The Press. — London, England, 1858-11-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 6, 1858. 1082 A LETTER•CARRIER has been committed for trial by Mr. Jardine, at Bow•street, for stealing a letter containing a 5/. note. His house was searched, and half of another Si. note, rings, pins, and other articles were discovered. A boy engaged at the Coventry street branch-office was also committed for stealing a money letter. THE COURT or• ERROR gave judgment on Wed nesday in the case of "Waddington v. the City of London Union," relating to the Manini frauds to the extent of between 40,000/. and 50,0001. It will be recollected that Manini was one of the collectors of rates for the City of London Union, and that he and Paul, s clerk to the guardians, had embezzled large sums of money collected from the ratepayers. The guardians then made a rate equally on the whole of the union to make up these deficiencies, which the plaintiff refused, on the ground that Manini was not the officer of the whole union, but of a portion of the parishes only, and that, therefore, the other parishes had no right to be called on to pay for his defal cations ; and secondly, that the deficiency ought to be made up by those parishes whose servant he was, and not spread over the whole of the union. The Queen's Bench decided that the guardians had the power to make a rate over the whole of the parishes for the deficiency ; but the Court of Error reversed that decision, giving it as their opinion that the deficiency must be made up by those parishes whose servant Manini exclusively was. AN Ito:ocErrr MAN has, it is supposed, been convicted. At the recent quarter sessions for the county of Surrey .James Clark, alias Mack, was convicted, under very peculiar circumstances, of the robbery of a young lady in Richmond-park, and was sentenced to three years' penal servitude, there being very good ground for supposing, from what occurred at the trial, and from what has since transpired in reference to the matter, that the prisoner is innocent of the crime of which be was convicted. The prisoner bad no counsel, but he made a most earnest and sensible speech to the jury on his own behalf, and, after positively asserting his innocence, he asked them whether it was likely, if he had committed such an offence so shortly before, that he should have gone to the very place where it occurred, and wher3 he was almost certain to be taken into custody ? He said, also, that he was told that the police had been making inquiries respecting a person who answered his description, and that if he bad been doing anything wrong he had better "step it," and his reply was, that he had not been doing anything that would make him afraid of the police, and that, consequently, be would remain where he was, and it appeared that shortly after this had occurred he was taken into custody. In addition to this three wit- nesses were called who swore positively that at the time the robbery was alleged to have been committed in Richmond-park the prisoner was employed in wood-chopping at Westminster, and although these witnesses were severely cross-examined by the counsel for the prosecution, their evidence was not shaken in any material particular, and the general impression in court was that they were speaking the truth. The chairman evidently was impressed with this idea, for he summed up the case to the jury very strongly for an acquittal, but, to the surprise of almost every one present, they returned a verdict of " Guilty," and the prisoner was sentenced to three years' penal servi tude. The feeling, however, was so strong in the mind of the bench and the bar in favour of the prisoner's innocence, that the sentence has not yet been put in force, and the prisoner still remains in Horsemonger-lane, and it is understood that a memorial will be sent to the Secretary of State pray ing for a pardon for the prisoner, as, from subsequent inquiries that have been made, there appears to be very little doubt that tha witnesses for the prosecution were mistaken in speaking to his identity, and that he is really innocent of the crime of which he has been convicted. A SINGULAR APPLICATION was made at the Mary lebone Police-court ' on Tuesday, by Mr. Overton, a member of the Marylebone Vestry. He stated that his daughter had been engaged as a companion in a gentleman's family, and that she had been converted to the Roman Catholic religion. He wished to know whether be could demand the restora tion of his daughter and her submission to parental authority. As the yonng lady was twenty-two years of age, and, therefore, old enough to judge for her self, the magistrate said he could not interfere in the matter. MR. HUMPHREY BROWN, late M.P. for Tewkesbury, and director of the Royal British Bank, passed his last examination before the Court of Bankruptcy ou Thursday. li, was adiudicaTed a bankrupt, as a shipowner, of Little Smith street, Westminster, and Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. The assignees of the Royal British Bank claim against his estate 63,6731.; but this is disputed, and is the subject of arbitration. A claim, however, for 1001. was admitted without prejudice, for the purpose of giving them a locus stansh at the certificate meeting to be held on the 30th November. *ands anb Offences. DREADFUL POISONING AT BRADFORD. Os Saturday night a person named William Hard aker retailed a large quantity of