The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-02 00:00:00

DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM.

On Tuesday last one of those fearful hailstorms, ac-
companied with thunder and lightning, which have
lately proved so destructive in various parts of the
country, broke immediately over the boundary line be-
tween the counties of Nottingham and Derby, on the Ere-
wash line of railway. Shortly after three o'clock in the
afternoon two heavy clouds, one from the south and the
other from the south-east, met apparently just over the
village of Sawley, and immediately afterwards large hail-
stones, mingled with heavy drops of rain, fell in torrents,
deluging the streets, and beating down the crops in the
neighbourhood. Four yearling calves, the property of
Mr. Parkinson, were killed by a flash of lightning; and
the electric fluid passed down the chimney of a cottage,
shattered to splinters some beadsteads that stood in the
corner of a room, broke all the windows in the place,
and caused other considerable damage. At the neigh-
bouring Villages of Sandiacre, Breaston, and Wilsthorpe,
the storm was equally violent, five cows, also the pro-
perty of Mr. Parkinson, being killed. At Draycot,
the lightning killed a fat cow belonging to Mr. Tim-
son, and a vivid flash darting down a chimney in the
house of Mr. Smith, butcher, set a bed on fire. At
Samliacre, 9 acres of grass land, never before under water,
were inundated; and at Stapleford a valuable young
cow, belonging to Mr. Burton, farmer, was destroyed by
lightning. At Cuckney, near Worksop, a village some
miles further in the north, a servant employed by Mr. G.
Swift, of Norton, was holding her hand on the door-latch
of Mr. Smith's house, when she was struck by the electric
fluid ; she became insensible, and was unable to speak until
the following morning, but is now partially recovered.
On the London-road, near Cavendish-bridge, a horse,
which was drawing a chaise containing a lady and gen.
tleman, was struck by lightning, its eye was burst, and
its forelegs were broken. The animal was immediately
shot; the persons in the chaise sustained no injury. The
water in the Trent, near Long Eaton, rose three feet
during the storm, but subsided to its former level soon
after the hail and rain had ceased falling.

i°a":1; ;hraei
~The agrmt replied that he was not. in a position to
nilLyaolfiitlthoefeurtAleiweveiirdELTl;en: in support of the petitioner's
eststs, and therefore he trust leave the matter alto,gether
•
this case was stich that
he saidrto
riot advise
itshee
tehveiid: evidence in
Lord-
ships to give their assent to the second reaiiing of this
btd,
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e
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labour,
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former C o Counsel whoy h d
misunderstoodi ttl a t do2s se d • theirwhat
stget
h.duiaintrcCet
required
thatishraeetull•
I slon in his conduct. His Lordship went threugh the evi-
dence, which has already appeared in our columns, and
then said that the proof was defective in more than one
respect. In the first place, the petitioner vras bound to
give reasonable evidence that there had barn no collu-
sion; that. be had not done. It was •diffi;ult for their
13.7rdehipa.ta understand how it had happened_ that he
had sent money—Awo miserable sums, of Ave pounds—
towards his, wife's maintenance, stisro9glikt.be hands of
the very, pars= . to_ av hoot, ha htaapates4 e adultery.,
Wve ietterneitivietibn their. Lords ips might have arrived
a%s to the conduct of Mrs. Llewellyn, anbsequently to,
th-e separation, there was no direct evidence to show
that any act of adultery had been committkl prior to the
separation, however much their Lordships might be in-
clined to arrive at the opinion that, such act had been
committeth.
.The Petitioner had failed to give any suffi-
cient evidence as to the cause of separation, evidence
which he ought to have adduced at the bar of the House.
It had been said, it was true, that Mr: and Mrs. Lle-
wellyn had been heard to quarrel, but it had not
been suggested that the cause of quarrel hid been
owing to the supposition on the part of the pe-
titioner of the misconduct of his wife. It might,
too, be asked ' how it was that Mr. Lle-
wellyn had been absent from home at the time that his
wife had left his house. It appeared that after Mrs.
Llewellyn had gone away he had returned, bat it did
not appear that he had made any inquiry as to what had
become of her, nor that he had made provision for her.
Evidence ought, to have been given on these points. It
unfortunately happened that upon the evidence of proof
this case was totally denuded of all those circumstances
which their Lordships invariably considered necessary
to be placed before them, in order to induce them to
grant a bill of divore. When the husband sought so
solemn a relief as that of a divorce from his wife, and
leave to marry again, it was absolutely incumbent upon
him to offir the best evidence of the grounds on which
he sought to obtain that relief. It had been stated on
behalf Qf the petitioner that he was unable to offer any
further evidence. No doubt it was a matter of regret
that a gentleman should be tied to a lady whose conduct
clearly, subsequent to the separation, did not entitle her
to the position of wife; but still the evidence of the
adultery prior to that time was not enough. Under these
circumstances he should move that the second reading
of the Bill be taken on that day six months.
The question having been put,
The motion that the Bill be read a second time this
day six months was agreed to.
The Bill is therefore lost.

