The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-25 00:00:00

FIFTY POUNDS.

Fifty Soya; three year olds, 7st 91b, four Bet 101 b, five,
six, and aged, 9st 111 b;

Gilead
Edgbaston
Clavorhouso

it CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.—This Day,

OLD COURT.

(Before Mr. Justice Smith.)
THE MURDER IN THE KENT-ROAD.

Louis Bordier waa placed at the bar charged
with the wilful murder of a woman named Snow,
on the 3d of September last. The prisoner, by the
wish of the bar, pleaded not guilty.
The trial was fixed for next Friday morning.
THE FORGERY AT THE BANK OF ENGLAND.

Fleury Hodgson, surgeon, pleated guilty to an
indictment charging him with forging certain instru-
ments for the transfer of stock; with intent to de-
fraul the B ink of England.
Senteace was deferred.

NEW COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Lush). .
THE ALLEGED MURDER AT LINIEHOUSE.

John Wiggins was placed at the bar, charged with
the wilful murder of Agnes Oakes, aged 22.
Mr. Puland, on the part of the Treasury, con-
ducted the prosecution, and Mr. Ribton defended
the prisoner.
The learned counsel, in stating the charge against
the prisoner, said the prisoner and deceased lived
together as man and wife, at Temperance-
cottages, North-road, Limehouse. Unhappy dif-
ferences had existed between them for some time,
until at length a quarrel took place between
them in consequence of the pawning of a watch,

belonging to the prisoner, by the deceased. On the
morning of the 24th of July the deceased was
found in the hou33 with a terrible gash in her
throat svering all the arteries, and the allegation
on the part of the prisoner vas that the deceased
had attempted to cut the prisoner's throat, but fail-

ing in that she had destroyed herself. There were
some very peculiar circumstances connected with

the finding of the body, the principal being that
a chair had been placed in such a position
over the head of the deceased that it appeared im-
possible that deceased could have placed it there
herself after the wound had been inflicted, because

such was the nature of the gash in her throat that
the back of the spine had been injured. It was also
questioned whether the death of the woman bad not
taken place some time previous to that mentioned
by the prisoner, and there were other circum-
stances in the statement made by the accused
that led to his being committed by the examining
magistrate for wilful murder.
The prisoner listened with the greatest attention
to the speech of the learned counsel, but when Mr.
Poland was detailing the circumstances attending
the finding of the body and the nature of the
wound in the throat of the deceased he be-
came apparently agitated, and during the re-
mainder of the learned counsel's speech he

took up a standing position, and shook his
head in a negative or affirmative manner whenever
an opinion was given to deny the statement he (pri-
soner) had made when he was examined before the
coroner's inquest. One particular statement made
by Mr. Poland seemed to produce a great impres-
sion in court ; it was that which referred to a hand-
kerchief the prisoner wore at the time he alleged the
deceased cut his throat. The handkerchief was a
very large one, and it had been folded to such
an extent that there were at least fourteen
or fifteen folds. This was cut almost com-
pletely through, and although blood of course
would flow after the injury bad been inflicted on
the prisoner's throat after the withdrawal of the
knife, yet there was not the slightest trace of blood
in any of the edges of the handkerchief. The great
question the learned counsel left for the jury to
decide was whether the deceased could have inflicted
the injuries herself, and observed that Professor
Taylor and other medical gentlemen were of
opinion that it amounted to almost an impossibility
that she could, because the knife must have been, in
the first instance, plunged into the throat to inflict

