The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-27 00:00:00

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE AT POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
THE VICTORIA THEATRE. GUILDHALL.
LOSS OF TWO LIVES. John Nicholson, a servant in the employment of Mr.
Last night a catastrophe occurred at the Victoria Jones, of Mark-lane, wine and spirit merchant, was
Theatre, by which two lives were lost and many persons brought up in custody of William Edmunds, No. 528,
seriously injured. Many exaggerated statements were on the charge of having in his possession three bottles
in circulation, and owing to the great confusion which of wine and two bottles of brandy, supposed to bo stolen.
prevailed in the neighbourhood it was impossible, until a From the statement of the officer, it appeared that
1
late hour, to obtain anything ;like correct particulars. about twelve o'clock on Christmas-day he met the pri-
The following account was obtained at ten o'clock last sonar, whom he had known for some time, in Mark-
night from parties who were eye-witnesses of the melan- lane, and they wished each other a merry Christmas.
choly event, and who were at that time lying in the sur- The prisoner then said he was going to the warehouse to
gery of Mr. Sewell, in the New-cut. feed the cat, and after that he was to take any letters
It appears that during the afternoon an immense num. that had arrived to his master at Hackney, which he
ber of persons hadcongregated at the gallery door of the thought very hard on such a day. They parted, and
theatre, anxious to see the pantomime, and the instant some time afterwards he again met the prisoner near the
the place was opened a general rush to the top of the same place, and observed a bottle sticking out of his
gallery-stairs took place. The consequence was, that in pocket, upon which he said that he thought he had been
a few seconds the entire stairs were crowded with men, feeding himself as well as the cat, and insisted upon
women, and children. :For some time they remained seeing the contents of his pockets. The prisoner re-
packed together without evincing any riotous disposition, plied that he had only two bottles of wine, which his
but at length they felt the inconvenience of being master had given him on Saturday for Christmas-day,
so closely wedged together that they could scarcely but that he was unable to take them home before as he
breathe, and the parties on the upper part of the was out with the cart till late in the evening. On
stairs made an effort to get out, when the weaker being searched at the station five bottles were found in
portion were thrown down and trampled upon. The his possession, two of them containing brandy and three
cries of "murder" and " save, oh! save us," at this pe- wine. At his house in Plummers-mews, in the Mi-
riod became most appalling. Those who were at the nories, he found fifteen bottles more of white wine,
bottom of the stairs, not liking to lose the position they &c., six of which his wife said he had brought home that
had taken, refused to move an inch backwards. The morning.
crowd above cried as loud as they were able to those be- Mr. Jones said he certainly gave the prisoner two
low to let them get down, but without avail, when all of bottles to keep the Christmas. Some of the bottles pro-
a sudden the pressure from above forced those below duced had the seal cut off, and others were corked in a
against the hand rail, which gave way, and about 30 very hasty manner. There were no marks to identify
persons were thrown down upon the crowd standing them, but the affair was one of great suspicion. Last
there. week there was some deficiency in a quantity of brandy
At that time the clearance of the lower stairs caused which went to a lady, but although inquiry had been
those above to descend; a general movement from the made on the subject nothing transpired to cast suspicion
top to the lower part of the stairs followed, and two on the prisoner.
persons were thrown down and trampled upon at the Alderman GIBBS remanded him until Friday, to give
landing, just above the spot where the handrail was the officer an opportunity of making further inquiries.
forced down. William Morcomb, of 12, Earl-street, John's-row, St.
