MURDERED IN A TRAIN

Evening Star, Issue 17311, 26 March 1920, Page 8

MURDERED IN A TRAIN

HEROIC WAR NURSE'S SAJ> FATE. In circumstances strikingly reminiscent of {he murder of Miss Mary Sophia Money in the Herstham Tunnel 15 y.jars aco, a lady, Miss Florence Nightingale Shored, 55, has died from brutal injuries inflicted by a man unknown during a train journey from Victoria to St. Let nards, on the Loudon, Brighton, and South Coast line. Miss Shore lingered for sornr. days in hospital, and passed nway without "regaining consciousness. Throughout the whole of that time a lady friend, who saw her oft' on her last journey, sat by her bedside, and never left. She was a wcll-coune'cted woman, a god-child of the immortal Florence Nightingalo, sister of a brigadier-general, and niece of a baroness. She wa* a war nurso with a glorious record^—an " old campaigner." in fact, for she served in South At'w'ca and for five years in -Franco. The most extraordinary feature of the dastardly crime is the fact I hat, from Polegato to Bexhill, three working men travelled In the same coach as Miss Shore, oblivious of her unconscious condition or the terrible injuries to hex head. . Wth cunning aiv.l method the murderer had covered up, his tracks, and propped the dying lady in a natural sitting posture in a corr.er'of the carriage MASKING THE CRIME. Disfigured, unconscious, and sonked in blocd from a gaping wound in the head, the desperate plight of Miss Shore \vns first discovered at Bexhill, though every circumstance indicates that she was attacked between Victoria, and Lewes. She hail a severe lacernt-ea wound on the left eicle nf the skull, the result, it is thought, of three blows altogeth/T, the last one of particular violence. Her clothing was torn, and one hand slightly scratched, details which suggested that she offered some resistance to attempt »d outrage. Demobilised in November from the Queen Alexandra Nursing Homo Reserves, the unfortunate lady hud beon staying recently with friends at Carnforth Lodge, Hammersmith. Miss Shore left Victoria by the 3.20 train intending to visit another friend at St. Leonards. She was accompanied to the Loudon, Brighton, and South Coast Station by Miss Rogers, the matron of Oarnforth Lodge, and "was se<sn by her to take a ecat in a third class non-smoking compartment at the rear of thf train. Her luggage consisted of two dressing cases, one of which was placed on lhf> seat by her side, and the other underneath the seat facing the engine. In the interval, before the train started, Miss Rogers took a seat temporarily in the carriage. A young man also entered and seated himself on the opposite side of the compartment. He was de.scnoed bv Miss Rogers as 28 or 30 years of age, slight build, sft 7iu in height and wearing a grey mixture or brown suit. and tnlby hat. When Miss Rogers alightei l from tho train to the platform before tin start this young man offered to open tlip dour. The train ran without a stop tc Lewes, which was reached at 4.37; the next halt was Polegate, at 5 p.m. Three local railwaymen entered the carriage at Polegat Station. It was then unoccupied, except by Miss Shore, who was in the corner in a sitting posture, and the railwaymen did not notice anything suspicious in her appearance. She was quite still, the collar of het coat was turned up to the cars, and her eyes were said to be blinking. A smal leather bag was by Miss Shore's side and on her lap, it is said, a book lay open. as though she had fallen asleep reading It was not until the train reached Bexhill that a stranger, entering the carriage, noticed something was wrong. There were no signs of. a struggle' at first glance, and the position of the lady suggested that sho had been deliberately pl-aced after the attack with the object of avoiding suspicion. It is staled that Miss Shore wore a veil, and this concealed the wound and the blood Her glasses lay broken on the floor of the carriage, and there was a large cut in her fur hat. The indications are that the wounds were inflicted with a blunt tinstniment, possibly a walking slick. Prcsum ably the injuries were inflicted somewhere between London and Lewes, and it. is affirmed that during the 'ouniey Miss Shore and the young man were the only occupants of the compartment. If this is so, Miss Shore sat unconscious for an hour before the crime was revealed. The railway ticket and the money the lady had in her possession are understood to be missing, together with a diamond ring, gold neck chain, oval ametlryst pendant, diamond and turquoise ring, and a gold expanding wristlet watch, which cannot be traced in her Ham mersmith apartments, and which are believed to have been taken by her on the journey. Miss Rogers, who went at once to the bedside of her friend at Hastings, sat thern without rect to the end. She stated in an interview: "After we had been s?«ted iu the carriage for a little- time a man got in Just, before the train started I said I hail better open the door and get out. The man offered to open the door, but I did not accept his offer, and the train started. Miss Shore was wearing a new fur coat, and looked nicely dressed, and I expect that tht assailant—whether it was the man ia thi» same compartment I cannot say—thoughthat 6he was well off. Miss Shore told me that she had only three £1 notes with her These were taken by the assailant, and also a gold necklace, from which were hanging on small .gold chains two amethyst pen" dants. I saw her wearing these when I left her at Victoria." Miss Rogers refused to leave the room where her dying friend by and insisted upon nursing Miss Shore by night, and sitting at her lido throughout the day. PRESENTMENT OF EVIL.

Self-6acrifice was the keynote of Miss Shore's life .is befitted a descendant of the "Lady of the Lamp." Her aunt, Baroness Farroa, who lives iu a pretty little villa in Hadlow ro.ul, Tonbridge. was visited by Miss Shore only a few days before the dastardly outrage. Bliss Shore's parents, members of a woK-known Derbyshire county family, are both dead, but she has one brother, Brigadier-general Shore, C.8., C.1.E., D.5.0., an officer well known in India and Russia, who is now living with his wife in California. He entered the Army in 1882, was transferred to India in 1884, and rose rapidly. He served with distinction on the North-west Frontier and in the South African "War, and now resides in California, because of a severe breakdown. "Directly I heard '.he terrible news." stated the Baroness in an interview, " I went Straight down to the hospitnl at Hastings to be near my niece, i The doctors told me there was not mach hope of her recovery. Miss Rogers, with whom she had been staving at Hammersmith, and who had been'a close friend of hers for 26 years, was already there, and had scarcely left the bsdside. On the prevous night she was sitfinj in a stall at Covent Garden Theatre watching 'Hamlet,' when one of the staff of the nursing home came in between the acta and informed her of what had happened. Miss Rogers immediately inquired of an attendant the nest train to Hastings, and found it was only possible to get as far as Tunbridge Wells that night. This she did. and travelled 1 the remainder of the journey by motor car, arriving at the hospital at 2 a.m. My niece was in several of the big bombing raids in France, and behaved splendidly. On one occasion, when ordered by the commandant to take shelter, she asked to be allowed to remain in the ward with her patients, who were unable to move. Miss Shore had visited me on threo or four occasions, and the last time, strange to say, I cautioned her about travelling- alone. 'Seledt a carriage with a nice woman in it,' I said. 'Do not go in an empty compartment, or where there is only one man.' How I wish she Imd taken my advice! The lady whom she was visiting at Hastings also had a remarkable presentiment regarding Miss Shore's 6afety. ' I feel that something terrible is happening,' she said. At Hastings Station she saw an ambulance carry her unconscious" friend to hospital."