THE HONGKONG
TELEGRAPH, THURSDAY, MAY
1938.
TORSO MYSTERY STILL UNSOLVED
Open Verdict At Inquest
DANCER'S MOTHER ASKED
ABOUT PARTIES
THE mystery of the torso found in the River Severn at Haw Bridge, Gloucestershire, in February this year remains unsolved. At the resumed inquest at Cheltenham the jury were absent only twenty min- on the utes, then returned an open verdict both "identity of the dead man and what caused his death.
Police Inquiries have tended; tures with them. to associate the torso victim with where he went. Captain William Bernard Butt, fifty-four-year-old retired Army officer, who lived with his invalid wife at Old Bath-road, Chelten- ham. He has not been seen since early in January,
Mrs. Sarah Sullivan-mother of duncer Brian
Landon Sullivan, found gussed in Tower Lodge, Leck- and hampton, ncor Cheltenham, nurse to Captain Butt's wife-gave evidence for three and a half hours yesterday.
Her son and Captain Butt knew each other, she said, but they were not great friends. Captain Butt had aften visited Tower Lodge but she did not know if he had been in the habit of holding parties there.
SAYS SHE GAVE SON £300 Questioned about her son's finances, Mrs.
admitted Sullivan she had given him more than £300, but said she did not regard it as a debt and never pressed him for the
money.
#
Mrs. Sullivan was wearing n black costume, binek hat, and white woollen jumper, to which was pinned a bunch of primroses and violets.
She said that In February 1935 she met Captain Butt and his wife, and was engaged as nurse-to look after Mrs. Butt, who suffered from mental Ilinces
During the past three years Cap- tain Bult loft. home at frequent intervals, and once or twice said that he was going to Oxford.
He would frequently leave home Tate at night and return in the early hours of the morning.
Mrs. Sullivan sold she took Tower Lodge to live there about four years ago on a three years lease. Her son Brian came down from London at
intervals.
Later she let the Lodge, keeping
-one room.
TOOK MRS. BUTT
TO THE LODGE The sub-tenants left the Lodge in September 1935, and apart from a few visits by her and Mrs. Butt for a night the place was unoccupied from September 1835, until the last week in July 1937.
The Coroner: Why did you and Mrs. Butt stay there occasionally?- Because Mrs. Butt had very bad mental troubles. She would become e nuisance to the neighbours.
So for a night you used to take her there? Yes, I took her about three or four times.
Where did your son stay when he visited you?-At Tower Lodge,
Can you say whether Captain Butt slept there at night?-I never knew that he did.
Did he go there during the day time? Sometimes.
Frequently?Yes.
She did not know
and
On their return. when they got off the bus in the Old Bath-roud about 10 o'clock, ker son came along in his car. He slowed down
the house. they slowly walked to When they arrived there Mrs. Butt said: "Look, that man has gone out ogain." meaning her husband,
LEFT EARLY 'FOR
A GOOD SLEEP'
Brian stayed with thern In the house until about midnight, then left for Tower Lodge.
THE MYSTERY-DAY BY DAY
JANUARY 10-Bloodstains and man's blood-stained shoe and Bridge, glove found on Haw near Gloucester,
JANUARY 24-Brian Sullivan, London professional dancer. found assed at his home, Tower Lodge, Cheltenham. FEBRUARY 3-Torso found in River Severn at ilaw Bridge. FEBRUARY 5-8-Handless arms, severed legs found in river.
The coroner: From the time when In Berlin the first anti-air raid tow- you and Mrs. Buti left 240, Old Bath-er in the world has been bulit, an road to go to the pictures have you entirely new forth for protection dur- The tower, 23 yards seen or heard of Captain Butt?-No. ing air attacks.
Mrs. Sullivan said she saw her son in height, enn accommodate 300 per- frequently. On January 10 he sons and it is considered to be iro- walked to the house in Old Bath-possible for aviators to damage the road
He left earlier than usual, tower owing to its shape. saying that he wanted to get a gooď night's sleep because he was going to Londun next day
The corner: And that, I believe, i was the last time you saw your 2011 alive?—Yes.
Mrs. Sullivan said that on Wednes day, January 12, nut having heard from her son, she took Captati Butt's little dog Bimbo and walked to Tower Lodge to see if there were any letters,
Her son's car was in the drive. His dog was in the car. "I looked under the stone where the key was usually kept," she went on, and it was not there. so I could not get into the Lodge.
