The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-12-19 00:00:00

A FRIGHTFUL OCCURRENCE.

A Mr. Dyi tt, a London batik civil:, residing in 1
Southwark, early on Friday morning, in is frenzy, in-
&iced by brain fever, jumped out of bed and leapt
lieuts the window on to the road, draggiug out Ids
wife, who attempted to save him. The follow mg
particulars were elicited at the inquest:—
it appeared that the deceased wr“ it clerk lit the National
Bank, nil bet he was inn receipt of XI:le a year. his nig other
allowed biol. iii nulililionn to Ins Le...none, a sum of .t... 2 a mouth.
Ile had been married four years, and he haul ,rile date:liter, a
eirl nng, d three. Ile was given to drink, and eine day last
week Inc called at his mother's borne at Nottlue-hill, ci
gnat excitemelit. Ile sail lie had discovered a plot aginninat
hint. and that people were following him about. A nt.netor
was called on. Ile gave Wel two doses of medicine Milt
advised Ins family to keep him !inlet and not to excite him.
At able o'clock the same evening his wife Irene up to the
hensa in a cab, and when she saw her husband he threw him-
self into her arms. Ile then said he would go home with
her, awl he insisted mmti .loiter so, although his wife arid his
family entreated him to remain where Inc is no, Ile leg with
Ids wife, and drove in • cab to his lodgings at ten o'clock at
night.
Mr Watson, 11, Mark lane. perish clerk, said that the do-
reseed Mrs. Deighton was hie daughter, lie saw her after
she returned home with her husband. She asked hint to buy
a shilling's worth of brandy, avid she stated that the doctor
hail ordered her hinband to have some weak brandy and
water. When he saw the decrewed he hung his head down
and inked like a nine who WaS ashamed of himself. Two
years ago, when his second eldhl died, lie said, " I feel I
shall go out of my niiiel." Ills father laud died iiin site.
Ile was in the habit of walking about the house at Mgt&
Mr. Roberts, clerk at the bank, said that the deceremni had
'Lamle), been excited about the payment el a dector's bill
that he said he had been 1111111 in up for amine time.
NI.. Jones said that the deceased lodged with her hive
weeks ago. Mr. Deighton was in the habit of gett ng drunk
end heath g his wife. On rare occasion the police took Wm
mite custody, anti he was locked up a whele eight. In the
morning his wife bailed him out. Ile had been in a cold cell
the whole night and caught a severe cold, which confined
111111 to bed I.r a week.
Folice-vonstable Lowe said that last Friday morning, at
live o'clock, he found the bodies of Mr Deighten and his
wife lying on the pavement in frank of 46,
Borough. Ile had theni carried to the hoepitaL
Another wituese, deposing to the same feats, said that he
found the arta of the woman underneath the body of the
Men. Ile therefore believed that the wife lost her life while
trying to prevent her hosband leaping from the window of
Id+ room, whieh was on the second flnew.
The polieenian stated that all the furniture in the room
was knocked about as if there lout been a struggle between
the man and his wife.
Mr. Sells, surgeon, depose! that the woman died shortly
after her admission to the hospital, and the Luau was dead.
The skulls of both were fractured.
The coroner having summed up, the jary returned a
verdict, "That the deceased man destroyed his life by leaping
n from a window while in a state of teloperatv insanity,
caused by drink, and that the deceased Weellell Wes killed
, while she was clinging to her husband with the intention of
n se, ing his life."

_
All the ['amen gt -rs havi—ngbesn got to the boats, the cap-
taM who was the last to leave the steamer, came on board
the one in which we were. It was found to be too heavy,
and in order to lighten it, two passengers were trans-
ferred to the tint mate's boat, and ladies threw their
shawls overboard, while one of two barrels of biscuits
and a couple of bags of apples were east into the sea. I
slid not, as my back was turned, see one of the boats
caprise ; but I heard the captain say, "My God
Reid's has upset. In a little he saw it in the act of
righting, with some persons clinging to the keel ; and
when he looked again he saw it had righted and that
several people were on board. The crew of this boat
had hoisted a sail immediately on leaving the ship, and
I think this was the cause of its being capsised.
For nearly twelve hours our frail craft was kept
afloat by steering, baling, and throwing oil up, m the
sea. Some of us expected every moment would be our
last ; there was stern resignation on the faces of severaL
One lady remarked to the captain, "Oh, captain, it
seems so hard for us -to die out lin this wide ocean—
nobody to know anything about us." I Raid to him,
"Do you think, captain, if we survive to night we will
be able to put over to mon-ow ? ' and he replied, "If
the sea goes down we will have a chance of living over
to-morrow. If we can keep afloat we may fall in the
track of the Quebec line of steamers." I tried to
persuade him to take a bit of biscuit, but herald he had
no appetite. I said, "What will we do if you go?"
and he remarked. "Well, I will try after a little."
He was keeping steadfastly at the helm, steering. One
gigantic wave n,arly swamped us, and he observed that
If there was another like it we would go, or words to
that effect.
At length one of the passengers said, "Captain, I
think ieee avail." The captain looked sip from his
post and itninediately exclaimed, "Row hard, my
lads; row hard." They did row hard; and we all
commenced to shunt at the top of our voices. One gen-
tleman had a lit of candle in his pocket, which he took
out, put in a large lamp—such a lamp as is hung at the
sides of ships—and held aloft as we ever and anon rose
on the waves. Our light was seen, and, may be, our
shouting in some degree heard; and we were resceed
from our perilous position by the Star of Hope. Cap.
tam Talbot, the master of that vessel, was exceedingly
kind to us. We were all, of course, drenched; and
with the good-humoured remark that " circumatancea
alter cases," he brought forth a pile of seamen's
clothing, in which the ladies attired themselves until
their own habiliments were dried.
_ .

