The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-12 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Guide through Nora Wales. By William
Cathrall. E. Stanford.
Mr. Cathrall is thoroughly conversant with the
t.orography, and scenery of North Wales. He some
time back publishel his wanderings in that coun-
ry• He has now arranged his experiences in a
more useful form to be serviceable to the tourist.
The work is so arranged as to enable the traveller
to survey the whole of the country, and visit the
mostinteresting spots in the most expeditious and
convenient manner, both by coach and rail. The
counties described consist of Anglesea, Caernarvon,
Denbigh, Merioneth, Flint, and Montgomery, en-
tering minutely ino the geological statistics and
general characteristics of the different counties. On
account of the amount of information contained this
little work is rather voluminous, but will prove of
great service to those who visit this romantic
caunti7.

sirocKara WIFE MURDER, BY AN OLD MAN

AT S'I'OCEPORT.

Yesterday, the adjourned inquest on the body of
Mary Ann Howard, aged 56, wife of a handloom
weaver living in Weaver's-row, Lord-street, Stock-
port, was resumed by Mr. W. Johnson, coroner of
the north-eastern division of Cheshire, at the Grove
Inn, Stockport. A brief account of the brutal
murder has already been published; but the state-
ment that John Howard, the husband of the de-
ceased, had been in custody, is incorrect. He was
present at the inquest yesterday, and at the close
of the inquiry was, of course, taken in charge by
the proper officers. Howard is in his seventy-
seventh year, about middle height, and, although
pale and emaciated, his intellectual faculties are
unimpaired. His deposition, taken on the pre-
vious occasion, was first read over by the Coroner,
The following are the material portions :
The deceased began to drink on Saturday last
(September Ist), and continued to do so until her
death. She came home on Tuesday night last
quite drunk. She began to break the windows, and
I sent for my son Peter, who works at Mr. Bradley's
mill, and he came. I then went to bed ; the deceased
did not come to bed that night to my know•
ledge. I got up about six o'clock next morning,
and went to my loom in the -front room down
stairs. Hearing a noise shortly after I went to the
front and back doors, but did not see anything.
Afterwards I went upstairs, and saw the deceased
lying on the top of the bed. She was bleeding, but I
did not go near her. I went out, locking the door and
taking the key, and told some neighbours what I had
seen, and then went for my son Peter. I had
not seen the deceased that morning until I saw
her bleeding on the bed. I had been sleeping in
the same room, and she might have been lying
on the bed, but I did not see her. I cannot put
my coat on myself, and that morning I got a girl
in the street to help me on with it.
Ann Robinson, a labourer's wife, residing in
Lord street, Stockport, said—The fore part of
the deceased's body was off the bed, and her
hands towards but not touching the floor.
There was a pool of blood upon the floor, and the
knife produced was lying near the right hand, as
though it had dropped from it. As I was leaving
the room I met the old man on the stairs. I looked
him in the face, and said, " Where are you going ?"
He hesitated ; and I added, " Have you seen her ?"
Turning round, I saw Olive Bower and Samuel
Harrison behind me, and I then said, " Go down
stairs and wash yourself." He said, " What for ;
have I something on me ?" I said, " Yes ;" and he
replied, " She smacked me on the face last night
with her bloody hands, after she broke the win-
dows." I saw blood upon his face : it seemed as
if sprinkled. He immediately went down stairs
as quickly as he could, and washed his hands in
the back kitchen. The deceased was of very in-
temperate habits, and had been a great trouble
to her family. Her husband has frequently told
me pitiful tales of her conduct. He says he never
took drink for the last eight years. I never saw
him intoxicated. After the old man's clottes had
been examined by the police at this inn, he came to
me and said, " If it had not been for you telling me
to wash me, I should have catched it." I took hold
of him by the hand and said, " Hush."
Olive Bowyer, widow, Ridgway-lane, Stockport,
stated—l heard Mrs. Robinson tell the old man to
go back, and we followed him. He stood by the
slopstone, and I said, " For heaven's sake, man, get
yourself washed." His hands were coloured a very
little ; and he washed the back of his left hand,
which had a little blood on it, with the other. The
whole of his face was dotted with blood, as though
sprinkle&from a pepper box.
Priscilla Howard, daughter of the deceased, and
apparently about 17 years of age, said—On Tues-
day night the deceased came home drunk, and very
quarrelsome. She turned me out of the front door
and locked it, and I snt on the door-step until
three o'clock the next morning. I then went
in, and found the deceased lying across the
table in the front room asleep. I awoke her,
and she went up stairs, and laid on the
bed beside my father. She awoke me
about half-past five and gave me my break-
fast, which she had got ready, to take with
me. I went to my work a few minutes before
six o'clock. Tha night before the deceased hit my
father upon the face with her bleeding hand, after
she had broken the windows. My father washed
his face a few minutes afterwards. I cannot say
whether there was any blood on his face when I
went out in the morning. I left the deceased and
my father alone. I heard no quarrel or conversa-
tion between them before I left. The axe produced
belonged to my father, and was generally kept in
the coal place.
John Howard, who left the room after his depo-
sition had been read over, was then recalled, and
the evidence of the several witnesses read to him by
the coroner. He frequently exclaimed, " Yes, that's
right," and after the evidence of Mr. Massey, he
said, " I cannot account for it ; I do not wish to
ask any questions." He afterwards added, " I
cannot use the axe, but it must be something
similar. They know I am very dull at hearing,
and there's enemies on the other side are cruel.
They can come in and out, but I can neither see
nor hear them. She has said numbers of times she
would cut her own throat. This is all I have to
say."
The Coroner carefully summed up, and, after a
few minutes' deliberation, the jury returned a
verdict of "Wilful murder" against Howard, who
was committed under the Coroner's warrant to take
his trial on the charge.

