SECOND DAY. Cross-examination of Eliza.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 125, 24 October 1885, Page 4

SECOND DAY. Cross-examination of Eliza.

The second day of the Armstrong case at Bow-street was taken up almost wholly by the, cross examination of. Eliza, who was very tendetly and ekilfuJly bandied by Mr Charles Kuseell, QC. The Uarned counsel's object wa« to prove from the admi^ aions of the girl bereelf— (l) that she bad nbt been present afc any of the conversation* between her mother) Mrs Brqughton; and .Mrs Jarrett when the arrangements for the ' giro's services were made; (2) that, though she waiostensibly going to a Bitqatiop, there iiftd Is)I s ) ■' *' -' - ' ■

}l»a };* (3)^thatv hec^dep^tee^jasi kept her fuihor j and (4) that, bar tne i';H~de;e[)D .a^-ault at tb^ midwi)e|»^BM bitd ibeeri more oJmfi'jritabfefAn'd bet{enofi'«duritig the time she had bodnaway frond home tban • y^r; before; ,; He succeeded completely in uil Ba ve one matter. Eliza fe't positive Winchester was meutioned an her destinatiori. ,<''*',. ".- ! '• M , *:'S In 'he course of her cross-examination the jfii'l said : I Was thir 'e>-u' laet Api il^. My father.re-nts only, one room on the Bret flour. All the family Uye in this one room., l^ere are fourteen persons in all living 'in the house. Only my nister is eam:nir auy:m«,ney except my, father. M> , f ather, is {jioL al way s busy. 1 attended the Board Schoor&spften ■\s I could, but there was^nb bue else to help my moiher withj the. buby and take her out. I was in the street o^June 2, ar.d 1 knew a girl named Alicef^'She was the girl ufao wa« first asked to go' with .farrett. She Jives in the parlour with Mr a»id Mrs Woodward. Her mother and father are dead. I was told that Alice had been over to Mrs Jarrett, but that ehe was too old. {-he was -fifteen. 1, was told that a litt'e girl of only thirteen was wanted My mother told me this. Mrs Woodward was willing to let Alice go, but Mr* Jarrett would not have her-be-cause fhe was too old It was Mrs Janett who suggested tbac I would do. The arrangement about me was made at Mrs Broughton's. Mrs Jarrett was kind to me up to the time of my leaving Paris I ctated the truth in the letter which I wrote. We were admitted to the house in, Polandwithout any difficulty. It was there that Mrs Sullivan put the handkerchief to my nose and then threw it away. I did not go to sleep at all, and there was a light in the room. It was the next morning that Ac wont to the railway station. I first saw Mrs Cum be at the house after we left Poland frtieet, w here I slept. I *>aw her in the morning, with the Jther young lady. Mix Combe was kind to me ; she told me •-he had children of her own. I did not t-ee the children, as they were at school. I j -ined the Salvation Army. Mrs Combe also wore the uniform of the Army. I' wag a lowed to wute to anyone 1 liked I wrote three or four letters to my mother, to Mrs Sullivan, and to Mrs Combe I wrote five letieis (mint; the ten weeks I was away, *i\d no objection \va> made. Mrs Armstrong (wife of a chimney-sweep, and a r^ gu'ar virago of the true f-treet putturn) made things preU> lively whtn her turn for cior-B. examination came. Mr Russell bartly began his questions before she turned viciously upon lam, and, raiding her voice, bawled out (with arms akimbo): " You aie not going to baffle me ! You are not £o ng to oros-t examine me as you have done my child !" Sen-ation in Court. Mr t'oland and tar Vaughan endeavoured to pauity the witness— a couise, however, which Mr Ruepell deprecated: *' We had better," he said, "hear Mrs Armstrong in her own way." The storm died a*ray for a few minutes, but throughout the afternoon, one equall «fter another swept over the », ourt. Mrs Artnetrong had not been seriously anxmu-. about her child, it appeared, until some neighbours bad t-hown her a *' Pall Mall Gazette "of July 6th She had not a.-ked for any addres-, beeauee nhe thought Mrs Broughton knew it. She had been several tin* s- t-he could not say bow many to Mis Broughton, but bad never at-ktd her for this adHi ess. fc^he did not think it would not be any use Mr Russell next a>ked her how it was that Bhe first came to think her child was identical with the crn'd mentioned m the article in the "Pall MaU Gazette" of July 6th headed, "A child bought for 5/" ' Why did you think so ?" asked Mr huesell. "f don't know, but I did." Mrs Armstrong thought so first, because the occurrence recorded was on the Dei by D<*y ; secondly, because the child was thirteen : and thirdly, because the name " Lily " was like " Eliza." Moreover, that when fhe heard that Mrs Broughton had had a sovereign, the began to think there aas something in the impression as to the child having been sold. She thought that M>B Janet, was the "old hand at procuration " referred to in the artiuie, tmt ehe could nos pay why ehe thought co. ludted, she did not know what a procurers was. At this stage the witness, in an excited manner, used threatening language towaids Mrs Jairett, who sat in the dock She afterwards mentioned the names of several girla m the neighbourhood who had been rejected by Jarrett because they were too old. Mr Rusnell then proceeded to at-k her a number ot questions as to her character. i>he said she was not a prostitute nor a thief, and as to other matters they had nothing to do with the cape - On the day her chi.d left home she was apprehended ; hhe might bava had a child in her arms ; but if she «a« so drunk how could she remember ? ]tvag t s?he said, all through her husband ill v.-ing her for letting the child go. She, hid been rived five times in all—thrice tor drunkenness, once tor aseault, and once for obt-cene language A s uecial cablegram of September 13 to the New York "World" gives the conclusion of the case as foilowo: — " The disgusting details of the Armstrong abduction case, as developed on the trial of * General" Bramwell Booth, Mrs Jarrett, Mr Jacques, Mrs Coomb, and Mr Stead, editor of the " Pall Mall Gazette," continue to monopolize public inteiet-t, to the neglect of politico at home and abroad The Bowstreet Pi lice Court was densely crowded v\ itbin to d*y and without was besieged by [ a huw.ing mob that required the utmost efforts of the p lice to control it. Indeed, a riot threatened to break out at any moment. The excited crowd threatened to lynch Booth and Mrs Jarrettt,and with difficulty was restrained from breaking through the guard and attacking the occupants of several cab« as they arrived at the entrance to the court room. The defendant's sup« porters succeeded in occupying most of the SHats but were warned from the bench to refrain from any exhibition of feeling A number of notables were present, including Professor htuarfi, a warm friend of Mr Stead and Jdmund Yates. The Salva. < ionics glory in the trial as a martyrdom for their leader. Mr Booth's friends have decided upon a line of evidence that may prnr ract the ti ial several wteks. What has come to be known as " the f-ocial purity B*t " are keeping up the agitation with much nofce anoi malodorous ac•ivity. Failing to induce the Government to resume the inquiiy into the Jeffries scandal, they are trying to aeeist the de* fendants in producing evidence likely .tojustify the "Pall Mall's" "Maiden Tribute " revelations by an effort to suopena the aristociatic frequenters of Mme. Jeffries's and other, .vile haunts. They declare that they are ready to produce a number of cases of violation, and will do so unless the Court refuses to allow the testimony. In * that case tLe "maiden tribute " statements will be, repeated, with the names of those ' ieferred:to An them,- on the trial. Huecell's cross-examination of Mrs- Armstrong! the mother of the girl whom the de- < fendants are charged with having con*/.' ppi red to abduot, turned on the tima fhe parted with: her daughter to Mrt"^ Jarrett, and how long afterward she got > • drunk and was locked up. '< The counsetfbr * " the defence tried to prove thai the woman's spree followed the, receipt of the money , ?'«.- y "•»"'' ' -■> >* ' : '"" '" ! ' "i "

