A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2367, 7 August 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

KRIGHTOL SCENR.

THE HORRORS' OFDUINK,

[Special to Telkokaph'.]

A murder of the moßt atrocious character was brought to light at Richmond, Melhouruu, recently...'[Tho particulars of the crime, in which the evils of drink were never nmre painfully brought out, are as follows:-Thomas Taylor, a laboring, his wife, and aiotber laboiing man, named Denis Hogan, for some time lived together ma cottage in Kenney street, a small thoroughfare off Ohurcb street. Taylor and Hogan came home about six o'. lock on Friday aveniug, and Mrs Taylor was found under the influence of drink, and no meal was ready, Taylor was much put out, and some words ensued between him and his wife. After partaking of cold fare, which ihny managed to find. Taylor drinking cold tea while His companion drank Ltwr, the house, returning at eleven o'clock, when they found the plac?.in darkness. Whilst out both mmi drunk freuly of rum and beer. They wmt to bed shortly alter coming' u»nip, and to Hogan, who occupied tho next room to his friend's apartment, evuiythjng seemed right, and tu quickly fell asleep, Tho only sound of disturbance he noticed was Taylor speaking harshly to his wife for not fetching him a candle, and-' at four o'-olock lis was awakened by Taylor calling out, Denney get up, Mary is dead." Hogaa replied, " Wbit are you talking about man 1 Are you mad I Taylor then said he had murdered his »if". On going into tbo kitchen the tint'oitunate woman was discovered by the light of a match lying on the floor in a hor.ibly battered state, Taylor wished to have thu body placed ou tbs bed, but his companion wou'd not allow him- Both immediately went to the Kicbmond Police-station, where |.|j.'y saw Senior-Cousiabh' foucln*. Taylor at once confessed to the murder, and volunteered a statement, which was to the effect that V had qinnvlled with his wife iu the icriJh:u. Uu her refusal to get him a candl*, be had knocked her down and kiWiud ber. He had thou gone to bsd and slept until four o'clock, when, having awakeued aud discovi't'iui,' tint his wife was not by hi* sio>. ha went to see if she was lying on the front room sofa. Not finding her there be wont to the kitchen, and on striking a match was horrified to find that she was dead. Taylor was arrested. The kitchen presented a horrible sight, large quantities of blood lying about the floor, and the walls, and even the ceiling were despattered. Taylor and his wife were both small people, quiet, and were regarded as decent and respectable. The wife occasionally got the worse for drink. An inquest will be bald on Monday, The medical evidence showed that the. woman must have received a dreadful kick in;', as well as other bad treatment. On one side ten ribs were fractured, and nu the other side two ribs. Tb« chest hone was crushed in, and the heal, trunk, and limbs were covered with cuts and bruises, IVcra the neok downartk The injnri-i. were the result of continual ! blowi a..-l kirb, while the more] setin s ■•.■ h luuiHKcl by someone having ! >i)Hi. mi- jumped upon deeeased. The.i v. ,-,|so a compression of the larnyx as though throttling had risen attempted Thij injury was inllicted at a time when the woman was alnnst dead from other injuries. The Coroner's jury, »fo?r a considerable retitement, found a verdict of" Wilful murder against Taylor.'' The prisoner shows actute grief at bis position, There -waß an affecting scene in the inquest room during the adjournment for lunoh. The Coroner and jury If ft the room, but Taylor remained in it, The brother of his late wife, a middle aged man named Hurley, who was in a very excitable state, went up to him and said " Poor Tommy, your brother-in-law forgives you before a just God.,' He then went dowu and kissed Taylor. Both men shed tears, and Taylor covered his face with his hands, Hurley evidently looked upon the tragedy as the result of a drunken impulse, for bo said " Tboy were as loving as babies," and he declared that he himself would find funds for hi 3 brother-in-law's defence rather than that anything should happen to him.

THE WEAKER VESSEL c A new terror has been added to matrimony, and Mr Justice Gillies is responsible for it. Not that he is the author of it, but for bringing it forth from the arcana of legal lore, and holding it up before the face of man, he has perfectly '' bared" the market in matrimonial stocks, In charging the jury in the McOaslin arson case, he said that " even if a wife was seen putting a match to a building, if her husband was bri'seut the law presumes that she was acting under his instructions; and although she could not be held guilty, the husband waß held responsible for her acts." This is terrible, I have no doubt it is true, but that makes it all tbe worse. Talk.of woman's rights, indeed! Parodying Lord Paluieraton'a mot I would say that woman's right is man's wrong in this case at all events, and if be i to be held accountable for all the freak of the lovely but eccentrio creatur who has been given to comfort him then his iB indeed is a piteous case. > The legal priuoiple must be one of

very great antiquity, forged in h."time when k wife was a far more bidablo creature than she is to-day, and it, had its origin in the idea, lung'ago exploded that she was the weaker vessel. As n spirited daughter of Eve has said she may b-j the weaker vessel but she contains the stronger spirit, and if law was only justice, it would in many a ciise he more rational far to hold the husband blameless for what, bo did when spellbouud under ihe eagle eye of his wife.- In fact this revelation of ibe helpless state of poor man shows tho danger of legisiatiug piecemeal for the emancipation of women; and codification of all the laws regulating tho relations of the sexes should lie one of the most urgoat measures of the time, lest, peradventure, we awake some morning and find that while we have been investing the fair and fickle creature with a thousand powers, wo have left tho inferior being fettered by a. hundred a'ackles, and weighed down with responsibilities inherited from a time when woman-was his chaMd. To hold a | onr man accountable for what his wife may do when he is no longer permitted tochnstise ber for being naughty, is bard lines indeed, and if matters go on in this style, many a poor fellow will cry ont as our unhappy parent, Adam, did whm bin fair but erratic partner p'syed him snob a sorry trick hobnobbing with the serpent, " Oh why did God. Creator wise, that peopled highest-heir, en with spirits masculine, at last create this novelty on earth, this fair defect of nature.—Aucklaud Weekly News,