85 B0
themse
are by no seem to think
never come face to
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
in ambush. But means exhausted, We have at pre- over 250,000 men, we have in 150,000 men, all armed, and wo will hortly have 30,000 in the Philippines. Then have a reserve of a million men who could be called up in three months. We have seven battleships of the first class, and twenty other good ships, besides other smaller craft, and in six months our battleships will number eleven
Spain has nothing to lose by a war with the United States. If we were to lose Cuba, we should be only losing a possession which has been of no use to us for a long time. In conclusion, Mr. Mencarini observed that it was a mistake to suppose that the offer of autonomy to the Cubans on condition of sub- mission was a olimbing down process due to the action of the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate. The offer was made nearly a year ago by Senor Canovas, the Spanish Premier, as soon as he came into power.
1.
THE DRAMATIC MARRIAGE OF DR. RIZAL
DREADFUL FATALITY ΑΓ
SHANGHAI
A LADY BURNT TO. DEATH, "At Shanghai, on the 1st January, a lady, Mrs. Brumfield, whose husband is in the employ of Mr. G. McBain, was burnt to death.
A gentleman who was one of those who answered the alarm favoured the N. C. Daily News with the following record of what he personally saw of the dreadful tragedy:
Having had a small private tiffin party in the private dining-room of the Club, we were seated round the fire chatting when, about 3, or a quarter past, some of the Club "boys" ran into the room and called out, "Fire! Fire! Dining- room." We at once rashed into the large din ing-room and then saw a fire on the verandah of Club Chambers opposite. Some one was seen in flames on the verandah. Looking up I saw a human being leaning on the verandah rail destitute of all clothing except stockings over whom natives were throwing buckets of water! Immediately a rush was mads downstairs and Dr. Grant, who was with our party, at once gave orders for oil and wool and hurried to the rooms where the accident had taken place. Up to this moment no one know who it was por to what nationality or sex the person belonged. Our party reached the room to find that Captain Tisdall had given the alarm of fire, and that boys and coolies had broken into the room and put the fire out, and had then seen the woman on the verandah and at once threw water over her. By the time bur party reached the room Mrs. Brumfield had fallen prostrate and almost senseless on the verandah floor. Not more than three or four minutes had elapsed between the fire being seen from the Club and her being carried in by Messrs. Box, Swan, and Edkins, and placed before the fire, where Dr. Grant at once began treating her with oil and wool. The poor woman was almost if not quite unconscious, and said "Ice! Ice!" gasp- ingly. Brandy was given her and after a time she was asked if she felt less pain, when she replied "I feel very uncomfortable." husband had now appeared on the scene. The ambulance was sent for and she was taken to the Hospital and there attended to by Dr. Grant until her own medical attendant, Dr. Lalcaca, who had been sent for, arrived,
HIS FIANCEE A HONGKONG LADY, The marriage of Dr. Rizal an hour and a half before he was publicly shot at Manila is one of the most dramatic events yet recorded in the history of the Philippine rebellion. Ao- cording to the Spanish papers Dr. Rizal con- tracted matrimony with Miss Josefina Bracken at five o'clock in the morning in the presence of the chaplain of the forces and of the officers of the guard, and at half-past six he was led to the place of execution. The heroine of this extraordinary drama, which reads more like fiction than truth, is the daughter of an English soldier, and was born in this colony. We have gleaned one or two particulars about the career of this interesting lady, who will, it is expected, shortly arrive in Hongkong, When she was quite young her father either died or went to England and an engineer named Taufer, who was for many years in charge of the Hongkong Fire Insurance Company's fire engines on the Praya, adopted her as his daughter. Taufer was well known in the colony and during the disastrous typhoon of 1874 he and his brother, who was also connected with the Insurance Company, rescued many people from drowning, Mrs. Brumfield had thrown off her dress and for which meritorious services each was awarded corset and taken an afternoon sleep. She had the Humane Society's medal. Taufer, although then got up to dress and thrown on a light not holding a very high position, amassed wrapper with a long train and this train had a considerable sum of money and some years ago evidently caught fire as she passed the fire- bought several houses in Mosque Junction, but place, where a large fire was burning. She ap- within the last few years he disposed of them.parently lost her head when she found herself on Towards 1892 his eyesight began to fail, and -fearing blindness he went to Manila to consult Dr. Rizal, taking with him his adopted daughter, Miss Josefina Bracken. By this time Dr. Rizal had been deported to Dapitan, but Taufer was determined to see the doctor and he
|
Her
fire and rushed to the door screaming, but her left hand being in splints she was unable to open the door with one hand, and then rushed to the window, which she broke, and got through on to the verandah. Captain Tisdall had heard screams and then smelt fire and had given the
and when she 19 that one of There are all so life, and as to the obvions that the fact be elicited in a public Court allows thes things too often are here, weather, and there is no
the poor haste,
twenty four
the maTE
hours
January 14, 1897
ing
inquest being held, alth of the Court was drawn to the publi existing on the subject. late, however, for the Coroner to hold an inquest; and we trust that the Court w reconsider its determination, which public scandal. It is will not be allowed to rest where it now is, for it must be remembered Order in Council gives the here all the powers and
ertain that the
the office of Coroner in England, it the duties.