A MODEST REQUEST.—THE ROPE -WALKER AND
THE PRINCE.—We read the following, quoted in the Nord
of Brussels, from the Neiv York. Evening Post :—" If it be
not a duck of the genuine type, it reveals a degree of cool
assurance not hitherto surpassed. Blondin, the acrobat,
or funambulist, who has gained celebrity by his feats at
Niagara Falls, has had the impertinence to write to the
Duke of Newcastle, asking to be allowed to arrange for the
Prince of Wales quite a novel mode of entrance into the
United States,—namely, that he, Blondin, should be per-
mitted to carry the Prince on his shoulders from the Cana-
dian to the States side of the cataracts, on a tight rope!"
In the Bankruptcy Court yesterday Mr. Benja-
min Gibbs, leather merchant, of Bermondsey, applied for
his certificate. This is the first application of the kind in
connection with the recent failures in the leather trade.
The official assignee reports that the bankrupt commenced
business in the year 1856, with very little capital.
that the
stated on behalf of the General Discount Company and
Mercantile Discount Company, who are creditors, Messrs.
the
bankrupt has been pnt forward as the puppet of ssone
Hooper and Parkinson, a view in which Mr. Cornt_misyistemr
Goulburn concurred. His Honour characterisedthe
pursued as "vicious and wicked," and said thatoti.c,it did
not involve charges of fraud, it came NT princi-
ryonneaarstthie As
he regarded Messrs. Hooper and Parktr
stheir conduct has
pals, he declined to decide this case u
:pplication was there-
been fully investigated. Mr.G Gibbs'
fore adjourned for three months,rp Dwith i
3pAr;tEe.cLioAn.
TILE MARQUIS OF .../REAti
citizens of Perth pay
wish having been expressed by
s Breadalbane by tn
a mark of respect to the /%larciui
a meeting to co" Inviting
him to a public entertainment,
Town
the
was held at the '
subject and make arrangementsof Friday last—Lord own-hall,
Perth, on the evening Provost imrie
meeting was attended by l
in the chair. The and a resolution • large number
of influential citizen; inviting the noble
marquis to a public dinner in Perth was
was also • unanimously
adopted. A E
; ndfels eadalbane to appointed to wait upon
the r left ft.-certain his views on the
subject. The deputation Perth on Saturday morning
iymouth Castle, where they were cordilll • d
for • rr the (We t y receive ;
and after statin„ c of their visit, the noble marquis
fixed Tuesday, the 2d October, to dine with the citizens of
Perth.
ACCIDENT ON THE CORNWALL RAILWAY. 011
Saturday afternoon, when the 12 45 down train was ap-
proaching Truro station, the feed plug of the engine came
out and caused a stream of water to
run upon the rails.
This happened at the spot where the breaks are generally
applied to check the speed of the trains, that they may be
altogether stopped at the eastern end of the station, to ad-
mit of the examination of tickets. The result was that the
breaks of the engine and carriages would not hold the
wheels as usual, and the train over-ran the ticket platform,
causing the eno•ine to come in contact with the trucks
which were standing at the station. Three or four passen-
gers were bruised, and two received slight cuts on their
faces, though not of sufficient importance to prevent them
from continuing their journey from Truro by the West
Cornwall Railway.
CAPTURE OF A CRIMINAL. Mr. Erskine, the
English charge d'affaires at St. Petersburg, having given
information to the police that a French subject, named
Jules Vallier, after having stolen a considerable sum of
money in London, had fled to the Russian capital, search
was made for him, and he was discovered, living under the
assumed name of Lion Dugue du Rocket. An agent of
the secret police of London having arrived at St. Peters-
burg, the Frenchman was arrested, and on the application
f the English legation and of the French consul, delivered
over, with his wife and two children. to the agent to be
taken to London. The prisoner was on examination found
to be a deserter from the French army, for whom the Go-
vernment had been on the look out. Mr. Erskine has
since communicated to the police authorities of St. Peters-
burg the satisfaction felt by his Government at the promp-
titude Ivl cl4the Avian police had shown on thiH voce-
,