Black Cats
May Be Lucky But..
Black cats may be lucky, but they are the worst of suimuls for medical experiments, according to Dr. A. E. Barclay, of the Nuffield institute of Medical Research, Oxfurd.
Addressing members of the Tuber-
Conference Int On the Friday or the Saturday the culoals Association's i
She was Oxford. Dr. Barclay said: "Since 1 car was still in the drive. not worried, because her son had began my recent experiments on lung
way several discuses my affection behaved in the same
especially the black mes-has went he before when times
siderably lessened.
After trouble about her wages Mrs. Sullivm said she went home. Cap- tain Butt came up one day and waki he had been thinking things over and would pay the rent of Tower Lodge. "I concluded he meant to pay the rent and give me £1 a week, but it did not pan out like that," she
udded.
OWED FIFTY POUNDS FOR WAGES
Mrs. Sullivan said that Captain Butt now owed her "fifty pounds or more" for wages.
London.
to
On January 24 she went with Mrs. Butt to Tower Lodge to get some greens out of the garden. She took three keys and a screw-driver. She thought that one of the keys might at the lock, and falling that she was going to unscrew the padlock.
As she described how she found her son Jend Mrs. Sullivan broke down and sobbed. A woman police officer brought smelling salts and a glass of water,
Articles of clothing found in o suitcase at Tower Lodge were held up for Mrs. Sullivan to see.
pair
of flannel trousers, white and purple striped pyjamas, and glaves, she said, were Captain Butt's.
PIECE OF CLOTH IDENTIFIED
for cais-
Anxiety over disappearance of Captain W. B. Butt, fifty-four- year-old retired Army officer, missing since January $. FEBRUARY 9.-Captain Bult's overcoat found in six-foot grave in Tower Lodge.
FEBRUARY 19.-Axe found on
Ledge. of Tower
Alr roof Bernard Ballabury said blade fitted cut in bone found ta river,
FEBRUARY 12. Bloodstained gardening glove and roll of Cicove banknotes found
Hi, above Cheltenham. Sir Bernard Spilsbury also_nald shoe found on the bridge Alted leg recovered from river; that in- Juries to the torso were as if the man had been struck by a fast- moving car; that the lifting of the trunk over the bridge was much more ke the work of two men than one.
Poland's Strength A Key Factor In "Buffer” Between Germany And Russia
In the following article Reynolds Packard, noted war and diploma- tie correspondent of the United Press, explains the importance of Poland to-day as a key nation in international relations in Eastern Europe. Packard also tella of the efforts on the part of Poland to create a “Black Sea-Baltic Azis" as a "buffer" bloc to maintain praće between, Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. In this connection he reveals some little. known aspects of Russia's defence plan on its western frontier, parti- cularly details of the Soviet's amazing line of intricate and reputedly impregnable foritfications stretching all the way from the White to the Black Sen.
(By Reynolls Packard) United Press Staß Correspondent
Warsaw.
Two lines of fortifications stretching for 875 miles along the Russian-Polish frontier and separated only by a four-yard strip of "No Man's Land" have become a key factor in nogotiations for a bloc of Baltic states,
Reliable diplomatic quarters have revealed that Poland's efforts to create a Baltic "buffer" bloc to preserve peace between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany may succeed or collapse on the question of Poland's "Maginot Line" on the east.
Polish Foreign Minister Josef Beck is laying the groundwork for the "Black Sea-Baltic Axis" on the foundation of a resumption of normal diplomatic relations with Lithuania after a 20-year breach.
Into the bloe he would bring the Sen to the Black Sea and is reputed-
of countries
Finland, ly an Impregnable barrier against post-war
any invasion Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland
from Europe, even if Russlu should have the bulk of her and perhaps Rumania.
army engaged in a Far Eastern con- Dict.
But the strength of Poland's west- ern fortifications, the size of which is n jealously-guarded military secret, could mean the rise or fall of any Baltic bloc, observers point out.
As the No. 1 Baltic power Poland would be expected to guarantee, by the strength of her castern frontier defences, the bloc's security against
Soviet invasion.
