The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY ZVENING: AUGUST 11, 1862.

and Yeovil Railway Company have commenced to
lay down the additional rails on portions of their
line, so as to make a double road. The directors re-
gret to inform the shareholders that in consequence
of the adverse verdict of the jury upon Ford's case,
arising out of the accident which occurred at
Wimbledon in Jan., 1861, the company has been
called upon to pay several large amounts for com-
pensation. The directors are still of opinion that
the verdict of the coroner's jury was correct. The
directors have carried £6,792 to the compensation
account for the half-year.' They have purchased
the shares and property of the South-Western
Navigation Company for a corresponding amount
of 4 per cent. debenture stock, instead of paying
rent at 5 per cent. The board recommend the ac-
ceptance by the proprietors of a lease for seven
years from the Ist of January last of the Exeter
and Credition Railway at a rent of 55 per cent. of
per cent. of its gross receipts. The directors have
also made arrangements for leasing
the North
Devon Railway 35 miles in length, from Crediton
to Barnstaple, at a rent of about £15,000 per an-
num for the first seven years of the lease, and
£16,000 thereafter. The rent of the Bideford line
of six miles in length will be about £2,375 for the
first seven years of the lease, and about £2,650
thereafter. It is proposed to complete the narrow
gauge accommodation on those railways forthwith.
The report of J. Beattie, the engineer, states that
the expenditure in the locomotive and carriage de-
partment averaged 9.97 d. per mile ; and that 47
goods, six timber, two cattle, and five coal wag-
gons, and two carriage trucks, 62 in all, have been
built in lieu of a similar number worn out, and the
cost has been charged to the revenue account. The
capital account shows that £12,037,321 had been
expended, leaving a balance of £267,194.

PIRACY, 111URDE.R, AND BURNING OF

A SHIP.

