The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-04 00:00:00

JUNE 4, 1846.

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THE MILITIA.
i
d Ireland,t e
homecircu-
lars issued
reanntidn WaarcnOmffiviceetsin,
completion
dressed to the Lords-Lieutenant of the various counties
the staff and other g
arrangements preparatory to a call-
ing out of the various regiments. A very great degree
of excitement subsequently prevailed throughoutthe
kingdom owing to the dread of the disagreeable
of ballot, but this was quieted by ananswer
l given
the Secretary of War to Mr. Duncombe and
.DBrilgj
to the effect that under no circumstances should the
system of ballot be adopted. The Right Hon. Gentle-
man on the occasion in question added that a new Bill
would shortly be introduced to amend the Act of George
111., cap. 15.
The staffs of the respective regiments have since been
severally filled up; but otherwise the matter was entirely
lost sight of up to a few days since, when the following
circular was made public, being addressed to the colonels
commandant of the various regiments:—
" MILITIA OF GREAT BRITAIN.
" Circula, No. " War office, May i 3.
"Sir—Adverting to my circular letter of the Ist of
December last, respecting the re-formation of the staff
of the -- regiment of militia under your command, I
have now the honour to draw your attention to the fol-
lowing points to be observed in discharging the sergeants
whom you wish to recommend to the commissioners of
Chelsea Hospital for the grant of pension.
" The sergeants who have served uninterruptedly
twenty years as non-commissioned officers, and shall be
certified on their discharges to be sixty years of age and
upwards, will not be required to appear personally before
the commissioners of Chelsea Hospital, but their dis-
charges must be transmitted in the manner hereafter
described.
_ ..!qb.9-_golurnivoners will take the necessary steps. for
apprising you of the day on which the sergeants
whose ages do not amount to sixty years of age, but
whose service and disabilities confer a claim to be
recommended to a pension, shall appear before the board
at Chelsea for medical examination and admission to the
pension list.
" The adjutant or acting adjutant, should be desired
to state,' upon the discharge of every-sergeant-major or
sergeant, the period from and to which he had served in
the various ranks in order that the commissioners may
be enabled to decide with facility upon each claim. These
discharges are to be forwarded in sufficient time to ad-
mit of their examination.

The sergeants are to receive an advance of pay to
enable them to proceed to Chelsea, and a sum sufficient
to enable them to defray the expense of their carriage by
railway at the contract rate for soldiers, &c., as detailed
in the regulations relative to the conveyance of her
Majesty's forces to the station where the board is
held.

" In cases where the head-quarters of a regiment is at
a distance from a railway station, the serjeants will be
granted the usual rate of marching allowance at Is. Id.
per diem for every ten miles travelled on each day.
"The serjeants of the militia in Scotland will begranted
marching money at the rate of sd. per diem for every
ten miles marched to the port at which they will embark
for their destination.

"If a sergeant should be admitted to pension from
Chelsea Hospital, the district paymaster in London may
advance the difference between the daily rate of pension
and the usual marching allowance of ls. 6d. a-day on his
return to the head-quarters of his regiment, or to his
home in the country.
" The district paymaster may also make such advance
as will be necessary until the date of the assembly of
the board, and on the return of the sergeants to the
head-quarters of their regiments and their homes, the
adjutant or acting paymaster will be instructed to reim-
burse the amount so advanced, and charge the same in
his pay lists.

" The sergeants whose claims to pensions shall be re-
jected by the commissioners, will be granted a gratuity
of ninety days' pay on their return to the head-quarters
of their corps, to enable them to return to their homes,
or to find other employment, such gratuity to commence
from the date of the decision of the commissioners, and
the account may be charged in the regimental accounts;
such sergeants shall also be granted a free passage by
railway or steam-vessel, on their return to head-quarters.
"The sergeants who have already been supplied with
clothing from the Ist .April, 1845, for the biennial or
quadrennial periods, will be allowed a compensation of
2s. 6d. or ls. 3d. per month, as the case may be, to 30th
June, 1846, but they will be required to leave their
clothing at the head-quarters of the corps, for the use
of their successors; and at the expiration of the period
above alluded to new clothing will be issued, by which
arrangement the uniformity now existing on this point
will be maintained.

