EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN EDINBURGH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2719, 2 October 1894, Page 3

EPIDEMIC OF CRIME IN EDINBURGH.

As a rule this city is remarkably free from, crimes of a heinous kind, but of late it has been the scene of severe! such. The first was discovered ou the morning of July 17, on the premises of the Royal Insurance Company, in George street. On arriving as usual that morning, the officials were surprised to find the place not ready for them, and the door leading into the caretaker’s house locked. Getting the lock picked, they went in and found a body lying on a bed in the kitchen with clothes heaped over it, but with feet projecting. The police and a doctor were telephoned for, and ou the bedclothes being tnrned down the body was found to be that of the oarptnjeer's Qiater, who peted a? liis housekeeper. There ■jvas a fearful gash in b© r throat and hef head yf&B battered in. Her whose uaipe was ilopald Macdonald. w»§ about ** years of ago. It eeewu tW»— • HOtICQ of .. u was under ‘ * .oiiiissal for pilfering postage stamps, and was to have

left that day. A close search was at once instituted for him, and as it was thought he might have committed suicide, the lochs and lonely parts in the Queen’s Park were carefully examined. Nothing was discovered, however, until the 25th July, when his body was found in the Clyde, at the entrance to the Queen’s Dock, Glasgow. As a brick was found in one of his pockets, and a large piece of coal was tied to his right arm with his handkerchief, it is believed the wretched man had drowned himself. It is supposed that he did so when he came to the end of his resources. In one of his pockets was found a clasp-knife, on the larger blade of which was coagulated blood, in which were sticking a number of hairs. This is believed to have been the weapon with which he murdered his sister. The reason for the crime will now remain a mystery. A second crime was discovered on J uly 23 in Alison’s close, a slum running between the Cowgate and the High street. The victim was a woman named Catherine M’Lachlan, about 45 years of age, who lived with a labourer named Andrew M’Ewan. When the body was found life must beeu extinct for some hours. 1 refrain from a description of the injuries inflicted. An axe with blood and hair upon it was found in the room, the latter being of a very wretched description. M’Ewan was arrested as he was leaving the close just as the police were entering it. When formally charged with the crime at the Police Court he maintained a confident bearing. He is a dark, stronglybuilt man.

A savage attempt at murder, followed by the suicide of the would-be murderer, took place on July 27 in Greenside End, a rather notorious .locality at the base of the Carlton Hill. A labourer named James Gibson, aged 63, lived there with his daughter who is 25 years of age and has five children. He was a dissolute and violent fellow, and had several times beeu in custody for assaulting his daughter. At last his threats to her made her leave him, but her children remained in his house, where she sent them food. On July 27 she went to look after them, and fearing violence on her father’s part, got the police on the beat to stay within call.' She found her father in the house with an old blind woman, who was tending the youngest child. As soon as Gibson saw her, he locked the door of the room and barricaded it with a box and a quantity of bricks. He then took off his jacket, turned up his sleeves, seized a hammer, and began striking his daughter on the head with it. Her screams caused the constable to force his way in, and Gibson, on seeing him, at once darted into a recess in which there was a bed. The constable lifted up the young woman, who was lying on the floor, and then went to look after her father. He was found lying on the bed, with a terrible gash across bis throat, and a razor still in his hand. Medical aid was at once summoned, but Gibson wos dead by the time the doctor arrived. After all, the daughter’s injuries were found not to be very serious, only requiring a few stitches. It was found that the deceased had nailed down the windows of the house on the previous day, which would indicate a deliberate purpose on his part to commit a deed of violence.—Correspondent of Otago Daily Times.