"THE SKIPPER'S WOOING"

NZ Truth, Issue 352, 23 March 1912, Page 6

"THE SKIPPER'S WOOING"

«_ BOOSY BRIVISH MOTHER'S PAINFUL CONFESSION. An Atrocious Murder. Dead Woman's Throat Torn Open by Human Teeth. (Frons a 7ruth'^" London Rep.)' An American woman has been, telling the London, press that Englishmen i are "very chivalrous." i A begging bishop has been asking the English people for coin for his T "missionary diocese," on the jjpround. that "it is a shame that a natitm like the English, the most Irighly civilised, and Christianised nation on thevJiice of tlie globe, should allow the heat'ien-! to remain m his pagan darkness, m superstition and iimnoradity." Well, here arc two instances of the superior chivat.y and Chrjstianity of the very supe_.ior British race as it. exists to-day. They both have- to do v/ith the barbarous, horrible treatment of women by "chivalrous" British raa^. ' They reach a depth of debauchery anc". savage horror tlutt .'.he heathen, m .his "pagan darlcuess," never imagined, and if, after reading them, you do not come to the same conclusion (whica is rather too vigorous to print) as I do about thie begging bishop, you are not the 'Troth" reader I take ye« to be. In the one case, Samuel Leaning; 42, master of the .<_ team trawler Plymouth, was accused of EXTRAORDINARY BRUTALITT towards a young girl, named Caroline Annie (Kitt.y') Pattison, 17, with whom he lived between bis sea. voyages m a house m "Vicitor-sta-eet, Grimsby. Grimsby is on tae coast. On ■ the morning of January 2, a Grimsby laborer,, "named M«_rshall, on his way to work, heard groans comin? from Victor-street. Going to ascertain the cause,', he came u;_>on the unconscious ■find' almost' use-lot" aed form of the girl Pattison. Her l'.a/jo was covered with blood and bruises, and her body and l.nibs .were o_?.c nsass b- injuries. She was lying on t.it.. ground, hor body stretching acrsss a- s_tik, and -water was DRIPPING FvtOM A TAP v.pon her. _.|ars_ial_' at o.ace went to the ix.lice, audi the g?rl, enveloped m . a : ,••■ .-cat coat, was yjlaced m a cab and hurried to tho hospital. There.it was j icund "that she was m a very grays, state, and after treatment she was removed to the. T liirmary. The girl, it. v.rs ascertained, had livu<l with Lean--! ing. Ifc had gene to sea when the dis-.' '.overy was made, Jmt detectives watched the. .3. irt for t£_e returr^of his vessel, and "he* was then, arrested. The girl P.'.ttison was sufficiently r* l- -«:■.-.. vercd' to pive evidence at the preliminary tri-l. She is a dark-eyed, dark-haired- precociou s brat, of a girl , <.t d''fypc. that Old Bagland breeds m thousands — the mo/al'.y and physical^' uegenertito offspring of degenerate, slum-bred parents. .Australasia knows nothing of this tyf>«;, and it is to be hoped she rover v il!!. This undersized, pulo-facert child f^enied to think there was nothing extraordinary m her con--; fc-ssion of having; "kept company" with h man old enoug/h to be her father, for three years, an tl then "going to live with him" as his ritistress. It wo.s clearly defined -between the pair Of them that she was to be nothing more than / A S/JILOR'S TR'tfLL --to be m a house Leaning had taken, lor Ivf aning'is convenience while he was m port- Then, wfcen Leaning was nt sea, she W5iS to go home. Leaning, Though on immorality bent, had a frugal mind with it. And the girl's mother — thf. resricctaMe British matron — acquiesced irt this disgusting arrangement. Na;/, moro than that, the old lady went/jo tho honse of sin on New Year's D.'iy, and took -an Active part m a "sing .--song and dance" given by Leaning a/id hor daaigteter, and waved her wicked old leg with the best of them /m the "mazy dance." At "Otis "s.ng-sor_g" a gallon of beer went the way of- z>d 1 beer, and after the "dance" was over and t2ie guests had v c!eparted, Lraning locked the door, and ferociously attacked his ittnhappy child paramour.. , The medical evidence as to the girl's Injuries suggiasted unheard of horrors. When the gh-3. was admitted to the infirmary, she . was unconscious, both eyes were d fscolored ancl so swollen as to be total ly closed up. Irter lips were cnt and swollen, and there was a contused f pound caused by a kiclc/b«Wndf.rMlio-ear. L The;body,J

