The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-13 00:00:00

, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1866.

The Murder of a Convict Warder at Chatham.

CHATHAM, Wednesday.
This morning James Fletcher, the convict who stands
charged, on the coroner's inquest, with the wilful murder
of James Boyle, an assistant-warder at the Chatham Con-
vict Prison, in Chatham Dockyard, on Wednesday last, by
brutally attacking him with a hammer used by him in
breaking stones, was brought up for examination at the
police-court.

The magistrates on the bunch were Mr. W. H. Nicholson
and Captain H. Savage, and during the examination of the
accused the court was crowded.

The prisoner appeared to take more interest in the pro-
ceedings than on the occasion of his examination before the
coroner and jury. He appears to have recovered from the
effects of the wound inflicted on him by the bayonet of the
convict guard who went to the assistance of the deceased
at the time of the attack on him. Th 3 prisoner received
throe bayonet wounds in the thigh and one in tho side. He
was also struck over the left side of the head with the butt
end of the rifle, there being a large scar still visible where
the wound was inflicted. Since he has been in the custody
of the police he has talked freely of the crime, which he
does not attempt to deny, the reason alleged by him for the
attack on the deceased being on account of his having
caused him to be punished by confinement in the prison
cells. He also expresses the opinion that he shall be hanged
for the crime. •

Sproule Irvine, the guard in charge of the convicts em-
ployed in Chatham dockyard at the time of the occurrence,
in addition to the evidence given before the coroner, now
stated that the party with which the prisoner was working
consisted of 20 convicts, who were all employed in stone-
breaking. Witness distinctly saw the prisoner rise from his
seat on a plank and strike the deceased three times with the
hammer produced, which he had been using in breaking
• the stones. The first blow struck the deceased on the left
cheek, but witness could not say where the second blow
struck him, but the third time prisoner struck him while he
was on the ground. The deceased fell on being struck the
second time. Witness never heard prisoner or deceased speak
before the attack took place. Immediately he saw the oc-
currence witness went towards the deceased, who was 15 or
16 yards away. The prisoner was then standing with the
hammer raised over his head, as if with the intention of
making an attack on witness, or continuing the attack on
the deceased. Witness secured him, and kept him until he
was taken to the prison. Before witness secured him

the prisoner dropped tho hammer, which he picked up.
Nothing was said, so far as witness could remember, by
the.prisoner either before or after ho was secured. Wit-
ness sustained some injuries during the scuffle with the
prisoner.

The medical witnesses said the deceased died from the
effects of those injuries.

William Thomas Allison, a principal warder at the Chat-
ham Convict Prison, said the prisoner had been reported
by the deceased for making use of foul language. Witness
produced the copy of the report of the deceased. The pri-
soner was present when the deceased made the report, and
so was witness. The charge against the prisoner was for
having made use of foul language. The prisoner was re-
ported at the,same time by another warder for having at-
tempted to obtain a second supper by false pretences. When
asked by the governor if ho had anything to say to the
charge made by the deceased, he said he had not. The
prisoner was then ordered two da.34l' close confinement in
the cells, with a diet of bread and water. On Wednesday
morning, the day of attack on the deceased, he was released
from confinement, and the same afternoon sent to his work
in the dockyard. The prisoner, in addition to his other
punishment, was degraded to another class, and lost 210
marks, which would operate against his remission of sen-
tence.

Prisoner—The reason I did it was because the officer was
regular taking advantage of the men, and reporting them
when there was no cause for it. The principal warder here,
when I was in the cells, on the 2d day of this month, said
ho would make my head and the wall come together, so
that my brains would flfout. I then thought that when
I got out I would do this to get shut of my life altogether,
as I was sick and tired of it. There's men constantly
dying now in the prison with hunger and starvation. The
men are regularly eating the candles, soap, and tallow;
they also eat the potato peelings, and anything they can
get hold of. They aro also drinking oil out of the oil
cans. I don't wish to say any more now.

After the above statement had boon taken down and
read over to the prisoner, he said it was quite correct, and
appended his signature to it.
He was then fully committed for trial for wilful murder
at the next assizes for Kent to be held at Maidstone.

The Fatal Accident to a Welsh Excursion

Train.

