The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-25 00:00:00

COLONEL COLTS REPEATING PISTOi.

This invention, or rather improvement upon a princlple
long established, as our readers are aware, gained a
wide-world fame during the Great Exhibition of
Much apprehension appears to have existed as to'th6
real nature of Colonel Colt's invention. The gallant
officer does not lay claim to an original discovery, but he
does venture to declare that he has the merit of improv-
ing greatly upon the old system. The pistols are of
singularly beautiful make and form ; and this we say
without disparagement to other discoveries:which have
been made. The points of superiority claimed by Colonel
Colt for his pistol are—first, the facility with which the
six chambers may be loaded bymeans of a compound lever
ramrod, attached to the pistol, which forces the ball so
effectually home that the chamber containing the pow-
der becomes hermetically sealed, and if the nipple
be covered with a little wax the pistol may be immersed
for any length of time in water without danger of a miss-
fire ; secondly, the perfect manner in which the revolu-
tion of the chambers is directed, so that it is impossible
to fire the pistol until the barrel and one of the chambers
are in a direct line, and so that there is no possibility of
any lateral escape of flame on the explosion of the pow-
der ; and, lastly, the superiority of projectile power, as
to force, distance, and accuracy, over every other pistol
that has been invented.
It appears from a report made by the board of the
United States Ordnance, that out of 2,032 tested, wily
one pistol failed in the inspection trial, and that -was at-
tributed, by the report, "to the imperfect metal of the
particular arm." At the same trial one of Colt's holster
pistols was fired 1,200 times, and his belt pistol 1,500
times in suBcession, and the board reported that " neither
of the pistols appeared to be injured by the firing." The
penetration of Colt's holster pistol was found to be through
seven inches of board, and his belt pistol through six
inches, whilst the greatest penetration of the common
dragoon pistol was only through five inches. In the
Eastern Province News it is stated that Mr. Peard,rolo-
nel Colt's agent in Southern Africa, having met with
some difficulty in establishing the reputation of
the arm, brought the matter to a public trial, in a place
called Baaken'si Valley. The firing commenced at 200
yards ; and out of six charges Mr. Peard lodged two
bullets into the target at that distance. The range of
this pistol was then tried, and it was found to throw a
toll a clear.flialit DLOCIO,-yards autt-that any object the
e of a human being, could be struck with a tolerable
degree of certainty at from 150 to 200 yards.
Colonel Colt has met with so much success that he
has established a manufactory at Thames Bank, where, in
order to test the validity of his invention, he proposes to
erect a shooting gallery, giving a range of 100 yards.
When this object is accomplishd, the public will have
vary practical means of setting at rest any doubt which
may exist as to the value of his discovery.
We were much gratified a few days. since when we .
were permitted to inspect and test the five different sized
pistols. We seek not to enter into any controversy as
to inventions of other parties ; but we do not hesitate to
bear our testimony to the ingenuity, efficiency, and
beauty of Col. Colt's pistols.