(Front the Western Morning .News.)
We are enabled to place before our readers some
details of the most atrocious case of piracy, murder,
and burning of a ship that has occurred for many
years past, at least in European waters. Captain
Grove, of the English brig Susannah, who arrived
at Falmouth on Wednesday, has fully narrated the
appalling circumstances to our correspondent at
that port. It appears that about 8 a.m. on the 9th
of July last, when about 16 miles S.E. of Malaga,
Captain Grove observed the American barque Rein-
deer, with her ensign down, and her sails flying
about as if she was adrift. He was then some dis-
tance from her, but he immediately lowered his
quarter gig, and (with four of his crew) proceeded
towards the Reindeer. On arriving alongside,
Captain Grove observed a man with his head partly
over the rail. Smoke was issuing from the poop of
the barque. Before getting on board Capt. Grove
spoke to the half murdered man on deck, and endea-
voured to obtain some particulars of the disaster.
He was only just strong enough to say that a
part of the crew had been murdered by two Spa-
niards, who belonged to the Reindeer, and that
after murdering or disabling the crew, they had
set fire to the ship, stove one boat, and had taken
away the other, and made their escape. The cap-
tain and crew of the Susannah went on board, and
were horror-struck on seeing the state of the vessel.
The appearance of the mutilated men on board, the
quantity of blood on deck, the groanings of the
captain and men, were horrible beyond description.
The steward was on the deck half murdered and
lying in his blood ; his face and head had been so
cut and disfigured with a knife as to make it won-
derful that he should have survived. He was very
weak through loss of blood, but just able to move.
The master of the Reindeer (Capt. J. W. Hewitt)
was on the main hatch, covered with a blanket,
groaning most piteously, insensible. It seems that
he was attacked when asleep in his cabin ; his head
was partly severed from his body, and it is supposed
he was left for dead ; one half of his left ear was
cut off, and when he awoke and was a little sensible
the cabin was full of smoke, but he has no recollec-
tion of any of the circumstances of the horrible out-
rage. The first mate had also been attacked, and
was cut with a knife very severely in the neck, and
seriously injured. The second mate, J. H. Hansoy,
of Liverpool, and a seaman named Henry F. Jones,
of Cardiff, were both murdered whilst asleep in their
berths. Capt. Grove saw them lying there, and
thinks that their deaths must have been instantane-
ous ; they were in the same position as if asleep, but
the quantity of blood around them formed a large
pool ; the hearts of both men were visible through
the severe cuts in their sides, and it would seem as
if they had been struck on the head by some instru-
ment and then immediately stabbed in the left side,
near the heart ; their features did not appear to have
been altered. The ship's boy on board was also
attacked by the ruffians, and, having received a cat
from a knife, he jumped overboard and swam for-
ward to the bobstay, where he quietly remained
until the murderers left the vessel. The carpenter
and cook were murdered whilst on deck and thrown
overboard ; the boy saw these two attacked and
killed, and their bodies thrown out. The others of
the crew who had up to this time escaped, seeing
the frightful state to which matters were approach-
ing, climbed to the foretop and cut the topgallant
studding sail halyard-block to protect themselves.
The ruffians did not venture aloft, and it would
seem that they were short of powder, as, although
they had pistols, they did not fire. Amongst the
crew of the Reindeer were two Spaniards. They
were not in the same watch; and on the night of
this horrible act one of them contrived to borrow a
knife from each man of the watch, saying that he
wanted to cut some meat to eat. At this time the
other Spaniard was supposed to be asleep. After
having obtained the knives from the whole of the
crew of that watch, and deprived them of their usual
means of protection, these cold-blooded murderers I
set to work in a business-like manner. They first
provided themselves with two pistols each, and a
maulunder one arm,and attached knives to their side.
A pistol was presented to the first mate several
times, but it snapped and did not discharge. Thus he
was spared his life, but received several severe cuts
and injuries from knives. Some little time after
Capt. Grove had been on board the Reindeer, the
American ship Minstrel, Capt. Clifford, came to her
assistance, and every endeavour was made by these
two ship-masters and their crews to save the barque
from burning_ She had been set fire to fore and
aft ; they battened everything down to prevent any
air reaching the fire, and cut holes in her deck, and
for a time the fire appeared to be somewhat sub-
dued ; when, however, it reached the transom, the
flames broke out with much force at the stern.
The Reindeer was a ship of about 800 tons. Capt.
Grove and Capt. Clifford having consulted toge-
ther, they thought it best to take the whole of the
crew on board the Minstrel, and in doing so expe-
rienced some difficulty in getting the wounded from
the ship ; th©y had to lower them down over the
sides of the vessel, Capt. Hewitt at the same time
being senseless. They left the Reindeer at about
five p.m. ; Capt. Grove remained close to her during
the night, and saw her go down about eight a.m.
the next morning. When on board the Reindeer
Capt. Grove noticed a log-book, whic'i had been
kept by Jones, one of the murdered men, from which
it appeared that he shipped on board the Mary Ann
in Cardiff in 1861, and ran from her. Three watches
were carried off by the murderers, as well as 400
dollars. Capt. Grove has in his possession three of
the knives used on the occasion, with the blood of
the poor murdered and mutilated crew of the Rein-
deer still about them. During the night after the
murder, and whilst the Susannah was in a calm, and

only a short distance from the burning ship, Capt.
Grover saw a boat with four hands and a litter pu-
ling close to the Susannah. Suspecting that there
ofe,s.more mischief at work, he mustered the whole
near his
. n 1 Crew on the quarter-deck, and armed them,
in the .
behethf
the same
the boat consisted of pirates be-
longing to
boat's bow.
vessel
isame party. When the boat came
On
Capt. Grove fired a shot across the
and
he
etshais they pulled away as quickly as
i:: no more of them. A Spanish
possible,
felucca was also
time, and it is the opinion
locality at the
the men he saw in the boat Captain Grove that
e the murderers, and
that on firing across their boewr
they went on board
saw her afterwards,
the Spanish felucca, as he never
although she had for three days
previously
beer, in
company with him.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—GUILDFORD, Aug. 9.
Mr. Baron Martin and Mr. Baron Bramwell were
both engaged on Saturday in trying civil causes,
and they disposed of a number of common jury cases.
(Before Mr. Baro❑ Bramwell.)
COLLIER V. MILLSON.

