The Press. — London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858. - - :ecated for. He says Rush paid him for doing the deed. lie is in the 48th Regiment. I went to see the man, anti he seems in a very distressed state. They say there is no peace for the wicked, and I believe that is true, for he has A lways been in trouble, as he has been tried by courts martial ever since he has been a soldier. on the causeway in Workhouse-lane. Having appa rently satisfied himself that the body which lay there could be no other than that of his son, he waited to ask for no description of the body—would give none —but forced his way through the crowd, past the police at the door, and upstairs in the most frantic manner. While he was upstairs a series of the most piercing shrieks rent the air without. These pro• needed from a cleanly-dressed woman, who also had evidently come to the conclusion that the deceased was her son, for she uttered the most piercing cries of " Oh my child, my child—my darling child ; I know he's dead, and that he's here." And then forcing her way into the inn fell back insensible, exclaiming as she did so, " Oh, I cannot look at him." The man hearing the cries, and imagining it to be his wife, ran downstairs, exclaiming, "It is not he." Hearing this, the woman caught at the hope that her son was yet living only to lose it again, for in the meantime her husband had recognized the body as that of his son, and coming downstairs could not conceal the fact. er grief now knew no bounds. She beat the table with her bands, stamped with her feet, and screamed in the most frightful manner for nearly half-an-hour, and was at length with difficulty borne home. Deceased was known as Albert Sales, , and was the son of a filecutter in the employ of Mr. Cammell, of the Cyclops NVorks. The following is a complete list of the persons killed :—Thomas Morton, aged eighteen, grinder; Philip Childs, grinder; Alfred Day, g rinder; Ellen Staley; Albert Sales, filecutter; JohnWigley. From inquiries made at the infirmary we learn that the two men taken there, and who are both suffering from concussion of the brain, have recovered sensibility, and are likely to live. Neither of them, however, is yet in a state to give any particulars as to how he received his is juries. The coroner's inquest upon the persons killed was opened on Tuesday evening, before Mr. Badger, coroner. The bodies lay in one of the rooms of the hall near that in which the jury were assemblei. The jury having heard the evidence of Greaves as to the cause of the alarm, which was confirmed by another lad, and some explanation as to the state of the gas, the inquiry was adjourned till Thursday next. After the jury separated the bodies were removed to the homes of their relatives. Mr. Yondan has announced his intention to defray the expenses of the funerals. He also kept his place of enter tainment closed till Friday evening, by which time all the deceased were interred. A. rigid inspection of the gas pipes was made on Wednesday by two competent parties, wha arrived at the conclusion that no explosion had taken place. MR. THOMAS HUNT, one of the United All Eng land Eleven cricketers, met with a shocking deatu within an hour after the close of the grand cricket match between the Eleven of England and Twenty of Rochdale, on Satuiday evening last. Alter packing up his cricketing materials, he engaged a man named John Wild to carry them to the Rochdale station. Mr. Hunt and the man Wild determined to walk upon the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to the station. Wild went a short distance before Mr. Hunt, and the latter incautiously picked his road between the up•rails ; and when be had gone a dis tance of about two hundred yards, Wild heard the whistling of an engine, and turned round to look what it was. It was a train due at Rochdale station from Manchester at 6.50. He saw the danger in which Mr. Hunt was, but was too far oft to render him the slightest assistance. He appeared to be in a complete state of bewilderment, and unable to discover a place of safety. He turned round quickly, and in a moment was caught by the buffer of the engine, which threw him down on the rails. Both his legs and his left hand were across the rails, and in that position the train passed over him, cutting off both legs across the calves, except a few shreds of skin and flesh, and smashing all the fingers of his left hand, over which the wheels seem to have gone in a slanting direction. The train was stopped and the body taken up. Surgical assistance was procured, but too late ; the unfortunate man died in a few hours. THE CAPTURE OF A BURGLAR was effected in a detached cottage at Twickenham, within almost a stone's throw of the church, occupied by an elderly maiden lady in very delicate health, whose establish ment consists merely of a cook and housemaid, a few days since. On the night in question, however, there was only the housemaid and her sick mistress in the house. In the evening, the housemaid went into her mistress's bedroom to inquire if anything was wanted before retiring to rest. On opening the door she was startled by seeing a lad, not more than eighteen, standing over her mistress as she lay in bed, apparently