided on the latter, and travelled about two miles. I came to a plantation and I thought I would take shelter from the rain under one of the trees, but unfortunately the rain was coming through the trees like the water of a shower bath. . I then decided to retrace my steps and travel east. I did so, and luckily, after travelling about three miles, I struck a road with which I was well acquainted. And, now I realised my situation, The place , I wished to reach when I first started lay in a nor'westerly direction, and I was now about three miles south-east of my starting place. I made the best of my way home, which I reached in the small hours of the morning. Never was a bed so comfortable, and never was a repose so sweet as mine that night. Before I, fell asleep I was troubled for some time about my horse, but I comforted myself with the assumption that ifc would break loose and find shelter. I awoke early the next morning and acquainted the household with my little adventure, My landlord was mqch amused at my story, and he offered to lend me a horse to go in search of mine. I searched in vain all the morning, exploring every wire fence I came to, and returned home abont dinner time. After partaking of a good lunch I was kindly furnished with a fresh horse and I set; put in the opposite direction. To bring my story to, an end I found my horse just about nightfall faithfully standing by the fence I had tied him to. It had stood there all night in the wind and rain and the whole of the next day, which was also rough and stormy. I may add that my horse is none the worse, and that I myself have not A sio ll rheumatism about me, W " all's well that ends well."

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