The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-07 00:00:00

Mysterious Affair in Gracechurch-street.

Last evening an inquiry was held by Mr Wm. Payne,
coroner for the City and Southwark, at Guy's PrOspital,
respecting the death a ft WWI named Joseph liughs, aged
36 years, who was found lying, in a pool of blood in
GI age church-street.

The case created considerable interest in censequence.of
its being alleged that 'the deceased had been brutally-as-
saulted by some persons with tho intention of committing
a robbery.
Joseph Dards, 69, Lower Thames-street, said that on last
Saturday week, at half-past one o'clock in the morning, he
was coming along Fish-street-hill, when he heard a loud
outcry and a shout of " Police, stop thief 1" coming from
the direction of Grac 'church-street. Witness ran into
Gracechurch-street, and near the Obelisk he saw a man in
the roadway, lying with his head in a pool of blood. Wit-
ness after a great deal of trouble got a policouian. A cab
was procured, and the deceased was lifted into it and taken
to tho hospital. He was insensible, and did not speak. He
groaned occasionally,
Mrs Jane E. Hughs, I, Boyston-place, Camberwell,
identified the deceased as her husband. Ho was a dyer,
employed by Mr Osborn, of Leadenhall-street. He left
home on the morning of Friday week, and he would be oc-
cupied at Mr Osborn's on that night up to 20 minutes to 11
o'clock, Witness anxiously expected him the whole of the
night, as he was not in the habit of stopping out. Next day
she made inquiries for him at the different hospitals, for he
had been robbed and injured four years ago. At 3 o'clock
in the afternoon she found him in Guy's Hospital. He was
then somewhat sensible. She asked him " Were you
knocked down and robbed ?" He answered, " I WAS going
to hail a cab. I distinctly remember receiving a blow in
the mouth. I became insensible, and I do not remember
anything more," He repeated that statement on the fol-
lowing Wednesday. Witness believed that he had not lost
any property. Witness ascertained by inquiries that after
he had left his work he went with a shopmato to a public-
house, where they had three halt-quarterns of rum in water.
Deceased left the house at a quarter to 1 o'clock, leaving his
friend behind him.

James Moore, 585 City polies, said that he was on duty
in Gracechuroh-street on the morning in question, when
he hoard that a man was lying in the road. He went to the
spot and saw police constable Crossfield holding the de-
ceased up. Before the occurrence witness saw no one in the
street. There was no cab there. It was a fine night. He
had been past the spot three minutes bt fire, and no one
was there. When he was helping deceased into the cab
which was to convey him to the hospital witness asked
him, " Were you knocked down Deceased replied, " No,
I fell out of a cab."

Mr E. Reynolds Ray, house surgeon:at Guy's Hospital,
deposed that the deceased was let into the institution on the
morning in question by the police. There woro two con-
tused and lacerated wounds on the buck of his head. The
bone was laid bare. The upper lip was bruised and was cut
inside. That injury was, in witness's opinion, caused by a
blow, and the injuries to the back of the head had been pro-
duced by the fall consequent on it. Deceased was under
the influence of liquor. Ho had been stunned. Ha after •
wards told witness that he had been hit; that ho had a blow
in the mouth given to him which knocked him backwards.
Ho died last Saturday from inflammation of the brain re-
sulting from the injury.
The Coroner, in summing up, remarked upon the mys-
tery surrounding the case, and recommended that the jury
should return an open verdict.
The Jury returned a verdict "That the deceased died
from the effects of certain injuries received in Gracechureh-
street, but under what circumstances they were received
there was not sufficient evidence to show."

