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25th September 1888 Hull Daily Mail
THE TRAGEDY NEAR GATESHEAD
THE MURDERER STILL AT LARGE
OPENING OF INQUEST
The inquest on the body of Jane Beatmoor, or Savage, as she was better known, was opened yesterday morning, before Mr. Coroner Graham. The inquiry took place at the house of Mr. Charles Robson, the Three Tuns Hotel, about a mile from Birtley Railway Station, and a like distance from the place where the tragedy occurred. It is a wayside inn, right upon the main road, and, except for a house or two round it, there is no habitation nearer to it than the house in which the dead woman lived, more than half a mile away. The opening of the inquiry was fixed for half past ten o’clock. Having viewed the body, the jury proceeded to the place where the body was found. At the very top of the field, only a few yards behind the house, runs the waggon way which the Birtley Coal Company use to convey their produce to Pelaw Mais. Here it was assuming the woman was murdered where her body was found and the tragedy occurred. The waggon way runs parallel to the main road, and consists of a single line of rails of a six feet gauge. On each side of the rails there is a footway, which is commonly used by the people living round about. On the further side, there is a gutter, or ditch, some eight or nine feet deep, at the place where the jurymen got upon the waggon way, but gradually shallowing towards Eighton Banks, the nearest village upon the waggon way. It is hardly a village, but merely a cluster of red tiled houses, like others scattered along this country-side. About 200 yards from Eighton Banks, at a place where the gutter was some two feet deep, the body was found. There was little for the jury to do except to have described to them how the deceased was lying partly on her left side, with her head in the hollow, and her feet pointing towards the rails. The ground was wet and sodden by the drizzling rain, and the grass was made black by the trampling of many feet. There was nobody about now, but there were ample signs of the crowds of people who had flocked to the place after the horrible discovery. The place was right at the bottom of a fence that separates a field of hay from a field of oats. P.C. Dodds told how, about half past ten o’clock on Saturday night, he passed along the other side of the wagon way, within a half a dozen yards of the place where the body must have been lying, but suspected nothing. He had, he said, gone again on Sunday night, to see whether it would have been possible to see the body from where he passed, and he satisfied himself that the darkness, and the fact that the body was lying half concealed behind the embankment, would have prevented him from seeing anything of the occurrence. The wagon way is somewhat elevated above the surrounding country and, where the jurymen stood, they had pointed out to them the road which the woman took on Saturday night, and as they might be going over the same road, reach the Three Tuns Inn again, they determined to inspect it for themselves. A hundred yards or so beyond the spot where the body was found, a road runs to the left down to Hall’s High Farm, where the deceased had been visiting a friend before she was met upon the road that led to her own home. Further on, upon a road that runs parallel to the wagon way, and between that and the highway, the jury visited Mr Morris public house at West Moor, in which the deceased is said to have purchased some sweets to make palatable the medicine which she was to take. The distance from the house up to Birtley North Side, Hall’s High Farm, the wagon way and back to the house again would be scarcely more than a mile. Crossing the field again, the jurors returned to the Three Tuns Hotel, and having heard the evidence the police had produced, adjourned the inquiry.
OLD PIT SHAFTS TO BE EXPLORED
The result of inquiries made showed that so far as the medical authorities know at Newcastle and Gateshead Dispensaries the unfortunate woman was not a patient at either of these institutions. At least from a cursory examination of the books, her name does not appear, but she might have been a casual patient, without her name transpiring.
The police have decided to search the unused pit shafts in the locality, in order to ascertain wether the supposition that the murder has committed suicide by throwing himself down one of these shafts has any foundation.
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SCOTLAND YARD AND THE MURDER
Dr. Phillips, who made the post mortem examination of the body of Annie Chapman, the victim of the last Whitechapel murder, has been sent to Durham in connection with the terrible crime committed in that district. Dr. Phillips, who left London on Monday evening, will examine the body of the young woman with a view to ascertain whether the injuries inflicted on her resemble those on the Whitechapel victim. Inspector Roots, of the Criminal Investigation Department, also left London for Durham, with the object of ascertaining whether any of the facts connected with the murder are likely to be serviceable in eliciting the Whitechapel mysteries.
