The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-26 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

Under new arrangements recently sanctioned by
the Secretary of State of War, with the concurrence
of the Duke of Cambridge, various non-commis-
sioned officers of the Royal Engineers, from the
companies at head quarters, Chatham, have been
selected as foreman of the works on the public under-
takings now in progress at various stations. Yester-
day an order was received from the War-office for a
non-commissioned officer to be selected to be fore-
man of works at Portsmouth, and a non-commis-
sioned officer of the Royal Engineers has been
ordered to proceed from Aldershot camp to Bromp-
ton barracks to take charge of the lithographic and
printing departments at the Royal Engineer esta-
blishment, under the direction of Capt. Schaw, C.E.
Rebruiting for the Royal Marines is still proceed-
ing very briskly, numbers of young men arriving
almost daily at head quarters, Chatham, from the
Hull, London, Liverpool and Bristol districts.
At a late hour last night detachments of time-

expired men and invalid troops from the regiments
serving in Australia and New Zealand arrived at
. Chatham garrison from Gravesend, where they dis-
embarked from the passenger ship Roxburgh Castle.
The troops, who numbered 33 men of all ranks,

with one naval invalid, belonged to the 12th, 40th,
57th, and 65th Regiments. The whole were under
the command of Lieut. J. V, H. Rees, 40th Regi-
ment, and in medical charge of Mr. Young, civil
surgeon. The Roxburgh Castle sailed from Mel-
bourne on the 28th of August last, and experienced
generally fair weather. One passenger and one child
died on board during the voyage. After the troops
had been medically inspected at Fort Pitt, three
lunatics were sent to the insane hospital, and two
invalids admitted for medical treatment. The re-
mainder of the troops proceed to the invalid depot.
The Queen has been graciously pleased to pre-
sent her portrait to the head quarters of the
Royal Artillery at Woolwich. The picture was
yesterday morning hung up in the mess room. In
commemoration of the event a banquet on an ap-
propriate scale will be given this evening by the
officers, at which his Royal Highness the General
Commanding-in-Chief, as colonel of the regiment,
will be present. The picture, which represents her
Atiksty in Coronation Robes, is afterthe celebrated
painting of Winterhalter, and has been executed by
Mr. Melville with admirable taste and judgment.
In order to adapt the features of the portrait to
the present day her Majesty honoured the artist
with three sittings. Mr. Melville's picture differs
from the original in that adaptation only.
The whole of the troops in garrison at Woolwich
are under orders to parade (with the exception of
the• Military Train and the Royal Engineers) on
the lower part of Woolwich common at 10 this
morning, for the purpose of marching into the
country. The Military Train will furnish two
ambulances to proceed with the troops.

THE MURDER AT ALDERSHOT.
INQUEST O.Y THE BODY.

ALDERSHOT, MONDAY NIGHT.

