The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-14 00:00:00

TILE WEATHER.

Notwithstanding the weather yesterday was
rather unfavourable, the Londoners, and especially
the Sunday going-out portion, were determined not
to be deprived of the pleasure of visiting the frozen
waters in the• Royal Parks, for upwards of 10,000
persons of all Masses availed themselves of the oppor-
tunity. The thaw which commenced on Friday
night and continued part of Saturday and yester-
day has scarcely made any impression upon the ice
in the Serpentine.
There were a great number of skaters also on the
Long Water, and on the waters of the Regent's
Park and St. James's Park.
In consequence of the change in the weather
which took place on Saturday, the river Medway,
which had been gradually becoming blocked up with
ice, was so far clear as to enable communication to
be again opened between the Newstairs and Chat-
ham dockyard and the Wellesley, 74, and the other
vessels of war in harbour. Owing, however, to
the intense frost there is still a great deal of ice in
the river, and it 'will be some days before it hag
entirely disappeared. The vessels in harbour which
were icebound have been.enabled to leave, and im-
mediately the communication was made at the
dockyard by the harbourmaster that the river was
becoming clear the paddlewheel steamer Adder,.
Mr. Minchin, second master, in charge, took the
Admiralty transport Aid, and the victualling irans-
port Ant, in tow as far as the Nore, to enable them
to proceed on their voyage to the westward.
On Saturday. the weather underwent a change
for the better in Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire,
and Norfolk. A thaw commenced on Friday night,
and the thermometer having risen 10 degrees, the
snow continued to waste, although not very rapidly,
throughout Saturday. If the comparatively mild
weather should continue, the next difficulty will be
a great accumulation of water in the low lands.
The wind at Portsmouth was southerly all
Saturday and Sunday, and there were indications
of the frost giving way. On Sunday there were
slight falls of snow and sleet, and the air very cold.

MELANCHOLY SIIICIDE.—A painful suicide has
been committed in a village near Warminster, in the family
of one of the wealthy farmers of the district, whose name
47e suppress. The daughter, a young lady of 22 years of
age, had formed an attachment to a railway policeman, the
line running not far from the house, which acquaintance her
father and mother very strongly disapproved. It appears
that she was in the habit of meeting this person in a cottage
in the village. This transpired at home, and on the 24th
ultimo, on her having dressed for walking, she was very
strictly ordered by her.father and mother not to enter any
house at all during her walk. She disobeyed this command
and went to the cottage as usual, where she had not been
long when her mother, who had been on the watch, rushed
in, and hurried her home. Arrived there, her father horse-
whipped her, and ordered her to her bed-chamber. The
next morning she did not appear at breakfast as usual, and
all attempts at obtaining an answer from her room were
unavailing. At last the door was forced open, and the un-
happy girl was discovered lying on the floor, having taken
poison. The P,ristol Post, which reports the case, states
that the nature of the coroner's verdict was not then known,
every attempt having been made to suppress the facts of
this melancholy case,

ALLEGED 211 AN,'L lUGHTER OF A

WIFE AT ISLINGTON.

On Saturday night Mr. G. S. Brent, the deputy
coroner for West Middlesex, held an inquiry in the
coffeeroom of the Prince of Wales Tavern, Caledo-
nian-road, on the body of Mary Bowdell, aged 40,
the wife of a labourer, who, it was alleged, died from
the effects of violence inflicted upon her by her
husband.
The first witness examined was Wm. Brown, a
cabinetmaker, living in the front parlour of No. 7,
Clayton-street, Caledonian-road, who stated that the
deceased, her husband, and four children occupied.
the adjoining room. About half-past 10 on Mon-
day morning, the 7th inst., he heard a violent
knocking at the doors separatin g the two rooms, and
on proceeding there lie heard Mrs. Bowdell call
out, " Come in, Brown ; I'm so bad." He entered,
and found her sitting on the side of the bed,dressed,
but with the upper portion of her clothing open.
Finding she was foaming at the mouth, and had
drooped her head, he went for assistance and called
a doctor. 'When he returned to the house he found,
as he expected, that the woman was dead. He be-
lieved the family had been struggling for the last
eight or nine months, having hardly anything to
eat, and the children were running about half
starved. _

Mr. Lamb, surgeon, of 3, Diddington-place, Cale-
donian-road, said deceased had been a patient of
his since Nov. 12th last. She was suffering from
asthma. The day after Christmas-day he was called
to attend her, and found one of her ribs broken. She
told him she had betn drinking the day before with
her sister-in-law, and fell down. He then bound up

the rib, which was the fourth on the left side. He
had since made a post mortem examination in com-
pany with Mr. Pearse, of Tavistock-square. There
were no other marks externally than a bruise on

the left eye, in opposition to which there was no
extravasation of blood. He believed the immediate
cause of death was from natural causes.

A little boy was here introduced, seven years of
age, who made the following simple statement,
being unsworn :—He said his name was Frederick
William Grayston, and lived downstairs at No. 7,
Clayton-street. He was in Mr. Bowdell's room on
Christmas-eve, and Mrs. Bowdell was drunk. Mr.
Bowdell kicked her and thumped her. It was about
seven o'clock in the evening. He hit her, and
kicked her in the back. He pitched her off the
chair. She fell on the floor, and knocked her eye
against the table. She did not do anything. She
could not speak or stand after he kicked her.
The husband of deceased said he was a coal-

porter on the Great Northern Railway, but declined
to make any statement on oath, after being cau-
tioned by the deputy coroner.
Other witnesses were then examined, who merely
deposed to deceased having been heard on the
Christmas-eve, but neither of them interfered. A
mother of one of them was sent for on the Christ-
mas morning, and bound up the deceased. De-
ceased told her that her husband had kicked her.
She also said to another person that she told the
doctor she had fallen down while drunk, and so
caused the injury, but this was not the truth. A
hospital nurse, tempo?,-.:rily staying at the house,
was present at the death, and observed a large
wound in the chest. She knew of no broken rib.
The deputy coroner here questioned the medical
witness, who said that the broken rib penetrating
the lung and pleura wound accelerate death.
The jury felt dissatisfied with the evidence before
them, and thought an adjournment would be neces-
sary,
The Deputy Coroner agreed with them, and said
he certainly expected more conclusive evidence to
have been placed before the jary.
The inquiry was then adjourned for a week.