THE VOLUNTEER 1110VEMEN7.

No more satisfactory proof could be supplied of
the genuine and wide-spread interest which is felt in
the volunteer movement than the records which it
has been oar duty lately to furnish of the presenta-
tion to a vast number of-local corps of silver bugles,
which seem to express, in their case, the same feel-
ings of admiration and appreciation as the endowa
ing of a regular regiment with a new stand of
colours. To-day we add another to the list. A
large assembly assisted yesterday in the grounds of
Lawn house, Holloway-road, the residence of Mr.
Hale, at the presentation to the Islington Corps of
Volunteer Riflemen, officially known as the " ith
Middlesex," of a silver bugle, which had been sub-
scribed for by the ladies of the district. The corps
marched on the ground about half-past four, pre-
ceded by the band of the Royal Middlesex, and
were drawn up in line in front of a dais, on which
the handsome gift had been for some time a conspi
cuous object of admiration. After a general salute
Mrs. Hale, the lady of the host, as the mouthpiece
of the ladies of Islington, in graceful and well-
chosen language presented the bugle, which was
received by Captain Ehs worth, and acknowledged
by him with appropriate warmth. After promising,
on behalf of himself and his men, that whenever its
notes were sounded on a field of battle it should
lead them to death or victory, thegallanteaptain
diverged
into some strong observations
duct of the Lord-Lieutenant, the Marquis of Salis-
bury, who, through some spitef:against the officers
of the corps had, as he alleaed,
gtsedfurwtiiitehr
extension in force. Afeu joie,
admirable steadiness and regularity, concluded tho
ceremony.
The presentation of a silver bugle by the Earl of
Shelburne to the llthWilts, or New Swindon Rifle
Volunteer Corps, took place yesterday in the
spacious cricket-field adjoining the Great Western
Railway at Swindon. His lordship also presented
the corps with a set of drams, and advantage was
taken of the occasion for the presentation of a set
of colours to the corps by Mrs. Gooch, wife of Cap-
tain Gooch, of the 11th Wilts Rifle Volunteer
Corps. The proceedings commenced at two o'clock
with the presentation of the colours by Mrs.
Gooch, which Captain Gooch accepted, and re-
turned thanks oR behalf of his men. The Earl of
Shelburne, in presenting the silver bugle and set of
drums to the corps, said he felt doubly proud of the
day's proceedings, first because he was a resident
in the county, and secondly from his connexion
with the Great Western Railway, to which most,
if not all, of the men belonged. (Hear, hear.) Ir-
respective of their connexion with that establish-
ment, and their efficiency as a body, he had come
among them that day to testify by his presence
the deep and warm interest he felt in this move-
ment, as well as his desire to further and promote
any rational pursuit the men of New Swindon
might be disposed to adopt. (Cheers.) On this
occasion they had taken up a pursuit that was not
only one of great interest to themselves, but of a
noble character in itself—(cheers)—and one which
it well became the great body of the people of
this country to foster and promote by every pos-
sible means. (Cheers.) Peace was one of the
greatest blessings a country could enjoy.
Where it prevailed the arts, trade, and commerce
flourished, and the people were generally contented
and happy. (Hear, hear.) But while we acknow-
ledged its blessings and partook of its benefits, we
must not forget the possibility of war, and the
great necessity there was of our being ready as a
nation at a moment's notice to defend all that was
near and dear to us. (Hear, ;hear.) Past events
had occasioned disquietude in the public mind,
and the result had been the spontaneous enrol-
ment of Volunteers for the defence of our
common country; which he had no doubt
would prove a great auxiliary to our regular
defences, thus showing that though we were consi-
dered a trading community we had not lost any of
the heroism and determination of our forefathers.
(Cheers.) The Volunteers were to be looked upon
more as a defensive than as an offensive force.

