A RAILWAY TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9380, 1 June 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

A RAILWAY TRAGEDY.

LOVERS FOUND SHOT. A shocking tragedy, invested with considerable romance, was enacted on the Midland Railway, between Nottingham ami Trent Junction, on April 3. The mail train from Lincoln 60 the West of England stops at Nottingham at 9.40, and runs thence to Trent, where the tickets of Derby passengers are collected. A ticket-collector named Taylor, who opened the door of a first-class compartment to examine tickets, was startled to find a young gentleman in the corner of the carriage bleeding from a wound in the temple, and a young lady in the opposite corner with blood flowing from a wound in her head. Both were leaning upon the arm rests, and the man appeared to be dead, but the woman was observed to breathe. A telegram was despatched to Derby for ambulances and doctors to be in readiness to meet the train, and two porters were sent in the comjwrtment with the wounded couple. At Derby, which is about 15 minutes" run from Trent, it was

found thai th*> man was dead, but his

companion was yct> alive, She was removed with all possible speed to the in- . firniarv, but she died immediately after ad- ' mission to the institution. A six-chamber revolver, two chambers of which had been discharged, was found by the side of the man. Investigation revealed that the .nan's name was Robert I eron, a native of .Brussels, who had been in Derby a year in the employment of a firm of silk merchants. He is very respectably connected, and was sent by his {vi rents to England in c.rder to master the Knglish language, and obtain an insight, into the silk business. He was only IS years of age, and his companion, Nellie Burford, living in lodgings in Frince's-street, Pear Tree, Derby, was 20 years old. She was a pretty girl. Feron had lately been showing her considerable attention, and on the morning of the tragedy he fetched her from her lodgings in a cab. They went together to Nottingham, and were apparently upon the best of terms. When they entered the Lincoln train on the return journey the post office otScials travelling with the sorting van noticed them chatting and laughing together. Feron had undoubtedly contemplated suicide when he left Derby with the young lady, as in his pockets were found seven letters, five addressed to his parents and friends in Brussels and two to acquaintances in Derby. In one of the latter letters, which was delivered on the night of the tragedy, Feron suited that he intended taking his life, and added, " You will know'the reason later on." No reference whatever was made to the girl. Beneath Feron's body was a letter addressed in the girl's handwriting to a friend at Spennymoor, Durham. Therein she declared her Intention of dying with her lover. Acting on the clue provided in the girl's letter to Spennymoor, the police made inquiries, and found her father was nightwatchman at an iron factory there. The girl was originally a dressmaker there. j .She after became connected with a j theatrical company, and appeared in small j parts at a number of towns, including Spennymoor. Returning home after a | tour, she was ill for some time, and subse- j quently made her way to Derby. With j regard to the current report as to her j having endeavoured to obtain a situation i under the Midland Railway Company's hotel management, there is some foundation for this, but her application was not. i of a recent date, nor was it made from j Derby. It was in March, ISS7, that she j applied for an engagement as waitress or chambermaid, giving her age as '20, and ; stating that she was living in a northern j town at the house of her uncle, a publican j or hotelkeeper, who, it transpires, has since gone to America. The man Feron, during his year's sojourn j in Derby, had shown a great penchant for the society of actresses and music-hall artists. A correspondent says that some I few months ago he became so much j beyond the control of those who were j responsible for his conduct at Derby that one of the friends of the family ] requested Feron's father to corne over j from Brussels. He came, and after the | visit Feron became quieter, though his j fondness for theatrical society continued. j While in Derby he made the acquaintance j of a tradesman's daughter, who, after some I time, declined his companionship, whereupon he threatened that, unless she consented to a rendezvous, he would shoot her with a revolver, which he produced. This weapon he had regularly carried with him, and had frequently shown it to friends. Soon after Feron and Burford became acquainted a strong attachment sprang up between them, and Feron was a frequent visitor at the girl's lodgings in Prince'sstreet, Derby. She disclosed to him after a time the fact that she was engaged to be married, but confessed her preference for Feron. Jn the presence of other persons the young pair had often spoken of making a sensation by committing suicide and ending their lives together. On the Saturday, before leaving for Nottingham with her lover, she said they would do something sensational, and be found dead in the train. She only regretted that she would not be able to hear the newsboys shouting the news of the occurrence and witness the face.vi of the people who came to the door of the compartment. When, before the return journey commenced, Feron gaily remarked to an acquaintance 011 Nottingham platform that he was about to commit suicide, the words were not treated seriously. Being accompanied by the girl, it was thought he jestingly referred to his approaching marriage. INQUEST AND VERDICT. The inquest on the bodies was formally opened at the Derby Infirmary on the following Monday. The identification of the bodies at the inquest by the girl's mother and Feron's friend led to a painful scene, the mother exclaiming, " Oh, my beautiful Lily !" and then fain bin? away. Feron's friend kissed the dead man's face, and cried bitterly. The inquest was then adjourned to Wednesday. On the inquest being resumed, Mrs. Burford, the mother of Lily Burford, deposed that on the Thursday previous she received a letter from her daughter, stating that she had been very ill, but that as soon as she got better she intended to try to get a situation as a' milliner. The witness burnt this letter, which was the hist communication she had from her daughter. Her daughter could write several different ways. Two letters being handed to the witness by the coroner, she expressed strong opinions that one of them was in her daughter's handwriting. The coroner then read one of the letters, which he said was found in the same compartment as the dead bodies. It was written to a Miss .Millie Whitehead, and was to the effect that the writer was tired of life. She added that she could not always be with him she loved. She had come to the conclusion that it would be better to die with him, the concluding words being, "Good-bye, darling, and think of me sometimes, darling Millie." Being further pressed, the witness reiterated her conviction that the handwriting was not that of her daughter. She said, moreover, that she did not think her daughter would write such a letter ; she was too fond of living. The witness admitted, however, that the deceased was in the habit of writing to Miss Whitehead. The witness knew that her daughter was engaged to a gentleman at Kidsgrove, by whom she had a child, which was now with the witness.

