The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-14 00:00:00

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IF lived at ten o'clock, and gave directions to the constable
that the bodies were .to remain in the same situation in
i_ ionselBo6, conversant
rnurdo lsle-idth a ltlh hise ho
fa-
milyr
r
which they were found, until viewed by a Coroner's Jury.
T
ecHdasaoemflbßvirg Rise
iiiisiraern:d
who;n those
and of Steinberg, a German, but re-
\
Pentonville, who, in
setdestroyed Ellen Lefevre, his mistress, and her
children, including an unweaned baby. Riseau was
tiiiBbd3leeshn, a it
d in Southampton-street,
punished by the laws of his land ; Steinberg, like Lucas,
accomplished his. own destruction, and was buried in the
poor ground of Ray-street, Clerkenwell, a filo de se.
(FURTHER PARTICULARS.)
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LONDON MONDAY
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MARCH 14, 1842,

PRICE 5d

Lucas had for four years past worked as a warehouse.
man at the house of Mr. Bassett, in Wood-street, but in
January last left his situation, since wh!ch time he has
been out of employ. lie had always been a very steady
and sober man, and was much respected. On Saturday
night he retired to rest with his wife, apparently in his
usual spirits, having first gone into the rooms where his,
children slept, as was his practice, to see that they were
all right. At seven o'clock yesterday morning he got up
and went down stairs into the kitchen, and talked to his.
as it was such a line morning he would take the niec
camee,
dhoeltNrialyalibi,foruitioeisglmt poto,cmlocko,f
aunidieaiisein
child-
renfor a walk before going to church. He then cleaned his
reesns;arikieids iafet
boots and the chiliren's shoes, and afterwards shaved him-
self. When he had finished he put the razor into the case,
and his wife asked him if she should put it away, to which
he replied, " No, I thank you, my dear, I'll put it away
myself." He then said, " While you are getting break-
fast ready I'll go and fetch the children down ;" and
immediately proceeded up-stairs.
He had not been gone more thatt five minutes when
the eldest child was heard to scream in a frantic
manner, and the niece went up stairs to ascertain what
was the inattor. Before, however, she arrived at the
top, she heard her cousin exclaim, " Oh, cruel father 1"
and thinking that her uncle was chastising him, hesitated'
before she proceeded farther. She at length, however,
went to the top of the stairs, and then along the passage
to the room where she herself slept with the two
youngest children, and found the door was shut. She
tried to open it, but found that' something had been
placed against it. With some difficulty she at last,
subceeded in pushing the door open, when to her horror
she discovered that the obstruction had been caused by-
the lifeless body of her little cousin:- Her screams
brought Mrs. Lucas up stairs, who on learning the cause
of alarm ran down again, screaming murder, when she sank
down in the passage in a swoon, and continued in a
state of unconsciolsness the whole of the day.
In the furthest room lay the bodies of Lucas and his
eldest eldest boy in a large pool of blood, with their
throats cut from ear to ear, the latter with only his
night-shirt and one stocking on, laying on his side in a
crouching position just within the door. The father,
who was dressed, was stretched on the floor, in the
middle of the room, his head resting on his right
arm, with an open razor clenched in his right hand, the
end of the blade laying upon the cheek of the poor boy.
On going into the room where Lucas and his wife
slept, another scene presented itself; which was enoualf
to awake the sympathies of the most obdurate, and
appal the. stoutest heart. Two innocent babes, who but
a short half-hour before were enjoying their little
play, were lying in their blood, with their heads nearly
severed from their bodies. They, too, were in their night -
dresses, and were lying on the bed with their heads
towards the foot of the bed. The little girl had on a
nightcap and a shawl wrapped round her. She lay on-
one side of the bed and her younger brother on the other,
and between them the bed-curtain had been placed, so
that they could not both be seen at one time, and from
this circumstance, coopled with the fact of their being
taken from the room in which they slept to the one in
which their lives were sacrificed, and from the observa-
tion of the eldest boy, " Oh, cruel father," it is supposed
that the monster had first fetched the little girl, and hav-
ing cut her throat, placed the bed-curtain before her, in
order that his next victim should not see her. He must
have then returned for the youngest boy, as there were
finger-marks of blood upon his night-gown, and served
him in a similar manlier, and then went into the third
room for his then only living child, and having brought
him into the presence of his murdered brother and sister,
the poor little fellow made his escape, and this no doubt
was the time when his screams were heard. It is evi-
dent he resisted his-murderous father with all his might,
as one of his hands was much cut, and the frightful gash
in his throat appears to have been inflicted by more than
one cut. They were all three remarkably fine healthy
children.

The Lord Mayor visited the premises about one
o'clock yesterday, to learn the particulars of the horrid
tragedy, but declined going up stairs to see the bodies.
His Lordship gave instruction to the police to keep the
place as quiet as possible, and allow no one to enter the
gate but those who resided in the Gardens.
The sensation produced by this event is of the most
intense description, and thousands of persons have visited
Aldermanbury to ascertain, the truth, scarcely believing
that such an enormity could be perpetrated. The street
was crowded the whole of the day by well-dressed per-
sons of both sexes, who evinced the deepest sympathy
fur the unfortunate wife of the murderer.
The police have been in attendance all the day to pre-
serve order, but their presence seemed not to be re-
quired, as the great number of persons assembled were
of a class not likely to render the interference of, the
police necessary.

