The Severed Hand Mystery.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2194, 14 January 1886, Page 2

The Severed Hand Mystery.

Turing the last day or two rumor has leen rifo in Masterton in cunuegtion with he severed hand mystery which has been •rouglit prominently before the public in Jhristchurch, and as the man Howard, fho is under arrested on a charge of tempting to defraud various Life In urance Companies of about £2,500, was or some time in Masterton, great interesl s naturally taken here in the affair, ispecially as it has gradually leaked oui ■hat Howard was what might be tormet i corpse hunter, He way employed ii liferent ways in Masterton, but he drev general attention to himself by making lumber of rather fruitless attempts °t lecome on good terms with MrT. Jago die well-known undertaker. On the <k )f Mrs Rayner's burial Howard hunj ibout Mr .lagirlike a shadow, and thoug] le did not creatosuspiuion, lie was certain! lisliked. During dim of his visits to th (hop he obtained an empty varnish fin md it is generally supposed that the onb use he intended to put it to was to pre serve whatever portion of a human bod' be could obtain possession of. This til was given to him by Mrs Jago. Howavi directed suspicion awtinst himself in Mas terton by a number of acts, Amongthes it is stated that he occasionally wen bathing in company, but that'hi! neve wetted his head, presumably to preserv. liis wig. More to the point is the fac that he was employed on a building con tract for Mr Lowes, and that Messrs Join and Walter Cameron wioto several letter for him while lie was thus engaged. ()n of these was to his wife, and covera two pounds of money. So suspiuiou was he that he would not even allon i letter to go through the post office but sent it down through some on lie had been introduced to. Both th gentlemen named have been subpeened t ijiyo evidence at the trial in Ohristclmrch The question as to how the ham was obtained is in itself a sensation Howard was undoubtedly looking foi something of the kind, and yesterdaj afternoon Detective O'Connor, who cam< up specially from Ohristcliurch, droppec across a_ man who states that Powan offered him ten pounds if he would assis him in opening the grave of a man win died in the Hospital, and was accorded i Salvation funeral, his plea being that h felt sure the deceased was an old friem whom he was anxious to recognise Howard may or not have been successfu m obtaining the assistance of an accom plice, but it is generally believed that h accomplished his object in Masterton, am that the hand found on the beach a Sumner is a portion of the body of Mr Rayner, who was buried here on the 2511 November last. Judging by a photograpl of the hand, the majority of the decease) lady's relations are of opinion that th hand is hers. Whon suspicion wasdirectei to the idea of Mrs Rayner's body havini been mutilated, it was very naturallj resolved to open the grave, but as the ful consent of the trustees in her estate couli not be obtained, matters have beei delayed, pending the receipt of an orde from the Colonial Secretary. This w believe, has now been obtained. It'is: somewhat curious circumstance that thi sexton, who did not quite complete his work of filling in the grave of Mrs Rayne on the 25th November, which was i general holiday, found that it ha< been completed for him when hi returned to the cemetery on thf morning of the following day. He, how ever, paid little attention to the fact thinking that some of the deceased lady' relatives had done the work. There i little else to connect Howard with Master ton, and until Mrs Rayner's body ha beet) exhumed and examined there i nothing to show how this extraordinar affair will end. If the limb is not missing the police will, as a matter of course have to acknowledge that they are on tin wrong track ; but in the meantime then are many reasons to believe that they hav come to a very correct conclusion Howard's conduct, viewed in the light o recent revelations, must, to say tho least appear most peculiar, but apart fron all other consideration, the photo graph of the hand is said to shov several marks by which it can bo reco° nized as that of Mrs Rayner. There is° scar on one of tho fingers which seems o itself sufficient to establish the identity but it is also reported that medical mei have recognized erysipelas in the hand and it is a well known fact that Mr, Rayner was suffering from that diseas in her hand at the time of her death It is probable that the police will'solyi the mystery, so far as Masterton 'is con cerned, in the course of tho day. As a-matter .of course, all sorts o stories are afloat, one of them being tha the severed hand has been brought up t< Masterton by Detective O'Connor.' This we understand, is not the case.'. A photo eraph has, however, been shown to thosf who are interested in the subject. Fron

this it appears thai; the hand has been very clumsily-cut off, as if with an axe, abput six inches from the wrist, It is almost unnecessary to say that the affair is;the talk of .the town, and that further developments are anxiously waited foil by every man, woman'andchild inMastertoii, Latest. It appears that authority to,exhume the body has not yet been received from the Colonial Secretary, but it is expected in jthe course of the afternoon,