The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-25 00:00:00

THE ALLEGED MURDER A3l

GRAVESEND.
GRAVESEND, OCT. 23.—William Wilson was op •ain
brought up before the Magistrates at eleven o' c/ ock
this morning, when further evidence in respe cl,`. to
the charge of his having caused the death of hi!: re-
puted wife was gone into. The miserable man was
apparently in a deeper state of dejection of mind,, and
evidently labouring under greater physical debility
than during the previous examinations before the
bench into this certainly doubtful case, in so f as
the immediate cause of the death of the unforti u late
woman is involved.

Police-constable Lewis, who had not been pre-
viously examined, either before the coroner or n is gis-
trates, now deposed that between two and tl iree
o'clock on Wednesday, when on duty in the sta ti on-
house the witness, Elizabeth Rose, came to him and
told him that there was a woman killed by her 7 hus-
band in a house in New-court, to which he ii n me-
diately proceeded, and on going in he saw the pri. sc .ner
in a room on the ground floor, sitting on a chair and
alone, but he did not know then that be was the al-
leged murderer of his wife. Witness stood at the d oor,
and John Bridal, the prisoner's landlord, cam e in,
and pointing to the prisoner, said, " That is the 7 man
who killed the woman." At that moment Mr. E .un-
dens, the doctor, came in and went up stairs, wh et a he
(witness) took the prisoner into custody and foil o wed
the doctor up stairs. The prisoner sat down iin a
chair, and the doctor, after feeling the pulse of de-
ceased, told the witness that she was dead. Will:,ness
upon this said to the prisoner, " You must come with
me, you are my prisoner." The prisoner fell fro rt L the
chair on the floor, and continued in a fit and i n sen-
sible for about three minutes. When he reco v ered
Bridal said to him, " Oh, Wilson, what have you
done ?" Prisoner replied, "Oh, Bridal, lamal- te art-
broken, ruined man." Prisoner appeared to wi t ness
to be in great mental agony. On the way to the
station-house prisoner told Bridal, who was sup ort-
ing him by the arm, to let him "walk by himself ' i vith
the policeman" (witness), and then said that th ,e de-
ceased, whose name was Mary Ann Pewter, w as not
his wife. He made no statement whatever resp ec ting
her death, or the cause of it, to witness.
The prisoner, who during the delivery of the i fore•
going evidence seemed to be greatly agitate I, was
asked by the Mayor if he wished to ask the v 6,tness
any question ? but he declined either doing so, or, as
the eviLknee was now closed, saying anything.
Mr. Oakes (after some consultation with the Itt ayor
and the other four mQgistrates present) said, t at he
was of opinion that the death of the deceased r rsulted
from the violence used towards her by the pri ironer;
that, although a charge of murder could not I e; sus-
ttaeinne
to in (
sus-
tained,
bas it notdi:ir.oak
appear that the prisoner h Ed in-
Lddtotakevaewacye
b thee woman's life, yet it WL evi-
dentes)
didt h abte
dh
ies
eiorugl
ide
gn ob ti,s
da futtey
as r
hearing the evidence
a magistrate if he did not send the case as on, 3 of
marrnbsleaupgrhistoenretrowaajsurtybefnor
committedtria for trial at the
next assizes for the county of Kent on the charge of
manslaughter.
All the witnesses were bound in heavy person 4

recognizances to appear and give evidence at the
trial.

The court was again this day densely crowded to
hear the decision of the magistrates, as a report bad
been circulated that the prisoner would be dis-
charged, the inquest jury having given a verdict tan-
tamount to a declaration that they were of opinion
that the death of the woman was the result of natural
causes.

CONFLAGRATION AT ANDOVER,
CAUSED BY A FIRE BALLOON.

