"FIVE YEARS PENAL SERVITUDE." MRS GORDON BAILLE MEETS WITH HER DESERTS. Painful Scencs at the Trial. (SPEClALLY REPORTED BY OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT)

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 326, 19 December 1888, Page 3

"FIVE YEARS PENAL SERVITUDE." MRS GORDON BAILLE MEETS WITH HER DESERTS. Painful Scenes at the Trial. (SPECIALLY REPORTED BY OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT)

PRECIS. Tur. Ou) Bailey—lts Associ \Tioxs~Mns Gordon Baii/lte's Dress and Aw-kakanoe-JlB ROIjERT PIiROIV \I, BODLBY FKOST— THE INDICTMKNTS— MoDUfci OPERAND! OK THE'DIOKENDANTB—EVIDENCE THK SAMK AS AT THE Police Counr — Soau: of tiik Wfinkssks Dksckibkt> — Mr Ciias. White Obi's His aionby — mr sl'en'ceks ckoss-kxaminaoton —Documents Found on the Dkkkndants —A. Nku'Zbiuni) Judgment SummonsNo Witnesses yon the Defence - This Wijyte Mvkki age— Poland Sums li* ion the Crown— jMbs Goudon-Baillik's Ar.KThe Dktence — A Masterly speech hy Kemp, Q.C. —The Verdict — Dramatic Scene.-Pijevious Conviction Provkd— A Tigress ay Bay — Inspector Marshall Gives Some Details of Mrs Gordon-BaiU-lE'S CaJJUER — AN- EXTUAODINARV JS'iOHY— The End— FAUtWKMiS to Friends —Frost Swears to be Faithful to his Annii;— Tin: Last or Mits Bailmk.