(Hear.) The wooden walls of old England he had
no doubt would again prove our strongest defence,
as they had heretofore, but should it be necessary
for them (the 11th Wilts Rifles) to use those for-
midable weapons which he saw before him, he felt
certain the men of New Swindon would not be
wanting with the other corps in courage to wield
them. (Cheers.) In conclusion he wished health,
happiness, and increased efficiency to the 11th Wilts
Rifle Corps; (Cheers.) Captain Gooch having
briefly thanked his Lordship for his presents, the
men were put through their evolutions, which they
performed with excellent precision, and shortly
after left the ground headed by their band playing
martial airs.

Two companies of !Rifle Volunteers have been
formed in the hundred of Castlemartin, one at Pem-
broke and the other at Pembroke Dock ; and al-
though a considerable time has now elapsed since
their formation and election of officers no intimation
of the acceptance of their services has been received,
nor have the officers' names appeared in the Gazette.
This delay is much to be deplored, as little doubt is
entertained that as soon as the above companies are
seen fairly under arms many others will follow.
Pembroke Dock alone can furnish a complete corps,
requiring but little drill to make them effective,
owing to many of them having belonged to the late
Dockyard Battalion. The officers elected are, for
Pembroke, Captain E. S. Stanley, Lieut. Roch, and.
Ensign Adams ; for Pembroke Dock, Capt. E. Che-
vallier, Lieut. Mac Alpine, and Ensign Long.
The past week has been signalized, among the
Great Yarmouth Rifle Volunteers, by a series of
prize-shooting matches. The first came off on Mon-
day for a prize of £lO, presented by the members
for the borough, to be competed for at ranges of 400
yards and 500 yards. At the last range the con-
test lay between Ensign Brown and Mr. Fenner, the
latter of whom having scored 6 to the former's 5
was declared the winner. On Tuesday the prize
was a cup, value £5, presented by the officers of
the corps, to be contested for at distances of 200
yards and 300 yards. Mr. Scott, who scored 15
points in all, was the winner; the next being Mr.
Davy, who made 14. The prize on Wednesday was
a Turner rifle, presented by Major Orde, the dis-
tances 500 yards and 600 yards. The successful
competitor was Mr. Leman, who made 9 points in
all, the next being Mr. Pearson. But the grand
prize of the week, for which every rifleman reserved
his greatest efforts, was the ladies' challenge cup,
♦alue £3O, presented by the ladies of Yarmouth
and and its vicinity, the winner to hold
years against all challengers of the
.corpist,
h for the
entitled to the distinction of champion shot
and 900
year. The ranges. were 700,.800,
ize commenced on
yards. The shooting for this p oa:na to be
Saturday, when Mr.
the victor;
and Boreham, who
Thursday afternoon, ahlkdtiloirt;onrotothceucroenndeexlutindehaiglulhnetlsi2lt
points, was declared tor
were ALesestit•csit!3urlton,