TRIPLE MURDER AND SUICIDE. TRIPLE MURDER AND SUICIDE

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1522, 6 April 1882, Page 4

TRIPLE MURDER AND SUICIDE. TRIPLE MURDER AND SUICIDE

A distressing tale of triple murder and suicide 'is reported from Fulstone, near Shepley, Huddersheii. On Tuesday mfljnjiug> f 20th December, Jieniy >Batfye,~ landlord of the Junction Inn, finding tha[t his daughter, Hannah Moorhonse, aped 27, who had 'already. 'had three illegiti-mate-children, aged 10, 6, and 2, appeared to be again pregnant,, told lier J,ie could not do with any more children, add.nc tJj&Mhey must seek a fresh shop. He refused to allow her to keepa boy, which she said a deceosed brother had given her. On Tuesday ■ afternoon Mr Battye 'went' to Huddersfield, aud Mrs Battye, Hannah Moorhouse, her three children, Ada, John, and Emma, and Henry Battye, ,her brother, had tea together. When , IVjLr Battye returned in the evening only Mrs Battye was at home, 1 but the absence of the others excited no surprise. Shortly after, ■ i enry Battye, aged eight, came in, and saidj " Mother, ' our Hannah has gone into the dam, with Ada and Johnny. '\ He added that Hannah went out of the house to the cowshed, and asked him to hold the candle, while the lad named • Ecclessly milked " the cows. She then asked Henry to go with her over the field to the" pond. She had the infant with her. When they came to the ■ pond, she said, "Ada and Emma have gone in there, and we are going. You can go home and tell your father and mother, that they may know where we are." On searching the dam, which is ten feet deep, about 100 yards from the inn, 50 from the road, the bodies of the mother and the eldest daughter Ada were found, and half an hour afterwards those of the two younger children. She had b-icn seen in the road near the pond with her two eldest in her arms. She had laid out a quantity of linen, apparently to berve as shrouds for them. At the inquest the evidence levealcd the fact that the children must have been drowned separately, beginning witli the eldest .and finishing with the youngest. Ada, 10 years old, was Jirst missed, and then the mother came to the kitchen were Emma, nine, was, and said she wanted her to go out with her. The child said she did not want to go, whereupon the mother said she was going to a better home, and later on she was seen going down the road leading-- by the hand this child and the youngest. The night was rough and rainy, but none of them had anything on their heads. When on the last journey with the youngest (aged 20 tnontli3) the mother took her younger brother Henry, aged eight years, and giving him a wet jacket which she fonnd on the reservoir embankment and which pioved to be Ada's, she bade him tell his mother and father that Ada and Emma were in the pond, and that she and Simeon were going in also. He had to climb two fence walls and help her with the child. He ran back to the house screaming. There was not the slightest paiticle of evidence to show that the deceased woman was of unsound mind. All day she had been in a cheerful mood, singing over her woik, and otherwise going about her household duties pleasantly. Her father had told her that he could not do u ith any inoie cluldicn ■there ( he suspectingthathhewas enceinte), but it did not scemtodiscomfoither. Before the second child came she had threatened to make away with herself, but no 'thought was entertained that she would do so. She was ever wilful liking to have her own way. She used to beat the children severely if they disobeyed her, but otherwise she was very fond of them. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against the mother of the three children, and of sucide its regarded herself, adding that there was not sufficient evidence to show the state of her mind at the time. Subsequently the mother and the children were interred in one grave at Shepley Church, the \iiar, tbc llov.T. Newton, officiating.

The "Ghost" in Hamlet was a waiter, for ho said, "Remember mo." The man who tiicclto collect his ideas has prudently moved away from Ireland. Dr. Johnson's rule was- ICvery sentence which the writer thinks fine, ought to be cut out. Almost every country has its national melody, but the waltz is the music of the whirled. A Brooklyn man calls his wife Conscience, because, as lie remarks pathetically, " She makes cowaids of us all." Nothing shocks the sensibilities of an honest man more than a. dishonest and meaningless laugh. When is a man a bird? When he comes home at 2 a.m. P.S. —For the benefit of bachelors (it is not necessary for the married fraction),wo explain that when a man comes home at the hour named his wife makes him quail.

AXOTHEK ]$ATiM>ON AIA KNTfUK. —AII exiting ballooning exploit lias been communicated by Mr Pcndaivcs Vivian, M.P. for West Cornwall, to the Wu>ti>rn Morning iW ws. With two skilled aeronauts he ascended the other night from South-West London, the stait being delayed by unfavorable weather until 10 p.m. They found themseh es in a strong current, which in ten minutes had placed them over North London, the lights bolow presenting a fairy scene of indescribable beauty. Though over 1000 feet high, street cries were distinctly audible. Ascending rapidly to 8000 feet in an hour, they found themselves passing cat a tremendous rate over a flat country suitable for descending ; and they resolved to come down. O.is was let on I, and grap-pling-irons dropped, when there \wis a sharp check and violent jerks, audsuddenly they commenced soaring upwards at a frightful pace; the lope of the giap-pling-irons had broken. The danger of so helpless a position, especially at night, was instantly apparent, and shortly afterwards a renewed descent was made, hoping to run the balloon against the branches of trees. When this was done, one got out, and the two, relieved of his weight, were carried upwards with extreme velocity, to a height of three miles. Half stunned by the shock, and deaf irom the rarefaction of the air, some time elapsed before renewed descent was attempted, when, to their horror, they heard the roaring of the sea immediately below them. They were eventually rescued unhurt; but, Mr Vivian's experience convinces him that ballooning can never be of practical utility as a means of travelling. The new pure cash system now being initiated by G. and C. will certainly prove a benefit to the public. It has been a great success in Sydney and JVfelbourne, and when strictly carried out the customer who buys at an establishment where the goods are marked low to ensure a rapid sale must be a gr<\at gainer. G. and C. sell their drapeiy, millinery, and clothing at surh prices for cash as gives the buyer the advantages of a shareholder in a co-operative society, without the »isk of being called upon to bear a portion of the loss should the 3 ear's business prove unsatisfactory. Garlick and Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hitherto shown them, and are determined to give the pure cash system a fair trial; whether theygainor Jose thefirst year Country buyers on remitting cash withordej will be supplied with goods at co-operatve prices; just the same as though they made apersonal selection. Furnishing goods, such as carpets, floor cloths, bedsteads, bedding and general house furniture, the Jargest portion of which is turned out .it'our own factory, willbe marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a discount of five per cent, will be allowed to those who pay at the time of purchase. G. and C. having realised the entire v.ilue of their stock during their, late cash sale, the present stock w new and cheaply nought. —An inspection invitpd. —Garlick and Cranweli,, City Hall Furnishing Arcade Queen street, Auckland.