The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-18 00:00:00

THE MURDER NEAR NOTTINGHAM,

NOTTINGHAM, Fricity.
The inquest upon the body of Mr. John Weee'
head was held yesterday afternoon at Bulwell,near,
Nottingham. Since Wednesday several importaeb
particulars have come to light. A short time before
the assault, which resulted in the death of Mr.
Woodhead, a number of persons were drinking in
his house. The deceased, hearing some one in his
bedroom, went upstairs, and seeing a man there he
seized hold of him, and a struggle ensued. whilst
at the top of the stairs he received the blow on his
head which caused his death.
Before the unfortunate man died, he was unable,
to state whether the blow he received had been
aimed at him by the man with whom lie had the
altercation in the bedroom, or whether it was from
some one behind.
A witness, named John Hollingworth, said he
known the deceased for 20 years. He lived sePl2.-
rate from his wife, allowing her the rent of some
houses for her maintenance. Witness was at the
Masons' Arms (kept by the deceased), on Tuesday'
night. In the room where he sat were Josepla•
Lomas, John West, three other men, and the land-
lord. West was singing a song : he wore a dark-
coloured cap. Woodhead served him with ale, and
shortly afterwards went upstairs. Witness beard
him exclaim, " Here, here." It was in a faint tone,
so that he could not distinctly hear what he said?
Instantly afterwards he heard a lumbering noise oil
the stairs. Witness rushed out of the tap-room,
followed by West, into the passage towards the
street door. As it was dark he returned to the roe°
fora light. He then went and found Woodhead lying
on his side on the floor at the bottom of the stairs;
Witness picked up a cap lying close to him, and
gave it to a man named Read, telling kim to tak?,
care of it. He was not aware that the cap found
on the floor had been worn by any of the men in the
tap-rooms. (The cap was then produced and iden-
tified by witness.) There was a pool of blood where
deceased was found lying. Deceased apps'
insensible when witness got to him, but while bell
removed he spoke. Witness could not distinctly'
hear what he said, as the sight of the blood and
the mangled state of the body made him ill. Frelll
the moment of going into the tap-room ,
r 4 4 ". hegra
no one in .bl!. Witness itiought that
no one he saw in the tap-room had coal'
mitted the assault. Two of witness's neighbours,
named Hall and West, had left home on accotal
of the transaction. Witness thought he hear;
something rush along the passage after decease;
fell down stairs, and witness thought that if he had
had a light whenhe firstlwent out into the passage?
he should have seen what it was. He would swear
that he had no knowledge beforehand that there
was going to be an attempt to rob the house, and
did not know whether the cap belonged to a mad
named Hall, who had absconded.
Another witness, named Read, deposed to having
seen the landlord leave the room, and hearing
lumber up stairs, a kind of shout for help, and thena
noise as if two men had fallen down stairs. The,
shout was from Woodhead, who said, " Stop him;
or something like that. Witness and the rest of
the company instantly rushed out of the tap-room!
and saw a man go out of the front door into the
street ; he was going very swiftly, and had neither
cap nor hat on. Witness could not distinguish
who he was, but believed he wore black clothes.
No attempt was made to go after him, as it was
very dark night.
A surgeon was sent for, and deceased, in answer
to a question put to him as to who had struck hiel?
said, " It was a man who has been here to-day.ba:
done it • if I could see him I could swear to him.
Deceased also said the man was behind some malt"
bags.

The inquest was adjourned for a fortnight.
It is stated that two persons have been arrested
on suspicion, and will be brought before the magma'
trates this day (Friday).

MURDER OF A NORTH SEA PILOT.

