The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-02 00:00:00

THE ASHTON MURDER.

COMMITTAL OF " CAST-METAL JACK" FOR

MURDER.

ASHTON, FRIDAY EVENING.—The adjourned examina-
tion of John broke, alias " Cast-metal Jack," charged
with aiding and assisting in the murder of Banjamin
Cooper, one of Mr. Whitfield's sawyers, on the 11th of
December last, came on for hearing yesterday at the
Commercial Hotel, the Town Hall being occupied by an.
other Court.

The Magistrates in attendance were James Jowe't,
John Cheetham, and James Lord, Esqrs., and Sir Charles
Shaw, K. T. S.

It will be remembered that the adjournment took place
at the request of llolme, who wished to bring witnesses to
prove an alibi. lie accordingly called witnesses to prove
that it was utterly impossible that he could have been pre.
sent at the murder, or at either of the two prior attempts,
but he failed in proving the alibi. Except the approver
( Davies), the most important witnesses were Benjamin
Revill, late a constable of Dunkcnfield, and a man named
Benjamin Booth, one of whom believed, and the other die-

tinctly sworo, that they saw liolme tripping rather hastily
along the street, about 300 yards from the scene of the
murder, in less than ten minutes after the murder hed been
committed.

Edward Davies, the approver, was called, amended his
former statement, and made some explanations. kfulme
contented himself with stating that he had no hand in the
murder, and that he was at work at Mr. Derwart's at the
time.

The Courtr, after a short consideration, determined,
notwithstanding the discrepancies in Davies's testimony,
to commit Holme, not only for the two attempts at murder,
but also for the murder itself.
Davies and the two Hardwicks were also committed as
accessories before-the murder; but it is understood that
all three will be produced as witnesses on the trial.
William Shaw was also brought up on the charge of
having been an accessory to one of the attempts at mur-
der, and also with conspiracy. The principal witness
against :him was Davies, to prove that just after one of
the attempts to fire the cannon, Shaw came up, and at the
desire of Williams, went to Henry Hardwick for four shil-
lings, Williams saying they were not going to do such jobs
as that for nothing. It was also stated that Shaw had
been regularly in company with the turnout sawyers dur_
ing the time of the turn out. He was also committed
upon both charges.

ANOTHER ACCIDENT AT CLAY
TON TUNNEL ON THE BRIGHTON RAILWAY.

BRIGHTON, JAN. 31.—Another melancholy accident oc-
curred yesterday morning at Clayton Tunnel, which is in the
line of the London and Brighton Railroad, and about six
miles distant from the latter place, on the road leading to
Cnckfield. The accident happened at the shaft No. 6, which
was the scene of the dreadful and fatal accident that took
place about ten days since, by the falling of sumo of the
earth in the tunnel. The nature of the present accident was,
if possible, of a much more dangerous kind, and it may well
be deemed providential that the lives of many had not been
lost in consequence of it.. It appears that the unfortunate
subject of the present notice, a boy, named Marshall, was
following his work of driving the horses employed to wind
up the excavated earth and stone to the mouth of the shaft.
At the time of the accident two "skids," or large boxes, in
which the earth is raised, or materials lowered, were at
work, one ascending with several tons of stoix, &c., the
other descending with sand, when, either from the bad state
of the rope, or from some disarrangement of it on the drum, or
large cylinder round which it passes, it suddedly snapped, and
the two "skids " fell into the shaft, which is nearly 2.50
feetu. deep, the rope at the same instant recoiling. The drum,
ems. thus unrestrained, revolved round in the contrary di-
rection, which almost instantly threw it out of its proper
position, and it fell on the poor boy, who was crushed in a
most dreadful manner. He was immediately taken in a cart
to the Sussex County Hospital at Brighton, where it was
ascertained that the bone of one of his thighs was severely
fractured, and his face and body much lacerated; the injuries
were of such a nature that his case was deemed hopeless.
In consequence of this being the fourth accident at the same
shaft, the greatest consternation prevailed amongst the men
below, who very narrowly escaped, the blocks of atone bound-
ing several feet,

PROPOSAL FOR ESTABLISHING
A BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD-
VANCEMENT OF THE FINE ARTS.