peppermint lozenges in the Bradford marketplace. On Sunday morning it was reported that two boys had died suddenly in the town. Little was thought of the incident at the time, but as during the day several other persons were reported to be ill, and others dead, an inquiry was instituted, which led to the discovery of the fact that these persons had died from the effects of taking arsenic, which was mixed in the peppermint lozenges. These lozenges had been made by Mr. Joseph Neil, wholesale confectioner, of Stone-street, Bradford, and sold by him to Hardaker to retail. About a fortnight ago Mr. Neil purchased 12ths of plaster of Paris, called by the trade " daft " or " allibi," of Mr. Hodgson, druggist, of Shipley, near Bradford. A young man named George Goddard was in the shop at the time, his master being ill in bed. He asked his master whether he had got any of the ingredient called by the person "daft," and was told by his master that it was in a cask in one corner of the cellar. Goddard went there, and, it appears, in mistake served the customer, Neil, with arsenic instead of plaster of Paris, the casks containing both ingredients being in the same corner, and neither of them being labelled. The mistake was not discovered till several persons had died on Sunday from taking the peppermint lozenges made by Neil, and sold in the market by Hardaker. 12Ibs. of arsenic were mixed in 401bs. of sugar, which would give eight or ten grains to each lozenge, as much as would poison two persons. Neil, the maker of the lozenges,remarked, in making them, that they were unusually long in drcing, and bore a darker colour than usual, but he never suspected they contained poison. Hardaker, the vendor of the fatal lozenges, is himself so ill that his life is despaired of, be having partaken of them. It is stated that Neil, the manufacturer, and Hodgson, the druggist, are particular friends, and that Goddard, the young man who has been the cause of the calamity, has only been in the employ of the latter a few weeks, having recently left school. Thirty-six pounds of the unsold lozenges were found on the premises of Hardaker. The total number of deaths arising from this horrible catastrophe is, according to the latest accounts, 17, and 190 persons are still suffering from the effects of the arsenic. The lives of many are despaired of. On the cause being discovered, Mr. Leseratt, the chief constable, took steps to put the public on their guard against eating lozenges purchased in the market-place, by sending out bellmen and policemen to make it known in various localities, and placards were thickly posted upon the walls. The circumstance has caused great sensation throughout the district. God•lard has been brought up before the Bradford magistrates, and remanded till the coroner's inquest. LORD AND LADY MUNCASTER had a most narrow escape on Saturday, the 23rd ult. The party left the castle near Ravenglass, at noon, with the carriage and four prancing horses, two postilions, a coachman and footman, and drove up to the head of Eskdale leaving the two front horses at the Woolpack Inn for their return. On their way back, whilst crossing Wayer's Bridge, which is some fifteen feet from the water, the horses took fright, and leaped with the postilion into the water. The pole broke and saved the party. The horses and man fell into the stony river, laming the rider, and broke the back of one horse and injured the other. As they leaped the bridge wall, the pole and harness held the horses, and the man fell into the water, and the horses hung in the harness and fell near to him. The coachman leaped from the box and ran to the man and horses, got him out, cut away the harness, got one horse out, and found the otber only worth shooting. Lord Muncaster and the ladies were stuck in the narrow bridge, and were got off without any injury, and soon conveyed back to the castle in a cart. The bridge is some three miles from the parish church, and is built in the shape of a wheel, and has just sufficient room for a carriage to pass. The wall is about four feet high, and has a dangerous effect whilst driving across. On Sunday the other horses were able to walk home, and the man was out of danger. On Monday the bridge was christened " Lord Muncaster's Leap." A SERIOT:S FIRE, attended with the destruction of several thousand pounds' worth of property, broke out shortly before two o'clock on Monday, on the extensive premises of Mr. E. M. Holden, toy and basket maker, No. 66, Upper-street, Islington. When the first alarm was raised the destructive element bad obtained so strong a hold that the lower part of the premises was completely enveloped in flames. The Royal Fire Society escapes promptly arrived, then Inspector Baddely and Conductor Newell succeeded in rescuing Mr. and Mrs. Smith, two children, and the servant girl from the adjoining house, which was then taking fire. The powerful 1 I parish engine was shortly on the spot, followed In the engines from Watling•street, Whitecross street, Hilborn, Jeffery-square, and others, when, with I good supply - of water, they got to work ; but in spite of the most strenuous exertions of the firemen the flames spread with amazing rapidity, and were not extinguished until eight o'clock. The premises o f Mr. E. M. Holden, toy and ba , ket maker, warehouse and dwelling house burnt down ; No. 63, Loper street, Islington, Mr. James Smith, bootmaker, burnt