The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-04 00:00:00

THE RUGBLEY POISONING CASE.

Considerable uneasiness is experienced among the po-
lice anthorities at Rugeley in consequence of the purport
of a private letter received from Professor Taylor by Mr.
Gardner, the attorney for the prosecution, having in a
manner unaccounted for by any one reached the kno .v-
-ledge of the prisoner William Palmer, who, immediately
upon gaining the intelligence, wrote a letter to the coro-
ner.

After the proceedings of the inquest of Wednesday,
and when the jury had retired, Captain Hatton, the
chief of the Staffordshire police, applied to the Coroner
to have the letter given op to him. The following con-
versation then ensued :

The Coroner—l must know the reason why you want
it. I have not gob it here.

Captain Hatton—lt is of great importance that we
should have the letter. The counsel for the prosecution
will be in Stafford to-morrow, and I am anxious to place
it before them to have their opinio❑ upon it. I think
it may be an important featura in the case. Will you
give a copy to Mr. Gardner
The Coroner—Yes, I can give Mr. Gardner a copy.
A. discussion ensued as to when the coroner would
furnish the copy asked for, at the end of which he re-
mnarked, " I do not know what to do about giving it.
I am rather in the dark."

Mr. Gardner—You admit you have received a letter.
Ido not think you can suppress it. I want to know
how the information contained in it was communicated
to Palmer !

Captain Hatton—l am not safe in Ois matter. There
is a great traitor somewhere. I will take my oath I
never let the communication escape me.
Mr. Gardner—The information in the letter you have
was sent in a private letter to me.

The Corouer—l do not wish to suppress the letter ;
neither can I tell how Palmer obtained the information.
That he did get it almost as soon as you (Mr. Gardner)
evident, for it appears in the letter.
Captain Hatton—l repeated that there is a fearful
traitor somewhere, and that it is necessary I should have
a copy of this letter. I know enough of the letter to say
that, How can I place confidential communications in
a rnan's hand until it is explained

The Coroner—l think I will forward it to the Secre-
tary of State.

Captain Hatton—Will you send it to the Secretary
of State by this night's post ?
The Coroner--I will, and ask him whether lam right
or wrong.
Captain Hatton—Perhaps it will be better to enter
into a full explanation with Sir G. Grey, or I shall have
to do so when I go up to London on Monday.
The Coroner—l will send up an account as correct as
I can recollect of what has taken place.
The subject then dropped.
The letter in question is understood to have been sent
to the coroner by Palmer at the time the inquiry was
pending concerning Cook's death, and before the result
of Professor Taylor's analysis had transpired. It is said
to intimate that Palmer had seen a letter from Professor
Taylor, stating that he had not been able to detect in
Cook's stomach any trace of mineral poison. A letter
to that effect was received by Mr. Gariner, who is posi-
tive that be did not divulge the information. The police
authorities cannot under-dand how Palmer became ac-
quainted with what was then a secret.
_ _

Disclosures of a most startling character, and of a
nature almost unsurpassed in the history of crime, are
expected to be made before the termination of the in-
quiry in this extraordinary case. It is confidently as-
serted that, upon resuming the inquiry, evidence will be
given to show that Mrs. Palmer, before her death, ex-
claimed to a female attendant in reference to her hus-
Lind, "Is that wretch in the house ? He's murdered
me." The symptoms exhibited during her illness and at
her decease are alleged to be precisely similar to those
detailed as manifested by the unfortunate Cook. A
surgeon in Stafford, who attended Walter Palmer
several times during the short illness which preceded
his death, will depose that on the occasion of one visit
Walter complained to him that the pills he had sent him
to take the previous night had made him awfully ill. The
surgeon,not having sent his patient any pills, told him so,
and was answered that he must be mistaken, for his
brother (William Palmer) had given him the pills, and
declared that he (the Stafford surgeon) had sent them.
Of the 23,000/. for which William had insured Walter's
life, we are assured not a farthing was paid by any
of the various offices, and therefore, if the crime
~f fratricide, as supposed, was committed with the view
of gaining that sum, the intent was happily frustrated.
Startling as it may appear, the names of no fewer than
113 persons are mentioned at Rugeley, respecting whose
death by poison at the hands of the prisoner statements
are made.