Mrs Jarrett paid for the girl. Mrs Arm strong persisteutly mniritaioed, however that she rec<-iv«d only a ft iendly shilling and not a sovereign fromMrg J «rrett S»<e ■«■ got druiik on other mon-y, "she said, rand her Police Court tine of 6a was 'paid by her eldest daughter The witness etouHy den U d that she told General Booth she UnWeratood Mrs Jarrett to be a gay woman Mre J>rr <tt, had simply asked her it Bliz-» could horub ce»u, and she ''would Bwe«r '. by her Maker" that had she known Mr*. Jairett meant to take her child to a brothel ehe would have prevented the wrong The tendency of >he crops-examination went to show, however, that the mother kewk >ew she was selling her child into infam>, and was »t paius to keep the matter secret from .her husband. This impression was Btrengtheued by the evidence of Mrs Br«)ut£htpn, the woman who introduced Mrs Jarreot to the girl's mother, and « host testimony cWeJ the hearing for the duy The plea of the defence that Mrs Armstrong sold her child for vile purposes, knowmgiywill not, it is thought, relieve the deten, dants from the charge of having broken the law, though it may mitigate their punish 'ment. Conviction is now considered certain. Mrs Jarrett will probably be sent to prison for two years year* for abductio , \*hile both *>tead and Booth, on conviction of conspiracy, stand a good chance of being each sentenced to six months' impiison ment. The ** Sun's" London cablegram save : The intensity of popular interest in the Jar rett-Stead trial is amazing. * yen the sin gers at the popular singing halls have been affected, and tbeir refeiences in song to the prisoner* are nightly received with laughter and thunders ot applaut-e. All thene references denounce the so-called Armstrong conspirators, and the comic papers are also devoting space and talent to the portrayal of the absurdities in connection with 'he case. Tht ir cartoons hang conspicuously at the book stores and in the ctreets and railway stations Ihe most catching of t he^-e is an exquisite sketch in " Funny Folks," whirh depicts Booth and Stead in the act of eingiog a paraphrase of the popular ditty with the refrain "All on account of Hiza." Mr<> Broughton'c evidence was completely broken dowo on cross-examination It wa*shown that she knew Mrs J^rrett was a woman of bad repute, and letters uhich wera read by count-el seemed to prove con clusively that Mrs Bioughton's husband had been so intimate with Mrs Jarrett at< to give rie>e to the suspicion that he «anothing less than the letter's paramour. To prove this, several letters were read, the content* of which are unfit for publication They caused a great deal of amu-emant to the crowd in Coi«rt, and at this part in the proceedings Mr Waddy, counsel for Booth, intimated that when the time came he would prove that Mrs Armstrong, Elizas mother, and Mrs Broughton knew perfectly well wbat the airl's fate would be when she went away, and that they shared the money for h>r delivery into the hand of Mrs Jarrett.