This was an action of false imprisonment, and the
defendant pleaded that the plaintiff was the keeper
of a public-house, and that he went to his house
for refreshment, and while he was there he was
robbed of his watch and chain and some money,
and that the plaintiff was present when the robbery
was committed, and did not render him any assis-
tance, and that he was therefore justified in giving
him into custody.
Mr. Oppenheim was for the plaintiff, and Mr.
Prentice appeared for the defendant.
The plaintiff in this action is the landlord of the
Golden Lion public-house, Kent-street, in the
Borough, and the defendant is an architect, who
carries on his business in Lincoln's-inn-fields. The
circumstances that led to the bringing of the action
were rather peculiar. It appeared that on April 17,
the day before Good Friday, the defendant went to
the Golden Lion, accompanied, as was stated by
several prostitutes and other disorderly persons,
and there was no doubt that he conducted himself
in a very extraordinary manner for a man in his
position. He called for all sorts of liquors, with
which he regaled the women and the other persons
who accompanied him, and upon some man coming
into the house to play the banjo he took the instru-
ment from him and went into the tap-room, and
began to dance and play nigger fashion. The plain-
tiff it appeared did not come home until nearly 12
o'clock at night, and at this time there was a scene
of great uproar and confusion, and he went to the
room where the defendant was, and requested him
and the other parties to leave the house, as he said
he must close at 12 o'clock on account of the f01.,-
lowing day being Good Friday. Upon this the de-
fendant and all the others came in front of the bar,
when it appeared there was some scuffling and
hustling, and the defendant dropped some gold
ooins, and they were scrambled for and stolen. At
length the defendant and all the other people left
the house, and either at this time or shortly after-
wards the defendant was robbed of a gold watch,
which he stated to be worth £35, and he gave a
man named Donkley in charge for stealing it, and
he was taken to the police-station and locked up.
He then it appeared went back to the house of the
plaintiff, accompanied by a policeman, and gave
him also in charge for being concerned in stealing
his watch with the man Donkley, and as the fol
lowing day was Good Friday, he was detained at
the police-station until Saturday morning, the po-
lice not having power to take bail in cases of felony.
He was then taken to Southwark Police Court, but
the defendant did not make his appearance to sup-
port the charge, and the plaintiff and the other
man were consequently set at liberty. Some cor-
respondence subsequently passed between Mr.
Neale, the plaintiff's attorney, and the defendant,
who seemed inclined to persist in the charge he
had made, and the only excuse he gave for not' ap-
pearing before the magistrate was, that he was
going to be married and that he did not wish to have
his name brought before the public in connexion
with such a transaction Police-sergeant Gardner
of the M division, who took the charge, stated in
cross-examination 'that the Golden Lion was
situated in a very low neighbourhood, and that it
was principally frequented by prostitutes and
thieves, but he at the same time said that these
were the only description of customers that could
go to it, as none other lived in the neighbourhood.
Mr. Prentice, in his address to the jury for the
defendant, contended that he was justified in giving
the plaintiff into custody under the circumstances.
He said he did not deny that the defendant had
acted very foolishly in going to such a place and
conducting himself as he did, and he might very
well be ashamed of appearing before the magistrate
and giving his evidence, but the jury would con-
sider whether it was not the duty of the plaintiff to
have protected him when he knew the class of per
sons by whom he was surrounded, and that as he

did not do so the defendant might very reasonably
have believed that he was aiding in the robbery.
Baron Bramwell having summed up, the jury,
after a short deliberation, returned a verdict for
the plaintiff—damages £5O.
Mr. Prentice subsequently applied that execu-
tion might be stayed, on the ground that the
damages were excessive and his lordship granted
the application.

EXTRAORDINARY MURDER OF A

CHILD.

On Saturday forenoon Dr. Lankester, coroner for
Central Middlesex, prosecuted an inquiry at the
Elephant and Castle, King's-road, Camden Town,
touching the death of an infant, aged about five or
six weeks, found alive in a bandbox at a railway
station under extraordinary circumstances.
Edward Emery, office-porter on the London and
North-Wesr.ern Railway at Euston-square station,
deposed that he was called on Thursday at three
p.m. to take charge of a bandbox left in a water-
closet at the station, which was covered with two
wrapping cloths, and carefully tied up with a cord.
An address was written on paper in a bold hand,
and sewed upon the outer wrapper as follows :
" To the Lady Warden of Et. Michael's School, Bog-
nor, Essex." On opening the bandbox he found in
it a living male child. He went for medical aid
without loss of time, and eventually the deceased
was removed to St. Pancras Workhouse Infirmary.
A female nurse of the infant ward of the work-
house infirmary, named Champe, said she took
charge of the child about nine o'clock the same
night. It then appeared to be dying, and expired
about three hours afterwards. Every effort was
made to save its life.