the injury to the spine.
The first witness called was Rose Oakes, sister to
the deceased. She said her sister was 22 years of
age, and had been about three years in London.
She had lived with the prisoner about six months.
'rho last time she saw her sister alive was a week
before her death ; it was in • the apartment she and
the prisoner occupied. They were quarrelling,
during which her sister told the prisoner she would
live with him no longer, and also that she had ob-
tained a situation, to which she intended to go.
By the Judge—She was quite sure the prisoner
must have heard her sister when she said she would
leave him at the end of the ensuing week.
Ann Wilshire said she knew the deceased Agnes
Oakes very well. She was in the habit of seeing
her every day ; indeed she saw her as late as 11
o'clock on the night previous to the discovery of the
murder. She went into the prisoner's room in
consequence of hearing deceased scream. On
opening the door she saw the prisoner holding the
deceased by her hair and kicking her. She pushed
prisoner away from deceased, and told him he would
be sorry to - morrow for what he had done.
Deceased had been throwing the tea things at the
prisoner, and even the teapot with hot water iu it.
Cross-examined by Mi. Ribton—Was quite sure
prisoner kicked deceased. She never saw deceased
in a distressed state of mini ; on the contrary she
was of a happy diAposition.
Mrs. Truss, landlady of the Golden Lion public
house, St. George's-in-the-East, spoke to an inter-
view she had had with Wiggins previous to the death
of the deceased, when he said be was getting on
very badly in consequence of the young woman
with whom he was living not turning out as he
expected. She had not been examined before, and
as she had repeated the conversation she had had
with Wiggins in front of her bar, she presumed the
police became acquainted with the fact, and it was
to that circumstance that she had been subpoenaed
to attend the trial.
James Burney, a pawnbroker's assistant, spoke to
the pawning of the watch.
Sarah Martini said she resided at Rhodesvvell-
road, Limehouse, situate on the opposite side of
the canal to that on which Temperance-cottages are
erected. On the morning of the day the deceased
was found dead at about two o'clock she heard a
female voice cry out, " You are murdering of me,"
and afterwards the cry of murder three or four

times.
Cross-examined—She had heard disturbances
from the back of her house before, but then she had
invariably heard both men and women's voices. On
the occasion the was speaking of she only heard the
voice of a woman. She had never before been
awoke by cries of murder. She became aware of
the time by hearing the church clock striking im-
mediately after. She also got out of bed, lit the
candle, and looked at her watch, and then through
the window.
By the Judge—She did not see a light in either
of the houses known as Temperance-cottages, nor
any person about.
Henry Tucker, police-constable 458 K, was on
duty near the prisoner's house on the morning of
the 24th of July. lie heard a cry of murder in the
direction of the canal, near which the prisoner's
house is situate. lie went towards the towing
path, but on getting there ail was quiet. The church
clock struck two just at the time. The voice was
that of a female in great distress. He only heard
the cry of murder once. He was sure the cry came
from the direction of the prisoner's house. lie
heard it but once. It was a long sustained cry.
The clock struck two immediately after it died
away.

By the Judge—The night was a dark one, but it
was very quiet. The neighbourhood in which the
prisoner's house is situate is a very low one.
Mrs. Eliza Long said she resided at 83, Lower
North-street, very near the prisoner's house. On
the morning of the 23d of July she heard a cry of
" Murder" at 10 minutes to two. She was sure of
the time, in consequence of her having to admi-
nister medicine to her husband at two o'clock. At
10 minutes to five the prisoner's father came into the
passage of her house, and she heard him say Agnes
was dead. She looked out of the window and saw the
prisoner standing in front of his house with a crowd
of persons round him. lie was dressed, and held
his hand up to his neck. On dressing herself she
went into the prisoner's house, and saw his mother.
Her hands were full of blood, A Dire, Dunn

...---
washed the old lady's hands. Before she left the
house the prisoner had been taken to the hospital.
She had resided seventeen years in the neighbour-
hood, but never during that time heard the cry of
murder.
The deposition of the husband of the last wit-
ness was then put in and read, as he was unable to
attend personally. It stated that he saw the pri-
soner's mother come out of 'the house with a knife
in her hand. She called out murder two or three
times. She had a gown on, not her night-dress.
lie also saw the prisoner come out. He also was
dressed. It was light enough for deponent to see
that Mrs. Wiggins had a knife in her hand, but not
to see whether there was blood upon it.
William Dann said he saw the prisoner on the morning
of the 24th July. The alarm of murder had been given.
Se was holding his left hand up to his throat.. 'Witness
asked what was the matter, when he replied, " She's cut
toy throat and afterwards cut her own." When ho went
into prisoner's room the deceased was lying partly on the
hearth rug, and her head was tuwaris the wall but undcr
a chair. Her head was about six or seven inches from the
wall. The neck was resting on a pillow, but the head was
so far back that he could not soo it until ho got up close to
it. He afterwards saw a jacket taken from under the
pillow. It was a windsor chair, and the middle rail of it
rested on the deceased's chin. When he first wont in he
saw the blood blubbering out of the wound. The
deceased had only her chemise on. It was torn down
the front, and a portion of it stained with blood. The
chemise was torn down to within a foot of the bottom.
The chemise worn by the unfortunate woman was here
produced, but it was torn to shreds, and on the witness
being asked by the learned judge to show the rent he bad
spoken of, bo said the chemise was so much torn now
that ho could not with certainty say which was the front
and which the back.