On Friday evening an extensive fire took place at
the farm of Mr. Francis Russell Loscombe, one of
the board of guardians for the town of Andover. It
appears that a fire balloon had been inflated by spirit
at the house of Mr. Reynolds, a currier, for the pur-
pose of amusing his son. t ascended about seven
o'clock in the evening, at which time the wind was
blowing strongly from the north-west, and the
balloon was carried over the town, in the direction
of the new church, situate at the top of the High-
street. In passing over the tower of the church, it
seems that the balloon struck against one of the
pinnacles. It then turned over, and became a heap
of flames ; and in falling down alighted on one of
the barns upon Mr. Loscombe's premises, which are
situate within a few yards of the church. This
building was soon on fire, and the flames extended
with extraordinary rapidity to the adjoining stacks,
owing to the violence of the wind. As soon as it was
possible the engines arrived, and the utmost activity
was used by the firemen, assisted by the inhabitants,
to extinguish the devouring element, but before this
could be done the large barns adjoining the stack
yard, sand the whole of the stabling were on fire. At
this juncture a heavy storm of rain descended,
which caused a temporary check to the fury of the
flames; but they soon broke out again with renewed
force from the lower part of a wheat rick, hitherto
untouched. A violent breeze then again sprung up,
and the fire extended to a large barley rick, pea rick,
and some outbuildings. It was evident little good
could be effected in saving this property, and the at-
tention of the firemen was directed to the cutting off
the communication with the neighbouring streets,
many of the houses in which are thatched. This
object was happily effected by pulling down some of
the smaller buildings, and the church, as well as the
adjoining houses, were saved. The flames were then
driven in the direction of a large rookery close to the
farm, where several fine elms were set on fire and
consumed. The trees having commenced burning,
the rooks who inhabited their tops were soon dis-
comfited, and flew about uttering discordant cries,
many of them falling dead in the flames. The danger
was at this time increased by the falling of the trees ;
but fortunately no lives were lost. By midnight the
further progress of the conflagration was checked.
The damage is calculated at several thousand pounds.
The following is the report of the agent at the
Farmers' Fire Office, in which establishment Mr.
Loscombe was insured :

" October 22, 1847.—Fire at seven A.M., at Mr.
Loscombe's farm, called the Wilderness, Andover.
Cause—descent of a fire-balloon upon a wheat stack.
Damage—Burned two large wheat ricks, one barley
rick (the produce of upwards of twenty acres), one
pea rick, very large), two double barns full of corn
(unthrashed), and about twenty quarters of thrashed
corn ; stabling, piggeries, and out-buildings con-
sumed. Live stock saved, but much injury is done
to tho surrounding property."

A BOILER EXPLOSION-FOUR

PERSONS KILLED.

A fearful boiler explosion, which has already re-
sulted in the deaths of four persons, and so severely
scalded fuur others that but slight hopes are enter-
tained of their recovery, occurred on Thursday
morning last, at New Hey, near Two Bridges, about
three miles from Rochdale.

The premises in connexion with which this acci-
dent has taken place are known as the new Hey
Mills, and are at pre3ent occupied by Mr. Samuel
Berry, as a woollen manufactory. They are three
storeys high, and consist of two portions, known as
the old and new ends or mills, extending in all
about forty yards in length, the former portion being
about twelve and the latter thirteen yards wide. Both
steam and water power are employed to drive the
machinery. The driving power of the water is applied
by means of a wheel of about three and a half or four-
horse power, at the end of the old mill; while the
steam-engine of about sixteen-horse power, is situated
at the other extremity of the building. These build-
ings formed three sides of a square, the fourth being
the end of the new mill, into which a door opened
from the enclosure thus formed. This space, being
almost wholly covered by a roof, supported by pillars,
formed a favourite place of congregation for the
children of the mill, during their leisure time ; and
here, on Thursday morning about half-past eight,
some six or seven of them were engaged at play.
About that time, the breakfast hour being over, the
water wheel had been set in motion, and the engineer,
Robert Booth, was on his way from the warehouse to
the engine-house with some tallow preparatory to
starting the engine, when suddenly the boiler ex-
ploded, reducing the whole of the out-premises to a
heap of ruins. The children in the court or yard
immediately rushed to the door before spoken of,
in order to escape into the mill ; but by the
force of the explosion, this door was so forcibly
driven inwards, that the strong iron latch by which
it was fastened had been bent so as to render their
efforts to open it altogether futile ; and it was not until
the manager of the mill, who happened to be near at
the time, had with a large hammer forced up the
latch, that they could escape from the fiercely scalding
steam. The door being opened, five children rushed
into the mill, all most dreadfully scalded; they were
immediately conveyed to some of the adjacent houses,
medical aid was obtained as soon as possible, and
every attention was paid to them. Search being
made as soon as the escape of the steam would permit,
another child was found in a recess just outside the
door, into which he appears to have run for shelter;
he was also much scalded, and was instantly re-
moved. On proceeding further' John Leach, a
scourer, was found in or near the fire-hole, in the
engine-house ; he was much crushed and scalded,
and was removed in a dying state. Some children
of the village assert that on the explosion taking
place they saw the boiler high in the air; but from
all appearances, there can be no doubt that the boiler
itself passed under ,the cistern before alluded to, de-
stroying the drying room and the outer wall, and
ploughing up the field in its passage ; while the end,
with the main stay which passed through the boiler
attached to it, passed over the yard or open space,
going under and demolishing the joiners' shop, and
then destroying the gas works and gasometer. With
regard to the cause of the explosion, nothing certain
can of course be known prior to the holding of the
inquest ; but no doubt the primary cause was defi-
ciency of water. The boiler presents, generally, an
old appearance, being patched in one or more places.
It was worked at low pressure. The engineer, Booth,
is a young man, not more than twenty years of age,
and has driven the engine at New Hey Mills but a
short time, but he is well spoken of as to his general
ability and care. The mill has fortunately escaped
wholly uninjured. About eighty hands were em-
ployed in the mill, and the stoppage of the machinery,
consequent upon the accident, will, on the whole,
throw about 120 persons out of work. Of the par-
ties injured by the explosion, John Leach, aged 56, a
scourer, survived but for two hours; Jane Taylor,
aged 14, expired late on Thursday night ; Thomas
Clegg, 11, about half-past nine yesterday (Friday)
morning ; and Thomas Sutcliffe, 10, about noon.
Edwin Clegg, James Wolfenden, and Arm Platt,
each aged about 13 years, are so severely scalded that
but slight hopes of their recovery are entertained ;
while John Belfield, a spinner, aged 43, although
much injured, it is thought, may recover. Leach
was a widower, but his children are all grown up.
Belfield has a wife, and, it is said, six children.—
Manchester Guardian.
An inquest was opened on Saturday, before Mr.
Dearden, the Coroner for the district, which, after
hearing some routine evidence, adjourned to Thurs-
day next.

