The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-13 00:00:00

DISGUSTING CRUELTY.

WIGTON, April 11.—At the petty sessions held here
this day, Mr? Joseph 'Railton, of Snittlegarth, presiding,
Mr. Thomas Hayton, of Gerrard House, near Wigton,
owner and occupier of a large estate ; Mr. George Hay-
ton, his brother ; and Robert Harding, a husbandman,
in the employ .of the first defendant, were charged,
at the instance of the Royal Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals, with having wantonly tor-
tured a greyhound dog. From the statement of Mr.
Forster, who attended for the society, it appeared that
oil the night of the 7th of March the three defendants
got possession of a greyhound belonging to a neigh-
bouring farmer ; that, while the younger Hayton held
its head securely between his legs, his brother satu-
rated the anim►l's hide with turpentine, and, .setting
fire to it, drove it away. By seine accident the
flames were extinguished soon after' the dog reached
the open air, whereupon the defendants again secured
it add repeated their brutal act, atter which the affrighted
animal was seen to leave the heuse a second time en-
veloped in flames. As it afterwards appeared, the dog
ran four miles to its master's home, where it was
next morning discovered in a dying state crouched
up under some straw, with its bowels protruding.
After commenting upon the extreme brutality of
the two Haytons; in baying a second time repeated
the offence, Mr. Forster urged the bench to mark
its sense of the defendants' disgusting conduct by coo-
witting them to prison, inasmuch as a pecuniary fine
to persons in the position of the Haytons would be a
wholly inadequate punishment. The case having been
satisfactorily proved by three witnesses, Mr. Warre,
solicitor, for the defence urged that the-occurrence was
purely aceidetital, and that the dog had cau Jit fire
the second time from a cinder which had fallen
out of the file grate. (Loud laughter ) The 'defen-
dants had certainly applied some turpentine in tue first
instance and set ligOt to it, but without any intention of
destroying the animal. Hs hoped, from the high re-
spectability of his clients, that the bench would take a
lenient view of the matter, in which event Mr. Hayton
would have no objection to recompense the owner for
the loss of his dog. The magistrates having con-
sulted fur a few minutes, the chairman pronounced
the decision of. the bench. After administering
a severe rebuke to the elder Hayton for the un-
seemly levity he had exhibited during the proceed-
ings, Mr. Railton said, the bench had no doubt
whatever that a most wanton and cruel act had
been perpetrated, and that the charge had been
fully brought home to the accused parties, who
would each pay the highest penalty imposed by the act,
viz., 51. and costs, or in default stand committed for' six
weeks to the county gaol. In pronouncing this decision
he felt bound to add that it was not the unanimous
opinion of the bench, but, a majority of the magistrates
being in favour' of the imposition of a fine instead of a
committal to prison, he was bound to give effect to
the opinion of that majority, The bench were much in-
debted to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals for having sent a gentleman 300 miles to
conduct the prosecution, and they felt it right that
the costs in the case should include 51. towards the
expenses incurred by the society. Mr. Forster thanked
the bench on behalf of the society, but respect.
fully declined to accept any portion of the
costs. The amount awarded he begged to offer, at the
discretion of the bench, to the most de erving charit-
able institution in the district. It is understood that
the owner of the dog will proceed against the defendants
by civil action for the value of the animal ; so that,
although escaping the imprisonment they so richly de-
served, the Haetons will probably, be mulcted in some-
thing like 501. for their horrible inhumanity.

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK.

(Front the Report of the Repstray-General )

The weekly return indicates au itnprovement in
.the
public health. The deaths registered in the week that
ended on Saturday decline tto 1.149 The W..ekly
average in March had been 1,305. The. mean tempe-
rature,
.which to that month was one week with another
44 6 deg., in the fir,t week of April rose to 49.9 dec..
In tile ten carre.spotoliog weeks of the year 1844 53
the average number of deaths wss 1,116, w;iich if earree
t-d for increase of population becomes 1,223. The return
of last week, therefore, gives a result less by 79 taau the
estimated amount.

The deaths referred to the zyrnotic class of diseases
number 264, while the corrected avera..4.o is 203. The pre-
dominant complaint in this class is still no,,ping cough,
which numbers 65 case, ; rueades has risen to 41. The
deaths from diarrhcea are 22, with one from dysentery ;.
but cholera has uct appeared in the returns for two
mouths, and in the present year there have been only 7
deaths assigned to thi: disease. Complaints of the re-
spiratory organs gradually subside under the influence
of the weather. Tire de:ails from phthi.is in the week
were 137, which is exactly the average as derived from
those of corresponding weeks.
Six deaths occurred from small-pox, 3 of the,e, of
which the following are the particulars, in the Small-
pox Hospital.