VICE-CHANCERY COURT, Aug. 1.
(Before • Sir J. KNIGHT BRUCE.)
MURRAY V. INGRAM'.

This motion again came before the Court to-day, when
the defendant submitted to the injunction. The defendant,
through his counsel, stated that he had caused the two
volumes of Boswell's Life of Johnson to be examined by
his friend, Dr. Mackay, and he had found that the par-
ties he had employed to annotate the work had availed
themselves of Mr. Croker'a labours in a manner which
he never would have sanctioned bad he had the slightest
idea of the fact, and that when he ascertained the fact
he immediately intimated to Mr. Murray his intention
not to offer the slightest opposition to the motion for an
injunction.

Mr.RussELL and Mr. COLE, for Mr. Murray, stated
that ha was quite satisfied Mr. Ingram was ignorant of
there being any cause for complaint; and also that Mr.
Murray had much pleasure iu stating that Mr. Ingram
had met the case in the fairest and moat candid manner.
His Hortoun accordingly made the order in the terms
prayed for.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
ivE,S TE RN CIRCUIT.—ExeIer, July 31.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice CoLERIDGE.)

CHARGE: OF WILFUL MURDER.--TiliS was the day
for the trial of William Rowe for the murder of John
Bunker, and the court was thronged with people
anxious to get a sight of the prisoner.
The trial lasted two days.
The Clerk of Arraigns delivered the abstract of the
indictment as follows:—" William Rowe, you are in-
dicted for the wilful murder of John Bunker, at the pa-
rish of Brixton, on the 4th of March last, by tying and
fastening a rope about his neck, thereby strangling and
suffocating him. There are other counts in tee indict-
ment varying the charge. Are you guilty or not guilty?"
The prisoner, in a firm voice—Not at all guilty, my
Lord.

