The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-12-17 00:00:00

ACCIDELiTS AND OFFENCES.

IMtutords.— At the Axminster County Seesioes on
Friday, Sarah Sheppard was charged with the wilful
murder of Mary An Ashton and her infant child, being
the daughter and grandson of the prisoner. 11 appeared
from the evidence of three or four witnesses that the
prisouer had frequently said if her daughter bad a child
she would kill Loth the daughter and the d— brat.
and no one should come near them till they were dead,
when the midwife was lent for she found both dead,
and the surgeon who was called in gave it as hie opinion
that the child had died from loss of blood from the
umbilical cord not being properly tied. and that the
mother's death was caused from want of proper atten•
time, and that an ordinary midwife could have saved
her. The deceased had been dead 7or 8 hours when he
Ilan coiled in. The magistrates committed the prisoner
for trial on the charge of wilful murder.
An inquiry was on Wednesday opened into the cir-
cumstances attending the death of • poor boy named
Denser, who wan killed by an explosion of paraffin oil in
the warehouse of an oil and coluurman atCaunden•town.
The proprietor of the establishment said that in leis
opinion the accident was occasioned by the vapours
exhaled (nem the paraffin coming in contact with • light
the boy was holding. The coroner said that • due regard
for the public safety rendered • further inveatigation
nekassry, and be therefore adjourned the proceedings.
l'itomer 11Levit 'Hoe boy named James
Money, between seven and eight yearn of age, was eating
his dinner by the lire, in the National School, Graffloun,
one day last week, when by seine means hid pinafore
caught fire. The child in its fright ran into the open
air, where, fortunately, the Rev. R. Randall was
standing, in conversat with Miss Kelsey, the gover-
ness, and they, with praiseworthy pronipteees, rolled
him iii a carpet, and succeeded in extinguishing the
flames, but not before lie had been so severely burned,
from the head 10th. lower part of the body, that some
of his clothes were obliged to be cut off. Be was
taken to the house of Mrs. Kelsey. Dr. Turner, from
Petworth, at find pronounced the child in a dangerous
state, but, thanks teethe kind and unremitting attention
of Mrs. and Mina Kelsey, he is now no far recovered as
to be removed tee leis houre.—Sesses Express.
Tu BLAUONAIII TILAGBDT INTENMIVIED.—Before the
ink it well dry upon the pages which have given to the
public the account of the terrible tragedy of Thursday— '
when • woman named Agate, the wife of John Agate, ,
a farmer at Slaugham, a village in the very centre of
Suesex, destroyed one of her children, an interesting
little girl of about five years of age, and then cut tier
own throat—we have to record another calamity
in the saine family, and occurring in the immediate
vicinity of the scene of the former catastrophe. On
Tuesday, another member of the Agate family deprived
himself of life, without any apparent motive. His name
is Stephen Agate. and lie was about sixty years of age.
He was the cousin of John Agate (the husband of the
unfortunate M 411111.0 now charged with the murder of her
child). Stephen Agate resides at Curkfield, the nearest
town to the village of Slaugham, and carried im the
busineases, often combined in the provinces, of draper
and grocer, with au much success that he wan regarded
by every one as • man well to do in the world. At
about eight o'clock on Tuesday morning the report of a
gun was beard proceeding from a hovel adjoining the
house iii which Mr. Stephen Agate with him family
resided. Mr. Bacon Jeffery, • triulesenan in the town,
and several other neighbours, proceeded to the spot
immediately upon hearing the report. Upon entering
the hovel Mr. Jeffery found the unfortunate Mr. Agate
quite dead, the upper portion of Ida head being
completely blown away. Near him lay a gun, which
had been recently discharged, and attached to the trigger
of which was • string, formed at one end into a OWN.
111 this noose tlie shoe of the deceased was inserted, ,
Apparently lie had put the muzzle of the loaded gun in
,in mouth, and lied drawn the trigger by polling the
string with his foot.
ADULTBRATION or TOBACCO —The Bradford Inland
Revenue officers have been making a raid on the
premises of two tobammnista in Bradford, and their
(gray appears to have been perfectly suocesaful. In one
ease, the tobacconist was also 11 manufacturer, and both
at the manufactory and at the shop, rhubarb leaves
were found mixed up with the tobacco. In the second
seizure, 1801 b. weight of tobxeco was found, all
adulterated, thlugh the adulteration varied
(roue 1 to 10 per cent. In each mum
the fine inflicted was 1:73, but the real offence was
cheating her Majesty's Exchequer, and not that of
cheating tier Majesty's lieges. The compound might
have been considered pure "weed,' whether adulterated
or not. A man who supplied one of the defendants
with the rhubarb leaven was fiued 1:50, as it was
considered he was a participator in the fra .1 co the
revenue.

