The Sun.
London, England, 1826-05-27 00:00:00

IMPROVEMENTS.

The removal of Carlton House is at length folly determined
upon.

The following plan of the proposed alterations has received the
Royal anent
The present site of the building will be converted into an open-
ing nearly of the size of Waterloo-place, of which it will form a
continuation, presenting, on the whole, an area of most imposing
dimensions. On each side foot-paths will lead into the Park,
but there will be NO CARRIAOR ROAD.'

In the centre of the quadrangle an obelisk will be erected, and
along the end, nearest the Park, there will be a terrace.
At its angles there will be buildings, those nearest to Pall-null
for the United Service and Athenaeum Clubs, end the others for
the use of the Nobility.
Between these buildings the sides of the quadrangle will open
on the Palace Gardens, which will remain.

.
The view of the Abbey, Horst Guards, Parks, Sec. from Water-
loo-place, will be magnificent.
The alterations will, it is expected, be completed by the autumn
of 1827.

Yesterday' Mr. Secretary Canning had an audience
of his Majesty.
On Wednesday. the Princess Victoria completed
her seventh year, upon which occasion her Royal
mother, the Duchess of Kent, took the Princess,
with the Princess Feodore, and their attendants, from
the King's Palace, Kensington, to Clare Mont, on a
visit to her royal uncle, Pnnce Leopold, who gave a
dejeuni in honour of the day, to which a select party
were invited. The Duchess, the Princess, &c., re-
turned to the King's Palace, Kensington in the even-
ing. On the occasion of its being :he Princess's
birth-day, her Royal Highness received a present of
two remarkably small ponies, one seven and the other
eight years of age ; an exact match in every respect,
and of a mouse colour. They were presented to. the
Princess by the Marchioness of Huntly, and are un-
derstood to be brought from the Highlands of Scot-
land. Her Royal Highness also received presents
from several other distinguirled personages.
Thursday evening, the Duchess of h.ent honoured
Covent-garden Theatre with her presence.
To-morrow, being the first Sunday in Trinity Term,
the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Recorder, and Sheriffs,
together with the Judges, will go in full state to St.
Paul's Cathedral. •
Mr. Secretary Canning had a select party to dinner
on Thursday, at his residence in Downing-atreet.
ErAccrioNs.—Mr. Croker has returner]. to -town,
having, as it is stated, secured his rot= fol. Trinity
College, Dublin.
DIED.---On the 25th inst., in Upper Gower -meet,
Mrs, Philippe, wife of Samuel March Phillippsi Esq.
DIED.--At Chodntt, at the house of her son-in-law, Thema%
Todd Walton, FAq. Elisabeth, wife of Tlunnas Todd, Esq. of
Lanctunier, in the county of 'Dothan), and late of the Geneva
Peat-offiec.

HORRIBLE MURDER AT WINTON.

BY EXPRESS.

(Front the MANCHESTER GAZETTEE of THIS DAY,)
Saturday, May 27.

