The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-19 00:00:00

THE NORWICH MURDER,

Up to Saturday no reprieve had been received ror The
convict Sheward, now lying under sentence of death at
Norwich for the murder of his first wife, Martha
Sheward. There has been an impression in some
quarters that this reprieve might possibly be granted
in consequence of the state of the convict's health..
He is not looking so well as when he was fi,:st
brought down to Norwich after his first confession oarly
in January, and he is also suffering from rheumatism
in the ankles, which renders walking a matter of diffi-
culty to him. Tho prison surgeon (Mr. Day) has nor
deemed it necessary, it is understood, to make any special
official report upon the case. Since his conviction Sheward
has been attentive to the religious instruction which he has
received from the chaplain (the Rev. R. Wade), and his
general conduct in the prison has been quiet and docile.
In his amplified confesssion he states that he and his wife
had a violent quarrel on Sunday, the 15th June, 1851, and
that the quarrel ended by his cutting her throat, so that
the act was unpremeditated, and the culprit sought to
lead the public to suppose that he had not committed a
wilful, deliberate murder, although he had been hurried
en by passion to a frightful crime. The house
in which the convict and his first wife lived in June 1851
is rather a large one, and it has only a dead wall opposite,
so that it would not be much observed. Further, the con-
vict and his wife kept no servant, and had no child, while
Sunday was probably a day of the week on which the
neighbours would be many of them away from home,
either at church or on some pleasure excursion. Sheward
states that he kept the body of his murdered wife until
it began to become offensive, and then he cut it up
and distributed it about the suburbs of Norwich. To
avoid identification of the features of his wife, he cut off
the " golden hair'' (of which so much has been said
durir g the progress of the case) and burnt it. He also
boiled the head, smashed it up into small pieces, and
distributed it about the town. The convict further states
that he burnt the clothes of the murdered woman,
and so destroyed all traces of her. The execution will
be carried out to-morrow according to present arrange.
ments.

LAW AND POLICE.

4 ---

A THEATRICAL DisruTE.—ln the Court of Queen's
Bench, on Saturday, an action was brought by Mr.
Dominick Murray, the comedian, against Mr. Webster,
of the Adelphi Theatre, for a breach of contract during
the time that Mr. Webster was lessee of the Olympic.
Mr. Murray agreed to play " first low comedy" and Irish
characters, and was to have a clear half benefit during the
season. Towards the end of the season Mr. Murray was
called upon to play the part of Bees in " The Two
Puddifoots " but lie declined, on the ground that
the character did not being to "first low comedy"
but, to " old mail." Mr. Murray complained that
Mr. Webster did not allow him the clear half
benefit, and had refused to pay him his last week's
salary. Mr. Webster relied on the rules of the
theatre, which provided that anyone refusing to perform
any part at the appointment of the manager shall forfeit
six nights' salary. The case was tried in the Bail
Court, when a verdict for £7 upon the money counts, and
£5O damages for the loss of the benefit was given. A new
rule was obtained on the ground that the verdict in
the first count was against evidence, and also that the
defendant had made the plaintiff an offer of a
benefit. After the case had been argued on both
sides the Lord Chief Justice said he thought the best thing
would be for the plaintiff to give up the .£5O on the defen-
dants paying the costs of this rule, the plaintiff keeping
his verdict for the £7. The plaintiff's counsel accepted
those terms, but the defendant's counsel asked for time to
consult his client.

THE OPERATIVE BRICKMAKERS.—III the Court of
Queen's Bench'an action was heard concerning a deposit-note
for £B7 ls. 11d, given by the Barnsley Banking Company
to the Barnsley Society of Operative Brickmakers at a
time when there were three or four more members than
those who were joined as plaintiffs. Those persons
had given notice to the hank not to pay the note without
their assent. The case was tried at Leeds, when the
plaintiffs were nonsuited. Mr. Seymour, Q.C., now moved
for a new trial, but the Lord Chief Justice said all the
parties to the contract must be joined as plaintiffs. He
thought there would be no difficulty in the bank paying
over the money. Rule refused.

GREAT SAYINGS BANK ROBBERY IN
PHILADELPHIA.

