The National Register.
London, England, 1815-07-23 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

ti•+nt, and mtfortimately happened undesignedly, in which latter cast
thvy a•oul.d find hint of manslaughter.
•The• Jury fttlitill him Guilty of 11an•laughter, and he was sen
tetteed to nine months intinisonment.

Notiine4 forther oevored worth reporting, and the 4%ssizes ended
ti:ii tnorinn7.

Lrtcreer , luta, 15.—! ast right occurred one of those dreadful
cetastronles, tic result of drivieg opoivetion coaches, the extent of
which has so st tinned the country with horror, that sober people for
a tinic will not hazard their lives in those vehicles of fury rind mad-
neoe—Twa coaches that run daily from Hincklep to Leicester,. set
out in the evening. The first having descend the hill ed ...that leads to
leicester, was obliged to elop to repair the harness. The ()the!
enaceenan from the top of the hill saw the accid,-nt, and seized the
mienent to give his antagonist the co ay, and invia.diately flogged his
horses into a gallop down the hill. The horses contrived to keep on
their leg, hitt in the midst of their speretlook fright,at something lying
on the road, and became so unmanageable in the hands of a drunken
coachman, that. in their sweep to avoid the object of alarm, the driver
could not recover them so as to clear the post of the turnpike gate at the
bottom of the hili, and the velocity was so great that in an instant the
coach was split in two, and by the tremendeus shock three persons
were dashed to pieces aid instantly expited, and two others survived
hut a few hours afterwards in the greatest agony ; tour were conveyea
away in (Arises for surgical aid with fractured imbs, and two that
were in the dicky•behind, were thrown with that part of the coach to
a great distance, and not mech hurt, by falling in the hedge. The
coachman fell a ViCti.6 to his fury and madness, but society has to la-
ment the death of Miss Page, an amiable young Quaker Lady and her
• coMpanion, who were returning from a visit in Vt'arwicksi•ire ; the
-other two unfortunates are an officer's servant and a person of Hinck- •
lei. It is high time that the Magistrates should put a stop to these
outrageous proceedings that have existed too long in this part of the
• country, to the great alarm of the inhabitants in the streets through
which these coaches pass.
On the right of Sunday, the 9th, between eleven and twelve, as the
Portsmouth mail was proceeding from Guildford to Ripley, the
leaders' reins broke, in consequence of which the coachman lost his
command of them ; and owing to a strange horse being put to at the
last change, the coach was run against a bank and upset, whereby the
c. ach was nearly broken to pieCes, and the coachman was thrown from
bis-hox and most dreadfully mangled ; his cheek-hone being shattertd,
his shoulder dislocated, and otherwise seriously hurt. The guard and
other passengers escaped with very little injury.
• A serious accident occurred on Monday morning at Norwood, by
theoyerturuing of a coach from that place, whereby a gentleman had
his leg broke, and several passengers were severely hurt.
DARING ROBIIERY —Sunday night, the 9th instant, between 12
and one o'clock, the shop door of Mr. G. Webster, watch maker, on
the Derby-road, Nottingham, was forced open by means of ma iron '
crow. A lady, who resides hard-by, overhearing the villains, alarmed
the neighbourhood. 111 the mean time, Webster, hearing the noise,
went down stairs, and, on opening the house door to call out for help,
lie received a blow on the head, supposed to have been given wi•h the
crow, which stunned him fora short time; but recovering his senses,
and assuming an unsurpassable degree of courage, though defenceless,
lie seized one of the three ruffians that he saw, just as he was at-
tempting to leave the shr.,p, in which there was not any property of
much va'ue. Webster had hold of one of the smock-frocks in which
the ruffians were all clothed, as well as having their faces disfigured—
bd refused to quit his hold—they bear him severely, and dragged him
into the road ; hut he resolutely held his man until assistance carne
up, and the villain was secured, though, unfortunately, his compa-
Mons in iniquity map d. The fellow secured, is named Scattergood,
and is a native of Nottingham.—He is committed for trial.

ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES.
The neighbourhool of Spitalfields was thrown into universal ter-
rot alonit nine o'clock ern Friday week, by an explosion in the house
of one Liehilien, in John street, Brown street. This was almost
instantly succeeded by another, and one universal blaze was spread
over the whole neighbourhood. 'the unhappy proprietor carried on
the business of a hairdresser, but was more generally known as a
v6inifactnrer of fire-works. In his house unfortunately were de-
posited several barrels of gun-poWder, which had exploded. How
tlie fire had communicated k not yet ascertained, awl Mr. Liebilien
had Ina a few moments returned from a walk with his wife, with
and hi• family he was just sitting down to supper when the
dreadful event took place. The efleets in his house were truly heart-
) Otidi.!e ; it was literally blown up flour Its fonvdation, and all its
iffinates buried in the ruins. Those consisted of six or eight per-
,ifis, namely, M. Lich lien, his wile and sister, two other females,
Pei-v.11115,a Mr. Oldham, and it is feared some ()there; In the Houses
.also on either side, three or four more persons pc-
coled, and a ownber of perzuns in tin surtuundinG inigltbour•

JULY 5.3.