Thu private soldier who murdered two officers it
Preston lisrrackv, on the 14th Septeinlmr last, was
found guilty on Thursday at the Liverpool assizes, and
sentenced to death.

TOM " RING Teice."—The Manchester rogue wear-
ing a" white apron and cap," aermo either to be • thief
as well as a trickster, or some one who is • thief has
adopted and iinpruved upon rinaking to which we
have once or twice called attention. The latest account
we have received refers to • SIXIII3 near the Ducie Arms
Inn, Strangeways, where a white-capped individual
recently picked up a purse just as a young woman was
about to step upon it. "Is this yours, Miss" he maker',
and .on being answered in the negative, he rejoined,
"Well, as you saw we pick it up, let us see what it
contains." Of course it contained a ring %rapped in
paper, and equally, of course, the paper in which it
was wrapped bore the words "Gold ring," with the
addition, "for Mrs. Crompton. Higher Broughton,
104. 6.1." The fellow pressed the young wo-uan to
accept it as "A gift ;" but as soon as lie had done so,
and lie had run off, she found that he had lightened her
pocket of her purse, containing 12% GI.
If ELAM:IIOI.T DLATH.—On Tuesday information IVY
brought into Newcastle-on-l'yne uy the country people
coming to market of the melancholy deaths by drowning
of • inan and lad in the North Tyne. At all times, more
especially in the winter, the North Tyne, like most
niountain stream*, is a treacherous river coming down,
as country people espreits it, " with a roll of • sudden."
On Saturday • young man named Appleby, son of the
gamekeeper at Newton-hall was sent by his master, Mr.
Armstrong, of Short Moor, near Chipcliase Cantle, on
the South Tyne, to bring a sow home ins cart. Before
leaving the farm on his journey Mr. Armstrong
cantioued the young man to thurst down • stick at the
further side of the river, and if lie found on returning
that it had " waxed" hot to attempt to ford it ; but it
serums that the young man hail neglected those
precautions, for, upon retunong with the sow in the cart
he had taken • lad named Huddlestoue into it. and had
driven into the river. The wild and rushing streaiu very
soon swept the mare off her feet, and carried her and
the cart and two young men down the stream. Their
cries attracted the attention of • man coming to the ford
and he tried to render them assistame, as the cart—the
mare At the time plunging dri-iiilfully--was swept
towards the bank were he stood; but before hat could
give them any help. the cart upset, and the two young
men and the mare were drowned. The sow swain
ashore. The body of the utare was got out of the river
on Sunday morning. In her death agonies she had given
birth to • foal. The bodies of the two young men had
not been recovered at midday on Monday. The melan-
choly fate of the young men, Appleby being between
twenty and thirty years of age, and the buy thirteen or
fourteen, haa caused ouite a gloom in the villages of
North Tyne.
A FATAL WAGER.-011T111:18day Mr. G. A. Partridge
held so inquest at Chevingion. Suffolk, on the body of
George Newman, • labourer, who died on Sunday night
from having, after previously imbibing freely, drunk
for • wager of • shilling half • gallon of beer in two
minutes. "When the deceased had drunk the beer,"
said one of the wretched fellow's companions, " Wade,
the landlord of the publichouse where we were, said,
'You have won.' Newman took one shilling, and the
landlord the other, and after the deceased had put the
shilling into his pocket his hands dropped.
He then fell backwards, and his son and
others took him out of the house, thinking be
would vomit, and laid him outside against the door.
He lay there until I left the bowie, two or three
winutes before ten. I said, ' let him die hers,'
ar.d his son and others carried him into a cart lodge,"
The son of the deceased elated that as soon as his father
lied drink the beer the landlady said, "Fling him oat,
aing him out ; we won't have him here messing
about." He was accordingly dragged into the curt-
house, where his wife came to him late at night. The
poor woman stated at the inquest found my husband
quite drunk and in • sound sleep. When I had been
with him about an hour, or an hour and a half,
ii the dark, I knocked at the door of the public.
house, and called for a light, but could make nobody
near, I went into the shed again and cat
by my husband, and when I thought he was choking
lifted Lis head up, and laid it down again. I sat with
him until the morning I did not go to sleep at all. I
was in the dark all night. As WOG as I found be did
not breathe I knocked again at the public-Louse door,
but no one answered it. It was then, 1 ehould think,
about five o'clock. I sat down again, and in about
two hours went to my husband's aster in the village.
She returned with me, and found my husband quite
ch ad" Venlict, "That the deceased died wt....* :1 •
stew of d. siliceous's and stupor."