The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-27 00:00:00

LUNACY REGISTRATION BILL.

On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
Mr. A. PELLATT called for some explanation of
the nature and object of the bill. He found, upon look-
ing through it, that it proposed to pay certain commis-
sioners 2,0001. a-year, and to grant them retiring allow-
ances of 1,200/. a-year, besides creating other offices,
which would have salaries attached to them varying
from 5001. to 1,0001. a-year. Now, he submitted that
some explanation ought to be given of all this, and he
hoped those who had charge of the bill would do so.
Mr. WALPOLE said the bill created no new charges
whatever in the lunacy commissioners, and their officers
were at present in receipt of the salaries which this bill
referred to. The object, in point of fact, of this and two
other bills in the papers of to-day was to simplify and
consolidate all the acts relatirg to the law of lunacy.
The house then went into committee, and the whole
of the clauses were agreed to.
LUNATIC ASYLUM BILL.
On the motion for going into committee on this bill.
Lord DUDLEY STUART drew attention to the
case of a dangerous lunatic, named William Winshaele,
who, after a quarrel with another lunatic, at Colney
Hatch, was locked up in a padded room. There he was
allowed to remain alone for twenty minutes, and upon
the return of the keeper at the expiration of that time
the lunatic was found dead upon the floor. An ex-
amination of the body then took place, and it was found
that some of the ribs of the lunatic were broken and
his lungs punctured. A coroner's inquest Naas held upon
the body before it was physically possible that the
widow or friends of the deceased could receive notice of
a the
the death, and since the deceased was
pauperease he was
afraid that attention was not given to
would otherwise have taken place had the lunatic been
in better' circumstances. The verdict of the common
jury was " accidental death, and be wished to know if
his noble friend the Secretary of State for the Home
Department would have any objection to produce any
correspondence which might have passed on the subject
of this case.
Lard PALMERSTON said he had caused an en-
quiry to be made into the case, and it certainly did
appear to him that the keeper was to blame for not
having called in medical aid
beenwh pen
retsheentinthe yard
lunatic was
rescued from his antagonist, or
to prevent the quarrel. However, consolation
to know that no medical relief COLiC.
life of the deceased. There would be no objection to
produce the correspondence.
Mr. WILLIAMS insisted that Mr. Wakley, the
coroner, was not in any way responsible for no notice
having been given to the friends in time to admit of their
being present at the inquest.
Mr. FITZROY added a few words to the discussion,
and, being a visiting magistrate, he knew that no blame
whatever could be attached to the keepers in this case.
The truth was, the magistrates were forced to exercise
so much economy that they could not employ suffi-
ciently competent keepers to carry out the non-restraint
system.

- After a few words from Captain SCOBELL and Mr.
FRESHFIELD.
Mr. SPOONER said the remark of Mr. Fitzroy satis-
fied him that the maintenance of lunatic asylumspught
to fall upon the state, instead of the local rates.
.„
EINS.r.AILPAIt:; The house then went into committee, and the whole
• , -
/te's.'ir"M'..lN'•----•of the clauses were agreed to.
The report was ordered to be brought up on Monday.
FACTORIES BILL.
On the motion of Mr. COBBETT that the second
reading of this bill be postponed for a. week.
Mr. T. D UNCOMBE expressed a hope that the bil

THE LATE SUSPECTED MURDER NEAR CLEVEDON.—
The coroner's inquest on the body of Mr. Joseph Smith,
of the mysterious discovery of whose body on the beach,
near Lady's Bay, some particulars have already appeared
in The Sun, was resumed on Monday afternoon,
at the Bristol Hotel, Clevedon; but, notwithstanding a
protracted inquiry, the mystery which surrounds the
matter could not be thoroughly cleared up. The evi-
dence of Mr. Shipton, the surgeon by whom the post
mortern, examination was made, established the fact of
there being bruises on the top of the head, and on the
face and nose, and also two wounds near the eyes, but
the witness could not fix with any certainty the means
by which they had probably been caused. Mrs. Brett,
the landlady of the White Hart Inn, Widcombe, near
Bath, where he bad been staying previous to his arrival
at Clevedon, was examined at some length, and proved
that he was an upholsterer of London ; but it appeared
doubtful from her evidence whether he had ever really
been possessed of a Bank post bill for 2701., which, ac-
cording to his own account he had received on the 12th
uist., and must have had about him at the time of his
death ; the supposition being, that having got into her
debt and being wlolly without means, he had made false
representations of his financial position, for the purpose
of obtaining prolonged credit and further advances. The
jury, in the absence of any satisfactory proof:4, returned
an open verdict, "That the deceased was drowned in
Lady's Bay, but how or in what manner there is no evi-
dence to show."

