THE SEVERED HAND
WHY did an apparently simple case of conspiracy result in Christchurch citizens flocking to the Magistrate's Court in their hundreds on 29th December. 1885, to “closely pack every available seat and inch of standing room?” WHY were several bodies exhumed in the Wairarapa. several more in Wellington and others from the graveyard of the Sunnyside Mental Hospital in early 1886? WHO was Arthur Robert Rannage Howard? Was he married to “Mrs Howard?” Why did he not want it known he had a toe missing from his left foot? Who was the mysterious man seen at Taylor’s Mistake on 16th December. 1885, wearing blue goggles and a wig?
WHAT of the Severed Hand? Ten doctors agreed that it had been severed, not by the teeth of a shark but by a saw, and was probably that of a woman.
->re some of the ingredients of a true-life ru.. ..ry which rocked the young colony and still remains partly unsolved. The Capper Press, Christchurch. will shortly be republishing a reprint of this case from one of only twc known copies of a book rushed into print as the Magistrate’s Court conclude*, its hearing. —Advt.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33819, 16 April 1975, Page 27
Word Count
195THE SEVERED HAND Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33819, 16 April 1975, Page 27
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Acknowledgements
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