As the number one Baltic military power, Poland would be expected to assume leadership if the Polish- Lithuanian rapprochement succeda and upon her defences might depend whether
of 'a bater
Baltic states could live,
The Pollah and Russian defences are separated by a four-yard strip qf This bloc, already being referred to man's land running between twe
parallel lines
of barbed wire. to as the "Black Sea Baltic Axis" Although the nature of the Russian would have total population of defence strip. running from the nearly 80,000,000 as compared with White Sea
along the frontiers of Fin- and Austro-German population of land, Estonia, Latvia, Poland 74,000,000 and a Russian population Rumanta to the Black Sea, is strictly of about 185,000,000.
well- guarded. It is described by
ne of the widest defence bands in
con-
пп
"Cats are na gourt for scientific re- search, because ench gives different results from the others.
bismuth "We gave them powdered glass to see how it affect-
ed
act
Up
their lungs. They lapped powdered glass-and thrived on it!"
Tiniest And Heaviest Children
A baby weighing ill. 40oz. has been born in Meridian, Mississippl.
Doctors
say the infant has an even chance to live.
(The world's tiniest baby-a girl weighing eight ounces--was born at East Louis, Illinois. There are also records of 13-ounce and 14-ounce babies).
A white silk scarf and a black and
And a child of three years who white check scarf she said belonged weighs st. 91b. is arousing the in-
terest of doctors at Adanu.
to her son.
Asia
The child, a boy, is the son of u
cobbler. His poor
parents DYC
Shown a brown check overcoat Minor. found buried under the passage-way at Tower Lodge, Mrs. Sullivan said, I have seen a similar one to that belonging to Captain Bult.”
A fragment of cloth-one of the exhibits in the case was handed to her. She said: "Captain Butt had sult similar in pattern to that. It was the cult he was wearing when I Inst saw him."
The coroner: How did Captain Bull treat your son?In a casual manner.
There was no particular friendship between them? Oh, no.
the
Asked i Captain Butt had a violent temper, Mrs. Sullivan sald she had seen him "quite livid with rage." Her son was very much more on the happy side.
The foreman of the jury then usk-| ed Mrs. Sullivan a number of ques-
about
Mrs. clothing. tlons Sullivan said Captain Bult was some. She went on: "On January 4thing uf allm mon.
a went to Tower Lodge in the after- The foreman: How do you account noon. My son was lying the sofs reading a book. He seemed quite cheerful and in his usuni spirits."
She returned to Old Bath-rond and Captain Butt told her to take his wife to the pictures that night. "When I was rendy to to to the them. pictures Mra. Buit was rather In- clined to be disagreeable, because Captein Butt did not offer to take her in his car. As far as I knew the cor was then in the garage."
Mrs. Sullivan said she and Mrs. Butt left the house to go to the pictures by bus, but in Oid Bath road she saw her son, who took them in his car, but did not go in the pic-
MUTILATED THE
DEAD-
-Los Angeles, Cali
for these pyjamas being for a big man?-1 never measured them. I never picked them up even.
Do you know If Captain Butt wos in the habit of having partles Tower Lodge?-I never heard
at
aloned because he is still rapidly putting on weight, and he has now been taken to hospital for treatment.
as
In this manner the little Baltic informed Eastern European observers slates would achieve political and military as well as commercial im- the portance by their unity.
They claim that it is at least 90 miles deep along the Polish border, Some observers believe thut
and almost as deep along the borders Rumania, now under the dictatorship of other countries, of King Carol II, might be persuaded
Some observers assert that this to join the bloc It is believed here entire strip is so full of military that the Scandinavian group would tricks and traps that on entire army welcome such an entente but wouldCKS remain aloof from it from fear of would disappear if it attempted to penetrate the goblin's nest. Entire commitments which might jeopar villages, it is said, have been removed dize the traditional Scandanavion
not 10 from the border line so us krum neutrality.
Interfere with the apparatus of des- comau❤ truction, including mines, flaged swamps, and great tracts
capable quicksilver-like swallowing whole regiments.
Ilne is another Poland's defence mystery because it runs through some of the wildest parts of Europe where here are many lakes, swamps and European forests where bears and bigen still roam.
Some observers here insist that my Bultic bloc would be preponderantly neutral but some quarters speculate that there might be a tendency, in view of Poland's leadership and Beck's known antagonism toward France and Russia, to waver toward Germany.