Mr. COLLIER, on the part of the Crown, stated the
case. The deceased, John Bunker, was eighteen years
of age, and a farm servant, living with a Mr. Rowe, a
wealthy farmer of Halwell Farm. in the parish of Brix-
ton, in the county of Devon. Mr. Rowe has a house
and farm-yard. In the farm-yard opposite to the house
is a stable, on the opposite side of the yard where
the carts are kept. On the ether side of the yard
are some pent houses and shipper]. Immediately out-
side the yard runs the public road, and to the right of the
road is an orchard called Pond Orchard. On the 7th
of March last, Bucker, the deceased, got up at his usual
hour, was sent upon an expedition to carry
lime, har-
nessed his horses to the cart, lit his pipe, and proceeded
on his journey.
Ho was at that time in perfect health.
The family of Mr. Rowe c.easistsd of himself, an old
man of eighty years of age, two sons, John and Wil-
liam, William being the prisoner at the bar; a daughter,
Jane; a female servant, Hannah Couch; lcur boys—
Bunker, eighteen years old; Vincent, fourteen; and two
other little boys, James and Stevens, ten years d age.
Bunker started off at about a quarter before six; be-
tween ten and eleven o'clock ho was found in the orchard
dead, stiff, and cold. He was found tied to the centre
limb of the tree. A rope was fastened round his neck, '
and also round the branch by a single half-bitch knot.
The knot round his neck was called a bowling knot. He
was found with both his legs on the ground—one under
the other, and resting on the ground, and both his hands
on the ground. lie was found in a sitting posture and
almost, but not quite touching the ground—and he was
stiff and cold, indicating that ho had been suspended
for some considerable time. His hands and
legs were on the ground, and it seems al-
most impossible for him to have strangled him-
self without a very determined resolution to keep
his hands in front of him, for ho had nothing to do
but put his hands on the ground and free himself from
the pressure of the rope. Thera was no fall from a
height, which might have dislocated his neck or pro-
duced sudden insensibility. It is not likely or probable
that he would have been hung up higher and slipped
down, for this was au old apple-tree, covered with moss,
which shows where the rope was tied round the branches,
but which presents no indications of its having been tied
higher up, and slipped down. The crown of the boy's
head was about a foot from the fork of the tree. The
legs where he was hung hardly touched the ground—
one leg was under the other, the right leg a little across
the left leg; the right leg was lying upon the ground,
and the knees just touching the ground. The horse and
cart were found fastened to a gate in the road near the
orchard. The boy's cap and whip were found at a little
distance from the tree. Some blood was seen on his
hand and also on his temple, where there was a severe
blow, such as would have been produced by a fist, and
would have produced insensibility. There were marks
of two or three other blows on his body. There were
patches of road dirt on the knees of his trowsers and on
' his hands, indicating that he had been down on his
hands and knees. The grass in the orchard was
short and Would not receive the print of footsteps, or
make any dirt upon the clothes. The apple tree
was covered with moss. There was the mark of a
rope round the centre limb, and also round the fork
of the tree. Tho moss indicated that on the side
of the tree where Bunker's body was found the
moss seemed to have been pulled upwards 4 and on the
opposite side to have been pulled downwards. There
were some excrescences, or " nobs," on the tree, to
which human hair like that of the deceased was found
attached. The hair was found lower than where the
head was found, which, with the marks on the moss,
went to indicate that the body (whether before or after
death) was drawn up from the ground, and suspended to
the tree. There were no marks of blows on the boy when
he left the farm. Ho went away at a quarter before six,
and between half-past six and seven o'clock screams were
heard by three witnesses at Chittleburee. All tho wit-
nesses described the sounds as shrieks or screams which
a person would utter in a violent struggle with another,
or which a lad would raise if being violently ill-treat, d.
It was quite clear that there was a violent struggle going
on at that time and place, fur all the witnesses thought
the screams proceeded from the wood, or from Pond Or-
chard, which was in the same direction. It was an un-
frequented neighbourhood, and they had been unable
to find out that a struggle was going on aey where else.
The shrieks did not last but a few seconds—not half a
minute. 'l'wo unbroken eggs were found in his pocket,
which might have been put there to suggest the idea
of the boy's having committed suicide; but from the
position of his hands he might have removed the pres-
sure of the rope by merely putting them forward.
The medical evidence stated that there could be no

