Newspaper Page Text
dr. r a. v son's crime.
AN ACCOUNT OF Till: CASE AND
OF THE AMKRff AN HUNG IN
FOB POISONING HtS BROTHER IN
I.AW. *T na#' n I
__
The following is an
account of the case of X>r. Lamson
the American hung recently in
England for murdering hit brother
in-law, a young student:
The trial of Dr. Lamson was one
of the causes celehres of modern
English criminal annals. Lamson
was an American, the son of an
Episcopal clergyman well /mown in
Paris, Florence and other European
cities. lie studied medicine at
Paris, where he took his degree in
1870, and afterward became a licen¬
tiate of the Edinburg College of
Ph\ sieiang and Surgeons. In the
Franco-Prussian war be served with
an ambulance corps and in 1870 he
was in charge of a Serbian hospital
at Sefncndria and during the war of
1877-78 was attached to a hospital
at Bucharest. From these services
he brought back a number of deco¬
rations, French bronze and iron
yrossea, etc,, and settled down to
practice in Hampshire, In April.
1881, he visited the United States,
spending sevetal months in this
country. His practice was not re-
piunerative here, however, as in the
fall he had to pawn his watch and
surgical instruments, lie was mar-
l ied- and in the event of his wife's
brother, Percy Malcolm John—a lad
of nineteen, affected with spinal
complaint_dying in his minority, a
sum of some £3,500 would pass into
the possession of A/rs. Lamson and
}ier sister. Percy t/as at school at
an establishment at U’irnblydon.
called Blenheim House, kept by a
Mr. W. 11. Bedbrook, where his
brother-in-law visited him every three
or four months* lie was in good
health- although his spinal trouble
prevented / him from about
going
save in a wheeled chair, lie s'cmeo
to be on affectionate terms with Dr.
Lamson. Late in November Dr
Lamson was stopping at Nelsons
hotel in Great Portland street.
London. He was o«fc ot funds, his
bill had been sent up to him several
times, but had not been paid, and on
\he 29th he tried to borrow £5 from
his landlord. Two days later he
attempted to get a check for $15
pushed at thc American Exchange,
Pn Friday, December 2, he left the
hotel, leaving part of lqs luggage as
security for his bill, an 1 told a med-
ical friend named Tulloc/c that he was
going to set out for Paris. Through
him Lamson obtained £12 19s. cash
on the Witts and Dorset bank. This
check was dishonored, when Dr.
Lamson wrote to Tullock that he had
inadvertently selected the wrong
book, having closed his account with
the bank in question. He went with
his friend to Wipibeldon, saying that,
as there was a bad boat on the line
that night, he would delay his de¬
parture for twenty four hours and
visit his brother in law. As he left
Tullock at the school gate he told
him that the boy was suffering and
was likoly to die afc any time. On
Saturday, the 3d, Tullock again met
tlie doctor, who told him that lie was
going to see his wife at Ohichcstci,
as he had missed, the Baris train.
Lamson did not see hijimotherm'daw
q n Fridav as he claimed, but on Satur-
dav. about 7 o’clock he called at
Blenheim Honso and saw Percy dolm in
the presence of Hr. Bedbrook. who
produced some sherry. Dr. Lamson
mixed some ground sugar with his
wine saving that it destroyed the
alcoholic elfert; tlien lie produced a
^,r. package of gelatine capsules telling
Bedbrook that he had remem-
berqd him while in New York, and
had brought him something
would be of service when he had to
L„ how it was closed, and filling
another w ith sugar gave it .to
John, who also swallowed it After
a visit lasting less than an hour the
doctor left, sending hack some money
by a porter from tJie railroad station,
with, the message that he had for-
gotten to give i» to his brother-in-law.
Percy soon complained of
aud after resting a few minutes said
he felt worse, and felt just as he had
when Lamson had given him some
quinine 1 at Sbankltn, [sle *of Wight,
w
puu^bectmict ^orsc. afi-I . though .