A knowledge and consequent due appreciation of
the fine arts,—the arts which purify and ennoble,
—are now observable amongst much larger masses of
persons in the metropolitan cities of the United King-
dom, than was the case 20 years ago ; and mnst ine-
vitably go on to augment in a greatly multiplied ratio
as every step gained becomes the means of further ad-
vances. In the provinces, too, where there are fewer
" appliances and means to boot," the attention of the
people to the importance of the fine arts as civilizing
agents, and as tending to promote the general good,
and therdore the general happiness, has visibly in-
creased, and has manifested itself in more than one
good result. Still there is a wide field here open for
exertion ; and so undeniably important is the object to be
attained, so vast is the good that would result from
spreading a taste for the fine arts throughout the coun-
try, and inculcating a love of the beautiful, that no ef-
forts could be too great, no scheme of operations could
be too extensive, which should propose to effect it.
Experience shows the advantages which have re-
sulted from the establishment of the " British Associa-
tion for the Promotion of Science," not chiefly to science
per cc, although these have been great and manifold,
but to the people generally : attention has been
awakened in the minds of thousands to subjects be-
fore unthought of : a spirit of inquiry has been induced ;
and whole towns inoculated with an admiration
of knowledge, and a determination to pursue it, to
the exclusion of demoralizing sources of excitement,
until then indulged in. Why, then, might there not
be formed an association for the encouragement of art,
which, like this, should meet annually at a different
town in England, Ireland, or Scotland, and at which
meeting painting, poetry, sculpture, architecture, &c.,
&c., in all their varieties, and with all their ramifica-
tions, should form the subjects for the consideration of
the different sections ? A large and important exhibition
of works of art might be collected, and an Art-Union ar-
ranged so as to secure the sale of a certain number of
them, and thus to ensure the assistance of the most
eminent artists, by rendering the society directly, as
well as indirectly, advantageous to them. A small
subscription (say one pound) would constitute a mem-
ber of the Association for the year, the aggregate of
which, after deducting the expenses necessarily incurred,
would probably enable the Committee (which should be
partly local, partly general) to offer priz ,s for compe-
tition in the higher branches of the various arts, and
vote sums for the encouragement of any desirable ob-
ject in connexion therewith ; such, for example, as for
the prosecution of experiments in the preparation of
colours, the manufacture of stained glass, or for the
purchase of particular pictures, worthy of national re-
gard.

During the meeting the various local collections
would be thrown open to inspection ; conver-
sazioni would be held ; and other means adopted
to bring men into contact with each other, on one
common ground. One of the first points to be
achieved by the united sections would be, to
obtain an able and correct report of the pro-
gress of Art in England, Ireland, and Scotland,
for the last fifty years—a task to be fulfilled satis-
factorily only by the joint co-operation of men
in all parts of the country. This report would
afterwards be continued from year to year, under
its various heads, and could not fail to prove
a work of the highest interest and value. It is not here
attempted, however, to point out what could be done by
a Society organized on the footing suggested : its power
of effecting much good must be apparent to all, and
needs hardly to be insisted on. The writer is contented
simply, but with great earnestness and but one object—
namely, strong desire to serve the cause of art (the
cause of morality and public good), to state the proposi-
tion, in the hope that others of more ability, influence,
and leisure, may view it as it has appeared to him ; and
be induced to carry it into execution, efficiently, and
forthwith.

GEORGE GODWIN, Jun
Pelham Crescent, Brompton, Jan. 1841.

THE ELECTRO-TYPE.

Little is known by the public generally of the newly-
discovered and highly useful art of electro-metallurgy
to which the present and future generations will doubt-
less owe some of the greatest improvements in arts and
manufactures which have rendered any age remarkable
in the annals of civilization. The process by which the
electro-type or volta-type is formed is extremely easy,
and does not require any complicated machinery. A
simple voltaic battery is set in motion, and the copper-
plate or other subject of which it is required to take a
copy is made the negative pole of the battery, the conse-
quence of which is, that the sulphate of copper in solu-
tion is precipitated upon it. This goes on in a very gra-
dual manner, and the plate is left suspended in the
trough until the copper deposited is of a sufficient
thickness to allow of its removal from the original plate.
The crust thus formed will, however, of course, present
the subject in relief, and reversed ; and in order to
form a fac-simile of the plate, this copy is again placed
in the trough, when the same process is repeated upon
this first copy or " matrix," and a perfect plate is the
production ready from which to throw off copies.
At first it was supposed that the process could not
be attended with successful results in the case of non-
metallic bodies ; but the knowledge of the chemist
soon suggested means of applying the electro-type to
non-metallic as well as metallic substances. The most
simple as well as efficient of these means is found to be
the simple operation of rubbing a common domestic
black-lead brush over the face of the seal, cast, wood-
cut, or other material of which it is by this process de-
sired to take a fac-simile. The black-lead forms a
very fine metallic surface upon the non-metallic sub-
stance, and the process goes on as well as if it were
solid metal.

The accuracy of the copies of engravings taken from
electro-type plates is such that artists have found it
in many cases impossible to say which was taken from
the original plate and which from the fac-simile ; and
in other cases, where a distinction has been discover-
able, it has been in favour of the electro-type, the lines
of which were softer than those of the graver. The
process in all its varieties was exhibited by Mr. Brande
on Friday evening, in illustration of his lecture on the
subject, at the Royal Institution. Another important
discovery in connexion with this art has been made,
which is of importance to the engraver—namely, that
by the means already described, plates of copper, of a
purity which can be ensured in no other way, are to bo
obtained. Two such plates, one of very large dime n-
sions, were exhibited by Mr. Brande.
It will be seen, that from the case with which dupli-
cate plates can be produced, there will be, in the case
of costly engravings, no necessity of using the original
plate at all, and thus the necessity of " retouching,"
which in many instances amounts to half the original
cost of engraving, may bo entirely superseded by mul-
tiplying, through the all-powerful agency of the elec.
tro-type, the number of the copies. Copies of fruit,
leaves, and a variety of other substances, are taken with
a perfection, beauty, and (necessary) truth to the ori-
ginal, which belongs to no other art. The discovery
is likely to work a great reform in the patterns and
devices of pottery, which, instead of rudely designed
and ill-executed ornaments, may, in a short time, be
expected to present the most beautifully engraved sub-
jects which the art of the engraver can furnish.—
Evening Paper.

SALTING AND CURING ANIMAL