GLANDWYFACH, NORTH WALES, Tuesday.
This afternoon the adjourned inquest upon the bodies of
those killed in the accident on the Carnarvonshire Railway
last Thursday was resumed before the coroner for the dis-
trict, Mr. Hugh Hunter Hughes. The names of those upon
whom the inquiry was held were Mary Jones, Janet Phillips
Catherine Parry, llumphrey Griffith, Edward Williams,
and Elizabeth Evans. The first five were killed on the
scene at the tine of the accident, and the last, Elizabeth
Evans, died on Sunday in the publichouse adjoining the
station, whither she had been removed. The inquiry was
opened in the Goat Inn, and after the body of Elizabeth
Evans had been viewed by the jury the court was adjourned
to a shed near the railway station.
Mr. Breese, solicitor, of Portmadoc, and Mr. Morgan
Lloyd appeared to watch the case on behalf of the railway
company and the contractors.

The evidence was given in English and translated in
Welsh for the jury.
After briefly addressing the jury on the serious nature
of their duties, the Coroner called

Dr. Parry, who said—l was travelling by the train. that
met with the accident on Thursday night. There were no
carriages in the train. They were all ballast waggons. It
was dark at the time of the accident. We started from Pant
station, near Carvon, at 7 o'clock. We stopped at several
places on the road to put down passengers. I remember the

train stopping near this station (Glandwyfach). At first I
thought they were only putting down passengers. I know
since that it was to take in water from the tank. We came
very slowly from the tank to the station, and the train
stopped again. I did not know that the cause of the stop-
page was an accident. I sat still in the truck till I heard
people calling out for me. I then got out and went to the
engine and found it across the line, and two trucks near it
upset. I saw two bodies under the trucks—a man and
woman. They were both dead. I sawseveral other bodies
lying on a bank. I cannot say how many, there was such
confusion there and people calling for me first on one side
and then on the other. I stayed all night in attendance
upon Elizabeth Evans, who died on Sunday.
Dr. Roberts, a surgeon practising at Portmadoc, described
in detail the nature of the injuries of which the several
persons had died. 119 did not know anything of the acci-
dent or the causes'ivliich led to it.

Thomas Davis said—l live at Glenavon. lam a private
tutor. I was in one of the trucks in the train going to
Portmadoc on Thursday. I was in a truck at the back of
the train. We stopped near the station to got water. We
then proceeded pretty slowly, and the first thing I noticed
was the light of the signal juitping tip and down. The
truck I was in went on. I jumped down and ran towards
the engine. It was partly across the line. The tender
was lying on its side, pitched over. Three of the trucks
were also upset. The engine was not on the same rails as
the tender and the trucks. I assisted in removing the dead
bodies and the injured. I spoke to the driver at Carnarvon
just before starting, and ho was quite sober.

James Gordon, storekeeper onthe Cambrian Railway, was
with the train at the time of the accident. He proved that
the guard in charge of the train was sober. The train pro-
ceeded at the rate of about 15 or 20 miles an hour. From
the tank where the engine took in water to the points at
which the accident occurred the train was proceeding at the
rate of five or six miles an hour. There was a " turnout"
about 200 yards from the tank. There was no pointsman
stationed there. The whistle was sounded on leaving the
David Leather, a passenger in the first truck; who was
thrown out by the collision, was examined, but his evi-
dence did not add anything to that of. the preceding wit-
nesses.