TEL ARMY.—On Thursday last the depot of the 74th
Regiment received a sudden and unexpected route from
Kilkenny for Dublin, where they arrived the same
evening at the Linen Hall Barracks, and on Tuesday
morning, at 11 o'clock, were visited by their colonel,
Lieut.-General Alex. Thomson. C.B.—an old Peninsular
officer—previous to their embarkation, which took place
the same evening, to join the head-quarters of their re-
giment, on their way from the Cape to India. At the
conclusion of the inspection the general expressed him-
self highly pleased with the clean and soldierly appear-
ance of the men, and with everything that came under
his notice ; and the pride he felt at her Majesty's graci-
ously placing him at the head of so fine a regiment, and
hoped they would ever support the high character which
they so fully and meritoriously deserved ; trusting they
would yet add fresh laurels to those already won in the
Peninsula, and recently at the Cape of Good Hope ; and
promising to meet them again at the time of their em-
barkation.

A BALLOON ACCIDENT IN FRANCE.—A balloon-ascent
took place at Mont-de-Marsan on the 20th, a young
woman of 21 years of age, named Emma Verdier, the
daughter of a gardener, being the aeronaut. The bal-
loon rose most evenly and majestically, and as the
weather was perfectly calm, no apprehensions were en-
tertained of any accident. The next day, however,
the inhabitants were much shocked at learning that the
young woman had fallen to the ground in about two
hours and a half after the time of the ascent at Montes-
quiou, a village 60 miles distant, and was killed on the
spot. From what was afterwards ascertained, it appears
that some haymakerB, near Montesquiou, were startled
at seeing a white body fall to the earth at a short dis-
tance from them. They found it to be the body of a
young woman dressed in white. She had fallen head
foremost and her skull was split opan, the brains being
scattered about. At no great distance was to be seen
the anchor of the balloon fixed in an oak, a long piece
of rope being attached to the iron. The balloon was
also seen rising rapidly and floating away. It is sup-
posed that on the young woman attempting to effect
her descent, the anchor caught in the tree, and the rope
then breaking gave such a shock to the wickerwork
basket in which she was sitting that she lost her balance
and fell oif;. Nothing has since been heard of the
balloon.

ACCIDENT TO THE EXPRESS TRAIN BETWEEN OXFORD
AND LONDON.—On Monday the express train, which
was to have left the Great Western station at 7.57,
started at 8.10, and proceeded safely through without
making up the lost time, as far as Reading. Thence it
ran on, at a rate of upwards of 60 miles an hour, to
within a little distance of Southall, where the driver
perceived the crank axle of the engine to break, instantly
throwing the whole machinery out of order, and scat-
tering the fire with a bright blaze as it proceeded. The
wheels happily did not break off, or do more than run
sliding along the wooden bedding on which the rails
were laid, or the train, which was proceeding at least a
mile a minute, must have run from the embankment.
The driver and guards succeeded in stopping the train
in about a mile's distance, without any accident to the
passengers, thus saving them most miraculously from
an overthrow which, from the pace of the train, must
have proved fatal to a large proportion of the passen-
gers. A messenger was instantly dispatched to Southall,
where he met with an excursion train, the engine of
which came down for the stopped train. The express
engine could not be moved, but the detained train,
united to the excursion train, proceeded, after some 1
few repairs to the break van, slowly along the down
line, stopping at each station, and thus reached Pad-
dington station, without any further mishap, at 11.10.
THE SEAMEN OF THE NORTH-EAST PORTS.—The Tyne
seamen have long had is under discussion to have some
regulations with regard to manning vessels engaged in
the coal trade, and this week they have issued notices that
ikteiselsthaenictr
uinntdeenrtiloin mto sail in ro vessels unless they r.r3
ritiaaneneeigdab7 master,ordingtomtahtaees, onerftoell,o a
wnsleiantinge:scitl, and twoawleo:s—eaSmi boys;xeikieaeildeitagwnhd
tdr
two
boys ; 11 keels and under 14, roaster, mate, three
seamen ',and two boys : 14 keels and under 17, ma-ter, mate, four seamen, and two boys ; 17 keels and. under'
20, master, mate, five
and under 23, mate,masterSeani
boys ; 23 keels and under 20, massitx
fare-smoweab(mtloeyes ;
a2nod
heelstwo
seamen
and
t
and three boys ; and during the paste
left those vessels, the owners of
comply with their demands. Several shipowners
complied with their terms, and there bein
which si
they ey• seamenhav e
will
havenot
„,
also
li
opinion among the shipowners generally that what
i
the men ask is not unreasonable, if an allowance were
made by them for apprentices who have keen a eon-1
siderable time at sea, it is not probable that the
movement will be any great hindrance to trade. The sea-
men of Sunderland and Hartlepool have held large meet-
ings this week to oppose the passage through the Lords
of the 29th clause of the Merchant Kipping Bill, which
clause will give the shipowner the privilege of manning
his vessels with seamen of any country he may deem it
prudent to engage. Tile regulations with regard to the
manning of vessels have not been adopted by the seamen
of Sunderland.