The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-18 00:00:00

THE I?IJGELEY POISONING CASES.

• -"
Wm. P."
Dr. Harwood—l believe there was another letter de-
manded in the summons, said to have been sent by Pal-
mer and received by the coroner from Bates on the 13th
of December, and bearing upon this question, which has
not been sent.

Mr. Phillips—ilavo you brought any other letter from
Mr. Ward 9

Witness—No ; Mr. Ward denies having received any
other letter from Bates than the one he has sent. He
denies it positively.
George Bates was then recalled, and repeatei the
statements made in his former examination as given
above. He distinctly swore to delivering a letter from
Palmer to Mr. Ward on the Bth December, at the Dol-
phin, on the same day as he took the game from Palmer,
delivering it at the office ; and also to delivering a second
letter from Palmer to Mr. Ward on the 13th December.
He met Mr. Ward coming from the railway station at
Stafford, between the station and the Junction Hotel,
and it was there he gave him the letter.
Mr. Frantz, a dealer in game at Stafford, deposed to
the last witness, Bates, coming to his shop on the Bth
December, and giving him a letter from Mr. Palmer.
The letter contained an order for some game. He sup-
plied the game, with the exception of one pheasant, and
by the direction of the last witness sent them to the
Junction Hotel. Mr. Palmer stated in the letter that
they were a present for London. They were booked to
Mr. Palmer, and were not yet paid for.
George Bates again called, said he received the game
at the Junction Hotel, tore off the direction, and re-di-
rected it to Mr. Ward, as requested by Mr. Palmer.
Mr. Harwood said it would now become the duty of
the bench to commit the prisoner to Stafford gaol for
trial at the assizes.

The prisoner was then fully committed for trial, but
was admitted to bail, himself in 1001., and two sureties
in 50/. each.

A correspondent of the Manchester Examiner says :
"It seems to be,the prevailing opinion that the applica-
tion which will be made to remove the prisoner to an-
other county to be tried, on account of the strong feel-
ing and prejudice existing in Rugeley, Stafford, and the
neighbourhood, and which is certainly carried to a great
extent, will be successful, and that the trial will take
place in London. The people of Stafford loudly protest
against this as a violation of what they conceive to be
their just rights, and the victualling interest dreads the
loss it will sustain if the town is not crowded with visi-
tors front all parts of the country, who are sure to as-
semble at the trial."

Sporting Intelligence.

TATTERSA.LL'S.---THURSDAY.
No betting worth quoting.

CHERTUEY AND SURREY STEEPLECHASE
THIS DAT (FRIDAY).

Entries for the Rack Steeplechase Plate of 301. ; for
all horses carrying lgst 71b each. Winners extra. The
winner to be sold by auction for 251., &c. (Two miles.)
—Je ne sais pas, The Gray, Alpha, lodine, Chertsey
Lass, Castoff, The Dodger, Bow Legs, Royalty, Guy
Fawkes, Nom de Guerre, Goodlad.
The sport commenced at one o'clock.

DERBY SPRING MEETING.—FEB. 19.
Nominations for
be publis the Midlh6d on the 22dand Steeplech
inst.as. Weights to
e

Age
... a

Hopeless Star
Free Trader a Penelope ......
Jemmy the Black
.••• Seaman
Helen the Fair ............... Teddesley
Tom Tinker .................. a Emigrant
Peter Simple .................. a Dangerous
Wilmont ..................... a Lancer
Louis Napoleon ............ a The Widow
Louisa ....................... 5 Odiham a
Nominations for the Handicap Hurdle Race. Weights to
be published en the 22d inst.

Age

Age

Bullfinch
Pillaton .....
Stamford .....
Louisa ........
Romeo .......
Kate
Kilkenny Boy
Tomyris
Teddesley
Star of the West
Lincoln
Mistake

a
5
6
5
4
5
a

Age

. ... a

5
a
a
4
6

Sally, by Safeguard
Nonsuch
'Parchment
Sand boy . . ....
Minerva
Freedom
Red Roae
The Doctor
Claverhouse
Garland ...
Beech Nut

a
5
6
6
a
6

THE NEW SUPERANNUATION FUND.—We believe that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer has decided on altering
the provisions of this bill, as it at present affects the
officials of the civil service, to the following, which,
although not as liberal as their petition craved for, yet
is an improvement :—Contributions to the fund after 20
years to cease. The rate of pensions on leaving to be
4-12thi after 10 years' service, and 1.60 th additional for
each succeeding year. Retirement will be permitted at
60 years of age, but to be compulsory at 65. In cases
where an officer or clerk dies while in the service, his
family will be entitled to an amount out of the fund
equal to his year's salary.
"LAURA GAL" A NOVEL. 2 VOLS.—" Laura Gay"
is a tale of extraordinary power and beauty. The con;
struction of the plot is unimpeachable, and the denoue-
ment is at once, natural and satisfactory. The charac-
ters of Charles Thornton, the hero, and of the object of
his affections, the heroine of the piece, are sketched with
great artistic skill. The death of Mrs. Owen is a power-
ful and graphic scene, and the worldliness and want of
principle of Mrs. Redford well depicted. The novel of
" Laura Gay" will insure the author a high place among
English writers of fiction.--Br'itartftice.

