The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-21 00:00:00

A TRANSATLANTIC MURDER.

A curious page of American social life has lately been
exhibited to us in the history of a murder committed on
board a Mississippi steamer. The victim was an old gen-
tleman named St. John, holding the military rank of gene-
ral, and his assailant was also in the army. The general
who was a passenger by the steamer, was quietly seated at
dinner in the saloon, when Colonel Jones and his two
sons, with whom he had some feud boarded the steamer
walked into the saloon and shot him dead on the spot.
The other passengers hid themselves, being apparently
terror stricken, but the murderers attempted no further
violence. They landed at the next opportunity, and
went quietly away. Strange as it may seem to us, no at-
tempt was made to bring them to justice, until a son
of the murdered man saw the Colonel and his sons
at a landing place one day and fired at them. Becoming
apprehensive that the friends of the General would take
the law into their own hands, the Joneses got themselves
taken into custody by the Sheriff, but the
Sheriff's house was presently surrounded by a
force of armed men. The Sheriff and his family
proved very inefficient guardians, for they beat a hasty
retreat, leaving their prisoners to their fate. The colonel
and his sons refused to fly, and barricaded themselves
in an inner room, cocking their revolvers. The
infuriated mob forced their way in however and killed the
father and eldest son. The younger one escaped
through a window and hung on to the sill
by his fingers, while his pursuers looked out
over his head without seeing him. After hanging there
ten awful minutes he dropped to the ground, and made
his way to a steamer, where he was horrified to find him-
self among a group of his foes. One of them recognised
him, but, being a merciful man, beckoned him aside, and
hid him behind a bale of cotton. There he remained hidden
till he reached New Orleans, where he crawled out and told
his story. His mother, who is now travelling in Eu.ropt
knows as yet nothing of the tragedy. This sort of drama
is not uncommon in the Southern States, though the
actors dress in broadcloth, and speak and look like more
self-controlled mortals.

The Freon2an's Journal says that the Irish con-
stabulary in the past year cost on the average £77 per man,
whereas in England each policeman costs the country
within a fraction of £BO.
Dr. Shortt, the late Bishop of St. Asaph, has been
presented with an address, signed by two hundred clergy
men of the diocese, expressive of their regret at his
retirement from the see, in which he has laboured for so
many years.

President Grant Is expected in the _Russian capital
and a most brilliant reception is to be given him.

Among the captives of the brigands in Greece is
itlr. Edward H. C. Herbert, cousin of the Earl of Car-
Af.awon.

The Freemaon is enabled to announce that the
installation of the Earl de Grey and _Pawn as M.W.G.M.
will take place on Wednesclay. 27th inst.
The Times Madrid correspondent sends this curl-
ious telegram.—The Sva,nish papers comment severely
on • a statement that is being circulated to the effect
that at a recent banquet in Rome in honour of the
Prince Alfonso, Lord Derby, in the presence of various
Generals, Cardinals, Spanish Bishops, and members of
the ex-Royal family of Naples, gave the following toast :
---` In my name, and that of all my friends of the British
Parliament, I drink to the Prince of Asturias."' Lord
Derby is at Knowsley, and has not been tp Ropp this
year, The state's-19.0s Vierefcr9 Pinurdi - f_ '

COMIC PAPERS.
(From Punch.)
PLENTY OP THEM.—" In Russian official ukases the
Emperor's name is followed by fifty-two titles." Nicely
arranged ; as it allows one for every week in the year.
FROM SHOOTER'S HILL.—Mr. Beach was glad that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer had not commuted the naaltt:
tax into a beer duty."—Debate on the Budget. Was n° ,
the Honourable Member a little premature in the exPre,g_
sion of his satisfaction, for is not the Chancellor of the
Exchequer going to meddle with our barrels?
A VERY UNFAIR COMPARISON.—Mr. Bernal Osborne
asked Mr. Lowe on Wednesday, " Whether he intenc
to put the urchin who frightened away crows from a fie 't
an the same level as the gentleman sportsman who went
out with three or four breechloaders apiece to all°°,.
pheasants in a battue." The comparison would be 101';
unfair. The urchin is at least doing something usefil,:,!
earning honest money by honest work. The highest ligu"
in which one can set the battue-shooter is that of all
amateur poulterer's man, who finds the killing part 0.
the business so pleasant that he goes in for it at an
limited cost of gunpowder, gamekeepes, and denaora
sation.
A SLAP IN THE FACE FOR LIBERTY.—" M. 011ivier
Government, in losing M. Buffet, loses its great hold ,
the Constitutional party in the Chambers and out-or
doors."—Parisian Correspondents :
Though popular will back Imperial still
When an Empire it makes, or upsets one,.
If the Government loses a Buffet the deuce IS
That the cause of the Government gets one..