One or two men who were on the stairs, on seeing the Luke's, and Robert Land, of 74, Britannia-terrace, City-
people fainting from the want of air, handed them down road, were placed at the bar before Mr. Alderman Gibbs,
as well as they were able, and they estimated the num- under the followin circumstances :
ber thus rescued at nearly 30. They were forthwith Mr. Michael Garrod, of the firm of Kent and Co., of
taken to Mr. Sewell's surgery, when it was found that Falcon-street, hardware and brush manufacturers, said
two of the unfortunate sufferers were quite dead. They he gave the prisoners into custody for having tried to
were both lads, apparently about the ages of fifteen and rob his bristle warehouse by means of a false key, made
sixteen. They were forthwith removed to the vaults of from an impression taken in soap from the proper key.
St. John's Church, to be identified. Thos. Felstead, 13, Camera-street, King's road,Chelsea,
The other sufferers were also taken to Mr. Sewell's said that he was a weaver, and had been occasionally ems
surgery, and were attended to by that gentlemen, and ployed at Messrs. Kent and Co.'s for some months. A little
also by Mr. Brookes and Mr. Fairbrother, two other time back he went into the shop where Morcomb was at
surgeons living in the vicinity. Every assistance was work, to see if there was anything for him to do, when
rendered to the parties, two of whom were sent home, that person said he should like to open the door of the
although suffering from severe bruises. Two others, at overseer's room, and asked him if he could not make a
ten o'clock, were still at Mr. Sewell's, one suffering trom something to effect that object. Witness replied that
concussion of the brain, and in great danger. he could, coinciding in the idea, for the purpose of as-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DECEASED. certaining what plan was laid for robbing the premises,
A lad, apparently about fifteen years of age, dressed and who were in it. He called again, afew days after,
in black coat lined with plaid, black waistcoat, light when he was asked. by Morcomb if he had made it, and
brown hair, and of fair complexion. A youth, about receiving a reply in the negative, he was then informed
fourteen years of age, light brown hair, fair complexion, that he need not trouble himself, as Land had taken a
dressed in cord jacket and trousers, red velveteen waist- pattern in soap, and was going to get a key made. He
coat, pale French white silk handkerchief, and Blucher saw the impression' on the soap. In about three days he
boots. called again, when Morcomb produced the key, and re-
quested him to go and try it, to which he consented,
with the intention of giving it to the overseer, but he
happened to be out at the time. He returned the key
without trying it, but Morcomb found it would not do.
On Friday last he made another call, when Morcomb
said, " I can't make that thing do," adding, " just can't
you?" After that they bad a quarrel, and thinking he
should hear no more about it, he mentioned the affair to
another man, who at once informed Mr. Garrod of what
had been going on.
Mr. M. Garrod said that, on receiving the above infor-
mation, he at first sent for Land, and told him that if he
would give up the key he would let him go. He said
that he had not got it. Morcomb was then called down
and asked to produce the key, when he stoutly denied all
knowledge of it, until confronted with both Land and
Felstead, and then he said that if he was allowed to de-
part he would go and fetch it. He (Mr. Garrod) told
Morcomb that if he would tell where it was to be found
he would go himself for it;
_but he refused to do so, and
both prisoners were given into custody. He wished for
a remand, as he was convinced there were more parties
implicated in this conspiracy.
Alderman GIBBS asked the prisoners if they wished
to say anything ? Land—Why the fact is, Felstead was
the first person who proposed to rob the premises, and
said, "He could make two keys of wire, one to open the
door, and the other to lock it."
Felstead—No, you were the first who thought of it.
Land—You were the proposer.
Morcomb declined making any remark.
Alderman Goons remanded them until Thursday.
WORSHIP-STREET.

