Two GENTI.EMEN FROZEN TO DEATH.- Two gentlemen on a pedestrian excursion in Scotland were found frozen to death on the road leading from Fort William to Kinlochbeg. Mr. Milner, of the 69th regiment, made the following statement to the sheriff. substitute :-
“About eight o'clock this morning (the 2nd of September) one of the servants told me that a drover said he had seen a dead man by the road side about two miles from Kinlochbeg. I immediately walked to the spot, and found two men lying close to one another, about three yards from the road on the low side, quite dead. There was not the slightest sign of struggling or of violence, and their appearance gave me the impression that, having sat down to rest, they became benumbed with the cold and expired. Both were dressed as if travellers, each with a small knap sack on his back. There was a small whisky pocket-flask, quite empty, lying near them. A water proof cape was lying about 400 yards from them, as if the wind had blown it from them. Last night was very stormy, very much so - wind and rain in great abundance, probably the most stormy night we have had this year.”
It appears that the two gentlemen, Mr. William Stericker, of 49, Fenchurch Street, and Mr. W. H. Whitburn, of Esher, Surrey, were strangers to each other, and had journeyed together accidentally. Each had left his home for the purpose of enjoying a pleasure excursion through the romantic scenery of Scotland, and they had been seen on the preceding night laughing with a milk girl, at no great distance from the spot at which their corpses were found. Mr. Stericker had written home on the 31st of August, to inform his friends that he felt perfect happiness in the enjoyment of the most romantic country in the world.
Thursday, 26 September 2019
Dreadful Incident
DREADFUL INCIDENT.-A very painful circumstance is said to have occurred at Glasgow. On Saturday afternoon three boys - two sons of Mr. James Wilson, a builder, in Gallowgate Street, and a nephew - were missed. The family being at Helensburgh, the boys were supposed to have gone off to see them; but, not being found there, search was made without effect. On Tuesday morning a carter, who takes charge of a horse belonging to Mr. Wilson, went to the stable, attached to the wood-yard, to get some food for his horse. The provender was kept in a corn chest - a box six feet long and about three deep, with three separate compartments, and secured on the outside with an iron hasp, which fits into a staple in the side of the chest. On opening the lid, the man was horror-stricken at finding the three young boys lying motionless at the bottom of the chest, each occupying one of the compartments. He immediately summoned assistance, and they were taken out; but it was found two of them were quite dead, and had been so apparently for a considerable length of time. The youngest, a boy between seven and eight years old, son of Mr. J. Wilson, showed some signs of life, and gradually revived, so as to be able, during the day, to state in a coherent manner what had led to the melancholy catastrophe. The brothers and cousin had gone into the chest in search of beans, and while so engaged the lid closed on them. In falling, the hasp fixed into the staple, and all the united strength of the poor captives was insufficient to enable them to burst the bands. On the side at which the youngest boy was found, the lid did not fit so close as the other parts; and from the limited supply of air which had been admitted through this crevice is to be attributed his preservation.
They had endeavoured to support each other's courage as well as they could in their dismal dungeon; and, before giving up hope, one of them broke the blade of a pen knife in the attempt to make an incision through the side of the chest. After they had exhausted themselves by unavailing shouts and cries, which were not heard on earth, they all joined in prayer. This is the last circumstance which the surviving sufferer recollects, as he soon after became insensible. The wood-yard in which the stable is situate is locked up early on the Saturday afternoon, and is not again entered till Monday morning.
They had endeavoured to support each other's courage as well as they could in their dismal dungeon; and, before giving up hope, one of them broke the blade of a pen knife in the attempt to make an incision through the side of the chest. After they had exhausted themselves by unavailing shouts and cries, which were not heard on earth, they all joined in prayer. This is the last circumstance which the surviving sufferer recollects, as he soon after became insensible. The wood-yard in which the stable is situate is locked up early on the Saturday afternoon, and is not again entered till Monday morning.
Thursday, 23 August 2018
Killed by a cobweb
Lisburn Herald
& Antrim & Down Advertiser Saturday 23 April 1892
KILLED BY A COBWEB. Some peculiar evidence was given during
an inquest held this week before the Liverpool Coroner touching the death of
Martha Robarts. Six or seven weeks ago deceased cut her hand, and, to stop the
bleeding, she adopted the housewife’s plan of using a cobweb. Blood poisoning
set in-presumably because there was dirt on the cobweb-and the woman died. The
doctor stated that death was due to blood poisoning arising from the wound on
the hand, and the jury returned a verdict in accordance with this evidence.
Shocking accident
Northampton
Mercury Friday 29 July 1904
LILLINGSTONE DAYRELL. SHOCKING ACCIDENT. On Friday a
shocking accident happened to Henry Harris, groom, in the employ Mr. A. J.
Robarts, Tile House, Buckingham. The man lives at the lodge, and he was given a
"lift" in Mr. Reynolds's grocery wagon. Whilst the man in charge of
the wagon had gone into a house Harris attempted to knock the flies off the
horses. The horses started off, and he fell between the spring and the wheel,
and one of his legs was so caught that it acted as a brake on the wheel, with
the result that before the horses could be stopped the wheel had ground off the
whole the fleshy part of the calf the leg, and he presented a shocking
appearance.
