The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-27 00:00:00

MURDER.

BRINT WOOD, THURSDAY.—Yesterday, at the petty
sussion held at the village of Orsell, a few miles dis-
tant, considerable interest was excited by the exami-
nation of two ill looking young men, named George
Freeman and James Scovell, before the magistrates,
on the twofold charge of having committed a des-
perate burglary and made a diabolical attempt at
murder. The prisoners were brought up by Mr.
Thomas Coulson, the superintendent of the county
police ; and during the examination, which lasted
more than four hours, the Court was much crowded
by the gentry, farmers, and others of the neighbour-
hood.
The evidence adduced was very conclusive ; and the .
subjoined narrative will be found to detail the whole
of the facts of this alarming affair. On the night of
Friday last, the 18th inst., Mr. William F. Stevens,
a farmer, residing in the district termed Bulphan Fell,
near Orseu, retired to rest, as also his two sisters,
who alone live with him in the house, at ten
o'clock. Nothing transpired until about half-past one
o'clock on the following morning, when, hearing a
noise in the room which was immediately under the
one he slept in, and, thinking it was thieves, he got
up, and on opening the window gently and looking
out he saw a light shining through a hole in the lath
and plaster in front of the house, and by which the
burglars had gained an entrance. He instantly armed
himself with two pistols which he kept by his bed-
side, loaded, and then peeped out of the window,
and on looking through the hole saw in the room
three men. One, who had his face blackened, with
a white Guernsey frock on, instantly on seeing Mr.
Stevens, rushed close up to him, and said, " You
--, you die !" and fired a pistol at him without
injuring hi n. Mr. Stevens then aimed one of his
pistols at the ruffian, which missed fire, and noticing
the burglar was making after him, he ran away.
The villain, however, still followed him, but did not
gain upon him, and finding the chase ineffectual,
he fired another pistol at Mr. Stevens, within seven
or eight yards from him, but fortunately it did not
take effect. The courageous farmer turned round and
attempted to return the compliment by firing another
of his pistols, but it also missed fire. The burglar
then returned to the farm, alarmed his comrades, and
they then no doubt made off. Mr. Stevens lost no time
in proceeding to the police station at Orsell to give them
the necessary information. Mr. Superintendent Coul-
son promptly forwarded mounted and armed officers in
all directions in the vicinity of the burglary, and so
surrounded it as to prevent almost the possibility of
the villains escaping. As soon as daylight broke, a
police-constable, James Birdseye, No. 128, stationed
at a place called Herongate, traced the footsteps of the
burglars from the farm-house for upwards of two
miles, and then saw where one had left and taken an-
other course. He pursued the latter, and, on going a
few yards, found one of the prisoners, who gave the
name of George Freeman, lying in a thick hedge,
and sheltered by long grass. He was forthwith taken
into custody, and briefly examined before the local
magistrate of Bulphan, who remanded him until yes-
terday, in order to give the police time for the capture
of the other two burglars. Mr. Superintendent Coul-
son, having received some very important informa-
tion, sent Mr. Inspector Smith to London, while he
proceeded on to Chelmsford. Mr. Smith, after tracing
the prisoner James Scovell about the east-end of the
metropolis, succeeded on Sunday night in apprehend-
ing him in Ratcliffe-highway, and
.conveyed him to
Orsell for examination with Freeman. They were
then identified as having been seen on the night of
the 18th instant, at the George public-house, at a
neighbouring village, called Corbets Tey, together
about ten o'clock, and drinking out of one pot.
Scovell was then noticed to have a handkerchief tied
across his shoulders like a shot-belt, which appears to
have had the Guernseyeshirt rolled tightly in it. They
were distinctly sworn to by the servant of the public-
house, who deposed that they left about eleven o'clock
on the morning of the burglary. Mr. Superintendent
Coulson made, a minute examination of the footsteps,
and plainly saw that two of the men had ran away
without shoes, and one with shoes. He instantly had
the marks covered over to prevent them blowing away,
so as to preserve them, and after Scovell had been
captured Mr. Coulson took his shoes to the field, and
found them exactly correspond with the footsteps of
the person who had quitted with his shoes on. There
were two nails protruding from the edge of the right
boot, which rendered the identification more complete.
Scovell is the one supposed to have fired the pistol at
Mr. Stevens. lie has been in the habit of wandering
about the country hawking brushes, tea-trays, and
other trifling articles.
In answer to the Bench, the prisoners denied the
charges preferred against them in the most positive
manner.
The Chairman (the Rev. Thomas Hand) remarked
that the evidence was very satisfactory, and he should
commit all the prisoners for trial on the two charges.
The prisoners were then removed, strongly hand-
cuffed, and conveyed to the county gaol at Chelmsford,

Lord Granville Somerset has left town for Westbrook
Herefordshire.
CART ACCIDENT.—About one o'clock on Thursday
morning an accident of a very serious character hap-
pened to a woman named Mary Smith, living at 7, Dean-
street, Westminster. She, with some other friends,
were returning home down Tothill-street, and when
they had got near the Abbey, her foot slipped off the
curb-stone, and a dray at that time going by, she was
knocked down and the wheel went over her loins. It
was at first feared that she could not survive, and she
was taken to the Westminster Hospital, when it was
found the injuries were not so serious as might have
been expected, and she is likely to recover.
STOCKTON AS IT WAS, AND AS IT Is.—ln 1788,
Stockton imported coals for the consumption of the town—
the duty on the consumption of the coals brought coastwise
ss. 6d. per chaldron, . having amounted in that year to
117/. Ss. 11,d. Last year (1844), the port of Stockton ex-
ported coals, coastwise and foreign, to the extent of 1,621,227
tons. Whitelizven and Berwick are now coal exporting
places ; yet in 1788 the former paid duty 431. 95., and the
latter 9,11. I 7s. 10(1. on coals imported for home consumption.
—Cat lisle Journal..

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE. —LIVERPC Or, W.EDNESDAY.—
A dreadful file broke out at an early hour this morning at
the extensive iron foundry of Messrs. Smith and Willey, in
Sinithdown-lane, called the Edgehill and Windsor Foundry.
The alarm was first given about three o'clock, and when the
engines arrived the whole building was in a blaze, and we re-
gret to say there was a very great deficiency of water in the
first instance. The consequence was, the flames spread ra-
pidly, and all efforts to arrest their progress were abortive,
until the roof had fallen in and the first floor burned through.
The building is completely gutted, and at present only the
front outer walls are standing. About 300 workmen are
thrown out of employment by this catastrophe. The damage
is estimated at nearly 20,000/. Many valuable patterns were
destroyed, and all the machinery. The insurance is said to
amount to only 8,0001. in the West of England office. About
4,0001. of the stock of machinery now destroyed had only been
lodged in the building a few weeks ago. Nothing is known
at present of the origin of the fire.