Mr. William Pearce, manager of a bank at Portmadoc,
who rode on the tender from Pant to Glandwyfach, con-
firmed the previous description of the journey and tho ac-
cident. All the officials in charge of the train were sober.
Mr. John Savin was on the engine, assisting to drive.
There were from 25 to 30 passengers in each truck.
Alfred Harvey.—l am a ganger on the Carnarvonshire
Railway. I have been engaged on the line 12 months.
Had no particular instructions respecting the line on
Thursday. The points for three miles from hero towards
Carnarvon are under my charge. I examined the points
where the accident took place on Thursday evening at six
o'clock. They were then in good working order. They
were put in new about a fortnight ago. They are worked
by a lever. They are self-acting, and do not require any
one to look after them when a train is passing—that is, if
they are not disturbed by any one. They can only be
altered by some one working the lever. Tho weight of
the carriages passing would not disturb them. If a train
coining from Carnarvon had to stop at this station it would
be necessary to open the points that lead into the station.
That would be the duty of the broaksman who accompanies
the train. As an additional precaution, a spike was driven
into.the sleeper at the inside of the point to make it more
secure. The bolt has been driven in there in the first place
by the platelayers when laying down the points, and be-
fore the lever and weight wore fixed. It was a tempo-
rary substitute. On Thursday morning- I saw this spike
lying near the points, and I drove it in the hole where it
had been before. The train passed n from Port-Madoc
to Carnarvon in the morning all right.) When I examined
boltery wasti tight,
driven
t,because about
it
lInt;
n into
old hole.the sleeper.
It
the points at six o'clock on Thursday
night they were shut
and the bolt was in as I had left it rn. the morning. The
by the hand. A passing train would not displace it. Other
passenger trains have passed over the line, and safely passed
could removed
v
these points. About half an hour after the accident
occurred a woman came to my house, and told me of it. I
t be was
not
very
came down to the station, and found the engine across the

main road, and the tender was broadside down. I did not
go to examine the points that night. I went at 4 o'clock
next morning. They were then open for the siding road.
There was a truck standing on them. There was a bit of
the point chipped off on the inside of the road. The lever
was up. The points must have been partly opened by
some one before the train came down. The engine kept the
main line and the tender took the siding, with the trucks
after it. The engine in going over the points would have
the effect of shutting them closer, unless there was a stone
or something between the point and the stock rail, in which
case the engine would have the effect of open ing them wider.
That is how I account for the engine passing the points
safely and the tender running off. lam sure the bolt had
not got in between the point and, the stock rail. The road
is ballasted with gravel near the points, but the ballast is
kept lower than the rails.

James Gardiner—l am a platelayer. I was at the scene
of the accident on Thursday night. I went to look at the
points. I found a piece of sandstone "mashed up" on the
second chair, between the switch and the stock rail. It was
about half the size of a hen's egg. The bolt was lying in
the road, ahout a yard off the points. There was no mark
upon the bolt, as if it had been touched by the train. If it
had been wrenched out by the train it would have been bent
and marked. If knocked out by the train it would not have
fallen in the direction of the place where I found it. It is
not necessary to have the bolt there after the lever-box is
put up. It makes the points more secure when it is in. As
long as the bolt was in it was impossible to move the lever,
and it was not possible to open the point without moving
the lever. I have worked on many hundred points before,
but cannot account for the presence of the stone in any
other way except that it was purposely placed between the
points. I have known such a case before on Mr. Savin's
works. It was on a railway at Hereford, and the man was
tried at the assizes and found guilty.
J. H. Williams—On Thursday night I was coming back
from Carnarvon about 7 o'clock. It was dark and raining
very hard. I saw a man walking from the station towards
the points. Ido not know who he was. He was walking
between the rails.
The inquiry was then adjourned.

Mr. Du Cane, M.P., on the Navy and

Dockyarth.

