The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-17 00:00:00

THE WOMAN HUSBAND.

Subsequent inquiries confirm the truth of the statements
made in the Guardian of Wednesday last, as to this singular
case. This woman-man, who, for probably more than
five-and-twenty years, has succeeded in concealing her
sex, and in pursuing a trade of a more than oidinarily
masculine and hazardous description, with a degree of
still and ability which has led to her establishment in
a good business in this town, bound herself apprentice,
at the age of 16 or 17 years, to a Mr. Peacock, a bricklayer
and builder at Bawtry, a small market town in the West Rid-
ing of Yorkshire, on the river Idle, which separates the coun-
ties of York and Nottingham. She did not remain with Mr.
Peacock during the whole period of her apprenticeship, but
was " turned over," as it is called, to another person in the
same business. It was during her apprenticeship that she met
with her present wife; and they were married at the Old
Parish Church of Sheffield, in the year 1516, when the wife
was only 17 years of age. Since the investigation and dis-
closure of the circumstances on Thursday week, the wife and
husband 'nave separated. She was for many years a special
constable, in the 13th division of that body, acting- for
this town ; and we are assured that, on all occasions,
where the services of the division were required, as at
elections, orange processions, and meetings of trades'
unions, turn-outs, &c. &c. ; so far from absenting herself
front what, as in the case of well-grounded apprehensions of a
riot, must have been, to a woman, a post of some unpleasant-
ness, she is remembered to have been one of the most punctual
in attendance, tied the most forward volunteer in actual duty,
in that division. We understand that she is only no longer a
special constable, because she did net, on the last an•
nual special session, held for that purpose at the New
Bailey, present herself to be resworn. She was not dis-
carded or discharged ; there was no complainst against her ;
and probably the extension of her own business was her only
motive for not resuming the duties of this office. Altogether,
this is by far the most singular case of the kind which has
ever reached our knowledge. The celebrated Chevalier
D'Eon was not married ; and Janice Davis (so-caked), the
discovery of whose sex took place only after death, bad not
been married for so long a period as the woman whose
Case is now under notice. There, too, the discovery
was made too late to obtain from the party herself any clue to
the motives which led her to so unfeminine a course of decep-
tion ; but here both parties to the supposed marriage are alive,
ee.d the one who assumed the male sex is still alive to give, if
she chooses, the true history of her reasons or fancy for laying
mile the garb and character of her own, and assuming the
appearance, and undertaking the toil of the other sex, which
would certainly he a very curious chapter of hhgraphy—
jlancliester Guardian of Saturday last.

EX EC UTION.—On Saturday last John Cleary, who
was convicted at the Kilkenny Assizes for the murder of John
Noonan, at Drumdowney, near Waterford, on the I ith of
September last, underwent the extreme penalty of the law in
front of our county prison. He appeared to be very penitent
and quite resigned, to most the awful fate which awaited him.
Previous to being placed on the fatal drop he made a full con-
fession of his guilt in the press-roorn,in presence of the Roman
Catholic clergyman by whom he was attended, and a few other
individuals ern() happened to be in the room at the moment.
Ile said, " Gentlemen, what I have to say to you is this—now
that I am going to die, I do not wish to leave the world with a
lie in my mouth. No one had hand, act, part, or krn, vled,ge
of the crime I am about to suffer for but myself, and I hope
you will pray for me. For the words I said the other day in
the Court House, I am very sorry ; but it was in
a passion
they were said, for the flesh is weak. I forgive all who had a
hand in bringing me to this, and I hope God will pardon them
and me. What has brought me to this I hope will be the
mean through repentance, of sending my soul to Heaven in-
stead of to Hell." The unhappy culpi it then remained in
riper with the clergyman for a short time, after which the
executioner adju,ted the rope and drew the cap over his face.
The unfortunate man all this time did not betray
the slightest
fear, but submitted to his fate with apparent fortitude and re-
signation, and stood quite firm on the fatal drop previous to
being turned off. After hanging the usual time the body was
cut down and subsequently interred in the gaol yard.--Kil-
henny Moderator.
POULTRY AND EGGs.—Tbe public are not, per-
haps, generally aware that a very large portion of the poultry
and eggs produced in this district find their way to the
London market. The rapid communication which is now
afforded to all parts of the country by means of the steam-
vessel and steam-steed, has, in fact, completely revolu-
tionized the provision trade of the district, and local con-
sumption or local demand has become almost a matter of
secondary import. On Wednesday last there were tw o whole-
sale egg-merchants in our poultry-market, who pur-
chased most extensively at an average of 41d. per dozen;
aed it is understood that, but for the outlet afforded in this
manner, the immense supply would have depressed the article
to 3d. or 31d. per dozen. These eggs are usually conveyed
to Carlisle, where they are sold to the Newcastle dealers,
under whose care they are whisked along the rail-
road to the latter place, and then shipped in the New-
castle steamers to London, which usually perform the
passage in thirty hours. The package and land carriage
of ware so brittle is not the least important part of the
business. Occasionally the eggs are put into boxes in the
open market, but the most frequent mode is to place a layer of
straw in the bottom of the cart, and then cover it with eggs,
and so closely are these paved, that it is scarcely possible to
insert the bulk of a bean in any part. This done, another
stratum of straw and another of eggs are added, and so on
until the body of the cart is filled ; and so compactly is the
mass built together, that you may place a lading of meal on
the top without the slightest injury to the cargo below. In
this way many hundred dozens are exported, and the damage
at unpacking will not amount to more than a score in the total
lot. Hens and pullets, too, have been extensively purchased
by the Edinburgh carriers at from ts. to Is. sd. per bead.
These are carefully fed on the road, and either supply the
Edinburgh market or find their way alive to the market of
Leadenhall, in London, by the. Edinburgh and London
steamers. The long travel, instead of injuring the condition,
acts as a species of stall-feeding to the feathered bipeds, and
they generally leave a handsome profit behind.—Dumfries
Paper.
SWINDLING.—Some days since a fashionably-
dressed gentleman called at the establishment of Mr. Groves,
a merchant-tailor, in the Blackfriars-road, and gave an order
for a suit of clothes. The order was accordingly executed
with all requisite expedition, and on Thursday last the gen-
tleman again called to inquire whether the clothes were finished.
Mr. Groves was not himself at home, but his son, who acts in
his absence, informed the stranger that thesyumitenwtas u a
note,
to be of the Bank of England for 20/ i e
t preuardpyo,rtwinhgen he immediately presented in
pa•, 11' !CAA ap-
peared to have been torn, but the halves of which were after-
wards pasted together. Young Mr. Groves, not having suffi-
cient cash to balance the account, called on Mr. Silcox, a
neighbour, for change, which was immediately given. The
clothes having been delivered, and the account settled, the
" customer" took his departure, after repeated assurances of
future patronage. What was the astonishment, however, of
Mr. Silcox to find that, on the note being presented for pay-
ment, it was stopped at the Bank for the following reasons,
viz., that although the first half of the note was for 201., the
latter half was only for 101., and that both belonged to notes
that had been stolen. The advantages derivable to the per-
petrators from this system of fraud are at once observable,
and the public cannot exercise too much caution in inspect-
ing the numbers of notes, to guard against such wholesale
swindling. A similar occurrence to that related above hap-
pened to a gentleman in the same neighbourhood a few years
ago, which afterwards gave rise to the most vexatious judicial
proceedings at Union-hall.