The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-24 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

It is expected that some draughts of troops for
India will leave the camp at Colchester about the
10th of next month. Ensign Hawkins, of the Ist
Royals, will accompany the draught of his corps to
India, and Ensign Smith, of the 2d battalion, has
also received orders to join the service companies of
the regiment. Ensign Rutley, of the 2d battalion,
is to join the depot companies.
The works of the new cavalry barracks at Col-
chester are advancing rapidly. The officers' quar-
ters are in the most forward state, but the blocks to

be occupied by privates have also made some pre-
- gresp, and the foundations of the stables are nearly
completed.
A detachment of the Royal Marine Artillery em-
barked yesterday morning from the dockyard for
duty, on board the Black Prince, Captain Wain-

THE INQUEST ON THE MURDERS AND

BUICIDE IN BLALKERIARS-ROAD.

The Meat •
eal Times and Gazette says:—
If an instance were wanting to prove the necessity of
appointing a vigilant
medicalman to the office of coroner,
we do not know that wee
shouldwhich has
one more to the pur-
pose than that of the inquiry h
ch has lately taken place
as to the deaths of the two
children of
ford. As an investigation into the _a" James John
of death of the
children, who were found lying near bodyettese
of the father,
the inquiry was a farce and a mockery. A
himself
assist-
wed to be a
T
ant, Mr. James V. Henderson, who
atates
only medical witness
follow
surgeon, was the
ing is his evidence respecting-
the deaths
of
the
ehhile -
tdhreen :-.4
"At the same time two on
as has been described. I saw
The lungs children
and llyingiver were
congested, but otherwise healthy. The abdomen we
s
8 I i boor,
ga
quite t 1
healthy. I took out the stomach and tied it at both end-
Subsequently I opened it and found it to contain food and.
air; but I have not had sufficient time to analyse its eme.
tents. I noticed two pillows on the floor by the side of the
children, and they might have been pressed on the faces of
the children so as to cause death, but I cannot say that it
eves so. A phial was found on the floor near the bodies,
which may have contained opium, and I think it had a pre-
paration of opium in it. There was another phial on the
drawers containing a very small quantity of brownish
liquid, which seems to be Methylated spirit of opium. If
this had been used the lapse of time would have de-
stroyed the smell of the opium. The post mortem
appearances in the younger chile'_ were the same
as in the elder, except that the lungs and brain were much
more congested. I saw the cup produced. It contained
castor-oil with a brownish sediment. There was no smell
except of the oil. My opinion is that the children were
poisoned, but death may have been produced by the com-
pression of the pillows over their faces before the poison had
time to act. The blood was fluid, but it would remain so
after suffocation as well as after poison."
That the children died by the hand of their father is only
too probable. But surely in such a case, occurring as it
did in the metropolis of England, public safety as well as
lae demands that some attempt should have been made
to discover the cause of their deaths. No analysis either
of the contents of the stomachs or of the fluids found in the
cup and phials seems to have been
thought necessary. The
unfortunate man
ifwas undoubtedly mad, but this does not
y huiteneenurts are to be held at all, surely the
daletaetrhthoef ceayseer.
becoming the subject of in-
q airy should bo investigeetiefindugabyf every means which science
can suggest. We do not fault with the verdict, which
was, " That the children were
deeltrfully
father, who immediately after murdered by their
but
his own life while
in a state of mental aberration,',
the careless and perfunctory manner ;weue do find fault with
' which the inquiry
waa carried oat,