THE WHITELEY MURDER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 53, 2 March 1907, Page 5

THE WHITELEY MURDER.

j LONDON'S MOST RECENT SENSATION. (From Our Special CorresponJent.) LONDON, January 26. "William Whiteley has been murdered! " The news spread round Lou-, don like wildfire on Thursday afternoon. Few people knew Mr. Whiteley personally, but everyone in London* everyone in the Empire one might almost say, had heard of "Whiteley, the Universal Provider." To parallel the sensation caused by the news of his violent death one must go back to the suicide of Wkitaker Wright or the murder of William Terriss, the Adelphi actor. The circumstances of the tragedy were most dramaJust before one o'clock a welldressed man was shown into the private office, and was closeted with Mr. Whiteley for about twenty minutes. The doors being closed/the purport of the conversation remains unknown. The interview was abruptly broken off, and the head of the firm came out into the passage, telling an assistant to send for a policeman. Immediately behind came his visitor, who was overheard to say, " Well, you won't, then?" and the curt reply "No!" waa given. " Very well, then you are a dead man!" With these words the young man drew a revolver, and rapidly fired two shots at point blank range. Mr. Whiteley fell dead instantly, shot through the head. His assailant then turned the weapon upon himself, and sending a bullet through his left temple, fell prostrate over the corpse of his He is not, however, dead, and in moments of consciousness declared that he was "'' Cecil Whiteley," and that the man he had ehot was his father. ■ A strange mystery surrounds the identity of the man who now lies in a precarious condition at St. Mary's Hospital. Was he an illegitimate son of Mr. Whiteley's. The hitter's solicitors denounce the theory as utterly untrue. The deceased's two sons, William and Frank, state that they know nothing of the" murderer, and thus far nothing has been discovered to give any colour to the theory that the murderer was in any way related to his victim. The only foundation (or the allegation that the murderer was Mr. Whiteley's illegitimate son appears indeed to have been his own boastful remarks to certain people at the hotel near Holborn where he had stayed prior to the murder. He bragged of the large sums he had run through, professed that the name of Rayner by which he was generally known was not his own, and suggested that he was the son of one of the richest trademen in London— a man worth a couple of millions. "If I told you his name," said he to one lady, "it would surprise you." He, however, never claimer 1 the name or Whiteley till the fatal day, so far as can be ascertained at present, and what evidence the police have been able to gather up to now, seems to prove conclusively that his real name is Horace George Rayner, that he was born at Teddington, twenty-nine years ago, of well-to-do parents, that he is a married man with a wife and three children who are living in Worcestershire. Of his career little is known save that at the age of 20 he went to Rusia and remained there, with a few breaks till quite recently. Ho appears to have been in London about a month, and under the names of Payne and Rayner has been advertising extensively for grocers' assistants, typists, clerks and ladies to colour photographs. HU- correpondence, now in the hand of the police, show that hundreds of applicants replied to his advertisements from all parts of the country ,tho writers being chiefly young women. Ihiring the three weeks that he stayed at the "hotel Rayner lived very frugally, his bill seldom exceeding half-a-crown a day. It was clear to everybody that he waa nearing the end of his resources, for he had to pawn his watch and other articles to pay his hotel expenses, and when searched after the murder, was found to possess only a single shilling. In his attempt at suicide the bullet went through the left temple and came out of the left eye, without injuring the brain. His victim perished instantaneously.

