The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-31 00:00:00

FATAL ACCIDENT in P.' ''g,thirta 7
MENTAL VINES at A TRAM
CHATHAM, OCT. 30.—The pub' 9-*eAlrcady awate,
that a sham siege has teen fur s days Mast going ,T 7:
on up )n the Chatham Lines, in tl
the casemate barracks, where Cap niA,V4rine;i9f4fak:>
Royal Engineers, is attacking the 4-4.1761,440r4ti
cation, which Lieutenant Pemice,
is defending. Previous to this day se‘eral explosions
have taken place without any important result or ac-
cident, and it was generally understood that others
would take place to -day. In the early part of the
afternoon great sensation was created in Bronspton,
Chatham, and the neighbourhood, by the rumour that
a serious and fatal accident had talon place in the
mines, and on proceeding to the spot it was found
that the report was but too true. From information
obtained on the spot, it appears that in the course of
the morning a charge of 2.501b5. cf gunpowder was
fired in the right branch of Lieutenant P,nrice's
countermines, and about half-past one o'clock a
smaller charge of about 511,5., besides sorn;,! loos,
powder, was exploded. After air had been pumped
into the mines for some time, three men, namely,
James Sullivan, a private in the East India Com-
pany's Sappers, and Harris and Bailey, two privates
in the Queen's service, entered the branch where the
explosion had taken place, for the purpose of digging
out the loose earth. In a few minutes Bailey came
out of the mine, saying that the foul air so affected
his head that he could not stand it any longer. Sul-
livan and Harris not making their appearance, some
alarm was excited, and corporal Dent and private
Murphy entered the mine in search of them, when
they found them lying at the further end of the
branch in a senseless state. Corporal Dent, although
seriously affected by the vapour, succeeded in getting
Harris out, but Murphy was unable to assist Sulli-
van, and fell senseless in the passage, completely
choking it. Some delay occurred in extricating
Murphy, and when that was effected, Lieu-
tenant Muggeridge, who was in charge of
the party, led his men in to rescue poor
Sullivan, who was lying on his face at the
extreme end of the branch. lie immediately got out,
and Mr. Weeks, a surgeon, of Brompton, being sent
for, was promptly on the spot, and applied remedies,
but in Sullivan's case without efreet, as, owing to the
delay in getting him out, he was quite dead. Murphy
and Harris were conveyed on stretchers to the hos-
pital in Brompton barracks, where they are doing
well. Several of the party who entered the mine the
last time were more or less affected, and the Lieute-
nant himself was partially delirious for some minutes
after he came out. Immediately after the accident
all further operations in the works ceased, and it is
understood will be totally abandoned. Mr. Ilindes,
the coroner of the district, will hold an inquest on the
deceased, who was much respected .in the corps, and
the inquiry is looked forward to with some anxiety,
as it is asserted that the pumps used for the purpose
of forcing air into the mines were defective ; but it is
proper to say, that judging from the great care with
which all the operations were conducted, that asser-
tion will, no doubt, be found to be untrue.

EAST INDIA COMPANT'S MUSEUM.—(From a Cor-
respondent.)—The above Institution has recently expe-
rienced several important alterations and improvements,
and has received some valuable additions from the Asiatic
Society of Calcutta. The horns pertaining to different
animals have been judiciously arranged, and may now
be seen to far better advantage than they were before,
when they were indiscriminately huddled together.
Two newly discovered specimens of cervi have been
lately introduced into the museum ; one of them was
presented to the Directors by Major Harris, which that
gentleman procured whilst he was proceeding on
his mission to Shoa. It is a species of antelope, and is
boldly and elegantly striped with white annular zones, si-
milar to the zebra. The horns of this beautiful animal
are two feet in length, and spirally formed. It would ap-
pear to have heretofore escaped the notice of naturalists.
The other is a red deer (a male), shot in the valley of
Munnipore, in the Raj-Mal district. The antlers of this
latter animal are out of all proportion to the size of its
body, and present a very formidable front. It is stated to
be exceedingly fierce and untractablc. To the ornitholo-
gical department some interesting additions have been
made. Several novel species of falcons, cranes, and divers
have been received peculiar to Northern India. The bat
(vespertilio) family has been considerably augmented.
The most extraordinary feature in the entomological
collection is the " animated leaf"—the very curious in-
tra•connecting link between the animal and vegetable
being—which has recently been received by Dr. Hors-
field, the curator of the museum, from a friend resident
in Bengal. This wonderful production of nature so
critically in every particular resembles a faded leaf, that
the most scrupulous observer would find a difficult task
to decide to which order of the creation it belongs,. It
is said to be the only specimen of the kind in this coun-
try, and it certainly forms a most interesting and
unique feature in natural history.
DARING BURGLARY.—CAUGHT IN THE FACT.-011
Sunday evening a daring burglary was committed in the
house of Miss Parry, of St. Pam's-street, North, which
ended in a most unpleasant denote anent at the expense or
the depredators. It seems that on Sunday afternoon, 'Miss
Parry and her partner left home about three o'clock, to
take tea at the house of a relative; a ledger in the house
also left about six o'clock to go to chapel, and no soeuer
was the coast clear than four well-known characters:
commenced operations in hopes of gaining a rich booty,
One of the party first knocked at the door, and F,edince
no answer, they concluded it was all right and separated,
two taking their stand as watchmen at either end of St.
