The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-10 00:00:00

SHOCKING MURDER.

On Sunday morning a dreadful murder was com-
mitted at Dowlais, which is part of the town of
Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales. A woman named
Ann Murphy, who is between 60 and 70 years of
age, and whose husband is employed under the
Dowlais Iron Company as a watchman, keeps a
private lodging-house, and among her lodgers for
some time past were two single men named Saun-
ders Henderson, 38 years of age, and Thomas
Watkins, 40. She had also a lodger named John
Silk. It is said that for some time previous to Satur-
day night Henderson and Watkins had been on too
familiar terms with their landlady, and, if not mutu-
ally suspicious of each other, it is tolerably certain
that Watkins was suspicious of Henderson, and,
in fact, jealous of him. On Saturday night
Murphy, the husband of the landlady, who
is an old man bordering on 70, was on night
duty. Watkins and Henderson came in about
11 o'clock, and had supper together. Mrs. Murphy
then went out and returned about' 12 o'clock. She
found that Watkins had gone upstairs, leaving
Henderson apparently sleeping on the chair in which
he sat. The old woman then went to bed—her
bedroom being on the ground floor. About five
minutes after she had been in bed Henderson went
into the room and got into her bed. She rose up,
and as she did so heard Watkins coming down-
stairs. She then got out of bed and was going
out of her bedroom into the kitchen, when she
met IVatkins at the door with a poker in his
hand. She was then stunned by a blow which he
struck her on the head, but recovered in a few
moments. Watkins passed on ir.to the room, but
the old woman did not hear either him or Henderson
speak, and she also heard no blows. When Wat-
kins returned from the room he said nothing, but
went and called a neighbour, a Mrs. Rees. He
then went back to the house and called up the
lodger Silk, to whom he said he " thought he had
killed Saunders, or had done for him." Two or
three persons went into the old woman's bedroom,
where they found Henderson lying in a pool of
blood on the floor by the side of the bed. The bed-
clothes and pillows were all spotted with blood, and
blood was still flowing freely from wounds on
Henderson's head. Henderson was quite dead.
A policeman then came, and he took Watkins
in custody on the charge of causing Henderson's
death. Watkins said he had been charged him-
self with being too free with the landlady, but
be had caught the -- at last. Mr. Byrne, a
surgeon, came in just afterwards, and found that
Henderson had his skull fractured very badly in
two places, and lacerated and contused wounds
besides. The poker was found under the
grate with fresh blood stains on it, and it was bent
in the form of a bow. It was straight a few hours
before. Watkins was taken before the magistrates
Wrenn
Monday, and charged by Mr. Superintendent
with the wilful murder of Henderson. Wit-
nesses deposed to the facts which are stated above,
and the prisoner manifested the utmost indifference
during the whole hearing. His reply to the charge
was that he never struck Henderson with a poker,
and the injuries which were found on his head must
have`seen caused by his falling off the bed. This,
the surgeon said, was impossible. The prisoner
was then committed for trial on the capital charge
at the next assizes at Cardiff, to opn on the
16th instant.

On the 19th Mr. Henry Seymour will call the
attention of the House of Commons to the long-continued
imprisonment and ill-treatment of her Majesty's envoy and
her Majesty's consul and other subjects of her Majesty by
the King of Abyssinia, and to pray her Majesty that proper
steps may be taken to procure the release of the prisoners
by force of arms.

A Moscow paper states that in 1853 the Russian
army consisted of 580,000. At tho present time it consists
of 800,000 men. This number could bo soon increased
to 1,180,000, besides 300,000 irregular troops. The Czar
has, therefore, a total military force of nearly 1,500,000
men.

REPRESENTATION OF CHELSEA.—Sir Hy. Ainslie
Hoare, Bart., who will ask the suffrages of the electors of
the proposed new borough of Chelsea at the next dissolu-
tion, has been an energetic and efficient supporter of the
Liberal cause for many years. In his address he declares
his confidence in Mr. Gladstone, as the great Liberal
Minister to whom England owes so much; he is stead-
fastly opposed to church rates, and will support the exten-
sion of public education and the removal of religious
disabilities at the universities.

DEATHS BY DROWNING AT STAINES.—On Satur-
day a party of seven or eight men (excursionists in a van
from London) took a boat at Egham Lock, and rowed or
drifted down the stream as far as Staines Railway-bridge.
At this point it would appear that the rudder became un-
shipped ; three of them foolishly attempted to replace it, and
in doings() capsized the boat. By the strenuous exertions of
some gallant fellows on the bank most of them were rescued,
but two of them found a watery grave. On the Saturday
previous a similar accident took place near the sane spot, by
which one man was drowned. In both cases the men were
in a state of partial, if not entire, intoxication ; in the lat-
ter so much so that the boatman at Staines would not let
them a boat, so they proceeded to Eghatn Lock.

ACCIDENT AT CAMBERWELL FAlR.—During the
week a pleasure fair has been held in a large piece
of pasture land leading from Southampton-street to Bruns-
wick-square, Camberwell. On Tuesday an immense num-
ber of persons visited the fair; and in the evening a boy,
named Joseph Ealing, was standing at the side of a round-
about worked by steam power, which was turning round
at a rapid speed, when he fell amidst the works of the
machine, and before it could be stopped, or the unfortu-
nate boy pulled out, his head was terribly mangled, the
scalp being torn off, his jaw fractured, and his skull se-
verely injured. Ho was removed to St. Thomas's Hospital,
but no hcpes are given of his recovery.
FALL OF A BRIDGE.--A telegram from Mar-
seilles reports that the brickwork bridge across the new
Lours Lieutaud, in that city, fell on Saturday afternoon,
and that 20 workmen were either killed or injured.