The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-25 00:00:00

PRICE 4D. STAMPED, SD.

THE ANDOVER 31

U.R.DER.
An 'inquest; was, held yesterday on the body of
;he deceaSed,'Wm. Parsons, in the board-room of
.he Union. No clue whatever to the perpetrator
of this-horrible crime has yet been gained. .
Mr. H. Loseombe, solicitor, appeared to watch
the proceedings on behalf of the deceased's fainily.
The jury being sworn, the Coroner addressed them,
and they retired to view the body. The first wit-
ness examined was
Mr. H. E. Northover, who said—l am a draper,
and was an assistant to deceased. I last saw him
alive on Monday night, the 22d inst., about 9 o'clock.
He' was then in the shop, where myself and some of
the other assistants left him.- I did not see . him
alive afterwards. He was dressed in the same way
as when found the following morning, with the ex-
ception of the overcoat. The next morning I
went for a -Walk alone, as usually do, along the
Salisbury-road. I was on the point of return-
ing about a quarter of a mile from the town
when my attention was drawn to something
lying in the field. I approached it within five or
six yards, when I discovered it was a human
bodp.
_I returned- immediately and gave informa-
tion to the police, with whom I returned to the
field, and found it was Mr. Parsons. The overcoat
did not' belong .to him but to some customer. He
was lying flat on his face, the back part Of the head
was much bruised, and • there was a considerable
quantity, Of blood near the head ; his cap was off/
there was a large ash stick lying near him With
marks on it, the bottoni ofthe stick, the thick end,
was covered with blood. .

Charles Wedge, superintendent of police, said,—
On Tuesday morning last, about eight o'clock in
the morning; I received information from the last
witness that he had discovered a body lying in a
field en the Salisbury road, and that the man had
been murdered. I immediately proceeded to the
spot with him and a police-constable, and there
discovered the body of a man lying with his face
to the ground, the right arm extended forward,
and the left .was by his side; the legs were per-
fectly straight. I observed several wounds on the
head, the back part 'of which was broken and bat-
tered in-very much. A short distance from the
body, about two feet, lay a large ash stick, about
three feet long, which appeared to have been re-'
cently cut, and at the large end of which there
were several knots. It was covered with blood and
a portion of hair for about a foot from the bottom.
The cap of deceased was lying a little on the left
side, as though it had fallen off. The lining was
covered with frost. Deceased was dressed in a rough.
top-coat, grey trowsers, coat and waistcoat, and low
shoes. One of the young men present said, "Good
God, it is Mr. Parsons." I then recognised him. I
have known him for nearly eight years. From the
body I could distinctly trace the footmarks of one
person walking towards the cowshed which is in
the field, belonging to Mr. Footner, close to the
hedge. There is a gap in the hedge between the
two fields. I could not trace the footsteps any fur-
ther than the gap. On examination of the inside
of the shed there appeared marks of a slight scuffle.
On the Andover side of the cowshed there appeared
footmarks at the top of the bank. I went to Mr.
Elliott, and took him back to the field. After he had
examined the body, I had it conveyed to the.union
in a cart, where, in the presence of Mr. Elliott,'
I searched the pockets, and found £3 12s. 6d. in
money, a silver watch and gold guard round his
neck, a gold eye-glass, and various papers, and
other articles of minor importance. I examined
the papers, but they do not throw any light on
the matter. The body was lying about 37 yards
from the road. There did not appear to have been
any scuffle where the body lay, which was about 42
yards from the cow-shed. - - -

Henry John Haye said—l reside in Andover, and
was walking down the town on Monday evening
about half-past 9 o'clock, when I saw Mr. Parsons
coming from his own yard and proceed down
Bridge-street leading to the Salisbury-road. He
was alone, and I did not see him afterwards. Ho
had a top-coat and cap on.
Jabez Henry Elliott said—l was called yesterday
morning to a field in Salisbury-road, where I was
shown the body of a man lying on his face. -He
was dead, cold, and stiff. I examined him, and
found extensive fractures on the skull. He had
evidently been dead some hours. After the body
was conveyed home I made a second examination.
There were marks of blood,. dirt, grass, and two
locks of hair on different parts of his person and
clothes. His face appeared covered with blood.
His nose was flattened. On the right side of the
head was a semicircular wound 21 inches in width.
There was another scalp wound on the head and
another at the base of the neck, At the back of
the head was a large wound 3 inches long and 1
inch wide. A portion of the skull was partially
detached, through which the membrane of the brain
could be felt. From the state of the wounds I have
no doubt the deceased came by his death by vio•
lence. I saw the stick, and have no doubt the
wounds may have been caused by such an instru-
ment. It was impossible that he could have in-
flicted those wounds himself.