No. 62, Mr. J. Alesto n , b oo k se ll er, burnt out; Mr. Shelton, habe r d as h er, considerably d d i w in n t ag h ed, as well as other houses. The cause is unknown, and the loss will fall on the Sun, Pboxix, Royal Exchange, and other offices. A SINGULAR CAUSE OF DEATH has been disclosed at an inquest, held at Bermondsey, on the body of Thomas James Ardley, aged twelve months, the son of a journeyman gas•fitter. On Friday the mother and father retired to bed with their infant, and about five o'clock the following morning the former was aroused by her eldest child crying, and then missed the deceased from her side. Upon going to bed on the night before, she took the precaution to place a table 133 the side of the bed to prevent the deceased falling out; when she missed the infant, she obtained a light, and found that it was suspended by its neck between the table and the bed. Medical assistance was at once procured, but the poor child was quite dead. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death." A SHOCKING ACCIDENT occurred on Monday at the Matlock-bridge railway station, which terminated fatally to Mrs. Royale, wife of Mr. Royale, confiden- tial valet and interpreter to the late Duke of Devon. shire. It appears that the lady had been making some inquiries at the station, and stood on the line when .ne 9.30 a.m. train was signalled to ap- proach, and one of the porters left the platform to warn her of the impending danger. He took hold of her, and was pulling her aside, when the engine buffers caught the dress of Mrs. Royale, and both fell under the wheels. The unfortunate lady's head being cracked like a walnut shell, it is almost needless to add that her death was nearly instants. neous. The porter's body was also passed over, and he was killed. A VERY DISTRESSING CIRCUMSTANCE has occurred during the past week. A lady, belonging to a family resident in Worthing, who has been for some time labonring under mental depression, left her home on Wednesday, as it was supposed, to visit a relit non. No particular notice was taken of the circum• stance until evening, when it was found that the lady did not return, and a messenger went in search of her. The family was much alarmed at learning that she bad not been seen at the place where it was sup. posed she bad gone, and the town was ransacked to find her. No information could be gleaned for a long time, until it was ascertained that a person an• swering the description of the unhappy lady had been traced to Cissbury, one of the chain of hills forming the South Downs. Search was made in that direr• Lion during the whole of the night, but unsuccess fully. Her two brothers went in search of her over the Downs, but still without finding any traces of her. The superintendent constable of Worthing, with great alacrity, collected all the available men he could under him, and started in search. During the whole of the night the poor lady and her pursuers remained ou the hills. On Friday a strange woman, in passing a pond in Rustington, about eight miles from Worthing, saw the poor creature lying in an exhausted state at the water's edge, her clothes being saturated with water. The unhappy lady had been wandering about the district in a deranged state for two days and two nights without food or shelter• She was soon restored to her distressed friends, but in a most emaciated condition. *— A FATAL COALPIT :ACCIDENT occurred at the Cae Coalpit, near Llanelly, Carmarthensbire, on Thursday. The pit was inundated by a rash of water from old workings, and ten colliers were drowned. A DEATH FROM FRIGHT has occurred at Much Hoole, a village near Preston, resulting from a heart less joke perpetrated by two young men, named Richard Forshaw and Robert Mawdsley. On Friday evening, about six o'clock, Martha Spencer, aged thirteen, and six other girls, on their way home along the turnpike road, saw a coffin lying across the foot. path ; and, when they were within four yards of It , the coffin moved, and a hollow sound proceeded from it. The girls all ran back screaming till they met !lia man named Gill, who persuaded them to go him to the spot. The deceased and another girl clung to him trembling, and then they saw Forshaw Mawdsley lifting the coffin on the ir shoulders to carry it away. They afterwards acknowledged they had done it to frighten the girls, Mawdsley behind a wi hedge pulling a string tied to the coffin handle s, the girls approached. After dinner on Saturday tne, girl became ill, on Sunday morning b e g an to corm, s blood and a dark coloured fluid, and soon afterward expired. Forshaw and Mawdsley hav e been Cam witted for trial by the coroner. d by treet, ith spite the 5 not 'es of louse pper• burnt t out ; rably se is cents, tiosed cldy of e son bother about T was missed ed on dace a ceased tained s neck stance quite dental at the iinated Aden- Devon- asking on the to ap- orm to k hold engine e, and lady's almost status. er, and :cured family le time r borne a relit- circum- he lady arch of ng that , as sup• eked to for a son 'D- ad been forming it dime. ;access- er over of her. with nen he ring the ittrsuers woman, t miles ig in an clothes ndy bad ed state shelter. ids, but the Cae 3 nrsdaY• rom old ,t Much a heart- named 3 Friday er, aged De along be foot* 'da of it, led from ey met a F7 a F t strt h iee dngodadoe t h en wh o ; s eviyir sct w one h aoh g tr sr corn' t ;a s r b yi :Ist.