The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-27 00:00:00

The Poisoning Case.

AstmtarroN, Wednesday.
After the dispatch of our parcel last night the examina-
tion of Mr. lierapath Was continued as to the presence of
the poisons alleged to have been administered, but the
learned professor could not identify the existence of any
deleterious admixture in the flour.

At the request of Mr. Carter, the solicitor for the defence,
Mr. Tucker, jun., produced the will and marriage settle-
ment to show that the whole of the property of the wife of
the prisoner was settled on her, and the prisoner's interest
would cease if she died before her mother, Mrs. Chalker,
as her property would go to her brother.

Mr. Carter, for the prisoner, urged that there was not
sufficient evidence to show the guilt of the prisoner even
to justify the bench in sending the case to another tribunal
The prisoner was not shown to have been in the house at
the time the pie was made ; no poison was found in the
flour, and no evidence had been produced to show that
the poison (if any) had not been put into the pie by some
other person. He (the accused) would lose all chance
of pecuniary benefit by the death of his wife, and
therefore no motive existed for the commission of such a
crime ; but if the bench thought that there was a prima
facie case made out he (Mr. Carter) should not produce
that which he had, a most triumphant answer to the charge,
which charge was entirely without foundation.

The magistrates withdrew for some time, and after some
consultation with the clerk, the chairman said :—.We have
consulted together on this most painful case. We feel that
it is a matter that must be referred to another tribunal. As
for ourselves, we decline to give any opinion on it. We
are not called on to do so. Therefore, without expressing
any opinion, we fed it to be our duty to commit this charge
to the consideration of a jury of the country at the assizes.
They begin to-morrow, and therefore their decision will
soon be obtained.

The usual caution, was then read to the prisoner, who
finally said in reply, " I am not guilty."

On the application of Mr. Carter, the Bench agreed to
accept bail for the prisoner's appearance at the assizes,
personally £l,OOO, and two substantial sureties of £5OO
each. As the two bails were not forthcoming the Bench
agreed to accept Mr. Chalker as responsible bail to the
amount of .£1,000;for the prisoner's appearance.

SALE BY ROUP.—lnstead of its being announced
that the queer dwellings, or the strange land, will be
offered, as is usual with us, for sale at public auction, it is
somewhat unsettling to find that the property will "be
exposed" for sale "by public roup." At our first meeting
with that phrase we felt a little ignorant alarm lest a
.. IT" meant something akin to a riot ; and the other
phraseology carried with it an equivocal sound, that about
"exposing" estates for sale; but the advertisers indicated
no embarrassment on their side, for they occasionally sti-
pulate that it shall be open to "the exposers" to do such
and such things. One or two other variations of auc-
tioneering phraseology may be given. What with us is
the "reserved bid," is, in Scotland, the "upset price ;"
instead of the abbreviation "inst." in describing the month
present, the Scotch say " current ;" and the old familiar
phrase in reference to quantities, as four acres, and three
roods, "be the same more or less," with them becomes
four acres and three rood; "or thereby."—Once a Week.
ATTEMPTED MURDER AT PRESTON.—At the Pres-
ton Police-court yesterday, a labourer named John
Snaps was charged with attempting to murder a widow,
named Rachel Taberner, living at 14, Stanley-street, Pres-
ton. Snape, who is about 45 years old, has a wife and four
children in Blackburn, but ho has not been living with
them for 13 or 14 years, and latterly he has been cohabit-
ing with the woman Taberner. At the inquiry before the
magistrates, Mrs. Taberner said that on Sunday afternoon
she went into the Stanley vaults in Stanley-street, and had
a glass of ale with a man named Simpson.. The prisoner
came in afterwards, and she refused when he asked her to
go and sit by his side. When about having a second glass
of ale, the prisoner got behind her, threw his left arm
around her, and drew a table knife across her throat. He
cut her, and shescreamed out "murder." The man Simpson
seized him, and she afterwards fainted and fell. John
Simpson, a millwright, deposed that he saw the prisoner
draw the knife across Mrs. Taberner's throat, that he
knocked the prisoner down, and that he believed if he had
not done so the prisoner would have murdered the woman.
When charged with attempting to kill Mrs. Taberner the
prisoner said, "It was all through jealousy; I might as
well do it as hang myself." Dr. Moore deposed that he
examined the woman's throat on Sunday afternoon, and
found a slight cut along the front of it, about six inches
long. John Grantham, an old man living in Stanley-
street, deposed that he went up to the prisoner, after he
had been using the knife, and heard him say that he rued
he had not cut the woman's throat.—William Forrest, Of
Back Stanley-street, said that on Sunday, about noon, the
prisoner borrowed a table knife, from him, for the purpose
of cutting some tobacco; that after ho got the knife he
sharpened it twice ; and that he then went out of the house
with it. The prisoner offered no substantial defence. He
was committed for trial. When the prisoner left the dock
he had to pass the woman whose throat he had attempted
to cut. As he approached her he held out his hand, and
she slightly smiled and then shook if.