Journalist's 'exclusive' with Snowballs before the inquest
Northern Echo, January 14
The reporter visits Belmount and meets with old John Snowball, his younger son John and a "comely, middle-aged woman..."
"The household... were at dinner, which was set upon a moderate-sized round table in front of the fireplace - a good, old-fashioned kitchen range. A cordial invitation to join them at the meal was readily accepted by me, and an extra plate and knife and fork were speedily laid.
"The furniture of the room was not what could be termed elegant, and indeed, there seemed to be a lack of cleanliness or order about the apartment, which was quite the opposite of comfortable, as might have been expected when the housekeeper was in the lock-up.
"In addition to the round table upon which the dinner was set, a square deal one, covered with unwashed plates, dishes, cups and saucers, baking tins, and scraps of bread, occupied a position close in front of the window, the view from which was partially obscured by a short muslin curtain.
"That side of the kitchen fronting the fireplace, was occupied with a gigantic piece of furniture in the shape of a combined dresser and chest of drawers, while a longsettle, cushioned, ran down the other side. To the rafters hung bags, bunches of dried herbs &:c., while a fiddle and bow hung upon a nail in one corner.
"Over the mantelpiece were a pair of brightly-polished steel spurs, together with a bit of the same metal. An eight day clock, clean in outward appearances, was by far the neatest article in the room."