On arriving off Aberdeen in the Star of Hope we
were not well used by the masters of two tugs. We
fired off rockets for about an hour, and then the tugs
ame alongside, but those in command refused to take
us on board, though expressly informed that we had
been saved from a wreck. After lying-to for some
time, and there being no prospect of help, Captain
Talbot considered it advisable, as the sea was becoming
very troubled, as the wind was miming greatly, and as
the ship in these circumstances was in danger of being
driven ashore, to set out for Leith. We reached that
spot on Tuesday forencon, having, before we quitted
Captain Talbot, presented him with an address ex-
pressing our deep gratitude and indebtedness to him.

William Davies, second officer of the ill-fated
steamer, Hi&cry-Lin, and one of a few persons who
escaped, has also furnished the following account of
what passed after he an I his fellow voyagers left the
sinking ship in No. 3 lifeboat :
I acted assecentl officer on board theeerew-steamer Hibernia,
which left New York on Saturday, the 14th November last,
with 142 souls, all told. All went well, although the weather
was stormy, until 24th Nov., when the accident occurred to
the screw shaft, which led to the foundering of the ship.
When it was resolved to leave the Hibernia. their being no
' hope of repairine the mischief which had been done, I wee
appointed to take charge of No. 3 lifeboat, in which a com-
plement of twenty-eight persons were placed. After pushing
off from the Hibernia we kept within sight of the other
boats for lour hours, but then we lost them. We sailed
about that day without anything oecurrieg which promised
relief. At night we ley too. and passed the long dark
hours in sadness. Next morning we got under weigh,
111111 endeavotired to make iu the directs, n of laud.
During this, the seoond day, strong westerly breezes
prevaded. f).l. a few days afterwards we had light air
anti calms, tier sufferiegs on the second day were very
great, and in the utter nbandenment of hope two of the
passengers jumped overimard, awl were soon in the silence
of death. Again day passed into the dreary night, and still
we had 110 prospect of being picked up. The third morning
daweed on our party spiritless and dejected. Our sickening
despair was deepened in the course of the day by another of
our passengers preferring sleuth to the agony of such a life
by leaping overboard. The same dreary prospect continued,
without the slightest ray of hope, on succeeding days. About
the eighth day from our leaving the Hibernia, one of the
passengers, Samuel Brewster by name, succumbed to the
privations which we endured, and on the following day two
women, two children, and an infant were also released by
death from their sufferings. We afterwards drifted
on under a fair whet The sea, however, was heavy,
and during the progress of the gale our boat was capsized.
Sixteen of lea- party sole drowned. The heat continued
in this overturned position for four hours, and when she I
righted, three ef its Blair, and Reilly, and myself, who had
managed to 1101,1 011—suceecded in getting into her. We
drifted along without seeing any vessel until Sunday evening
last when tine was sighted. We could not, however, make
on her, and our feeble signaliligs did not appear to be ob-
served. About six o'clock on the same evening we make the
Tory Light, off the coast of Ireland. We attempted to run
in, but the night was dark, and in the gloom we found our-
selves amongFt the breakers. We then ran out again as best
we could, awl lay to for eight hours. At daylight on
,3f,nid.uy morning WC arain meleaveured to land, and sue-
, ceeded in running into NI ulroy Bay, We were very ranch
tali:lusted through exposure and the want of food, for we
had lost everything when the boat capsized We are still
very weak, and onr legs, feet, and hands are much swollen.
We ma with great kindness at the hands of the people on
the bids COUG.

Mr. Patrick Brewster, nephew of the late Sir David Brew-
ster, died at the house of his brother, in Dewar-place, on
the nairidng of the 10th. Deceased who was in ill-health
when he left New York in the ill-fated Hibernia, was in the
thirty-ninth year of his age.