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ACTION BY THE POLICE
In their efforts to trace the history of the crime the police of the district have worked nobly and indefatigably. They have left no effort untried to elucidate the mystery which still surrounds the affair. P.C. Dodds had up to Monday been on duty for about 29 consecutive hours. Sergeant Hutchinson, of Birtley, had performed similar duty. When he first heard of the crime on Sunday morning, this officer got about making all the inquiries in his power, and he has not relaxed a single effort that was unlikely to throw any light on the matter. Superintendent Harrison, who has from the first devoted much of his time and experience to the investigation, was again on the spot during the whole of Monday, and his instructions and advice have been implicitly followed by several other officers in addition to those already mentioned.
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SEARCH FOR THE KNIFE
While most of the officers named were engaged in other duties connected with the case, P.C. Reynolds and others made a diligent search in the field of oats that stands in close proximity to the spot where the murder was committed. There was an impression that the perpetrator of the deed, after the commission of the act, must have concealed the instrument with which it was committed somewhere, and it was thought extremely likely that the knife, or whatever ever sharp weapon it may have been, might have been flung by him amongst the oats, where it was likely to remain hidden for a considerable time. This theory at any rate found acceptance with the police, and the search of Monday was decided on and very diligently made. Nothing, however, in the way of discovery rewarded the efforts of the officers. Only a portion of the field was got through, and the search for the weapon will be resumed to day.
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FEELING IN THE DISTRICT
The consternation which the tragedy had caused in the district had but little abated on Monday. The opening of the inquest, indeed tended to still further stir up public feeling, and on all sides there where expressions of horror and detestation of the crime which had been committed. It is by far the worst that has ever taken place in that portion of the country, and a general wish is expressed that if the murderer, whoever he may be, is still alive he may speedily be brought to justice. “We have never had anything so fearful as this,” remarked a Birtley man, on Monday. “We have had quarrels and fights, and occasionally bloodshed, but the quarrels have generally been amicably settled, and no life has been taken.” The affair, in short, is regarded as a blot on the character of the district, and the police, in their efforts to trace the crime to it’s proper source, are likely to receive all the aid that the inhabitants of the locality can give them. The deceased young woman was a native to the village. She was very well known to most of the residents, and while deep regret is expressed at her lamentable fate, a very wide sympathy is evinced towards the members of the family to which she belonged. Her aged mother has been completely prostrated with grief at the awful calamity which has befallen her daughter, and all her relatives are, as might be expected, stricken with grief at the occurrence.
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A PERSON “WANTED”The following description of the person “wanted” on suspicion in connection with the Birtley Fell tragedy has been issued from the County Police Station at Gateshead:-
“Durham C. Constabulary,
“Chester Division.
“Wanted, in the above division, on suspicion of murdering a young woman, near Birtley, on the night of Saturday, the 22nd September, 1888. He was gone immediately after, and has not been seen since. He had in his possession a large knife, with the letters “J.F.” scratched on the handle.
“William Waddle or Twaddle, about 27 years of age, height 5 feet 9 or 10 inches, fresh complexion, blue eyes, which are small and sunken, brown hair, figure proportionate, very bad walker, has tender and walks with toes out, and leans well forward, a labourer, gas worked as a farm servant. Single. Dressed, when last seen, in a black and grey striped tweed suit, hard felt hat, yellow and black striped silk handkerchief round his neck, yellow and white striped union shirt, which is faded, laced black boots, with toe caps, recently repaired with old leather, (his own mending).
“It is earnestly requested that diligent search and inquiry be made for this man, and should he be found, detain him, and wire to the undersigned.
“John Harrison, Superintendent.
“County Police Station, Gateshead.”
