The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-01 00:00:00

THE GLASGOW MURDER.

A great meeting was held in the City Hall, Glasgow, on
Monday eveniikr, to petition the Home Secretary for a
respite of Jessie M'Lachlan. An hour before the time
announced for the commencement of the business, the hail
was crowded in every part, and hundreds had to go away
unable to gain admittance. Couneillor Clark was called to
the chair, and told the meeting it was intended to forward
the petition that night to London, in order that it might be
presented to Sir G. Grey yesterday. The following memo-
rial to Sir G. Grey was unanimously adopted :
" That in the case of Jessie M'lntosh or M'Lachlan, who
is at present confined in the prison of Glasgow under sen-
tence of death, your memorialists respectfully submit,
"Ist. That the evidence adduced at the trial Was
entirely circumstantial, and was not such as to clear up
many doubtful and obscure points that deeply affect the
solution of this important case.

"2d. That an extraordinary and exoeptional character
had been given to the case by a declaration read by the
prisoner's counsel after the verdict was returned, which
declaration purports to be a true statement of the prisoner's
connection with the crime, and is affirmed to have been
made by her to her agents on the 13th day of August last,
before she had any information as to the evidence to be
adduced against her,—which declaration was not made use
of in the prisoner's defence.

" 3d. That from the circumstances in which the declara-
tion was made, the nature of the declaration itself, and the
painful excitement created on the subject, it appears to your
memorialists to be imperatively necessary for the interests
of justice and the satisfaction of the public mind, that there
be a special investigation into the whole matter.
" 4th. That, in the meantime, a respite of the sentence
be granted, and upon the above inquiry being made, tLat
the Crown be graciously pleased to interpose further in the
case, as the ends of justice may appear to demand.
" And your memorialists, as in duty bound, shall ever
pray."

The Forth British Daily Mail says :—" The Crown
officials in Edinburgh, having taken into consideration
what has transpired since the return of the verdict in the
case of Mrs. M'Lachlan, have issued a warrant to the
Sheriff here, directing that a strict official investigation be
made into all the circumstances which have since come to
light. This warrant has just been received, and already
the Sheriff's officials are bestirring themselves to give it due
effect." The truth of this statement, which was published
in a late edition on Monday was disputed, and the flail
therefore gives the following particulars :
Yesterday the Lord Advocate arrived in Glasgow a little
before mid-day, and had a consultation with the Sheriff's
officials, including the Procurators-Fiscal, Messrs, Hart
and Gemmel. The upshot of this consultation was, that a
warrant or order was given for a private official precogni•
tion to be made by the Sheriff and his Fiscal, of all who can
throw any light on the case, and who were not examined
as witnesses at the late trial. Accordingly, yesterday after-
noon summonses were issued to about a dozen witnesses,
including Mary Black, Miss Dykes, the three young women
(the Misses Brown), Mr. Stewart, Sandyford-place, and
others, calling upon them to appear this morning, before
the Sheriff, at the County-buildings. The following are
the terms of the summons :

"Room No. To -. You are hereby summoned to
compear before the Sheriff of Lanarkshire, within the Pro-
curator-Fiscals' office, County-buildings, Brunswick-street,
Glasgow, one stair up, on Tuesday, the 30th day of Sep-
tember current, at nine o'clock forenoon, to be examined as
a witness in the case of Jessie M'lntosh or M'Lachlan, and
that under the penalty of one hundred merks Scots."
It may not be out of place here to correct a popular error.
According to the constitution of this country, no person
who has been examined as a Crown witness can be after-
wards charged with the crime regarding which he has
given evidence. At the same time, if it be found that a
person has given testimony inconstent with truth on the
trial, he may be indicted for perjury.
The condemned criminal continues much in her former
state of mind. Some imprudent person, however, we un-
derstand, has informed her of the efforts being made to get
for her a respite, and it seems she is sanguine of their suc-
cess. Her husband brought her child into the prison on
Saturday, when it may well be imagined a most harrowing
scene took place.

The Caledonian Mercury says:—" It is currently in-
m6ured in the city, and believed to be true, that Lord Dees
has received a missive from Sir G. Grey, requesting his
attendance in London in reference to the Glasgow murder
trial, and that his lordship has left to consult with the
Home Secretary."