(From Judy.)
A line, according to Euclid, is length without breadth;
but occasionally a line in burlesque is broad withoutbeini
lo What a nuisance that word "If " is ; it stands in the
way like the danger signal of a railway, and stops
ever,"
thing !
"IT'S AN ILL WIND," &c.—Since the affray at "'rill
Pierre Bona,parte's house, at Auteuil, the gunsmiths °.
Paris, it is said, have sold more than 60,000 revolver%
and some Paris folk argue that so much revolving cgo on without revolution. Having been affrayed they
are now affrighted. They have not much cause for alarVl
So many disagreeable results, to him. have followed too
Prince's last essay, that he must feel much like his re.
volver—quite a sick-shooter.

(From Fun.)
don't
LIBERALITY.—Indignant Cabby : "Hi ! You
mean this yere sixpence —"—Kind hearted Old Bas..;
For you : Yes, and you're welcome to it, my friend
every penny !"
AN IMPORTANT IMPORTATION.—It seems that the Wes!:
ings of free trade are not to be confined to articles aim!'
nufacture only. A short time since the Customs bill u,
entry reported the arrival of " 1660 bundles, Penana
lawyers." The British profession must be on the alert-
We have heard of a gentleman who undertook to be ir
structor of English to the Russian fleet, with the sr
qualification that, though he knew no other language' to
°
was well acquainted with English. Mrs. Stowe seeraswo
have even less ground than this for choosing her task.be sure the Spartans kept Helots, whom they made dri.w:
in order to disgust their sons with the vice of intalin
tion. Possibly the authoress of the Byron sallow'
thinks herself fitted to be the self-appointed Helot of
priety.
MRS. STOWE AGAIN.—The impudence of some peoPle:
Here's a woman undertaking to teach a thing of which on°
is herself ignorant : svi
" Mrs. Beecher Stowe is one of the authors of a --
book intended to teach the `proprieties' to young laclies°
A DESIRABLE IMPORTATION.—A short time since the
Japanese petition against the
.promulgation of Chris;
tianity by missionaries in the island was given ill °lv
English papers ; and from the Japanese point of ,
it was reasonable enough. Here's our latest from JaPaa,'
" A California paper says the Japanese ' will win nacii
vernal respect by a sort of heathenish habit they have
minding their own business.'"
If the Japanese like to retort on us by sending re,
sionaries to England to propagate this ' heathenish habit,
we, at least, will receive them with open arms.