in the act of striking her with a bludgeon. Without hesitating, she immediately rushed upon him and seized him, closing with him so rapidly that be was unable to use his bludgeon. A desperate and long-protracted struggle ensued, the poor invalid lady awaiting the issue in inten s e anxiety. At length the brave girl succeeded in completely overpowering her antagonist, and kneeling up on h im 1 as he lay upon bis back on the floor , she held him down and called to her mistress to bring her a piece 899 of cord, with which she firmly secured the bands of her captive, who was then locked up, in spite of his entreaties for mercy, in a strong cupboard, and shortly afterwards was delivered up to the police, to whom he was well known. The lady states that she was asleep, when he awoke her, and, raising his stick, demanded her keys. She was dreadfully frightened, and was on the point of delivering them up when her servant entered the room. The maid afterwards received a handsome present from her mistress. A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE broke out early on Sunday morning in the house and shop of Mr. Roper, corn chandler, Royal-hill, Greenwich, which unfortunately resulted in the loss of life to two children—the one a girl aged five and a half years, and the other a boy aged one year and nine months. The premises were totally destroyed, and the rest of the inmates with difficulty escaped by the roof of the house. The prowess of the flames was so rapid that an escape could not be procured in time to be of service. THE OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLVERHAMPTON RAILWAY COLLISION again occupied the attention of the Coroner and jury at Brierly-hill on Wednesday, and was adjourned, as it was understood, merely for the purpose of summing up by the coroner and deliberation by the jury. The inquest was again resumed at the Bell Inn, on Thursday morning. When the jury had assembled, Mr. Homer, solicitor, said he must object to the conduct of the foreman of the jury, because he had, since the commencement of the inouiry, been assisting in settling cases of compensation on behalf of the company. Mr. Bailey, the foreman, said he had not in any way acted discreditably either as foreman of the jury, a Gospel minister, or an Englishman. Some conversation ensued, and Mr. Bailey ultimately retired from the jury. Some evidence was then gone into, when a witness said that if the break had been put on in time the accident would not have happened. It was also stated that the excursion train was only intended for children of the Sunday schools on the lines between Oxford and Wolverhampton. At the close of the evidence the coroner, to the astonish ment of every one, adjourned the inquest for a fort night. MR. JAMES LORD, late partner of a firm of tilitlser merchants of Liverpool, and part owner of the - Red Jacket and other vessels, met with a shocking death on the 24th ult. in Canada. A gentleman writing from Toronto on the 30th ult. to a friend in Man chester says :—" On Tuesday last :our friend Lord was killed on the Northern Railroad in a dreadful manner. He had gone out with a party to Lake Simcoe to fish, and when they arrived at Bell Ewart, the lake port., they all 0 ,t off the carriages, and went on the boat. Lord, fancying that his carpet-bag had not been taken off the cars, went back, and, by an unaccountable aazident, was crushed to death, There is a platform a'. each end of American railway car riages, by which yen get off and on. There are steps leading to it from the side. The train bad gone to the side of the wharf, and was going back, when Lord jumped on board. He was backing down the plat form steps, behind one of the carriages, when the train came beside the elevated platform in front of the station-house. The width between this carriage and the platform—don't confound the carriage plat form with it—is 13 inches. Not seeing that he was near the platform, he got squeezed into the space, which gradually narrows to six inches. His body was twisted round into this narrow space ere the train stopped. Imagine how a stout man like him must have been crushed ! As he was pushed up this space he cried, " Oh ! oh ! oh ! " but his death fol lowed almost instantaneously. The party with whom he was, with a heartlessness, thank God, not often equalled, left him there, and went on with their sports. Nay, there was one who stayed behind, Mr. —, of this city, formerly of Liverpool. We buried him on Thursday." PRESENCE OF MIND is a rare quality, but its value was shown in an occurrence which took place a day or two ago. As a woman was on her way to Milton farmhouse, for the purpose of procuring milk, the watch-dog, a large animal of the mastiff breed, broke loose, and rushed at her. A young man, a son of the proprietor, observed the circumstance, and ran forward for the purpose of seizing the dog, but some. thing lying in the way tripped him and he fell, when he was caught bold of by the furious brute and his leg torn in a dreadful manner. The lad, with great presence of mind, seized the dog by the throat, and, notwithstanding that the animal struggled violently, he maintained his bold until it was strangled. THE GREAT AMERICAN ALOE ( the Agave Americana) is now