The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-26 00:00:00

SI.VGCLAR GUN ACCIDENT.

A remarkable gun accident occurred in the vicinity
of Sheffield on Saturday evening last. Mr. J. B. Prest,
wine merchant, returned on that day by railway from Lin-
' colnabire, where he had been on a showing excursion with
a friend. lie task a cab at the Victoria station and
instructed the driver to take him to his residence at End-

eliffe.eTeseent. When he had arrived near the crescent he
passed on the road two ladies and a young gentlemen on
horseback. The young gentleman was a son of Mr. J,ihn
S. Hanson, of Carfield, Occupation road. Seeing Mr.
Prest within the cab with a gun In his land, aid being
intimately acquainted with him, he rode sip to the cab, and
accosting Mr. Prest, inquired what sort of sport he had met
with. The thought occurred to Mr. Prest at the moment
that he would have a little pleasantry at young Mr. Nan-
son's cost. Feeling confident that his gun was not loaded,
he hastily placed a percussion cap on tho nipple, and witk-
out speaking a word in reply, projected the barrel
through the window of the cab in the direction of
Mr. Nanson's horse. It was but the work of a
moment to pull the trigger, and lodge a full ehaige in the
horse's head. This sudden and extraordinary act produced
an astounding effect on the persons who witnessed the oc
curtenee, but no one was so much shocked as Mr. Prest
himself. He had thought of surprising his young friend
with the sight of the gun and the explosion of the percussion
cap, not deeming it possible that anything serious could
happen. lie had a distinct remembrance of having, when
he left off shooting, handed his gun to an attendant game.
keeper and told him to draw the charge, and without doubt-
ing that that had been done he brought it hems with him
without feeling it necessary to exercise any particular cen-
time. The horse reeled from tbs effects of the shot, but
before it could fall its rider dismounted, and the animal was
led away to a stable. The accident was far less disastrous
than it might have been, for had young Mr. Hanson been
in a line with the window of the cab et seems more than
probable that the gun would have been presented at him
instead of his steed. The poor beast was found to have
suffered dreadfully from the effects of the shot. Five of
its teeth on one side of the lower jaw were blown out, and
its tongue was literally cut in two. The consequence was
that on Tuesday night it had to be destroyed. It was •
favourite animal, we understand, and was worth about 351.

FIRE AND LOBS OF LIFE.—On Saturday Mr.
Brent held an inquest in the Royal Free Hospital on Cur-
minis Donovan, an itinerant street vendor of inciter
matches, whose death occurred under the following circum-
stances :—Edward Howard, residing at No. 18, Bell-court,
Gray's-inn-lane, said his attention was attracted on Mon-
day forenoon by•cry of " Firer" he saw smoke issuing from
the back window:, of No. 6, Pheasant-court. He
' hastened into the latter court, and on arriving
before No. 6, all the ocmpants were in great con-
fusion, throwing their furniture out of the windows,
and crying out lustily that the house was on fire.
Witness rushed up stairs,- but on arriving on the second-
floor several of the lodgers surrounded him, and begged him
not to go up further, as there was a man burning. On hear-
ing this, and finding that the poor creature was left to his
fate, witness hurried to the third-floor, where ho found the
front room on fire, and could MI through the smoke the de-
ceased sitting in the middle of the apartment enveloped in
flames. Witness instantly dashed through the fire, and with
the greatest difficulty succeeded in dragging him out of :he
Iroom, as he held ou to a table, the only furniture in the
apartment, and called out, as well as his exhausted state
would allow, "My money, my money ;" Having carried
him into the paasage, witness, by means of pails of water,
, extinguished the fire, but not before the wretched man was
completely charred. ne police shortly afterwards an fired
and took the deceased to the hospital, where he died the
following day. In answer to the coroner, the witness said
that no one in the house hail the humanity to help him in
saving the aged sufferer. The only part of the house injured
was the room in which the deceased resided. After the fire
was put out, a purse containing 141. was found in the table
drawer. Even after he was dragged from the apartment,
di ceased attempted to regain it for the purpose of geeing
possession of the purse. It further appeared that the um
fortunate deceased, year, who was in his 80th lived in the
re wtched hovel where he met with his death, denying him-
self the cimmon necessaries of life and sleeping on straw.
The tire was supposed to have originated from some lighted
lucifers falling ausocg the straw. Howard steed that he
considered the deceased lust his life through his attempting
to secure his little savings. Verdict, " Acci.lental Death,"
accompanted wi i tae Jury's approbation of thi conduct ot
I Edward Howard, who, at the risk of his own, eiadeavoured
Ito save a fellow-creature's I.fe. At the close of the inquiry,
Mr. Kiikenven, the house surgeon, requested to know what
should he dune with the 14r. in case re relative came fur-
ward? The coroner and jury con,itlered that, in that case,
' the hospital was rally entitled to it.

IREL!,ND.

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