•
E IV
XTRAORDINARY ELOPEMENT AN-D ROBBERY BY A 01
MAN.—At the Clerkenwell police-court Charles Lia
eefit
German, has been charged with stealing a portraanten_
and other articles, the property of Charlotte Lutterinnag:
his country-woman. Both parties lived together
village near Homburgh, where the complainant's fa t%
is well to do, and the defendant a butcher. rea
paid his addresses to her, and was received and aeeePida
as her suitor. Under the pretence that he No re
marry her, he induced her to pack up her things, to
'here
her home, and to accompany him to this country, w_T,
he said they would at once take ship and sail for AWei`s-t
Having no means of his own, though he pretended that
he had a rich brother in Berlin, from whom he could ger
any amount of money he required, he also induced
to redeem all the things he had in pledge at Harabergod
and to pay both their passages to England. A„171v4,0
at Hull they took train to London, and an„,,,
luggage was left at the Great Northern Station, -n-'°so,
Cross, the prisoner taking the deposit ticket. Fro 1,
there they went to a lodging-house in Whited-IQ:Lei
and having slept there the prisoner on the followni
morning, the complainant being in bed ill, said he wedtiof
go and fetch the luggage. This he did, but, instea
taking it to Whitechapel, be decamped with it to Sonbo'f
ampton, leaving her without money or even a change
ue
clothing. When apprehended the accused said that t'a
meant going to Ame.ica. The complainant, in tears, sai
she did not wish to harm the prisoner, but he was COw-
mated for trial at the Sessions.
aen
ALLEGED ELOPEMENT AND ROBBERY.—John and a-
-1
Frain, two brothers, have been charged with stealing,o"
quantity of household furniture, the property of J.-„a
Ellis, a ropemaker, of 92, Wellesley-street, Stepney,
eloping with his wife. The prosecutor and his wif',
not live very happily together, and both prisoners loogt,
in the same house with them, and evidently knew of
discord that existed. They formerly lived at No. 43,374
man-lane, Limehouse, and Mrs. Ellis suddenly gill al
her husband's roof and went to live with her cousin _or
Norfolk-terrace, Whitechapel. The prisoners went ar
some time previously, and they were found in the 11°00
where Mrs. Ellis was living. She rented one °by
only. The brothers rented another. It was allerclos
Ellis that the prisoners had not only stolen his C. ea
but also his' wife, and shared her affections betty
them. The woman, however, said that in consealleuu for
her husband's ill-usage she sold her furniture to a inn' for
sums advanced to her, and she now held the receill'',ooe;
the furniture. John Pram left the house in Salmon-J.
before she did, and his brother James some time, to
viously. The prisoners were quite innocent, aniu,sh.
nothing to do with the furniture or with her. Mr: erg,
ington said there was no evidence to detain the prison
and they were discharged.
e
ALLEGED FRAUDS BY A BANKRUPT.—Joseph -pa --g
bteen
grocer and wine merchant, at Paddington, has .edit
charged at the Guildhall with obtaining goods en ei3
within three months of his bankruptcy, and with i'
co
fully disposine of large quantities of goods. He wasc
mitted for trial, bail being received.
AN IRISH DIFFICULTY.—An Irishman named`? Da.
Higgins has been charged at Worship-street Wit lituair
saulting his landlord, another Irishman, and ~e 0
mutual recriminations gave rise to an amusing ,suonet
in court. The prosecutor said that the pr's,i st•
rushed into his bedroom at one in the morning, an 7,050
tacked him as he lay in bed. The magistrate : 1 suP.,,r-ed
he was drunk? Prosecutor : Shure an I think it last
likely. Prisoner : What time did you come home
night? Prosecutor : What do you mane by that inlY„"ill
dent inquiry, you omadhawn? What's it to do with r'r
The magistrate: Answer the question. Proseen4if,
Look here, your worship—what's it to do with 'la
Prisoner : Everything, to be shure. Wasn't lin h: `,lo't
half-past eleven o'clock and in a blessed sleep, and di es
you come in at one o'clock and wake are,
up, and ---The magistrate : Now Yon 11
making a statement ; ask him a question ()al
you want to. Prisoner: Well, did I hit :0;1,
Prosecutor :I do not know. The whole lot of you ae,
in and bust up my door just as I was bating my "00,
(Laughter.) The magistrate sent the prisoner off tgo
cells, and gave the prosecutor a lecture. Afterwar
prisoner was brought back and fined 40s. Con'
A STOWAWAY.—A well-dressed foreigner, named witk.
stantine Swavva, has been charged at Liverpoeal edict
being found on board' a steamer from New York. -`-'fixed
not try the usual mode of secreting himself, but Patted
openly as a saloon passenger. Being unable to Pr°ivea
a ticket, he was relegated to the steerage and gr, and
into custody, on arriving in port. He was fined
costs. o_4te
-",
PEE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF DR. WILSO,•„
deposition of Dr. Wilson, who was wounded by his VO.
Wem a few days since, has been taken before the red e°
trate. The doctor said the prisoner and he .a 4
jt
quarrel, and that the youth had all he wished. von,
seems that Dr. Wilson was lying on the sofa a re",
some one entered the room and fired at him witn.,
volver, wounding him in the head. The revolver, t'„,oo,
proved, was taken from a drawer in an upstairs 70
and the prisoner was the only one who had access , nod'
The doctor is in a dangerous state, one of the bad
being extracted.
A FATHER IMPRISONED FOR STARVING HIS CEaryerriaelct
iar
weaver, named Haigh, has been charged at Hudniost_
.„Or
with neglecting to provide food for his child. Se
wife some few years since, and has since 5130'., 04
earnings in drink, neglecting his chadreleper,"
much that the neighbours feared an outbreak of d t.lO,
They accordingly communicated with the police, :i sta_/'
house was inspected. It proved to be in a fearf oloy
and one of the children, five years old., had been ill f°rd aoto'
weeks. The poor little thing had been fed only on boile.ale on
toes,and was mere skin and bone. It lay in a helpless sbdeatili
a miserably dirty bed, and was literally pining t°, seor3
The medical officer, who said it was one of to pre;
cases of neglect he had known, pronounced it be I° cotns,
carious condition. The fatherwas sentenced to six I:4regro
imprisonment, the magistrates expressing their
that they could not inflict a severer sentence. „
novel
STRANGE ACTION FOR DAMAGES.—An action 01 ~t .„
character came before the Glasgow Small Debt
Monday. Mr- Wyndham Clark was engaged
I,T7ahl'cl
George Ware to form one of a concert company.w,';d 1),
to appear in different towns. Mr. Clark was inr-, .are,V
a collision on the Caledonian Railway, and I‘ll-•
being deprived of Mr. Clark's services, raised war' ecn'
against the company, which, however, the Sheriff et b_ae'
not sustain, on the ground that there was no eoni thi""
twcen the pursuer and the railway company, nll
singers could not be classed as servants or chattel.,rs 1)1
An ingenious attempt to defraud paviiihroi`"
atthe
offering in pledge spurious gold chains was expo. elect
Liverpool Police Court. The chains are merely d trie,
plate on German silver. A young woman who
Qin_*,,,itto
to pawn some of the spurious articles was c
far trial,