It has seldom fallen to our lot, as public Journalists, to record
a murder of a more barbarous and sanguinary character than that
which was perpetrated on Monday night last, at a small village
called Winton, in the town-ship of Barton-upon Irwell, and within
a short distance from Patrieroft Bridge, on the Liverpool road.
The circumstances connected with it, are more horrible in their
nature than those which attended the murder committed some
years ago, by the Ashcrofts, at Mr. Littlewood's house, at
Pendleton. It is fortunate, however, for the ends of public
justice, that the murderers are known, and that in the event of
their being taken, (and little doubt can be entertained upon the
point,) the clearest and most positive evidence can he brought
against one of them, (if not against both) and their conviction
will be attended with no doubts in the public mind, as to the
justice of their sentence. The melancholy facts we are about to
detail, we gathered upon the spot, and from the mouths of in-
dividuals who had an opportunity of knowing the full particulars
of the bloody deed.
It appears, that about half--past six o'clock on the evening in
question, two decently dressed men came to the door of a
public-house, in Winton, known by the name of "The Jolly
Carters," and kept by Mr. J►seph Blears. At this time, Tho-
me Valentine, Mr. Blears' ostler, • was sweeping the path at the
front of the door. "Is your master at home :" asked one of
the men. " No," replied the ostler, lie is not."—" when,"
inquired the man, "do you expect him to return ?" " I don't
exactly know what time," said the ostler, "because he's gone to
Manchester." The men then entered the house, and seated
themselves on a sofa in the bar, in which was Mrs. Blears, the
landlady, and of whom they asked several questions similar to those
they had pitt to the ostler. They told her that they wished very
much to see Mr. Blears, since they had not seen him for some
time, and they wished to give him a treat. They sat some time
without taking any liquor, but at length called for a bottle of
cyder, and whilst they were drinking it, Mr. Blears, the landlord,
carne in, having just arrived by the boat from Manchester. This
was about eight o'clock. After depositing a bundle which he
had with him in the kitchen, be went into the bar, when
the taller of the men expressed great pleasure at seeing him, and
shaking him by the hand, said, " Ah, Blears, I ant glad to see
you ; you are welcome home. Sit down and take a glass of some-
thing ; what will you have?" " I don't mind," said Mr. Blears,
" I think I'll have a glass of whiskey." His wife, Mrs. Blears,
then produced three glasses of whiskey, and the party entered into
conversation. Mr. Blears talked about his house, and observed
that he would not take a farthing lees than 5001. for it, since he
did not want money, for he had loot. in the house. He also
talked about the establishment of an Orange Society in the house,
which took place on the preceding Friday, when there was a pro-
cession of its members. He said, too, that a sick club was held
in the house, and that its fonds were very ample. During this
conversation, the men slyly poured the whiskey out of their glasses
into hisglass, and in the heat of friendly conversation he kept sipping
at his liquor, unconscious of the trick they were playing upon him.
The taller of the men, after having put the contents of his glass into
that of Blears, poured a little water into his, and drinking it up said,
" Come, Blears, (tapping him on the shoulder), drink up, and
we'll have another." Blears did so, and three glasses more were
brought. The conversation still went on, and the same trick
was played upon poor Blears, who was too arch taken up with
his subject to notice it. Its effects, however, were very apparent,
for before he had (as he supposed) drank his first glass, he be-
trayed symptoms of intoxication. On taking a hearty draught
at hie second, he was almost choked ; he coughed violently, put
his handkerchief to his mouth, and took up the water jug, but
finding nothing in it, said to hie wife, (as well as he could speak
for coughing), "Martha, give raceme more water." At length he
felt a strong sensation of drowsiness, and eventually fell fast
asleep On the sofa on which he sat What time this was cannot
be ascertained. Mrs. Blears sat in the bar, end remarked, that
on one occasion, on her return from the kitchen, whither she bad
gone for something, oue of the men in question was in the act of
pouring some whiskey into his mouth, upon which he partially
raised his head, and appeared very angry at the liberty taken with
him, but he immediately dropped his head, and afterwards re-
mained in a state of perfect insensibility, while the two men ap-
peered perfectly sober, and kept up a conversation with the
landlady.

