The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-17 00:00:00

THE LATE SUSPECTED MURDER IN

THE REGENT'S CANAL.

LATEST PARTICULARS.

Yesterday (Sunday) a great number of persons of
both sexes crowded round the spot where the body
of the unfortunate man (John Turner) was dis-
covered, on the evening of Monday last, by a barge-
man while pausing along the Regent's Canal, Vic-
toria Park, and Mr. Russell, the dock-keeper had
considerable difficulty in keeping the curious visi-
tors out of danger.
The police of the district, through the instruc-
tions of Mr. Superintendent Howie, were most ac-
tively engaged throughout the whole of Saturday
in making every possible inquiry respecting the
deceased, and Sheridan, an queer of the K division,
has succeeded in tracing the deceased to the house
of his brother-in-law, near the Edinburgh Castle
public-house, Stepney, at which place he called on
Wednesday night, the sth inst , between eight and
nine o'clock, being 48 hours later than the time
mentioned by one of the witnesses examined at the
coroner's inquest on Thursday afternoon last. The
same constable has also ascertained that the de-
ceased borrowed 7s. from Mr. W. Bryant, his late
employer, residing in Prince's-square, Ratcliff-
highway, on the night he left home, and that he
(the deceased) was drinking in front of the bar of a
public-house, a short distance from the canal, a few
hours afterwards.

The several persons who saw the deceased on the
occasion referred to will be examined at the ad-
journed inquest, this afternoon, which may in all
probability throw some light upon the present
mysterious state of the case.
Mr. Vaughan, summoning officer of St. Matthew,
Bethnal-green, received orders from Mr. Field, the
foreman of the jury empanneled on view of the
mutilated remains of the deceased on Satur-
day, to proceed to the Home-office, to obtain
th• authority of the Sem wary of State for the at-
tendance of Dr. Taylor, of Guy's Hospital, but, in
consequence of the drawing-room in honour of her
Majesty's birthday, no business was transacted,
and the officer returned.

The body of the unfortunate man still remains in
the charge of the landlord of the Hosford Arms
public-house, adjoining the canal, and from the
time deceased has been taken out of the water, and
the previous condition of the body, there seems
some doubt as to whether a satisfactory medical
examination can be made.

Yesterday afternoon, at one o'clock, Mr. Wm.
Baker, the Coroner for East Middlesex, received
the following communication from the Home-office :
" Mr. Waddingt,in presents his compliments to
Mr. Baker, and is directed by Mr. Secretary Wal-
pole, to acknowledge the receipt of his letter of the
14th inst., in which he requests that Dr. Taylor
be authorised to aVend in the case of the inquest
on a man named John Turner, and to state in re-
ply, that Dr. Taylor's assistance would be given iu
a ease which required the best scientific and che-
mical evidence that could ba procure 1, but as such
evidence is very expensive, the Secretary of State
would not feel justified in sanctioning such assist-
ance where o'her medical testimony might be, as
in this instance, equally available. —Whitehall,
May 15, 1858."
A copy of this letter was forwarded by the learned
coroner to Mr. Vaughan, the summoning officer in
charge of the case, and on Saturday evening at 8
o'clock the jury bad a private meeting for the pur-
pose of taking into consideration the reply from
the Secretary of State, and after a long discussion,
the gentlemen empanneled to investigate the death,
resolved, unanimously, that thsy would have the
evidence of Dr. Taylor, notwithstanding the parsi-
monious conduct of the officials of the Home-office.

Mr. Seffings, the surgeon, who has been consulted
by several medical gentlemen of the district, still
adheres to the opinion he first expressed at the in-
quest that the deceased has been murdered, and the
clothes after wards buttoned up over the injuries he
described. He states th%t it would be utterly im-
possible :for the wounds to be inflicted by a.barge
passing against the bDdy without cutting the coat,
waistcoat, neckerchief, shirt, ac., which are quite
uninjured. The incision in the ne3k must have been
cut by a sharp-edged illSti umpnt, and groat violence
must have been exerci ed in the infliction of the
injuries. _ _

Late last night the police were still busily engaged
in the case, which has excited unusual interest.

WRECK ON THE IRISH COAST, WITH
LOSS OF ELEVEN LIVES.