TOCCOA NEWS
By Edw SCHAIFER- }•
VOL. IX.
doctors were sent for at 9 lie died at
11 :30. The police were at once
informed, and suspicion was directed
to Lamson. The latter appeared at
Scotland Yard on December 8‘h,
saying that he had heard of the lad s
death while on his way to Italy for
his health, and had returned, seeing
his name connected with Uie case by
the papers, to remain iiT London till
after the inquest. He was, however,
al once arrested, and the public
prosecutor. St. John Wontncr, soon
discovered several unfavorable points
besides those already mentioned. It
was found that Lamson bad bought
two grains of aconita November 24.
io the form ofu dry powder, and such
as could be readily introduced into
the capsule, and that a vial marked
‘poison’was in his possession at the
hotel. 7t was discovered at the
morten that John Percy had died
from a vegetable poison acting
directly upon the nervous centers,
aeoniia being such a poison, and it
being possible to administer a fatal
dose in such a capsule as that given
him by Dr,. Lamson. The alkoloid
taken from the stomach of the de-
ceased had Allied mice when they
were injected with it. A package of
powders prepared by Lamson
Vcntnorwere analyzed, and, while
many contained only quinine, in
others there were found fatal quanti-
tics of aconite. One pill would have
killed 100 persons. These were the
powders Dr Lamson had sent to bis
brother-in-law. Dr. Lamson was
committed Janu^rj *0 on a charge ol
willful murder, lie was tound guilty
after a trial at the Central criminal
in London, and sentenced to be
oanged 4pri! 4; Strong- efforts were
made by Minister Lowell to obtain a
stay of execution for th« condemned
man under instructions tram President
Arthur, and a reprieve was granted.
The friends qf Dr. Lamson t»»en
presented many affidavits setting
forth the insanity ot thc prisoner. A
petition containing the sworn deposi.
tions of twenty doctors and inends,
covering a period of two years, were
sent to Lamson y counsel, but the
efforts to obtain a new trial proved
unavailing. Lauason was thirty-five
years old, of medium height and
spare built. The trial attracted
unusual interest, as cases of aconite
poisoning arc not very numerous,
aud there was a notable battle ot
medical men over the evidence.
Lamson was said to have made an
unsuccessful attempt to poison his
brother-in-law previous to sailing
for America. Lis wife, who believed
him .to be innocent, visited him
almost daily.
FROM POVERTY TO HEALTH.
CAME u ealtiiy—Riches a.nu
UoMESTIC CNHArpiNLSS.
"
The Divorce suit that has been
instituted by Mrs. Tabor Wife of the
lieutenant governor of (oloraio, is
another illustration that wealth does
not always bring happiness with it.
Mrs. Tabor asis for divorce and
*50,000 alimony per year. The facts
are thus related by the CevcUud
Leader :
felicity to the most violent 6tm«,
jars ; from absolute poverty to prince
ly wealth ; from the rude hovel or thc
frontier to the most luxurious home
that the purse of a millionaire could
command. In 1359 they started for
Tike's Peak in a parlor ear drawn by
two oxen, taking all tbeir property
with them, and aftcr dr ifting about
the country for some years they
settled down in the place where
Denver now stands, i/e searched in
vain fbr ‘pay gravel, and while he
was prospeumg sac y ooiwca oavon-
Devoted to News* Politics- Agriculture and General progress-
TOCCOA, GA., JUNE 3, 1882.
made bread and kept up the house-
hold expenses by boarding miners,
Finally Tabor built a log hut and
started a store and boardinghouse
combined, which was a general len-
dezvous for the minors. AH the
hard work of "’the establishment fell
upon Mrs. Tabor- She was the only
woman within one hundred and sixty
miles, and she did the cooking and
washing for the miners, attended to
all their wants in the store, weighed
their gold dust on the only pair of
scales in the neighborhood, making
herself the waiter and drudge of every
one. In the meantime the husband
yielded to the irresistible fever that
seldom lessens its grip upon one who
has once become its victim, and
continued his search for gold, lie
moved from prospect to prospect,
from digging to digging, always
believing himself on the brink of
fortune, and while he reveled in
golden dreams the wife drudged and
toiled to procure for herself and her
roval dreamer the substantial of
pf e . In 1876 he began to realize
some of his expectations, and he was
soon known as a millionaire.
