A SAD FATE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6452, 25 February 1908, Page 3

A SAD FATE.

A TRAGEDY OF LONELINESS,

(From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, January 10.

On October 10th of last year, whilst beaters attached to a party shooting over the Wroxhall Wood covers, near Goiing-on-the-Thames, were turning ux> the game one of the men saw a bundle lying beneah a tree. Ho walked nearer, and then found it was the body of a woman, in a very advanced stage of decomposition. The police were called, and the body was removed. Then the lnuuest was held and a verdict of found dead was returned, it being stated the woman must have lain where she was for probably a year. She was apparently about forty years of age. and about sft 3in in height. A complete description of the body and the articles found upon it was circulated, and this brought forth a suggestion from a solicitor at Bath tfiat tne dead woman was an Australian client of his. The police, however, after lengthy inquiries discoveted that this particular lady was alive and well.

The identity of the unfortunate lady is now said to have been established beyond dispute through the efforts of Mr Walton Jarvis, a Westminster solicitor. In the spring of last_year Mr Jarvis was ; consulted by a Mrs i< , a lady of fair complexion and rather delicate features, who said eh© belonged to Sydney. She had been married only a few years, but the match proved an unhappy one, and husband and wife parted, the former remaining in the colonies, while Mrs R , who was in poor health, came to London whom she had friends. Mr Jarvis's assistance was sought in reference to the question of an allowance. wMch his ci’ent wis icceiving, and as she was constantly changing her apartments, she, arranged that letters for her should bo received ait his office. Several letters arrived there, and she was a regular caller, particularly as owing to the stoppage of the allowance her means became so straitened as to cause her great concern. Airs R called on Mr Jarvis on or about May 1, on her usual errand. No letter had arrived, and she seemed much distres«sed. In the course of conversation she mentioned that she had suffered from neuralgia, and she had to resort to morphia to obtain relief. All's R did not call again, and when some weeks later Air Jarvis sent a letter to the house where she had lodged, it was returned with the information that she had paid her bill and gone away on May Sth the landlady being under the impression that Mrs it was seeking other garters. Instead, it would seem that she travelled to Goring, and after walking into the woods lay down under the trees and injected a fatal dose of the narcotic.

After her disappearance‘the facts were I communicated to Scotland Yard, who j were asked to search for her. A des- . cription was circulated, but no tidings J could be gleaned, and it was thought, pro- • bablo that the missing woman had returned to Australia. Nor when the di«- ; covery at Goring was first reported did I theie seem any connection between the I dead woman and Mr Jarvis' client, for ( the medical evidence suggested that the . body in the wood had lain there a much | huger period than Mrs R had been I missing. | Mr Jarvis had seen accounts of the | affair in the papers, and looking at the | photograph of the clasp on the waistband he began to suspect that the lady in the wood might be Mis R——. He visited Henloy-on-Tliaraes and was shown the articles found, but he could not per- : sonally carry the matter any further. He knew very little about his client, and a difficult task lay before him. Nevertheless he set inquiries on foot, with the result that a relative was found wlv- ognised the comb found ihe body as one which he had given to Mrs R . Moreover, a lady friend of Mrs R remembered tho buckle, while a third friend was able tc sneak to the clothing. A few' days ago Mr Jarvis was able to place these facts before the public, and lie has now received a letter thanking him for his efforts, and stating that the police are now satisfied with the identification.