Bis Passionate Plea for Aid in Suppressing Vice New York, September 20. — A cable special to tne " World, ' from Lond .n, of the 19th, say* l : —The Government Prosecu tor in the ' Pall Mall Gazette " capes has intimated to the defendants his deterinina tion to oppose the production of evidence not beating din-cdy on the charge of abHucting the girl tliza Armstrong The detective agents continue to scour the Continent in search of cases to support the "Gazette's" revelations, the defense iatending, if Judge Vaughan refuses to hear them, to bring forward the witnesses to the " Maiden Tribu'e " di«closures on the trial in the Criminal Court. Mrs Jarrett has been in Paris tracing the English female detective sent over by the Government. She discovered the procuress Jtffries at Brussels, and offered, her a large sum to return to * ngland and give evidence as to the position in society of the houses where traffic in young girls is alleged to have been crrried on. It is reported that Jeffrie.- is willing to make startling dincloRur^s, if guaranteed, against further prose•ution. i he Meih"dl*rB and their agents are sup porting Mr Ste*d. the accused editor, and a«sert that they h-tve inearthed evideice that Howard Vincent, I>irecTorof the Detec tive Department at fc CO' land Yard, recently testified before the Commission ot the House of Lords, to the tff- cfc that in many parts of London any number of girls of 14 or younger may be ob'aiued for tne vile-t purposes. In fact, he assured the Commit sion that these children were regularly sold with the full knowledge and connivance of their mothers, who looked to this means of meeting the hou>-ehold expem-es with unnatural complacency. The object is to eho« through the police that the new Government were fully cognisant of the traffic in young girlc, and that uothing whh done towards preventiug or checking the evil until the " Pall Mail Gazette" revda tions brought about the passage of the amendment in the criminal law. It would seem »rom Mr Stead's utterances at the Antwerp Conference lor the Governmental Kegulation of Vice that the now notorious editor has been carried to tSe verge of fanaticism in the ardour of his investigations In a long and impastioned speech he asked those differing with him as to the propriety of the means employed in hw exposures to natMy them selves, once for all, by expressing judgment, even though it were an unjust judgment * - Let me be accused for time and for eternity," he exclaimed, " but let my accuf»er<* seek to do the work I tried to do by better means than I used Even it you believe n»y woik to be not inspired by God ; even if you set it down to the devil, rejoice in the good that is coming from it " He implored the conference to a-sint in removing the "damnable enormities" of tb« regulation system. "It is slavery in the worst form," he continued. "If you could but feel that every outraged girl is a daughter or a sister, you would realise that every one having anything to do with the infernal traffic, whether be be the doctor or the legislator, is accused before God and man. and should be shunned aa a moral leper." Stead spoke with intense feeling, and was cheered to the echo. He declares hi* readiness to wear a convict garb and seems anxious to pose as a martyr. The trial is costing him £400, he t-ays, ami as he oannot rely on General Booth to detiay the whole expense, he will not be f»urpri*ed if every stick of his own la sold off This is doubtful, however, as the moral tide it* setting in strongly. Under the orders of the Borne Secretary, the police have pro hibited the sale of gutter-sheets and raid Bay market and other haunts of abandoned women, and clear the streets nightly.