The coffins containing the remains of the deceased Ann
and Walter Palmer were, upon their exhumation, con-
veyed from the family vault to the Talbot Inn at Rugs-
ley, and opened, in the presence of the coroner and jury,
The coffinliay
ionfg
bMrs.een
the
corpse
w as
able to escape through the porous in the
Palmer, commercial
adeof oak,r° niwoaf was tPres tin opened.n .
buried a long time, and the
exhalationsgausseowuosod
was bored in the
comparatively dry, and the smell educed endurable. On
the removal of the outer coffin a hole
leaden receptacle in which Walter Palmer's body was
confined, and instantly a most sickening and noxious
effluvium escaped, which permeated the entire building,
affected parties at the other end of the inn, and produced
a sickening effect on all in the immediate vicinity of the
coffin. Subsequently the leaden lid was removed, and the
'pentacle presented by the body was absolutely frightful.
The cheeks were so terribly distended as to extend to
either side of the coffin ; one eye was opened, and the
mouth partially so, presenting the appearance of a hor-
rible grin and grimace. Each limb was also swollen to
prodigious proportions, and the sight was revolting in the
extreme. Nearly all the jurors were afflicted with vomit-
ing and fainting. After the re-interment of the corpses
considerable time elapsed before fumigations could make
the house at all bearable ; even a week afterwards the
close room in which the bodies were opened strongly
smelt of the disgusting odour, and it was found necessary
to have the walls scraped and repapered, the doors and
woodwork repainted, and a portion of the floor on which
foul matter had dropped from the coffin of the male de-
ceased re-laid, it being found impossible by planing to
divest the boards of the noxious stain and stench.
We are informed that the Attorney-General and Mr.
Scotland are retained for the prosecution of Palmer.
Mr. Huddlestone is mentioned as engaged to assist
Sergeant Wilkins in defending Palmer.'

The public clocks of Cork were on Tuesday changed
to Dublin time, pursuant to a proclamation of the mayor.
The city clocks were therefore set ten minutes in ad-
♦ance of the sun. A similar change has been practically
adopted in Limerick and in some other towns.
Mr. Drummond's late speech at Guildford is reprinted
conspicuously by the Journal de St. Petersbourg.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Austrian steamer Asia, which was said to have
taken fire between Beyrout and Alexandria, reached
Alexandria on the 23d of December.

The steam-transport Indian, No. 197, Capt. M'Master,
arrived at Portsmouth yesterday from the East, bring-
ing Lieut.. Col. Wm. Yorke Moore, ofthe 54th Regiment,
2 invalids, 1 servant, and 2 horses, and a few stores. She
landed a quantity of shot and shell at Gibraltar, on her
way home, and left the Golden Fleece there preparing to
take in mules for the Crimea. On the 29th ult. the In-
dian exchanged signals, at 4 p.m., with the steam-ship
New York, abreast of Burling Rocks, steering south ;
on the 30th, 30 miles to the southward of Cape Finis-
terre, passed the sailing transport Bombay; on the Ist
inst., at noon, passed the ship Britain's Queen, to the
southward of Ushant Rock, bound up Channel.
The Indiana screw-transport left Portsmouth yester-
day for the Crimea, with draughts of troops and a body
of the Land Transport Corps.
The Calcutta steam-transport left Portsmouth yester-
day for Southampton.
The paddle-wheel steam-sloop Polyphemus, 3, Com-
mander F. P. Warren, from Portsmouth, with 151 super-
numeraries for ships at Plymouth, arrived there on Wed-
nesday, and returned on the same day with supernume-
raries for Portsmouth.
__ _

