The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-27 00:00:00

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NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE
a OPENING OF LLOYD' ' '-•
An important step towards the cmplete Roca t:
tion of this edifice by its former tenants was
plished yesterday, by the great commercial, estrus';
ment known as Lloyds taking possess'
splendid and commodious apartments.
seven years, within some ten or fourteen days, that..
by the destruction of the Old Exchange by fire ext
the 10th of Januar7, 1838, they were deprived or
these apartments. They certainly have gained most
materially by the change, though in the interval they
have been exposed to great inconvenience by the
narrow accommodation afforded to them at the Old
South Sea House. The rooms they now occupy have
been so recently described, that it is unnecessary to
notice them now in much detail. The great room in
which the banquet was given is now fitted up with
three ranges of mahogany tables and seats, each table
accommodating four underwriters. At the north
end is a lobby entrance, divided from the great room
by a screen, having a small room or inclosure, right
and left, for hats, great coats, &c. The warming end
lighting of this room are considered for business
arrangements as perfectly successful, whilst to pro-
vide against the inconveniences of dark and gloomy
weather, two Bude lights are suspended from the
ceiling. The only remark we have heard made
against these occupiers was, that the chandeliers are
considered too plain and slender for a consistent effect
with the room in which they are hung.
The Commercial-room and the Captains'-room are
fitted up with seats and benches of mahogany, and
richly carved mahogany stands are placed all round
the room for the reception of newspapers from all
parts of the world.

:

- The Captains'-room is the coffee-room department
of the establishment. Here there is a bar, with
kitchen and offices attached, for supplying merchants
and the subscribers with coffee, sandwiches, &e.
Lloyd's Committee, under the superintendence of
Mr. G. R. Robinson, their respected chairman, met
for the first time in their Board-room on Saturday
last. In consequence of the holidays, not much busi-
ness was transacted in Lloyd's yesterday, but their
rooms were a good deal crowded by the subscribers
and their friends, and the increased accommodation
and convenience are subjects of much satisfaction and
congratulation.

THE TRAGICAL OCCURRENCE
AT ASHFORD.

This melancholy affair, some particulars of which
were given yesterday, appears to have created a very
great sensation in the whole neighbourhood, and,
from what has since transpired, the suspicion which
was at first entertained that the unhappy man Oliver
intended to have destroyed his wife and all his family,
has been considerably strengthened. The following
additional facts have been ascertained by a corre-
spondent :
It seems that the deceased man belonged to Han-
well, but he had resided with his wife and family for
some time at Bedfont and the neighbourhood. Ile
was always considered an idle, disorderly fellow, and
his wife, who was a woman of violent temper, did not
bear a very good character. They frequently spar- -
relied and fought, and Oliver has been heard by seve-
ral persons to say that he would do for her some day.
They took up their abode in the cottage at Ashford
about Michaelmas last, and since that time they appear
to have gained their subsistence by begging about the
neighbourhood. The family consisted of the father
and mother, a daughter named Eliza, a very pretty
little girl eight years old, and a son named William,
about eleven. The cottage in which the melancholy
occurrence took place consists of two rooms on the
ground floor, the one used as a keeping-room, and the
other as a bed-room, and in which all the family slept.
The bodies still remain in the same state as when they
were first found, the woman lying partly on her
stomach with her face buried in the straw mattress
which formed their bed, and the man lying across the
room with his head reclining upon the body of his
wife. At present, although there is a very strong
impression that it is the result of poison, the cause of
death remains a mystery. It was stated that some
white powder was found in a paper in the room, which
was believed to be arsenic. this has, however, sines
been tested by the medical officer of the union, and
turns out to be magnesia; and up to this
time no trace of any poisonous ingredient has
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cated by the fumes of the coke that -was found partly
consumed in the saucepan in the bed-room. This
opinion does not, however, appear to be borne out in
any way by the facts that have transpired, and from
the circumstance of the deceased man being nearly
dressed, and having been heard walking about the
house, and seen in the garden during the night, it is
not very likely that the deaths could have arisen
from this cause, particularly as the two children were
in the room all the time ; and they state that they did
not feel any sensation of suffocation, the girl only ex-.
periencing violent sickness, and the other symptoms, or
having taken poison.
It has been stated that the children of the deceased
were conveyed to tlic Smites Union Workhouvi imme-
diately upon the discovery of the dreadful. occurrence.
Remedies were administered to them both, and the
girl was very sick and ill for several hours. The boy
was not so bad, and they are at present considered
out of danger. On their being questioned relative to
the melancholy transaction, the boy stated that on the
Monday night his father and mother appeared quite
well, and about nine o'clock his father made
some tea, of which his sister, his mother, and his
father partook, and his mother complained at
the time that the tea had a strange taste. They soon
afterwards all went to bed, and about eleven o'clock
he was awoke by his sister crying, and complaining
of a pain in her stomach and being thirsty, and he.
awoke his mother and father. The teapot had been
brought into the bed-room' and he said that his father
gave his sister some of the liquor that was in it. hio
states that after this his mother asked his father for some
money to purchase some necessaries for the next day,
upon which he abused her a good deal, andtventually
struck her, and they fought together, but afterwards
laid down again, and in a short time his mother also
complained of pain in her stomach and thirst, and his
father asked her to drink out of the teapot, but she
refused, saying that it had such a nasty taste, and was
so different to anything she had ever before observed
in tea, that she could not drink it. Ile further states
that after this they all went to sleep, and during the
night he heard his father and mother breathe very
hard, and towards morning his sister was again very
sick, and he tried to make his mother do something.
for her, but could not, and he saw his father lying on.
the ground very ill and foaming at the mouth ; and
finding he could not make either of them sensible
what he wanted, he ran out to the neighbours and.
gave an alarm.
The teapot in question, and one or two saucepans
which contained liquids, have been carefully set aside
preparatory to their undergoing chemical examination.
Information of the occurrence was forwarded to Mr.
Wakley, the coroner for this district, on Wednesday,
and upon a representation of the circumstances being
made to him, he at once decided that no satisfactory
inquiry could be entered into, in a matter of so much
mystery, without a post mortem examination, and he
gave the necessary directions for that purpose, and
the inquest, therefore, is not expected to take place
for two or three days.