The Bishop of London on the New Crusade. The following pastoral of the Bishop of Lodood wag received at the Protection of GHs' National Conference :— " August. 1885, Fulhara Palace, S.W. : Revert nd and Dear Biother,— The papeine of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, and still more the circumstances which have attended the pawing of that Act, appear to me to lay a frenh and serious responsibility •n us, the clergy. The exposure lately nude of the extent and prga^isation of viot in tbt taetropolU ba« oauted the

greatest pain and distress to many excellent people; and not a few be leve that thi> f x 6sure has done more harm than any u c to be made of it can do good. I have n>< shared nud do not share that opinion. !he hot indignation that has been roused all OVe) Knglund is cert tin, ia aiy judgment, te overpower the moral mischief whi> h «>o man) tear. And 1 feel confident that the result will be a general raising of the moral ton« on this subject throughout the country. Jt will be in some deyiee it is already— far more difficult than it was before to t-peak lightly of impurity. Men 8 minds have bee* opened to the fearful evils which ar. ir equably bound up with this sin. Young men have strong passions, bui they have gentrous instincts, aud man) who would otherwise have been morally hurt by what has been told have beei* Stirred to horror at the spectacle now unveiled of such callous ciuelty. But there u a danger that this may not last. Aud it<i.here that our special re«pun«-ibi!ity ib found ; for a reaction to indifference would bedwuitr..u* indeed. It appears to me to be oui duty to consider carefully how we may uhi the opportunity, and for this reuson I wiiu this letter. » think that in tlie first plac* .we are bound to dwell much in our teaching on the duty which the old owe to th« young in this matter. There is no measuring the mischief wh'ch men of matun age can do and have done by ppeakmj* lightly of impure conduct, or by encoutag ing the fal-e and u'terly un Christian notuu that purity is impossible in the male sex, and ther» fore not required. Still more important h he duty which parents owe ti> their children It is possible for parents to inculcate putity an none else can. and it ie a duty which is often grievously neglected It may not be wise to touch very otten 01 "uch subjects before a mixed congregation ; but strong, earnest teaching ia needod even there eometi-nes. And very often at eeasTisof special t-olemnity, such as Advent or Un services for men only will give oppoi tnnities for being more plain poken ihai would be right before womi a »nd childrtn In the second pla;e, you iua> he able u form societies of men with a specia view to the encouragement of purity o< iife and conduct, or To engraft an aim 01 your existing parochial societies. Younj. men are not unwilling to uni'e in t-uc movements, and to av.itl themselves of the helps thus offered them in fighting agains this strong temptation, friuuh societies caii do much to banish impure conversation and impure literature, and to help all the right minded to put a ban on unchaste li^eis Thirdly, in the preparation of candidate? for Confirmation and in your general teach ing jou can iosift with the utmost earnes' ness on the duty of not dallying with temptation. This, which is a duty in thtconflict with all sins, is pre-eminently a nuty in the conflict with impurity Fourthly, you can do your part in what taken as a whole, belongs more properly to the laity, the fot ma' ion of Vigilance Com mittees and similar machinery for watching over and aiding in the admini-tration ot the law. Much more can probably be don. by steadily enforcing the law tljan has been done jet But above all, I entre-it you tt. labour diligently to raise the tone of public feeling and opinion, and to maintain a high standard thereafter. It is in the principle that men hold rather than in any rules 01 laws that they lay down, or machinery they form, that our hope re^t* o purifying society in any real or permanent measure. Our teaching shoulo be graver, more earnest, more tolemn oi> this r-übjeet than it has ever been before To know the evil as we know it now, and he unaffected by the knowledge, will indeed make all wor.-e instead of bt-ttor. I pra\ God to be with you ia your eniiravourts. ami to ble«s the issues of all you do. Your Brother in the Lord Jesus Chritt, F London,"