Tabor continued to prosper at a
wonderful rate, and is now considered
Qne 0 f the wealthiest men in the
Ilis wife's petition says he is
wor th $10,000,000, and has an income
0 f $1QJ,000 per mouth. He spent his
m . ans lavishly and surrounded his
WHO with every luxury that money
i n proportion »s be bacaifte noli, that
a p sen ted himself from home for
weeks aa d months, and on <>ae
occasion he offered to give her a
p 0r tj on Qf hjs large fortune if she
w u jd apply fora divorce. All he
kag to sav i 3 that he gave her
^iq0,fi0 ) a few years ago, which she
- invea tecl, and winch now yields
§H>0l0 a year; that she is a
aa d he hopes she will receive all the
svni p,*.tliy growing onto! the case.
Both fii dcs of the story will only
eom3 ovU on trial. M hat is certain
UQW is that their domestic happiness
too k wings the moment wealth rolled
in upon them ; that as soon as they
ceas0( j fighting with poverty they
i QC g an fighting each other. Their
fi a ppj eS t days were when they were
poor, and as they now sit in the
midst of luxury and plenty it is
probable that their memory holds no
pleasanter period than when they
gafc together behind the ox team
and were being dragged out into the
V\ estern wilds to seek their fortune
nearer to the setting sun.
THE IRISH ARREARS BILL.
[Cablegram.]
By its first provision 1 thc bill gives
• ’
,sr,; ,xr.r,s . .
under £30 3terUn who happens to
be in arrears, and 'in consideration of
the payment of f one yea , s rent t u
wipes out a. ji.«s ot rca aiu
allows hun to .dart fresh m the
world, oaccomp m ns
makes thc tenant a free gift of *10 -
000,000outo. t n. P« > m ,un w non
the, Will not be asked to pay back,
As thc arrears due by accumulation
since the famine of me, which are
v ‘
,
reaching and effective the arrears
is may be judged Irom toe met t int
it wil. affect o a gtta r c r .
-
degree no less than 5bo,00o wnants
representing to round numbers
000 persona w 10 now, in e woc
of Mr. ^tone, ^e at the mercy of
the landlord.
The immediate effect of he meas-
urc willI be to save tens of thousands
of famihes ,rom cuction, to restore
to their omes a ousan. ami les
already evicted whom the Land
3 ^ .r v,- k \niabl,-» ‘o DroteoU
withstanding the boast of its leaders.
How pressing the necessity was
becoming may be judged by the evie-
lion of 2.000 persons last wee/i in
Connemara, and other thousands all
over the country. Had not
government stepped in it is calculated
that 250.000 would have been evioted
by the end of winter, as the land-
lords were preparing monster clear-
ancea under the protection of the new
coercion bill. Without the arrears
bill the land act was iium,
to the proper tenants, because they
all owe from two to five years’ rent,
which they are wholly unable to pay.
On some rack rented estates, where
old arrears have beep kept alive, the
tenants owe legally as high as fifteen
years’rent, which puts them hope-
lessly in the power of the land or s,
and makes them the veriest slaves,
Under the arrears bill all those old
debts will be swept away and the
tenant, for the first time in their
fiistorv, will have a fair start without
an t/ fear that their improvements
nla y be confiscated by rack-renting
landlords. Such is the new healing
measure proposed by Mr. Gladstone,
an d, save the freeing of the serfs by
Russia, it promises to be the most
important act of European legislation
during this age, Yet valuable as this
new concession undoubtedly is, there
arG some irreconcilable Irishmen
who bitterly attack Mr. Parnell for
his part in bringing it about, and it
. .
^ ^ arm U) damage his influence
ultimately to bring about the
destruction of the influence of the
Irish leader.
----*♦-*—
^ WONDERFUL TRANSFORMA-
TJON.
* often told novv-a-days to be
q ‘ (l afc nothi ng; that it is the
^ development and wonders, and
™ ., * •, b - ccin3 so But the storv that
' '
Eri ou the Lake
, Wiohiu{in railroad, will
,
f n n the most credulous, yet
. j j for as bc j n(r true in
every particular, it is the singular
case of a young woman with a big
beard. She is represented as having
been very pretty and bright, but by
degrees the transformation began to
take place, and the symptoms of a
mustache on her upper lip failed to
give her any delight. She grew
reserved and ashamed to meet any
one. At last she could not stand it
t^cr femily thlt
Sl,e had obtained work, that a change
of sea had been effected, and she was
0 , 3 ° C an ^ _ v p Snine
? U *
weeks ago her family were astonished ,1
r.z „ « n p Irm/incr voun<*
Lrlv bnt imagine their astonishment
wh e'n they learned that the young
‘
fellow .. was the • long l nn<r lost lost daughter daughter.
