The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-13 00:00:00

TERRIBLE SCENE IN A GAOL.

The Chicago Tribune gives the particulars of a terrible
scene which occurred on the ffith ult. in the Cook County
Gaol. In one cell there were five young coloured men,
named George Washington (No. 1), George Washington
(No. 2), Benjamin Wilson, John Williams, and Charles
Pile. They were accused of various crimes, ranging from
burglary to petty larceny. In accordance with the rules,
or in the absence of any rules, the prisoners were allowed
to smoke. About three o'clock in the afternoon
Pile lighted his pipe and threw the burning paper upon
the bed, and the straw caught tire. His companions
remonstrated with him, but he coolly remarked, "Let the
damned gaol burn up." The bed soon presented a sheet
of flame. The prisoners here generally deprive themselves
of all clothing but their pantaloons. In this state were
the inmates of cell No. 8. One of the George Washingtons
made an effort to extinguish the flames, but of no avail,
and soon joined with the rest in crying for help. Every-
thing combustible in the cell was on fire, and the inmates
literally stood in the flame. Assistant-turnkey W.
F. Rice was in the office at the time, and the moment
the cries of the unfortunate prisoners reached his ears
he hurried to their rescue. When he reached the
door, the flames were rushing out between the bars, and
it was with the utmost difficulty, not unaccompanied with
danger, that the lock could be reached. While Mr. Rice
worked about the lock, the prisoners set up fearful yells of
agony and pain, and with might and main threw them-
selves against the bars in the vain endeavour to force
them from their fastenings. Finally the door flew
open, and out rushed the prisoners, wild, blistered,
and with hair on fire. Nearly frantic with pain they
rushed up and down the corridors howling piteously,
and it was many minutes before they could be calmed
sufficiently to accept aid. The tall George Washington
was most severely burned. His entire body was one mass
of open wounds, and in many places the flesh was fairly
roasted. Wilson was badly burned about the back,
shoulders, and face. Washington No. 2 the same. Charles
Pile, the author of the catastrophe, fared a trifle better ;
and John Williams, who had taken refuge under the bed.
escaped with some comparatively slight burns about his
hands and face. It was, however, feared that one, and
perhaps three, might lose their lives.

THREATENING LETTERS.—At the Irish uommis-
sion Court, on Monday, James Magill, a workman dis-
missed last year, was convicted of sending a threatening
letter to the chairman of the Midland Railway, and
sentenced to five years' penal servitude.

The mother of Benjamin Higgs, late of the
Great Central Gas Company, has just died—her death
having been hastened, it is said, by her grief at the disgrace
of her son. She was buried last Monday at Brightwaltham,
a village near Newbury, Berkshire, where she and her
husband kept a public-house, until they were induced by
their son to leave and come up to London to live.

SOCIAL SUPERSTITIONS.—That it betrays a vulgar
mind to carry a parcel in the street, especially if it be
wrapped up in a piece of newspaper. That if you are
seen running, as though really in a hurry, you must cer-
tainly lose caste, and that nobody worth knowing will
take notice of you afterwards. That something dreadful
must happen if you leave your gloves at home, although
the weather is so hot that you cannot bear to wear them.
That if you are a lawyer you will lose all your best clients
should you carry a blue bag, but nobody will be offended
at your carrying a black one.
THE LATE HUNTING CATASTROPHE IN YORK-
SHlRE.—lmmediately after the sad accident on the Ure
which led to the death of Sir Charles Slingeby and other
gentlemen, a movement was begun to erect a fitting monu-
ment to their memory. Already upwards of £l,OOO has
been subscribed for the widow of the huntsman Orvis, and
.£4OO for the families of the two Warriners, the ferrymen.
As yet no step has been taken towards the general memo-
rial of those who perished on that fatal day beyond a
general acquiescence in the necessity for such a monument.
Instead of a pyramid or obelisk, however, a North Riding
magistrate has this week put forth a proposal for a memo-
rial bridge across the Ure, which should at once per-
petuate the memory of the " last of the Slingabys" and
his friends in death, and prevent the recurrence of any
similar catastrophe. The cost will be great, but the funds
are thought easy of reach.

OUTRAGE BY A CONDEMN ED CRIMINAL UPON
HIS WARDER. —The convict Charles Wiltshire, who was
tried before Mr. Justice Hannen, at the recent Gloucester
Assizes, for the murder, under circumstances of peculiar
atrocity, of Harriet Nurse, at St. George's, and sentenced
to death, committed a brutal outrage on Monday morn-
ing upon his warder, in the county gaol. Since his con-
viction the prisoner has shewn a quiet, tractable
demeanour, and has listened with apparent profit to the
exhortations of the prison chaplain. No violence being
apprehended from him, he was placed in a room in the
hospital, where, some years ago, Lewis Gough, a criminal
under sentence of death, spent his last hours. Two
warders took it by turns to keep him company, one by
day and the other by night. Until late on Sunday night
nothing occurred calculated to excite any suspicion that
he meditated violence. As his usual hour for going to
Ibed approached, he appeared somewhat disturbed, and
when, towards one o'clock, his attendant, who is a
sergeant on the South Gloucestershire Militia Staff,
asked him if he did rot intend to lie down, he replied in
the negative. Shortly afterwards he contrived to get,
uuobser ved, behind the AY acder. and seizing a metal
candlestick which was on the table, struck him a heavy
blow on the back of the head with the bottom part of it
Though partially stunned, the warder did not lose his
presence of mind, but resolutely grappled with his assailant
and raised an alarm. A night patrol happened to be near,
and hearing an outcry he ran to tthe room, and the convict,
who is a powerful fellow, was secured. The warder had
sustained a severe scalp wound of some three inches in
extent. Surgical aid was rendered, and no serious conse-
quences are likely to follow. The execution is fixed for
Monday next. Meantime a memorial in favour of arespite
of the prisoner has been numerouply signed.