Paul's-street, and the others, named • Beard and Smith,
proceeding by the back way to effect an entrance to
the premises. It appears that the thieves well knew the
habits of the inmates, and that Miss Parry, attending St.
Paul's church, was seldom home much before nine. On
this occasion it so happened she did not go to church, but
coming hastily home about eight o'clock, saw a light in
the front room, and applying her eye to the keyhole, saw
a fellow roaming about the passage in search of plunder.
With great presence of mind, Miss Parry hastened
quietly over to an opposite neighbour, and the alarm
quickly spreading, before the thieves had any suspicion
of their danger, they were pounced upon by the deck-
way, and the spoil found upon their persons.
Being had before the magistrates on Monday they
were fully committed to the assizes. As they were
caught on the premises, there is little doubt of their con-
viction, and as they have each gone through a similar
ordeal once before, there are strong hopes that their re-
turn to Cheltenham will be guarded against for one
seven years at least.—Cheltenham Examiner.
TILE LIVERPOOL PRESS AND THE BIRKF:SHEAD
FESTIVAL.—The past week has been a busy one with
the Liverpool press. Never, within our Tec,election, has
any great event in this part of the emit:oT set so many
editors, reporters, and compositors in motion, or caused
so many columns of matter to be piled upon each other,
as the Birkenhead Festival. Our Cheshire neigh-
bours have unquestionably no cause to complain, as
correspondents often do, of want of notice, or as some
egotistical speakers are in the habit of saying, that all their
elegant specimens of rhetoric were either burked or cur-
tailed. On the contrary, length—interminable length of
space was devoted to the festival, and the consequence was,
that for half-a-crown this week and last, a man might
purchase 72 columns of the Mercury, and a map; 72
columns of the Mail, intersperse d with plates ; 42
columns of Gore's Advertiser; about 51 columns of the
Standard, and a plan; 60 columns of' the Chronicle; and
63 columns of the Courier, with a lithographic view—
making, in all, the enormous number of 360 columns!
enough, we should think, to gratify the greatest
newspaper gourmand that ever lived for any one
week of his mortal career. Then, look at the walls
of the town! walls literally covered with newspaper
placards, of all sizes and shapes, from the double doubles
crown to foolscap quarto, and printed in types varying
from 50-line pica antique down to great primer.
Such a week for bill-stickers ! Never, in the hottest
period of a contested election, had the lords of the
brush and paste such a glorious harvest-time ! A
stranger entering the town towards the end of last
week, and casting his eyes along the walls and the
gable-ends of the houses, might well be pardoned for
imagining that business was at a stand, and that all the
community had betaken themselves to their houses to
read about Birkenhead and its docks—its banquets, its
balls, its processions, and its fireworks, as the same were
set forth, in a " full, true, and particular " manner in
the newspapers ! And verily, he would not have been.
far wrong, for, we believe, the newspapers never had
such immense sales, and, of course, if they had buyers
they must have had readers. In short, the press has
immortalised Birkenhead to such an extent that it must
now " go a- head " faster than ever.—Liverpool Courier.
CAPTURE OF THE DOVER MURDERERS IN STOCK..
BURY WOODS.—Our readers are aware that a reward of
701. has been offered by Government for the apprehen-
sion of the men charged with the murder of a police-
man at Dover. Much interest was excited in the neigh-
bourhood on Thursday, by a report that ;two of them,
John and William Clarke, had been captured in the
woods at Stockbury vallies, about four miles from Maid-
stone. The report, on inquiry, turned out to be true.
The following are the particulars :—On Tuesday last,
Mrs. Deacon, the eldest sister of the prisoners, went
to
the shop of Mr. Worster, a
li wholesale
ter o r s
ifshe toy-dealerhall
in
London, and being asked by s rs. Worster
heard of her brothers, sming the
bereple
ald yt•ietsi,
place)antl atna
give them some money
going to meet them
rhan geo
f clo
hime fs „' '0
Worster, on her husbanadn'sd a change
informed
return,
w gat
bad passed, and he decided on following the woman Dea-
con to the place she had named; forwhich purpose, having
obtained the assistance of another dealer, named Sharp,
he proceeded on Thursday morning, in a four-wheeled
carriage to Stockbury valley, en the road leading
from Maidstone to Sittingbourne. About a mile before
reaching the Squirrels public-house, they saw the
woman Deacon with two men behind a hedge. On this
and jumped over a stile.
‘,llO ran off to-
they stopped their vehicle,
They were observed by the two men,
wards the wood ; but beit„, ov( 'stake!), surrendered
withoutme any
statet
resistanceliate,y andhave were tal,kieing nth
nitoceul d
s,tooodys.
The
since the occurrence, but strongly deny any participa-
tion in the murder. They further state, that being
quite tired of this mode of life, they had determined on
giving themselves up to the police at Dover next week.
John Clark was well disguised, being dressed in a good
suit of black. William was in a labourer's dress, but
much altered from that worn when he left Dover.
They deny having heard anything of their brother
Thomas since he left them on the 9th of September ;
and both of them appeared extremely harassed and
trembled violently. The prisoni. rs V. ere taken, to Dover,
and after being examined before the magistrates on Fri-
day morning, were fully committed tQ Maidstone gaol.-
14stkisione Journal,.