The inquest upon the body of Sergeant John
Dixon, of the 78th Highlanders (Ross shire Buffs),
was held this afternoon, at Tilbury's Royal Hotel,
by Mr. Thomas Pain, deputy coroner for the divi-
sion of the county.
The jury having viewed the body, which lay in
the dead-house at the foot of Hospital-hill, on their
return the following evidence was taken :
Duncan Anderson—l am a private in the 78th
Highlanders stationed at Aldershot. I knefv the
deceased John Dixon, who was a sergeant in the
company I belong to. I know Thomas Jackson,
who is a private in the regiment. That is the man
(pointing to the prisoner). On the night of the
23d inst., about five minutes past eight, I was in
the room No. 11 of the Permanent Barracks. There
were several others of the regiment there, and
amongst them was Jackson. This was at the time
cf roll call, which Corporal Campbell was calling,
and Sergeant John Dixon was checking it. Pri-
vate Greenhill was holding the light. The prisoner
Jackson was standing between two cots after he had
answered. I saw Jackson go round and take his
rifle from the rack at the head of his own cot. He
put it up to his side once or twice to the attitude of
ready, and then fired it. He then turned round
and put the rifle back into the rack again. I saw
Sergeant Dixon, who was standing in front of him,
about two yards off, turn round, and he said, " Who
did that ?" That was immediately on the rifle
being fired. Jackson replied, " It was me, old boy!"
The sergeant muttered something which I could not
hear, and then he fell over. He died soon after.
Corporal Campbell was shot in the right
shoulder with the same shot, but not killed.
The prisoner was at once seized by some
other soldiers, but I did not hear him
make use of any observation. He was removed in
custody. I have heard Jackson say several times,
when speaking of Dixon, that he " would be hung
for that man yet." I never heard him say why.
The last time I heard him say anything of the sort
was about a fortnight since. I know nothing about
his rifle being loaded that day ; he had not been at
ball practice, and would therefore have no occasion
to use his rifle or have ammunition. I examined his
pouch after he went away, but there was no ball
cartridge in it. The prisoner, as a recruit, would
not be in possession of ball cartridge. The rifle
Jackson fired with was his rifle. (Rifle produced.)
That is the prisoner's rifle, and
in the same room with him. I took up the rifle and
handed it to the sergeant-major. I examined the
pouch oi the soldier who slept in the next cot, and
round miss
founde packetwas
sartridges loose, and one
n of his
g. That
after the prisoner had
been removed. I gave the loose packe tto Sergeant
Profett.
prisoner ap
He enlisted in 1858, and hasopnelayrersc
de to be sober.
By the Jury—The
entl come
out of prison, where he had been confio d for break-
ing his rifle.
The prisoner declined to ask any questions.
Another witness gave similar evidence.
Andrew Cormack—l am a private in the 78th. I
was with the prisoner at the canteen on Saturday
evening, but not in his company. The prisoner was
drinking, but appeared sober enough. I heard him
say to Walter Greenhill, who was in company with
him, "I will do for the —." There were others
present at the same time. There had been a
quarrel, and it was after that the remark was made.
He did not use any name that I heard, nor do I
know who he was talking about. In the even•
ing I was sent to the guardroom to search the
prisoner ; the sergeant-major was there. 'We were
"It
obliged to use force to search him. He said, is
a pity I did not get more of you shot." This was to
the sergeant-major. There was a snap cap and an
ammunition cap and a watch key in his pocket
when I searched him. (The prisoner did not ask
any questions.

By the Jury—l was as much in his company as
any one, and in the month of April I was one of an
escort taking him to prison, and he said, "I will
73.0701' §9lclicr i I will do something to get hung Cr

transported, or sent out of the regiment." He said
also that if Sergeant Dixon had come into the room
the night he broke his rifle he would have 1 nocked
him down as he came in at the door.

Sergeant-major John Pocock—About seven mi-
nutes after 8 on Saturday evening I we It to No. 11
room permanent barracks, the death of Sergeant
Dixon having been reported to me. I found him
lying on his back quite dead. I was told that Jack-
son had shot him, and been sent to the guard room.
I asked for his rifle, and it was handed to me. One
was handed to me which was afterwards identified
by the colour-sergeant. I found it had been recently
discharged, and had an exploded cap on it. I exa-
mined the pouch, and found there was not any am-
munition there. Some was missing from private
Munroe's pouch. I looked to see where the ball had
gone to, which I found had gone through the front
part of the sergeant's bunk, and had struck the
wall, and then fallen to the ground. I gave the
bullet to Mr. Superintendent Howard, as also the
rifle and the pouch. This bullet, which is now pro-
duced, is one of our regulation bullets. I took an
escort from No. 4 company and searched the pri-
soner. I found a cap, snap cap, part of a chain, and
a watch key. While there the prisoner said, "I am
very sorry, I have been a fool to myself as I did not
shoot more of you." He did not say any more, but
when we got to the station house he said to Ser-
geant Profett, "It will be your turn next, and it
will be done by the 15th of December, or before
Christmas, as I have left some one to do it."
After some corroborative evidence, and medical
evidence as to the nature of the wound,
The Coroner addressed the prisoner in the usual
words of caution, and he (the prisoner) replied," No,
I don't want to say anything; I've got nothing to
say."
The Coroner then summed up.
The jury, after a -very few moments' consultation,
returned the following verdict :—We find that Ser-
geant John Dixon came by his death by the hands
of Thomas Jackson, and we deliver a verdict of wil-
ful murder against the said Thomas Jackson, and
we wish to make the following addition to our ver-
dict : We cannot separate without expressing our
deep conviction that speedy and effectual steps
should be taken by the military authorities and the
Government to prevent the repetition of thesefright-
ful and diabolical crimes, which have been of late
so frequent, and which tend to degrade the ranks
and produce terror in the minds of the officers and
spread horror through all classes of the community.
We do not wish to suggest any steps, but we con-
ceive that the removal of the ready means would be
the effectual remedy, or that such an example be
made that wonld, by its prompt execution on the
spot in one case, act as a terrible warning to others.

