Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-09-18, Page 3Killer Hatched Suh:.tde Mot The c:gan in the dock was for- gotten for the moment. The eyes of the court were on the duel be- tween the witness -box and the counsel desks at Lewes Assizes. They were watching the star +witness for the defence slowly but surely bring the shadow of the gallows ever nearer to the prisoner. They were watching. a futile attempt by the witness to dis- credit the evidence of one of the most famous court person- alities of the day - Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the eminent patholo- gist. The witness was Dr. Robert Bronte, who was later to be- come famous for his hitter clashes in court with Sir Bern- ard. But this was his first mur- oer trial, the case of Norman Thorne charged with the murder of a young woman on his chicken farm in Sussex, Bronte had been called to dis- prove Sir Bernard's evidence that it was a clear case of mur- der. The defence hoped the doc- tor would bolster up their theory, that the woman had com- mitted suicide and that Thorne had panicked. But Thorne, a Sunday school teacher, a member of the Band of Hope and a boys' club leader, did not look the sort who panick- ed. In the dock he was cool -and self-assured. Just, the prosecu- tion alleged, as he had been on the night of the murder. The crime was a brutal one. Elsie Cameron, plump and un- attractive, had called on Thorne to issue an ultimatum that he should marry her, or pay her a large sum of money, as she was expecting a baby, But Thorne was in no position to do either. His chicken farm was not prospering; his parents were subsidizing him. And he had fallen in love with another woman. He and Elsie had a bitter row on the chicken farm. He told the woman he was going out to see his new sweetheart. When he came back he found Elsie hanging from a roof beam in the farm house, he told the police. Ile admitted cutting her down. Then, he insisted, panic over- came him. He dismembered the body and buried it in various parts of the chicken farm. Jt was a fairly plausible story. And Mr. John Cassels, defending, made the most of it. Prosecuting was the many -chinned wonder of the day, Sir Henry Curtis - Bennett. Tried In March, 1925, the whole ease revolved around whether Elsie Cameron had committed suicide in a fit of depression and Thorne, panicking, had bur- ied her body. If that was so, clearly there was no case of murder against him. But Sir Bernard Spilsbury had gone a long way towards shat- tering the defence case. The beam from which Thorne claim- ed he had found her hanging had been produced in court. And there was no trace Of rope or cord marks. Sir Bernard gave the jury a picture of what could have hap- pened. In the heat of the argu- ment Thorne had struck the wo- man time and again. Suddenly he had found her dead. And he had cut her into small pieces in the hope of avoiding detection. The defence, however, insisted that there was no struggle. And they called Dr. Bronte to give weight to their argument. He was an Irishman, flam- boyant, forceful, uncouth and often careless in his statements. He was a pathologist at Harrow Hospital. His qualifications were not impressive, but over the years he was called time and Drive With Care again to challenge medical evi- dence for the Crown. And every time he was proved wrong! This time he swaggered into tU.e box. Be casta scornful eye over the jury, snorted in the di- rection of the prosecution and prepared to say his piece. An amazing story it was, He insisted that death was due to self -strangulation! "My experience of people in- tending to die by one means or another is vast," he thundered. The court was shocked into silence. Was this the best the defence could offer - self- strangulation? The faces of the jury were blank, but there was little doubt what they must be thinking. Everybody looked at the doc- tor. Unabashed, he went on to say that he had brought the records of nearly 500 cases of un- usual deaths. But the judge said curtly; "There are limits as to how far this can go." In many ways it was a warn- ing to Bronte. Defence counsel saw it. Realizing the damage the Witness was doing to the prisoner's fate, they brought the examination to a hurried end. But not before Bronte, well in his stride, had rambled on about many