doubt but that the boy died from strangulation, and
that a person strangling himself would only be able to
make a gurgling noise, and not such a shriek as de-
scribed. It was proved by footmarks that the prisoner
was the only person in the orchard on that day. On
being questioned as to the fact, heat first said he had
not been therefor a fortnight, and then remembered
that ho had been there on the Wednesday, but rain had
Hien since then, and th 4 footmarks must have been
m ids within 24 hours of the time of the murder. .Some
of the prisoner's footsteps were also seen when the
hire and cart were • fsst,nel, and also some in;ide the
orchard gate. 1.1!Oud. hod exuded from the boy's nose,
a:.','Urit ltl'edor this there was
ao;inig thhePartb‘ Le had
°"er
been
Beofft.
killing sheep
lately, but it was
prows thwizen lie killed the sheep. Taitiehteropwoorweasah:imigtienlgr. frockek
cm
thke cart in the morning, and could therefore only he got
at by some inmate of the establishment. Every member
of the hones could be accounted for that morning ex-
cept the prisoner, and he could be accounted fur before
and after the eventful period, but not during it. On the
evening of the murder the prisoner had some conversa-
tion with a boy named Vincent. He said the coroner
would ..ask him (the boy) , if he had had any
conversation with him (prisoner), and he was to say he
had had none. Vincent now said he would take his so-
lemn oath that Bunker did not go out with the rope in
his hand, and that, to quote his own words, " William
Rowe said I should say that I zeed Bunker go out with
a rope in one hand and a whip in the other."—(Sensa-
tion) Prisoner told the boy he would thrash him if he
did not tell this story. It was proved that prisoner also
said,: when charged with the crime, " Vincent can clear
me." The boy was beaten by old Mr. Rowe after giving
his evidence before the magistrates. It was proved that
the itecessed had Charged the prisoner with committing
a crime .of .41.disguatiAti. nature, and thak the matter .had
rumoured about, the neighbourhood. Prisoner
was! enieged to'the daughter of Mr. Robert Scobell,
a calmer living at Yafford. In consequence of this
rekrt Mr. Scobell told the prisoner that unless he
cleared his character he could not allow him to visit at
his souse. Prisoner then left Mr. &obeli to 'go to Mr.
Kelly, magistrate's clerk at Plymouth, "to clear his
character." A man called Samuel Nicholls stated that
he Saw the prisoner at ten minutes past seven at the back
barn door. He was on horseback. He said, " They have
a pretty story about me; I am going to see myself
righted, lam determined for it; they may as well take
away my life as say this." Then he said, "I strictly
questioned our Jack about it last night, and he looked
very confounded as ever I saw a young chap in my life."
Then he said, " I am going to get John Rogers and the
boy face to face." He then left and went up the road.
Nicholls next saw him at half-past one, and said to him,
" Have you heard anything of the story now, sir?" He
said, "Yes, I have heard something about it. Jack hath
hanged himself, hathen he?" Nicholls said, " Yee, he
hath; and he is dead too." The prisoner then smiled,
and, turning from him, said, " Then he has hanged
himself; lam clear of it." He also said, " If they will
hang themselves for telling lies, I cannot help anything
about it."

The Court adjourned at seven o'clock last night, and
the case for the prosecution terminated at eleven this
morning, at which hour Mr. Stone proceeded to address
the jury for the prisoner. The Learned Gentleman spoke
for two hours, and contended that all the evidence showed
that it was Bunker who had propagated the calumnious
reports against his young master; that these charges
were traced home to him; that on the night previous to
his death he was accused of this scandal, and told that
ho should be sent to Bridewell for it. This, he contended,
made the supposition more reasonable that Bunker should
have destroyed himself through fear and apprehension
of the punishment with which he had been! threatened,
than that the prisoner should have been guy of wilful
murder.

The Learned JUDGE then summed up. He said there
were only two questions for the consideration of the
jury. One was—did the unfortunate deceased come to
his death by his own hand. If the jury believed that
he did, then there would be an end of the case as far
as the prisoner at the bar was concerned. But if they
believed that Bunker came to a violent and untimely
death by the hand of another person, it would be for
theta to inquire whether that person was the prisoner at
the bar.

Soon after three the jury returned, and answered to
,heir names.

Clerk of Arraigns—Gentlemen of the jury are you
agreed? The Foreman—Yes.
What say you, is William Rowe guilty or not guilty?
The Foreman—Not Guilty.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
WORSHIP-STREET.

Police-constable William Millington, of the II diviiion,
was brought before Mr. Hamtnill, by ordtr of the Police
Commissioners, charged with an assault upon Mr. Sa-
muel Devine, a trimming manufacturer, in Sarah•street,
Mile-end.

