The Sun.
London, England, 1839-10-17 00:00:00

ALLEGED MURDER AT FLIXTO

Yesterday the village of Flixton, near Manchester, was
thrown into a state of great excitement by the report,
which proved to be true, that a young man, a resident
of the place, had been found dead in a midden-hole,
with some deep wounds on his head. The discovery of
the body was accidental, and arose, we understand, from
a man getting over a wall at the back of the premises
of the Church Inn, for the purpose of going into an ad-
joining garden. This was about eleven o'clock yester-
day forenoon ; and, when upon the wall, the man
thought he saw some one lying in the soil hole ; and pro-
curing assistance, it was found to be the body of a
young man, twenty-two or twenty-three years of age,
a master wheelwright, residing in Flixton, named
Lawrence Watmough. The body was stripped, and a
surgeon was sent for to examine it. He had not ar-
rived when our informant arrived ; but the injuries are
described to us to have been a deep incised wound on
the left side of the head, behind the ear, about three
inches in length, and another about two inches and a
half in length more, at the back of the head. When
the body was found blood was flowing from both these
wounds; and, to all appearance, there can be little
doubt but that they were the cause of death. The
only other external injury was a slight bruise on one
knee, which might be caused by coming in contact
with some hard substance, the soil-hole being surrounded
with a wall of between four and five feet in height.
The face, however, was very black, as if from blows.
The body was no sooner recognised than it was found
that the unfortunate deceased had not been at home all
the preceding night ; and it was also ascertained that, at
a late hour that night, he had become involved in a
quarrel and fight with a stranger, an Irishman, in the
Church Inn ; and that he had fled from the house into
the back yard, in the direction of the place where he
was found. Inquiry was made for the Irishman, and it
was ascertained that he had been left in the kitchen
when the family retired to bed, and had gone away
about seven o'clock yesterday morning, taking with him
some articles of dress, most of which were recovered by
two men, one of whose bats he had taken ; but that he
had been allowed then to pursue his way, in the direc-
tion of Manchester, as it was subsequently discovered,
with a pair of trousers in his possession, belonging to
Mr. Jones, the landlord of the Church Inn.
The supposed perpetrator has been traced to Man-
chester, but not discovered.

The deceased is stated to have been a young unmar-
ried man, whose parQnts reside in Flixton. He had
just commenced business as a wheelwright. He is
stated to have been a stout, strong, athletic young man,
with very powerful arms ; and, according to the opinion
of those who savr them both, was a match in strength
for the Irishman, if the latter had not at first taken him
at a disadvantage.—Manchester Guardian.

THE WEATHER, &c., IN IRELAND

AND SCOTLAND.

`We regret to say that no favourable change
has taken place since we last addressed our readers
upon this distressing topic. It has rained with
little intermission since Friday last ; and from the
aspect of the clouds, the point from whence the wind
continues to blow, and the state of the mercury in the
barometer, there is little to ground a hope of a speedy
alteration for the better.—Dublin Evening Mai/ of
Monday.
There is still a good deal of oats in stook and uncut
in the west of Ireland ; but if this week holds up fine
we may expect
to hear of the completion of the liar-
vest throughout Ireland.
The high prices of Dublin and Ireland generally
will certainly attract vast quantities of corn and flour
to our shores. Although the Irish flour millers have
an Act of Parliament to protect them from the com-
petition of American flour, yet English flour, displaced
by the cheaper American flour, can be brought into
Ireland, which comes to the same thing.—Pilot of
Monday.

In the low grounds the sickle has all but done its
work completely, and matters, we would fain hope, will
be pret'y much the same among the moors and bills
before the present week is out. Thursday was a de-
cidedly bad day, but Friday mended matters considera-
bly, and on Saturday leading went briskly forward.
The weather, while we write, is again unfavourable.—
Dumfries Courier.

With the exception of the very earliest spots in
Scotland, there is still a good deal of grain exposed.
In the immediate neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and
in the low grounds in this district, the fields are en-
tirely clear, but from the termination of the Almond
Valley, as the ground rises to the west of Edinburgh,
the quantity of grain out gradually increases, till the
traveller arrives at the higher lands, were there is
very little yet taken in, and quantities still to cut.
Between Glasgow and Stirling for instance, although
the country does not rise much, at least a half of the
grain crop is still out, and many fields to cut. This
may generally be understood to be the case in the low
damp and higher cold soils. In the carse of Stirling
there is a great deal of grain still on the fields, every
where the potatoe crop is both abundant and of excel-
lent quality, and in the early districts the farmers are
busy lifting them. The same thing may be said of
the turnip crop likewise, so far as regards quantity
and quality. At Edinburgh and neighbourhood there
has been strong drought and no rain for several
days. On Thursday the streets were as dry as in
mid-summer, and the dust flying in all directions.
In the west country we have been differently situated,
with scarcely a day this week without rain, and when
it is dry above there has been no drought to dry up,
either the grain or the ground.—Glasgow Chronicle of
Monday.

are indebted to tile officers of the
steam-packet Columbia, Captain Winkle, thirty-six
hours from Galveston, for papers of that place, and
Houston of late dates. The city of Houston is repre-
sented to be remarkably healthy. The Telegraph
says, " We have not heard of a death for a week past."
The general election passed off' at Houston very
quietly, there not being a single fight to enliven the
business of the day. The Galveston Civilian, of the
13th Sept. states :—" We have little domestic news
of importance. About eighty men left this city on Mon-
day morning to serve against the Indians on the frontier,
case they should be needed. Several hundred men
will be kept regularly in the field, until all appre-
hension of further trouble from the savages shall have
subsided. We understand that improvement is pro-
gressing pretty rapidly at the new seat of Government,
notwithstanding the great difficulties necessary to be
overcome. The next session of Congress, we suppose
will be holden there, though board is now five dollars
(Texas money) per day—exactly the salary of a mem-
ber. The Government offices and property have been
removed from Houston. Galveston has established
quarantine regulations.—American Paper.
A SHORT-SIGHTED YouTH.—There is a
chap down in the far west, who is so short-sighted that
he rubs out with his nose what he writes with his pen.—
New York Paper.