MURDER IN THE COUNTY GALWAY.—TuAM,
Monday Evening.—l regret to inform you that a most hor-
rible tragedy was enacted yesterday, at the Weir Village,
within about a mile and a half of this town, involving the
sacrifice of human life under circumstances of a most re-
volting and unnatural character. An old, man named
Qualter, upwards of 70 years of age, quite blind and infirm,
was found lying dead in his house, about three o'clock p.m.,
with his skull fearfully fractured and several other marks
upon the body, which leave no doubt whatever of his having
met with an awful and violent death. An old hatchet
stained with blood was found in the room near the corpse.
Suspicion having strongly pointed to some of the imme
diate members of deceased's family who lived with him, and
consisted of two sons, two daughters, and a daughter-in-
law, the police arrested the whole party, who were brought
into town and underwent a preliminary examination, at 12
o'clock to-day before Mr. Redmond, R M., who has re-
manded them, pending the result of the coroner's inquest,
which will commence to-morrow. Rumours are rife of
occasional bickdrings and dispute regarding the possession
of the old man's holding, in which one of the sons ar_Ct his
wife were principally concerned, and various str;ries are
afloat; but to those it is unnecessary to advilrt any further
at present.—Dublin Freeman.

ASPROMONTE.—The Lady M.'enhilda, wife of
Count Robert of Paris, was, as will be seen in Sir Walter
Scott's romance of that nfue, owner and heiress of Aspro-
monte, where Garibaldi was captured. The Normans con-
quered great part of the present kingdom of Naples, and
Walter Scott se, makes his heroine Lady Paramount of
A spromonte,

AN M.P. FINED £lo.—At the Aberdare Police-
court, last week, Mr. Crawshay Bailey, M.P., was sum-
moned at the instance of the Inspector of Mines, Mr. Evans,
for that ho did not comply with the tenth general rule of
the act of Parliament, 23d and 24th Vict. cap. 151, which
enacts that no single-linked chain shall be used for lower•
ing or raising persons in any working pit or shaft. The
offence was admitted on behalf of Mr. Bailey, and in miti-
gation Mr. James said everything was now being done to
carry out the provisions of the law. The magistrates fined
defendant £lO and costs.—Bristol Mercury.
The Vienna Gazette announces considerable re-
ductions in the effective of the Austrian army—infantry,
cavalry, and artillery. The troops bearing arms of
specialty are to be placed upon a peace footing, and the use
of gun cotton is abolished.

A PRIZE FIGHT PREVENTED.—lnformation
haying been received by the police authorities at Wool-
wich that a prize fight would take place in that locality
yesterday, prompt measures were taken by Inspectors L. -
Till and Monahan, of the R division, with a view to appre-
hend the parties offending. A numerous body of police-
constables, under the direction of Sergeant Membety, pro-
ceededt to the Erith Marshes, the spot indicated, where 1
' was found that the combatants, Jena Stewart of Glasgow,o
and Jem Dove of Shndwell, had commenced operations n
The
he
the Essex shore of the river, near Rainham Ferry.
when
00
police then procured boats and crossed the river,wh
landing they were immediately perceived by
the 1
in all
r
prize-
fighters and a mob of about 300 persons, who fled to
ac.,
haste, leaving behind the stakes and ropes of the ring,
which were taken to the Woolwich police-station.
In the Cit 3 Revising Barrister's Court yesterday
it was preposed to strike the name of William
h noupall out
of the list of the Loriners' Company. There was a gooddeal of discussion on the matter, but
the barrister appeared
to think that he had no power to expunge the name from
decision, in order
the list. Eventually he reserved
l'i:vbether a notice of
that he might consider the question, „ only of the regis-
tered which had been served at :a
.
:,nvas valnu
tered places of residence of Roupeli
A communication from
Coburg
says :—" Queen
Victoria will not quit Reinharts
come here and reside some
October. Her Majesty will theenof
Prussia and the Princess
weeks. The Hereditory pfuinchere as long as the Queen.
Royal will probably remdegril-Baden to pay their respects to
They will first go to Baden-
her fete day."
the Queen of Prussia
,0,. BLGANDS.—We have sorrowful
MURDER 13' —,rigandage ;we hear of various bands
1 news of the Southern 10700
ruffians), leaving Rome, bound
(among others onnefron
frontier, on the 17th of this month. One
to the NeaPeliot:ploits has filled the country with horror. I
of their latestth the
minute particulars, as I suppose you will
spare you from your Naples correspondent. In a Lnv
have them bridal party, consist'
, s a
words :—.P.
Pers
Cinelli family, 13
on ef the Years of
age, of her bride-
groom, her mother, and ono of their domestics, were the
afterwedding travelling
day a the from Campobasso by a
public conveyance, they were fallen upon by a party of
thirty mounted bandits. The attempt of these latter
to force the bride along with them was resisted by the
bridegroom, whoa as consequently killed on the spot. The
young wife, roused into fury by the fall of her husband,
broke out into such curses and invectives against the mur-
derers that these could only silence her by laying her down
dead by the side of the dead. The villains then compelled
the old servant to strip the bodies of the unhappy couple of
all their ornaments and clothes before the eyes of the dis-
tracted mother, and, after also robbing all the other travel-
lers of all they had about them, they made off with perfec
impunity.