On Tuesday evening, at the opening :of a new
Corn Exchange at Halstead, Essex, there was a
public dinner in the Town-hall. Capt. Sparrow pre-
sided, and amongst the speakers were Mr. Du Cane
(one of the Lords of the Admiralty), Sir Thos. B.
Western, M.P., Col. Brest, Capt. Courtauld, &c.
The last-named gentleman, in speaking on the
subject of the army, said that, as a junior Lord of
the Admiralty was present, he wished to ask him if
the statements that had been made in the news-
papers as to the extravagant expenditure in the
dockyards and navy were correct ? He would ask
whether it was true that the Government was spend-
ing more money in patching up old ships than was
necessary to make.new ones? Was it true that the
wages of seamen, were so low that other kir ds of
labour were more attractive than the navy to the
men of this country ?
Mr. D u CANE, in replying to these observations,
said that on his accession to office the question was
put to him by a friend who agreed with him in poli-
tical matters as to how he, a country gentleman,
came to be made a Lord of the Admiralty. What
possible connection could there be between an iron-
clad hull and the stubble and turnip fields of
North Essex ? (Laughter.) There did not at
first appear to be any connection, but_ agricul-
ture was pre-eminently a question of peace, and
the representatives of agricultural constituen-
cies were interested more than all others in
the effective maintenance of the naval defences
as a safeguard of the peace of the country. He had
not intended to plunge into the mysterious whirl-
pool of dockyard accounts, or that sweeping bill of
indictment brought by Mr. Seeley against the naval
administration, but a certain fly bad been thrown
across the table by Captain Courtauld, and so far as
he was able he should be only too happy to answer
the question. put. In the first instance the question
had been put irrespective of party, because the
gentleman who put the question was a hearty sup-
porter of the late Government. It was quite true
that the question as to whether more had been spent
in repairing old ships than it would cost to construct
new ones had been asked in the House of Commons,
and it produced a great effect, but he could not help
thinking that the captain had not read the answer
given to it by Sir John Pakington. That answer
clearly showed that Mr. Seeley was wrong. He had
got hold of two separate lines of figures, and had
misunderstood the number "3," -which belonged to
another column. -
Captain COUR TAULD —My remarks referred to the
ship Cadmus.
Mr. DU CANE said ships were mentioned generally,
and he thought Mr. Seeley's statement was referred
to, but as he was not prepared itith the account
relative to that ship, he could only reply gene-
rally. The next question was whether it was true
that our sailors were so underpaid that there
was a difficulty in obtaining good seamen to man
the navy. Now, he would say that the members
of the Board of Admiralty had inspected every
vessel in Her Majesty's squadron, as well as
the dockyards. There had been numerous depu-
tations of dockyard labourers, whO' represented
that owing to the increased price of provisions,
and other demands upon them, they wished to have
their wages increased. The Admiralty went on
board of 20 or 25 ships, and there was not a single
complaint made by the crews. That, he thought,
was the time to make complaints if any reason for
them existed, because a visit of the Board of Admi-
ralty gave an opportunity of making such com-
plaints. But there was one thing of which he
would assure his hon. friend, though he himself had
not been long in office, that from the First Lord of
the Admiralty down to the last there was but one
wish, that during the recess the whole of the state-
ments that had been made should undergo a com-
plete investigation. (Cheers.) If any abuses ex-
isted it was the determination of the Government
that they should be rooted out and dealt with in
the most summary manner ; and if Captain Court-
auld, with all his experience, would like to take a
tour through the dockyards, he should be furnished
with a free pass to go round without being accom-
panied by any official ; and, from the first nail
driven into a ship to her completion, he would have
an opportunity of ascertaining all the facts, and if
he could lay his hand on one single practical abuse,
and could point out a practical remedy, the First
Lord of the Admiralty would mention him in his
place in Parliament as a benefactor of his country.
(Great cheering.) There„ was one matter to be
looked at. If the navy of this country was com-
pared with that of America the result would be
favourable to England. The circumstances under
which the naval expenditure occurred must
be taken into account. America, during the
last few years, had expended upon her
navy the same amount that England had done, and
had constructed three or four times the number
of ships the size of the English vessels. Still he did
not think the cases parallel. America, five years
ago, had no navy at all ; but England had not only
to reconstruct her navy in the last five years, but ;
had also to alter ships and keep an efficient navy in
existence. It should also be remembered that we
were living in a time of change in naval architecture
such as the world had never known. The impene-
trable iron-clad of one day had been discarded,
owing to the power of the monster guns that had
been adopted ; and then, again, the turret-ship had
made another revolution in naval architecture. If
this revolution went on as it had done, the language
of the poet respecting the British seamen would be
inapplicable when he spoke of the " sea-boy on the
high and giddy mast ;" but he thought the high and
giddy mast would soon' be a reminiscence of the
past, and " Poor Jack" would have to be recom-
mended to the care of the mermaids down below,
living in a diving-bell, and inhale his breath through
the- questionable medium of a donkey engine.
(Laughter.) Seeing that the invention of one day
had become the exploded of the next, it could not
be wondered that they had changed their affection
for the old wooden walls. The Government had
had the best wooden navy that the world had ever
seen before the revolution in naval matters had
taken place, but they were arriving at the end of
the sea of trouble and perplexity into which they
bad been plunged, and certain principles had been
arrived at which would not only .contribute to the
efficiency of the navy, but would be-conducive to
simplify all matters in relation thereto for the
future.