Examination continued—He put his hand to deceased's
heart, but found no pulsation. Ho looked up again and
and then he saw prisoner with a dinner knife in his hand,
he said "She's done it herself, and this is what she did it
with." Witness then covered the body over with a sheet.
Before leaving the room he saw some blood on the seat of
the chlir, pArtly covering a black apron. The blood on
the knife was wet, but he could not say in what state the
blood was about the room. There was no blood on the
stairs when he left to fetch a constable.

Cross-examined —Ho did not examine the body very
minutely, but he knew when he put his hand to the region
of the heart, it did not beat. The front of the chemise
where the tear was was covered with blood. It was torn in
the front to within a foot of the bottom. Ile had not
heard any statements made by other witnesses about the
chemise. lie said before the coroner the chemise was
torn in front for about a foot, but he did not consider that
his statement on the present occasion contradicted that.
He was quite sure the chemise had been torn open in the
front when he first saw it. It had not been opened in the
front in the making. He was quite sure the centre cross
rail of the chair rested on the chin of the deceased.

At the request of Mr. Ribton the witness placed the
chair over his head, iu order to show the jury the exact
position in which it was when he first saw it. On re-
moving the chair he turned it up, and, pointing to the
rail, said, "You see there's some hair upon the place that
rested on her."

Elizabeth Johnson gave similar evidence, but in addi-
tion said she was sure the chemise was made " with flaps"

—that is, not open in front. When she assisted to move
the body of tho deceased from the floor to the bed she ob-
served it was torn down the side about a foot or so. When
she felt the feet of the deceased they were quite cold. She
was about 10 minutes after Wiggins calling oat murder
that she felt the legs of the deceased and found them cold.l
James Williams proved that it was about 10 minutes
after the prisoner first called out murder and the arrival of
the surgeon, and Thomas Allwood proved that the time
the alarm of tho murder was first given in the morning was
about 10 minutes past five.
Police-constable Bannister recollected the conversation he
had with the prisoner on taking him to the hospital, during
which he said "She has done this." Tho head of the de-
ceased, when he first saw it, was resting against the cross
rail of the chair, or rather, he should say, more properly
under it.
Dr. Horton said he arrived at the prisoner's residence in
about half an hour after the alarm of murder had been
raised. He saw the prisoner on his arrival, and putting
back the handkerchief he had around his neck he saw the
wound on his throat. It was not a very deep one. He
pressed the handkerchief against it, and proceeded up
stairs to the room in which the deceased was lying. At
this time ho did not observe any cut on the handkerchief
the prisoner had round his neck. Tito witness then de-
scribed the nature of the woual on the deceas,d's throat.
It had severed all the arteries in the left silo of the
neck and had injured the spine. Death Must have been
almost instantaneous.

Mr. Poland —Do you think it possible that the deceased
could have inflicted such a wound hersAf ?
Witness—l think that a person inflicting such a wound
must be ins state of frenzy or madness.
Mr. Poland—ls it possible fur a person to inflict such a
wound on his own person ?
Witness—lt is possible, but only in a case of extreme
excitement.

Mr. Poland—ls it probable—
Mr. Ribton—l object to a question put in such a form.
The learned Judge said the witness had been asked
about the possibility of such a wound being self-inflicted,

and he had answered it.
Mr. Poland—l will not press the point, but proceed to
another part of the evidence. How long do you think
ti•t life had been extinct when you first saw the body ?

Witnem—Two hours or more.
Mr. Itibton—Didn't you say one hour at the coroner's

inquest ?
Witness was 4sked by the, coroner if life might have
been extinct one hour, and I replica yes, or more ;^ that,
I believe, is what I said.
Mr. Ribton— Is there not some difference of 0p..;„ in
the medical profession with respect to the time that rigiat,„
of the body ensues after death ?

