The Express.
London, England, 1867-12-14 00:00:00

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.

About 20 minutes to four yesterday afternoon
an outrage which resulted fatally in several in-
stances, wounded more than forty persona, and
caused alarm for some distance, and great destruc-
tion of property in the vicinity, wiuscommitted at the
Clerkenwell House of Detention. It seems that
the suspicions of the police have been aroused since
the lodgment of " Colonel Burke" in that build-
ing, and from the various rumours that have
reached the authorities, a strict watch has been
Ikept on several houses in the locality.
At the time indicated above an ordinary coster-
monger's barrow was seen going in the direction of
Corporation-lane, accompanied by three men and
a woman—the route taken being by St. James's-
! walk, and thence along the side wall in con-
nexion with the Clerkenwell House of De-
I tention in Corporation-lane. On reaching
that point immediately opposite St. James's-pas-
sage, the people with the barrow stopped ; and on
a tarpaulin being removed, a barrel, said to be
rather larger than a common butter firkin, was
taken from the vehicle and placed against the
prison wall. One of the men was then seen to
place a fusee on the barrel, and having applied a
light, an explosion of an alarming character directly
took place. The report occasioned is described as
that of the discharge of a large cannon, and the
effect was soon made painfully apparent among
the inhabitants. No sooner was the dreadful
sound beard than the police were in pursuit of the
perpetrators of the outrage ; and they succeeded in
capturing two men and the woman, but the man
who is supposed to have actually ignited the
fusee escaped, from the fact of the force of the
explosion having forced to the ground Police-
constable Sutton, who was chasing him. Than
the scene of destruction which soon presented
itself nothing could be more shocking. About
fourteen yards of the prison wail were blown
to the ground, and the houses opposite, num-
bered respectively 2,3, 4,5, 6, and 7, may be said
to have been entirely demolished. Among the
inhabitants of the buildings alluded to the greatest
suffering was experienced ; and it is said that in
one family alone the father, wife, and three chil-
dren are now lying in the hospital, much injured.
' Many are the conjectures among the prison
officials, and the general belief is that the act was
intended as an attempt to rescue " Colonel Burke,"
who now lies in the prison under remand. What-
ever may have been the motive, we are assured

(TWOPENCE

that had the attempt been made two minutes
earlier "Colonel Burke" would have been in the
yard performing his accustomed exercise with the
other prisoners. It is the opinion of the prison
officials that to some of the inmates of the house the
attack was not surprising ; but the majority of the
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the warders to discharge their revolvers from the
windows into the prison yard, as if acting on the
' defensive. Among those lying in St.. Bartholomew's
Hospital there is a youth named Charles Young,
by whom it is said considerable light will be
thrown on the matter, as he was seen near we
pezcatratogersnattlethmeentimve
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Northampton
-row,
I, lane, Bowling-green-row Meredith-street, &c.,
bearing unmistakable trace4i of the catastrophe. In
I many of these places the fronts of the houses are
all but shattered, and the misery oessaiened in
some of the poor families cannot essily be
described.
Lasnight the bodies of the thricnieee
's Hospital. Thrtkhepeeenrsodwweadhoensumawusserehn iso
explosion in
were lying
Mrs. Hutchinson, married, living in Corporation-
lane, and the man, Mr. W. Dutton, a brass-
pump manufacturer, • on business near the
House of Detention ; the thi body is that of a little
child named Abbott. The husband of the deceased
Km, Hutchinson is at present in St. Bartholo-
' mew's Hospital, suffering from the effects of inju-
Iries which he received during the explosion.

ATTEMPT OT THE FEMALE PRIFIONZIL TO COMMIT
SUICIDE.—The three prisoners who were arrested
by the detectives when in the act of running away
from the spot where the explosion took place, were
at once lodged in the House of Detention for safe
custody. The two men appeared to be mechanics,
and they were resolute-looking fellows ; they main-
tained • sullen silence as to the crime for which
they were apprehended. The third person arrested
was a woman of middle age, and she had the ap-
pearance of a working man's wife. She was as
uncommunicative as the men, and like them she
was locked up in • cell for safe custody. About 10
o'clock in the evening she made • determined
attempt to commit suicide by strangulation. She
was fortunately discovered before she had suc-
ceeded in her design. To prevent a repetition of
the attempt she was handcuffed, and warders were
placed in her cell to watch her. The three pri-
soners are specially watched by 20 policemen.
The Grenadier Guards were placed for the night
in the corridors of the prison. The police of all
the divisions from A to Y have sent contingents to
the neighbourhood of the House of Detention. min
at one time it was estimated that close upon ,000
were on duty in Clerkenwell. There was not the
faintest evidence, however, of any design en the
part of the Fenian' to follow up their first blow
by any coup de main. The most perfect order pre-
vailed all the evening.