LIST OF THE INJURED.

Leonard Tutchin, of 33. Causton-street, 11,Pgent-street,
Westminster, severely injured—lying at Mr. Sowell's
surgery.
Henry Frazer, Providence-yard, Vauxhall-bridge-
road, seriously injured, with concussion of the brain—
lying at Mr. Sewell's.

Henry Neat, 97, Whickam-street, Vauxhall—slightly
injured, and sent home.
George Astell, 3, John's place, White Horse-street—
severely injured, and sent home.

There were several other persons who were hurt, bu
they were taken home by their friends.

LATEST PARTICULARS.
MELTE o'CLock.—Since the above was written, the
boy Leonard Tutchin, who is still lying in Mr. Sewell's
surgery, has made a statement, which, if true, goes a
great way to criminate one or more persons as having
caused the catastrophe. Ho informed the reporter, and
also Mr. Fairbrother, that whilst he was on the stairs,
Bear the money- taker's box, the parties standing near
him were amusing themselves by elbowing and squeez-
ing the persons in advance of them, so as to prevent
their moving either backwards or forwards. Not
content with so doing, they kept up a continued
shower of orange-peel and other things until the
shouts of the people became quite deafening. He
begged of the parties to let him pass, as ho felt the heat
so oppressive, but they refused, and kept pushing him
first in one direction and then in another. At length
he offered one man, whom he says he should know again,
sixpence if he would let him pass, but the only reply he
made was the following, "No, you are here, and we shall
wedge you up as close as we can." Ile (the lad) then
screamed out murder, when one of the men laid hold of
him under the arms, and, having lifted him up, threw
him over the rails on the heads of the people below.
He fell upon those on the lower landing, when one of
them, a lad, cried out, " Oh, I am killed," and never
spoke afterwards. He saw the person lying on the floor,
with blood coming from his nose, but he was unable to
assist ;aim in the least, or to help himself. Some one
came and pulled hint off the boy and removed him to
that house (Ur. Sewell's). He cannot tell what object
the man could have had in throwing him upon the
people below, unless it was to injure either them or him.
Up to the present time neither of the two bodies lying
in the vaults of the church have been identified, although
numerous persons, whose children were known to be in
the theatre have been to see them. The state of the
parties who have been th-.,re was pitiable in the extreme.
S ,rne of them have be ic;ed the church doors, and with
cries have lamented the untimely loss of their supposed '
children, and could not 1/3 satisfied that they were mis-
taken until they had seen the bodies.

Edwin Davis:a man of rather stylish appearance, was
placed at the bar before Mr. Hammill, charged with
having feloniously received a quantity of woollen cloth
and numerous articles of haberdashery, the property of
Mrs. Catherine Standon, an outfitter at Oxford.
It appeared from the evidence that about three months
since a young man named Samuel Marshall was engaged
by the prosecutrix in the capacity of shopman, and it
having be en recently discovered that he had carried on-
a systematic course of robbery almost since the first day
he had entered her service, ho was given into custody,
and subsequently consigned to Oxford gaol to await his
trial. Upon searching his papers, a number of letters
were discovered amongst them, addressed to him by the
prisoner Davis, urging him to transmit to him various
articles in clothing, which were particularly specified,
and a large parcel, containing a paletot and other
property, so directed by Marshall, having been
stopped in transitu, Mr. Nicholls, the manager of the
establishment, immediately posted to town, and proceeded
on Saturday night, with the officers Fitzgerald and
Gill ,rd, to the prisoner Davis's house, in Duke-street
Spitaltiglds. Upon asking the prisoner whether he had
recently received any parcels from the country, he re-
plied not, but afterwards acknowledged that several had
been sent to him from Oxford, containing various pro-
perty, no part of which, except a satin scarf, remained in
his possession. On searching the house, however, they
discovered, besides the scarf is question, which was
valued at a guinea, a number of silk and cambric hand-
kerchiefs, articles of wearing apparel, and a remnant of
cloth, the whole of which were identified by Mr. Nicholls
as forming part of the property stolen from his em-
ployer's premises. A large packet of letters was also
found, relating to the different consignments, in the
handwriting of Marshall, and in answer to correspond-
ing ones from Davis, which wero taken from the former
at the time of hts apprehension. Amongst the letters
in the prisoner's handwriting, addressed to Mar-
shall, and produced by the foreman, was one ,which,
after adverting to a previous proposal to send him some-
thing for Christmas, proceeded in these words:—" Yon
are poking your kindness again upon me, my boy, but
I will not tax your generosity so much this time. You
write me that you are sticking it into the Oxford trades-
men. That's right, my buy, keep up your dignity at
their expense; gentlemen like ycu can't, of course, be
expected to wear shabby clothes. But I'll tell you what
you can do for me;"—and the letter then wound up with
a request .hat he would send him a paletot and other
articles, which exactly tallied with the contents of the
parcel above referred to as having been intercepted in its
course to the prisoner's address in town.
A pair of gold shirt-links, valued at a guinea, but
which had been pledged by the prisoner Davis for Bs.,
were produced by the shopman of Mr. Barker, a pawn-
broker in lleundsditch, and were also identified by Mr.
Nicholls, as the property of the prosecutrix.
Mr. Pelham, on behalf of the prisoner, submitted
that the evidence in identification 'of the property was
of too loose and unsatisfactory a character to justify a
committal; but
Mr. IlAmmux considered that the ownership and un-
lawful possession had been fully established, and there-
fore ordered the prisoner to be conveyed forthwith to
Oxford, in the custody of the officers, to undergo his
trial before the local authorities.
MARY LEB ONE.