It may not be here improper to state, that these men were
brothers, and went by the name of Alexander M'Kean, or Keaud,
and Michael M‘Keen, or Keand. The former (Alexander) was
well-known to Mr. and Mrs Blears, and, indeed, to tife whole
household, and for the last twelve months, had been in the custom
of calling at the public-house in question on a Friday, once in three
weeks, for the last eighteen months. Michael, however, in January
last, in consequence of failures in his business, transferred the fur-
niture in his house in Byron-place, Parliament-street, Manchester,
to hie brother Alexander, who afterwards was obliged to com-
promise with his creditors, and since that time, had not called so
often at Mr. Blears'. Michael had never celled there ; at leaet the
people in the house don't recollect having seen him.
But to return :—ln the course of the evening Michael asked
Mrs. Blears if they could be accommodated with a bed. " No,"
said Mrs. Blears, " we really have not a bed at liberty," " Why,"
said Michael, " yos see it is very late, and having a deal of money
about us, we don't like to leave a public-house at this hour."—
" Well," said Mrs. Blears, " I should be sorry that any thing
should happen to you through your stopping at our house, and
therefore if you will put up with the accommodation that I can
afford you, you may stay." We omitted, however, to state, that
on Mrs. Blears' saying that they could not Lave a bed, they whis-
pered together, and then went to the back door, and this circum-
stance, at the time, somewhat excited Mrs. Blears' suspicions, but
the impression it made was gradually worn off by the apparent
frank and free conduct of the parties. About half-past eleven
o'clock, they asked if they could go to bed, " Yes, surely,"
said Mrs. Blearsi and calling to Elisabeth Bate, the only
servant and perion in the house, with the exception of a
little boy, named William Higgin, who had gone to bed soon
after nine o'clock, besides her husband, said, " Betty, bring a
candle, and show thee gentlemen to their room." Betty imme-
diately brought.* candle from the kitchen, and led the way up
stairs, the men following her. The bar, in which Mrs. Blears
sat, opens into a lobby, from which the stairs ascend on the oppo..
site side, at a little distance to the right of the bar door. The
stairs lead into a spacious holding, ou the left of which there is a
large room, extending the whole depth of the house, and is
called the club-room. On the right are two bed rooms, and
the back room, Which is over the kitchen, was the one in which
these men were to have slept. There were two beds in this
room, the farthest was rather a low one, without curtains, and
in this lay the little hey, William Higgins. At the foot of his bed
was an old fashioned chest of drawers, and on the floor be-
neath, were three warps, wrapped in brown paper. Betty took
the men into this room, and placed. the candle iu the window,
which is between the two beds. Alexander then, it appears, began
to play with Betty, and put his arm round her neck, and the noise
occasioned by the scuffle awakened the boy, Higgins,who, look-
ing towards the bottom of his bed, saw Alexander with his
arm round Betty's neck, who kept saying, be quiet—have
done—let me alone." The boy then saw Alexander put his arm
round Betty's neck, and press her head backwards ; hut he thought
nothing of this, inasmuch as he conceited that Alexander was Ca.
deavouring to give her a kiss. His fears, however, were awaken-
ad by seeing the man draw sontething across her throat, and
throw her down. The poor girl screamed murder, in a dismal
tone of voice, and getting upon her knees, struggled violently to
release herself from her murderer's grasp. The boy at this mo.
mot lifted up his head from the bed, and saw poor Betty's neck
and breast covered with blood. The man obherving the boy's
motion, darted to thebed and pressed him down upon the pillow