London, November 3. Tin: atmosphere of the Old Bailey is never very exhilarating, but on Tuesday morning last, owing to the fog, the cold, and tteh c general murkiness, it was simply suicidally depressing. What numberless dramas o oritno, shame and human weakness are annually played out in this old Court, I thought to myself, drearily, as I half listened to tho Kecorder rapidly sentencing potfcy eliminate who pleaded guilty. The whole place seems to icek with villainy, reret-iaced detective*- and cunning Jew attorneys arc on e\ cry .-side. K\ en the barrister;? diiler materially trom the spruce gentlemanly advocates at the new Law Couilb. Bigness, bullying and bluster appear to b,e the mobt valuable qualities at the Old Bailey bar. The Ilecoider himself is a dry little man, whol ooks as if familiarity with the seamy side of life had driven every drop of the milk of human kindness out of his system. Even the gorgeous robes of the pot-bellied sheriffs do not lighten up tho place. Their wearers are too aggressively prosperous. Happiness, honesty, and prosperity somehow seem absurdly out of place and incongruous at the Old Bailey. "Annie Frost, Robert Percival Bodley Frost, and James Gigner. ' These familiar names, bawled oub at the top of a rancous voice, effectually disturb my sage reflections, and ab the same moment, the two first-named prisoners are brought into the dock. C4igner, it transpires, has broken his leg and cannot appear. Mrs Gordon -Baillie, as the lady prefers to be called, looks a trifle paler than she did at the Police Court, and here and there, in her miijnon little face, with its dainty, tiptilted nose and laughing eyes, a suspicious line could be made out. Mrs Bailho was handsomely dressed in a sealskin mantle, and wore long pecut, dt suede gloves, up to her elbow. A coquettish little turban, with a silver ta?3le, surmounted her profusion of curly hair, and altogether the fair prisoner made a dainty figure enough. During the greater part of the day she leant her cheek upon her elbow, and gazed pensively at judge and jury. When the Crown counsel said anything specially unpleasant about her she smiled slightly, in a pained manner, which obviously meant, " How can the man say such untrue and cruel things about a poor little woman ?'' Mr Frost had reconsidered hi? determination of throwing over the partner and inspiration of his follies. Friends earnestly urged him to do so, and to lay stress on his antecedents and general good character, etc. before Mr? R-iillie fascinated him and led him a&tiay. Tho man, howc\er, was too aiueh of a man to do thi-i, fortunately tor himseli, for it would not ha\o answered. As a matter of fact, too, the jury soon leamb Frost was as wax in \h'o Baillie's hands, flo is a good-looking fellow, with a broad forehead, a lound bull-dog face, rather small e\es, and a very thick shoit black beard, moustachio?, and whiskers. The Ciown confined itself simply to indicting the defendants for (1) stealing certain goods from Palmer Lodge and pawning them, and (2) for conspiiing together to defraud certain tradesmen of money and goods by means of a valueless cheque. Tho mod a* operand/ adopted by the defendants with all these tradesmen wab,a&Mr Poland, Q.C., in his opening speech pointed out, invariably the s-une. They drove up m a handsomely-appointed brougham to some likely looking shop, and bought, perhaps, £2 worth of goods. In payment Mrs Baillie tendered a cheque already made oub and signed by her, and endorsed by Frost either in his own name or some fictitious one. Tho sum was usually odd, such as £7 17b 6d, which made it look genuine. The customers had, of course, lib other money with them, consequently the tradesman had to choose between cashing the cheque and losing the custom. Almost always they risked the cheque. When the latter came back marked " n s.f." or "no account," Mrs Baiilte was painfully profuse (1) in apologies and explanations, and (2) in promises ; and rather than lose the money, the tradesmen seem in almost every case to have shown themselves extraordinarily long • suffering. Occasionally, of course, the Frosts caught a tartar. Witness the case of Charles White, a chemist, whose little account of some shillings was settled" with a "stumer" (as turfites call bad cheques) for £3. White altogether refused to be either appeased, humbugged or put off. Mrs Baillie tried her charms on the little man in vain. "If I don't get three sovereigns from you by noon on Monday (it was then Saturday) "I shall," he said, " invite assistance at Rochester Row " — this being a euphonious method of de scribing the nearest police station. Mr White got his three sovereigns. The evidence wps, in tne mam mere repetition of what we heard at the Police Court, One could s«o, however, that principal vjebim? had, generally speaking, been warily selected. I After, yarious shop assistants of a commonplace type, had more transactions of the same character, Mr Cha*, Spencer Smith, a .quiet, gen tlemanly.profe^sionallookingman, proyed letting Palmer Lodge to the Frosts, a,nd swore that a quantity of his goods to the value of perhaps £50 had been stolen and pawned. In cross-examination Mr ,Bepley (Frost's counsel) tried to create a diversion in his ..client's favour by asking Spencer whether as Jajtely as September,, last (after the defendants were in custody) Miss^ Frost had not, offered to get baqk for .him. ,all his property. ' ' She offered to , do sp tjll, she found fche,pawnbrokers w ere obliged to return it, when the ;proposal w«; withdrawn," re . plied. Speqaer, thereby showing: that tjhough the Frosts were (doubtless for good reasons) anxious, to propitiate, a formidable, prosecutor, they had no objection to 1 tne poor pawnbrokers b*ung let in. After several gentlemen in this line of business had proved the pledging of the stolen prdperty, Inspector tylarsTiall entered the b&k an'd> 'g> *atly amtosSd Cdtfrt by his description of Mrs Baillie's arrest and her many feints to avoid accompanying him to BoW'Sireeb