The question I have, is why send Roots?
THE TRAGEDY NEAR GATESHEAD
THE MURDERER STILL AT LARGE
OPENING OF INQUEST
The inquest on the body of Jane Beatmoor, or Savage, as she was better known, was opened yesterday morning, before Mr. Coroner Graham. The inquiry took place at the house of Mr. Charles Robson, the Three Tuns Hotel, about a mile from Birtley Railway Station, and a like distance from the place where the tragedy occurred. It is a wayside inn, right upon the main road, and, except for a house or two round it, there is no habitation nearer to it than the house in which the dead woman lived, more than half a mile away. The opening of the inquiry was fixed for half past ten o’clock. Having viewed the body, the jury proceeded to the place where the body was found. At the very top of the field, only a few yards behind the house, runs the waggon way which the Birtley Coal Company use to convey their produce to Pelaw Mais. Here it was assuming the woman was murdered where her body was found and the tragedy occurred. The waggon way runs parallel to the main road, and consists of a single line of rails of a six feet gauge. On each side of the rails there is a footway, which is commonly used by the people living round about. On the further side, there is a gutter, or ditch, some eight or nine feet deep, at the place where the jurymen got upon the waggon way, but gradually shallowing towards Eighton Banks, the nearest village upon the waggon way. It is hardly a village, but merely a cluster of red tiled houses, like others scattered along this country-side. About 200 yards from Eighton Banks, at a place where the gutter was some two feet deep, the body was found. There was little for the jury to do except to have described to them how the deceased was lying partly on her left side, with her head in the hollow, and her feet pointing towards the rails. The ground was wet and sodden by the drizzling rain, and the grass was made black by the trampling of many feet. There was nobody about now, but there were ample signs of the crowds of people who had flocked to the place after the horrible discovery. The place was right at the bottom of a fence that separates a field of hay from a field of oats. P.C. Dodds told how, about half past ten o’clock on Saturday night, he passed along the other side of the wagon way, within a half a dozen yards of the place where the body must have been lying, but suspected nothing. He had, he said, gone again on Sunday night, to see whether it would have been possible to see the body from where he passed, and he satisfied himself that the darkness, and the fact that the body was lying half concealed behind the embankment, would have prevented him from seeing anything of the occurrence. The wagon way is somewhat elevated above the surrounding country and, where the jurymen stood, they had pointed out to them the road which the woman took on Saturday night, and as they might be going over the same road, reach the Three Tuns Inn again, they determined to inspect it for themselves. A hundred yards or so beyond the spot where the body was found, a road runs to the left down to Hall’s High Farm, where the deceased had been visiting a friend before she was met upon the road that led to her own home. Further on, upon a road that runs parallel to the wagon way, and between that and the highway, the jury visited Mr Morris public house at West Moor, in which the deceased is said to have purchased some sweets to make palatable the medicine which she was to take. The distance from the house up to Birtley North Side, Hall’s High Farm, the wagon way and back to the house again would be scarcely more than a mile. Crossing the field again, the jurors returned to the Three Tuns Hotel, and having heard the evidence the police had produced, adjourned the inquiry.
OLD PIT SHAFTS TO BE EXPLORED
The result of inquiries made showed that so far as the medical authorities know at Newcastle and Gateshead Dispensaries the unfortunate woman was not a patient at either of these institutions. At least from a cursory examination of the books, her name does not appear, but she might have been a casual patient, without her name transpiring.