Witness—Yes.
Mr. Ribton—Was not the wound on the prisoner's throat
a dangerous one ?
Witness—Yes, if it was left unattended.
Mr. Ribton—And death might have ensued if it had not
been seen to ?
Witness—Yes, of course.
In answer to the learned judge, the witness further
stated that thero was nothing inconsistent when he saw
the body, with the appearances of three or four hours after
death. The force required to personally inflict such a
wound as he had described would be such as only frenzy

could impart.
Mr. Dove, member of the Royal College of Surgeons,
said ho was on duty at the London Hospital when prisoner
was brought in. Having described the wound on the
prisoner's throat, he said he had carefully examined the
cut in the handkerchief the prisoner had worn round his
neck. Ho found it had 16 folds in it, and, with the excep-
tion of the two first folds, the rest were quite free from

blood. Had the cut been made in the handkerchief at the
time the wound was inflicted on his throat, the odges must

have been rendered bloody by the passing of the knife

through it after the injury was caused. Blood would flow
instantly the knife left the skin. The cut in the handker-
chief was some distance from that portion of it which had
actually covered the wound in the person's neck. The
prisoner could easily have inflicted the wound by his own
hand sad he felt so disposed.
In reply to Mr. Ribton, witness said he know there were
authentic cases on record where persons had moved about
for some time after the interior carotid artery had been

severed.
The further hearing of the case was then adjourned
until to-morrow, and the jury were given in charge of
the proper officer of the court, as the learned judge in-
formed them it was possible for them to separate until the
case had been concluded.

JOHN CROSS, THE DORSETSHIRE LABOURER, IN
TILE BANKRUPTCY COURT.—This labourer, who ob-
tained notoriety some time ago by being sent to prison on
the charge of stealing a hurdle, has been adjudicated bank-
rupt. From his examinaton before Mr. Registrar Rawlins
on Friday last, at Wimborno County Court, it appeared
that soon after the public subscription commenced Cross
began, in anticipation of the money likely to come to him,
to be freer in the purchase of food and clothing for his
family, which at the rate of wages he had been earning had
been of the scantiest kind. The person who served him
with provisions was a Mr. Jacobs, grocer, of Poole, whose
bill was something over £2O. The bankrupt stated that
Mr. Onslow supplied him with money to discharge some
previous liabilities, but afterwards sent the remainder of
the money subscribed to the Daily Telegraph ; that it was
subsequently sent back to Wimborne, and paid to the Rev.
Messrs. Kemp and Plumptro and St. John Coventry, Esq..
and had been put in a Wimborne bank. When the muury
was first sent down from the Daily Telegraph office, and
before it was put iu the bank, ho (the bankrupt) asked
Mr. Coventry for enough to pay for the provisions ho had
had, but it was refused. Ile wished to have paid what he
owed. lie had since been told that the money subscribed
had been settled by a deed, but he had never seen the
deed, and he bad never been asked whether he wished the
money to be settled ; settling it was entirely against his
will. He had that day ascertained that the money paid to
the bank was £265, but did not knew before, and had
never bad any account of the money. He was told that
transferring it from London to Wimborne coat 46 18s.
All he had received since the money had been sent to
Wimborno was 18s. and £3 18s. 10d. another time. The
£3 lbs. 10d., he understood, was a half-year's interest. Ha
had boon told that the money was to be for hint for his
life, and afterwards for his children. His delta were
.£43 3s. 10d. He earned on an average Hs, a week. He
had a large family.

At the instance of Sir Roderick Murchison, the
Government have resolved to send out a geographer, a
geologist, and a naturalist, with the Abyssinian expedition.
The Government, iu making their preparations fur this
expedition, have also derived valuable assistance from the
accumulated informal= of the Geographical, Society.—
Pa NA OW%

......
Naval and Military Intelligence.