Although Russin's defences stretch for 875 miles along the Polish bor- der, they for only a part of the Soviet wall set up to protect her ter-
soil
ritory from European states. The HAVE YOU
wall runs all the way from the White
Five Years Wasted At
Meal Times!
According to statisticians, most of us waste more time than we profitably use, and a group of expert investigators who have Just concluded a minute examin- ordinary allon of the lives of people declare that, among other things, we all waste five years of our lives in catlog. According to them, the ordinary mun could eat all the food requireil for good health in half an hour each day, yet he totes more than two hours for his daily meals.
In a lifetime of seventy years, therefore, some 45,000 hours are wasted, or about five years.
And most of the waste is caused by waiting for the meals to be
Housewives come in for erittelsm,
too.
Mrs. Sullivan's evidence lusted three and a half hours,
served! Then George Benjamin Grifths, garuge in Regeni- attendant at a street, Cheltenham, told how at 10.40
According to the experts a little p.m. on January 4 a man he did not knew brought a car (Captain Butt's) study and planning would cut out at to the garage and sold it would be least a quarter of the unnecessary labour involved in housework. They for three nights.
He had not seen the man since add that oven the humblest home can
be and no one had been to the garage arranged in a 'way to cut down to collect the car.
movement to a minimum.
The man was Rity or sixty 'years They estimate that women waste of age and was about 5ft 7ins, or sti. at least ten years in an average life, Piria, in height. Bis hair was slightly and of thie, two years are spent in
answering knocks at the door, gray.
Detective-Inspecter A. V. Hancock, of Cheltenham, and he found that an ignition key in Brian Sullivan's waistcoat pocket fitted the car left in the Regent-street garage.
· A veteran deputy county embalmer, Edgar S, Dullington, has bech found guilty by a jury of mutllaling the lend, He was convicted of stealing gold from the teeth of a corpse to was that the torso and the limba
United PrazÉNYS
Fan
The only conclusion the jury came
found were part of the same body.
Waiting in queues is another source of time-wasting, and, in America, It In estimated that more than 60,000,000 hours are "wasted" overy' year in this way).
Telephones, regarded as the finest tima auving instrument ever invent-
jed, tre responsible for a terrifie
waste of time.
The business man who totalled the minutes spent in waiting for calls to be answered would probably ind that he had wasted about 500 days over a period of 30 years or a little more than a fortnight every year.
And the man who claims that he is kept continually busy at the office will find on analysis that he has nctually wasted nearly half his time in idle chatter.
•
"Duelling Clause" To Go Out
Austin, Tex. Secretary of State Edward Clark estimates It will cost $10,000 to
eliminate one hangover from the ox-
cart era from the Texas oaths of office, Clark began official advertisement of natate constitutional amendment to strike the "duelling clause" from the onth.
Germany Tries Fish Sausage
Berlin,
STILL YOUR TONSILS?
of uf
"Ritual-Surgery," which makes a mass attack on tonslts, is condemn- ed by a report of the British Medi- cal Research Council's special com- millec.
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The committee, set up to examine epidemics in schools, kept records for five years covering 22,160 boys and 7,000 girls in public schools.
The record cards of the beginning
states the report | of the Inquiry," published by H.M. Stationery Office, "revealed the fact that just over half the boys and just under half the girls had had their tonalls removed,
CASES INCREASED
"Each yearly census afterwards showed that these proportions were rising slowly, till by the end of 1934 they had increased by nearly six and soven per cent.
"I was obviously Importani, in the public interest, to discover whether this mass attack on one of; the normal structures of the body was Justified." And the conclusion titey came to was that it was not.
Though
the value of the realising In operation carefully solected cases, We have grave
doubta na to whether the majority of operations are the re- sult of true discrimination rather than of routine ritual."
The committee found that boys suf- for twice as frequently as girls from middlo-car disease, two-and-a-half times as frequenity' from pneumonia, As part of the campaign to en- and 11 times as frequently from acute courage Germans to eat more fah, the rheumatism. State Research Office is corrying out Girls, on the other hand, had 03 experiments in making sausages from ber cent, noso Infections, compared Ash. If the results are successful, with 43 per cent, among boys, had the new fish sausage will be placed. 50 per cent. more cases of appendiel- on the market.
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