The police have decided to search the unused pit shafts in the locality, in order to ascertain wether the supposition that the murder has committed suicide by throwing himself down one of these shafts has any foundation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCOTLAND YARD AND THE MURDER
Dr. Phillips, who made the post mortem examination of the body of Annie Chapman, the victim of the last Whitechapel murder, has been sent to Durham in connection with the terrible crime committed in that district. Dr. Phillips, who left London on Monday evening, will examine the body of the young woman with a view to ascertain whether the injuries inflicted on her resemble those on the Whitechapel victim. Inspector Roots, of the Criminal Investigation Department, also left London for Durham, with the object of ascertaining whether any of the facts connected with the murder are likely to be serviceable in eliciting the Whitechapel mysteries.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTION BY THE POLICE
In their efforts to trace the history of the crime the police of the district have worked nobly and indefatigably. They have left no effort untried to elucidate the mystery which still surrounds the affair. P.C. Dodds had up to Monday been on duty for about 29 consecutive hours. Sergeant Hutchinson, of Birtley, had performed similar duty. When he first heard of the crime on Sunday morning, this officer got about making all the inquiries in his power, and he has not relaxed a single effort that was unlikely to throw any light on the matter. Superintendent Harrison, who has from the first devoted much of his time and experience to the investigation, was again on the spot during the whole of Monday, and his instructions and advice have been implicitly followed by several other officers in addition to those already mentioned.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEARCH FOR THE KNIFE
While most of the officers named were engaged in other duties connected with the case, P.C. Reynolds and others made a diligent search in the field of oats that stands in close proximity to the spot where the murder was committed. There was an impression that the perpetrator of the deed, after the commission of the act, must have concealed the instrument with which it was committed somewhere, and it was thought extremely likely that the knife, or whatever ever sharp weapon it may have been, might have been flung by him amongst the oats, where it was likely to remain hidden for a considerable time. This theory at any rate found acceptance with the police, and the search of Monday was decided on and very diligently made. Nothing, however, in the way of discovery rewarded the efforts of the officers. Only a portion of the field was got through, and the search for the weapon will be resumed to day.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEELING IN THE DISTRICT
The consternation which the tragedy had caused in the district had but little abated on Monday. The opening of the inquest, indeed tended to still further stir up public feeling, and on all sides there where expressions of horror and detestation of the crime which had been committed. It is by far the worst that has ever taken place in that portion of the country, and a general wish is expressed that if the murderer, whoever he may be, is still alive he may speedily be brought to justice. “We have never had anything so fearful as this,” remarked a Birtley man, on Monday. “We have had quarrels and fights, and occasionally bloodshed, but the quarrels have generally been amicably settled, and no life has been taken.” The affair, in short, is regarded as a blot on the character of the district, and the police, in their efforts to trace the crime to it’s proper source, are likely to receive all the aid that the inhabitants of the locality can give them. The deceased young woman was a native to the village. She was very well known to most of the residents, and while deep regret is expressed at her lamentable fate, a very wide sympathy is evinced towards the members of the family to which she belonged. Her aged mother has been completely prostrated with grief at the awful calamity which has befallen her daughter, and all her relatives are, as might be expected, stricken with grief at the occurrence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A PERSON “WANTED”The following description of the person “wanted” on suspicion in connection with the Birtley Fell tragedy has been issued from the County Police Station at Gateshead:-
“Durham C. Constabulary,
“Chester Division.
“Wanted, in the above division, on suspicion of murdering a young woman, near Birtley, on the night of Saturday, the 22nd September, 1888. He was gone immediately after, and has not been seen since. He had in his possession a large knife, with the letters “J.F.” scratched on the handle.
“William Waddle or Twaddle, about 27 years of age, height 5 feet 9 or 10 inches, fresh complexion, blue eyes, which are small and sunken, brown hair, figure proportionate, very bad walker, has tender and walks with toes out, and leans well forward, a labourer, gas worked as a farm servant. Single. Dressed, when last seen, in a black and grey striped tweed suit, hard felt hat, yellow and black striped silk handkerchief round his neck, yellow and white striped union shirt, which is faded, laced black boots, with toe caps, recently repaired with old leather, (his own mending).
“It is earnestly requested that diligent search and inquiry be made for this man, and should he be found, detain him, and wire to the undersigned.
“John Harrison, Superintendent.
“County Police Station, Gateshead.”
The question I have, is why send Roots?
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