The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-03 00:00:00

ELECTIONEERING AFFRAYS.

CHARGES OF NEGLECT AGAINST THE CHIEF
CONSTABLE AND THE POLICE, AND RIOT

AT WIGAN.

On Saturday morning last, some of the electioneer-
ing parties came in contact with each other, near
to the Commercial Inn, when some blows were ex-
changed, and a roan, of the name of Winstanley,
received a blow on the head from some weapon, which
felled him to the ground. He was immediately taken
home, and lingered until Sunday afternoon, when he died.
A Coroner's inquest will be held on the body on Tues-
day. The Borough Court was unusually crowded on
Monday, in consequence of several outrages having been
committed during the past week, and which came on for
hearing that day. There was a very full attendant of Ma-
gistrates, amongst whom were observed—the Mayor, J.
Aspinall, R. Greenough, R. Bevin, T. Cook, D. M'Neile,
T. Taylor, and R. Fegan, Esqrs. After some minor
cases of assault had been disposed of, and the case of
Unsworth and others being called on, Mr. Cook
wished to ask Radcliffe, the policeman, why his orders
had been disobeyed ? Parties had applied to him to sign
warrants on Saturday morning, and he had given
directions to the policeman that if the offending
parties could be apprehended in sufficient time, to
acquaint the Mayor immediately, so that a special ses-
sion might be held, and the case be heard instanter.
Some of the parties, he understood, had been appre-
hended early on Saturday, and held to bail ; and his
first impression was that there had been some want of
courtesy on the part of the Mayor, but he now found
that it was owing to the neglect of the chief constable and
the policeman. Radcliffe said that he had communi-
cated Mr. Cook's orders to the chief constable, but not to
the Mayor. Mr. Aspinall thought that the police could
scarcely be expected to mind their duty,, when the police-
office was hung round with electioneering papers. The
chief constable said he had ordered them to be pulled
down as soon as he found them there. The Mayor re-
marked that there had been some difficulty in obtaining the
warrant in sufficient time. This Mr. Part denied, and
said that when the warrant was ready, the chief con-
stable refused to take it with him. Mr. Fegan said, that
as the Mayor was about to leave the Court, he wished to
state that the neighbourhood of Hardy Butts, and Scholes,
in which he resided, was in a very disorderly state on
the Sabbath day, and he appealed to the Mayor as to
the truth of this assertion. There were two or three battles
on Monday forenoon, and when he sent for the police they
were not to be found. This had been the case for the
last two months ; he had frequently complained to the
chief constable, but he seemed to take little notice of it.
If the police thought that they had nothing to do but
attend upon Mr. Lord, he should let them know different;
and if the other Magistrates were afraid to do their
duty, he should take care to do his.—The chief constable
retaliated upon Mr. Fegan, but was ordered to sit down,and
use more courteous language to a Magistrate in future.
The Mayor quite agreed with Mr. Fegan that the Scholes
was a very disorderly neighbourhood, and that some
better means ought to be adopted for the protection of the
inhabitants. After some further squabbling, the matter
dropped. At a subsequent stage. of the proceedings of the
Court the Coroner had applied to the Bench to have
James Royle (then in custody on a charge of assault) re-
manded until Tuesday, to await the Coroner's Inquest,
as there were suspicions that he was aiding and assisting
at the time the injuries were inflicted upon Winstanley,
but as the Coroner had no depositions to produce, the
Bench decided to go into the case of assault. Mr. C.
Hilton, solicitor, appeared for Royle, and Mr. Ackerley,
solicitor, on the part of the Coroner, to watch the
proceedings. There seemed to be some demur
about the warrant, as it appears to have been
filled up by two parties. The witnesses for the
prosecution were examined at great length, but they
appeared to give evidence with such reluctance and
prevarication, that the Magistrates decided to adjourn
the case until five o'clock on Wednesday, to give
time for the coroner's jury to examine into the case of
Royle. In the course of the afternoon, Mr. Ackerley ap-
peared in Court, and applied to the Bench to take some steps
to keep the peace, for a placard had appeared upon the
walls, stating that a demonstration and public proces-
sion of the working classes were to take place on Wed-
nesday afternoon, and he felt assured, if such demon-
stration did take place, the peace of the town could
not be preserved. Mr. Part inquired if Mr. Ackerley
had seen the placard, headed " Murdering Whigs," or if
he knew that the Wigan cavalry had been systematically
trained to play their parts at elections ? Mr. Ackerley
could not speak to this, and immediately left the Court,
in high dudgeon, the Magistrates assuring him that they
would take care to preserve the peace of the borough.—
Liverpool Mercury.
MORTALITY in the METROPOLIS.

The following are the results of " A Table of Mortality in
the Metropolis, showing the Number of Deaths from all Causes
Registered in the Week ending June 26, 1841." The Table is
issued from the Office of the Registrar-General :

Weekly
Total. Average
1838-8-40.
Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious Diseases ll7 204
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves, and Senses 143 151
Diseases of the Lungs, and other Organs of
Respiration
Diseases of the Heat and Bloodvessels
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other

CAUSES OF DEATH'.

Organs of Digestion 54 60
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c.
Childbed, Diseases of the Uterus, &c.
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles

Diseases of the Skin, -Br.c
Diseases of Uncertain Seat.-- 75 103
Old Age, or Natural Decay 46 71
Deaths by Violence, Privation, or Intemperance 23 25
Causes not specified
Deaths from all causes 755
Average Weekly Deaths .. 926
Deaths in the Average Weekly
Week. Deaths,lB3B-9-40.
107 ...... 139
141 163
154 ..... 190
163 ...... • 211
190 223

Western Districts ...
North Districts ..
Central Districts
East Districts
South Districts

Total 755

It is stated that under the term Metropolis are comprised the
cli 32 districts herein mentioned, which include the City
Lon-
don with and without the walls, the City and Libe es of
. Westminster the out-parishes within the Bills of Morta ity--
and the parishes of St. Marylebone, St. Pancras. Kensington,
Fulham, Hammersmith( Chapelry), St. Luke (Chelseai, Pad-
dington, St. Mary (Stoke Newington), St. Leonard Brom-
ley), St. Mary-le-bow,,Camber ,ell, Greenwich, St. icholas
and St. Paul (Deptford), and Woolwich. The population, as
enumerated in 1831, was 1,594,890. The weekly average for
1838, 1839, and 1840, was obtained by dividing the deaths in
the three years by 156.
TEXPERATTIELE IN THE WEEKS ENDING
June 19. June 26.
Highest
Lowest 47 51
Daily Mean ..
General Register Office, July 1, 1841.

A violent hail-storm occurred at Onoz, in the
Jura, a few days since. The stones were many of the size
of eggs, and upWards of twenty were collected by one person,
each weighing, it is stated, nearly three pounds. The damage
Alone to the windows, crops, fruit-trees, &e., was immense.
Thd Clermont papers mention a similar storm as having ra-
vaged some districts in the Limagne of Auvergne, nearly at
the same time.