Various interesting documents were found on the defendants, such as a sheet of paper covered with experimental signatures — " Anjrie . Bruce, I ,' " Annie Whyte," •" Annie Gordon-Baillio,'' " Gordpn-Baillie," " Annie Frost," etc., numerous reidysigned. and filled-up' cheques, and a iudg-< menfc summons from the R.M. Court, Christohurch, New Zealand, for £3 7s obtained by a Mr Western against Annie Whvte. ISo witnesses were called fo,r the defence, and Mr Kemp, Q.C. (Mrs Baillie's counsel), had, with some circumlocution, to admit that he coujd not show his client ,was Frost's wife. '♦ Wo were bonding to Aus'ralia procure evidence on tl-is point," he said, pompously, "but whon Gigner was included in the charge of conspiracy it seemed a useless expense. ' Mr Poland summed up the evidence for the prosecution in a few telling sentences, some of which seemed to go painfully home to the female prisoner. Mrs Baillic only laughed a little when the learned counsel leferred to her deserting her children and living in open adultery wirh Frost, bub when he said she was much older than her companion, in- fact, according 'to her mairiage certificate with Whyte in 1876, must be dose on her forty, her eyes flashed and she looked intensely outraged. Subsequently vre loarnt from Inspector Marshall (who routed out her natal certificate) that the little lady was born in Scotland in 1846, and is consequently just foriy-tiio. These mipvon women (like Patti, for exr amplo, and MinniePalmcr) often keep their youthful • appearance ' up till wonderfully lato in life. Even her wovsl enemies would have hesitated to put Mr.s Gordon -Bailiie down as more than 27. Certainly, when she first appealed at Westminster Police Court, bright, ritnite and blooming (possibly with rour/e de ninoii), fehedid not t-cem as old. Thai her fascinations ha\e .senccl this clever little woman again and again when dangers loomed ahead may be gathered from the fact that upon being anested this last time her sole an\iety was for bail. '* What about your defence '!" asked her solicitor. kt Never mind the defence ; get mt, out, I tell you,'* replied Mrs G.-B. ''I can settle the trouble I know, if we can only get bail. Never mind the amount. I shan't run away ; it wouldn't be any use. ' And no doubt she could nave done a good deal with roost of her victims. Unfortunately, Inspector Marbhall stood in the way, and he was bent on lagging her this time. The speech of Kemp, Q.C. (a great Old Bailey celebrity), for the defence, filled the Court to overflowing. As a forensic effort, it was perfect ; no mock sentiment, no mock heroics, no impassioned appeals, only what sounded like the most moderate common sense. Considering the weakness of his case, indeed, Mr Kemp made an extraordinary effect. The line he took up was that all Mrs Gordon Baillie's irregularities aro&e from tempoiary financial embarrass ment. She had been well off a few years aco, living at the rate of £2 000 a-year. That much her bank-book proved She had every right to expect sho would be well oft again. From the same source-* that she had obtained money in the past, she daily expected it in the future. Mrs Baillie had never for a moment intended to rob anyone. No doubt, under extreme pressure, she had done wrong acts, but these acts were not committed with criminal intent. But for the police interfering, no one would have lost a penny by heiself or Mr Fro^t. Why, Mr Champion had told them he was actually arranging a loan of £500 towards putting things straight for the Frosts when they were arrested. Then was there not Mrs Frost's mother, a person of means and position who would' have gladly helped them had she known /of their straits ? But the Frost's never told her. The old lady was infirm and id, and they didn't want to appeal to her in forma pauperis till they were absolutely compelled. Mrs Frost had no doubt acted very wrongly in pledging Mr Spencer's thinjis, but the pawnbrokers had h worn the goods hadn't suffered through the operation, and if the police had not interfered tli,ey would all have been safely and duly replaced . before the end of the Fro-st-i' tenancy. The jury knew that uuder stress of extieme financial embarrassments even the worthiest people had been known to do curious things. He would not defend Mrs Baillie's conduct for a moment, but .he assured them solemnly that but for Inspector Maishall's precipitancy not a man or woman who had trusted Mrs Baillip would have been 'vronged for as much as a fai thing. This and a great deal more was splendidly put, but I tear the jury ivere move impressed with Kemp Q.C.s clearness than with his charitable views of Mrs B.s conduct, Tne Recorder summed up absolutely inaudibly ; 1 couldn't catch a word. People near him, however, tell me he rather favoured the prisoners. Then the jury retii-ed. Five minutes later they were back again. The prisonei's stood up, and a attained

silence prevailed " Gentlemen of the jury, do yon find the prisoner Annie Frobt guilfcy or not guilty ?"' " Guilty." " And Robert Bodley Pevcival Frost V "Guilty."

An unexpectedly dramatic scene followed. Thpre. was a momentary nibtle, and then Mrs BaUUe, wh,o had heard, her doom with the air of a Christian „ martyr wrongfully accused, was seen to start violently. Why she did so, none of us could imagine, un,til it -was noticed that a big burly Scotchman, had taken, his .place on the wit newsstand. Mrs Baillie leant ovor, and whiepered something rapidly to her counsel. -Then Mr Poland' jrot up. <: Do you know this woman ?"'

