The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-16 00:00:00

want of steam. The pressure in the boilers was
never more than 191 b. ; in the engines it was 171 b.,
and sometimes even:as low as 151 b. and 161 b. Your
readers may recollect that in the account of the trial
trip which took place a week before her final start
the then unaccountable want of steam power for
the engines was dwelt upon. I was not then aware
—for the matter was kept very quiet—that the
weights had been taken off the valves, and the
pressure in the boilers reduced from 251 b. to 201 b.
Of course the engineers who did this must have
had some reasons for so doing, though what
these could have been it is hard to conjec-
ture, as the boilers of the Great Eastern
are perhaps the strongest of their kind ever
made, and it was always known that the
engines not only required all the steam
they could generate, but would easily have
found employment for some two or three pounds
more. Taking 51b. off the pressure, therefore, had
the effect of at once reducing the power of the ma-
chinery, and therefore the speed of the ship some
25 per cent., and in spite of all the care of Mr.
M'Lennan, ably assisted, as he was, by the advice
of one of the directors on board, Mr. D. Gooch, of
the Great Western Railway, it was found impossible
to drive the paddles quicker than 9-14 revolutions a
minute, or just 31; revolutions less than the same
engines made last year. The result of this unfortu-
nate reduction manifested itself at once in the next

throat; but neither his inquiries nor those of the
Court elicted such an opinion from him.;
Mr. O'Brien addressed the jury for the prisoner,
and the learned Judge having summed up,
The jury retired to consider of their verdict, and
on returning into court found the prisoner guilty,
with a recommendation to the mercy of the Court.
The learned Judge inquired the ground for their
recommendation, and being, with some hesitation,
informed that it was founded on the belief that the

act was not done with malice or forethought, were
informed that if they thought the death of the
child was not by the wilful act of the prisoner they
should find that he was not guilty.
The foreman replied that they thought the act
of the prisoner was wilful, but that he was drunk,
and could not make up his mind to it until he was

