The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOA ON, MONDAY EVE NING, SE PTE :VIBE it, 15, 1862.

THE ASSAULT ON THE MADONNA A 7

2 URIN.

We gave in a previous impression a brief ac-
count of an attack by a man armed with a hatchet
on the image of the Madonna at St. John's Church,
Turin. A Turin correspondent giv F an amus-
ing account of the affair, and the cause which
led to it. An annual religious procession was being
made from the Cathedral to Superga—a spot
famous in Piedmontese history—when the attack
was made.

Towards eleven o'clock in the morning of Mon-
day last the annual ceremony was in full progress.
Mass had been sung, and the procession was issuing
in good order from the main door of the cathedral,
a great crowd of people thronged both the inside of
the church and the square before it—for, whatever
reasons the Piedmontese and the Italians in general
may have to quarrel with their priests, their
churches, especially on grand gala days, continue
to have their wonted attraction—when a frantic
old man forced his way through the densely packed
multitude, rushed up to the spot where under her
gorgeous canopy the image of the Madonna waited
to close the holy pageantry, and drawing from
under his clothes a short hatchet :dealt with it
stroke after stroke upon the gaudily-dressed statue,
hewing the head and one arm of the Divine infant
to the ground, and hacking the Blessed Mother
herself in various places. The image was of silvered
brass, but it would hardly have withstood the
savage fury of the man's blows, and must have
all come to fragments, had not a cavalier who was
present, and whose duty it was to keep order, pre-
vented further mischief by felling the sacrilegious
iconoclast to the ground by one stroke of his broad-
sword.

The man was on the ground, and the public
officers bad a safe grip of him, but ho was not to
come off on such easy terms. The mob of true be-
lievers were upon him on all sides, and although
the police guards and the carabineers strenuously
exerted themselves to screen the bleeding wretch
from further harm, they only succeeded in dragging
him away in the worst possible plight, after he
had been pommelled and pounded to everybody's
heart's content. Had the myrmidons of the law
been less active and zealous in his defence the in-
furiated rabble would most certainly have torn him
limb from limb.

It is rather interesting to read the account given
of this " horrible atrocity " by the clerical papers,
and to hear their loud appeals to " God's justice" in
this sorrowful matter. The Armonio comes forth
in all its strength. " Turin, all Piedmont, all Italy,
all Chiistendom, are struck with horror and dis-
may." It is " impossible to describe the screams,
the wails, the confusion which rose in that vast full
church" at sight of that dire enormity. A thought
glanced through the mind of every one present that
such an " unheard of crime was only the signal for
a great slaughter, of which every man, woman, and
child of the numerous congregation was to be a vic-
tim." All was " confusion and terror." "It was
like a rehearsal of doomsday."

What are the real circumstances of the case?
The author of the " horrible profanation" was a
poor cracked fanatic, an old man of strong devo-
tional feeling, an assiduous attendant at church, an
observer of all religious duties, and particularly ad-
dicted to the worship of the plated brass image
whose mutilation by his hand the day before yes-
terday made the hair of so many good Turinese
stand on end, and to which, with a large number of
his townspeople, he ascribed more than divine attri-
butes and miraculous powers. Besides his devotion
to the Virgin, the man, had, however, another ruling
passion ; he was a desperate gambler at the public
lottery ; indeed, it seems he managed to reconcile
and combine these two uppermost feelings of his
heart, and made his religious zeal subservient to his
eager hope to improve his position in the world by
some sudden stroke of good fortune. It was for the
Madonna to help him. All persons conversant
with the manners and usages of the lowest
classes in Italy are aware of the faith gamblers
at the public lottery put in the power of
certain persons, interpreters of dreams, seers
of visions, gipsies, soothsayers, maniacs, and
more especially priests, Capuchin monks, and
xo esuiyiny inent Nywa xaelson, vvlai
the actual numbers sure to issue from the urn
on any given occasion. The image breaker of last
Monday placed his reliance, not in any mortal aid,
hut in the patronage of the Deity itself, i.e., of the
Virgin, whose brazen effigy was, in his fond con-
ceit, not only the " Queen of Heaven" herself, but
all Vlat mankind hold sacred above the clouds. For
hours and hours daily the blind bigot used to kneel
at the Virgin's shrine, not praying that God's will
be done on earth as it is in Heaven," but that the
bountiful Mother should reward the long faithful-
ness of her old adorer by vouchsafing him terno seeco
(three numbers to be played for dead gain or loss).
His prayer was heard at last, his wish was granted;
a scrap of paper with the three lottery numbers was
shortly afterwards found hanging on the drapery
of the shrine at the Virgin's feet. Whether the
gift was a clear manifestation of divine favour, or a
roguish trick of a cunning priest, or of a lay mauvais
plaisant, I leave it for the reader to decide. What
is certain, however, is that the man was out of his
senses with delight, that he ran home, pawned all
his valuables, scraped together all the money he
could, and staked it all on his lucky heaven-fallen
ticket. Of course, not one of his numbers came
out. His faith in his idol's omnipotence, as
in its honesty, was shaken ; his love was soured into
hatred, and he vowed he would have his revenge.
The consequences were such as I narrated above.
When the broken-pated bleeding wretch was
safely lodged in the station-house, he made a clean
breast of the cause which had urged him to his
strange act of impiety, and protested that he had
been " taken in" by the Madonna, and would not
stand the shameful imposition.

