The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-16 00:00:00

sentenced respectively to six months' imprisonment and Henry Perry, medical officer of the workhouse, was
seven years' transportation. next sworn. He remembered the case of Eddy. He
The prisoner, who was recognised by the police as an was admitted to the house on the 6th of July, 1844, and
old offender, was fully committed for trial. continued under medical treatment until the 24th of the
I,AMBETIL same month, when he required no further attendance.
Mary Shepherd, a well-dressed spinster, was charged January 2d, 1845, he was again brought in and treated
before the Hon. G. C. Norton with being drunk and in- for paralysis. He was in a very weak state. On account
capable of taking care of herself. of his defective sight he thought picking oakum would
James Bradley, 42 L, deposed that between ten and certainly have been improper work for him. Witness's
eleven o'clock on the night before, he found the prisoner apprehension was that he was not so employed. Recol-
in the Waterloo-road, in such a state of intoxication that lected a person named Dodridge being in the house. Was
he was obliged to take her to the station-honse. called to attend him on the 8d of October, 1844. His com-
Mr. NORTON—Did she make any disturbance? Wit- plaint was asthma. He was placed on the half dietary list
ness—No, sir, she was pretty quiet, for that, till December, when having rallied, he was, accord-
Mr. NORTON (to the prisoner)—What are you; how ing to his own request, placed on the ordinary house
do you get your livelihood? Prisoner—l'm a dress- dietary, which he continued until the Bth of January,
maker, your worship. 1845, when he died. Believed he was in the male sick
Mr. NORTON—How came you to get so intoxicated as ward. Did not recollect his working in the coal-cellar.
to be incapable of taking care of yourself? Prisoner— Cannot recollect seeing him in the boy's sleeping-room.
The fact is, your worship, that I had been taking my Believed Horswell was in the male sick ward, and the
work home into the Strand, and my shoes being rather garret was just over where he was. Did not remember
thin and unsuited to such a night, my feet got very wet, Dodridge's removal to that ward. Thomas,Smith and
and fearing the consequences of a serious cold, and per- James Hodge (since deceased) attended to the sick in
haps being laid up, I took a couple of drops of gin, and that ward, and were occasionally assisted by Thomas
it some way or other overcame me. Hellier and Richard Wills, and in some instances he had
Mr. NORTON—WeII, in my time, I have heard of known the late porter, Thomas Hands, assist in the sick
various excuses for getting drank, and I must say that wards. Rembered a person named Ashton being in the
this is not the worst.—(Laughter.) The night certainly house. He was decidedly insane, and very much
was very damp, but I think you might have avoided excited. Recommended his removal to the work-
taking so much of this gin as to reduce you to such a house in consequence of finding him unprotected
state of intoxication. I hope, however, that this, as you at his own house. His insanity was of the
appear to be a decent person, will be a caution to you for kind called mania, and was not furious. I
the future. was informed it was produced by reverses in business.
Prisoner—lndeed it shall, sir. Witness ordered a strait waistcoat to be put on him
Mr. NORTON-4 sincerely hope so. You are now when he was obstreperous. Observed marks at the
discharged. angle of his mouth. On inquiring into the cause he
THAMES
_ • found they had been produced by inserting the spoon in
his mouth with a view of giving him some nutriment.
He had no apprehension that there was any unnecessary
or improper force used on the part of the attendants. His
arms were secured to the sacking of the bed to prevent
his injuring himself.
A variety of additional evidence having been taken,
Mr. Evens proceeded to make his defence. He first
alluded at length to the charge of neglect brought by
Horswell, and then added that with respect to accelera-
ting the death of Eddy, Aishton, and Dodridge, he
could solemnly declare he never heard any complaint of
ill-usage towards either of them, until he received the
Assistant Poor-law Commissioner's letter of the 30th of
September, the day before the inquiry commenced at
the Royal Hotel.
After the conclusion of the inquiry,
The Learned Commissioner went to the workhouse,
and saw the rooms as they were described by the wit-
nesses.
The evidence will be placed before the Commissioners
at Somerset House, who will shortly give their decision.