The Swiss Poisoning Case,

The Italian journals ll Movimento and Il ropolo Italians
contain full particulars of the suicide of Dr Damao and Miss
Flora Trumpy. After leaving Milan they went to an Eng-
lish hotel, or boarding-house, called the Casa Gropello, in
the little town of Nervi, near Genoa. At noon on Nov. 30
the landlord finding they did not leave their bedroom, and
having knocked several times without getting an answer,
broke open the door in presence of a magistrate. Dr Demme
was found dead on the bed, and Miss Flora was stretched on
the floor, also dead. Some accounts say they were bathed in
blood, but the Swiss Consul at Genoa telegraphs that they
committed suicide by poison. Their bodies were publicly
exposed in the Nervi market-place, under the guard of two
carabineers. In the bedroom was found a paper, written by
Dr Demme, containing his name and that of Miss Flora
Trumpy and the address of his father. A telegram was im-
mediately sent to Bore, and the directions of the relatives
were awaited for the disposal of the bodies. This extraordi-
nary couple, who thus accomplished the suicide which a
fortnight before they threatened to perpetrate in the Lake
of Geneva, had spent all their money. Only a few coppers
were found on Dr Demme's person. The paper left men-
tioned their intention to destroy themselves, but assigned
no cause. It appeared from the position of the bodies and
otherwise that Dr Demme was the first to commit suicide.
He was found stretched on the bed in a natural position,
and with a calm countenance. It is supposed he had taken
strychnine, combined with other substances which have not
yet been determined. The poison had left no other apparent
traces than some ruddy stains about the ears. Mademoiselle
Trumpy, on the contrary, had a violently distorted visage,
without doubt because her inexperience had induced her to
take a stronger dose of poison. It is inferred from this fact,
and the discovery of a note which she had placed in the
drawer of a mirror, that she had administered the poison to
herself, after having seen hor betrothed stretched dead upon
the bed. The note contained these few words written in
pencil :—." Hermann is dead. I am about to follow him."
A letter from Nervi, in the I'crseveranza, gives the follow-
ing details :—" The day before yesterday a foreign gentle-
man, accompanied by a young lady, alighted from a hire i
carriage at the Hotel Anglais, situated in the Palazzo Gro-
polio, at Nervi. The lady was elegantly dressed is travel-
ling costume, and the gentleman also. Without giving his
name, the latter asked for a bedroom and supper. Nothing
was noticeable in the appearance of the two travellers except
their affectionate manner towards each other. They had
supper, after which the lady sat down to the piano and the
gentleman read the newspapers. Some moments after they
retired to rest, and being asked if it would bo necessary to
call them in the morning, they said it would be useless, see-
ing they had come on foot from Genoa, wore wearied, and
wished to rest. Late in the afternoon of the next day the
innkeeper, not seeing his new guests appear in the dining-
room, sent a waiter to knock at their door, but no answer
was returned. The magistrate was sent for immediately,and
the door burst open in his presence. Dreadful indeed was
the scene which presented itself to those who first entered
the room. On the bed lay the unfortunate doctor, with his
head turned towards the pillow; Miss Flora Trumpy was
lying on the floor, with her arms twisted together like those
of a person who had died from poison. The unfortunate
couple had been dead at least six or seven hours, for their
bodies were cold. Nothing was found in their trunks except
some old clothes, and the doctor had a few coppers in his
pockets. A few drops of a mixture found in a glass proved
they had taken strychnine. Upon a table were found a little
phial of poison, two empty glasses, and two others still con-
taining poison. Upon another table were some letters written
in pencil. In one of them the landlord of the hotel was
promised payment of his bill. Another letter bore the ad •
dress "To my poor father—Demme." A letter from Berne,
of the 2d inst., says that on the previous day M. Demme,
sen., received a letter from his son, dated MilAh, in which
the writer announced that he intended to drown himself in
the Gulf of Genoa instead of the Lake of Geneva. This
resolution, it would seem, gave way, and poison was re-
sorted to at Wt.

" MR. STEWART'S INTENTIONS." By the author
of "Grandmother's Money," &c.—" Intelligence com-
bined with singular facility of expression are the charac-
teristics of this very agreeable novel. The tendency of im-
petuous men to create causeless annoyances for themselves
is very e'everly illustrated ; whilst the patient endurance
and firtn resolves of those who are so often and inappro-
priately called the weaker vessels' are pourtrayed with a
distinctiveness that net only catches the attention but inte-
rests the heart. Often as the author has delighted his
many admirers by his previous clever works wo shall be
much mistaken if this very interesting novel is not looked
upon as his alef-d'fflovra,"—tifesuoger.