Mr Kemp sprang precipitately to his feet. "My lord, I am instructed to state that Mrs Frost denies this charge in toto." " What does 'she, deny ?" asked Poland, blandly. ' ' lam not aware tb.at any cha rge has been made yet ; and ' how comes Mrs Frost to recognjsa an, official from !Edinbur'gh ga'oli" The official then deposed to Mrs G.-B. having sdfieried the in'digpifcv, of six months' imprisonment foY Frdud in Edinburgh sixteen'yetir^a f go. Her name was at that timo Annie Ogilvi'e'BruceTbut he recognised hor at once, as he had. had had. charge of thei case, and the 1 was really very little, changed. He produced the prison photo- 1 graph of her. Mrs Baillie was now looking like a tigress at? bay "The humility of the martyr had completely > disappeared ; indeed, if eyes could have killed Inspected Marshall aa he stepped into . the box, he would, as a reporter gracefully expressed it, have been " corpsed " there and then. The detective was openly exultant. In his hand was a large roll of MSS. , which contained, he informed the Court, a resume of th^ lady ( in,, the dock's eyentful career. She/was borti^he'said, in Scotland, in 1848, and was consequently '4o years' of age. The dkughter'of.a washerwoman^ she commenced ilfe&s a dome^tfo' servaht. policb'had ha<i cons'tartb'6omplaints of heY forbore than 20 years. HeY Wiavds ' wrire" ' innumerable — oPiiitftowtf kH^wlbatJ-e 1 he Knew of 30. ' On this subject, however, rthtffl n l- Hrfßt 'le'fe 1 A " Daily News " reporter, who got a glimpse of the inspector's biography (he won'fe let it) out of his own hands), spoak.