'rhe Secretary of State for War and Inspector
General of Fortifications are at present engaged on
a tour of inspection of the coast, harbour, and river
defences of the kingdom, more especially on the
southern, eastern, and western coasts. The consi-
deration of the present state of these works, and of
the plans submitted for finishing them, is a subject
of no little magnitude. It is well known that
opinions are vastly divided among professional men
as to the form and disposition of the iron plating,
both for the marine fortifications—such as the forts
at Spithead—and the embrasure " shields" for the
coast batteries. The great fault in points of design
in the first instance with regard to most of the works
on the coast that have been expressly planned to
carry armour plating is the evident overcowding of
each work with embrasures. These works, it must
be remembered, built of granite, with an iron rib-
work of longitudinal and transverse girders, and
sheathing of outer armour, in the disposition of
which each embrasure will cost from £l,OOO to
£1,500, are supposed to be building to last, not for
a few years, but for alltime. They can neither, when
once planted in the sea—like the Shovel fort in Ply-
mouth Sound, the Spithead forts, or the fort on the
Isle of Grain—be reconstructed like a fleet, or mate-
rially enlarged upon in any way. The fact is these
forts were all intended when first designed to carry
the heaviest gun then known, the 23-tonner, or, as
it is generally called, the 600-pounder, which has
earned such fame at Shoebury ; but now that the
land batteries at the Gilkicker, at Sandown, at
Sheerness, and other points are nearly ready to re-
ceive their ironplatiug, it is found that there will
not be space for the 23-ton gun, and a lesser weapon
will therefore have to be substituted. The same con-
clusions apply to the marine forts at Spithead and
elsewhere. The introduction of submarine mines
into the system of defence for roadsteads, harbours,
and rivers has, however, rendered the failure of our
marine forts to carry their originally intended
weight of armament a less serious matter than it
would otherwise have been, as it is just possible that
all such works may in future be looked upon as
grand torpedo stations, with their guns protecting
the nests of hidden mines lying in the water chan-
nels and on the edges of the shoals, rather than as
fighting batteries defending, unaided by any secret
bedevilments, the passage from the attack of an
enemy's fleet. But there are faults of overcrowding
batteries with gunports in some of the works that
have been, or are about to be, visited by Sir John
Pakington and Sir John Burgoyne that is really
unpardonable and utterly without remedy, unless
every alternate embrasure is built up, and half
the original number of guns placed in the work.
Take the costly Hilsea lines, which were designed
to command the entrance to the island of Port-
sea (on which stands all the naval and ordnance
establishments at Portsmouth), as an example.
The embrasures have here been placed so closely
together that even the earthen covering for the
stone-fronted face of the batteries will not stand,
so acute is the angle given by the short distance
between the ports. As the earth is piled up over the
top of these batteries the foundations also give way,
and huge cracks may be seen opening up through
the brickwork in all directions. The want of soli-
dity in the base to support the superstructure is, in-
deed, also to be found in almost every piece of new
fortifications now erecting, or lately erected, around
our coasts. In many places this result may have
been inevitable from the nature of the ground, but
in many cases it has most undoubtedly been assisted
by a neglect of precautionary measures, or disregard
of any consideration of the condition of the soil,
marsh, or shingle on which the fort was to be raised.
Forts are now standing, or are trying to stand,
which are constantly letting slip large slices of their
ramparts into the ditch below. These forts carry
guns, but it is almost needless to say that not one
has yet been fired from their ramparts, nor could it
be done with safety, for fear of the whole fort fall-
ing prostrate.
The Medway forts are, perhaps, the most curious
and instructive in their history of all. They have no
doubt been a bugbear and a horror to Secretaries of
State for War and the officers of the Department.
The so-called foundations of these works only were
completed when they split through in the most fan-
tastic forms from their lowest to their highest stones,
and had to be braced together with stout iron tie-
rods from side to side to keep them from breaking
up. This latter strengthening measure accomplished
the next step was to build up the superstructure.
As the stones for this purpose were laid on any
one side of a work it sunk in the quaking morass,
while the opposite side rose. It was soon evident
that no forts could be finished on the Medway's
bank, but the difficulty was got rid of in a most un-
dignified way, and in a way, too, that was peculiarly
cruel to Sir J. Pakington when just fresh from his
labours in the it re,-...istruction" of the navy, and
taking up bic, new duties as Secretary of State for
War oir John was made to say in the House of
t,ommons that " it had been determined to abandon
the forts on the banks of the Medway in order that
the money with which it had been intended to con-
struct them might be expended upon the Spithead
Forts."