hood wet e dreadfelly hurt by pieces of glass, brick, timber, and
other articles, falling upon them, or being forced into witalows by
the effects of the explosion. Huge beams of timber were tossed into
the air, others carried an incredible distance over the tops of houses
while not less than from two to three hundred habitations have been
shattered to a most frightful degree. The house of Mr. lichilien
was situate within two doors of the brewery of Truman and Henbury,
and within four doors of Brown-street, where there is a meeting of
three others, and such was the effect of these dreadful explosions
that it not only consumed the two adjoining houses, lint nearly de-
stroyed four others, and iejitred, as already described, some hundreds,
forcing itself round the corners, and spreading wide destruction
down the streets. The st hole exhibiting a terrible picture of havoc
end desti netion. Windows broken, window Ironies smashed, its
doors knocked from the hinges, and even furniture displaced, and
shattered to pieces. In addition to the less of lives in the houses
mentioned, a child, sitting opposite to tie house where the file com-
menced, was killed by the explosion. At t! o'clock on Saturday the
engines continued to play upon the ruins, while at each house some
of the wretched victims who bad fallen were discovered, and dragged
forth in a mutilated state. At three o'clock the remains of Mrs.
Liehilien, her sister, and that of a female servant, were taken out
and deposited in the bone-room of Spitalfields Church.
CORONER'S INQUEST.—Monday, an inquest was he'd at the Ten
Bells, near Spitalfieles-church, on the bodies of G. Leschil les, his wife,
Penelope Lesehilles, his sister Susannah Leschilles, William Old-
ham, an aged gentleman, who was an iemate in the famih , and Mary
Blake, a servant with Messrs. Broom and Taylor, eminent silk weavers
next door, when the fire haepeneel in john-street, Brown's-lane, on
Friday week, aed by which the unfortunate persons above stated lost
their lives. Mr. Peter Rub nson sworn, stated that he is a harness
maker, at No. S, Catherine-wheel-alley, Btshopseate street, that he
called at Mr. L.'s house about a quarter before nine o'clock on Friday
night; he was then behind the counter ; Miss L. and Mr. Oldham
were in the back parlour, where a cloth was laid for supper, and Mrs.
L. came in with a pot of porter ; witness was invited to wait fur sup-
per, bet he declined it, in consequence of a previous engagement;
two boys were in the shop buying crackers, one remained atter wit-
ness, no light was in the first shop, but a pair of candles were on the
supper table; he was only a very short distance from the house when
he heard a report, another instantly succeeded it, which he supposed
was the firing of guns, and he proceeded on his journey until he came
to Bethnal-green, when he was informed of the dreadful calamity,
and he returned. Cross-examined—said he was intimately acquainted
with Mr. L. who told him about a fortnight ago, he sold out 501. in
the Navy Fives, and purchased a quantity of salt-petre, sad witness
thinks gunpowder. He is positive he was quite sober at the time of
the unfortunate circumstance. It further appeared from the evidence
of Beery Potts, eleven years of age, W. Thomson, seven years of age,
C. Burch, twelve years old, all of whom happened to be in the shop,
purchasing serpents, and crackers, a few minutes before the fatal ca.
restrophe occurred, that Mr. Oldham bad taken a candle into the
cellar, which he left there, and brought up a great quantity of fire-
work's with a part of which they were served, and which they let off
within fifty yards of Mr. L.'s Souse ; in a few moments after, they per-
ceived a vast quantity of rockets, serpents, &c. come out of the shop
door, which was instantaneously followed by an explosion, as before
mentioned, the shock of which knocked some of them down in the
street, and then the fire spread in a most destructive manner, as already
mentioned.

A NoTtiER DREADFUL FIRE.-011 Friday se'nnight a fire broke
out in a range of buildings between Upper Shadwell.- The
fire seemed to proceed from a store-house belonging to Mr. Lyons,
and was first discovered about half-past twelve o'clock on Friday
night. The flames spread with furious rapidity, and in a few minutes
the entire of the building between the street and the river were in a
blaze. These being chiefly warehouses, and filled with combustibles,
such as wood, pitch, tar, oil, coals, sailcloth, and other inflammable
goods, the the at once became irresistibly terrible. The shops and
houses in front of the street soon caught the contagious element,
and eventually shared the fate of the rest. Unfortunately the tide
was at the moment upon an ebb, and no water being to be obtained,
the fire raged without resistance for nearly two hours, notwithstand-
log that several engines had arrived. In this wide devastation we
regret to state that no Lesotho's 421 concerns were wholly reduced to
a heap of ashes. In one of the premises we understand that some
vats of beer burst, and in another a quantity of powder also
exploded.--These, however, only had the effect of hastening
the work of destruction, by throwing down several walls, and
smashing some windows of the adjoining houses. We are happy
to state that in this dreadfid conflagration no lives were lost
but it was said that Mr Chandler, a boot and shoe-maker,
atttemping to rescue sonic of Isis property from the flames,
was dreadfully burnt, and conveyed tp the hospital. The prin•
cipal sufferers on this melancholy ocoasion were Messrs. Barber
and Co. dealers in florin stores; Mr. Hooper, soap seller