The Sun.
London, England, 1830-04-26 00:00:00

DIABOLICAL OCCURRENCE.

On Tuesday last the inhabitants of the village of
Denham, near Uxbridge, were thrown into a state
of alarm and consternation, by the report that a
whole party had been poisoned the night previous,
at the house of a man named Finch, to which they
had retired from the public-house, at a late hour, for
the purpose of spending the remainder of the night
in dancing. On repairing to the spot, we received
information to the following effect :—That a number
of young men and women were, on the evening of
Easter Monday, drinking together till a late hour,
at a public house in the village, and that afterwards
they retired to the house of a man named Finch,
to spend the remainder of the night in such sports
and entertainments as are usual with the uneducated,
viz. drinking, singing, dancing, and a tambourine
player and a fiddler. That while at Finch's house,
some noxious article, said to be Spanish flies (can-
tharida), were infused with the drink, for the diabo-
lical purpose of exciting the passions of the females,
which, in a short time, produced upon the whole
party, in various degrees, the most alarming effects;
and that in consequence most of them had immedi-
ate recourse to medical assistance. We also learnt that
one female, named Ellen Turner, was in so dangerous
a state, that her life was considered in great danger.
We found also that four of the men, one a widower
with three children, had been apprehended, on sus-
picion of infusing some deadly article into the be-
verage with which the party was regaled, and were
then in safe custody at the workhouse. On Friday
morning, the young woman, Ellen Turner, after lin-
gering in the greatest agony from Monday night's
sports, expired.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.—CORONER'S INQUEST.

On Saturday morning, a Coroner's Inquest was
held on the body of Ellen Turner. The Jury pro-
ceeded to view the body of the deceased, which,
upon examination, appeared to exhibit symptoms of
acute inflammation in the alimentary canal, kidneys,
and bladder. Several witnesses were then examined,
relative to the cause of the death of the deceased,
from whom it appeared, that about a week before
Easter, two men, now in custody, named Fred.
Whitfield and Joseph Turner, were heard con-
versing respecting the properties of Spanish flies,
alleging that if taken by females it would make
them fond of men; from another witness, it appeared
that, on the morning of Easter Monday, Whitfield and
Turner applied to a chemist in Uxbridge for a quarter
of an ounce of Spanish flies—when they were strictly
questioned as to the purpose for which they wanted
the article. Turner said he wanted the flies w pre-
pare a blister for a horse, which in his examination
he admitted, by saying he had only done it as a
blind : the shopman at the chemist's told Whitfield
and Turner the deadly and dangerous nature of the
article. It also appeared that, before the company
parted, some beer was ordered, and that James Bar-
rett infused a part of the flies at that time. After-
wards a can of beer was taken to Finch, which the
company drank without being affected, until Barrett
put out one of the candles, and an unknown person
extinguished the other. During the time the room
was in darkness, it is supposed the remainder of the
cantharides was infused, but by whom it did not ap-
pear. After the candles were re-lit, Whitfield took an
active part in handing the beer about, "particularly
to the deceased, with whom he carried on a court-
ship," who complained, more than once, that some-
hitfiehledr at
stflisrpstiesiaoinds,
it th ga
s n„tlniiellibte;e„r, tando,
thath Nulpon '
being again repeated, he endeavoured to silence
them, by- saying it was nothing but a little ginger,
advising the deceased to drink it up—and that the
deceased, inconsequence, took the dregs of the
liquor. It was worthy of observation, that, after
the candles were put out at Finch's house, the ac-
cused, Whitfield, never partook of the beer; nor
did it appear in evidence, that Barrett or Turner
did. The surgeon, who attended to give evidence,
expressed his conviction, that the cantharides pro-
duced the death of the deceased; and the Jury, after
a long and patient investigation, returned a ver-
dict of " Manslaughter" against J. Turner, Fre-
derick Whitfield, and James Barrett. The de-
ceased was sister to Turner, and courted by Whit-
field—and thus, according to the evidence, a bro-
ther is instrumental in the death of his sister, and a
lover to that of the object of his affections. All he
parties were affected by the liquor, including the
fiddler and tambourine player, except the prisoners,
and on their appearance to give their evidence ex-
hibited the appearance of extreme illness and de-
bility. It is a remarkable fact, that of the' thirteen
witnesses and the three accused, including the !tar-
geon and his assistant, only four knew how to write,
and these, with the exception of the surgeon and
his assistant, very imperfectly.—Becks Chronicle.

Captain T. GARTH, since the death of yre-
neral GaaTet, has left his cottage in the neighbourhood of
Calais, and is now living at Windsor. Negociation for
the final settlement of differences relating to a delicate
affair have, we understand, been resumed.
On Wednesday last a little girl, aged one year
and nine months, daughter of Joint SEED, a poor man re-
siding in Leyland-street, in this town, was accidentally
drowned in a mug, containing about four quarts of water.
An inquest was held on the body the following :day,
when it appeared from the testimony adduced that; the
child was put out to nurse to a woman named Amos Bor.-
Tort, who on 'Wednesday afternoon sat down by the fire
with the child upon her knees, and fell asleep. : She
awoke again in about half an hour, when she missed the
child from her knee, and on looking round she ob-
served, to her horror and astonishment, that it: had
fallen into a mug containing about four quarts of Water,
at a distance of several yards from the place wheii sbe
was sitting. She immediately drew the child out hut
it was quite dead, its head having been covered witli the
water. At the bottom of the mug was found a smsill tin
can with which it was in the habit of amusing itself, and
it is therefore conjectured that the little innocent ha been
endeavouring to get water with it, when it unfortu ately
fell into the mug. The Jury found a verdict of acci ntal
death.--Blachburn Gazette.