If Sir John Pakington visits the sites of the aban-
doned
forts on the Medway during his present tour
with Sir John Burgoyne he will doubtless learn the
true cause of their abandonment, and at the same
time the importance of weighing carefully any state-
ment which he may have to make officially on sub-
jects with which he has had no opportunity to make
himself personally familiar.
In accordance with instructions to that effect, re-
ceived at Chatham from the War Department, a
supply of revolvers has been forwarded from the
armoury to Dover, on the application of the autho-
rities of the town, for use by the police and detec-
tive officers engaged in watching and searching the
steamers leaving for the Continent, to prevent the
escape of Col. Kelly and Deasey. The arms for the
officers were applied for by the Mayor of Dover in
consequence of a number of strangers and suspected
persons suddenly appearing in the town for the pur-
pose, it is surmised, of assisting Kelly and Deasey to
make their escape to the Continent. Yesterday a
photograph of Kelly was circulated among the me-
tropolitan police doing duty at Chatham.
The detachments belonging to the various corps
attached to the three battalions of infantry at Chat-
ham who have completed their course of instruction
in the use of the Snider breechloading musket at the
Hythe School of Musketry will rejoin their respec-
tive regiments at the garrison this morning.
Lieut.-Col. Richard Handcock, formerly of the
4Gth Regiment, and whose death we announced in
our obituary yesterday, at the advanced age of 80
years, entered the army in 1805, and accompanied
the expedition to Hanover in that year. He attained
the rank of Lieutenant in 1806, in which year he
joined the army in Sicily, and was employed with
various operations until 1810 ; went with the expe-
dition to Naples, and was present at the capture of
Ischia and Procida, and returned to Sicily, and
was employed against the French army in 1811.
He served in Spain during 1812 and 1813, in-
cluding the battle of Castella, siege of Tarragona,

and affair of Villafranca. Ile served also in the
campaign of 1815, and was severely wounded at
'Waterloo. Ile became Captain July 30, 1818 ;
MAjor January 10, 1837, and Lieut.-Col., Nov.
23, 1854.
The Admiralty Gave directed that the trials re-
cently male, comparatively, between the hydraulic
propelled gun vessel Waterwitch and the double
screw vessels Viper and Vixen are to be repeated
in Stokes-bay with the two first named, the Water-
witch to be lightened at the wish of Mr. Ruthven,
the inventor of the hydraulic wheel of the Water-
witch, on any trial, to give her the same mean im-
mersion with which the Viper may be tried. We
cannot exactly understand what either the Admi-
ralty or Mr. Ruthven expect to learn from these
renewed trials. If the results of the trials of the
fastest of the double screws—the Viper—is at all
questioned in their comparison with the results ob-
tained with the hydraulic vessel, any new trial at
" mean immenions" only, will not lead to any satis-
factory settlement. Probably, however, it is
thought that these extraordinary ironclads may
burn their coals with greater safety on the measured
mile than at sea.
The Admiralty yacht Enchantress, Commander

Petley, is under orders to proceed from Portsmouth
to the Medway for the service of the Lords of the
Admiralty in a contemplated tour of inspections on
the eastern coasts.

