The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-23 00:00:00

A WHOLESALE BIGAMIST.

At the Oxford City Court, on Friday, John Ash- I I
ford, alias George Smith and John Hills, was charged I
with marrying Eliza Salt, his former wife, Elizabeth
Perrier, being still alive. The particulars of this
case, as shown in evidence, were of a very extraor-
dinary nature. The prisoner, who is a tailor by
trade, appears to have been travelling about the
country for some years entrapping young girls,
and in one instance a widow, into marriage, and
suddenly leaving them, after possessing himself of
all the money and property he could obtain. In
1853 the prisoner obtained employment as a tailor
in Bath, and took lodgings at the house of Mrs.
Perrier, who kept a greengrocer's shop in that city.
After being there a few weeks he made the land-
lady an offer of marriage, which she accepted, and
the ceremony was solemnised at Trinity Church on
the 7th Aug., 1853. The parties continued to live
together about a month or six weeks, when Mrs.
Perrier was taken ill, and the prisoner then pre-
tended that he had received a letter, which there
is no doubt was a forgery, to the effect that he and
his two brothers had become entitled to a legacy of
£5OO each, in consequence of the death of a relative,
and requesting his presence in London. In order to
raise money for his journey, he disposed of all the
furniture and other property which he had acquired
by his wife, and then left Bath, and nothing more
was heard of his whereabouts until five years ago,
when he appears to have settled down for a time
in the small town of Wantage. While living at
Wantage, he became acquainted with a respectable
servant girl named Salt, to whom he paid his ad-
dresses, and whom he afterwards married in the
name of George Smith. After living with this
woman about 11 weeks, during which period he
spent what little money she had managed to save
by her industry, he suddenly decamped. After the
lapse of considerable time, the prisoner was next
heard of at St. Helen's, Lancashire, where, on the
18th Jan. last, under :the assumed name of John
Wm. Scott, he married a young woman named
Maria Isabella Dunn, who brought him as her mar-
riage portion £lOO in hard cash. On the 2d May
last he suddenly quitted the place, taking with him
a gold watch, furniture, all the money he could ob-
tain, and even the ring off the finger of the poor
girl whom he had so recently duped. He next took
up his quarters in Oxford, having obtained work
as a tailor, and immediately commenced the nefa-
rious practice which he so successfully adopted
in other towns. He speedily insinuated him-
self into the good graces of a maid-servant
residing in St. John-street, to whom he promised
marriage, and who was about to leave her place to
marry him, when his career was brought to a sud-
den termination in a somewhat curious manner. On
Sunday afternoon, the 25th of May, Eliza Salt, one
of his unfortutate dupes, who happened to be resid-
ing in Oxford, in the service of Mr. Booth, St.
Giles's, was present at the assembling of the Oxford
militia in Broad-street, when she accidentally ob-
served the prisoner among the crowd. He man-
aged, however, to evade her on this occasion; but
on the following Sunday she again saw him, in
company with the young woman to whom he
was paying his addresses. After watching them
for some time they
separated—the girl return-
ing to her home, and the prisoner walking up
St. Giles's, whither he was followed by Salt,
who seized him and kept firm hold until the
arrival of Sergeant Mills, when she gave him into
custody. The prisoner, being cautioned in the
usual manner by the Mayor, replied " I have no-
thing to say—only I am guilty." He was then
committed for trial at the next assizes.

TERRIBLE EXPLOSION AT A PERCUS.
SION CAP IttANUFACIO.RY.

(From Aries Birmingham Gazette.)

BIRMINGHAM, SATURDAY EVENING.

Shortly before five o'clock this afternoon, a
terrible explosion occurred at the percussion cap
manufactory of Messrs. Walker, in Graham-street.
In the excitement and confusion it is impossible
to obtain a full and perfectly accurate report, but
the following particulars were. gathered on the
spot :

It appears that it is customary to pay the people
employed in the manufactory, most of whom were
girls, their weekly wages on the Saturday after-
noon, and the consequence was that many of them
were on the premises at the time of the explosion.
It is believed that the explosion occurred in the
upper room, where the composition with which the
caps were charged is mixed up, but it cannot be
stated positively whether this is so or not. How
ever this may be, an explosion, accompanied with a
loud report, took place at a quarter before five
o'clock, and the whole of the extensive premises
were blown up. The only vestige of the manufac-
tory that now remains is a heap of debris.
The steel toy manufactory of Mr. Heeley, which
is situate at the back ()Mho premises of the Messrs.
Walker, was much damaged, some of the walls
being blown down, and the people who were at
work in the rooms being blown out of them by the
force of the explosion. The manufactory of Messrs.
Neale and Warwick, railway carriage wheel
makers, was so much injured that it is expected to
fall down ; and the premises on the other side were
much shaken. The houses on the opposite side of
the street had all the windows blown out.
Many persons were buried in the debris of the pre-
mises. Before many minutes had elapsed volunteers
came forward to work in rescuing those who were
in the ruins. Despite the great danger of the work
no one held back, and as the poor people were got
out they were sent in cabs to the General
Hospital. Several, however, whose hurts were
not so serious, were removed to their own homes.
a very short time the engines from the various
offices were on the spot, and a supply of water
being obtained, they commenced playing on the
ruins. A strong body of police were present, under
Superintendent Spiers, and they were of great ser-
vice in preventing the crowd from going into dan-
gerous proximity to the walls that were expected
to fall every moment ; and they also worked hard
lin removing the burning rubbish under which it
was stated that several people were buried, at great
risk to themselves. Before long the crowd was so
great that the street was impassable. Thousands
upon thousands came up, but, although they were
animated by the best intentions, they were only in
the way of the people who were at work.
At about half-past five the dead body of William
Biddulph, was drawn from the ruins of the stamp-
ing shop of Messrs. Heeley, which had been blown
down. Deceased was about 28 years old, and was
married, his wife being a small haberdasher, having
a shop in Carver-street. His body presented a
frightful appearance, the front of the forehead and
the skull being smashed in.
At the time of writing there were two dead
bodies there that had not been identified. The one
is that of a girl, apparently about 20. The face is
so shattered as to be scarcely discernable, and one
leg is absolutely blown off. The other body is that
of a boy, apparently about 10 years old, and the
body is almost blown to pieces. One of the patients
at the hospital has his face wounded with caps
that have been blown into it. One of the Messrs'
Walker is amongst the wounded, and we are in-
formed others of the firm are missing. Miss Walker
is also severely hurt. Upwards of 30 persons have
been up to the present time ascertained to have
been more or less severely injured, most of whom
were taken to the General Hospitill. The scene at
the hospital is most distressing, hnndreds of poor
women crowding to ask about relatives.
The injured persons were promptly attended by
Mr. Bracey, house surgeon ; Mr. Roberts, house
physician ; Dr. Melson, Mr. A. Baker, Mr. Goodhall;
there were also present at the hospital Messrs. Hall
Smith, and Elkington, house pupils.
It is feared that a considerable number of the
unfortunate workpeoplo are buried beneath the
bebris, to remove which every effort is being made.
The corpse of a girl about 11, whose name we
were not able to ascertain, has been taken to
Duke of Marlborough publichouse, Mou st ree tt.h e

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
Of late years the business of Messrs. Walker has
been carried on by NI rs. Walker, her three sons,
Richard, Thomas, and John, with the assistance of
her three daughters ; and two or more of them were
constantly in the works during the hours of busi-