ta
The
In its issue of the 5th January our contem- porary says The Supreme Court has, as will be learnt with general satisfaction, reconsidered its decision, and an inquest is to be held to-day on the remains of the late Mrs. Brumfield That it was not held before the funeral was, a5 we thought, an oversight, the facts of the case not being appreciated when it was decided to sanction the burying of the remains. absence of the late Assistant Judge and Coroner and the non-arrival of his successor have naturally caused some difficulty in the working at the British Consulate General, and no one could imagine that there was any desire to hush up the matter, the impression being rather that the accident was a simple one, not complicated by suspicions circumstances.
The body was accordingly exhumed and an inquest held, the proceedings on the first day consisting simply of the taking of formal evidence of identification.
THE INQUEST.
The inquest on the body of Emma Cecilia Brumfield, which was opened at Shanghai on the 5th January, was continued on the 6th and
corolt.ded on the 7th.
The cirer stances under which the deceased was discovered with her clothes burning have been already published. Several witnesses were called who had seen her shortly before the accident, and from their evidence it appeared she was rational, though excited.
Dr. Lalcaca, the deceased's medical attendant, said I received a note on the morning New Year's Day from Mrs. Brumfield asking me to attend her. (Note produced and handed to Jury). I went round a little after nine o'clock to No. 10, Club Chambers, where she lived. I knocked at the door and she opened it in a little while I could not say whether it was looked or simply
she showed me that
it was ver pain her wrist was hart. ful. I asked her how she got it, and the raid it was an accident. Lald Accident wh
and she said. " It is sort of accident P hiding things, I will tell you all.. I whilst struggling with she described to me how the Shall I tell exactly what she
and Miss Bracken journeyed to the place of alarm to the servants, who opened the door. The what was the matter anded I asked her
natives, as far as their knowledge went, showed great presence of mind..
The Club was almost empty at the time and the Club boys gave the alarm to those in the private dining-room, who were those who first got on the scene after the native servante, and by them everything that could be done was done for the victim under the prompt and cool and efficient direction of Dr. Grant.
exile and had an opportunity of consulting the doctor in the fortress. Taufer and his adopted daughter remained at Dapitan for two years, and then Taufer returned to Hongkong, where he is still living, but he is quite blind. Miss Bracken, who had during her two years' stay m_Dapitan become greatly attached to Dr. Rizal, went back to the fortress and rented a house. She paid frequent visits to Dr. Rizal and it is supposed that they were Our informant adds that there was no sign ust about to get married when the doctor was in the room of anyone having been drinking to Manila, then to Spain, and then back there, and that when Dr. Grant asked for brandy anila again. Whether Miss Bracken to give Mrs. Brumfield, her husband, whom his followed her betrothed backwards and forwards wife had recognised, had to get a fresh bottle
Enot known but her subsequent marriage and open it. We learn that just before her to finder such strikingly tragio circumstances death at the hospital Mrs. Brumfield was con- New affords a strong foundation for a powerful story.scious, and said to her husband: “ Will, you'll
The writer Ga
By the Way" in the Japan to the Carew case, says-A is told of the drawing for jurors. generally known that when the are revised the numbers corresponding list are placed in a bag ened when a jury is required, e was the first drawn, and Mr. It has been erroneously ints that Mr. JT Boag's Ir Dickinson's name was drawn
have a vein opened in my arm me, to make sure that I'm dead,
The Jury--I think we shoul Witness continned dinner the night prov
The said and I
you bury you p
Sho
The sad accident at Shanghai on New Year Day, by which a European woman was bur to death, seems to have caused considera excitement in consequence of certain peculiar circumstances attending it and the fact the body was interred without an inquest being held---
The N. O. Daily News of the 4th Jan an ne editorial note the subject says
unfortunate woman burnt to broad daylight in a room s ith a looked
860 some
She
p and left
pened