Mr. W. Sowerby, surgeon of St. Pancras infir-
mary, stated that he attended the deceased after it
had been received into the infirmary, between nine
and ten o'clock. It was pulseless and very cold,
breathing but three times a minute instead of some
twenty-four times, as a child of that age ought to
do. A note was sent from a medical man called in
at the railway station, stating the treatment he
had given it before removal, to the effect that he
had given the child port wine and water and coffee
injections, and also port wine and water by the
mouth ; that the child appeared to be suffering
from narcotic poisoning. Witness set up artificial
respiration, but it sank and died a few minutes
before twelve. The result of a post mortem exami -
nation showed that deceased was five or six weeks
old, and died from compression of the brain and
overflow of blood in the vessels, produced no doubt
from the narcotic poisonous effects of carbonic acid,
caused by close confinement in the bandbox. Re
analysed the contents of the stomach for morphia,
&c., but could find none.

Verdict, " Wilful murder" against some person
or persons unknown.

ANOTHER MURDER BY A MANIAC.

A murder, closely resembling in its general aspect
the tragedy recently enacted on 1 udgate-hill, has
been committed in the neighbourhood of the City-
road. The scene of the murder was 18, Brunswick-
place, and the victim the son of the murderess. The
house has been for some years in the tenancy of
Mr. Coele, foreman in a large cabinet-making esta-
blishment. He was father of four children by Mrs.
Adelaide Coole, his wife, the youngest being Charles,
aged 15 months. For some time Mrs. Coole has
been subject to ill-health, her malady being, it is
stated, consumption of a malignant type, and a
nurse was brought in. On Thursday afternoon Mr.
Coole left home, leaving his wife, to all appearance,
in her ordinary state of health. About two hours
afterwards Mrs. Coole went down to the kitchen,
where her servant had charge of the little boy
Charles, and the nurse was also there. She made
no remark to either of the women, nor was it noticed
that there was anything peculiar in her manner;
but she took the child by the hand, and led it out
of the kitchen upstairs. It was subsequently remem-
bered that a large carving-knife, which had been
lying on the kitchen table was missing from the
spot immediately afterwards ; and there is no
doubt that the unhappy woman contrived to
take it out of the kitchen unperceived. Scarcely
ten minutes had elapsed when Mrs. Coole again
made her appearance in the kitchen, looking
ghastly white, and in a state of convulsive trem-
bling. She did not utter a word, and appeared
unable to do so, and only with difficulty kept
on her feet. The sight of the palms of her hands,
which were completely covered with blood, made
the servants run upstairs, half fainting with
terror, and upon going into the back room on the
first floor she saw the lifeless body of the little boy,
his throat severed from ear to ear by a fearful
wound, which nearly divided the head from the
trunk. Beside him lay the carving knife with
which the act had been committed, and the carpet
on which the warm and bleeding corpse lay was
saturated with blood. On going to the kitchen she
found that the mother had fainted, and then it was
discovered that she had also inflicted a wound in
her own throat, doubtless with the carving-knife
with which she had already destroyed her child.
The cut was not more than skin deep, and it is sup-
posed that failure of strength prevented her accom •
plishing the crime of suicide. Dr. Rogers, who had
been in attendance on Mrs. Coole, was sent for,
and, after prescribing for the mother, he made an
examination of the murdered child. All the prin-
cipal arteries and vessels of the neck were severed,
and the knife had penetrated to the bone. Death
must have been instantaneous. The injuries which
had been inflicted by Mrs. Coole upon herself were
pronounced not to be in themselves dangerous, but
her condition was such as to render it impossible
to say whether death might not take place. In-
spector Webster was communicated with, and he
sent down constables to take Mrs. Coole into cus-
tody ; but upon the certificate of the medical man
that her removal would be highly dangerous, she
was not removed from the house, an officer remain-
ing with her until she can be transferred to prison.
No motive whatever has been assigned for the mur•
der of the child. Mrs. Coole is 39 years of age.