A correspondent writing from Dundalk, thus re-
f, rs to a lamentable wreck, with the loss of 11 lives :

"It is my sad duty to record one of the most dis-
tressing shipwrecks, attonded with loss of life,
which has ever occurred in our bay. During the
recent heavy gale which visited the Irish coast,
the barque Mary Stoddart got embayed in Dun-
dalk bay, and dragged both her anchors. She went
on shore on the south, where she lay broad-
side on to the sea, which made a complete breach
over her.• On learning the news I took a car, and
proceeded to the Black Rock, on the opposite side
of the town, where I could clearly see her crew
clinging to the rigging. It was blowing at the
time a complete gale of wind from the S.E., to
which our bay is all open, with a heavy sea running,
I musterel two boat crews of hardy willing fellows,
to attempt the rescue of the poor men. I took
charge of one of them myself, and both boats pro-
ceeded out in the teeth of Ili heavy a gale as ever
blew on this coact. The boats were only common
open yawls, each manned by six men. They man-
fully pulled through the heavy breakers for nearly
three miles, and within a short distance of the un-
fortunate men ; but, to our great grief we were
compelled to put hack, as the sea was now actually
running mountains high, and both crews were com-
pletely prostrated and exhausted, and were hardly
able to keep the boats from filling. Capt. Joseph
Kelly, of the steamer Pride of Erin, also manned
and commanded another yawl ; but like us, he was
obliged to return unsuccessful to the shore. By
this time a steamer's lifeboat arrived on the spot ;
but she was of no more service than an ordinary
boat, and was compelled to return to the shore.
We all now returned to town almost broken.
hearted, compelled to leave the poor fellows to
spend an awful night in the cold icy rigging.
A meeting of the inhabitants was immediately con-
vened; and three of the most expesienced master-
mariners nobly volunteered to take command of
three more ships' lifeb Ats, with a picked crew
each. Capt. Kelly again readily consented to tike
off one of the boats. The boa's pulled out of our
river through as heavy a sea as ever men contended
with. Two of the boats succeeded in getting nearly
alongside the ship, when poor Cept. Kelly's boat
was overwhelmed with a heavy sea, and went down
stern foremost; Capt. Hind's boat b.-ing nearly 50
yards off, pulled up from the wreck, dashed through
the foaming breakers, and succeeded in picking up
all Kelly's men, but the noble min hinasslf had sunk
to rise no more, exclaiming as he went, Lord have
mercy on me ! Farewell, boys ; take care of your-
selves.' A braver man never breathed ; he had on
many previous ocsasions risked his life t) save a
fellow creature. Three of his crew soon died in the
boat from cold and exhaustion. One left a widow
and six orphans, a second his widowed mother,
sister, and two little children, and a third an aged
father, mother, and two sisters. Capt. Kelly was
unmarried, but has left a widowed mother to la-
ment the lsss of an affectionate son. The other boat
r•. turned to the shore, and was compelled to leave
again, unaided, the shipwrecked crew to their fate.
Tue nsw lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution at Drogheda, which is about ten miles
off, was about to be sent for the next morning,
when to our joy we perceived that a boat, c im-
manded by Mr. R. Shankey, of the coast-guard,
had left the norli side of the bay, and was strug-
gling nobly with the foaming, waves to gain the ill-
fated barque, which was now on her beam-ends, her
mainmast having b en cut away, and her unhappy
on
' (yew still in the rigging. The biat succeeded on the
first trip in
shore
thaokirlieat7t:mag nonrflye'
f7odocod dead
fur the crew,
tahcnrr eeatevl ,
dv
alive,
n
not
were
r broughte
s.
ofthem having
Lei At, again commanded by th e brave Shankey, re-
turned c n her ere Ind
tohf mercy and sue :ended in
taking off four more of
the last to leave h.s ill f. teae crew, the master being
vessel. Seven of his
crew had perished on boars the
every attention was paid to t barque. Onshore
he Shipwrecked Fish-
ermen and Mariners Society. It should be stated
that ten boats, including Shankey's, had put off
during this long interval with the view of rescuingl
the unfortunate crew, and that the Royal National
Lifeboat Institution has presented its silver medal
to each of the masters who took charge of the 1)3,3.4,
and 501. in aid of the local subscriptions now rasing
for providing for the families of the drowned, and