" I have also to observe, that so soon as the notifica-
tion by the commissioners of Chelsea Hospital of the
dates on which the sergeants in question shall have
passed the board, or whose claims to pension shall have
been rejected, shall be signified to you, it will be com-
petent to you, if you think fit, to select from the pension-
ers from the regular army the numbers necessary to
complete the staff to the reduced establishment already
notified, and for which purpose the staff-officers of pen-
sioners in your immediate neighbourhood will be in-
structed to put themselves in communication with and
afford you any information and assistance which you
may require.

" The pay of the sergeant who shall be selected to
complete the establishment will commence on the day on
which they shall join the regiment.
" The clothing left by the discharged sergeants must
be made available for their successors ; when no such
clothing exists, application must be made to this office
for the necessary supply.
" At a future period, however, arrangements will be
made for establishing one uniform period at which such
supplies of clothing shall be delivered.

have the honour to be, your obedient servant,
SIDNEY HERBERT.
"To the Colonel of the Regiment of Militia."
A circular has also been addressed to the colonels of
each of the Irish Militia Regiments, but as it is almost
in every respect of similar effect to the foregoing, its
publication at full length is unnecessary.

HOP INTELLIGENCE.
(From the Maidstone Journal.)
MAIDSTONE.—Our hop bine is still very rank, but in
some places the leaves are rather yellow. The fly and
lice blight is to a greater extent than ever was remem-
bered so early in the season. From the circumstance of
its coming so early, and the barometer standing so high
as it does at present, we are led to hope it may be
favourable to a crop, as a blight this year would not be
of the least use to the:growers, they not having any on
hand, the crops of the last few years not having exceeded
the consumption. There are at present fly in Mid-Kent
to the extent of 40 to 50 on a leaf, and lice beyond num-
ber. The bine in the strong grounds, such as the vine
hills at Farleigh, is in many instances above the tops of
the poles, and the pins are shooting out, as much as we
might expect at the latter end of June. We consider
Mid-Kent at present in a very severe fly and lice blight.
Our reports from the districts around are somewhat
at variance with each other. From Farleigh we learn
that the hops are very healthy and growing most vi-
gorously with a decrease of fly. From Ulcomb, Broom-
field, and the vicinity, a rapid increase of fly, from two or
three ou a leaf on Wednesday to fifty on Friday, and
at the present time our correspondent svgs he never saw
them so thick. The roses and ivv in the same neigh-
bourhood are also completely blighted by the fly.
Otham and Leeds, looking Zell, but a vast quantity of
fly. Brenchley—bine looking tolerably well, but a great
increase of fly. Cranbrook—the bine growing rapidly,
but the fly never known to be so numerous at this season
of the year. Mereworth—the bine growing fast and
looking very promising, but within the last few days
there a good deal of fly has made its appearance.
Tunbridge—looking very well as far as bine goes ;
in some places they are over the tops of the poles.
There is a great deal of flea and fly iu places in
some gardens almost amounting to a blight. The cold
weather and hail storm last week has had very serious
effect on the bine in places in this vicinity. Wrotham,
Plaxtol, and Igtham.—The hop plant in this neighbour-
hood is progressing vigorously, the bine strong and
healthy, fly has made its appearance, in some grounds
very thickly, but not so much so as to create any alarm.
The fly golding has also arrived, and commenced
operations which may possibly have a tendency con-
siderably to counteract the evils to be apprehended from
the fly. Neither the cold east winds nor the insect has
at present retarded the progress of the plant.
The accounts from Sussex represent the plantations
in the neighbourhoods of Hurst Green, Burwash, Sand-
hurst, and the Weald, smothered with fly.
(From the Worcester Journal.)
WORCESTER.—in our last we stated that there was no
appearance of fly in this plantation, but within a few days
the whole district has been attacked in a manner which
has caused a great sensation among the planters as to the
fate of the crop. The oldest growers do not remember such
a sudden visitation as the present, and more particularly
at this early period of the season. These unfavourable ap-
pearances have given life to this market, and caused on Sa-
turday an advance in prices of 4s. to 6s. per cwt., inducing li
several planters and speculators to withdraw their hops
from sale, in anticipation of shortly realising higher rates.
Further accounts have this morning been received from the
different districts of this and the adjoining county, all of
which speak of a very great increase of fly since Satur-
day, in many grounds the bine being literally covered
with insects, with lice and nits innumerable. In conse-
quence of these unfavourable reports our market has
again advanced, prices being full ss. per cwt. higher.
From the lowest tune we quote an advance of nearly 20s.
per cwt. upon all descriptions. Duty is called 12,0001.
Prices this day are about-1845, 51. to 71.; choice, 8/. Bs.
1844, 51. to 6/. 15s. ; choice, 7L 15s. Old hops, 3/. ss. to
61. ; choice, 6/. Ms.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] -DROPSIES.....-ANY CASE OF
DROPSY MAY BE Cram 'BY HOLLOWAY'S PlLlAL—Females at a cer-
tain period of life are subject to this dangerous complaint, which
first makes its appearance by the swelling of the feet, legs, and
hands, and so gradually making strong inroads on the constitution.
Hundreds of dropsical patients, even when their cases are pro-
nounced as hopeless, are cured by taking Holloway's Pills: instanee
Mr. Robinson, the wealthy farmer and grazier at Wootton, Bed-
fordshire (and which at the time was made so public): this gen-
tleman cured himself by Holloway's Pills after he had been told by
his medical attendant that he mild not survive three days.—Sold
by all druggists, and at ?Manor lialoway's Establishment, 244,
strand, London.