EXTENSIVE Purtunit—George Stoddart, a young
man about 24 years of age, was charged with plundering
his employer, Mr. David Le Bentillin, to an extent at
present unknown, but the property and moneys imme-
diately recovered amount to nearly 1401.
The prisoner, being observed by the police carrying a
box which they suspected to contain stolen prwerty,
was detained and examined, and a quantity of goods
identified by his employer were found in the box. Va-
rious sums of money were also found in bags belonging
to the prisoner, as also a bank book of the East London
Savings' Bank, with acknowledgments for 301. paid in
up to August 23, 1845, and a letter to the prisoner from
his wife, which, however, had no bearing upon the case.
In answer to Mr. Pelham, who attended for the pro-
secutor,
Mr. Le Bentillin said that the prisoner's salary last
year was only 351. He had been about five years in his
service, with an annually-increasing salary.
Mr. Pelham said he would not carry the case further
that day, and the prisoner, who declined saying anything
in his defence, was remanded for a week;

DESECRATION OF THE DEAD.

SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF A
ROBBERY COMMITTED FOUR YEARS AGO.
During the last week a transaction, which for four
years has been enveloped in mystery, was brought to 1
light in rather a singular manner. In August, 1842, a
Mr. John Browning posted a letter at Ruthin, in North
Wales, containing, a bank note for 201., one for 101., and
a Post-office order for 1L 18s. 6d. It was addressed to
his niece, Miss Sarah Browning, 15, Summer-street,
Navigation-street, Birmingham ; and he, in a few days
after, being astonished that no acknowledgment of its
receipt was made to him, wrote to his niece on the
matter. It was then discovered that the letter had not
been received ; and although he communicated with the
Post-office authorities, and forwarded the dates, amounts,
and numbers of the notes, of which he had made a me-
morandum at the time he posted the letter, and even put
on the back of the 101. note his initials and the date, no
trace of the letter or its contents could be discovered.
The matter thus remained in mystery until Tuesday last,
when a 101. note was sent from the Bank of England to
the authorities at the General Post-office, as one of the
notes which had been contained in Mr. Browning's letter.
A rigorous inquiry was immediately instituted, when it
was discovered that the note had been paid into the bank
of Messrs. Spooner and Attwood, Birmingham, on the
19th of September last. On that day Misses Jordan
and Schofield, milliners, High-street, sent money and an
advice to meet a bill amounting to 141. Is. 6d., consist-
ing of a 51. note and the rest in cash. A man named
Henry Ivatts, who had been a letter-carrier in 1842, but
had been discharged for some act of insubordination, and
who was in the habit of going messages for them, took
the money in question to the bank. He came that morn-
ing, as he had been requested to do, to go to the bank;
but Miss Jordan, having occasion to go out, went in-
stead. In a few minute; after she had gone, Ivatts came
to the shop, and finding that Miss Jordan had taken the
money, he ran after her, overtook her, and went to the
bank himself. Mr. Edwards, the clerk, took the money,
which then consisted of a 101. note and some silver, and, as
usual, marked the note. It was then sent to London, and
discovered to be one of the missing notes. Miss Schofield
having been waited on regarding the matter, asked Ivatts
about it, when he said that he had found the note in
New- street, on the Wednesday of Wolverhampton races,
and that wishing to have it changed, he took the 5/.
note and 5/. in cash from the bag in which she sent the
►money to the bank, and substituted the note in question.
Ivatts was then apprehended, and brought before the
magistrates (H. Spooner, Esq., M.P., J. James, and '
Thomas Beilby, Esqrs.), at the public office on Monday.
Mr. Spurrier appeared for the prosecution, and Mr.
Harding for the defence. The case was gone into nt
considerable length, and the note fully identified. The
prisoner had always borne a good character, and it ap-
peared that Summer-street was not in his district, al-
though it was stated all the letter-carriers sorted the
letters in one room. Tho case was remanded till Thurs-
day, when Ivatts was fully committed to the assizes. He
was, however,.admitted to bail, being himself bound over
in 1001, and Captain Leary (under whom Ivatts had
served for twenty-six years), and Mr. C. Purcell, Nel-
son-street West, in 501. each.—Birnthujhain Journal.

ST. GILES'S WORKHOUSE.