RUGELEY, THURSDAY.
The adjourned investigation into the charge preferred
against Mr. S. Cheshire, the postmaster at Rugeley, for
opening a letter respecting the results of the analysis of
the stomach and intestines of the late Mr. J. P. Cook,
was resumed this afternoon at the Talbot Hotel, Ruge-
ley. before the county magistrates.
The facts of the case, and the admission of the accused
at the former hearing to the extent that he found the
letter lying open in the post-office, and after looking
into the letter communicated its contents to Palmer,
have already appeared in the papers. The case had been
mainly adjourned for the purpose of the examination of
Mr. Ward, the coroner, to whom Palmer communicated
Dr. Taylor's letter after receiving its contents from Mr.
Cheshire. The attendance of Mr. Ward had also been re-
quested by the bench, in consequence of the evidence
given by George Bates at the first hearing, on Thurs-
day last. In order to a proper understanding of the
position in which the coroner is placed, the gist of Bates's
evidence may be repeated. It was to the effect that on
the Bth December, just prior to the inquest on the body
of Mr. Cook, he (Bates) conveyed a letter and a quan-
tity of game from Palmer to the coroner, and that on
the following Thursday Palmer again sent for him, and
on his arrival at Palmer's house the latter was in bed ;
and he borrowed a Si. note from Mr. Thurlby for Pal-
mer ; and on his return with the 51., Palmer asked him
to look into the looking-glass drawer, and tell him the
amount of a note that was there ; that he looked into
the drawer, and told Palmer it was 501. ; that he then
left the room, in consequence of some one calling upon
Palmer, and that on his return to the room, Palmer
gave him a letter, and requested him to take it to Staf-
ford, and deliver it to Mr. Ward, adding, "Take care
that no one sees you besides Mr. Ward." He (Bates)
went with the letter as requested by Mr. Palmer, and
met the coroner near the railway station, on his return
from an inquest, when he gave him the letter.
At the commencement of the proceedings,
Mr. Harwood, the chairman, said—Our meeting here
o-day is chiefly to obtain evidence from the coroner re-
specting two letters which he is said to have received
from William Palmer on the Bth and 13th of December
respectively.
Ellis Crisp, inspector of police at Rugeley, said that
on Friday last, 11th Jan., he served the coroner, Mr.
Wm. Webb Ward, with a summons to appear there that
day, and produce two letters, named on the face of the
summons. He said " Very well." Witness served him
at the Town-hall, in Rugeley.
Thomas Addison, clerk to Mr. Ward, the coroner,
was next called, and said be resided with Mr. Ward.
That morning Mr. Ward gave him two letters, and de-
sired him to give them to the magistrates. He said to
witness that he could not attend, in consequence of hav-
ing an inquest to attend that day at Coss-end. The
coroner received notice of the inquest on Sunday. A
policeman brought it to witness, and he gave it to Mr.
Ward. After the inquest at Rugelev was over on
Monday, Mr. Ward told witness to fix the inquest
at Coss-near-end for that day. The precept was issued
the night before. One of the letters given him by Mr.
Ward to deliver to the magistrates was directed to the
magistrates, and was as follows :
" Stafford, Jan. 17, 1850.
"Gentlemen,—l send you the letter I received from
Bates. I have none other, nor can I give any evidence
against Cheshire. If you wish to examine me on any
question relating to William Palmer, would it not be
well to do so after the inquiry is concluded now pending
on the body of Walter Palmer. I must apologise for
my non-attendance to-day, as inquests require my pre-
mimics elsewhere.—l am, yours obediently,
" WILLIAM WEBB WARD.
"To the Magistrates sitting at the Post-office
Inquiry, at Rugeley."
The other letter was directed to " William Webb
Ward, Esq." (Letter handed in.)
Dr. Harland read the letter as follows, remarking that
there was no date to it :
"My dear Sir,—l am sorry to tell you that lam spill
confined to my bed. Ido not think it was mentioned
at the inquest, yesterday, that Cook was taken ill on
Sunday and Monday night, in the same way as he was
on the Tuesday night, when he died. The chambermaid
at the Crown Hotel, Masters, can prove this. I also be-
lieve that a man by the name of Fisher iv coming to
prove that be received money at Shrewsbury. Now here
he could only pay Smith 101. out of 411. he owed him.
Had you not better call Smith to prove this ? And, again,
whatever Professor Taylor may say to-morrow, he wrote
from London last Tuesday night to Gardner to say' We
and Dr. Rees have this day finished our analyses, and
find no traces of eithe strychnia, prussic acid, or opium.'
What can beat this from a man like Taylor if he says
what he has already said, and Dr. Harlaud's evidence ?
Mind you, I know, and saw it in black and white, what
Taylor said to Gardner, but this is strictly private and
CONFIDENTIAL, but it is true. As regards his betting
book, I know nothing of it, and it is of no good to any
one. I hope the verdict to-morrow will be that he died
of natural causes,_and thus end it.—Ever yours,