with his bloody hand. At this moment Betty raised herself, and '
was staggering out of the room, when the villain left the boy, and
seized hold of his bleeding victim, whom he pressed against the
door post of the bed room, and again plunged his murderous
weapon in her throat. The boy, almost petrified with fear,
rushed past them, and leaped over the railing of the stairs. The
man made a grasp at him, but the boy, stooping down, evaded
villains.
Mrs. made his escape through the back door, pursued by both
Mrs. Blears, hearing a horribie scream from Betty, snatched
up the candle, and was proceeding to ascertain the cause of it,
when, on passing through the bar door, her progress Was sud-
denly arrested by Michael M'Kean, who must have been sta-
tioned either on or at the bottom of the stairs, Ibr the boy did not
see him in the bed room, who seized her by the throat, and
struck her with a large knife, or, as the country people term it,
a whittle. The blunt edge of the knife, however, glanced across
her throat, and effected no particular injury. The villain, how-
ever, followed up his blow, and stabbed her in the forehead, but
the bone repelled the instrument, and a violent struggle took place.
At length he forcibly threw her down into the entrance of the tap
room, and, with all his might, dashed the knifes into her face. The
instrument glanced along the left cheek bone, and, penetrating be-
tween that and the upper jaw-bone, pasted into the back part of
her mouth, to the extent of nearly five inches.
The villain endeavoured to pull it out, but in the attempt, the
handle came off, and at this moment the noise occasioned by the
escape of the boy Higgins, and his pursuit by Alexander, it is sup-
posed alarmed him, and he fled through the hack door, and joined
Alexander in the pursuit of the boy, who fortunately eluded them
by creeping under a sort of gate which leads from the garden to
the road, on the left of the house, and hiding himself in a ditch
on the border of a field on the opposite side of the road. In the
interim poor Mrs. Blears, who is nearly fifty years of age, and
rather lusty, opened the front door, divested of her cap, and the
knife sticking in her face, and ran to the next house, a distance of
about 60 yards, culling out "murder, murder,---thieves." Mary
Andrews, her niece, who lived at this house, opened her bed-room
window, to ascertain the cause of the alarm, when she was inex-
pressibly shocked at seeing her aunt covered with blood, and a
knife sticking in her face. The poor boy Who lay tumbling in
the ditch, hearing Mrs. Blears' voice, ran from his hiding place,
and joined in the cry of " murder."
The houses in this neighbourhood are rather thinly scattered,
and lie at some distance Lunn each other, but the alarm being ra-
pidly spread their :inhabitants were very soon assembled, and
among them was Richard Bretton, the constable, who imme-
diately sent out the people in various directions in order to secure
the murderers. In the mean time a messenger was dispatched
for Mr. Garthide, the surgeon, who resides near Patricroft Bridge.
Before his arrival, however, Richard Andrew, Nathan Mills, An-
drew Wilcock, and several other persons tried in vain to pull the
knife out of Mrs. Blears' face. About half-past twelve Mr. Gat-
hide arrived, and endeavoured to extract the knife, but it resisted
his most strenuous efforts. Ile even got upon a chair, in order
to have a greater command over the instrument, and wrapping one
of the women's aprons round that part of the knife which had
fitted into the handle, pulled with all his force,but could not move it
a single inch. At length his servant man tried, and with - very great
difficulty succeeded in drawing it out. Having given the tieCeS-
the necessary directions with regard to Mrs. Blear* Dr. Gart-
bide hastened up stairs, in order to see if any life remained in
Elizabeth Bates. He timid the unfortunate woman extendtai on
the club-room floor, with her head near the door, and weltering
in her blood. On examining this body, he found that her throat
was cut from ear to ear, and the arteries and the windpipe com-
pletely divided—iu fact, her head was nearly cut off. There
were also five or six frightful gashes, an inch and a half in
length, on the lower part of the left cheek ; another on her
chin, and several smaller ones about her face. The fingers of
her left hind were nearly cut off-,--very probably from the un-
feeling and unmanly villain's having forcibly drawn the knife
from her convulsive grasp. So bloody a scene had never
been witnessed in this hitherto peaceful neighbourhood. At
the foot of the bed in the room in which the murder was
perpetrated there was u lake of blood. A bundle of warps, too,
which lay there were also covered with blood, and on the chest of
drawers was the imprint of a bloody hand---Very likely the poor
girl's, which she had placed there to support herself as 40 was
staggering out of the room. There was also a track of blood from
the foot of the bed to the door, and across the landing into the club-
room opposite, and the poor girl's clothes were literally drenched
with the eauguine stream. The blood track across the landing
diverged towards the brink of the stairs, as if the victim of the
merciless murderer had endeavoured to escape that way ; and the
many stains of blood on the club-room door, and on the door cheek
being in straight. and oblique lines, must lead to the supposition '
that there had been a mortal struggle on the part of the unfortunate
girl to escape from the grasp of her destroyer.
Whilst these horrid proceedings were going on, Mr. Blears
lay on the sofa in the bar, completely seek in sleep and instal-
eibility. The- noise, however, occasioned by the cries of
" murder," and the rushing in of the neighbours, at length
aroused him. He arose, and saw his wife covered with blood—
he was told that his servant had been murdered, and that but for
the fortunate escape of, the boy, which diverted the villains from
their purpose, he might also have been numbered with the dead.
The .eirect produced upon his mind by these tidings was electrical.
He instituted every inquiry as to the route which the murderers
were supposed to have token, and hearing that two men of their
description had been seen on the road to Warrington, he itaddled
Lis horse about six o'clock in the morning, and started off
in pursuit of them. In the mean while, Bretton, the constable of
the village, set off to Manchester, and calling at the police-office,
gave Mr. Lavender a brief account of what had taken place.
Plans were speedily put in operation for the detection of the mur-
derers, and the strictest empiric* made as to who they were. It
turned out that the notion that, after the commission of the mur-
der, they had taken the Liverpool road, was destroyed by the
circumstance of an unhemmed silk handkerchief being found near
a hedge, hi a field adjoining the shrubbery of Richard Hancock,
Esq. which is contiguous to the back part of Mr. Blears' pre-
mises. The landlady died on Tuesday.