The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-16 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF H.M.S. RATTLER.

The officers and crew of the Dupleix, a French cor-
vette stationed in the Sea of Japan, have earned the
gratitude of Englishmen by their efforts on behalf of the
seamen and passengers of the Rattler. This ship was
wrecked in the Strait of La Perouse on the 24th Sep-
tember, and on the 7th October the intelligence reached
the British Consul at a station to the north of Japan. He
informed the commander of the Dupleix, who, though his
ship was being repaired, lost no time in setting out. After
a very stormy passage through a most dangerous part of
the Pacific, the French ship arrived at the scene of the
wreck, and, though the embarkation was very difficult,
succeeded in bringing off every man in safety

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
NEW YORK, Saturday, Nov. 28.
Some murders of an extraordinary character
have lately been perpetrated. At Philadelphia, on
Sunday night, Mrs. Mary E. Hill was killed by her
son-in-law, George S. Twichell, with a poker. She
was a wealthy, twice-married widow of 65 years,
wealth Twichell and his wife, who was arrested as an
accomplice, are alleged to have been instigated by
the desire to possess. A servant arriving at the
house saw the old lady lying below the window in
the rear, and her cries brought the police to the
spot. Twichell came up and looked with perfect
coolness on the body, suggesting that she had fallen
from the window. His dress being stained with
blood the police arrested him, and further evidence
showed that Mrs. Hill had first been murdered and
then thrown from the window. The people of
Philadelphia were greatly excited when the
circumstances became known, and would, had
they been permitted, have lynched both the
prisoners. The trial is looked forward to with
interest as the family is among the wealthy. It has
already transpired that in a deed Airs. Hill had di-
rected Twichell to prepare had been executed in his
wife's name instead of in that of his mother-in-law.
On Tuesday night in this city, Felix Larkin, who
had acted as bottle-holder to O'Baldwin, the pugi-
list, was murdered in a low oyster shop kept by a
man named Campbell. It appears that at three
o'clock in the morning Larkin, with two others,
forced themselves into the shop and insolently
ordered three oyster stews. Not being served suffi-
centiv quick, Larkin, who was a strong man, got
into a quarrel with Campbell, who in the struggle
stabbed him repeatedly with a dagger, while the
bar-tender and a woman servant joined in the melee,
till the police arrived, when Larkin was found dying
and the others more or less injured. Strange to
say, Campbell escaped almost unhurt; though
Larkin had fired his pistol at him during the
struggle. Larkin was one of those Ward politicians
to whose ruffianism New York owes so unenviable a
notoriety. The tragedy, however, which has ex-
cited most interest in the country is that of Rich-
mond (Virginia), wherein James Grant was the mur-
derer, and 11. lives Pollard, the victim. Pollard
was a well known Southerner, the editor of the
Southern Opinion, and a strong supporter of the
South. Ile was the brother of Edward Pollard,
the editor of the Political Pamphlet, and the author
of the " Lost Cause." Last Saturday he offended
the Grants, who are wealthy tobacconists, by
hinting at immoral conduct on the part of a young
lady of the house, whose alleged elopement he then
gave an account, although the girl had simply gone
to Philadelphia on a visit to a schoolfellow. Pol-
lard was alighting from his carriage on Tuesday
morning at the door of his office, when a shot was
fired from the upper window of a building opposite,
and he fell, dying almost instantly, his body being