Since the dreadful disclosures of Enon Chapel down to
the recent desecration of certain City church-yards, and
the removal of cart loads of human remains to the
Eastern-end of the metropolis, nothing so humiliating or
in detail so revolting has occurred to equal in horrors the
proceedings which are now going on in the pauper/
burial-ground attached to the St. Giles's workhouse. It
appears that in this parish it has been found necessary to
enlarge the workhouse, and to add an infirmary, a dis-
pensary, a casual ward, waiting-rooms, bath-rooms, and
other buildings for the accommodation of the inmates,
who for many years had suffered much. That in order
to effect these objects, a number of temporary offices,
covering in the whole a piece of ground at the rear of the
building containing about half an acre, have been re-
moved, and the whole area, extending from the back of
the workhouse to a lane called Short's- gardens, laid
bare. The plot of ground thus exposed is surrounded on
all sides by the dwellings of the poor, who inhabit this
locality in perhaps greater numbers than any other
part of the metropolis. Many of these miserable
tenements overlook the, spot, and so dense is
the population that several thousand poor families
reside within the circle of ono hundred yards round
it. After the materials of the old buildings had
been removed, the workmen in the employment of
the builder, Mr. Holland, of Duke-street, Blooms-
bury, commenced digging the foundations for the new
buildings, and while so engaged found at the depth of
about four feet from the surface some bones, which were
carted away with the rubbish, and deposited in the
vicinity of Battle-bridge. As soon as the circumstance
of finding the bones was represented to the clerk of the
works, he immediately waited upon the governor of the
workhouse, and also some members of the board of
guardians, but no directions were given to cease dis-
turbing the remains. The workmen, therefore, continued
to prosecute their labours, when it soon became apparent
the ground was filled with coffins, and the decomposed
bodies of human beings. A sight of this appalling cha-
racter had such an effect upon the workmen employed to
clear away the revolting substances, that some of them
exhibited the greatest reluctance to interfere, and only
complied at length from the fear of losing their employ-
ment. While the task of exhuming the remains was
proceeded with, the board of guardians held two or
three meetings, and after some deliberation, and an in-
spection of the ground, came to the determination to ex-
hume all the bodies, and have them removed to the St.
Giles's Cemetery, St. Pancras-road. These instructions
are now in the course of being complied with, and it is
calculated that within the last fortnight the remains of
twelve hundred persons have been removed. The coffins
appear to have been wedged together, and in many
cases fourteen have been found in one grave. A space

