The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-14 00:00:00

MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE AT BRISTOL.

An affair which promises to be as mysterious as
the celebrated Road murder is just now agitating the
public mind in Bristol. About a month ago a man named
Charles Jones disappeared under very peculiar circum-
stances, and has never been seen or heard of since. The
strangeness and the mysterious manner in which be has
vanished leads to a strong belief that he has been mur-
dered; but up to the present time not the slightest clue
has been obtained upon which the local police can go to
work. Mr. Charles Jones was about 80 years of age, very
short in stature, and of very slight frame. His appearance
was out of the common, and such that no one could meet
him in the street without taking notice of the oddi,y of
his look and manner. He resided at Stanley-
house, Upper Easton, near Bristol, occupying
only • part of the house, the other part being
occupied by a working man. Mr. Jones was a
tailor by trade, and many years ago he went to Australia,
where be acquired a competence. Returning to England
he took up his residence in Bristol. He is described as a
man of peculiar habits, of an uncommunicative nature,
and of • parsimonious disposition. He has a wife living,
but they have been separated for some time. On Wednes-
day, Dec. 12 Mr. Jones had a carpenter at work upon his
pivemiser, and as the job was not completed in the even-
the latter stated that be should finiah it on the next
day, to which Mr. Jones replied that he should not be at
home, as he was going to White Ladies'-road to buy some
property. That same evening he called at the Reform
Tavern, in Broad-street, and saw Mr. Walters, the land-
lord, with whom ho has been on terms of great in-
timacy, many business transactions having taken
place between them. It is distinctly alleged by
several The
that he had nothing to drink
there. The next night he did not return to
his house, nor the night after, and the suspicions of his
friends egen to be aroused. Inquiries were made in
various directions, and it was found that on Thursday
afternoon he had een to the North Somerset Railway inn,
in St. Philip's Marsh, kept by a man named Ramsden.
This place is situated close to what is termed the Feeder,
and at no great distance from the New-cut, in which there
is a tidal stream. Near to the premises are two or three
limekiln'. Ramadan, in answer to inquiries, said that
Jones came there allout 2 o'clock, and remained till about
• quarter past 5, when he left very drunk. The servant
states that he had • gold watch and chain, and it is well
known that the missing gentleman wore one of the most
magnificent chains ever seen. There had, it seems, been
business transactions between Ramsden and him, and he
had lent Ramsden money. Now, the landlord states that
he paid Mr. Jones 340/.-101. more than be owed him,
by mistake—on this same afternoon, in notes and
gold, for which he obtained • receipt—or rather
• pencilled MOSS purporting to be Charles Jones's
mark. Since then no one has seen Mr. Jones. Every
search has been made. The police have dragged the
Feeder and the cut, and searched the kilns, reward' of
different amounts have been offered, but nothing has yet
turned up to throw the slightest light upon this mys-
terious affair. Two things are mentioned very freely by
everybody, and some weight is attached to them, viz.,
that Mr. Jones could write his own name very well, and
had no need to snake a cross ; and also that Ramsden,
although he alleges he paid 3401. in gold and notes, can
givend information as to where he obtained the money.
Every day the public anxiety in the matter increases.
The great difficulty which the police have to contend
with is their inability to find any traces of the body. It
would be idle to disguise the fact that very grave suspi-
cions are entertained in a certain quarter in the present
case, but till it can be proved that Mr. Jones is actually
dead, the police seem powerless to act. It is the inten-
tion of several gentlemen to get up a memorial to the
Home Secretary, asking him to offer a substantial re-
ward and • free pardon to any accomplice who may not
have actually committed the supposed murder. Mean
while the public mind is in a state of ferment, and the
subject is the theme of conversation in every circle.

CONDEMNATION OF THE TORNADO AND HER
Cligm.—llyadecree dated the 15th of December last, and
notified on the 24th of December, to the British consul at
Cadiz, the Spanish court, which Ins been sitting there
since the 4th of September, declared the Tornado a "good
prize of war," and ordered the proceeds of her sale (she
cost 75,000(.) to be divided amongst the crew of the frigate
Gerona, which captured her. The crew (fifty-seven of
whom are British subjects) are declared to be • Chilian
prisoners of war," and as such are to remain in prison until
the close of the war between Spain and Chili. It will be
observed that the Spanish court, while pronouncing sen-
tence of condemnation on the ground that the Tornado is
" a Chilian privateer," thinks it necessary to notify its
decree to the British consul, thereby stultifying itself.
The whole proceed.ngs of the court were conducted with
closed doors, without the owners of the Tornado being pre-
sent or heard in their defence by counsel, or their being
made acquainted with the depositions of the crew, or even
with the charges against their vessel. Nor were they
afforded any opportunity for rebutting the charges or dis-
proving the allegations of the captors. The unfortunate
crew, who have been detained prisoners since the 22nd of
August last, without having been informed of what they
were accused, were subjected for months to prolix and
inquisitorial examinations by the secret tribunal, but were
not permitted to have the assistance of the British consul
or of a solicitor, or even an English interpreter. The
Spanish interpreters employed by the tnhunal spoke
English most imperfectly, and often quite unintelligibly,
so that the seamen were unable to understand the mean-
ing of many questions put to them, and many of their
answers were inisinterpreted.—Obserier.
C THE BARNSLEY OLLIERY EXPLOSION. —BARNS-
LET, SATURDAY EvrNisc.—The state of the shafts to-day
do not appear at all satisfactory. Notwithstanding the
large quantity of soil which has been put into the cupola
shaft, smoke has bees seen to issue from it to-day. The
ceiling of the No. 1 shaft has alio given way, and there
appeared to be a general impression that the shafts are
not so safe as they ought to be. Whatever may be the
opinions of the engineers, who, of course, know bow
matters stand, we may mention that to-clay a footpath
to the pit has been closed by rang being put acmes it;
whilst at the entrance of another road a danger signal has
been put up this afternoon.
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