drunk.
Retiring, by his lordship's advice, to reconsider
their verdict, they were recalled, and the learned
judge instructed them that if they were convinced
the death of the child resulted from the negligent
or reckless acts of the prisoner, without wilful in-
tent, it was open to them to find a verdict of man-
slaughter. Having again retired and returned,
after further deliberation, they delivered again the
verdict of guilty of murder ; and the learned judge
at once placed the black cap upon his head and pro-
nounced sentence of death in the usual form.
The prisoner, astonished at the verdict and sen-
tence, moved restlessly during the address of his
lordship, and protested that he was innocent until
he was removed from the dock.
George Mobbs, gentleman, surrendered to take
his trial upon a charge of bribery at the last elec-
tion of ir embers to serve for the borough of North-
ampton, by giving to one John Barron, a voter at
the said election, the sum of 205., and promising
him a further sum of 20s. to induce him to vote for
Mr. Thomas M'Kenzie, one of the candidates, on
the 29th April, 1859.
Mr. Mellor, Q.C., and Mr. O'Brien conducted, the
prosecution ; Mr. Macaulay, Q.C., Mr. Field, and
Mr, Markham were counsel for the defendant.
Mr. Mellor, in opening the case to the jury, ex-
pressed his regret that the serious offence with
which defendant was charged should be so lightly
regarded as it had lately been, and dwelt upon the
importance of checking a practice so prejudi-
cial to the interests of the public. He then pro-
ceeded to state the facts upon which he proposed to
rest the case against the defendant, whom he de-
scribed as a zealous political partisan.
From his statement and the evidence of the wit-
nesses called in support of it the case against the
defendant appeared to be as follows :
At the election of members for the borough of
Northampton, the Right Hon. Robert Vernon Smith
(now Lord Lyveden) and Mr. Charles Gilpin were
candidates upon the Liberal, and Mr. James T.
M'Kenzie upon the Conservative interest. The
nomination-day was the 28th of April, and the
polling-day upon the 29th. On the 27th the de-
fendant, in company with Mr. M'Kenzie, canvassed
Barron at his own house, but he would make no
promise, and again, when alone, canvassed him with
like result on the 28th, Barron saying " that he
would consider of it." Barron at this interview in-
troduced a friend, George Avery, whom the de-
fendant also solicited to vote for M'Kenzie, and who
replied as Barron had done. After some little talk
of the liberality of Mr. M'Kenzie, it was arranged
that Barron and Avery should meet the defendant
early on the following morning at Johnson's com-
mittee-room in Searletwell-street. At parting
Barron observed, " It's a dry election ;" and he said
that upon that remark the defendant put his hand
into his pocket and gave him a two-shilling piece.
Barron, Avery, and a third voter, Brickwood, all
swore that at half-past 7 o'clock on the following
morning they met the defendant in a place called
the Mayor-hold, and that on Barron saying to the
defendant "You were not at your time, but we were
at ours," the defendant pulled out his watch and
said, "I am late ; it's half-past seven o'clock," that
Barron then said, " I've brought another friend," and
upon Brickwood mentioning his name as George
Brickwood, defendant referred to a book which he
carried, and said " It's all right ; follow me ;" that
they then went to the house of one Johnson, a
builder in Scarletwell-street, which was used as
Mr. Al‘Kensie's committee-room, entered a yard,
and went thence through the back door into a
kitchen, and from it into a parlour, where Barron
swore he saw his next door neighbour, John Foster,
one William Tomkins, one William Furniss, the
clerk of St. Sepulchre's, and one James Tomkins,
who acted as doorkeeper ; that defendant then
went into the front parlour, and coming back said,
" One at once; I don't want you all three toge-
ther ;" that Avery and Briekwood then left the
kitchen, the defendant came out of the parlour, shut
the door of it very carefully, and then said, " What
do you want ?" Barron replied, " I don't know."
Defendant said, " I'll give you 30s. when you've
polled fgr Mackenzie. Barron answered, " I will
not do anything that way, and if I do anything at
all I'll have it before I poll." The defendant. then
said, " I'll give you one sovereign down, and one
sovereign when polled; I'll give it you if you
work well." Defendant then gave Barron a sove-
reign, and asked whether the other men would do
the same as he had. Barron said that he would
guarantee that they would do the same, and went
out with the sovereign to Avery and Briekwood, to
whom he showed it. Avery and Brickwood then
in succession went into the kitchen and returned
with a sovereign each, which they showed to Bar-
ron, who then went directly to Smith and Gilpin's
committee-room, and showed the sovereign to
Messrs. Briggs, Dennis, and Pierce, and on the
same day he voted for Smith and Gilpin.
It was elicited by Mr. Macaulay, in cross-exa-
mination of Barron (who was one of the old•right
voters claiming as an inhabitant householder, but
having had for 30 years al:house of £lO annual
rent), that he had not, until he was before the
magistrates, and had heard the defendant's wit-
nesses depose to the fact of his not having been out
until much later thitn half-past 7, stated anything
respecting the defendant's pulling out a watch and
remarking on the time ; that when first canvassed
he had said that himself and his friends all consi-
dered the franchise a responsibility, and were
anxious to vote for the right man. He had
always been a Liberal, and doubted whether Mr.
Mackenzie was as liberal as he pretended to be.
When asked what he had generally had at elec-
tions, lie affected not to understand the question,
and could not be brought to comprehend it. ,He
had, eighteen years since, been discharged from the
police force for having charged Mrs. Porter, a pub-
lican, with selling out of hours on a Sunday, Mrs.
Porter having, before the magistrates, accused him
of paying the person who went into the house and
got the liquor, that he might lay an information.
He remembered selling some pots of carnation to
Mr. Butcher, which were afterwards found to be-
long to a Mr. Allan ; and had found some tops of
boots under a heap of stones, which afterwards
turned out to be some other person's property.
Avery and Brickwood also admitted that they had
found some tops of boots under a heap of stones,
which afterwards turned out to be some other per-
son's property. Avery and Brickwood also admitted
that they had made no statement as to the defen-
dant's pulling out his watch until they heard
Mobb's defence before the magistrates. Avery
owned that he and Barron had a mutual respect for
each other. A witness, Drag, deposed to seeing
Barron, Avery, and Brickwood go into Johnson's,
and one Watson to having seen them meet Mobbs
on the Mayor-hold, and afterwards seen the latter
standing at the window of Johnson's house.
The case for the prosecution having closed,
The learned Judge summed up the evidence, an d
the jury, after a very short pause, returned a ver-
dict of not guilty, which was received with loud
acclamations by the bystanders, and, being re-
strained within the court, rose soon afterwards with-
, out its precincts.
'am

WESTERN CIRCUIT .-WINCHESTER,
INCHESTER, July 14.

CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Keating.)
Martin Conway and John Farrell were indicted
for the wilful murder of Mary Ann Rowe, at Al-
dershott, on the 13th of May.
Mr. H. T. Cole and Mr. Russell prosecuted, and
Mr. Edwards, at the request of the judge, watched
the case on behalf of the prisoners.
From the statement of the learned council it
appeared that the deceased was a single woman,
about 18 years of age. She was one of that class of
persons who are always to be found in the neigh-
bourhood of a camp. She lived at a publichouse
called the Hero of Lucknow. The two prisoners
belonged the Military Train, a part of which corps
was stationed at the camp. On the 12th of May
the deceased went with a girl named Mary Ann
Rogers to the Alma publichouse, where they met
the prisoners, whom they had known before. At
about 12 o'clock on that night they left the Alma
in company with a third girl, and went to a place
called the Line, which lay in the way towards the
North Camp, at which the prisoners were stationed.
On their way they were seen by several persons,
and among those was the Provost, an officer who
had the charge of maintaining order in the camp.
He saw the prisoners about 12 o'clock. At the time
the decased left the Hero of Lucknow she wore a
light-coloured frock and a white jacket, and around
her neck a blue handkerchief. Her hair was dressed
with pins. The dress was sound, though not new,
of leather, leather, with a metal clasp.
and the jacket had not any hole in it. She had two
pTuhres es;
deceasedone
andwas
prisoners had advanced to-
wards the Lock-bridge, which was on the way to
the north bridge. That was the last time the pri-
soners and the deceased were seen together, and it
was the last time the unfortunate girl was seen
alive. The other girl, Rogers, had gone home pre-

viously. At the place called the Lock-bridge there
was a lock ; no boat had passed through that lock
on the night between the Saturday and Sunday.
On Sunday morning, at 11 o'clock, the lockkeeper
opened the lock, in order to let a boat pass through
and he then saw what he thought was a bundle of
rags. He took a boathook and drew it to the bank
of the canal, when to his horror he found it was the
body of a woman. Her clothes were very much torn,
and she had on the white jacket, but no skirt. Hex
left shoulder bore the mark of a severe bruise. A