- The Coroner then made out his warrant for the
committal of the prisoner to Winchester Gaol on
the charge of wilful murder, and the prisoner was
removed.

The inquiry then terminated.

In the course of the evening the prisoner was re-
moved by Superintendent Howard to Winchester
Gaol; and the wretched man treated the proceedings
throughout with a degree of callousness and levity
that disgusted those who witnessed his demeanour.

FRIGBTFUL CATASTROPHE IN
EDINBU.RGH.

LOSS OF TWENTY-TWO LIVES.
One of the most calamitous and heartrending
occurrences which it has ever been our duty to re-
cord took plaee a few minutes after 1 o'clock on
Sunday morning, in the sudden fall of a densely-
populated land, or tenement of dwelling houses in
the lower division of the High street, Edinburgh,
which resulted—so far as has yet been ascer-
tained, in the death of twenty-two persons, and the'
injury, more or less severe, of 13 others. The tene-
ment was situated on the north side of the street,
between Bailie Fyfe's close on the west and Paisley's
close on the east, and was joined at the back (on
the east side) by the gable end of another land,
which extended down Paisley's close. The ground
floor, fronting the High-street, was occupied by the
shops of Mr. Cairns, grocer, No. 99, and Messrs.
Brown and Co., victual dealers, No. 103, while Mr.
Moir, ironmonger, and Mr. M'Luskie, shoe mer-
chant, occupied the first floor. The remainder of
the tenement, which consisted of six stories at the
front and seven at the back, including attics, was
occupied as dwelling-houses by working men and
their families, many of them weekly tenants of the
poorest class. Altogether it is believed tbat the
building contained about 25 householders, many of
whom kept lodgers, and that the total number of
inmates was not less than 80 or 90. The great
majority of these persons, including nearly all the
older people and the children, had retired to rest ;
but a number of the young men and women had not
been housed for the night at the hour when the
disaster occurred, and so escaped.

So far as has been ascertained the circumstances
immediately attending the calamity were as follow :
—Sergeant Rennie, of the night police, was passing
down the High-street, and had got in front of Cairns'
shop a few minutes after 1 o'clock, when he heard
a scuffle and a cry of " Murder" from a house in
Skinner's-close opposite ; he immediately ran across
the street to see what it was, and was followed by
a number of persons who were standing about the
close heads, so that the north aide of the street was
left for the moment wholly deserted. The scuffle
turned out to be caused by a quarrel between a
man and his wife. The disturbance was quieted in
a minute or two, and Rennie was returning up the
close, along with another policeman, when they heard
a loud noise, and beheld the whole land of houses,
before which one of them had been only three
minutes before, fall with a tremendous crash, and
in another instant it was apparently swallowed up
amid clouds of dust and rubbish. As the dust cleared
away, a yawning chasm 30 yards in breadth, became
visible ; the whole of the floors from top to bottom
had given way and fallen perpendicularly down-
wards, while the front wall fell outwards, and only
the back wall (partly supported by the back land
before mentioned) and the two gables, being party-
walls connected with the adjoining houses, were left
standing. In most of the stories all around the walls
thus laid bare in a moment fires were burning—the
fire-places being left standing, as well as the presses
recessed in the wall, with all the contents of the
latter, consistingof crockery, household and cooking
utensils, &c., exposed to view in the clear, calm
moonlight. Instantly wailing sounds arose from the
ruins, with here and there cries of " Mother !
mother !" from little children rudely awakened out
of sleep by rafters and rubbish falling upon them in
their beds ; but over the greater portion of the mass
brooded a ghastly silence, which was yet more dole-
ful. In a few minutes the street seemed alive with
people running about, eagerly inquiring what had
happened ; and the occupants of the surrounding
honses, startled from their sleep, raised their win-
dows, and as soon as some vague idea of the awful
nature of the calamity reached them, poured forth
into the streets. In a short time the members of the
fire brigade and a large detachment of policemen
arrived on the ground. Intelligence was also sent
as soon as possible to the Lord Provost and magis•
trates, the sheriff, the members of the Dean of Guild
Court; Mr. Macpherson, superintendent of streets
and buildings; Mr. Dymock, procurator-fiscal; Dr.
Littlejohn, police surgeon, &c. All these gentlemen,
as well as most of the members of the town council,
were speedily on the spot, and continued to give
directions and to lend what assistance and advice
they could up to 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

