The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-12 00:00:00

ne.-,1) found a great quantity of duplicates for bedding, l'!„'
and children's clothes—the family had nothing to cover 67
but a rug. A note was also found, complaining of distre!..
of tea,,ais There were two slices of bread and a small quantity
the cupboard ; sufficient only for a very scanty meal.
.'6
said that she commenced murdering the boy, and heard til
clock strike four, add killed the other child afterwards; that
she heard her husband go in, hut could not move. She sr
peared to be in greet mental agony.
Mr. George Warman, relieving officer for Deptford, depot/
that he went at half-past six, and saw Mr. Dickenson. wsto
said, that when he went home he thought the family had g°
to bed, in consequence of being without firing. Was q—
dilo
satisfied that was not the fact.
A jurur said, that question must be distinctly understood! el
it had gone forth that relief had been refused. et!
Mr. Warman slid that he had not been applied to, dire
or indirectly, and it was very painful to him that such a rePe4
should have gone forth, as through the day he bad been po:3lt
at in the streets, and told that he was the murderer 0,
children.
The CORONER said there was no imputation on the relieving
officer.

Air. Hills said, she stated that after having cut the WO"
of the children she fell back exhausted, and was unable to cots;
plete her own destruction. After the children were taketisw% •
she said she was sorry. A great deal had transpired in
versation, and ti .e mother said that on the previous afternro
she had taken the boy on her knee to effect her purpose;
her heart failed her.
Mr. Warman hoped that, as strong opinions had been IP
pressed, the gentlemen of the jury would declare in his foliar;
The CORONER said there was no ground for complaint.
'I he jury said they were quite satisfied.
Dr. Arthur, in answer to a question by the Coroner, Is!
that there was every probability that the unfortunate w 00"
would recover by proper attention, if she were removed. to
Mr. George Dickenson, uncle f the deceased, said that 11,
advanced 5111. to his brother in July, 1839, who, up tot,i
present time, had been very unfortunate. The witness seeilh
deeply affected.
The CORONER addressed the jury on the evidence, and utd
that, under all the circumstances, there could scarce!y ti
doubt that the unfortunate female was the person who ",
inflicted the wounds. They could not consider whether ,b 0
was in a sound state of mind at the time or net. Her
declaration or confession was made entirely voluntarily. 0
did not wish to call upon her husband to give evidence 41),
which his wife would be convicted. But no less than eig,
witnesses had spoken to admissions made at different tits
w
by her, that she was the only party who had committed thi
offence.
A Juror said that, if the woman died, he should have col;
to a conclusion that she had committed suicide when in a sts,
of temporary insanity. Under such circumstances he could a"'
conscientiously return a verdict of wilful murder.
The CORONER. said there was no evidence to show any absP
ration of intellect, but the contrary. The jury; therefore"
could not give way to mere feelings of humanity. His au!!
was quite as painful as theirs, and he only propounded the 13"
to them.

Mr. White, a juryman, said that, much as he respected Os
Coroner's opinion, he would not, when he was on the jury, 14:
turn a verdict contrary to his conscience.
Shortly after ten o'clock the jury requested the room
..„
be cleared, and about half-past eleven the Court was
opened, and
The CORONER announced that the jury had return.d
verdict of Wilful Murder against Sarah Dickenson. •id
The Foreman—At the same time we say that she commit hs
the offence whih,t in a state of great mental anxiety, broug
on by extreme distress.
The Rev. Messrs. Ffinch and Sketchlethe Rectors of St.
most
Paul and St. Nicholas, Deptford, have assiduously
tb
tended the unfortunate woman, and Mr. Ffinch remained °Li
her until after the inquiry terminated. It was announced
night that such a change had taken place as to preclude ever'
prospect of her recovery.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL EN'