SUSPECTED MURDER.—At Bath, on Saturday, reap
of a very suspicious and mysterious character was brought
under the attention of the magistrates at the Guildhall,
when two young men, named James Bennett and Lewis
Perran, were charged on suspicion with having caused
the death of a woman, whose name is unknown, on the
night of the 11th instant. To enable the reader the bet-
ter to understand the evidence given below, it may be
well to give a brief introductory statement. On the
morning of the 12th of January, the body of a woman,
which had evidently not been in the water many hours,
was taken out of the river Avon, at Swinford, a hamlet
between Bath and Bristol. The body was identified by
several persons as being that of a woman who had passed
on her way from Bristol to Bath on the previous day,
and who had stated that she was a soldier's wife, and
was following her husband from Wales to Winchester
barracks, where her husband was stationed. A good
deal of excitement was created, as there was little doubt
from the appearance of the body, that the unfortunate
woman had been murdered. An inquest was held before
Mr. J. Ellis, coroner for Gloucestershire, when Mr.
Brown, a surgeon, who examined the body, gave it as
his opinion that a wound, found upon the head of the
deceased was inflicted during her lifetime, but that
death was caused by drowning. The jury returned an
open verdict of " Found drowned," and the poli7 ere,
desired to direct their attention to the case.
police subsequently obtained some informationf.ii i'ic
to the apprehension of Bennett and Perrin on suspiei.
of being concerned in the woman's death. The first
witness examined was George Gill, who deposed that he
keeps a beer-house, called the Odd Fellows' Arms, in
Avon-street (one of the lowest parts of Bath). He re- \
membered on the night of the 11th of January, a stranger,
an Irishwoman, coming to his house between nine and ten 1
o'clock. She went into the taproom, and remained there
drinking until eleven. He had since seen the body of
the woman, which was taken out of the river at Swinford,
and identified it as being that of the woman he had seen
at his house. The prisoner Bennett sat next to the
woman in the tap-room, and Peran was in the skittle-44
alley. About elevela o'clock he turned all the company
out, and the woman left with the others. William El-
lerton, of 5, Milk-street, was then called. He was quite
a lad, but he gave his evidence with considetable'reluc-
tance, He deposed that he was at Gill's beer-house on
the night of the 11th inst., and left at the same time as
the Irishwoman and the prisoners. Seeing the two pri-
soners go off with the woman, he followed to watch
them. When they got about half-way down Cat's-lane,
Pen-an, Bennett, and the woman stood against a tree
for three or four minutes. He then heard the woman
cry "police" two or three times, rather loud, upon which
Bennett ran away up the lane, passing witness appar-
ently without seeing him. The woman went on down
the lane, and Perran followed her. At the bottom of the
lane he heard the woman ask Perna to take her to the
station-house, and they went on by the side of the river
towards Bristol. That was not the way to the station.
Perran then saw witness following, and cried out, " Who's
that?" and he replied, "It's me. It Was dark, and he con-
tinued to follow for some distance, when Perran and the
woman turned a corner, and he could not see them. He
stopped, and could hear footsteps, as though they were
trampling in the mud. He also heard a splash, which
he believed was from Perran and the woman stepping
into a pool of water, there being a large hole there knee
deep. He at the same time heard the woman call
" police" loudly once or twice, and she appeared to be
crying as though she was hurt. Perran also called out
" Oh, Christ !' and immediately ran by witness without •
speaking. He followed Perran, and on Kingsmead-
terrace he saw by the light of the lamps that his boots
and trousers were very muddy, as though he had stepped
into the hole. Was quite sure that the splash he heard
was not caused by the woman falling into the river, be-
cause he was standing on the edge of the bank, and
must have seen her if . she had fallen in. The woman
was not drunk, but could walk steadily. He saw no'
scrambling or scuffling between Pen-an and the woman.
He saw Perran yesterday in Avon-street, and told him
that the woman he was with by the river side was
drowned, and that the police had been to him about it.
Perran told him that he had better not know anything at
all about it. That was all the conversation they had.
The magistrates decided to discharge Bennett and to
remand Perran, Mr. Hughes, the chief of police, stat-
ing that he believed he should be able to produce further
evidence in a few days.
THE MADIAS.— Lord Carlisle has addressed a letter to
the editor of the Leeds Mercury, in reference to the case
of the Madiais. The noble lord says—" I am aware that
it is thought by many that, so far from the case of the
Madiais being a solitary instance, the prisons of Italy. are
at this moment crowded with the victims of religious
persecution. I speak not of matters, however, which
are beyond my cognizance. Upon the ground of what
we do know as a fact, without concerning ourselves
for the present either with the conduct of foreign
Governments or of our own, it is impossible that
we should not await with great anxiety the course
adopted by our own Roman Catholic fellow-sub-
jects. They have continually assured us that the old
principles and codes of intolerance, once certainly (and
I readily admit not exclusively) attached to their church,
had fallen into practical disuetude, and were viewed by
them with at least as much abhorrence as by ourselves.
We gave them credit for the generous self-assertion. I
will not waste your space by a reference to what is of so
little moment as my own career ; but I feel that on the
whole it has not lagged not lagged in sympathy for their
just rights. What has since happened ? A man is
in danger of meeting with his death, under a judicial
sentence, for the offence of reading the Bible. The
fact, as far as I yet know, is not controverted. It
Li known that there are some, it is believed there
ar many, undergoing similar risks. It must be per-
fectly
obvious that in such a state as Tuscany these
ecclesiastical sentences and penalties must slumber or
revive under the paramount inspiration of Rome. Now
our Roman catholic countrymen profess implicit spiritual
deference and allegiance to the see of Rome. With that,
principle of theia faith it is no business of mine to quar-
rel ; but as even spiritual authority must maintain some
reciprocal relations with those who are subject to it, surely
the Roman catholic citizens of the United Kingdom will
address the voice of remonstrance to their spiritual supe-
rior, deferential, dutiful, submissive as they will, but still
earnest, importunate, and incessant. till by its timely in-
tervention they are rescued from this glaring inconsist-
ence, this intolerable reproach. I might, had space and
opportunity permitted, have been tempted to remark on
many gathering symptoms, long foreseen, long expected
by many, of a more obstinate and decisive conflict in the
world than has yet occurred ; but I refrain from all mat-
ters of speculation, and confining myself to what is sub-
ject of actual record, I must repeat that upon the mode
in which the Roman Catholic body at large treat these
contemporary occurrences their place in the estimation
even of their most sincere well-wishers must largely de-
pend."
INCREASE IN PITMEN'S WAGES.--The coal trade of
the midland counties, as might be expected, is reaping
advantage from the prosperity of the iron trade, and
coal and ironstone continue in a course, if anything, of
more than proportionate advance. The coal proprietors
have raised the colliers' wages to ss. per day, and the
thin coal and stone miners' to 3s. 6d.
INCREASED VALUE OF LAND IN IRELAND.—The
" confiscation" of Ireland is proceeding at a marvel-
lously pleasant rate for the confiscated, whatever the
new " intruders" may say to the contrary. The sale of
the estate of Mr. Bagwell Taylor last week, is one of
the latest instances of the " awful sacrifices" effected in
the Irish land market. The property is situated in the
county of Tipperary, and yields a net rental'of 7531. 195.,
which was sold in one lot for the sum of 20,300/2, or at
the rate of 27 years' purchase.
THE LAKES.—Skiddaw, and the whole range of moun-
tains in view from Keswick, south and west, were
densely covered with snow to nearly their base, on
Saturday evening last ; and afterwards a keen frost set
in throughout the lake district.

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