A Burglar Caught by a Skeleton & Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press (27 page)

Sad Death of a Step-Father

Walter W. Fish, an old resident of Rochester, Pennsylvania, was found dead last week in the grave destined for his step-daughter, Mrs William Shell.

Fish had dug the grave and returned home, but was not present at the funeral. When the procession arrived at the cemetery, James Brotherton looked into the grave and saw Mr Fish lying dead in the rough box.

The undertaker, who was on the hearse, was notified, and kept the mourners in the carriages in ignorance of what had occurred. Aided by the pallbearers, Fish’s body was removed from the grave and taken away. The funeral then proceeded without the wife of the family knowing the father’s fate, until their return home.

At the coroner’s inquest it was discovered that Fish’s neck was broken. The theory is that he stumbled and fell into the open grave. He was 60 years old.

The Western Mail
, Cardiff, December 12, 1893

France

A remarkable case of mistaken identity is reported from Fecamp. The body of a man was found recently in the Rue de Valmont, and after the usual formalities was buried as that of an octogenarian named Godefroy. Two of Godefroy’s daughters attended the funeral.

When they returned home they nearly died of terror at finding their father sitting in his usual place near the fire. The shrieks of the women, who thought they saw a ghost, brought in the neighbours, who restored them to consciousness. The error was due to a remarkable likeness between Godefroy and the man who had been found dead.

The Morning Post
, November 2, 1896

Killed by a Mouse

Extraordinary Occurrence

An extraordinary occurrence has been brought to light at an inquest of a man in South London. It appears that in a workroom where many young girls were at work a mouse suddenly made its appearance on a table, causing, of course, considerable commotion and a general stampede.

The intruder was seized, however, by a young man who happened to be present, but the mouse slipped out of his hand, and running up his sleeve, came out between his waistcoat and shirt at the neck.

The unfortunate man had his mouth open, and the mouse on the look out for some convenient place of concealment, entered the man’s mouth, and he, in his fright and surprise, swallowed it.

That a mouse can exist for a considerable time without much air has long been a popular belief and was unfortunately proved to be a fact in the present instance, for the mouse began to tear and bite inside the man’s throat and chest, and the result was that the unfortunate fellow died after a little time in horrible agony.

Several witnesses having corroborated the above facts, and medical testimony as to the cause of death having been given, a verdict of accidental death was returned.

The Manchester Evening News
, December 31, 1875

Singular Affair in London

An extraordinary case of being lost in London, which has resulted in the death of a child scarcely six weeks old, was brought to light this morning.

It would appear that a Mrs Susan Cox had resided for some time past in Elliot’s Row, St George’s Road, Southwark, with her husband and family.

On Tuesday last the family removed from that address to a house in a turning off the Walworth Road, but so that Mrs Cox should not be worried with the moving, she with her baby, which was six weeks old, went to Bayswater, to remain at the house of a friend.

Mrs Cox stayed there during Tuesday night, but started out at three o’clock yesterday afternoon from her friend’s house to her new home, which she had seen previous to the removing, but she was not certain as to the name of the street.

However, she felt sure she could find the place, and took the underground railway to Westminster. From that point she started to walk to her home and got as far as the Elephant and Castle.

According to her own statement she searched for Duke Street (there is no such street in the neighbourhood) thinking that to be the name of the street to which her household had removed; but, after wandering through the neighbourhood for several hours, constantly going over the same ground, she found herself no nearer her destination than when she started.

All her inquiries and searches to find her residence proved futile. During the whole of this time the mother was carrying her baby about with her. As time went on and the shops began to close, Mrs Cox determined to give up the search and find a suitable lodging.

At eleven o’clock last night she found herself near a private hotel in Newington Butts. Here she engaged a room for the night, but she had no sooner sat down than she found that her child was lifeless.

The poor woman seemed completely dazed at the discovery, and it was some time before she could offer any statement. Ultimately a police constable was called in, and it was decided that Mrs Cox should proceed to the Kennington Lane Police Station, where both she and her child were seen by Dr Farr, the divisional surgeon.

The poor woman, however, seemed to have lost her memory, and it was some time before she could give the statement which is detailed above. The body of the child was then conveyed to the Newington mortuary, and after Mrs Cox had made another but futile search for her residence, in company with Sergeant Bontick, she was taken in an exhausted condition to the St Saviour Union Workhouse.

The Manchester Evening News
, February 4, 1886

Shocking and Fatal Mistake

A
Dalziel
despatch, dated Jasper (Indiana), Nov 26, states: A farmer named Thomas Atkins, while hunting yesterday, noticed that his dog had tracked something in a hollow tree-trunk. Thinking that he had found a ‘catamount,’ Atkins called off his dog and shot into the end of the trunk.

He then took a stick and pushed out the object that he had shot. It proved to be the body of his own boy, aged four years, whose head had been completely blown off. Atkins attempted to commit suicide when he found what he had done, but did not succeed.

The Midland Daily Telegraph
, Coventry, November 27, 1891

A Peculiar Case

A man named William Hutchinson was recently admitted to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, suffering from a pain in the chest, a cough, and shortness of breath. He was treated for heart disease and consumption, but he sank gradually for about a month, when he died.

A post-mortem examination of the body was made, and embedded in the right lung, a musket bullet was found. The deceased, who was 41 years of age, had been a soldier, and served in the Indian Mutiny of 1857–8. He was shot in the right side of the chest, but the wound healed. He subsequently served the remaining portion of his time with his regiment, and was discharged with a pension.

He returned to Edinburgh, where he eked out a livelihood as a hawker for many years, being in no wise troubled with the bullet, which no doubt ultimately caused his death. In fact, until within three months of his death, he enjoyed unbroken health.

The bullet had hollowed out a cavity for itself near the apex of the lung, where it must have rolled about during life. It was encrusted with a hard white substance, and weighed about an ounce and a quarter.

The Edinburgh Evening News
, November 9, 1878

Singular Cause of Death

A young lady in Reading, Pa., has just died from sheer fright, produced through a foolish fancy. Having had her photograph taken, she showed a copy to her mother, who discovered the form of a skull on the pictures. Another skull having been figured out, the young lady grew pale, took to her bed, and died.

The Edinburgh Evening News
, September 7, 1876