" If,'-' he says, " Inspector Marshall could; haye i told' all' he 'kn,ew what a sfcory he wpuld have had .to tell ! For months past denunciations ,ot ,Mrs C4oidon,-Baillie have been pouring in upon him fiom her victims in every quarter of the globe. The ~ name > acted like magic, and when it was known that she had been seized on one charge, it sWn becamo easy 60 prove that she might have been condemned On a thousand. She was the gieat strategist of swindling, and she had won -her victories in every clime. Thero was the Italian campaign, with the masterly attacks on Kojne and Florence ; the Belgian campaign, with the advance on Brussels ;> the campaign in that newest of new woilds. Australia, and the temporary occupation, of Now Zealand. In all of them the British Isles formed Mrs Goidon Baillie'a central placo of arms find rallying point. When she \"as hard pressed, she fell back on her native shores, and pas&ed i in forced marches from London to Dublin, to Edinburgh, or to the Scottish High andg, | swindling as she went. She manoeuvred with audacity and with a full confidence j in her striking 'presence, her still more striking manner, her beautiful face, and her secrot of 1 eternal youth. Inspector Marshall delivered his most crn-hing blow against her when he, told the Court that while she had given her ase as twenty-nine, she was in reality forty years old. She had caught the trick of a good manner, and had used her eyes and ears and her wonderful power of imitation, in her earlier service about the persons of the great. It wag very much to the credit of her ingenuity, for there were those who were ready to prove that she had been, not only a washerwoman, but the daughter of a servant. What had she not been in that earlier time when &ho was nursing her genius for its greatest exploits? Men told ot her conviction at Dundee for obtaining troods under fal&e pretences ; of her having been summontd at the Mansion House for 'bilking' a cabman; ol petty mihchances almost unworthy ot notice in the histoiy of such a career. She had proved all things — that is certain, and held fast to none that were good. She had touched the stage and had been cast for Lady Clancarty. She had appeared in a classical tableau given on a great public ooca-ion, with Royalty in the front-seats. We have all seen her pictnre in illustrated Society journals. We have been told in admiring letter press of ' her great womanliness of nature,' as evidenced by her being always accompanied by her three pretty girls, one of whom has already figured in Royal ' Academician's canvas.' Th<jre are glimpses of her as a poetess, with lines to a 'wee, bonnie, happy, pratthn' thing.' Thia was in one of the Scottish incarnations, peculiarly dear to her, as Peterheadin Aberdeenshiro is said to have been tho scene of her birth. Ths Scottish incarnations were altoge'her on a majestic scale. " In the domain of pure conception, perhaps, there has been nothing finer than her Hying visit to Skye as the * grand leddy,' whose heart beat, for the poor crofters, and who was determined to make an end of their misery by settling them on her own lands at the Antipodes. The Elders of the Kirk, gude men, were as finely fooled as the rest ; members of Parliament signed grateful addresses to her ; a venerable Professor, I with all the bees of Mount Hymettus buzz1 ing in his bonnet, became just as soft as the refer. She did what she liked with them, each an J all, -as, at another time, f-he did what fhe liked with the Southron as "the Lady of Barton Hall. Barton ' Hall is near Burton-on-Trent, and Burton -on - Trent rang with tho praises of the tenant of that noble mansion, who gaye 1 treats to the school children, Catholic and Protestant, and invited the clergy to. her hospitable board. > Was it true thai she had once espoused the cause of the Nihilists and induced a compassionate lady with political views, and a cheque-book, to accept the Presidency of a Nihilist Lodge V It was all done on the hire system. The houses were taken furnished ; the' goods in the houses were sold or pledged when other resources failed ; and in the last resort, there was always the packed portmanteau and the midnight flight. The war supported the war— it is the principle of the great strategy. The hired brougham led to the furnished house ; the furnished house won' the confidence of the butcher, the baker, and tho milliner ; and all five together moved down in irresistible force of concentration on victimised mankind at large. The story of the victims is touching. There was the hoary-headed nobleman victim, who it is said suffered to the extent of £18,000. There was the thoroughly respectable victim who made application at Bow-street in the earlier stages of the case. This one had been done out of a house and furniture at Wathatnstow, and he had tho names of about a hundred persons swindled in smaller amounts within a radius of a few miles of that centre of operations. It was too easy. There was a small scat!, consisting of tho enchantress, a, confederate of tho male sex, who could look like a gentleman at command, and perhaps an honest-serving man. The latest confederate, Frost, by the way, goes to prison with hard labour for eighteen months. There had been an earlier one, and no doubt an earlier still— but on this point, speculation micht be indiscreet When c editors becamo importunate, there was always the resource of the cheque, dra«n for twenty pounds, to settle a debt of ■fifteen, with the balance taken in ca&h before the cheque was sent to the bank. When this failed, Mrs (Tordon-Baillie could throw herself at tho feet of the creditor and plead in pa&sionato tears her losses, her sorrows, her misfortunes, a»d leave her beauty to speak for itself. It spoke with* an .eloquence that could make others eloquent in turn. ¥u\\- neck, delicate chin, arched mobilo eyebrows, eyes that retire in repose to ' their lair to watch for their prey,' wrote an, Aberdeen reporter, nor did he stop here. For live years it is all to be wasted on a prison matron, and hidden by a prison wall. But when the live years are over, if it hold good on the skilly and the oakum, it will return once more to play havoc in a world of fools with the certainty that, whatever happen, the fools will never give out." I have heard that after the prisoners wei'e removed from the dock, the brief parting between them touched even the hard hearts of the' gaolers. Frost swore he would be faithful to his poor Annie, and wait for her till she came out of gaol, and that then tthey. must hope for happier times. She, on the contrary, broke down utterly, and could only cry, " I shall never live through it, never, never I" When I emerged from the murky atmosphere of the Court into the r bright, sunny afternoon; I thought liberty had never be fore tasted sweeter,- or the bustle and life of 1 the. streets seemed more attractive. "Black Maria" (the prison van) was waiting in the yai'd. Mrs Gordon- Baillie, guai'ded by two female warders, who seemed to be supporting her,' was brought out and quickly lifted inside. I think she must have been fainting or something. The j warders followed. , - ".Where to first?" said the man on the box: "Millbank."- 1 " " 1 v

'Russia denies" having fn'oclaimed the protection of Corea. Mr Bright, who is so dangerously ill, is now 77 years of age.