in bloom in the gardens of the Botanic Society, Regent's-park. It is a remarkably fine plant, healthy, vigorous, and lofty. Its height on the 12th of June registered as 7 ft. 8 in., since when it has increased to 24 it., an altitude which it reached some days ago, and at which it is now stationary. The flowers cover some three feet of the stem from the summit, the lower ones being fully open, while the others are gradually unfolding themselves. This fin e plant is worthy of the inspection of the horticulturist. glaibtnts an Offences. AWFUL CATASTROPHE AT THE SURREY MUSIC-HALL, SHEFFIELD. TEE most appalling casualty that has happened for many years in Sheffield took place on Monday. The scene of the accident is called the Surrey Musio-hall. The attractions attendant upon the novelty of the decorations and a new company of performers had drawn together a very large audience, and the hall was crowded in every part. Probably little fewer than 3,000 persons were present. About a quarter to eight in the evening Madame Marietta, a favourite with Sheffield audiences, was singing on the stage, accompanied by the band, and the utmost silence prevailed throughout boxes, pit, and galleries. In the middle of this lady's song the panic arose which led to the casualty. The account which is current is that a young man fired a pistol in the gallery ; and it is said that several persons are prepared to come forward and state that they saw him do so. (heaves, a lad of nineteen, the person alluded to, has, however ; come forward and deposed that the explosion arose from an escape of gas which took fire from a lucifer which he had lighted for his pipe. However the catastrophe may in the first instance have been caused, this fact is quite certain, that in the middle of Madame Marietta's song a great cry of alarm suddenly rang through the build ing, and large numbers of those present rushed towards the doors to escape. Madame Marietta un fortunately partook of the alarm, and ran screaming behind the scenes, thus adding to the fright of the audience. Mr. Youdan, the proprietor of the estab lishment, by his firm and energetic words and demeanour, succeeded in calming the audience. Scarcely, however, had order been restored, when the over excited minds of the persons present were again aroused by a cry that the building was on fire at the top. Again the panic set in, this time with immensely increased force. Mr. Youdan again essayed to calm the multitude ; but this time utterly without effect. For the moment completely wild with terror, the crowd rushed in every direction to wards the doors, eager only to escape from the build ing. Screams of frigbt and pain arose on every side, as the masses of people, huddled together in heaps, strove to get before each other on their way from the building. Whenever a door stood in their way the panels were smashed in, and the glass shivered. In the passages proceeding from the pit and boxes there was comparatively little danger. It was on the steps leading down from the galleries that the most terrible scene occurred. The scene was frightful. The shouts of the men were inter mingled with screams from the women and frantic entreaties that they might be allowed to escape. One young woman, who is killed, was seen to be precipi tated from amongst the crowd down one of the flights of steps. She fell on her head on to the brick flooring ; broken fragments of her comb and her coral necklace were afterwards picked up on the spot where she was killed. Another woman had a narrow es cape. She was near to the unfortunate creature wbo was killed, and had a child in her arms. In spector Linley, wbo exerted himself zealously, was standing within a doorway at the bottom of the flight, helping the people down, and entreating them to be calm. He saw the woman with the child in the act of being p rec ipit a t e d f orwar d. He caught her with the child as they were falling, and thus their lives were saved. Two young men were killed during the struggle on the stairs. Another, who was found dead just inside the entrance, was taken to Mr. Todd's, cabinetmaker, whence he 'was removed to the White Swan. The second panic, that the building was on fire, may possibly be explained by a circumstance that has since been discovered. On the stairs of the gallery there was found a woman's velvet mantle, partially burnt. Of course, it is not known how this garment ignited ; but it seems not unlikely that the sight and smell of it burning gave rise, in the ex citable state of the audience, to the panic which caused the mischief. The regret with which this tragedy must be regarded is enhanced by the fact that nothing at all happened to cause the. slightest danger ; and that but for one of those panics which unfortunately seize multitudes assembled in build ings no harm could have happened to any person. About half.past eleven at night, the body of the young woman was recognized by her father, who had heard of the catastrophe, and feared that his son, who as well as his daughter had been present, was among the killed. After identifying his daughter, 11 _ 6 proceeded to a public-house, Q-in-the-Corner, Yaradtse-square, where lay the body of a young man about eighteen years old, who had been found dead ■