THE FATE OF HORSES IN AUSTRALIA. _.Palk 0
the nobility of the horse! why we learn from reliable au-
thority that Mr. Atkinson, of Sophienburg, has taken a con-
tract to boil down 2,000 horses. There is no sale for those
animals, and the owner wants to sell their oil, hides, and
hoofs, and thus get as much from 'them as possible. The
fate of Dibdin's high-mettled racer was illustrious com-
pared with the ignoble doom which awaits the horse-stock
of the interior. The wild charger of Australia's burning
plains may well envy the European donkey his thistle..-s.
lawarra (Australian) Express.

DES7RUCIIVE FIRE 1N TEE LONDON-
ROAD.

Last night, betweeen the hours of seven and
eight o'clock, the whole of the buildings on the
Surrey side of the river for miles around became
brilliantly illuminated, to such an extent as to be
hardly credible unless witnessed, owing to the out-
break of a fearful fire in the premises belonging to
Messrs. Simpson and Co., wholesale and retail oil
and colourmen, varnish manufacturers, &c., carry-
ing on a large business at Nos. 53 and 54, London-
road, Southwark.

The premises in question extended from the Lon-
don-road into Nelson-place, the back portion form-
ing the warehouses and store; whilst the front was
used as the retail department. In the former com-
partments were stored several tons weight of oils,
tanks filled with turpentine, varnish, and a large
quantity of resin, pitch, gums, and other equally
inflammable articles, but fortunately no gunpowder.
It appears that two men, Chas. Knight and Wm.
Long, were employed by the firm in hoisting casks
of oil or turpentine to the upper warehouse by
means of an iron chain crane. Whilst so doing,
Police-constable Pike, of the L or Lambeth divi-
sion, who was on duty at the back of the building,
saw a strong body of flame in that floor, and know-
ing that only the ordinary gas- burners were
alight, he felt convinced that the warehouse was on
fire, and he therefore called out to the men to make
their escape as speedily as possible. In an instant
afterwards a sheet of flame rolled over the Ware-
house, rushed through the loophole in the back
front almost across Nelson-place, and the men
Knight, in order to avoid being burnt to death,
had to slide down the chain of the crane. He had
barely reached the street when a sheet of flame rose
into the air, and so extensive was it that it gP.Ve
intelligence simultaneously to every engine-keeper
in the metropolis; and without delay the engines
of the brigade from the Waterloo-road station at..
tended, under the direction of Engineer Medcalf.
Lieutenant Becker next came camp up, with
Hodges's engine and firemen from the Lambeth
Distillery, and was followed by Mr. Henderson,
with the Southward-bridge-road engines; Captain
Shaw, the chief of the brigade, and Foreman J.
Gerrard and Swanton also followed with the power-
ful land steam-engines by Shand and Mason.
A plentiful supply of the Lambeth and South-
wark Company's water having been obtained, the
firemen, under Capt. Shaw and the other superior
officers, went to work in a most daring and intrepid.
manner; for, regardless of turpentine or oil burst-
ing, they mounted ladders, entered the warehouse,
and threw such immense columns of water into the
building as to prevent the flames from reaching the
front shops,alt hough turpentine and oil were washed
along the floor and ran through into the street.
The steam engines, it is only right to say, did
what might be literally termed wonders, for unbroken
columns of water were scattered round the ware-
house, and falling into the basement had the desired
effect of saving 15 tons weight of oil deposited
therein.
By 10 o'clock the fire was entirely extinguished ;
but great as the damage unfortunately has been, it
will not materially interfere with the business, as
the whole of the front houses have sustained no in-
jury, except by water, heat, and smoke.
The firm, it is believed, was insured in the Sun
and Westminster Fire-offices.

Another fire broke out whilst the above was at
its height, in Bermondsey, which was attended by
Lieut. Becker with Hodge's engine, and one of the
brigade; but the damage done was only the dem
struction of one room and its contents.