Ue or s e, as tic anc ^“ ,a j* ‘
had been running a farm, had , made
money an. a come
Uiem . The story ,» remarkabl
tougli, ut per raps some p o e
digest it. It,, said robe ap
unvarmsbed statement ot fans.
[Memphis Scumtar^___
VIia _., nn^r ir OF T . lF fc EV 's tv
of ln»^
race ,n Kussia and
for t ie ” ‘
> •>«*• ' ' ‘ ons ' had
spoken, none o w mm , n , • ..
to recommend _ “
man name .
dteaUhtegan to relate “5 b. Liais. *££ „
whmu ms neighbor, had been ex-
posed. As he P~«a«a he grew
and more ‘ 3 p ‘^,
en y 01 ercome y .* ie
fell upon the fioor. An exnm.natum . T n i n .t;„ n
showed that b.-' ae
1 TEEMS- $1 50 A YEAfi.
NO. 47
A GEORGIA GIRL’S PLUCK.
- r , . r
. . *
arc iione. > o . . esey, w o
as : 1 ’ ln,e in g* ° rcorgta, i oe$
unquestromng anbmmawn
10 ^ a Py ice * ° lc " r ms in<
Y’ , 08 ® . Jc iavlor owards llls Previous \ ’
.
f WflS 8 ° ^ ^ UOUM '
e\en sa.i r o ia\c
, , .
° XG 10 ^ ai 0 lMS tais an< otucr
* ^ P ums et way wari ness.
wlfeit , .e
sue^reSei^^i
loye _ an d am going off witii
^ Makc your arrangem ents ac-
cor( p, ngly » The American girl sin:.
pj ^ T sa id £ 0 fi er guests she would not
d inner for his i or aship, as busi-
ncgg would prevent his dining at
^ entertained thc party
c j ever ]y and took the train in pursuit
next morning and overhauled him in
the south of France, but he declined
to return. As the Machioness had a
very haudsGiue settlement in addi¬
tion to her title, she is rather to be
congratulated on being rid of her
scamp of a husband, and London
society laughs at the idea of Ileury
Paget being ‘come up with’ by his
.American wife.—Philadelphia Times,
WILLINGHAM ON WOMAN.
God, in all his creation, made
woman the sweetest aud
the truest and best of His haiuli-
work. God made the flowers of earth
the incense of her loveliness and
humanity. It was woman who made
decoration day in Georgia. 7t is to
woman we owe its perpetual obscrv-
ancc of that day. It is to the sweet-
De£jg >TomaU s nature that the
southern heart is brought once a
year to contemplate the love we owe
to oqr confederate dead, It is the
hand of a woman that the garlands
of the sweetest memories are strewn
upon honored and unknown graves,
It is so natural and lovely that wo-
man should bo the first at our birth
and the last at our bier, it is she
that impresses the last kiss as
as the first, It is woman’s sweet
voice that first lullabies man to sleep
in his most helpless infancy. It is
woman that guides him to manhood
and preserves him in his moral
integrity. To man woman l* every
thing—she is all to him.—Cartcrs-
ville Free Press,
VARNISH IN CHURCH.
The seats ba.l bee,, newly varn-
‘abed, and, somehow, t ic i arms was
not right, as it was ^rnbly st.Uy
You know when you pull anjthmg
off of sticky varnish it cracks. Well,
-
the audience had , , all ,, got t seated,
the hymn, and as the basement of
his trousers let loose of the r am sh
of his chair, there was a noise like the
* ^ (m t! ie wall with a
^ palm-leaf fan The minister looked
at ^ chair t „ scc lf he was
g all P“ present, an «^ i that ^ no guiltv ^ man's thc
^ The choir arose with a sound
J an[ , aftcr the tenor had
ZfZ^l up^a lo2ellge "piUof an d frog, the base and
alto had hemmed, aud the soprano
“.uh ££»t
^uuds like picket-firing in
distance en the eve of battle, and
tb n a few more got up and the
r ^ attlinw of ° thc Iting yarnUh sounded as if
t was more animated,
and then the whole audience cJh got on
with the of a
* ffiM k«try. >, The choir
sang HoW * ^ &u sat
gingerly . T be
9erTices were stort, and
went we,. ; home Imme^p praving a, . for the man that
AN ARKANSAS GUITKAU.