At this stage of the inquiry the coroner inti-
mated that an adjournment would be necessary.
Adjourned accordingly.

FUNERAL OF ROBERT OWEN, OF

LANARK.

In accordance with Mr. Owen's expressed wish
his burial, which took place at Newtown onthe 22d
inst., was conducted unostentatiously and as inex-
pensively as possible. It was intended by his family
to be private, but in deference to the wishes of all
classes in the town it was public, and will cause
the day to be long remembered in Newtown. The
principal tradesmen in the town had put up shut-
ters all the previous week out of respect to their
eminnnt townsman. On the morning of the burial
a great concourse attended in front of the Boar's
Head Hotel, where Mr. Owen died, and two doors
only from the house in which he was born. On
Sunday night his remains were removed into the
house of his birth, now occupied by Mr. D. Thomas,
who with great taste prepared his shop to receive
them. To this gentleman's admirable arrange-
meats many of the most pleasing incidents of the
interment were owing.
The funeral procession was formed as follows :
Beadle, Newtown First. Benefit Society, Newtown
Friendly United Society, Newtown Victoria Benefit
Society, the Clergy, Medical Gentlemen, Magis-
trates, Old Inhabitants and Schoolfellows of the
Deceased. Gentlemen and Manufacturers of New-
town, as follows: Right—Rev. J. Edwards, M.A. ;
Rev. R. J. Davies, J.P. ; Wm. Lloyd, Esq. ; Mr.
J. Stanley, Mr. E. Williams, Mr. R. Newill Davies,
Mr. E. Owen, Mr. J. Rigby (secretary to R. Owen),
Left--Wm. Slyman, Esq., M.D. (Mr. Owen's phy-
sician), Edward Hall, Esq. ; Geo. Matthews, Esq. ;
Mr. J. Horton, Mr. W. Davies, Mr. J. Powell, Mr.
J. B. Owen, Mr. T. Thomas (secretary to the Hon.
R. D. Owen):
The coffin, which these gentlemen immediately
preceded, was quite plain, covered with black cloth,
unnailed in the usual way, and the plate bore the
inscription :—‘, Robert Owen, of New Lanark, born
in Newtown, May 14, 1771, died in Newtown,,
Nov. 17, 1858."
The following gentlemen attended as mourners—
Mr. G. Owen Davies, Mr. W. Cox, Mr. W. H.
Ashurst, Mr. R. Cooper, Mr. E. Trulove, Mr. Wm.
Jones, Mr. G. Goodwin, the Hon. R. Dale Owen,
Mr. Wm. Pare, Col. H. Clinton, Mr. Thos. Allsop,
Mr. Geo. Holyoke, Mr. H. Law, and Mr. Pryce
Jones.
The procession proceeded first to St. David's
Church, where the Rev. John Edwards, M.A., read
a portion of the service for the dead, and afterwards
From
St. the grave, in a very impressive manner.
St. David's Church the long procession proceeded to
St. Mary's Church, where Mr. Owen was interred
in his father and mother's grave. St. Mary's
Church is an ancient structure, now in ruins, of the
tenth century, standing on the banks-of the Severn,
in a spot of sylvan beauty.
Neither the inclemency of the weather nor the
distance of Newtown from London, prevented many
of Mr. Owen's attached friends, including ladies
from paying the last honours to his remains. Two
of the old playfellow Ns of Tar. Owen were discovered,
and with tottering steps they followed their old
companion to his long home. The bearers -of the
coffin consisted of the oldest inhabitants who were
equal to the task. A great concourse of people
from the districts, as well as town, thronged the
streets, windows, housetops, roads, and lanes of the
route taken by the procession. The greatest respect
was testified to Mr. Owen.
The enclosure walls of St. Mary's Church are
incomplete, wanting suitable gates. The Hon.
Robert Dale Owen has volunteered the gift of a
new pair of iron gates, and also ordered the restor-
ation of a decayed bower, once a historic object in
the old churchyard commemorating a romantic in-
cident.

Dr. Slyman, who attended Mr. Owen in his last
illness, reports that he died of climacteric disease,
brought on by exhaustion, and that his death
might probably have been averted had not his
prejudice against stimulants led him to refuse
them.