In the early part of November the newspapers
gave an account of the body of a man, apparently
a master of a ship, or a North Sea pilot, having
been picked up in Westgate Bay, near Margate',
murdered, with four stabs under the ribs, one 01
which had taken away his life. The report also
stated that the legs of the murdered man had been
tied, and the body had been weighted with stones_
to make it sink. The body had the appearance of
having been about a month in the water, and it vivo
thought that the person had been murdered on
board a vessel off the coast, and thrown overboard'
and that the heavy gales that had prevailed bad
drifted it up on the shore. The body was that of a
middle-aged man ; and a full description of it and
of the dress that had been worn by the man was
sent to all the principal seaports in the north Of
England. However, as no one supposed to have
been murdered was missing, the mystery was not
cleared up. The North Sea pilots who subse-
quently took vessels up to the Downs were told by
the people on the coast that it was the general
impression that the murdered man must have
been a North Sea pilot ; and some persons who
had seen the body gave it as their impression
that they had seen the person alive acting hn
that capacity. One of the pilots, Mr. Foster, urged
by these remarks, had the curiosity to go to the po-
lice-station at Sandwich, and examine the clothes-
Upon looking at the trousers, he was strongly im-
pressed that they belonged to Mr John Halcrow"
North Sea pilot, of North Shields, whom it Wag
conjectured had been lost with the Tuscan bark
Zemira, on the 7th Oct., on the Newcombe Sands'
off the Suffolk coast, when it was stated that he and.
the master and two of the crew were drowned. The
great difficulty was to reconcile the fact of the loss
of the vessel with the finding of the body so far
south of where she was wrecked, But, upon the
arrival of Mr. Foster in the north this week, the
description of the clothing found upon the body
was submitted to the widow and family of Mr.
Halcrow, and they immediately discovered a resem-
blance between them and those that would be worn
by the unfortunate man when he was at sea. "
was marked upon Mr. Halcrow's drawers and flannel
shirt, and these marks corresponded with some
on the dress of the murdered man. A pair of blue
worsted stockings was taken off the feet of the
murdered man, which the handbills giving the in-
formation of the murder stated had "B. D. marked
upon them. "My husband," said Mrs. Halcrow
to the river police, who made inquiries of her,
" when he proceeded to sea, had on a pair of blue
stockings, which he had borrowed of a mate of a
ship on a:former voyage to the Downs ; but those
stockings were marked " D. 8," Upon com-
municating with the police authorities in Kent,
our Tyne police ascertain that " 8.D." is a mis-
print in the bill, and that the letters on the
stockings are "D. 8." A pocketbook was also
found upon the body of the murdered man which
contained various bearings of the west coast of
England. A leaf of this pocketbook has been sent
down to Shields, and Mrs. Halcrow distinctly and
decidedly states that the writing is that of her
husband. This seems convincing proof of the iden-
tity ; but we understand that one of Mr. Halcrow's
family will proceed immediately to Kent to examine
the clothes. If the identity of the body as that of
Mr. Halcrow be established it would seem that the
vessel had arrived in safety in the Downs after a .
quick passage from Shields, and that for some
reason the unfortunate pilot must have been
cruelly assassinated, and his body, after being
loaded with stones, thrown into the sea.
Immediately following his murder, or at the
time it is conjectured that he was murdered;
the vessel encountered a fearful gale from the
S.S.W., and was obliged to run north again. Being
without a head on board, and ignorant of the coast,
the vessel was run upon the fearful Newcombe
Sands, and was immediately broken to pieces. The
mate and seven of the crew were rescued by the
Pakefield lifeboat, floating on pieces of the wreck.
The master and two of the crew, and it was reported
by the survivors, the pilot, were drowned. The men
have departed to their own country, but there is
little doubt that if the clothes are identified as those
of poor Halcrow means will be adopted to bring
the men back to justice. The widow of Mr. Hal-
crow is left in a very destitute condition. She is
expected to be confined of her ninth child in about
a month's time.—Manchester (Guardian of yester-
day.

THE SANITARY CONDITION OF WINDSOR.--Mr.
Austin has reported the results of his inspection of the town
of Windsor in reference to its sanitary condition, it having
been supposed that it was such as to be prejudicial to health.
After going fully into the subjects of the water supply,
drainage, and ventilation of the sewers, in the town gene-
rally, he says " The principal part of the Castle being
drained.quite distinctly from the town sewers is apparently
safe from any contamination arising from the present great
depth of these works, but two other portions of the Castle
buildings, the Royal Mews on one side and the Horseshoe
Cloisters on the other, are drained into the town sewers, and
being about the highest point of the whole system must be
especially exposed to danger until proper means of ventila-
tion shall be generally provided." In 'addition to the ge-
neral defect of a want of ventilation in the drains, several
nuisances exist in the town—pigstys, dungheaps, neglected
surfaces, and deposits in gulleys. He considered these de-
fects arose from the employment of incompetent services in
the superintendence of the house drainage of the town, and
of the want of attention on the part of the surveyor to the
proper working of the general system of drainage. Unless
these defects are remedied the works which have been
executed at so large an expenditure will remain a source of
danger and annogance. Mr. Austin recommends that a
thoroughly competent and active surveyor should be im-
mediately employed by the local board to make a house to
hottse inspection throughout the town, to ascertain the
drainage, &C., of every house, and report to the board,