things not connected with the case. When he started dis sussing chickens loud sniggers same from the public seats. • Finally, Curtis - Bennett rose to object. In his awe-inspiring voice he roared: "I do not know how we are to stop this sort of things" The judge agreed and ordered Bronte to confirm himself to events nearer the case. But by then he had said enough. Norman Thorne must have felt the hangman's steps getting closer. But when he went into the witness -box he showed no trace of his fears. He blund- ered through cross-examination. Then came the question of the bruises. For a moment Thorne made no reply. Then in a calm voice he said: ('I'm sure there were nonel" An incredible reply, consider- ing that he had admitted dis- membering the body and could not have failed to see the bruises, Considering his counsel had said they were caused by self - strangulation, as s t a t e d by Bronte. After that Thorne's fate was sealed. It took the jury just 20 minutes to find him guilty. He was hanged on the very day that would' have been Elsie Cameron's 27th birthday, largely condemn-. ed by Dr, Bronte's fantastic testi- mony under cross-examination, BULLS AND BEARS When Casey Stengel was managing the Dodgers - that fellow sure has been around - the players lost interest in ball playing and began devoting all their time to the stock market. Even the clubhouse attendant became Wall Street conscious. As the club sank lower and lower in the standings, Casey finally took the bull -and the bear -by the horns. After a 14-2 loss, he rushed into the clubhouse and excitedly shout- ed, "Hold everything, I just got a tip on a hot stock -New York Central Railroad!" The players quickly crowded around him. "Honestly, Casey? Is that a fact? You're not kid- ding?" "Darn • toatin'! I'm serious. By the time I get finished shipping all you clowns back to the bushes, the New York Cen- tral will be able to declare an extra dividend!" A new M.P. flung clown sev- eral typewritten sheets before his secretary, , "Don't use such long words in my speeches," he said. "I want to know what I'm talking about." CR SSSWOR PUZZLE AP miss t Singleton 4 .anring 7 (lonl(a slowly in water it individual belong dish 14. Wagnerian rhat'anter 15 Above 11. Implore 17. 'flange of knowledge 19 Dr. letter 19. T,nw grad barge 71 -Net many 2.1 Jap, coin 23. Bewilder 24. And not 25. Incllnallon 2E. rtrgan of hearing 27. Senlder 20. 'Ensnare 71 (Hants 34. Levitical 36 Vegetable 37. Slender 29. twine easic 40. Tilt to one side 4 D .•a t ahs urs 4 t home 4'.. (''.nit'ade 41, 'I t o',rinleee 47. Behold 40 Car 51. Venerated 53. Nasal sound 54 Sheen 85.Put tvith E.. Half scare 32. Snuggled 9. Powerful 33 Held a delty session 10. (frown girls 3a. Religious 11. Dwarf slitter 13. Black 37 'Thin erten 17. Horny tissue f:'hric DOWN 20. Drapery 23 trice cloth 1. rtuteh 1:. 31. in favor 02 40. Tartly ladies islands 22. Egyptian 42, Poverty 2. windlass deity 43. Cavern 8. English 23. witness 45. Equality letter 34, (11 a nephew 45. ("hop 4. Swerve 25 Wager 49 Strange 5 Swine 27, Tribunal 20. Accontpllsit 5, Artie a 28. Tv:Belling 51. reeeeretne 1. Merganser 3p. Batter ,s. Sun goes 1 2'3 12 15 s .19 20 23 26 _ 29 13 4 ' 7 0 9 10 11 • 24 25, 7 30 32 33 A*8 34 37 38 41 44 49 53 35 4b 43 7 4E 52 7 54 Answer elsewhere on this page. STOCKPILING - Tommy Atkinson, 7, gets in all the fishing and dreaming possible before the count -down on vacation touches off the school bell, to launch him into an orbit far from his favorite haunts. 1I�E ARN PRONT Agricultural scientists a r e trying to fatten Alberta's sugar - beet yields through lengthening the limited growing season en- joyed by that province. 4. * 0 Their promising efforts, ex- tended this year to 200 acres of average farmlands, could revo- lutionize sugar -beet growing in Alberta and sweeten the profits for farmers by millions of dol- lars annually. * * * In the new approach toward increasing per -acre yields, at the beginning of April sugar beets are started in hot beds heated by electric cables. Then early in May the tiny plants are seet out in fields at 12 -inch intervals in the regular rows. * * * While adding more than a full month to the growing season for sugar beets in Alberta, this sys- tem also offers several other major advantages, including the elimination of the tedious opera tion of beet thinning necessary when the seed is planted in iields with beet drills in the usual manner. 