piece of the jacket at the shoulder was torn out,
and the edges were covered with clay or sand, as if
the hole had been caused by the girl having bevel
dragged in the mud. A surgeon was sent for and on
examination he found a large abrasion of the skin
on the shoulder and dirt and sand had been rubbed.
into it, and these appearances would seem to have
been caused during life. There were symptoms
which led the surgeon to believe that the death had
been caused by drowning. There was a bruise on
the right arm as if it had been violently grasped,
and this was done during life. The surgeon was-.
of opinion that the deceased had been in a state of
syncope or fainting, from the effect of a violent
blow, and while in that state had been dragged to
L the water and thrown in, and had been drowned
before she recovered from her state of syncope.
All the appearances lead to the inference that this
I unhappy girl had been foully murdered by some
person. The question then arose by whom was
this dreadful deed committed ? The girl had lived.
at the Hero of Lucknow, which was kept by a
Mrs. Davis, and in the afternoon of Saturday,
about 4 o'clock, she had been nursing a baby for
Mrs. Davis, who observed that her skirt, which
was lying on the bed, was not torn. She took out
a purse with a metal clasp to pay Mrs. Davis some
money, and Mrs. Davis saw some coin in it, but she
refused to take the money. She left the house on
the 12th of May, having that purse with her, and it
was on the evening of that day that she met the
prisoners and accompanied them to the Alma pub-
lic-house. Marks as of a scuffle were afterwards
found. near the Alma, and there was the appear-
ance of a person having been dragged along, and it
was near those marks that the poor girl's skirt was
found. About 12 o'clock that night, as two girls,
named Blower and Dommett, were passing in the
neighbourhood of North-lane, they heard the
screams of a woman; there were the cries of
"Murder !" "Leave me alone !" and " Provost !"
Those screams were believed to have proceeded.
from the unhappy girl, and it was supposed that
the fatal struggle was then taking place. The
sound certainly proceeded from the direction of the
North Camp. Similar cries were heard by a sentry
in the South Camp, and the lockkeeper was awoke
by them. It would seem that the prisoners had
passes which permitted them to remain out of
their quarters until 12 o'clock at night. The sentry
supposed that the prisoners had returned to their
quarters about 12 o'clock. They had not, however,
left the public-house until ten minutes after 12
o'clock; therefore it was clear they could not have
returned until some time after 12. There was no-
thing particular in the demeanour of the prisoners
when they returned, nor were they much affected
by liquor. In consequence of the prisoners having
been the last persons with whom the deceased was
seen alive suspicion naturally fell upon them, and
a policeman went to the prisoner Conway and asked
him if he had been at the Alma public-house on
Saturday evening. He made answer " No." This
was false. Conway added that he was very drunk
on the Saturday night, and did not know what ho
did. The camp constable and the sentry at the
prisoners' quarters said the prisoners were not
drunk, but were sober. The prisoner Farrell was
then sent for, and, in answer to the policeman, he
denied having been at the Alma on the Saturday
night, and he also denied all knowledge of the girl.
The prisoners were then charged with the murder,
when Conway said, " Yes, and a very good thing
too," and Farrell added to this, " Yes, and so say
I." And this was after they had both denied all
knowledge of the girl. The prisoners were after-
wards taken before the coroner, and were committed
for trial, and on their way to the gaol Conway
turned to Farrell, and crying, said to him, " If you
had done what I told you and left the girl alone
we should not have been here." The poor girl's
purse was found in the possession of Conway after
his apprehension, The learned counsel said these
were all the facts he should place before the jury,
but the jury would naturally inquire what were
the motives which could have induced the pri-
soners to commit this murder. It was often
difficult to discover motives which prompted to
crime, and there had been many instances where
no motives could be discovered. One of the most
common motives for the commission of the crime
was that of robbery, or gain or plunder, and not-
withstanding the spoil might be but small yet the
pcsrpetrator of a crime frequently imagined the
property to be of greater value than it afterwards
turned out to be. One great feature was that
the purse belonging to the unfortunate woman was
found in the possession of one of the prisoners, and
the obtaining that might have induced the prisoners
to destroy the girl. The jury would take. all the
circumstances of the case into their consideration,
and would do their duty with firmness as well as
with mercy.
The facts as above stated having been proved,
Mr. Edwards with great zeal and ability ad-
dressed the jury for the prisoners, putting forward
every point that could be suggested in their favour,
urging upon the jury that the only features against
the prisoners were their being seen with the de-
ceased and their having the purse. The fact of
their having been with the deceased on the night
in question was no proof whatever of guilt, and as
to the purse that might have come into the posses-
sion of the prisoner in various ways. He also
urged that the evidence of the surgeon as to the
cause of death was extremely unsatisfactory.
The learned Judge summed up with great care.
The prosecution was bound to make cart the case.
If the evidence did not satisfy them that the woman
was murdered, or, being murdered, that it was done
by the prisoners at the bar, they were entitled to
an acquittal, but if the evidence in their opinion
did bring home guilt to the prisoners they would
pronounce their verdict accordingly.
The jury then retired for a short time, and then
returned a verdict of not guilty.

COUNTRY

LEICESTER—JULY 14.
There was a moderate supply of wheat to-day, in fair
condition, and trade steady. White wheat,, 58s to 60s
—red, 56s to 58s per 36 stone; a moderate inquiry for
barley, grinding, 34s to 368; malting, 40s to 468 per qr. ;
oats, 28s to 36s per 24 stone. Beans—old, 50s to 528,
new 42s to 46s per 38 stone.