1927-03-03 — Page 4

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16, DES VEUX ROAD AND WEST POINT.

SON ON TRIAL FOR

MURDER.

FOREIGN LEGION DESERTERS.

REPATRIATION GRANTED AT MOTHER'S FATE MYSTERY. FRENCH CONSUL'S REQUEST.

"£430 FORGERY STORY...

AUNT'S STRANGE EVIDENCE.

af. D

TEXTILE TRADE IN CHINA.

SIR EDWIN STOCKTON'S.

PROPHECY.

SIGNS OF TRADE REVIVAL."

Sir Edwin Stockton, a banker, railway director, and a leading figure in Lancashire industry, has been tempted to make a "better trade" prophecy. Sir Edwin is a shrewd man of business, with a

OFFENDERS PETITION TO BE SENT ELSEWHERE.

The two desertars from the A dramatic story

ahot French Foreign Legion's camp at woman's unfinished letter which Tonkin, who arrived here after an later disappeared, her overdrawn adventurous journey through China, banking account, and an empty in the course of which two fellow sensitive finger on the world's trade cartridge-case lound oft. from where deserters from the same Regiment pulse, and when he says anything she had been sitting when she was lost their lives, again appeared on the subject it is generally worth shot was told last month at the before Major C. Willson yesterday listening to. Speaking of the for-

morning. High Court, Edinburgh.

eign market for textile goods, Sir Edwin says:-

In the dock was John Donald

Since they were last before the Merrett, aged 19, a heavily built Court, a letter has been received youth oft in height, who is charged from the local French Consul, with murdering his widowed mother, M. Dufaurs, de la Prade, who re- Bertha Merrett, and with forging quested that the men be held for her signature to cheques for £437 deportation to Indo-China. the 133. GL Mrs. Merrett was shot on ground on which the Consul is March 17th last and died in Edia | proceeding being that the men have burgh Royal Larmary on April 1st. illegally retained their military ini- Donald Merrett was arrested at form. Arrangements LTO being High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, made for their return by the first en December 1st, at the house of a available ship, which is likely to be. clergyman by whom he was being the Tonkin, now on the way here coached with the object of becoming from Haiphong, an undergraduate at Oxford.

Expect To Be Severely Punished. Mr. William Watson. K.C., M.P... The two men, F. Stabkoviak and and Lord Kinross, prosecuted, and Serge Kovahl, asked in Court Mr. Craigie Aitchison, K.C., Mr. whether they could not be sent to Macgregor Mitchell, K.C., and Mr. any destination, other than Indo Cyde defended.

China, as they anticipated being severely. penalised for desertion

"The outlook for textiles in China and India is far less dis- couraging than most people think. Trade shows little deeline in China, despite the civil war. The trading community in China dominates even the militarista, and sooner or later, business will be resumed On normal lines, Even now the decrease in business is trifling per cent.-and the opening up of China will bring wast opportunities for all forms of engineering development." Lancashire especially will welcome the cheery optimism of Sir Edwin Stockton, says a Home paper. Al- ready there are satisfactory signs in many directions of trade revival, and it seems that all that remains for those interested is to get busy after the orders. As Sir Edwin truly says: "Business will not

The events in the flat on the morning. of March 17th were des from the Foreign Legion, although come if we merely sit at our desks cribed by Henrietta Sutherland, a young woman who acted as daily help for Mrs. Merrett While in the kitchen, she said, she heard a "shot, a woman's scream, and some que falling in the dining-room for lowed by the sound as if some books were falling...

"Then Donald came into the kit- chen, Mr. Sutherland continued, and said My mother has shot -herself." He seemed very much upset and made to put his head on my shoulder.

the

they are not of French nationality, the former being a Rumanian and the latter being a Pole. They re- peated that they were compelled to icin the Foreign Legion through a set of circumstances which left them with no other choice.

Major C. Willson made the ex- pulsion order as applied for by Detective Sergeant Elston.

Elizabeth Fraser Grant, the in In the dining-room she sa afirmary sister who had charge of small automatic pistol 01 frs Merrett, amid the latter, said bureau"

she was sitting writing and sud- denly a bang went of like a pistol I said, Was there not a pistol She said No; was there?'”

Cross-examined by Mr. Craigt Aitchison, Mrs. Sutherland said Mrs. Merrett seemed devoted to her son, and the two appeared per fectly happy together.

An Unfinished Letter.

waiting for it. In these competi- tive days business has to be sought. The easy going methods of pre-war days are now merely a memory.".".

tone

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the song of the new Or thophonic Victrola is a triumph of tone.". It pours out mellow and strong, neither too loud por too soft, but exactly like the original. Let us play this wonderful in- strument for you. Come ip and see us-sooal.

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Orthophonic

Since the foregoing was written. Messrs Robert Barbour & Brothers, Limited, of Manchester, have issued their monthly report. They state that considering the critical state of affairs ruling at present nothing of importance could be expected from China and yet transactions TWO have been negotiated both for Shanghai and Hong Kong in greys, whites, prints and fancies, while demand from Java and Singapore has also improved. Of the market that the in general they any

Victor Distributors.