The paddle-wheel steam-frigate Valorous, 16, Captain
Claude H. M. Buckle, is ordered from the Black Sea to
Plymouth, to be fitted with all speed with new boilers,
which are in readiness for her at that port.
The crew of the screw steam-ship Conqueror, 100,
Captain T. C. Symonds, got up main and foreyards at
Plymouth on Wednesday.
The crews of the screw steam-ship Archer, 14, Capt.
E. Heathcote, and of the paddle-wheel steam-sloop Bull-
dog, 6, Commander Gordon, have been paid wages at
Plymouth, and a month's leave of absence has been
granted them.
The crew of the paddle-wheel steam-sloop Inflexible
were paid off at Plymouth on Wednesday.
Letters received at Plymouth, dated Dec. 11, 1855,
on board her Majesty's screw steam-ship St Jean
d'Acre, 101, Captain King, state that she would go to
Malta to wait oilers' and probably reach England in
February, to refit for duty in the Baltic.
The London, 90, Captain Augustus L. Kuper, on ar-
rival at Plymouth from Malta, is ordered to be fitted
with jury gear with all despatch, preparatory to her
embarking provisions and stores for the Baltic, where
she will do duty next season as receiving ship.
The gen-boat Plover, Lieut. Stewart commanding, has
left Woolwich for Greenhithe with her full complement
•f stores, ammunition, kc.
The iron mortar-float No. 2 has returned to Wool-
wich from Shoeburyness ; 250 rounds were fired from
the mortar successfully. The boat, unlike No. 1, has
sustained no slatnage, with the exception of some very
slight injury to the light ornamental woodwork.
A detachment of Royal Sappers and Miners have
reached head-quarters, Woolwich, from Heligoland,
where they have been stationed for some time past, and
occupied in erecting huts for the Foreign Legion there.
The Lords of the Admiralty have sanctioned an ex-
change of divisions between First-Lieutenant Henry,
Woolwich Division, and First-Lieutenant Blake, Ports-
mouth Division of Royal Marines.
Twenty privates of the Royal Marine corps are to
leave Woolwich to-day for service is the gun-boats at
Portsmouth.

The following appointments were made yesterday at
the Admiralty :—Rickard Drury, assistant•clerk, to the
Fisgard ; W. 0. Albin, assistant-clerk, to the Victory ;
W. H. J. Aitken, assistant-clerk, to the Impregnable.
During the interval of the late catastrophe, which re•
suited in the destruction of the cartridge sheds in the
arsenal at Woolwich, and the substitution of other bui'd-
ings for carrying on the work, the youths employed in
that and the fuse and cartridge factories have received
their working pay ; in addition to which, during the
ordinary hours of labour, they have received scholastic
education under about 3. competent masters, until ar-
rangements for some time past in contemplation could
be completed, so as to admit of the work which eball
have passed through their bands being immediately re-
moved out of the reach of any probable danger from the
arsenal fires. All prepared combustible materials are in
future, to be stored on board the several floating hulks
moored in the river with that intention, one of which
is to be entirely appropriated for prepared fuses, a
second for loose powder, a third for small-arins' cart-
ridges, and a fourth for common cartridges. Two
long-roomed magazines facing the river, having been
selected for the cartridge and fuse factories, have been
cleared of their stores, and sheds are in the course
of erection in the adjoining marshes for the mewling
and other processes which are attended with more
danger. The use of the steel gimlet, formerly em-
ployed for opening the vents, has been abolished for
that of a copper borer. The duties of these departments
will re-commence on Monday next. Capt. Orr has take❑
great interest in the arrangctnents of the boys' in:truc-
twn. They number between 600 and 700, to the best
conducted of whom he distributed rewards on Christmas-
day at his own cost. The usual generosity displayed by
Government in such cases has been manifested towards
the widows of the threb men who died from the effects of
the explosion, by ordering the pay of their deceased hus-
bands to be continued to them, as well as in allowing tl,e
customary wages to those who are under medical treat-
ment. The magnificent store-house contracted to be built
by Messrs. Fez and Henderson two months back is now
finished, and ready for the reception of general stores,
for which space has been so long needed in the arsenal
at Woolwich. It is constructed of corrugated iron sheet-
ing, ventilated with blades of iron, and lighted with
raised skylights or roof lanterns. The building is sup-
ported by skeleton iron columns, to which the iron sheet-
ing walls are attached. The interior is approached by
six pairs of sliding doors, sufficiently wide to admit
the entrance of store-carts and goods waggons. The
building is about 200 feet square. There are likewise
numerous other buildings springing up, as it were, in
various parts of the Royal Arsenal grounds. The proof
department has added to that establishment a longrange
of new workshops and smithies, which are supplied with
a shaft of the ordinary height, 130 feet. The building
of a standard foundry in the arsenal yard is likewise in
e mtemplation, the plans for which have been submitted
for the appieval of Government. Several branches of
the carriage department have been detached therefrom,
and now form separate establishments, such as the har-
ness and collar makers, &c., for which new and elegant-
looking buildings have been erected. An appropriate
surgery is also in the conrse of construction. This build-
ing will be sufficiently spacious to accommodate a sur-
geon and his assistant, so that in the case of any night
accident medical assistance m.ty be at hand. The esta-
blishment will be provided with the neoessary surgical,
visiting, and open atitig rooms, as well as a waiting lobby,
all connected and easily accessible. The whole of these
improvements are under the supervision of Lieutenant-
Colonel Beat/ton, R.E.