4 * * Though the new approach was attempted on an experimental basis for the first time in Al- berta only last year, agricultural scientists and farmers already are excited over its possibilities for that province but also for Canada's other sugar -beet -grow- ing provinces - Manitoba, On- tario, and Quebec. * 0 a In last year's modest experi- ments, sugar - beet seedlings started in hot beds and seed were both planted on May 6. When the results were harvested in the fall, the field -seeded crop averaged a hefty 20.56 tons of ~sugar beets to the acre. Although there was no increase in the sugar content, the crop grown from transplanted seedlings av- eraged 28.9 tons an acre. * * * And with beets fetching Al- berta farmers around $15 a ton, the transplanting method repre- sented additional profits of some $100 an acre. • * * According to agricultural offi- dais, Alberta's beet yields under normal farming conditions can be increased ceneietently by more than seven tons an acre through the transplanting method. While sugar beets have been grown commercially in southern Alberta since 1003, the prov- ince's relatively short Browing season has presented difficulties that resulted in Alberta's beet yields generally being far ..hurt of those harve.-ted in most see - Hans fn the United States. A number of beef carcasses are condemned in meat packing plants every year because of undesirable odours. * * *. • What causes this waste? * * * Tests have shown that weed seeds, such as stinkweed. fed in refuse screenings right up to slaughter, may leave an objec- tionable odocir or flavour. * * c Thousands of tons of screen- ings are available each year from terminal grain elevators, flour mills, and seed -cleaning plants. Most of it is fed to Bat- tle, sheep and other livestock. * * * Two Canada Department of Agriculture experililenIs were conducted to determine whether feeding screenings containing a high l rnportion of s:ini;t�ead seeds to fattening beef cattle would result in objectionable odours or oft -flavours in the meat. * * * One test was made at Van- couver, B.C., and the other at the Lethbridge Experimental Farm. Involved were 44 year- ling steers. * * * Nine of 12 steers slaughtered, immediately off screenings, had a slight too strong odour in their carcasses. * * * There were no objectionable Odours in the carcasses of ani- mals that were off screenings 24, 48, or 96 hours before slaugh- ter. Since cattle are off feed for at least 24 hours in normal com- mercial slaughtering, chances of objectionable odours or off - flavours occurring are slim. 4 * * Two animals slaughtered, im- mediately off screenings, and one held off screenings for 48 hours before slaughter, had off -favours in the meat when cooked. * * *' Officials also • concluded from the tests that weed seeds other than stinkweed may cause odours in meat. Busy Yeggs Francois Boret is a plump and smiling former acrobat wile) long ago decided that show bust- ress was slow business. Instead of tumbling before the crowd, he followed circuses around the French provinces and tumbled into empty homes while the per- formance was on. The Paris police knew all that. for they had a record of nine burglary convictions against Boret. But back in 1951 he gave his guards the slip at Paiis's Fresnes penitentiary, hid in the prison for 48 hours until the search was over, then simply walked out among the daily stream of visitors. Fugitive Boret, now 58, and so gentle - mannered that he is known as Pepere (Grampa), joined forces 1 a s t June with three oddly assorted characters -Bernard Cappe, who kept 60 canaries in his Paris apartment: Robert Rudel, who lived a re- spectable family life by day and prowled by night, and an Egyre tian who was known around Montmartre bars only as "Nas- ser." Last month, after being Picked up in a routine check of "suspicious characters," Beret and his gang were in jail on an eye-opening collection of charges. Grampa talked freely about the textile store they had -bro- ken into Aug. 6. That netted $6,000 worth of 'material. Then there was a delicatessen that yielded $2,000 worth of hams. On and on went the list -stores, apartments, even gypsy trailers -until Boret wearily said: "I