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
A family poisoned
A frightful consequence of the practice of allowing poison to lie about in private dwellings occurred at Kensall Green.
Thomas Hickman, thirty-four years of age, occupied a small cottage in Penton Villas, with his wife and six children. On Sunday morning, Caroline Bonamy, Mrs. Hickman's sister, arrived to spend the day; having occasion for a piece of paper to light a fire, she took up a bag which she supposed to contain flour, and which had long stood untouched in a cupboard, and, having turned the contents into the flour tub, burnt the bag - the contents were, in fact, arsenic, and with the fatal mixture thus formed a pudding was made for dinner.
The whole nine persons ate heartily of it. Soon afterwards they were seized with sickness, accompanied by a burning sensation in the throat and stomach. Mr. Abercrombie, a surgeon, was called in, and was soon convinced by the symptoms that the family had swallowed arsenic.
Mrs. Hickman's sister said it must have been the powder she found in the bag; on which Hickman exclaimed that must have been the white arsenic which he had had in the house so many years. The poison, it appeared, had been originally kept in a bottle; but the bottle having been broken, the powder was placed in a flour-bag, and put in the cupboard!
Notwithstanding the efforts of several medical men, the poison soon exhibited its mortal effects. At six o'clock, a boy of nine years old died; then a child three years old; and by eleven three more children had perished. The father lingered till noon the following day, and then became the sixth victim. The others recovered.
Thomas Hickman, thirty-four years of age, occupied a small cottage in Penton Villas, with his wife and six children. On Sunday morning, Caroline Bonamy, Mrs. Hickman's sister, arrived to spend the day; having occasion for a piece of paper to light a fire, she took up a bag which she supposed to contain flour, and which had long stood untouched in a cupboard, and, having turned the contents into the flour tub, burnt the bag - the contents were, in fact, arsenic, and with the fatal mixture thus formed a pudding was made for dinner.
The whole nine persons ate heartily of it. Soon afterwards they were seized with sickness, accompanied by a burning sensation in the throat and stomach. Mr. Abercrombie, a surgeon, was called in, and was soon convinced by the symptoms that the family had swallowed arsenic.
Mrs. Hickman's sister said it must have been the powder she found in the bag; on which Hickman exclaimed that must have been the white arsenic which he had had in the house so many years. The poison, it appeared, had been originally kept in a bottle; but the bottle having been broken, the powder was placed in a flour-bag, and put in the cupboard!
Notwithstanding the efforts of several medical men, the poison soon exhibited its mortal effects. At six o'clock, a boy of nine years old died; then a child three years old; and by eleven three more children had perished. The father lingered till noon the following day, and then became the sixth victim. The others recovered.
Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Fatal explosion near Dover
A great loss of life occurred on the line of the South-Eastern Railway, near Dover, by the headstrong wilfulness of the sufferers.
About two miles from Dover, where the railway is cut through the cliffs, a small cave, five feet in height by six in length, had been excavated in the chalk to be used as a magazine for the gunpowder used in blasting: it was secured by a door, which was locked. A gang of labourers employed in repairing the line endeavoured, on Saturday, to force open the door, that they might obtain shelter from the rain: they were then warned that powder was stored in the place, and the danger and impropriety of their conduct were pointed out.
Between 12 and 1 o'clock this day, however, for the sake of shelter from a shower, thirteen men, having broken open the door, got into the cave.
Directly afterwards, two barrels of powder exploded, and the men were blown from the excavation as from a mortar. Eleven were killed on the spot, one died in a few hours, the survivor in a few days.
It is reported that one of the men, after lighting his pipe, had thrown down the match, which falling upon some loose powder, ignited it, and the contents of the barrels instantly exploded. The bodies of the unfortunate men were projected from the cave with great violence, and thrown over the railway works, some falling on to the beach, and some into the sea, a distance of 150 yards.
The cave itself was little damaged, and no interruption occurred in the traffic on the railway.
About two miles from Dover, where the railway is cut through the cliffs, a small cave, five feet in height by six in length, had been excavated in the chalk to be used as a magazine for the gunpowder used in blasting: it was secured by a door, which was locked. A gang of labourers employed in repairing the line endeavoured, on Saturday, to force open the door, that they might obtain shelter from the rain: they were then warned that powder was stored in the place, and the danger and impropriety of their conduct were pointed out.
Between 12 and 1 o'clock this day, however, for the sake of shelter from a shower, thirteen men, having broken open the door, got into the cave.
Directly afterwards, two barrels of powder exploded, and the men were blown from the excavation as from a mortar. Eleven were killed on the spot, one died in a few hours, the survivor in a few days.
It is reported that one of the men, after lighting his pipe, had thrown down the match, which falling upon some loose powder, ignited it, and the contents of the barrels instantly exploded. The bodies of the unfortunate men were projected from the cave with great violence, and thrown over the railway works, some falling on to the beach, and some into the sea, a distance of 150 yards.
The cave itself was little damaged, and no interruption occurred in the traffic on the railway.
Fate of a pseudo King
Monsieur Thiery, who attempted to establish himself as an independent sovereign in New Zealand, having disappointed or given umbrage to his barbarous subjects, was recently killed, cooked, and eaten by them at a solemn public banquet.
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