A " remnant feile" was proceeding at Whiteley's that day, and the place was swarming with people. The shooting caused something like a panic amongst the customers in the vicinity, but by degrees the great building was emptied of its crowd of customers, and the doors closed on the public. £1,000,000 BY SHOP-KEEPING. William Whiteley, the Universal provider," had built up out of nothing the largest retail business in the world Lifes irony was never shown in a clearer light than in the terrible death of this man who had devoted such superhuman efforts throughout his life to creating a gigantic business enterprise, and who had met with such magnificent success from the commercial point of view. It is said that Mr William White-" ley came to London about 55 years with £10 in his pocket. When the limited company was formed some years ago the net profits of his many conearns were reckoned at £100,000, upon a gross turnover of more tlian £ 1,000,000. As illustrating the value of ready money he told an interviewer that if he made no profits at all on tlw <rods he would still realise £20,000 a year in discount on ready cash. Here arc some figures showing the magnitude of this mammoth business, that grow out of a small shop at "No. 63." The establishment in Westbourne-grove and-Queens-road covers about 14 acres. Farms and factories thrown in, the land area reaches 250 acres. The. employees have risen from two ladies "and a boy to 6000 hands. The distribution department, with depots at Wimbledon Lewisham, Croydon, Wanstead, Hampton, and elsewhere, employ 350 horses and 150 vehicles. These figures point to a faculty for organisation, which perhaps beyond all other business qualities distinguished the founder of this vast concern. Many are the stories told' of "the Universal Provider," and his methods. Sometimes the resources of the huge establishment were curiously tested— often by way of bets. Whitely used to tell this story, for example:-^ "One morning an eminent pillar of the church called upon mc and said, 'Mr Whiteley, I want an elephant.' 'Certainly, sir; when would you like it?' 'Oh, to-day!' 'And where? , 'I should like it placed in my stable.' 'It shall be done.' In four hours an elephant was placed in the reverend gentleman's coach-house. Of course, this was a tryon, designed to test our resources, ajid it originated in a bet. The vicar confessed himself greatly disconcerted, because, as he frankly avowed, he didn't think we could execute the order. He displayed the utmost, anxiety lest I .should bold Mm to the transaction, but

I let him down with a small charge for I pilotage and food only, at which he confessed himself deeply gratefuL" On another occasioa Mr Whiteley received an order for a second-hand coffin. A gentleman, sick unto death, had the fancy to have his coffin made, but, thanks to the attentions of his nurse, he recovered. Having no further use at the time for the coffin, he offered it to the nurse, and she, hearing that Mr Whiteley had opened an undertaking branch, went round x> Westbournegrove and sold it to him. Thus when the order came he was able to supply not only a second-hand but a third-hand coffin, and the order was held to have been duly executed. Another good story relates to the supply of a wife. A visitor remarked humorously one day, "You appear able to provide mc with everything with one exception." "And what is that?" asked Mr Whiteley. "A wife," replied the visitor, naively. "Oh, I have bridee on the premises also; pray come with mc." The two gentlemen reached a department where the great shopkeeper signalled a fair assistant, presented her to the gentleman, and stated that he was in search of a wife. The visitor was struck with the girl's appearance, and he eventually married her. According to Mr Whiteley it was a happy union, though other versions of the story do not bear out his statement. His nickname of the "Universal Provider" brought Mr Whiteley many more or less impossible commissions from practical jokers. One of the tribe ordered a pint of live fleas. Assistants instantly dispatched to the Z.OO and elsewhere. The order was fulfilled within 36 hours. A curious little incident occurred on the first day that Mr Whiteley Bet up in business for himself in 1863. That morning he was a little late in taking down his shutters. A lady came in and asked for a certain article. Whiteley handed it to her, apologising for and explaining the reasons of his tardiness. "Am I your first customer?" asked the lady. "Yes/ was the reply. "Then I will offer up a short prayer for your success," said the lady. The quaint incident was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Whiteley was wont to ascribe his illwill that he had provoked to the jealousy of rivals. Each new line of business that he absorbed naturally awoke fresh rivalries. Once he was burned in effigy. Five times fire broke out on his premises, the most disastrous being in August, 1887, when damage was wrought to the extent of £200,000, only to a small extent covered by insurance. These fire 3he distinctly attributed to malice. They never checked his activities or damped his hopes. lake so many successful business men, Whiteley had a list of maxims cut and dried for the benefit of admiring young men who aspired to follow in his steps. Here are a few:— "Whatever your pursuit in life, it is 'dogged as does it.'" "Never break faith with a customer." "Make your business your hobby." "Add your conscience to your capital." "Fair trading means successful trading." "Sell only what does you credit." "One thing is .very sure, a penetrative knowledge of men, a genius for surrounding yourself with the right men, is a supreme factor in winning success, no matter in what trade or in what profession.