The Warrior, 32 guns, armoured iron screw
frigate, 1,250 horse power, Capt. H. Boys, sailed
from Spithead yesterday morning for the coast of
Ireland, calling in at a western port and Queens-
town. The armament of the Warrior has been
supplied to her on the new scale, and consists of
four 12 ton, 9 inch and 28 61 ton, 7 inch muzzle-
loading rifled guns, mounted on iron carriages and
slides. Some surprise has been recently expressed
at the loss in the rate of speed at the measured mile
apparently sustained by this frigate, in her re-
cent trial in Stokes-bay, as compared with the rate
she attained on her first trial when commissioned by
Capt. the llon. A. A. Cochrane. The difference is,
however, perfectly explainable. The ship and her
engines are just as cape. le of giving the same rate
of speed now as on her first trial under steam if the
conditions of trial are made the same. Now the
weight on the safety valve has been reduced very
considerably below the original weight, owing to
the age of the boilers, and the ship's mean immersion
of hull has been very materially increased by the
additional weights she has to carry in her new arma-
ment and its supplies of shot shell, powder, &c.
The St. George, 72, unarmoured screw line of
battle ship, Capt. Nolloth, sailed from Portsmouth
yesterday morning for Portland, to resume her
duties at that port as cadet training ship, &c. The
St. George answers very well as a harbour training
ship for young officers on the first step of their pro-
fessional career, but as a fighting ship she is a sham,
and, in appearance, with the exception of ships now
building in her Majesty's dockyard; she is un=
doubtedly the ugliest ship in the navy.
The Danae, screw corvette, 4, 350 horse power,
fitting with her machinery at Portsmouth dockyard
by the Messrs. Napier, of Glasgow, has had steam
up, and will make a preliminary trial of her engines
outside Spithead about Friday next.
The unarmoured screw sloop Blanche, 6, 350
horse power (nominal), having received on board
the heavy portion of her engines and machinery, by
Messrs. Ravenhill and Hodgson, alongside Chatham
dockyard, has been removed up the harbour, and
moored alongside the Gloucester, 50, where she will
complete her equipment, and be brought forward for
sea. Her iron lower masts have been fitted on board.

THE FRIGHTFUL DEATH OF THREE
CHILDREN ON THE GREAT NORTHERN
RAIL WAY.

Yesterday Dr. Hardwicke, deputy-coroner,
opened an inquiry at the Railway Hotel, Colney-
hatch, on the bodies of the three children who were
knocked down and killed by an express train, near
Colney-hatch station on the Great Northern Rail-
way, on Saturday.

Wontner, solicitor, appeared on behalf of the
railway company, and Mr. R. Ring, solicitor, on
behalf of Mr. Angus and other inhabitants.
The jury, having viewed the bodies, proceeded to
the scene of the accident, and called the attention
of the authorities to a pond which they considered
dangerous. Upon their return into court,
Alfred Glover, Colney hatch, a platelayer, said—
On Saturday, a few minutes before 12, I was near
the crossing between Colney-hatch and Whetstone
tunnel. I saw a long goods train pass down. I
beard also the whistle of an uptrain. I turned round
and saw the three children under the engine. The
two girls were carried 31 yards and the boy 41
yards. I went up to the little boy and laid him on
the bank. He was quite dead. I then went to the
eldest girl. She was cut about the head, and her feet
were off. She was quite dead. The next body was
about a yard from the other. One of the company's
foreman brought a blanket and covered the bodies
over.

Wm. Smith, the driver of the express, said—l was
driver of the express from Leicester on Saturday
morning. I saw the children on the line immediately
the down goods train passed. I was then four or five
yards from them. I saw that the engine went over
them. I stopped at the station and reported the
circumstance. The guard found one of the little
girls' hats under the engine. We were going 40
miles an hour when the accident happened.

Benjamin Murgatroyd, guard in the employ of
the Midland Railway Company, said he wits guard
of the express in question, and saw the accident
happen as described by the last witness.
Mr. Taylor, hall porter at the Colney-hatch
Asylum, and related to the children, said they went
out for the purpose of black-berrying. They were
in the habit of crossing the line four times a day in
going to and from school.

A Juror—About 30 children attend that school.

Another Juror—About 120 or 130 children pass
over the line daily. It is a regular thoroughfare.
Mr. John Angus, 10, Ely-place, Colney-batch,
carpenter, said—l have lived here nine years. My
children went across the line to school at Friern
Barnet ; many other children do the same. They
go from Ely-place, where there are about 20 houses.
Some children come from Frien Barnet to the infant
school on this side of the line.

By Mr. Ring—The path across the line has been
used for years.
Edwin Dibbin, stationmaster at Colney-hatch-
-1 know the crossing, which is called Church-path.
It is a public crossing. I have not known any acci-
dents to happen on it before this. The path was at
one time diverted, made more safe, because the ap-
proach was more elevated, and persons could see
what was coming each way. It was altered to its
original site at the request of the parishioners, who
did not like the Church-path being done away with.
The tunnel is about three-quarters of a mile from
the path. There is a bridge between the path and
the tunnel, but it does not hide the view of approach-
ing trains.