rADVERTISEMENT.—A DISEASE OF THE CHEST
AND A LONG-STANDING COLD CURED BY HOLLOWAY'S
OINTMENT AND PlLLs.—igr. James Kilroe, clerk to Mr.
Maclaughlin, proprietor of the Castlecoote mills, Ros-
common, caught a most dreadful cold, from which he
suffered for several months, and though he received the
best medical advice, yet nothing prescribed afforded him
any relief, and fears were entertained that the disease
was terminating in a confirmed affection of the lungs,
whereupon he resolved to try Holloway's Pills and Clint.
ment, and those unparalleled medicines for the cure of
coughs, colds, and asthmas, shortly effected a perfect
cure, after so many othr emeans had failed.—Sold by all
druggists, and at Professor Holloways establishment,
244, Strand, London.

THE MONETARY CRISIS IN SOUTHAMPTON.-It is
but just to the large mercantile and trading firms of
Southampton, that we should notice the mischievous;,
though happily unfounded, reports that have crept into
circulation affecting the stability of establishments of long
standing, and of individuals of abundant means to meet
their engagements three- ma. The banks of the town have
acted with considerable liberality wherever rcquired—
but in no case have their judicious and. valuable services
fu
been improperly asked fori;tah:d.awrerfbjevlifdeevnet we e
re l
thym pointgla
to Southampton as singularly favoured at this extraordi-
nary period of monetary pressure. Business seems to
have been conducted w
which has rendered the storm that has shattered so many
old-established houses in London and other ports com-
paratively innocuous at Southampton.—liampshire Ad.
vertiser.
THE IRON GIRDER CO2,IIIIISSION.-A correspon -
of the Builder states, that the Commissioners appointed
to inquire into the construction of iron girders, having
sent to the engineers of various railways for returns ut
information,tutio u o f
Civil
Ecounter e
rcsi cuurlgairnlgi as
thiesms u e
tod
rfreocumset,he Insti-

MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 25, 1847.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT Or L'.I2,7CIcUPTCI-, Ca. 23

Only one Commissioner sat to-day (Mr. Commis-
sioner Goulburn), and the cases before him were of
an uninteresting nature. The certificate of Samuel
Waters, a hatter at Luton, was suspended for twelve
months on the ground of excessive expenditure and
total recklessness in trading. The certificate of
another bankrupt, named Walker, an oilman and
grocer at Peckham, was adjourned for six months on
the grounds of improper trading and having kept no
books.