Oa 31;t March, a boy, aged 10 years. from Holborn
Union, "small-pox confluent (12 days) unprotected."
On Ist April, a boy from Somers-town, &zed 5 years,
"small-pox confluent, unmodified (9 days)." He had
been vaccinated ,it the age of 4 mouths ; one cicatrix.
0.. 7th April, the wife of a labourer, front Lao Beth,
aged 22 years, "small pox confluii:at, wim)dified (8
days)." V.4ccinat,ad in infancy in 6uffulk ; two good
cicatrices.

At 1, Adatres-row, Lambeth, on 2d April, the son of
a smith, aged one year, died of " variola confluens (10
dayi)." Thu child had been twice vaccinated, but with.
out effect.

•
At the German Hospital, Dalston, both on 30th
March, the son of a mariner, aged 10 weeks, and
the son of a sugar baker, aged 13 weeks, died of
" general erysipelas" after vaccination, effuiiun on the
brain." The medical attendant adds on his cer-
tificates that " both these children were vaccinated
on the same day in Whitecbapel-road, and were
in the hospital two days." The cases appear to be
such as demand investigation. In Ratcliff, at 2, Devon-
port-street, on the 6th April, the son of a coal-merchant,
aged 3 months, died of " erysipelas all over the body
(one day), succeeding vaccination, which was considered
to be fine."

At 30, Lower Queen-street, in the sub-district of Isling-
ton East, on the Ist April, a widow died of " senectus, '
at the advanced age of 100 years. Mr. Butterfield, the
registrar, adds that the age is well authenticated, but
does not state the nature of the evidence:
In Hoxton New Town, 47, We:dock street, on '3lst
March, a boot and shoemaker, died at the age of 34, An
inquest was held on the body, and the following was the
verdict returned : "Natural death, with severe repritu And
by the jury of the:conduct of the widow in not ca:ling iu
medical advice. Mr. Austen, the registrar, remarks :
"This man had been ill seven tnuntas, and no •uedical
man had been called in during this p riod, and conse-
quently a medical certificate of the cause of death could
not lie obtained."

Last week the births of 865 boys and 877 girls, in all
1,742 children, were registered in London. In :tine cur•
responding weeks of the years 1845-53 the average num-
ber was 1,466.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height
of the barometer in the week was 30.253 in. The mean
reading was above 30 in. on every day of the week.
The highest was 30.388 in. on Monday ; the lowest
30.040 in. on Saturday. The reading rose to 30 43
in. by 9 p.m. on Monday. The mean temperature
of the week was 49.9 degrees, which is 5.7 degrees
above the average of the same week in 38 years.
The mean temperature of each day was abive the
average of the same day throughout the week, and on
Saturilly it rose to 9.2 degs. above the average. The
highest temperature of the week was 63.2 degs., and ~c-curred
curred on Saturlay; the lowest was 33 9 deg,., on Tues-
day, showing a range in the week of 34 3,legs. `Lie mean
dew-point temperature was 42.4 degs., between which
and the mean air-temperature the difference was 7.5
degs. The wind was variable, blowing first from the
north and north-east, on Tuesday from the north-west,
on Wednesrlay and Thursday from the west, and after-
wards till the end of the week generally from the south
west. There was no rain.

MORTALITY TN THE METROPOLIS.
NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM' ALL CAUSES REGISTERED
IN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 8
Zymotic Diseases
Diseases of I% ",..rtain Seat
Tubercular Diseases
Diseases of the Brain. Nerves and Senses
Diseases of the Heart am'. 8100d-vessels 43
Diseaies of the Lungs and other Organs of
Respiration .. . 219
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion . ...... ..
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c,
'Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c.
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles
Diseases of the Skin, &c.
Malformations 2
Premature Birth and Debility 29
Atrophy ...................... .
Old Age
Sudden 5
Violence, Privation' Cold, and Intemperance •• 27
Causes not specified
...........
DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES . 1,149

264

Population Deaths in corre- Deaths
Enumerated. eponding week in the
1851. of 18'.3. Week.
West Districts
North Districts 490.396
Central Districts 393,256
....
East Districts 485,522 ..... .. 4
South Districts4o424 ...... ....... 211313
616,635

Totals
Males
Females

1,748

Males....
Females.

Total .

1,149
.............. .92
............... 557