Old news from Armidale and New England

Saturday 3 November 1888, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General

NEW ENGLAND.

(Uralla and Walcha Times, Oct. 31).

One day last week Miss Morcom, the teacher of the Maitland Point Public School, wag the heroine of an adventure with a brown snake which shows that the young lady possesses other qualifications besides those of teaching the juvenile idea how to germinate. It seems that Miss Morcom’s charges were enjoying their regulation play, when her watchful eye detected a brown snake gliding swiftly towards one of the juveniles. Miss Morcom took in the situation at once, and, with an exhibition of courage that does her credit, armed herself with a stick, and by accurate blows managed to despatch, the venomous reptile, which contained several young ones, all in a lively state [Miss Morcom is a daughter of Mrs. Morcom, of Vacy, Paterson River, and we echo the statement of the local paper that she is a credit to the district from which she hails.]

The sad surroundings attending the death of the young man Arthur Watkins, particulars of which were given in our last issue, have been intensified by the death of the father in the Armidale Hospital on Thursday last, seven days after his son’s end in the same institution. It does not often occur to a country newspaper to have occasion to chronicle the deaths of a father and son – the bread-winners of a poor family – within the space of a few days, and we trust that the claims of this peculiarly melancholy case will not be ignored by those of our readers who, as property owners or having fat incomes, may be living in luxury. The remains of the father, who for many years had been a valuable employé in the family of the late Mr John McCrossin, were interred in the Uralla cemetery on Saturday afternoon last.

Mr. Joseph Paul, who has represented D. Cohen and Co., of West Maitland, for so many years, was the victim of a most serious and very nearly fatal accident on Thursday evening last. Mr. Paul was proceeding in a buggy, drawn by a valuable horse, from Beverly to Bundarra, when on crossing the river, near the station, he unfortunately kept too far to the left, and with the vehicle and horse was thrown into ten feet of water. He used every exertion to save the animal, and was fully a quarter of an hour in the water, luckily having the buggy to stand on. When Mr. Paul found all efforts to save his horse were futile, he plunged into the stream, and with great difficulty, through being fully dressed, succeeded in reaching the bank in a very exhausted state.