The Coroner thought the jury had obtained suffi
cient evidence to enable them to come to a verdict

The Foreman said he had a speech to make before
ho retired, and a juror intimated that he had a
number of motions to make, but he was advised to
reserve them till the jury were in private.
The Foreman said that in support of his strong
opinion on the dangerous practice of allowing cross-
ings over railways he should quote Blackstone.
Blackstone said, " There is an unwritten law that
England recognises that the public must be pro-
tected spite of companies and all monopolies." He
found that 1,056 persons were annually killed by
trains. The poor children used all the caution that
any one possibly could on the occasion. They
watched the slow goods train pass, and then pro-
ceeded to cross the line, but were knocked down by
an express which was tearing along at the rate of
40 miles an hour. The accident might have been
prevented if the railway company had gone to a
little expense, and made a tunnel under the line. He
considered that if the company did not fully pro-
tect the lives of the public they would be the mur-
derers of every one killed.

The Coroner said the forman had omitted one im-
portant point upon which the company might be
induced to construct a tunnel under the line, or a
bridge over it, and that was that there were two
schools, one on each side of the line, which were
approached by this path.
The jury then retired to consider their verdict.
After a lengthened deliberation the jury returned
into court, and the formma❑ said—" Our verdict is
accidental death. No blame attached to the driver
of the engine. The jury express their unanimous
Opinion that all footpaths, roads, &c., on railways
should have the same protection for the public as
before the railways crossing them. This protection
we do not find ou the Great Norther❑ Railway."
Coroner—l cannot enter all that as the verdict. I
must enter the verdict accidental death, and your
opinion must form the subject of a separate resolu-
tion to be forwarded to the company.
Foreman—lf you don't take the verdict as we
have written it we shall retire and draw up another,
attaching the blame directly to the company ?
Coroner—You do not wish to return a verdict of
manslaughter against the company ?
Foreman—Not exactly.
Coroner—But I can only enter it as accidental
death or manslaughter.
The jury still persisted in attaching blame to the
company, and retired to reconsider their verdict.
After they had been absent a considerable time they

wore called into court by the Coroner for the pur-
pose of adjourning the case. They did not at first
obey the summons, and the Coroner at length went
into the room himself. After the lapse of an hour the
jury entered the court with the following verdict :
"TM the said Fanny Eliza Roddis, Mary Ann
Roddis, and Henry Albert Roddis were found dead
from the mortal effects of injuries by an express
train passing over their bodies at a public crossing
on the Great Northern Railway, and the jurors fur-
ther say that the said deaths were the result of au
accidental cause, and that they attach no blame
either to the deceased children or engine-driver."
The Coroner was about to read a resolution passed
by the jury, when
Mr. Ring objected to the verdict being qualified.
If the jury attached blame to the company, the ver-
dict in effect was one of manslaughter.
The Foreman—Part of the jurors were in favour
of a verdict of manslaughter.
The Coroner--The jury have, I think, acted ac-
cording to custom in appending their opinion in the
form of a resolution to the verdict. That will go b.:-
fore the public through the press. The resolution is
4, That the jury empanelled at the Railway Hotel,
Colney -hatch, to inquire into the cause of the death
of Fanny Eliza Roddis, Mary Ann Roddis, and
Henry Albert Roddis, having returned a verdict of
accidental death, are of opinion that all public cross-
ings and roads on railway lines should have proper
superintendence and protection for the prevention
of such accidents in future. They also consider this
crossing to be unsafe, and the jurors further wish to
state the case of the mother of the children to be a
fit one for the consideration and compensation by
the railway company."
The Foreman—The jurors have subscribed a sum
of money for the mother.
Mr. Woutner having stated that the company in-
tended to pay the expenses of the funeral, and take
the case of the widow into consideration, some re-
criminating words were bandied about as to the
motives exhibited on either side during the inquiry.
The Coroner remarked that is was a pity the in-
habitants had not waived a small amount of interest
or feeling at the time the company wanted to divert
the path across the bridge and acceded to that being
done. The accident would thus have been prevented.