she was aware she had been passing had money ? She
'4
< • n 4 .4 :.< At!
was seen she had something in her hand, which on
being taken from her, proved to be the purse belong-
ing to Mrs. Kent.
The jury found her Guilty.
The CHAIRMAN remarked upon the nature of the
offence, by which railway travellers had of late so
severely suffered, and then sentenced her to three
months' hard labour.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MA A SIOA-HOUSE.
The good effects of the operation of the Seamen's
Registration Act are already sensibly felt in the
powerful check given by it to the ingenious frauds
committed by multitudes of our seamen, who have
been long in the habit, upon arriving at distant ports
of deserting to other vessels for increased wages, and,
of course, subjecting their own ships to all the incon-
venience and hazard of deficiency of hands. Since
our last account 98 summonses have been granted
from the Mansion-house against seamen for not
giving a reasonable account of the loss of their
former tickets of registration, and every one of them
have been fined.
George Penner George was charged by Mr. Cole-
man, clerk at the Registrar General's-office, with
having deserted the Nereid, at Quebec.
Captain Escott, master of the ship, having proved
the offence, to which the prisoner offered no defence,
The LORD MAYOR said that the complaints of the
desertion of seamen were daily made by the owners,
and to the commercial world it was of the utmost
importance that every means should be adopted to
check an evil of such magnitude, calculated as it was
to inflict great pecuniary loss upon the owners, and to
debase the ancient character of the British seaman.
He hoped that the owners themselves would more
frequently avail themselves of the opportunities af-
forded them of prosecuting offenders against so useful
an enactment as that upon which Mr. Coleman called
upon him so often to adjudicate.
Mr. Phillips, of the firm of Phillips and Tiplady,
stepped forward and thanked his Lordship for the
suggestions given, and stated his intention to prose-
cute in all such cases from their vessels.
Mr. Coleman complained of having great difficulty
in prevailing on owners to attend and give evidence in
such cases, or to give information to the Registration-
office on he subject, with the exception of Messrs.
Phillips and Tiplady, and two other owners whom
he named.
The defendant was committed for thirty days.
William King, second mate of the Arcadia, was
charged with a like offence, which was proved by Mr.
Walton, of Newman's. court, Cornhill, the owner.
The defendant was committed for asimilar period.
WORSHIP-STREET.
On Saturday George Battley, described as. an actor
at the Britannia Saloon, Hoxton, was charged with
violating the person of a modest-looking young
woman, about 17 years of age, named Eliza Clarke,
the daughter of a widow at Kingsland; and Henry
Pitt, a performer at the same establishment, was
charged on the preceding day as an accessory to the
offence, and remanded till next week on 2001.
From the statement of the complainant, who was so
distressed and agitated that her evidence was scarcely
audible, it appeared that she had been acquainted for
about two or three months with the prisoner Battley,
who had paid h's addresses to her, hut that in the
early part of August a misunderstanding arose be-
between them, and she resolved to break off the
acquaintance. From that time she saw nothing more
cf him until the middle of that month, when she was
requested by a female friend, named Mary Plater, to
accompany her for a walk, and while passing down
Maria-street, Kingsland-road, they saw the man Pitt,
with whom her friend was intimate, standing at the
door of a house, into which he invited them to enter.
The girl Plater immediately complied, but witness
hesitated outside, when Pitt caught hold of her, threw
his arm round her waist, and dragged her into an
apartment on the ground floor, in which the prisoner
Battley was seated. A conversation ensued between
Plater and the two men, and after remaining there a
short time the light was suddenly extinguished by Pitt,
who hastily left the room with Plater, and on her en-
deavouring to escape after them, the door was
slammed in her face, and locked on the outside. The
prisoner Battley caught her at the same moment by
the back of her dress, which be tore down, and,
throwing her violently upon the floor, placed his hand
over her mouth, and threatened, if she made the least
outcry, to dash her head through the boards. He
then proceeded to acts of the grossest indecency, and,
in spite of the most strenuous resistance in her power,
forcibly perpetrated the capital offence alleged against
him. She was so exhausted by her struggles with
her assailant, that she remained some time in a state
of total insensibility, and finding upon recovering her
senses that the door had been just opened by Pitt and
Plater, she rushed past them into the street, leaving
behind her her bonnet and shawl, which were imme-
diately brought to her by the girl Plater, who, when
she upbraided her with her infamous conduct, laughed
at her, and told her not to mind what had happened,
as the prisoner would, no doubt, act honourably to-
wards her. She was deterred by shame and terror from
communicating to her mother the treatment she had
sustained until some time after, but accidentally met
the prisoner the next day, and abused him for his con-
duct towards her, when he told her she was very
foolish, and that he had only acted as he had done to
secure her wholly to himself.
The mother of the complainant, a respectable-
looking woman, stated that for the last two months
she had remarked her daughter to be labouring under
extreme mental depression ; but all her efforts to
elicit the cause of her melancholy were unsuccessful
until Sunday last, when her brother, who was aware
of her former acquaintance with the prisoner, ad-
dressed her seriously upon the subject, and advised
her to think no more about him, as he knew that he
had spoken disparagingly of her. The prisoner's
name was no sooner mentioned than the girl became
greatly agitated, and, snatching up a knife from the
table, made a plunge with it at her breast, in which
she inflicted a slight wound, but her arm was in-
stantly seized by her brother, who wrested the
weapon from her and prevented her doing herself
more serious injury. The girl then burst into tears,
and promised to tell her mother all if her brother
left the room ; and upon his doing so, threw herself
upon her knees, made her mother promise not to
murder her for what she was about to relate, and
then told her the whole particulars of the outrage to
which she had been subjected. The witness pro-
ceeded next day to the theatre, where she saw the
prisoner, and indignantly asked him how he dare to
place such dishonour upon her child; upon which he
carelessly inquired what she expected of him, and whe-
ther she thought he was going to keep her, but
ultimately promised to call upon her the next day
and enter into some honourable arrangement. He,
however, did not keep his appointment, and having,
when she again called upon him, told her insultingly
that he should not marry her daughter, and never
intended to do so, she gave directions to the police for
his apprehension.
The girl's brother, Joseph Clark, confirmed his
mother's statement, and described his sister's conduct
as having been always hitherto irreproachable ; and
Smith, a constable of the N division, proved that after
taking the prisoner into custody at the theatre on the
night before, and acquainting him with the nature of
the charge, ie expressed his readiness to meet it, and
said that he should then have witnesses in attendance
to prove that the young woman was of loose charac-
ter, and had favoured several persons in the theatre in
a similar manner to that which he insinuated with
regard to himself.
Upon being called upon for his defence, however,
the prisoner did not repeat this declaration, called no
witnesses, and having merely declared that the young
woman's statement was much exaggerated, expressed
his intention of reserving anything else he might have
to say for the present.
Mr. HAMMTLL therefore ordered him to be brought
up, for the depositions to be taken, on the day ap-
pointed for the re-examination of the other defendant,
Pitt, and declined receiving bail for his future ap-
pearance.