The Portuguese have four modes oF cultivating
the vine-1. In the provinces of the Minho, Estre-
madura, and Beira Baixa hanging in festoons from,
or twining round, poplars or oaks. planted for the
especial purpose ; 2. In the Alto Douro the vines
are planted on terraces, and never allowed to grow
higher than three or four feet; 3. In the interior of
Tras-os-Montes the vines are planted like goose-
berry bushes, covering extensive fields in rows
about eight feet apart, so as to admit the plough to
pass between them ; here little 'care is given either
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and large towns, and in gardens (but particularly
vines are trellissed at a height of eight or twelve
feet from the ground. Up to the year 1853, when
export duty on port wine was £6 per pipe for
wi
class of wine was allowed to be sent to the. English
market, and persons belongi%,. to the company
visited the wine districts and told off certain wines
as solely for English consumption, for which certi-
ficates, or " bilhetes," were granted to the farmer.
The same system exists, to a certain extent, in the
present day, with this difference, that those who
select the wines no longer belong to the Wine
Monopoly Company, but are appointed.. bra body
called the " Commercial. Association," at, Oporto.
The export duty on port wine is now reduced
to an uniform rate of three milreis per pipe to
all countries, but the system of " bilhetes "
still exists. These, however, by no means in-
sures that all the wines which arrive at Villa
Nova (the depot for wines exported, opposite
Oporto) is of the growth guaranteed. There
is A. good deal of fraud and trickery. Mr.
Paget thus describes it :—" What takes place is
this :—There is a certain district in. the Alto Douro
which is supposed exclusively to grow the wines of
first quality. After the vintage, about the month
of November, a commission, appointed by the Com-
mercial Association at Oporto, proceeds to this dis-
trict for the ,purpose of ascertaining the.quantity of
wine produced. Having made inquiries on this
head, in the Month of Januari; a commission of
tasters, composed as above-mentioned, again visits
the same localities, and on approval of the wines
submitted to them the 'bilhetes' are given to the
farmers, which enable them to dispose of their
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depot in question. But there is much trickery in
obtaining them for it often happens that a grower
will declare that he his 40 or 59 pipes of t'ae wine
of which he produces a sample, whereas in reality
he may not be possessed of more than three or four
pipes. The deficiency is made up of wine which
he purchases beyond the limits of the prescribed
district, or else he sells his bilhetes' to a farmer
whose geographical position would disentitle him
to the privilege of sending his wine to Villa Nova,
but who, provided with the bilhetes,' is enabled to
do:so by passing his wine with the bilhete' to a
merchant at Oporto. The price paid for a bilhete'
varies between £3 and £4. Under this system,
therefore, it is extremely. difficult to ascertain the
real amount of wine produced in the privileged
district. . The atnount officially declared for the
last season was 15,000 pipes, but I have
heard it doubted, on the best authority, whether
as much as 6,000 pipes was really produced.
It is not to be understood, however, that the wine
grown outside the district is necessarily of an in-
ferior quality. Prejudice and ancient custom are
also a good deal mixed up in judging this question,
and I have been told by competent persons that
some of the wine grown beyond the boundaries is
quite equal to that produced within them." "It is
a fallacy," adds Mr. Paget, " to suppose that such a
thing as what is termed pure' portwine—that is,
without an admixture of brandy—exists. On the
first arrival of each pipe of wine at Villa Nova, a
certain quantity of this spirit is immediately added,
for without it the wine would not keep." The
failure in the crop of vines last year (1857) was
very calamitous, and, of course, prices rose accord-
ingly. The produce in the Alto Douro district,
ordinarily 100,000 pipes a-year, fell off to 15,000.
The price of a pipe of port from the farmer is now
about £3O ; before the failure it was less than one
moiety of that sum. The same as regards all the
wines of the country. The common wines of the
country were formerly drunk by the peasant at
about one halfpenny the pint ; the same quantity
now averages about twopence. The faihire in the
crop of oranges and lemons has likewise been mpst
.disastrous in its consequences. Several recut d'es,
particularly sulphur, have been tried for the care
and prevention of the malady ;' but the success has
been very limited, and should the blight continue
for a few years more with the same virulence the
result must be the utter ruin of a vast proportion of
the agricultural community. Under these circum-
stances it becomes more than ever necessary to give
assistance and encouragement to this class of the
population. Portugal, as before suggested, instead
of endeavoming to become a manufacturing country,
should turn all her energies to agriculture. The soil
is of the most luxurious and fertile description and the
climate is particularly genial, and her geographical
position is such that she ought to be the most natural
granary for all the markets in Europe. The wages of
labour are low and the population are industrious, yet
with all these advantages more than half the land
is uncultivated, and that which is is cultivated in
the rudest and most primitive manner.