PRICE SD.

THE MURDERS BY POISONING
IN NORFOLK.

HAPPISBURGH, TUESDAY MORNING.—A further in-
vestigation into the circumstances attending this re-
volting affair was, at the instance of the Secretary of
State, commenced yesterday morning by Mr. Pil-
grim, the county coroner, at the village of East Ruston,
two miles from this place, on view of the bodies of Martha
William, and Maria Green, grandchildren of the de-
ceased Jonathan Balls, who have, without a doubt, died
from the effects of poison.
The jury, with the coroner, proceeded to the parish
churchyard to view the bodies, which had been exhumed
about an hour previously. The children having been in-
terred by the side of each other, their coffins were with-
, out much trouble found. The boy had been buried in a
parish coffin,
with the parish brand, the others were of
village make, and were spoken with certainty. The
melancholy ceremony having been gone through,
The CORONER addressed the jury, and very much re-
gretted the shocking affair that had brought them toge-
ther, and the circumstances that attended it. He thought
the step taken by Sir James Graham was one that had
given general satisfaction, and the gentleman whom the.
Secretary of State had sent down had been most active
and persevering in collecting, such facts as would tend to
clear up the mystery attending the deaths. The affair
ought to have been investigated before, and he could not
help thinking that, if an inquiry had taken place at the
death of the first child, it would have saved the lives of
many others who have been sacrificed.

Mrs. Green, daughter of the deceased Jonathan Balls,
repeated in substance the evidence she gave on the occa-
sion of her former examination. She more particularly
spoke of the suspicious circumstances attending the
death of her eldest child, Maria, which happened nine
or ten years ago, after she had been at her father's house
only a shoit time, and when the child died she was not
informed of it. Witness also dwelt upon the facts at-
tendant upon the death of the other children ; these
have been already reported. She said she was much
shocked and confounded by these deaths, but never
thought that her own father could have done such
things.
Rosanna Peggs, wife of Bartholomew Peggs, of Hap-
pisburgh, deposed that she recollected the deceased child,
Maria Green, being at her grandfather's house for more
than a week. She saw the child on the Sunday before
it died. Balls came and asked her if she would go to
his house, for ho thought the child was dying. She
went directly, and it had almost expired. She took it
up in her arms, and after a struggle it died. Balls said
it had eaten a hearty breakfast. She thought it strange
that a child in good health should die so suddenly, and
she told him so. He made no remark ; but when Mrs.
areen came he seemed rather confused. The death was
not talked of in the village particularly. The child had
no fever.
By the Coroner—She knew Balls' daughter that died.
She was very ill, but did not know if she died suddenly.
She was married. The child died in two or three days:
and the daughter in nine weeks.
Mrs. Green was recalled, and spoke to the ill-treat-
ment her sister experienced before she died. Her mo-
ther never liked Lacey, her sister's husband. Before
she died she wished to say a few words, but she had
not strength. There were a number of black marks on
her body. Her father and Lacey were friendly. The
latter was still living. She believed his ill treatment
was the cause of her death.