Mr. Vann conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Pelham
appeared for the defence.
The complainant stated that between twelve and one
o'clock on the night of the 21st ult., he was returning
home in company with his wife, when, within 20 yards
of his own residence, and while in conversation with a

hawker, the defendant came up, and imperatively ex-
pressed his intention to search the man's basket. The
mm readily submitted to the examination, and the de-
fendant then turned round and intimated to the witness
that he should search him also. Witness offered no
resistance, and after rubbing his hands in au offensive
manner down the outside of his clothing, turned round
and told him that he should subject his wife to the
same sort of examination. Witness remonstrated
against such a proceeding; but the defendant, having
declared, with an oath, that he was resolved to do
so, his wife ran down an adjoining court, to escape
the indignity, but was pursued by the defendant, who
caught her round the waist and dragged her back into
the street with such violence as to induce her to raise
the cry of " Murder." He begged him to release her
and allow them to enter their house, but ho positively
refused, declaring that he should lodge them in the
station. After dragging them about the road for some
time he pulled out his rattle and attempted to spring it,
but the rattle would not act, and he then deliberately
raised it and struck him three or four such heavy blows
over the head and face with it, that his clothes and per-
son_ were covered with blood. The defendant then
sprang his rattle, and two other constables having
made their appearance witness was conveyed to the sta-
tion-house upon a charge of assaulting the defendant,
which he at once retorted by a counter complaint of the
brutal manner in which he had been treated; and having
drawn the attention of the acting inspector to the severe
wounds on his head and eye, the divisional surgeon was
sent for, who dressed the injuries; but from the effects
of- which-he was still suffering.
John Deacon, the man who was in conversagrn with
the complainant at the time in question, after confirming
his evidence, positively stated that the complainant did
not resist or assault the defendant in any manner, nor
offer him any provocation whatever, On observing the
scandalous conduct of the officer, witness hastened off to
procure another policeman, and saw no more of the
transaction.

A silk weaver named Hill was also examined, and fully
corroborated the evidence of the other witnesses.
Mr. Pelham addressed the magistrate on behalf of the
defendant, whom he described as being a very young
officer, having only been about six weeks in the force at
the time of this occurrence, but he had been previously
in the service of several noblemen and gentlemen of
distinction, which formed a sufficient indication that he
was both a steady and well-conducted person. Accord-
ing to his instructions he had only acted in strict ac-
cordance with his instructions in taking the complainant,
who had previously resisted and assaulted him, into
custody, and he had no doubt whatever that the injuries
the complainant had sustained had beon accidentally
occasioned in the course of the struggle that ensued to
elude apprehension.
A young man named Prince was then called, and
stated that while going home he saw a large crowd, in
the midst of which was the defendant, holding the com-
plainant, who was not then bleeding, and apparently using
his best exertions to disperse the mob. Several
threatening and violent expressions were directed at the
officer, which were followed up by blows, in the course
of which he evidently got severely handled, and sprung
his rattle for assistance. He (witness) had his wife with
him at the time, and not liking her to be mixed up in the
affray, ho led her away and saw no more of it.
Police-constable Young, 204 11, stated that, upon
hearing the rattle, he hastened to the spot, where he
found the defendant endeavouring to secure the com-
plainant, who did not then exhibit any injury, but dur-
ing the struggle they both fell, and on rising from the
ground he observed that the complainant's head was
bleeding. A general attack was then made upon the
constable, who was knocked down, and the complainant
got away, but was seized by witness, who detained him
until the arrival of the other officers.
Mr. Ilammiu, said that, after a mature consideration
of the evidence, he could come to no other conclusion
than that the defendant had been guilty of a gross vio-
lation of his duty, which in his opiniun rendered him
wholly unfit to fulfil the situation of a constable, and
he had no hesitation, therefore, in punishing him to the
full extent of his power, by ordering him to be com-
mitted for the term of ono month to the House of Cor-
rection, and kept to hard labour.