LAMBETH.
On Saturday John 111 arson, who is described as a
master-builder, was again placed at the bar before
Mr. Norton, and further examined on a charge of
swindling.
In addition to the evidence before adduced, and
which appeared in The Sun,
Sergeant Goff stated, since the last examination he
had, in consequence of the publicity which the case
had obtained, received a number of letters, disclosing
many circumstances concerning the doings of an in-
dustrious gang of regular swindlers. His Worship
would recollect that, when apprehended, some cards
of the firm of " Thorton, Outtram, and Co., Essex
Wharf, Fore-street, Limehouse, and 1, Great Win-
chester-street, London," and also a letter with a
copperplate heading, " 1, Great Winchester-street,"
were found upon his person. On that morning he
had received a letter in reference to these people
which furnished additional evidence. Goff further
stated that Day, upon whose cheques large sums of
money had been obtained by the prisoner and others,
and who was represented to be a man of large pro-
perty, lodged in the house of a person named Hennell,
a shoemaker at Eltharn, Kent. Since the last exami-
nation he (Goff) found that this Hennell was not long
since discharged from prison, where he had been for
nine months for obtaining goods under false pretences,
and since his discharge had managed to swindle one
person out of boots and shoes to the amount of 401.
In reply to a question from the Magistrate, Goff
said that Hennell had absconded from his residence
since the apprehension of the prisoner, and, as well as
Day, had up to the present eluded the vigilance of
the police.
The prisoner was committed on two clear charges,
but will be again brought up preparatory to his final
committal.