APCORMACKS AEW REAPING MACHINE.

The farmers who have waited till they could buy
a combined mower and reaper, are not likely to
wait much longer before they could satisfy them-
selves. For some years past there have been grass
mowers that would cut corn, and, with the aid of
man, deliver it in bundles at the back of the
machine, but what was wanted was a combined
machine that had for corn a good Aelf.acting side
delivery. Now Mr. M'Cormack's new reaper has
this essential qualification, and also the still further
improvement of depositing the corn in sheaves.
There are only two of these new machines yet in
England, and one was tried on Monday last, on a
Key (who have bought the patent
field of April wheat, at Little Plurnstead. Messrs.
Burgess and
and will manufacture the machines)
were repre-
sented by Mr.
Burgess, and Mr. M'Cormack was
himself present to
superintend this trial of his
reaper. Not many
Norfolk farmers were on the
field, but one or two
American gentlemen were
present, and also the Baron Ricasoli, the late prime
minister of Italy. The machine was not started till
one o'clock, and by six had cut down seven acres of
wheat. It was a very favourable crop for such a trial,
as the corn was all standing ; there was no clover or
grass in it, and the field was without furrows. The
wheat was sown on the 28th of April, and will yield
perhaps 30 bushels per acre. The day
was dry and
warm, and so there was a combination of favour-
able
circumstances. Nothing could exceed the
were laid with
evenness of the cutting process, and the sheaves
binding. This Was very
the sheaves afterwards regularity,.l .
wonderful ready for the
of
Presented
y accomplished, and
having been hand-reaped, Some
the appearance
Some farmers have ob-
jected to the swathe deliveryPed of Burgess and Key's
old machine for wheat, „„a.
Yet
the rear of the ma-
chine, did not approve of
the sheaves being dropped in
and also that the delivery should depend
entirely on the exertions of the in
an who handled
the rake. But now all the objection
a are overcome,
and the automaton rake delivers the sheaves with
an untiring and wondrous exactness that no man
could ever attain. The price of this combined
mower and reaper is £34, whereas the cost of Bur-
gess and Key's old reaping machine was 40 guineas.
This new machine is entirely under the control and
management of the driver, so that a good strong
lad, with a pair of horses, without any assistance,
eau' cut down 'an acre and a half of wheat in an
hour. We think that a few alight improvements,'

which Messrs. Burgess and Key can readily intro-
duce, so as to more entirely suit English crops, will
place this machine a long way ahead of all the other
mowers and reapers that have yet been introduced.

NUMEROUS FIRES.

ANOTHER GREAT FIRE IN LAMBETH.

This morning, shortly after midnight, the in-
habitants of Lambeth were greatly alarmed owing
to a fire of a very destructive character, and at-
' tended with a great loss of property, taking place
rin the premises belonging to Messrs. Miles and
Mowett, draper and haberdasher, carrying on busi-
ness at 31, Lower Marsh, Lambeth ; and owing to
the oil and colour warehouse of Mr. Hall being on
one side, in which a quantity of gunpowder and
other explosive articles were stored, including
turpentine, lucifers, pitch, and resin, and the other
were the cheesemonger's stores of Mr. Whitlock, at
one time the most serious apprehensions were en-
tertained for the safety of the entire neighbourhood.
The Waterloo•road brigade engines, under Engi-
neers Medcalf, were soon in attendance, closely
followed by Lieutenant Becker, with Hodges'
engine, fully manned. Captain Shaw also attended
with the steam engine by Shand and Mason, and
a great many manual power engines of the brigade
under the command of Mr. Henderson, the
foreman of the D district. The mains of the
Lambeth Company having been drawn, the water
from the different plugs rose to the housetops,
and the steam with Hodges' and other manual power
engines were set to work, but the fire continued its
ravages, and the whole of the inmates had very great
difficulty in getting out of the premises. In fact Mrs.
Mowett was severely burnt over the hands and face,
and Serjeant Osborn assisted another person out of
the burning premises, The firemen and others ma-
naged to remove the powder out of Mr. Hall's oil
and colour stores, but in spite of the exertions of the
firemen and the bountiful supply of water which
was thrown in torrents upon the flames, they con-
tinued to spread until every part of the building and
the back premises, in which the disaster commenced
were burned out and the roof off, but fortunately,
owing to the indomitable perseverance of the firemen
and the judicious directions given by their superior
officers, the premises on both sides were saved. The
origin of the fire is unknown. Fortunately the suf-
ferers were insured. The police, under Mr. Super-
intendent Beckerson an.i Inspectors Young and
Constable, rendered great assistance by keeping a
crowd of several thousands out of danger.