‘Parson Timothy.* said the Judge
to a colored man who had just been
arraigned, ‘you are charged with
stealing Deacon Thompson's wife. I
have known you for years, and had
always considered you an upright
man. And now, air, that you are
arraigned on so terrible a charge,
with such overwhelming proof
against you. 1 must coufess that my
faith in the colored part of humanity
is greatly shaken by a chill from the
dark swamps of deception. As you
expect One day to be arraigned before
a Bar fVora which there is no appeal,
rae) are you guilty? Did you ruu
awa y with Deacon Thompson s wife,
.jedge,' replie j Timothy, after
several minutes reflection, it woul
ta j ie some time to splain dis matter
ter de satisfaction ob de Coint. But
iff try. I is a preacher, as yerse
we n knows, an’has assisted man} ft
man in findin the Lamb-
‘^s,’broke in a witness, ‘an’ ycr
shee P an * sta * e xt last lall>
‘ ^ileuce'r
thundered rnc
wiU be stood on your head. The
prisoner- shall be protected. The
Constitution of the United States
declares in italics that prisoners are
entitlecl to tbe respeot and floral
tributes of every man, woman and
child in the country.’
‘You arc mighty Confcd. Jedge,’
said the prisoner, ‘ris I was going
to remark, / lave Deacon Thompson
like a red mule loves oats Visitin’
pi s house often, I seed dat lus wife
gib him a great deal ob ’noyance. 1
seed, sepenter something was done.
dar would be a split iu de family.
Arter studyin’ de question sebcral
days I was inspired to remove de
'oman. De impulse was so strong
dat I couldn’t shake it off. Affairs
grew wusser an’ wusser. ylt last I
went ober ter de deacon's house an
removed dc ’ 0 man.’
y be prosecuting Attorney then
.j c dg e ,’ exclaimed the prisoner,
tkati prosecuting •Attorney is a fool,
a ,pi oWe de witness ten cents for
^ oar d (Sensation in thc Courts
room y I was inspired to remove de
’ oman.’
‘Were yon ever crazy?* asked the
counsel lor defense.
‘I should remark,’ answered the
p r j son er. ‘I flung a hatchet at ole
mas t, e r’fore de war, an’ artewards
^ntt my head agin a beech tree till it
tkro p\)cd like a stone-bruise. I is a
" niggar, an’ ef I hadn t
co n( , ter Rock I might hab
stai d away> p on *t let bow-legged
j ke ^tify. fur I borrowed a shirt
from hitn ;
Here a frisky negro stopped up and
gtruc k the prisoner with a hoop-pole.
The prisoner in his excitement called
the Judge a liar. Reeess was then
taken, during which time the prison¬
er ate a boiled cabbage. After recess
the witness acknowledged that he
owed another witness ten cents. Then
the Court adjourned.—Little Rock
Gazette.
A CONTINGENT FEE.
^ citizen had had occasion to
conHU |t a lawyer legardmg cr a a suit suit
hut —-t-* of the definite oi.teome ot whicb
h e was in doubt Hcdrd ootvnsh to
p ;V y a retaining fee, because he was
of winning. Thc a torncy
^ said be would accept a contingent fee.
rarty met j, r . Burleigh sonic
me afterward and asked him the
contingent fire,
,j contingent fee,' jocosely said
Mf Burleigln is this: If a lawyer
loSes the cfls . he gets nothing, /fhe
get nothing.'
,7j ut ; said the perplexed party,
^
8
5aki .
.p, u t it seems that l don't get
anv thine Ln in either event, - said the
^ ffian , w ^.nation, jiis intellect had fully
)ed liic
Ju^tTee,' ‘Well that is about the size of a
replied Mr. Burleigh,
thc conversation—
Fress .
--*-----
Frank Brady, cneof the star
routers, has given bail under the new
f-t '20 COO