Victrola

SHANGHAI RIVER COLLISION. STEAMERS. AND JUNK

INVOLVED.

"As Ii Donald Had Shot Me." Mrs Annie Eliza Pean, of Chi- chester, Sussex, Mrs. Merrett's Dramatic evidènce was given by Kater, said Mr. Merrett's Husband, optimism which was felt and ex: Black Point, between the Kailan

Detective-Inspector Darid Fleming. When he first visited the fat, he said, he found a letter from Mrs. Merrett to a Stirling friend. about, the difficulty of getting a servant and her success in fading a daily help. It was unfinished. He never saw it again. Near it were two opened letters from the Clydesdale Hank, dated March 13th and 16th, telling Mrs. Merrett that her ac count was aver drawn. He left, the

flat contemplating a charge of at

tempted suicide.

Inspector Fleming explained that

...

Her

According to the Shanghai Mer-||| cary a collision occurred at 5.30 last Thursday evening in the river above

steamer Ravnefjell, proceeding to Miring Administration chartered

incoming Japanese freighter Takei Maru leaded with coal and general cargo.

CHINESE OPERA.

N

GROWDED HOUSE AT LEE THEATRE.

STORY WITH A GOOD MORAL.

[BY C. & C.]

The Tailaw Tian Opera Company

Theatre last night, to a crowded } gave an excellent show at the Lee's

one dating back some three-then- sand years, but the theme proved a very appropriate one in these Present days of strife and turmoil. To a foreigner uninitiated in

John Alfred Merrett, "deserted his pressed at the close of last year in wife when Donald was a small boyegard to the outlook for 1927 has Chinwangtao in ballast, and the house. The play was a historical and was now living in India. sister's income was about £500 a at sil events been justified so far

as January is concerned. Manu year.

facturers bape been busier than for a very long time back dealing with inquiries emanating from many

When the Lord Advocate asked Mr. Pean what her sister said to her in the infirmary Mrs Penn asked the judge, "Is it right should be asked these questions ?

Lord Alness: Certainly. Mrs Penn: My sister said, "They say I have had a fall, but I am in doubt about that. I was sitting at

quarters and business has been booked in sufficient quantity to en- able them to make a fair show of

Reports state that previous to the collision between these two vessels

a Chinese junk was sunk, and that Chinese classics and history, the it was in the course of maneuvring play does not convey much, and all that the Japanese ship struck the he could admire was the beautiful

he then heard from Dr. Holcombe, the table writing when a sudden resistance to the low offers coming Ravnefjell' amidships, badly holing stage scenery and 'dresses and the

of the infirmary, that Mrs. Merrett had made a statement, and from Mrs. Merrett's sister, Mrs. Pech, that her husband had found empty revolver cartridge" six or eight feet from where Mrs. Merrett had been sitting. He cautioned Donald Merrett and cotained statement,

He subsequently said that he bought the pistol and 50 cartridges for £5, intending to take the on a holiday with his mother in France. His mother took the pistol from him on March 13th and he

did not see it

The Letter

The inspector produced a Midland Bank cheque book issued to Mrs. Merrett. Some cheques and coun- On March terfoils were missing..

explosion went off in my head."

Mrs. Pean appealed to be excused from repeating the remainder of the Alness to reply, conversation but was told by Lord

She added, almost inaudibly, "As if Donald had shot me."

Later Donald was asked to ex- plain and said he had not shot his mother, but made no suggestion as to who had done so.

forward.

MUKDEN MERCHANTS AND

THE JAPANESE.' -

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HOSTILITY,

Muzozs, February 13th. Handwriting Expert's Evidence.

The existence of Japanese dealers | Mr. Gerald Francis Gurrin, hand- writing expert, said that he had is being threatened by the policy

her.

The bow of the Takei, Maru was stove in, and it was found neces sary to beach both vessels on the Pootung side. Surveyors are now sscertaining the extent of the damage.

FLOWER ANTISEPTICS.

histrionic art of the performers. The female impersonators carried themselves well, and there was no fine by which one could detect that the roles of the fairer sex as in

Elizabethan England were being acted by men

The play has an exemplary attra} and the story centres On the troublous days when intrigues and conspiracies were the daily routine

examined microscopically and other now being advocated by the Chi SCENT FACTORY GIRLS WHO of monarchs and princes, and how

wise 68 cheques and a few incidental

ESCAPE INFLUENZA.

documents which all bore Mrs. nese Chamber of Commerce here. Merrett's genuine signature. He It appears that though the Chief also examined at the und besions of the Diplomatic Administration questioned signatures and various examples of the handwriting of of the Three Eastern Provinces ver- 30th Merrets said he knew nothing John Donald Merrett. The signa- bally communicated to the Japanese gested in some scientific journals to show that while such men may

Consul-General that

ture one of the 56 was

as though two signatures existed.

the

con-

tax 3.1/3 per cent. A violet outline, either of carbon sumption impression or of pencil had first levied on goods entering Mukden been made upon those cheques, and

about those cheques, but they were received by the witness from the bank on April 12th, all made pay able to J. D. Merrett and all signed Bertha Merrett. One was drawn on

a blue-black ink outline had been city and interior points had been March 24th for £30, another on made over it and practically cover cancelled, instructions to this effect March 28th for £30, and a third oned it. There were a number of cases have not yet been transmitted to March 28th for £28 0s. 6.

in which the ick did not completely cover the violet outline.