A more than usual number of fires took place dur-
ing Saturday night and yesterday morning in vari-
ous parts of the metropolis, which were all attended
with great loss of property. One fire happened in
Regent-street, the premises belonging to several
persons, amongst whom were Mr. George Hamilton,
an artist ; Messrs. Frederic and Gerrard, court
hair-dressers ; Mr. Thivoy, boot maker. The fire
originated in the upper part of the building, and
was discovered by some inmates being awakened by
heated volumes of smoke entering their sleeping
apartments. Upon jumping out of bed some.of the
inmates had the skin nearly torn off their feet, the
flooring being so hot, owing to the fire raging in the
rooms below. The Royal Society's fire engines and
two steam land-engines by Shand and Mason of the
London Brigade were early in arriving, and a
plentiful supply of water having been procured
they were set to work. By the time the first
engine bad been set to work the flames had
obtained complete possession of the whole
of the four upper floors, and the fire was rushing
thi ough the glass roof with such impetuosity and
illuminating the neighbourhood so brightly that the
conflagration could be seen from the whole of the
metropolitan bridges. The engines were worked
with the greatest force for several hours, and the
firemen were aided by nearly 80 auxiliaries, but
they were unable to make the least impression upon
the flames until the four upper floors were burned
out and the roof off. Three other floors were also
seriously damaged by fire, and lower part by water.
The whole of the sufferers, with the exception of
Mr. Thivoy, were uninsured, but that person was
insured in the County Fire Office.

-&-Uctiat the Ram. +;rric, za the above another fire
happened in the premises of Messrs. Weston and
Westall, salt merchants, situate at No. 29, Wharf-
road, City-road. This fire was caused by the over-
heating of the boiler. Two manual power-engines
of the brigade, and the land steam-engine by Shand
and Mason, were soon in attendance, and a good
supply of water was obtained, but the fire could not
be extinguished until a great quantity of bags were
burned in the store-room. Had it not been for the
exertion of the workpeople the loss might have
been of a very serious character.

Another fire broke out in the premises of Mr.
Dove, a grocer and tea dealer, No. 5, New-road, St.
George's-in-the-East. This fire was supposed to
have been caused by a spark falling amongst a quan-
tity of paper, and the flames could not be conquered
until considerable damage was done. The sufferer
was insured in the Phenix Fire Office.

A fire of a very fearful character took place in the
extensive steam saw mills and veneer works, in
Dean's-mews, Holy well-street, Shoreditch. The
flames commenced in a brick and timber building
between 60 and 80 feet long, two stories high, and
containing a vast quantity of stock in trade. In the
course of five or six minutes, owing to the inflam-
mable nature of the goods contained on the pre-
mises, the flames rushed through the roof and
threatened to destroy the stabling belonging
to Mr. W. Johnson. Capt. Shaw and Foreman
Swanton, with several engines of the parish and
London Brigade, with the land steam engine by
Shand and Mason, having attended, the mains of
the East London Company were drawn, and a boun-
tiful supply of water having been procured, the
firemen went to work in a daring manner, but, in
spite of which the conflagration continued to spread,
and it could not be conquered until the building
was nearly destroyed, the contents consumed, and
the roof burned off. The roof and flooring of Mr.
Johnson's stables are also severely damaged by fire.
It is unknown whether the sufferers were insured
or not.

Another fire happened in the premises belonging
to Messrs. Kemp and Co., agents ; Charles Floyd,
pottery agent; Wm. Quarterman, printer; Thos.
Standing, wire netting manufacturer; Bloomer and
Sons, wrought iron nail makers; and Messrs.
Sharman and Sons, fryingpan makers, situate at
No. 41, London-wall, City. The land steam-engine
by Shand and Mason and hand engines quickly
attended, as well as the Royal escapes, and plenty
of water being at once procured the firemen went
to work, but they were unable to get the fire sub-
dued until a serious amount of damage was done by
fire and water. The origin of the fire and insur-
ances are unknown.

