The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-17 00:00:00

MURDER OF SIR LAWRENCE

JONES, BART.

The Impartial of Smyrna, of the 28th ult., contains
the following account of the murder of Sir Lawrence
Jones, Bart., by a parcel of brigands:—
"On the 6th, at two o'clock in the afternoon, two
English gentlemen, viz., Sir Lawrence Jones, Bart., and
Captain Twopenny, left Macri for Smyrna ; they were
accompanied by a Greek dragoman of the name of
Nicoll, and also three conductors. On the night of the
same da3 they all slept at Karghi, and the next day, a,
twelve o'clock, they found themselves at the foot of the
m:nintain called Elhassils-Bel, where they stopped to
breakfast. During this repast one of the conductors ob-
serve d to the dragoman that two or three Zbybeeks were
at a &stance in front, but as he in a short time lost sight
of them, the voyageurs were undisturbed and their route
was continued. But they had not proceeded more than
six minutes on their journey, when they were suddenly
assailed by a warm fire of musketry from behind one of the
rocks of the mountain. Sir Lawrence Jones fell dead, as
well as the Greek Nicoli, by this fatal discharge ;
Captain Twopenny was also grievously wounded. The
robbers, without the least fear of being recognised, ap-
proached and began to take possession of everything
which they could lay their hands upon. Captain Two-
penny miraculously escaped from being dispatched. One
of the brigands had already pointed his pistol to the chest
of the wounded captain, when a fellow brigand turned
the aim of the pistol, and it went off in a different di-
rection. Having remained for about an hour and a half
upon the stage of the field of murder, the robbers de-
parted. Captain Twopenny, aided by his conductor,
with difficulty remounted his horse. It was not until
twelve hours ride of fatigue that the suffering gentleman
arrived at Macri, weltering in his blood, which was
running from his numerous wounds. He had done every-
thing in his power to take with him the remains of his
departed and unfortunate friend, but could not succeed.
He was satisfied with cutting off a lock of his hair, and
taking a ring off his finger (which had escaped the ra-
pacity of the robbers), as a sort of souvenir to his afflicted
family. On his arrival at Macri, his first care was to
look after the body of his companion, which was brought
to Macri on the 9th, as well as that of Nicoll ; both of
them were buried in the Greek chapel, with all the cere-
monies and rites of that faith. This affecting news has
produced the most melancholy sensation amongst the
English residents at Smyrna."

DREADFUL EXPLOSION OF A
STEAR-BOILER, AND PART OF A FACTORY
BLOWN UP.

BOLTON, DEC. 15.—A little after one o'clock this
afternoon, as the hands ill the cotton-mill of Messrs.
Rothwell and Kitts, situate in Black Horse-street,
Great Bolton, were about to resume work, after the
dinner hour, an explosion of one of the boilers took
place, which being situate under the building, the
consequences are most disastrous. The mill is six
stories high, and one end of it was entirely blown up
by the explosion, spreading the utmost terror
throughout the neighbourhood. When the post left,
Mr. Rothwell, nephew of the late Mrs. Rothwell, Mr.
King, the manager, and one or two others, had been
taken out dead, and a number seriously injured.
Mr. Kitts was in the engine-room when the explosion
took place, and was much scalded. Every exertion
is being made to save some who can be heard under
the ruins; and we are led to hope that the loss of
life will not be so great as might have been expected
under the circumstances.

The forthcoming new grand comic Christmas
pantomime at Drury-lane is understood to be founded on the
nursery tales of " Gulliver's Travels."

BIRMINGHAM, DEC. 14.—Last Friday evening the
12th inst., the long promised representation of Sophocles'
Antigone was given at our theatre. The house was crowded
in every part. The delayed production of this tragedy on
our stage was, we tfnderstand, attributable to an accident
which bad befallen Miss Vandenhoff, occasioning a lameness
which prevented her appearing in public for these three
months past. We congratulate her on her recovery, though
we observed, with regret, that her movements were not alto-
gether unconstrained, and we missed, in consequence, two or
three of those beautiful transcripts from Grecian statuary
which lent such classic grace and dignity to her Antigone on
the boards of Covent-garden. Vandenhoff, as Creon, looked
and moved an impersonation of Olympian Jove. The
choruses, generally, were up to the business of the scene,
and we doubt not, as the tragedy is announced to run through
the week, that every night will render them more easy and
perfect. There was some mistake, or failure of intent, in the
closing scene which caused the finale to fall flatly ou the
sense. This will, doubtless, be remedied on repetition. The
several beauties of this classical drama require a cultivated
taste to appreciate and enjoy them ; we speak from expert-
once, and can tell our readers it improves on repetition.—
From a Correspondent.