Upon making inquiries at the residences of the other
sufferers, it was ascertained that, es far as Henry Neat
was concerned, nothing fatal need be apprehended, his
injuries consisting of severe bruises, no bones being
broken. George Astell was much injured, but nut.
fatally. Henry Sewell was, however, lying in Mr.
Sewell's private parlour, still in a very precarious con-
dition. The other boy, Leonard Tutchin, had so tar ral-
lied as to be able to sit up and relate the circumstances
connected with the occurrence.

Mr. Fairbrother, surgeon, of the London-road, who
was passing at the moment of the calamity, says, that he
has not the least doubt but that the two lads died from
suffocation, and not from being precipitated from the
upper part of the stairs. The appearance of the mouth,
nose, and eyes of each, warrants him in coming to that
conclusion.

Too much praise cannot be awarded to Mr. Sewell,
who for several hours had his regular business sus-
pended, in order that ho might attend upon the
sufferers, who found a welcome asylum in his private
parlour. _ _

The following is a copy of the official report of the
disaster furnished by 111 r. Fairbrother

" A terrible catastrophe occurred at the Victoria
Theatre last evening, by which two lads lost their lives;
and many were seriously injured.
" There had boen daring the afternoon a great num•
ber of people assembled to obtain an entrance into the
gallery of the theatre, and long before the hour of com-
mencement the stairs were crowded in every part.
" According to the best information which can be
obtained, there is no doubt that great confusion existed,
and many felt so inconvenienced as to be anxious to ob.
tain fresh air, but were unable to more from their posi-
tion. Wedged in, the crowd became unruly, and the
weaker portion were thrown down and trmpled on.
" At the landing on the staircase the crowd was so
great as to cause the death of two boys, and four others
were carried to the surgery of Mr. Sewell, in the Lower
Marsh, who, conjointly with Mr. Fairbrother and Mr.
Brookes, rendered every assistance to the living, two of
whom were sent home, although suffering from severe
bruises. One of the others remaining is suffering from
concussion of the brain, and is in great danger."

Suimanck.—lt is our melancholy duty to an-
nounce the loss of another fine vessel on the hanks at
the mouth of our river, which took place on Wednesday
morning last. This vessel is a Prussian hailing from
the port of Rostock, and was only launched about six
weeks ago at Memel, from which place she was bound
to Dundee with a cargo of timber, &c., principally, we
believe, for the purpose of being coppered with the view
of proceeding for Buenos Ayres. The vessel's name is
the Johann Freidrick, and the captain's H. D. Bradher-
ing, whose property she is, and we are sorry to say that
not a penny of insurance is effected upon her. It was
about seven o'clock in the morning when the vessel
went on the Elbow End; and there being nothing very
remarkable in the proper channel of the river, the wind
being favourable and several other vessels coming up
at the time, conjecture was rife as to what had occa-
sioned the unfortunate mishap. We may mention that
to
the
take captain him
of blamesself.essas the pilot, as being unqualified
charge il. About four hours after the
y the
Johann Freidrick grounded, the crew (fourteen in num-
ber), including the master and pilot,weretaken off b
lire-boat, a very heavy sea breaking over the ship at the
time.—Dundee Advertiser.

