The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-07 00:00:00

The Night Poaching Prevention Act.

STAMFOD, SATURDAY.
At the Quarter Sessions, held here to--day, before Mr.
Frederick Flowers, Recorder, a case of appeal against a
recent conviction under the Night Poaching Prevention
Act caused a great deal of interest. The facts are these :
On the night of the 11th -alt., Mr: Joseph Atkinson, of
Holywell, met a party cf men on the Ryhall-road, going in
the direction of extensive game preserves, and, suspecting
they were!poachers, gave information to the police. Between
four and five o'clock the following morning posts were as-
/
signed to the police force to watch for the poachers coming
into the town. Sergeant Harrison, police-constable
Wade, and special constable Birch proceeded towards the
Ryhall tollbar, and about six o'clock perceived five
men approach them who appeared to be heavily laden withgame. They v had also with them a dog of the lurcher breed.
tut they
The police came up wyihthotfh9stmamfenoartd,aaapdlactehecayllfoed Rdyli
Hollow, in aa
named Robert Blades, Henry
James Yates, and a stranger.
Yates, William Yates,
were notoritohues bpo rooauci
era ,
Harrison, and in a bag found in
was captured by Sergeant
Robert Blades and James Yates made off, but the former
netting and pegs. When the serge
his possession were one hare, five rabbits, and
oakndthaequbaangtiftryomof
him Blades remarked " What fools we were for coming this
road, as Bill Kingston told us you were on the
i,lioi
fmoak-
ut for
lus on the Uffington-road." Birch took from
i look-out
i. i
a bag containing five rabbits and two hares, and n the
fivebag
taken by Wade from Henry Yates were one hare,
rabbits, and a quantity of netting. James Yates, who ran
across the fields, was stopped on a road leading to his house,
Upon seeing the policemen he dropped his bag in a dyke,
and upon examination it was found to contain seven rab-
bits. The game, bags, and netting were taken to the police
station, and Blades attended to take an inventory of the
contents of the bags. The Bench convicted the defendants
of the offence, and fined them each £2, including costs.
Robt. Blades and Henry Yates were also fined ld. each for
unlawfully having nets in their possession, and the nets
were forfeited and ordered to be destroyed. Notice of ap-
peal was given, and the cases came on for hearing to-day,
Mr. Law appearing for the appellants, and Mr. Atter in
support of the conviction. Several cases were then dis-
posed of.

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THE MURDER NEAR WIGAN.

WIGAN, Tuesday Afternoon,

Information of the murder of the fireman Bar,

ton, at Haigh, on Friday night or Saturday morn-
ing last, having been forwarded to Mr. Driffield, the
district coroner, he yesterday issued his instruc-
tions for the summoning of a jury. The Packet
Horse Inn, at the village of New Springs, in Haigh,
was fixed upon as the house at which the inquiry
should be held, and at noon this day the jury met.
There were present, with the Coroner, the Assistant
Chief Constable, Mr. King, of Bootle ; Superinten-
dent Ellison, of Pemberton ; Superintendent Orton,
of Leigh ; Inspector Peters, of Hindley, and Mr.
G. Daglish, J.P., surgeon, of Wigan. The principal
portions of the articles discovered in the ash-pit
were laid before the Coroner, and several witnesses

Iwere in attendance. Before any steps were taken,
however, to open the inquest the police officers con-
sulted privately with the Coroner, and made inqui-
ries from the family of the deceased. The result of
the conversation was that the Coroner informed the
jury that after a consultation with the police officers
and the family of the murdered man he had decided
not to open the inquiry at present. The inquest
would,therefore, be adjourned sane dze,but due notice
would be givenwhen it was thought advisable to make
the evidence public. The reasons of this step are, we
understand, that the police think it might be'prejudi-
cial to them in their search for the murderers if the
whole of the information they have obtained and the
suspicions they hold were circulated at the present
time ; and that if the inquest was opened the Coro-
ner would have to issue his order for the inter-
ment of the remains—a course not at present thought
advisable by the officers, who wish them to be left in
their hands a short time longer. The jury offering
no objection, the opening of the inquest was ad-
journed sine die, and the proceedings terminated.
The crowbar with blood upon it, and a portion of
the fragments found in the furnace, have been for-
warded to Mr. J. B. Edwards, analytical chymist,
and his report is daily expected. None now have
any hope that the result of his investigation will
throw any doubt on the facts we have published.
Yesterday evening a meeting of county magis-
trates was held at Wigan, when Superintendent
Ellison and Inspector Peters, with whom was As-
sistant-Chief Constable King, of Bootle, made a state-
ment of the racts of which they were in possession.
Mr, Daglish, surgeon, informed his brother magis-
trates that there could be little if any doubt that the
fragments which he had inspected were human
bones. It was stated that the Earl of Crawford and
Balce.rres has offered a reward of £2OO for the ap-
prehension and conviction of the offenders, and it
was decided to communicate with the Secretary of
State to learn if Government would take any steps
to assist the local authorities in the detection of the
criminals.

We have in our account of this dreadful affair
spoken of the murder as having been committed by
more than one person. Our opinion has just been
amply confirmed by a conversation with a fireman
at the pit. He considers it impossible for one per-
son to raise the body of a full-grown man to the level
of the furnace and thrust it into the fire in the face
of the fierce heat which is felt when the door is
opened. " Whoever did it," said our informant,
" has had his whiskers brunned" (burnt)
It:may not be a fact without importance that a
lunatic, named Taylor, a native of Aspull (the town-
', ship which adjoins Haigh), on Thursday night
escaped from the Wigan workhouse through a win-
dow, from which the Lunacy Commissioners ordered
the bars to be removed, and has not since been
heard of. Nothing is more likely than that he
should make to his former residence, and many
persons consider it far from improbable that he has
been the murderer. The great difficulty of the police j
is to find a motive for the commission of the crime.
Though they may have had their suspicions aroused
in one or two quarters, yet we believe we are cor-
rect in stating that at present they have no solid
ground to work upon, and their labour is especially
difficult from its being almost impossible to find a
reason for the murder.

A few additional facts connected with the dis-
covery of the body have transpired. We learn that
when the men employed at the pit arrived at their
work about half-past 3 o'clock, Watmonch, the
pony •driver, was sent to the furnaces for a few
burning coals with which to light a fire on the pit-
bank. He opened the first furnace, and said it
would be impossible to get any there, as some one
had, he thought, been filling it with wood. This
was the fire in which the remains were afterwards
found. The fire-hole was not again ♦isited till the
arrival of the son of the murdered man to lower the
men into the pit. He proceeded to make up the
fire in the furnace where his father's remains
were afterwards found, and, as the blood was not
noticed upon the door-plate till four hours after-
wards, it is horrible to think that during the whole
of this time the young man would be assist-
ing to destroy all traces of his parent. When
steam had been "got up" none of the men went
down excepting young Barton and the pony. driver,
who descended to see if the old man had fallen down
the shaft.

The remains of the ashpit were examined yester-
day, when more half-burnt bones were found, prin-
cipally welded to cinders. It was also noticed that
the clinkers were in many cases stained with blood.
Some of the buttons found have evidently been upon
the trousers of the deceased, while others have
formed part of his shirt, the latter being of the kind
usually covered with linen. We have mentioned
the fact that the last homicide was committed in
the district nearly a quarter of a century ago, and
that the victim, an underlooker named Coulton, was
employed at one of Earl Crawford's collieries. We
have been informed by one of Barton's relatives
that he (Barton) actually worked under Coulton,
who was employed at the colliery where this sad
crime has been committed.