By 2 o'clock a.m., the street was blocked up
with people, and barricades were placed across
it, above and below the ruined building. The
firemen, reinforced by a number of labourers who
volunteered, were formed into gangs by Mr.
Mitchell, and immediately commenced opera-
tions. The night was calm, but frosty, and the clear
moonlight shone down upon the appalling scene.
There was not light enough however for working,
and a number of flambeaux were brought from the
police-office, while the jets and globes were re-
moved from the street lamps so as to give as much
light as possible to the workers. The parts of the
ruins from which the cries proceeded were first ex-
amined, and after great, arduous, and cautious
labour, beams of wood were raised, and tons of
debris were dug out, and '4l or 22 poor creatures—
men, women, and children—still in life, but nearly
all of them more or less injured, were extricated.
Fifteen of them were taken to the Royal Infirmary,
and the remainder, most of them children, who had
providentially escaped with a few bruises, were
wrapped in such coverings as could be found, and
were carried to the police-office. Th 3 efforts of thd
brigade were then directed to get at the dead
bodies. The beams of wood, smashed furniture,
stones, &c., were piled on the street, as the work of
turning over the rubbish proceeded. This was a
work of imminent danger to the men engaged in it,
as the gable walls, and the back wall, though still
standing, were rent and broken, and might any
moment be expected to fall. The western portion
of the back wall especially, which had no support,
seemed as if even a breath would have blown it
over. Fortunately there was not the slightest wind
till 6 o'clock in the morning, when it began to rise,
and blew some of the lamps out, but it fell away
again till the afternoon.
The discovery of a body among the ruins soon
became known to the crowd by the stretchers being
taken up on to the pile for the purpose of convey-
ing the remains to the police-office. When any
body was exhumed., a deep and mournful hum might
be heard on every side, and a feeling of intense
sorrow seemed to be depicted on the countenances
of the people as the shattered remains were borne
along the street to the police-office. Here there
were large numbers of people who had either rela-
tions or acquaintances who resided in the land
which had fallen, frantically running to and fro in.
quiring as to the fate of those with whom they
were connected. On entering the cell where the
bodies were laid, one of the most harrowing spec-
tacles that could possibly be conceived was pre-
sented to the eye. At one side of the room was
stretched the body of a woman with her infant
daughter beside her, while at the other lay an aged
woman, whose lace was horribly mutilated. Between
these were rlaced seven or eight other bodies, the
features, of some of which were so much disfigured
that identification was a task of the greatest diffi-
iallty, while others presented an appearance little
different from that which they might have borne
previous to the occurrence of the sad calamity which ,
had so suddenly deprived them of life. On a table '
at one side of this room was placed for identifica-
tion the body of a tall, stout, middle-aged man, his
face totally discoloured, and slightly bruised. In an
adjoining and somewhat dark room a melancholy
family group presented itself. The bodies of a man,
woman, and child who were found among the
ruins, lying in the same position as they had occu-
pied in bed previous to the disaster, were ranged
alongside each other in the same order. The face of
the woman, which was turned towards the door,
was mutilated in a most frightful manner. Her
right cheek was smashed in, her mouth, which was
open, was twisted considerably to the left side, and
her whole face was fearfully discoloured. The ap-
pearance of the man was such as to lead to the be-
lief that his death had been caused more by suffo-
cation than by any injury received, and the body
of the child gave similar indications: As other
bodies were brought in they were ranged alongside
of this group, and by the time that operations at
the ruin were suspended, each of the two apart-
ments mentioned was filled with a long row of
human bodies, several of them much mangled.
- In another cell in the police.ehambers a very
affecting scene was witnessed. Nearly the whole
of those who had been rescued uninjured from the
ruin, and who were principally children, were
here assembled. They were all lying in their night
clothes, just as they had been taken from among
the debris. None of them, though all much ex-
hausted, were able to sleep, and a feeling of in-
tense terror seemed to pervade their minds. Their
cries had a most heart-rending effect, the agony of
one little boy especially, who unfortunately had
been apprised of the death of both his parents in
the catastrophe, being painfully affecting. In the
course of the afternoon these children were removed
either to the houses of friends or to some of the
charitable institutions in the city.
The following is a list of the killed and injured :
Killed—John Bruce, about 39 years of age;
Mary Bruce, his wife, 38; Isabella, 17; and Jesse,
5, their daughters. Bruce, when extricated, was
alive, and walked to the stretchers, previous to
being conveyed to the Infirmary, where he sud-
denly
expired shortly afterwards, while giving his
; Christilna'
account of the accident. James Irvine and his
nit:, Alalear a of child
wife, both about 40 ; Agnes Irvine, their daughter,
Bridget
about 20 a few months old • and the grand-
matetnfamily, Mrs. M'Kerracher, 88.
brother, Walter
Ferguson,MAckah Pi bitokotrmair
about 21; Georgina Wells,
about 25; and her
Ferguson, about 8 ; Archibald
—yeetZ about 62 i turi Tel .