The Coroner observed that it was an extraordinary
thing that, although there was so much talk about this
poor woman's death, no inquiry should take place. It
was a very bad and shocking case. He would have the
body disinterred in the course of the following morn-
ing, and ascertain what state it was in.
The jury then adjourned for half an hour, and, on re-
assembling, it was announced that the surgeons had only
examined the body of Ataria Green, the child that had
been buried ten years, and they had discovered the pre-
sence of poison. This is the body of the child on which
an inquest was held at the time of death, but on which
there was no internal examination. The surgeons had
not proceeded with the other two, and the coroner deter•
mined on adjourning the inquiry until the next morning
at nine o'clock.

The Coroner afterwards proceeded to Ingham, where
he gave orders fur the child of Peggs, who alsu died sus-
piciously, to be disinterred.

The Whole of the cases will be taken on Tuesday, at
the Happisburgh-hill House.

H tPPISBURGFI, WEDNESDAY MOANING.—The inquiry WA
resumed yesterday morning at the Harbro' Hill House of this
village, before the same coroner and jury.
According to the instructions of the coroner the remains of
Maria Lacey were exhumed, but the body was quite decayed.
The body of the child, Hannah Peggs, was disinterred on the
previous evening at Hingham. The skeleton only remained.
The jury being duly empannelled to inquire into the cause of
the death of Maria Lacey and Hannah Peggs, the following
evidence was taken :
Elizabeth Peggs, daughter of the late Jonathan Balls,
deposed that she had seen the coffins and knew one to be
her deceased sister's and the other her child's. The latter
had been buried about seven years. It was first taken ill at
her house. It was In the habit of going to Its grandfather's
house all day long, while she was out at work. On Saturday
the 7th of June, 1839, the child came home unwell and died
on the following Friday. It was sick just before it died.
The old man (Balls) only came to witness's house once before
the child died, at least, after being attacked, and that was
on the day it died. It expired about five minutes after he
arrived. Witness was with him all the time. She had no
reason to suppose it died from any other than natural causes.
She thought it had the small-pox. An inquest was held on
the body. Mr. Clowes, the surgeon, attended, and witness
considered that it died of the small-pox.
By the CORONER—She never purchased any poison nor
did she ever see any—remembered being taken ill just before
her sister died. That was about eleven years smce. She
was seized in a field and was violently sick. Had not been
to her father's shortly before, nor did she recollect her father
coming to her house. Mr. Dicks attended her first ; Mr.
Hewet, after. She thought it was the fever.
By the jury—Did not say that she could have transported
her father years ago if she had liked.
Witness was further examined as to the death of her
sister's infant, but proved nothing material. Of her sister
she said they all thought she died from the lying-in and
from the blow. Mr. Dicks attended her. Witness did
not tell Mr. Dicks anything about it. She did not hear that
her sister was beaten at Happisburgh fair. She was there
just before she died. Did not hear Lacey say if his wife got
better he would use her worse than ever he did. Had seen
him treat her kindly.
Mary Green said her father proposed the marriage between
her sister and Lacey, because her sister was in the family way
by him. Her father promised to give them some things, but
did not. Lacey used to " cheek" her about it. Witness was
at the death of her sister Her further evidence was quite
immaterial.
Ann Lawson, wife of George Lawson, labourer at Happis-
bugh, on being sworn, stated that she had known the de-
ceased Mrs. Lacey before she was married. Did not know
what became of the child that was born about a year after
marriage. Witness visited her when she was dying. Wit-
ness, on laying her out, noticed a mark on her body. It ap-
peared like a kick, almost like a blow from the toe of a shoe.
She did not know if any doctor attended her.
The investigation was adjourned with a view of hearing
the result of the medical examination of the remains of the
deceased.

ACTION ON THE