Tell-Tale Similarity.

the tax officials concerned, with

the result that the goods which the

customs

Merrett then explained that his mother signed the cheques and left them blank for him to buy a motor- cycle.

Inspector Fleming said he asked Merrett what had become of his mother's unfinished letter, and he said he destroyed it because there were blood-marks on it, but he (the inspector) had not noticed them.

Dr. Richard Bell, who admitted Mrs. Merrett to the infirmary, said she was wounded in the head, but there was no blackening about the wound nor did the hair smell of say explosion. She came into the in of the firmary in the custody police.

Dr. R. S. Holcombe, of Newcastle on-Tyne, and formerly house phy- sician at Edinburgh Royal Infra- ary, said when Mra. Merrett was admitted to the infirmary on March 17th she was wounded through the right ear, and in the skull and was unconscious. Later he asked her He believed that the 27 remaining transacted last year between Muk bow it occurred. She said: "I was cheques of the 56 were genuine den and Osaka; amounting to yen writing letters. My son Doosid was None of them was payable to J. D. 3,000,000, yen 3,000,000 represented standing beside me. I said, Go Merrett.

In all the 29 cheques he found the Japanese. Merchants took past the signatures heavy and very slowly customs barriers en marre bare not executed, so far as the pen strokes been distributed, the were concerned. He also found that 17 eignatures all corresponded officials declining to issue the neces exactly to one model and 11 to an- sary hushao until the tax has been other model. The remaining one.

one paid, was different: it was the earliest in

The Chinese Chamber of Com date. It was underlined with an original stroke, while on all the morce now advises its members not tir purchase these goods, but the others the underlining strokes were copied over pencil or carbon:

In all the 29 he believed the agree circular issued by the Chamber goes ment was far too close to be genuine. further, inasmuch as it recommenda He had never, in years' experi- ence, found such consistent simimerchants not to buy through the Japanese middlemen in Makdon, larity in genuine signatures,

but to deal direct with manufactur- wholesale distributors in All the 29 were payable to J. D.ers or Merrett. In none of them was the Osaka. When it is borne in mind body of the cheque filled in by Mrs. that of the volume of "business Merrett.

Payable to J. D. Marrett.

away Donald and don't annoy me,' In all the 20 the body was filled in direct dealing, it will be obvious

thing heard was a

HONG KONG AND CHINA GAS Co., Ltd. find of explosion and, I don't re- by the person who wrote the speci- that the policy of the Chamber must

member anything else."

• (Continued, on ́atzt, column),

mens of handwriting submitted to deal a serious blow at the Japanese him as those of J. D. Merrett The hearing was adjourned.

dealers bers-Reuter.

these rulers and would-be-rulers plotted against caclt other: There Is the inhaling of fover perfumes was also the villain-a man who a protection against colds and in- would sell his country for personal fuenza, as has been recently sug gain or favour. The play goes on Facts confirming the view that it is

prosper fer a time, their prosperity were given by Mr. W. F. Charles, is a only short-lived one. Troubles the governing director of a large are inevitable and the time will perfume factory in Loughborough, come when they will flee for their lives and go far as to implore Leicestershire. He said:

-Both in the present epidemic mercy from. their bitterest enemies. and that of 1018 the operatives in Such is the gist of the play as the bottling and packing depart it appeared to the writer who, how- ment almost entirely escaped in-ever, lays no claim to a deep know- fluenza, while in other depart-ledge of things Chinese. ments large numbers have suffer“

ed.

In the present wave the town

is suffering very badly. We have had numbers of girls from our offices and other parts of the works away ill, but up to the present not a single operative away out of the botting depart ment

The explanation given is that some flower perfumes contain highly antiseptic constituents, Carnations, roses, and lily of the valley all contain phenyl-ethyl- alcohol. This is virtually a mix ture of carbolic acid and whisky, both of which are antiseptics. In addition, the carnation contains a powerful antiseptic known aa- eugenol. The lily of the valley also contains another additional antiseptic which has been demon. strated in the firm's laboratory.

Mr. Charles added that before the year 1900 he had several severe attacks of induenza; in that year he became occupied Almost entirely in the manufac ture of flower perfumes and sines then he has not once been trau- bled with the complaint,

WILL BOBBING LEAD TO

BEARDS?

The alarming suggestion that the the cropping of women's hair may lead to the growth of beards and moustaches in future generations is made by Mr. F. P. Jocelyne, medical practitioner in British North Borneo. In a letter to the British Medical Journal he writes:

In some of the villages of Java Borneo the custom prevails among men of allowing the hair to grow long they have practically no moustache.

In other villages the hair is cut short and here moustaches are. quita cominion.

It seems possible that the Euro. pean women who are now follow- ing the prevailing fashion may be laying the foundations of a future generation of moustached and bearded females.

It is significant that the Chinese, until recently a long haired race. have little or facial growth.]