l-^-jmiLri»,M_V-fIT-M-HiMT^/ J B/!.Pi"" I^^'"' J %-l^ was bruised and burnt; suggesting that the girl. had been PUT UPON THE FIRE or held to the fire, for some time, while there were bruises ' and abrasions about the body which indicated that she had been kicked and battered t about the floor. Altogether her condition was so critical that for three days she was unconscious, and , near to death. I'hen for several d^.ys she more or less insensible. The exposure which she had. suffered was sufficient to cause lung trouble, while the causing of internal .inflammation was a serious complication. And other evidence was given to the effect that r.ho girl was practically naked when found, her clothes having been torn to shreds. All the furni ture fin the house where ..he" couple lived when Leaning was m port was. smashed, the walls were spattered with blood, and ' pools of j blood were soaking into . the floor. ! Further evidence pointed to the fact. i that the girl's immorality with other ' men had been the cause' of the attack. On thie day before she had been seen staggering through the town 1 drunk with two men. Later, she was seen with Leaning, who was heard 'to remark, ."My lass, I'll give you something when I get you home." And Leaning told the police that the girl had told him she had " BEEN "UNFAITHFUL" TO HIM. "I hit her under the jaw and kicked her, then carried her into the yard, locked up the house, and went to sea," .was his crude, unemotional account- of what had taken place. • He has been committed for -trial. • There is material for a whole barrelful of sermons fpr begging bishops ; .-—or curates— in this episode of life m an English seaport town. Perhaps the particular begging bishop I refer to . might like. to give a lecture on "Christian England, or Home Life m Grimsby," illustrated by limelight views, to his highly Christianised countrymen. It might help the cauSe of the por3 heathen. The other case is one m which an "unfortunate" named Annie Jennings, was murdered m her little cottage down Leicester way. A rubber handan' ex- soldier — named Archie Johnson is on trial for this murder. On' the ■ day of her death the woman had been j "drinking, and had taken men home to ■ her cottage. Subsequently she was found dead; and the murderer, whoever he was, HAD FASTENED ON to the woman's throat with the horrible ferocity of a dog, and had torn it open with his teeth. A photograph '■_ of these marks and a blotting-paper ; impression taken' of the prisoner's! mouth- were- compared m court, and during the hearing that part of the &kin of the woman's neck, - pinned out on a flat support, was handed round on a plate and examined by the commissioner, Mr H. F. Dickens, K.C., and the jury. ' , Dr. Chapel, the police surgeon, continuing his evidence, said the marks j en the neck formed almost a complete circle. There was, however, a gap which corresponded Avith a similar blank on the blotting paper impression and' • WITH THE ABSENT TOOTH m the prisoner's mouth. The photograph showed next to the gap a very decided mark. This would correspond with a triangular dent caused on the blotting paper by one particular tooth and with what he described as , a puncture on the skin of the woman's neck. Dr. Chapel " also said that measurements of the two sets of teeth marks showed them to be practically similar. In reply toVMr G. W. Powers, for tha defencepth'e witness said the circulf-.r contour- of the marks might appear iri one case out of fifteen. ' The Commissioner: The fact of the original bite being 1 circular would not of itself be any indication that the bite had been given by tho. same person who bit the blotting paper? The witness: No. Expert evidence was also given by Mr Edward Percy .. Rose, dental surgeon, of Leicester, who told . the court that m general teeth impressions ahd. bites varied greatly, but there was NOT SO MUCH VARIATION m normal jaws with regard to contour. Mr McCurdy, for the prosecution: Have you ever seen two impressions alike? ' The witness: Not m my experience. In answer to Mr McCurdy, the witness said he took the impression of 27 jaws on blotting paper, and found only one bearing the slightest similarity; '26 of. them were of men about the prisoner's age, and m the case of the one which afforded -points of similarity, the resemblance was only slight. ' This case has been adjourned, but the appeal of the begging bishop t) "the most highly civilised and Christianised nation on the . face -of the I globe" still* goes pn. __^' ' y ■