Last night considerable excitement was caused
in the neighbourhood of Deptford Creek, owing to
a fire breaking out in the Surrey Consumers Gas
Company's works, situate in Creek-street, near
Deptford-bridge. The flames commenced in one of
the large gas holders, and in a few minutes no fewer
than 10,000 cubic feet of gas became ignited, and
then the flames rose high into the air, threatening
to be
accompanied by explosions, and the destruc-
tion of everything near. A telegraphic message
was immediately despatched to Mr. Henderson,
the chief officer
theof
eofficer
at Londononce Tiroh ad enginehi
s enegsitnae a
b l i si hi
d-
ment, and that ofri
firemen despatched to the spot, but during the inter-
val the workmen laboured in a most praiseworthy
manner, and by their exertions, the flames were
works, and an explosion was in consequence
prevented from extending to the other portions of
thepreemliiinsiensebye.longing
the
,aonut,il, adjoining
it is stated, was caused from
meheray, an undertaker,N3. 9.hso,ulslee'. rtlr--t
all flyingrsAepvnaeronkttheed
faroT hoeu tfi orbrokeef
from the Surrey Sessions
intensethe flooring
mtooAnlgre.r.lane,
and burned from the
fioo
that looking-glasses,
part of the
the upper
and foisting,
and commenced
beddingthe h c: completer' mt i
became the
rsisnot
and,hou sei nwfact,
nearly
ythat was
destroyed.ln
pending the arrival
'three Persons named
insured in the
Thornton, Still, and Sham, rendered great assist-
ance in keeping the fire at bay
of the engines. The su&rer was
General Fire Office.

SEVERAL SHIPWRECKS.

Loss OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL STEAMER,
WHITE SWAN.—The particulars of the total loss of
the intercolonial mail steamer White Swan, and the
narrow escape of the Auckland members of the Le-
gislative Assembly and Ministry, who were on their
way to attend their official duties at Wellington,
came to hand on Saturday. On the morning of the
27th June, while the White Swan was steaming at
the rate of eleven knots an hour, she struck upon a
reef about 18 miles from Castle Point. On coming
off it was found she had made a tremendous rent in
her bottom, and was filling rapidly. By an inge-
niu
bilge injectors the water was
o fars
able the ship to float until
s o appliancekept
under of a her e
tor e
she beached, which was accomplished in about an
hour. By this means all the influential persons,
amongst them the Chief Justice, were landed. At
daybreak next morning the ship was broken up,
and the coast strewed with her wreck. The pas-
sengers were conveyed to Wellington by the Storm
Bird steamer, and Sir George Grey, who had him-
self a rough passage in the Harrier, alluded to the
wreck in his speech to the General Assembly.

LOSS OF TWO NEW YORK PASSENGER SHIPS.—•
By telegram brought by the Europa steamer, ar-
riving at Queenstown on Saturday, news was
brought of the loss of the well-known passenger
ship Senator while on a voyage from New York to
Liverpool with passengers and a valuable cargo of
merchandise. She encountered the fearful storm
spoken of by the Great Eastern, and was abandoned
at sea; all on board are reported to have been
saved. The other vessel was the G. B. Lamar, on an
outward voyage frcm the Clyde to New York, and
was wrecked on Liscombe Island; crew and pas-
sengers saved. Both vessels were insured for a con-
siderable sum.

SHIPWRECKS AND Loss OF LIFE.—On Saturday
the ship Kelton arrived in the Mersey, having on
board the captain and one man (the only survivors)
of the ship Elizabeth and Sane, which was aban-
doned at sea, and foundered in lat 31 51, long. 68 9
W., and who had been picked up by the Kelton.
The whole of the other hands perished. The
Indian mail, which arrived on Saturday, brings
news of the total wreck of the ship Phantom; this
ship, which was heavily laden with treasure, was
on a voyage from San Francisco to Hong Kong,
when she strack on a reef at the north end of Prato
Shoal. The officers and crew and twelve passen-
gers took to the boats, and twelve boxes, contain-
ing about 100,000 dollars, were placed in the cap-
tain's boat. In making for land the boats parted
company, and on reaching S watow they were at-
tacked by pirates, who robbed them of everything.

upon, In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand this 11th day of September, 1862.
(Signed) " WM. PATCHETT.
" Witness, Henry Honeyman, clerk to Wm.
Patchett."