WEST BRITON AND CORNWALL ADVERTISER - transcribed by J. Mosman 3 September 1858 SERIOUS CHARGES AGAINST A SERVANT . On Monday last, a servant named Mary Ann CRAZE was charged before Dr. CARLYON, county magistrate, at Truro, with having set fire to the house of her master, Mr. Almond PAULL, a farmer at Nansmerrow, in the parish of Probus. The house is situated near the Polperro tunnel of the Cornwall Railway, about two miles from Truro. . Mary Ann Craze is about fifteen years of age, and was taken from the Truro Union house to serve Mr. Paull for three years. It appears that on Friday evening the 27th of August, Mr. and Mrs. Paull and their two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, were at tea, when the servant was seen to come into the kitchen and take a candlestick and box of lucifer matches, which she carried into the back kitchen, where she had been cleaning boots and shoes, and fire-irons. . >From the back kitchen, there is a staircase leading to a bedchamber where Mr. Paull's son occasionally slept. Miss Elizabeth Paull shortly afterwards heard the servant moving about in this chamber, and having occasion to go into the back-kitchen, she saw the servant at the top of the stairs near the chamber door. She asked her what she was doing there, and the servant said, cleaning the men's boots. She told her to come down to tea, which she did, and took her tea with most unusual quickness. She then went out of the room, and in a few minutes afterwards Mr. Paull and his son Joseph rushed into the house saying there was smoke issuing from the window of the bedroom before referred to. . The son went up and found the room so full of smoke that he was compelled to leave it; but water being brought up, the fire was at length put out. When the water was brought, the fire was just showing above the side of the bed; the lower part of the bedding was burnt, and the mattress and floor were charred. . On the next day, Mr. JARRETT, superintendent of county police, was sent for, and on making examination he discovered pieces of burnt furze, which must have been carried up from the room below. . The servant had conducted herself in a very bad way, for which Mrs. Paull's daughters had reproved her,and told her that if she did not behave better she should leave the place. It is supposed that a bad feeling was excited in her by these reproofs, and that in consequence she attempted to set fire to the premises. . In addition to this charge against her, there are strong suspicions of her having attempted the life of Miss Jane Paull by poisoning with arsenic. There had been a great many rats on the premises, and Mr. Paull's son thought that during the harvest would be a good time to lay poison for them. He placed arsenic mixed with flour in the pig-stye, covered it over with some short straw, and so firmly secured the door that no person could get in without considerable difficulty; and there was no arsenic besides this on the premises. About a fortnight after he placed the arsenic, he saw the servant girl coming from the pigs' house doorway, where she had no right to be. He did not, however, take much notice of it, and did not go there himself. . Last Thursday fortnight Miss Jane Paull was rather unwell, and being about to take some broth, she asked the servant to fetch some milk from the dairy to put in it. She drank the broth and shortly after she was seized with very violent pains - a burning in her throat and stomach, and her arms and hands stiffened and convulsed. She became alarmingly ill, and thought she was about to die; her sister rubbed her hands and pulled down her fingers, and the extremities of the body becoming cold, she was put to bed; hot water applied to her feet, which for some time did not produce much effect, but on her sister rubbing her with a heater wrapped in flannel, and giving her something warm to drink, she began to improve, and got much better. . Two or three days afterwards, Miss Jane Paull was again about to take broth, and asked the servant to take the basin and get her some milk from the dairy. The servant was absent longer than usual. Miss Jane Paull called to her, and she said she was coming. Miss Jane Paull then went to the door of the kitchen, whence she could look into the dairy and saw her stepping down from a "meat-cool" having a spoon in her hand with something white in it. She put it into the basin and stirred it round. Miss Paull asked what she was doing there; she said, taking the milk. . Miss Paull put two spoonfuls of the milk-broth into her mouth, and did not like its taste. She called her sister's attention to it, and said there was something white and dirty in it. Her sister said it looked like dirty flour, and she carried it out and threw it into the dung-pit, and there was a sort of sediment left from it. In consequence of this the sister searched a shelf in the dairy over the  "meat-cool." There was a lot of lumber on the shelf, and she found there a paper with some white stuff, looking like dirty flour. She asked the servant what it was, and the girl said it was rat's poison. Miss Paull said it had no business there, and she went and threw it into the fire. The paper was like the paper placed in the pigs-stye, and there were on it a number of short bits of straw. . Miss Jane Paull was seized with many of the symptoms she had before experienced; her hands were drawn up, and she suffered a great deal, but afterwards got better. Evidence of the above facts was given by Miss Jane and Miss Elizabeth Paull, by Joseph Paull, and by Superintendent Jarrett, and the prisoner was committed for trial at the next assizes. . We are informed that had not the fire been promptly discovered, the premises, being thatched, would soon have been burnt, and the fire most probably have extended to the mows of corn adjoining, occasioning a loss of some hundreds of pounds worth of property. CORONERS' INQUESTS . THE MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT AT HELFORD - On Thursday, the 26th ult., an inquest was held by Mr. J. CARLYON, at Helford, on the bodies of Samuel LARK, aged 56 years; and Mary LARK, aged 14, and Ellen LARK, aged 13, his daughters. The deceased, Mr. Samuel Lark, was the Chief Officer of Coast Guard at Porthillick Station, near Helford. . It appeared that about half past three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, he had to go on duty to Edward's Cove, just opposite Durgan. He took his two daughters with him and a son named Samuel, about 12 years old, and went out in a punt belonging to the Coast Guard. It was blowing fresh and squally at the time, but he had two reefs taken in the sail, a small lug, and appeared to get on very well until he turned to go into the cove, when some parties who were looking at him from a field near Helford, observed the said gibe, and the boat turned over. . One of the persons who observed this, a man called Joseph TRESIZE, immediately got into a boat with three or four others and went across the river to render assistance. On reaching the spot, they found the punt had righted again but was full of water, and was riding to a small anchor which had fallen out of her, not more than 20 yards from the shore. The son was supporting himself by the haulyard rope; but the other three had sunk. Tresize and his companions then returned with the lad, and having got a seine net, they went back again to the spot, shot it and hauled in all three bodies together. The boy was too ill to be examined at the inquest, but the account he had given was that as soon as the boat upset, they all got on her bottom, and Mr. Lark, by way of encouragement, told them if they could hold on there another minute or two the boat would drift in to shore; and this no doubt would have been the case, but that the creeper having dropped out and got a holding, prevent! ed it. After holding on a short time the boat turned over again, and he never saw anything more of his father or sisters. Verdict "accidentally drowned." The deceased Mr. Lark has left a widow and several surviving children. . The following inquests have been held before Mr. HICHENS, county coroner: . INFANT FOUND - At the parish of Landewednack, on the 20th of August, on the body of a newly-born female infant found floating in Penrose Cove, in that parish, on the 18th, about 20 fathoms from the shore. A post mortem examination was made by Mr. ROSKRUGE, surgeon, Helston, who stated that from the appearance of the body the child had arrived at maturity, that there were no external marks of violence apparent, nor, so far as the state of the body would allow him to form his judgment, was there reason to suppose that death was produced by strangulation or suffocation; but he was unable to say from its very decomposed state whether it had ever lived, and the jury returned a verdict accordingly. . MINE ACCIDENT - On the 24th of August, in the parish of Phillack, on the body of W. WHITFORD, aged 20 years, who met with his death on the preceding day at Boiling Well mine, in the adjoining parish of Gwithian. The deceased, who was a kibble filler, only commenced to work at the mine on the day of the occurrence, and was found dead by the person who came to relieve him, about two o'clock in the afternoon, at the plat of the 60 fathoms level, having, as was supposed, fallen away from the 40 fathoms level where he had been working. Verdict, "found dead." . CHURCH RATES AT LUDGVAN . To the EDITOR of the WEST BRITON . Sir, - I see a letter in the West Briton of the 27th of August, signed "Archibald Paris," in which he refers to a paragraph in the West Briton of the 20th of August. . I beg to say I am the author of that paragraph, which Mr. Paris calls an "impertinent falsehood." As to the truth of it I have no hesitation in calling on all that is solemn and sacred to the truth of it; nor have Messrs. ROWE, TREWREN, THOMAS, WALLIS, and STEVENS, and I believe many others. . Mr. Parish used many ungentlemanly, unchristian-like expressions at the poll, such as dirty, impertinent, &c; he insulted me four times. I am thankful I never had more command over my temper. (The writer here states some details of what passed.) . The Churchwarden demanded the rate yesterday. I offered him more than double the amount of the rate as a subscription, but he declined taking it. A few hours after I was summoned to appear to-morrow before the magistrates to show cause why I will not pay the rate. I contend that there is a majority against the rate, if votes are disallowed which ought to be. . There are 662 ratepayers in this parish, and only 56 voted for the rate, those being threatened into it by the Duke of Cleveland and Mr. J. J. ROGERS, or their agents; many of them have said privately that they are opposed to the rate. I know many that stood neutral, who had they voted would have been against the rate; so I infer that neutrals are against the rate. . I have filled every parochial office again and again, and have been High-Constable for the west division of Penwith, and am one of the guardians of this parish, and was at the commencement of this Union. I was never summoned before the magistrates except for church-rates. As to my being a "slanderer," and "venomous," I must leave your readers to judge from the paragraph and Mr. Paris's letter, which of us deserves that character. . I hope I should be the last one to calumniate the character of the humblest person, and surely I would not that of a minister of the Gospel - the highest position man can fill in this short life. . I am, Sir, yours obediently, RICHARD V. HOSKING ............................................................................................................ Julia M.   West Briton Transcriptions, 1836-1856 at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wbritonad St. Austell Area History and Genealogy at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~staustell