Mackay, 26, his daughter ; John Geddes, commer-
cial traveller, about 50; - Gann and his wife,
both about 50 ; and John, 18, and Jane, 20, their
son and daughter; Mrs. Beveridge, tbunt-50, sus-
tained a compound fracture of both legs, besides
several internal injuries, and died in the Infirmary
in the afternoon ; and Mrs. Mackenzie, about 45,
wife of a night constable who was out on duty at
the time.

Injured.—The following were got out alive and
were conveyed to the Infirmary :—Jessie Malone,
29, bruise of left side ; Catherine Macdonald, 50,
severe cut on left leg; Donald, 17, her son, bruise
of leg, and Isabella, 22, her daughter, abrasion of
elbow; John Geddes, 15, bruise of right arm and
body ; David John, 12,' cut on right leg ; Christina,
18, bruise of side and back, sons and daughter of
John Geddes, killed; William Adams, 17, injury
to shoulder, which was dressed, and he then
left the Infirmary ; Catherine Stair, 16, frac-
ture of collarbone, and bruises on the body ;
William Hepburn, 40, much bruised ; Joseph
lVl‘Giver, 12, injured on head, shoulder, and elbow;
Mary M'Luskie, 67, wife of Mr. M'Luskie, shoe-
maker, bruised on leg and back ; and Andrew
Smith, 22, slight bruises ; dressed and sent away.
The following children were extricated unhurt
and taken for protection to the police-office :—Mary
Gunn, 9, whose father, mother, and a brother and
sister are among the dead; Janet, 11, and Jane
Wilkie, 7—two who had been lodging in this tene-
ment, their father living in Leith ; George, 9, and
James Bruce, 7—sons of John Bruce, who, with his
wife and two daughters, is among the killed ; Alex.
Irvine, 9, son of James Irvine, who, with his wife
and two children, has lost his life; Elizabeth
Geddes, 8, daughter of John Geddes, killed.
The catastrophe created at. immense sensation in
Edinburgh on Sunday, and the terrible event was
referred to in almost all the pulpits. Never before
in the history of the city had there happened such
prodigious loss of life from a domestic accident. The
fall of a house has on various occasions taken place,
and in a town where domestic structures have, so to
speak, so long a life, the event has been matter of
little wonder. But generally the case has been that
of some crazy, condemned, and deserted building.
In the present instance a building never officially
examined or reported insecure, but, nevertheless,
rotten to the core in all its timbers, fell in a moment
overwhelming its inmates in death. The lack of
municipal supervision which the disaster indicates
is the apparent cause of the calamity. Within the
last 15 years the accommodation of the poorer
classes of Edinburgh has been seriously restricted
by railway clearances and public improvements,
and only within about two years have any steps
been taken for the erection of new houses, but
hitherto on a scale quite inadequate. The poorer
population are actually huddled together in gigan-
tic buildings divided into dwellings of one and two
rooms. There is no doubt that this event will
occasion a rigid scrutiny into the condition of
many of these old buildings. There are not a
few inhabited houses in Edinburgh from 300 to
350 years old, and as the material used was then
chiefly wood these relics of antiquity are very un-
fitted for so long an existence, or for adaptation to
modern requirements. In eonsequence of the acci-
dent the inmates of the houses on both sides and in
the rear of the fallen building have been ordered
out, and have received shelter is some of the public
asylums. A public meeting has been called by the
Lord Provost to take steps for the relief of the
sufferers.