just can't remember them all." "Why don't you look up the list of all the complaints in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Ar- rondissements?" Cappe suggest- ed helpfully. When police finished drawing up the charges against Grampa's gang, the burglaries totalled 115 - an average of almost three a day. Although police were still trying to compute the exact amount stolen, the production - line gang complained that it once netted as little as 15 francs (3 cents). "We weren't lucky every day," remarked Grampa philosophic- elly, "That's why we had to keep at the job." TUNNEL "MOON" -What looks like a time-lapse picture of the moon against background of blurry stars is actually a steel sphere and the patterns formed as water flows around it in- side a new water tunnel at the Westinghouse Research Labora- tories, Pa. The tunnel, containing 13 tons of water moving at 8,000 gallons a minute, is used to study similar flow patterns past more complicated structures, such as the turbine blade of a jet engine. BIM SCI1001 LESSON By Bev ti. Barclay Warren B.A., B.1) Justice in Economic Life Exodus 20:15; Amos 8: 4-7; James 5:1-5; 3 Peter 4:10-11 Memory Selection: He that is faithful in that which is leas! is faithful also in much: and to that is unjust in the least it unjust also in 2nuch. Luke 16:10 This lesson begins with tut eighth commandment, "Thee shalt not steal," From the other portions of Scripture we see that there are various ways of steal- ing. Amos eebukes the merchants who make the ephah small and the skekel great. The ephah was a dry measure whichheld about eight gallons. By mak,ng the measure a little smaller t h an standard the buyer was getting less than he expected. The mer- chant made the schekel great by ialsifying the balance To illus- trate: to make the balance regis- ter 20 ounces of gold the pur- chaser would have to put on 11 ounces. Thus the buyer was cheated both ways. He was pay- ing more money than he ought and getting less wheat than he expected. Inflation has the same effect as making the shekel great. A dollar saved in 1938 has much less value today. Amos reproved the greedy merchants w b o could scarcely wait until the Sabbath was past so that they might sell "the re- fuse of the wheat" One needs to be very wary in buying sub- standard merchandise. Some times it Is alright but most of us have learned that some of the so-called bargains are dear at any price. One buying a used c.er needs the advice of a friend who is an expert. James has dire warning for the rich who by fraud have heaped up treasure tor the last days. The rust of their gold and saver shall eat their flesh as 11 it were fire. God is on the side of the oppressed. Today, in addition to the wealthy individuals there is of- ten a concentration of wealth in the coffers of a labor Utt-lop, Thia is a frust. A leader w'1 o ittt appropriates these funds accu- mulated from the hire of labour- ers is as much of a thief as the employer who withholds the hire of those who labour for We have good lawe. We need more good people. People are made good when thee' repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They expert- ence the miracle of the new birth. Their delight is to do the whole will of God. A very talkative woman but- tonholed an angler who was minding his own business and said: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself? A big fellow like you might be better occupied than ie cruelly eetching 1!ttle tteh." "Maybe you're right madam." said the angler. "but if this fish had had the sense to- keep hiv mouth shut he wouldn't he here." Upsidedown to Prevent Peeping ICITCI'ltr a13i213 00 ISVDee `=`a A 1VHfllV1Ideee M'3 3 eiscrNlel NV1t5.eehl i..jI el OiN S CPa s l I M 1's I V3 d l �,, N f1 O 11N`iO 1. w{ I t, j s V V see. Sid'eel a(i`3�2131Vel I .1 dVb11r'3 30''21V3 IN39 210N N11© flwW In Elfe 3J.` N®©t 3W NjQ1.3WVel zV om. 9 9 d® "s3pp ` dfl DEAD CENTER - Known as a good place to hunt rattlesnakes, these barren buttes in south Dakota now conioin the geographical center of the United States. Dominated by Two Top Peak, center background, the a ea dies about 20 miles east of the point where the South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming borders meet. smarmed sources doubt that the publicity will turn the spot into a tourist resort,