On New Year's•day Colonel Henry Sandham, Royal
Engineers, assembled the whole of the Royal and East
India Company's Sappers and Miners (800) in the Bar-
rack-square, Brompton, in close column, and, calling
Coleur-Serjeant Henry M'Donald to the front, addressed
hint as follows :—" Serjeant M'Donald,—You have not
yet received your Crimean medal, but I hold in my hand
one of still greater importance—no less than that for dis-
tinguished conduct in the field. I have much pleasure
i❑ presenting it to you, and I have the additional grati-
fication of informing you that you are recommended by
your bfavery arid soldierlike deportment for a commis-
sion, which I hope you may obtain, and live many years
to enjoy."_

Yesterday the invalids at St. Mary's Barracks, Chat-
ham, were paraded, for the purpose of bearing the letter
from the Horse Guards relative to the subscription for
the Nightingale fund real to them. To-day the names
of such 2.3 intend to c3ntribute will be enrolled.

THE MILITIA.
The North York Regiment of Rifles left Richmond,
Yorkshire, for Bradford, on Tuesday.

HARBOUR OF REFUGE ON THE EAST
OF IRELAND.

We are pleased to find public attention becoming fixed
on the necessity of forming a harbour of refuge on the
east part of the Irish coast. Every port that lies be-
tween Kingstown and Belfast is interested in it. At
the last meeting of the Harbour Commissioners, Capt.
Saunders, who appeared with a model for a sea wall of
his own invention, was warmly received, and his expla-
nations of the advantages of his invention carefully at-
tended to. We understand he has since visited Skerries,
and thinks it a most excellent site for the purpose ; and
we believe this to be the result of most of the investiga-
tions which have been made. We have received a re-
tarn to an order of the House of Commons, dated May
24, 1855, which contains a copy of the memorial of the
inhabitants of Drogheda, praying for a Government
survey of the eastern coast of Ireland, for the purpose of
constructing a harbour of refuge in the most eligible
position ; and a list of the casualties which occurred be-
tween Belfast and Kingstown, from January, 1850, to
March, 1854—amounting, between total wrecks and par-
tial injuries, to 98. With this memorial in the hands of
the Government, it would astonish none but the Irish, who
are so long accustomed to neglect, that active measures
were not long sinceadopted to carry out the prayer of the
memorialists. The return, also, contains a document,
signed Frannis Gowan, pointing out the national advan-
tages Skerries possesses for such a harbour. These, as
pointed out by him, are—First, natural shelter, by a
ledge of rocks, from easterly and southerly gales, which
no other bay on the east coast of Ireland has. Secondly,
good holding ground, a sandy bottom, a depth of water
for the largest vessels, and an excellent quarry. Thirdly,
an easy access to the harbour, with Rock-a-Bill as a
natural landmark, and excellent site for a lighthouse.
The advantages of Rock-a-Bill for this purpose as pointed
out by Mr. Gowan seem to be unrivalled. Fourthly, the
Fifthly,r.es g ulari ttyi
n ofa
dt hv ea
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to
fishermen
herm
sn seawardfrn into
from
the
English,
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ha
en dr
railway tiv coasts.say
stations
afford
ffo
rafterwardsd
fn r
passengers p oi points out
wishing
the
to
the
s tlarrntufnogr
Ea nnyg Faanr of Ireland,
dti ndiaandman,
and insiststn
any tnhtahte
rt he lo ss of
disasters.
theref
which ha ad phpseenne
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ra
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There
re
ed
ennemxtpaadraotciuvmemenert from
its Capt. Toker,
ofcingherandskonfatihesisfotroswunn on
h,
athe
pur-
pose. It is written with much ability, and gives the decided
preference to Skerries. A statement from Alderman
Boylan, to the same effect, is also added. With these
documents before the Government we can see no apo-
logy for not immediately commencing the undertaking,
and we hope the commercial men and inhabitants gene-
rally of Dundalk and Newry—in fact, of the whole of
the Eastern coast—will co-operate with the efforts now ,
making in Drogheda.—Droghcdo Argus.