A young man, who gave his name Thomas Pheny, was
placed at the bar before Mr. Broughton, charged with
having uttered counterfeit coin, and it is supposed that
he is connected with others who for some time past have
gone about defrauding tradespeople in various parts of
the town.
It appeared from the evidence which was gone into,
that one day last week the prisoner went into the house
of Mrs. Humphreys, who keeps a small coffee-shop
near the Euston station of the London and North-
Western Railway, and there called for a cup of
coffee, far which he paid with a piece purporting to
be a crown, and which was put away by the poor woman,
who was anxious to make up her quarter's rent. A night
or two afterwards he had a cup of tea and bread and butter,
for which he paid with a coin resemblieg a half-sovereign,
and ho then received as change 9s. 9d. On Friday
night last he came in a different attire, and asked for a
cup of coffee, which was immediately given to him, and
upon this occasion the prosecutrix also gave him change
for a half-sovereign, and amongst the silver which she
handed to him was three half-crowns. He returned to
her one of them which he said was bad, and she gave
another in exchange, upon which he went away. She
then examined a bag, in which she kept her money, and
ascertained that in it were a crown piece and four half-
sovereigns all of them counterfeits. On the next day
(Saturday) ;the prisoner again attempted to pass off a
t_thpee
wasr o t
hu s
ehhalf-sovereigngiveninto
custody.in theT
same
w owoafy
the
e h before,al
half-sove-
reigns oavned.
ris prisoner,
him n
reigns produced and the crown piece were distinctly
traced to the
end
rme of whose companions had
no doubt leagued
histl nll Tehfaurrisdouasyp. rac tices.
The prisoner was
remanded
Mr. George Wail, 9, Trer-sipAeclblitearlSe:looking man advanced
valuabnlgeconcerned with others
in years, was charged with
Coto., the extensive upholsterers of
oi nf stealing four
ruopei pieces
damask, the property
oartriesated a man,
the Bazaar, Portman-square.
On Thursday week Cobley, 6,5 IKwil
named Arment, in Whitethapel
• Te of damask, of which he could give noa satisfactory
account. pit
account. The constable, after much labour, disco;r'
that the damask belonged to Messrs. Druce and 'Cod
who bad lost fromseveral
other
their stock
also found that three of these pieces had been sold to
Mr. Jackson, an upholsterer in Sboreditch, at a very
low price, and another piece to an upholsterer named
Carter, in the Minories ; and though the private marks
had been cut off they were recognised by the maker as
well as by Mr. Tray, who conducts the business for
Messrs. Druce. When Arment was at this court on
Saturday, Mr. Ballantine, the barrister, who was
engaged by Messrs. Druce to conduct the prose-
cution, said his clients were resolved to institute
a strict inquiry into the whole affair. It was
then ascertained that Wall had sold one of the pieces
for Arment to Jackson, and Cobley arrested him on
Sunday last at 42, Charles-street, Hoxton, where he
appeared to be living in a very respectable style. He
admitted having sold the piece of damask for Arment to
Jecksen, buts it appeared that be only acted in pia

ISLE of MAN.—Dr. Bowring has taken his leave
of the inhabitants of the Isle of Man in the following
short address:—" Public duty calls me to a distant re-
gion, where I shall be no longer able to render you
those services which, on various occasions, you have
been so good as to deem worthy your acceptance. My
regret at leaving my native country would be greatly
heightened had I not the conviction that you will find
advocates quite as able, but certainly none more zealous,
to promOte your interests, to represent your grievances,
to assist in their removal, and generally to advance the
happiness and prosperity of the island. I certainty's:lid
hope that it would have been my happiness to have seen
established among you a representative and responsible
legislature; and that the rights and privileges, the pos-
session of which ought to be every man's inheritance,
would ere now have beEn secured to you and yours; but
that which is delayed is not, therefore, unattainable; and
while watching, as I shall watch, with. interest and
anxiety, the tendencies of the world towards improve-
ment, I shall hope to see the Isle of Man progressinr
rapidly in a career of social, commercial, and political
ad van rem e u t. "—Liverpool Alcrcury,

gentleman, the
On Thursday afternoon, while a
brother of a resident clergyman of this city, was paying
a short visit at the house of a relative, in Holywell-
street, a fly drove up to the door, and four men rushed
in, accompanied and directed by the father of the vic-
tim, seized him by main force, dragged him, notwith-
standing the agonizing shrieks ofhisiwife, into a fly, and
conveyed him to the Lunatic Asylum at Ileadington.
On Saturday afternoon his wife went to the asylum and
demanded her husband's release, when the unfortunate
prisoner was taken in a carriage to his own residence in
this city. From information we have received no blame
attaches to the authorities at the asylum, and, indeed,
the 'unfortunate individual speaks in the highest terms
of the treatment he ore; with tbere,—(4rord Chmicle,