Accounts have been received of a great robbery v, 'rich
took place at Philadelphia between six o'clock in the
morning and four in the afternoon of the 4th inst. The
building occupied by the Beneficial Saving Fund Society
of Philadelphia, situated at the south-west corner of
Twelfth and Chesnut streets, was entered by robbers, and
completely stripped of everything valuable in the shape
of money, bonds, &e., that the institution had on Land.
A rough es:iraate places the veluo of money, bonds, &c.,
carried off by the burglars at 1,300,000 dollars, of which
abut 400,000 dollars were in Cie coupon bonds, which are
not registered, and which cllll, of course, be easily cold for
cash by the burglars. About e,OOO dollars in breenbacks
were carried off, and the balance was in untransferable
bonds, &c., which will be of no use to the robbers. The rob-
bers effected an entrance through a window, encased with
sheet iron, and on the discovery being made everything about
the room was in a state of confusion. A large vault fire-
proof safe was broken open, and its entire contents, con-
sisting of all the bonds, money, &c., in charge of the
society, were abstracted. These valuables were containea
in numerous tin boxes, which were taken out one by one,
and broken open, and their contents secured. A small
safe stationed within the large one, having four locks, and
which contained papers of the greatest value, was lifted
out into the floor, the lock picked, and every paper taken
from it. The carpet of the room was torn up in diffe-
rent places, and torn envelopes that contained valuable
bonds, Ac., were strewed around in all direotions. The
robbers had evidently been at work for several hours, for it
was found that a large piece of timber, evidently prepared
for the purpose, had been fastened in an upright position on
the floor, near the safe door, by means of iron hinges screwed
to the floor, and behind this was a prop, securely planted
against this upright post. This contrivance was used to
afford a sort of support to the drill used to drill a hole into
the safe door, by which the burglars (who evidently knew
their business thoroughly, and were professional hauds),were
enabled to pick the lock. The combination lock of the safe
was knocked off, and a hole drilled through the chilled steel
forming the panels of the safe door, about three inches to
tho right of the pace where the combination lock was. This
hole was drilled to the depth of about throe inches. A paper
containing powder, and different sized "bits," a large brace,
and a bottle of alcohol, were found in the room, which had
been left behind by the daring robbers. The only bond loft
behind by the robbers was a 51,000 one, which was found on
the floor. The mortgages that the saving fund had on hand
were not carried off by the robbers, and a number of certifi-
cates of shares of stock were left behind. In a box in the
safe was a large quantity of silver ware, consisting of knives,
forks, spoons, &c., and which belonged to different de-
positors. Tho scoundrels left this behind, it being too bulky
for them to carry off in addition to the large bundle of
bonds, ewe taken. Nothing of value was left in the
safe except a few pennies. Among the losers is ex-Judge
Campbell, who had a box on deposit that contained over
4,000 dollars. A lady named It`Caully had a box in the
safe which contained diamonds valued at from 15,000
dollars to 20,000 dollars, ono solitaire having alone cost
5,000 dollars. Other depositors had silver and gold coin
and silver plate on deposit, and until the books of the
institution are examined it will be difficult to aggre-
gate the value of the property carried away. It
is almost incredible how the robbery could have been
committed. It was done in broad daylight on the great
thoroughfare of the City, and on a clear day, when hundreds
of persons were passing to and fro. In emerging from the
buildinglthe robbers must have had a large bundle of papers,
and how they could have been engaged for hours at their
nefarious work and then escaped with so lunch plunder un-
observed, is difficult to understate]. The institution was
used to a great extent by servant girls, &c., to deposit their
scanty means, and many hundreds have lost all they pos-
sessed by the robbery. The immediate effect of the robbery
was to cause the bank to suspend payment.

A painful case of elopement has Leen reported to
the Liverpool Courier from Manchester. A magistrate and
lady, the wife of a brother magistrate, have fled to the Con-
tinent together. The lady is said to be the mother of four
young children. Her husband and his brother have left
England in pursuit of the fugitives.

REPULEVE OF TILE CONVICT WILTSHIRE.--011
Saturday morning Major Cartwright, Governor of
Gloucester Gaol, received a communication from the
Home Secretary, directing a reprive of the convict
Charles Wiltshire, who was sentenced to death a fort-
night ago for the:murder of Harriet Nurse, at St. George's,
Bristol. This decision, it is presumed, has been arrived
at solely in consequence of the medical evidence given
at the trial, and apart altogether from the prisoner's
attempt on the life of the warder.

AN AMERICAN GRACE DARLINC.—The happily-
named Grace Darling, in England, made herself immortal
by her heroism in rescuing the wrecked. Rhode Island
has a similar heroine in Miss Ida Lewis, daughter of the
keeper of the Lime Rock Lighthouse. By day or night,
in storm or breeze, she springs alone into her boat to save
life. She is said to have saved the lives of a dozen
persons—twc of whom, soldiers, she rescued a few days
ago. All honour to her. As we cannot give her an
obelisk or a statue, we give ler paraeaphi—_-FewY:ork
XiMCI.4I:III.