of ground, measuring about eighty iquare feet, has
been already excavated, with littKintention of removing
all the coffins that may be found. The earth is found
to be in some parts hard and gravelly, but towards
Short's-gardens it becomes loose and damp, and in
those parts the progress of decomposition has been
more' rapid and complete. To the north, and within a
few feet of the workhouse itself, the soil is compara-
tively firm, and here a most appalling sight was pre-
sented. Owing, it is supposed, to the peculiar proper-
ties of the soil in this place, the coffins were found to
be in a better state of preservation, and to have re-
sisted, to a greater extent, the mouldering effects of
time. They could not, however, be removed in any-
thing like a perfect shape, and parted asunder when
exposed to the air. The bodies they contained were
found to be still solid, the hair upon the eyebrows and
eyelashes clearly discernable, and every feature entire
and perfect as when first deposited. The flesh, however,
had turned into a white substance, resembling to the
touch, and not unlike in appearance, the common mush-
room or toad-stool. The coffins containing those bodies
were found at depths, varying from four to nine or ten
feet. In some instances, the mouldering flesh clung to
the head, about the jaw, and round the scalps, while
the teeth remained white and firm. The brain could
also be traced; and in some cases even the viscera
wore clearly distinguishable. These bodies appeared to
have been swathed in coarse linen shrouds as several
fragments of the latter were found. The accumulation
of those ghastly remains in a few hours became so great,
that coffins or rather large boxes, hastily put together,
and formed of three quarter inch deal, painted black, were
got in readiness, into which the remains of about thirty
persons were packed indiscriminately and forwarded in
a hearse to the cemetry at St. Pancras. road. The re-
mains of about twelve hundred persons were thus re-
moved, a much greater number however still remain,
and at this moment the loathsome place is strewn with
skulls, many of them in the state described, bones of all
kinds, and fragments of broken coffins. The pit exca-
vated has already yielded the remains of 1,200 persons,
including theskeletons of children, and judging from pre-
sent appearances the workmen employed have not more
than half finished, if so much, their frightful task. Por-
tions of several coffins, with fragments of their ghastly
occupants, can now be traced within thirteen-or fourteen
inches of the surface, while in other places tho piles of
coffins hare been compressed by-time, according as the
wood rotted, and now appear lying close to each other,
as if some external pressure had been applied. Some of
the able-bodied paupers from the workhouse were
employed collecting the fragments. It is evident from
the appearance of some of the coffins, that the occupants
did not in every case belong to the humbler classes, as
some of them have pieces of cloth attached to them,
and are richly studded with nails, and contain the marks
of having been once decorated with plates. The:dates,
however, are, unfortunately, erased by time,:witli the ex-
ception of a few. In one portion of the ground • the,
workmen found as many as 30 or 40 skeletons, alialsr9vin
indiscriminately together; none of them bore tlie•a`ppear-,
once of being recently deposited. Several coppei, coins,
pipes, and other things, were also found. The, coin:
were very much corroded, but one of them britiAfiffi-
ciently good preservation to exhibit the date 12(50 in
legible characters. Independently of the outrage upon
decency and proper feeling which is involved in these
proceedings, it is to be apprehended that very fearful
results to the sanitory condition of so densely, crowded
a neighbourhood will follow the opening of the:loathseme
pit now exposed to view. The indignation of the people
in the immediate district has been audibly expressed: A

CHARGES AGAIN ST Mr.W. EVENS,
MASTER OF THE STONEHOUSE WORKHOUSE.

During the past ten days an investigation has been
going on at the Royal Hotel, Plymonth, before John T.
Graves, Esq., Assistant Poor-law Commissioner, into the
conduct of Mr. W. Evens, who for sixteen years past
has been the master of the Stonehouse Workhouse. The
charges were made by Lieut. Warren, of Stonehouse, and
were of a very serious character, as will be seen by the
following letter, which was sent by the Assistant Coln
missioner to Mr. Evens:—