GINEERS.
Jaw. 9.—The first meeting of the season Wag
held on Tuesday evenin,,, the 9th inst., the Pre:
sident in the chair. During the recess several i
terations have been made in the rooms of tUe
Society. Along the sides of the gallery htiv.ii
been placed some handsome east iron open-vr°,l,
shelves and brackets, cast and presented ul•
Messrs. Ransome and May, of Ipswich, for sill!
porting a series of busts of eminent engineers
and scientific men, and the theatre has been
properly lighted and ventilated.
The first paper read was by Mr. John Store.);
it described a combination of cast and wrougae
iron used in sorne bridges on the line of. the
Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway. „
general review of the usual construction and
pense of occupation bridges of brick, stone, dll':
her and cast iron, was given, showing their 43,e-
-tects. In order to obviate these objects t%
author has introduced combined trussed befall,'
of cast. and wrought iron, which he contende
might be advantageously adopted, -and
bridges could be thus constructed at a kss,ees.,
than those of stone, brick, or even of timber'
The structure described consisted of longitudinal,
segmental girders of cast iron, resting on tra;
sonry abutments. A system of wrought iron tla
trussings was applied, and struts were 00%
where requisite, to receive the pressure. NVIle
more than one principal truss was necessarij'
they were connected by transverse braces an
distant pieces of cast iron, sockets being 09t:
upon the girders to receive the timber joist
upon which Dantzic timber planking was spik7o,
The next paper read was a " Description of
Cast-iron Bridge over the Avon, near Tewkerd'.
bury, on the line of the Birmingham a°
Gloucester Railway," by Captain W. S. Moorsoll!, •
Assoc. Inst. C. E. The principal novelty of tlll4
work, which was proposed and its exeCutia,s,
superintended by Mr. Ward, of Falmouth,. 1,.'
the mode of constructing the two piers, whit f'
were externally of cast iron, in the form o',
caissons, each weighing about twenty-eight toll':
The plates comprising each caisson were put
together on a platform erected upon piles ove,
the site of the pier. The bottom of the 60;1
being levelled by a scoop dredger, the caissc)
was lowered, and some clay being throvrn
around the exterior, a joint was formed, 5d
nearly water tight, that two small pumps draine
it in six hours. The foundation being then eir,'
cavated to the requisite depth, the caisson, wh;ca
sank as the excavation proceeded, was
with concrete and masonry. Cap-plates were
then fixed for supporting eight pillars with II :••
entablature, to which was attached the end a.,
the segmental arches, 57 feet span, with a verse'?
sine of 5 feet 2 inches. There were three °
these arches, each formed of six ribs of east
iron, and two such piers as have been describe(),
the land abutments being of stone work joinil
the embankment of the railway. It was state:.
that this mode of construction was found to IS' -
more economical in that peculiar situation than
6
the usual method of fixing timber coffer-daoli
and building the piers within them ; the tot°
cost of the bridge being only 10,1921., and Of
navigation of the river was not interrupted durioo
the progress of the work. The paper was MO:
sates oy 18 remarkably well executed drawing'
by Mr. Butterton.
A paper by G. W. Hemans, Grad. Inst. C.VI
descriptive of a wrought-iron lattice bridgej
erected across the line of the Dublin arl
Drogheda Railway, was then read, This bridge)
which in construction is similar to the wooden
lattice bridges of America, only substituting
wrought-iron for timber, is situated about three
miles from Dublin, over an excavation of 36 feet
e
in depth; its span is 84 feet in the clear, and O
two latide beaus are. set parallel to each other'
resting at either end on plain stone abutmeo.t
built in the slope. These beams are JO feet l 0
depth, and are formed by a series of flat ir°a
bars, 2i inches wide by inch thick, crossil
one another, at an angle of 45 deg.; at 5 feet
inches above the bottom edge transverse bearera
of angle iron are fixed similar to those now 113
for supporting the decks of iron steam-vessels'
and upon these the planking for the' roadway 1 '
fastened. The account of the mode of construe;
Lion, and of the raising and fixing the ladle
beams, by Messrs. Perry, of Dublin, the cotr.
tractors, was given in detail, and the author
stated that, although it was expected that COr'
siderable deflection would occur, which was pro
vided tbr-by forming the beams with a curve 0
12 inches in the centre, they did not sink at al,"
even when heavy weights passed over theta'
The total 'cost of the structure, including the
masonry of the abutments, was 5101. It wa3
stated that this bridge had been erected by IV 1 jr'
M'Neill, in order to test the sound''
ness of this kind of structure before he applied I
in a bridge of 240 feet span, to carry the Dublin '
and Drogheda Railway over a canal.
The meeting adjourned to January 16, when it
d
was announced that the annual meeting would
be held for the election of the council and office_.l.l

BIRTHS.
vusi•
At Guernsey, the lady of Major O'Brien, Royal Irish •
liers, of a son.
On the sth inst., Mrs. R. C. Carpenter, Guildford-911'06
Russell.square, of a daughter.
On the 9th inst., at Gloster Lodge, Hendon, Mrs. B. C.
Yarborough, of a daughter.
On the 10th inst., at Merningten-road, the widow of R°l;er4,
Duncan King, Esq., late British Vice-Consul at Port-$,l
Prince, Ilayti, of a posthumous daughter. leo
On the 10th inst., at Farnham, Surrey, the lady of Char
Alexander Holcombe, Esq., of a daughter.

MARRIED. •
At' St. George's Church, Hanover-square, Colonel Sir Pll/0;
can MacDougall, K. C. B. , late commanding the 79th BulOcte,,l.•
of Highlanders, to Hannah, widow of tho late Colonel /410`"
son, of the Lancashire Militia.
On the 9th inst., at Bangor Cathedral, T. J. Maude,
of. Abingdon-street, Westminster, to Louisa Emily, young 9
daughter of the Rev. John Hamer, Vicar of Bangor. Oleg
On the 10th inst., at Trinity Church, Bath, the Rev.
Kingsley, son of te Rev. Charles Kingsley, of St. Luker,
Chelsea, to Frances Eliza, youngest daughter of the late
Grenfell, Esq. _ _ _

DIED.
At Phoorsungey, near Poonah, Jane Mary, the wife 01
Lieutenant Lambart Scott, Bombay Army.
At Neampore, l'engal, Rf.bert James, younger son of 0'
Fisher, Esq., of Hamilton terrace, St. John's.wcod.
Robe
On the ith inst., at Barbourne Cottage, Worcester, it"
Balihurton, Esq.
On the Bth inst., at Hudleigh, the Rev. William Powe„,.11'A
On the Bth inst., at Swansea, the Rev. G. M. Maber,o'
Rector of Merthyr-Tidvil, Glamorgan, aged 78.
~,grofef
On the 10th inst., Mr. Thomas Torn, of Peckhaut
Camberwell.

London: Plinted and L'ublished by 1111.11tDO YOUN:'
(3341.1.
No. 112, Strand, at The Sus Office, No. 112, 806
•the County of Middlesex. Friday, January 12, 1644.