Mrs. Clara Williams said Miss Burford lodged with her from March 29. During that time Feron, with whom site appeared to be on very affectionate terms, called on her five or six times. On the morning of the tragedy, in conversation with the witness, Miss Burford said, "It would be nicc to die with my lover." She was reading a novel about a gentleman poisoning his young lady with something in the coffee, and she said, " It would be nice to die in each other's arms." The witness told her to leave off talking such rubbish, but she ■•only laughed. Later the deceased said, "How funny it would be if they were to find us dead in the railway carriage, only we should miss the best of the fun ; we should like to hear what they said when they opened the carriage door." The witness treated the remark as a joke. On a previous occasion the deceased called the witness* attention to her open dress, and said, " How nice it would be for a bullet to go in here." On the morning of the tragedy Feron called at her house at five minutes to six, and asked for Miss Burford. He saw Miss Burford and talked to ■ her on the stairs for several minutes. She asked him what he had got in a bag he

i had in his hand, and he said, "Lilies." He pinned them to her breast. She then went- upstairs, and he told her the cab was waiting for her. He walked away to the cab, and she followed in about five minutes. Witness saw both of them get into a hansom cab. Miss Burford had told witness she was going to Nottingham. Witness said to deceased, "Ishould think you mean to elope." Witness thought so because she had been talking about going to Nottingham with Feron. Miss Burford said she wanted her best linen, and she dressed herself with extra care. She added, "If I died I should look nice." On the Saturday after the witness heard of the tragedy, she found a letter under the pillow of the bed which deceased had occupied. The letter was signed "George." It was a letter enclosing 10s to the deceased from a man at Kidsgrove. On the previous Tuesday or Wednesday night Miss Burford was sitting by the side of Feron on a couch, when he said, " I would die for you, Lily; would you die for me?' She replied, " Yes, I would," and touched him 011 the side of the face. On the previous Sunday night Miss Burford brought a revolver u}>stairs to show witness, saying that it belonged to Feron, who was then downstairs. She said she was not at all afraid. Witness and Burford came downstairs, and Feron then took the revolver in his hand, as he was sitting by her side, and held it close to Miss Burford's face. She never flinched in the least, and said Feron i knew how to use it, and she was not afraid. Witness asked him to put the revolver away, as it might go oft", and he then put it into a case. Feron appeared rather strange on the Saturday, and witness thought he was vexed, because he had asked witness to take a house in the country, and he would pay 15s per week for Miss Burford. Feron had complained about a {win at his heart. He seemed very fond of Miss Burford. Shown the letter to Miss Whitehead, witness said it was not. written by Miss Burford; but the address on the envelope looked like the writing of Feron, which she had seen.

Detective-Inspector Hole, in the employ of the Midland Railway Company, said that on the arrival of the train at Derby he found -Miss Burford alive, but quite unconscious. The man was dead. He found a six-chambered pistol under Feron's body, and seven letters on the seat.

These letters, being in French, were read by M. D'Aubray, Feron's friend, who was much affected. The first was to Fritz Paiti, Brussels, and was signed " Robert." The writer said ho had spent more than 400 francs with doctors, but did not get much better. He loved an actress who loved him, and he was in debt more than 1000 francs. He intended to commit suicide in a railway carriage, and believed she would kill herself with him, for she could not live without him. The second letter to his cousin, Leo Feron, Brussels, sjKike of the writer's intention to kill himself along with a pretty girl. The)' would go to Nottingham by train, and on the way back had decided that he would first shoot his mistress at the temple, and then kill himself. He concluded by saying there was nothing better than to love an honest girl and be loved by her. The third letter was to his mother : and he said life had become fearful to him, and at the new year a young man had too much liberty in England. After alluding to Burford and the pending tragedy in similar terms to the other letters, he said he would like his body taken to Brussels; he sent kisses to his brothers, sisters, and father. The next letter was to his father, in which he said he could not tell him the reason of his suicide, but it was a very terrible one. After shaking of his local debts, he begged forgiveness, and sent kisses. The next, letter was in the girl's handwriting, and was that alluded to in Mrs. Burford's evidence. A further letter was addressed to Mr. Holme, with whom Feron was engaged. He sent remembrances to Mrs. Holme and the two Misses Holme, and hoped he would forgive him for all the trouble. Another letter was to M. D'Aubray, his friend, thanking him for past kindness, and asking him to pay his debts, for which his father would send a cheque. Mr. J. A. Southern, house surgeon at Derby Infirmary, said the deceased girl died a few minutes after admission. She had been shot in the head, and he was of opinion that the injuries were not selfinflicted. Feron had a bullet wound on each templethe missle had entered the right side and come out of the left. He was of opinion that the wound in this case was self-inflicted.

M. D'Aubray having given evidence jus to the deceived young man having been strange in his manner for about a fortnight before his death,

The jury returned a verdict of Wilful murder" against Feron in the case of the girl, and also of " Suicide during temporary insanity."