" Totness, Sept. 29, 1846.
, at two o'clock, P.M., at
nto certain charges " Sir,—The clerk to the guardians undertook to me
that he would give you notice of the inquiry I purpose
ttho
pre-
ferred against you by Lieut. Warren.
" You are accused of having ill-treated Wm. Horswell,
eh
Ro 1
odyoanl
ut hoot e
11,s tr olyf
mOocuthe,
ir
his wife, and child, while they were in the workhouse,
and also of having by ill-usage accelerated the deaths of
three men, named Eddy, Dodridge, and Aishton, who
died in the workhouse.
" I think it will be desirable that the medical officer
of the workhouse should be in attendance on Thursday
afternoon, and should have in readiness any books
which may throw light on the cases of the above-named
persons.
" When the case of the complainant has been investi-
gated, if you should require time to prepare your defence,
or want summonses for witnesses on your behalf, I shall
be prepared to give favourable consideration to any ap-
plication that you may desire to make on those heads.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
"JOHN T. GRAVES,
"Assistant Commissioner."
" Mr. W. Evans, Master of the Workhouse."
The case has been undergoing investigation from time
to time down to Saturday last, when it closed with the
defence of Mr. Evens. The inquiry was not in open
court, though the Commissioner permitted the press to
attend, on the understanding that the case should not be
published till the whole of the evidence had been gone
through.
William Horswell stated, I am a scrivener, or ac-
countant. The letter produced, containing the charges
against Mr. Evens, was written by me. I have been in
the East Stonehouse Workhouse four times altogether.
The last time I left was in November last. I went in in
August. I was in a very bad state of health when I
went in. The treatment I had whilst I was in the house
was such as a sick person ought not to have. I was dis-
charged as incurable from Exeter Hospital in June.
When I came into the house Dr. Perry considered that
I was in a very bad state, and ordered me wine. Dr.
Perry saw me at my daughter's, and recommended me to
go into the house, and I consented, thinking that I had
but a short time to live. I expressed a wish to Mr.
Evens that my wife and sister should stay up with me,
because there was no one to assist me in and out of bed.
Mr. Evens said it was not a fit place for women, and
there was a woman in the next room who would bring me
my medicine. This woman was a pauper upwards of
70. I had an abscess forming. I told the doctor of it,
and he ordered me linseed meal. Did not get the linseed
meal for five days. That caused the abscess to break on
the eighth day, and I was in great pain and never
slept. I complained to Dr. Perry, and he said the
linseed meal should be had. The first day the nurse
(Salter) said the doctor had not put the order on the
book; afterwards that there was none in the house. I
complained to the master, but he turned a deaf ear to it.
I had a seizure in my left leg at the same time, and was
not able to move it, and could not get in or out of bed,
and I complained to the master of it, and he said there
were men enough to do it. I heard Mr. Evens repeat-
edly say I was a great expense to the parish. On the
lath of May, 1846, I wrote to the master from the Cor-
nish ward, in the Devon and Exeter Hospital, request-
ing him to send the up shirts. The shirts wore not sent.
I pledged my great coat for five shillings, to buy two
shirts. There was a shirt sent. I was sent back from
the hospital by the waggon. This was in June, a very
wet day. That was the forerunner of the abscess. I
came to Plymouth by a covered waggon, open at both
ends. I had not a great coat. I said, when told to go to
the waggon, " this is my death warrant." The doctor
visited me every day during the five days I had not the
poultice. I complained to him every day. I saw
Captain Fanshawe, the Chairman, during the five days.
The house committee visited me during those live days.
I cannot say that I complained to the chairman or the
visiting committee about the poultices. When I became
better I made complaints to the house committee on
Monday, but on Thursday I found the doors locked that
divide the male wards from the female. I could not get
to see the board. Mr. Evens knew I wanted to see the
hoard. I told him that I expeded to be called, but I
was not, The complaint that I wanted to make was not
being allowed to see my wife, who was ill. I never
afterwards complained. I considered it useless. No
notice will be taken of what a pauper says by the board
of guardians. I never knew the board refuse a hearing
to a pauper. Never said to Captain Toby "I have no
complaint to make."
William Tatem, who had been an inmate along with
Eddy, corroborated the statement of the first witness.

great majority of them belong to the sister country►,' and,
with that respect for the dead which they are nationally
characterised for, have viewed with feelings of indigna-
tion the proceedings. It is calculated that an immense
number of coffins and their contents have still to be re-
moved.

COACH ACCIDENT.—About eleven o'clock on Sun-
day night last an accident happened to the London mail
coach going north, on the most dreary part of Shap
Fells, in Westmoreland, which might have been attended
with the most serious and fatal consequences. It appears
that the road over Shap Fells, especially at the Hocks-
brow, is in a most dangerous and shocking bad state of
repair, there being large deep holes in it at several
places, and, indeed, it is so bad that the mail coaches
cannot get up the brow in due time, and consequently
two extra horses are put to, and a postillion, to assist
the coach up that long steep hill. William Abel, the
postillion, on arriving at the top of the steep, told the
driver, that, as the night was so very stormy, and the
roads so very heavy and bad, he would go on with his
pair with the coach to Shap. However, the coach had
not gone far, when the horse on which Abel was riding
fell, the other four fell over him and them, and one of
his thighs was broken, and he was otherwise most dread-
fully mangled and crushed, but the coach was net thrown
over. It soon afterwards proceeded on, but before it ar-
rived at Shap the pole broke, and some of the passengers
were much alarmed. The coach arrived at Carlisle
upwards of four hours behind her due time.
FATAL COLLISION ON THE TllAMES.—Wednesday
afternoon, about four o'clock, a coal barge called the
Gertrude, was passing down the river, a short distance
from Landon-bridge, when she ran with a violent crash
foul of a sailing barge loaded with sand, known as the
Opponent, The jerk occasioned by the collision pitched
the steersman of the former into the water, and al-
though every possible exertion was made to save the
poor fellow's life, be floated away with the tide and dis-
appeared.