The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-17 00:00:00

FATAL ENCOUNTER WITH SALMON

POACHERS.

A desperate and fatal encounter with salmon poachers
took place at Brocklewath, on the river Eden, about eight
miles from Carlisle, on Wednesday morning. Edward
Atkinson and Robert Bowman, watchers for the Carlisle
Angling Association, had reason to suppose that the river
would be poached on Tuesday night, at a noted salmon-
spawning ground, at Brocklewath. They took with them
an assistant, named Irving, and a policeman named Cow-
men. About half-past six on Wednesday morning, a man
was seen standing in the river, about four or five yards
yhaoa lsowwnhegieeptthl
whistled
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from the bank.
came
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Bowmanss
ieteem et
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e making ientwgl
that the net was " hankered." Thereupon,
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Atkinson
Atkinson endeavoured to take him into custody and seize
his implements. The man turned out to be a no'orious
poacher, named Robert Robinson, a blacksmith, at Cum-
whitton. Robinson resisted, and Bowman followed into
the river. While they were engaged in putting the
" twitch"—a looped string and piece of wood, answering
the purpose of a pair of handcuffs—on Robinson, two
on
nor p
the
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twhohorivheairi,
camebeen ledghewriellaonwds
attacked them. One of the poachers lifted a heavy stick
with both hands, and coming down upon Atkinson with
all his might, felled him ; and Bowman was also knocked
down senseless either by the same murderous implement or
by the other man. The cold water appears to have
revived Bowman again, and he crawled out of the river
on his hands and knees ; but A.tkinson's wounds were of
a more serious nature. He was found in a greatly dis-
figured state, on the bank about seven o'clock, but how
he came there is not known. He must either, like Bow-
man, have been revived by the water into which he fell,
and then crawled out; or else the poachers had carried
him out. Atkinson was then taken to the farmhouse at
Brocklewath, where he died in the middle of the day. It
appears that Irving and the policeman had followed
behind Atkinson and Bowman to the side of the river,
and were standing there while the two watchers were ap-
prehending Robinson. While they were there the two
other poachers rose from their ambush. Police-constable
Cowman seized hold of one of them, but while he was at-
tempting to make him a prisoner the other poacher came
to the rescue of his companion, and felled the policeman
with a bludgeon. Irving appears to have gone off. Ro-
binson has been taken into custody, with his son. William
Robinson. Cowman being in a precarious state, his depo-
sition was taken. He identified the elder Robinson as the
man who had been fishing in the river ; and young Robin-
son was identified by Cowman as one of the two men
who had knocked him down. The police are on the track
of the third man.

EXPRESSING THE AMERICAN NEWS.--The direc-
tors of the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company have re-
ceived from the Postmaster-General a complimentary- letter
bearing testimony to the rapidity and accuracy with which
they carried out the arrangements for therapid transmission
of the important despatches from America on the subject of
the Trent,

RUMOURED Loss OF THE PARANA.—We are glad
to learn that there is good ground for discrediting the
rumour that the Parana, with a battalion of Guards on
which make make no mention Gazette has ad-
board, had been lost in the St. Lawrence. It appears that
the authority for the report is a statement in the New York
ad-
vices er
salodf ot h
af the
that
d 4that o
fromins
t . ; but
Quebec, t ll e S
whatever of the rumoured catastrophe.