FAILURE OF WIGNEY'S BANK.
The insolvency of the bank had been very generally whis-
pered through the principal parts of the town for an hour or
two previously ; andlthere is no doubt that the determination of
the firm to suspend payment had oozed nut shortly after the
closing of the Bank on the previous afternoon, for persons
connected with the military at present occupying our ca-
valry barracks were sent out late in the evening in all direc-
tions to exchange the notes of the insolvent Sem ; and we re..
gret to add that they were successful in numerous instances.
We may at once state, without subjecting ourselves to unplea-
sant remai ks, the cause which has brought about the present
oalamitous result.
Mr. I. N: Wigney, we learn now, for the first Hine, has for
some years past been engaged in a shawl and merino factory at
Glasgow carried on under the name of " Cochrane and Co."
and conducted by a Mr. Young, who married one of 31r. Wigna?s
sisters. In this concern, in which a capital of some 80,0001. is
said to be invested—whether encumbered or not, or wasted, is yet
to be ascertained—great losses have kei n sustained during the
last five years; and, in pointof fact, the funds of thu Bai,k have
constantly and continually been drained away during that pe-
riod to sustain this ruinous speculatson. So lately, we believe,
as the 2d or 3d of the present month, a sum of 2,0001. was
paid by Masterman and Co., for the purposes of this Glasgow
House; and, we believe, it was not till the drawers of the
bank were completely exhausted that the determination was
come to of suspending bummed
The liabilities of the firm, we have reason to believe—an
we have some authority to warrant the assertion—will be found
to range between 120,000/. and 150,0001., including the ordi-
nary 4' Bank notes," the amount of which in circulation is
comparatively small, not exceeding, it is supposed, 10,0001. ;
and consequently, the disaster among !hat we may perhaps be
allowed to call " the miscellaneous public," who are usually the
holders of these notes, is not very great, nor extensively felt.
It was supposed by many, that by the will of the late Mr.
William Wigney, the brewery and all the property of the
family were to continue responsible to the customers of the,
Bank ; and under this beAef many persons deposited large sums
there at interest. These find now to their cost that these
statements had no foundation in truth, and that no member
of the late Mr. Wigney's family, except the two youngest
brothers, Isaac and Clement, are liable to them.
Our Town Commissioners, we find, have a balance of about
5001. in the hands of Mr. I. N. Wigney, who was their Trea-
surer ; but as Mr. George Wigney is his surety, the town will
sustain no loss. The suitors in the Court of Requests are less
fortunate, Mr. Clement Wigney being Treasurer in that Court,
and his partner being his surety. Altogether, it is a most
calamitous event, and will be severely felt in the town and
neighbourhood for some time to come.—Brighton Guardian.

TIIE LATE TIURRIcANE— Loss or LIFE. The
violent storm which raged on Wednesday and Thursday nights
has been attended with more disastrous consequences than any
that has taken place for several years. On the Essex, Kent,
Sussex, and Hampshire coasts, the number of wrecks and loss
of life has been very great. In the river, also, a number of
vessels were driven on shore, and in s,me instances have hecors•
total wreaks. Several sailing barges plying from the lower
parts of Essex and Kent were swamped by the violence of the
gale, and, in one instance, we regret to say, has been attended
with loss of life. The barge belonging to Mr. Fletcher, of
Poplar, called The Friends, was proceeding down the river,
and when outside of Raytiltain-creek was obliged t•
drop her anchor to keep her off the shore. This was hardly
effected when the water beat completely over her, and she filled
and went down. She had three men on board, two of whom clung
to the rigging, and were ultimately saved ; but. the third poor
fellow, named William Wilson, who was asleep in the cabin at
the time, perished. The crews of two other barges, oue be.
longing to Mr. Toppin, of Breutford, the other to Mr. But-
terfield, of Nlilford•lane, Strand, had very narrow escapee of
losing their lives. Both of the vessels sunk off Raynham-
creek, and the men got into the rigging, where they remained
for several hours, the spray beating over them. They were at
ength rescued by ropes being thrown from the shore. Almost
every vessel that came into the river yesterday was more or less
damaged, and in some cases had lost their masts and rigging,
and many that had stalled on their voyage have been obliged
to put back.

•
Some days ago, according to the Observateur des
Pyrenees, a young man of good address obtained from M. S.,
tanker at Bayonne, a bill on Marseilles fur 1,800 f., and gave
him cash to the amount. A few days after, the same person
again appeared, said Le had received an account of the
death of his father, which compelled him to defer his journey
to Marseilles and go in a different direction, and therefore
wished to return the bill and receive his money back again.
This was at once as.ented to, the money returned, after de.
ducting the commission, and the bill was torn up and can..
celled. On the same day M. S. wrote to Alarseilles, coun-
termanding the advice of the bill which had been given. To
the astonishment of tke banker of Bayonne, he receive I an
answer from his correspondent, stating that the bill had been
paid previous to the second advice, and enclosing it that Mr.
S. might ascertain that it was no forgery. On examination,
it proved to be the original bill, and that which had been torn
a well-executed counterfeit.

NATURAL GAs.—A singular phenomenon has been
lately discovered in Glamorganshire, namely, a jet of natural
gas, which rises through a small river, about a mile and a half
from Newbridge. The brook has its source in the valley be-
tween the Llaotrissont and Dinas Mountains, flows into the
Honda, and joins the Taff at Newbridge. In the centre of this
river, or brook, is a continued rising, or strong bubble, of about
eight or ten inches above the stream, as though the water sae
blown up by a current of air, and exceedingly cLld to the hand.
This, when ignited, produces a powerful flame, from four to
five feet in height, with intense heat ; and the smell is the same
as burning sulphur. There are two jets in the field adjoining,
and three on the other side the brook; but they are "
ln:u
t ,
strong as :he one passing through the water. The en'
one
mass night is grand and beautiful, having the appearance of
mass of large, brillant, blue flame.
KeAgwo.rTtuhv,
bEew:he mother ).— o
f 8 a•ah Burton, residing at
F N
four illegitimate children, who
reside with her, one day last week had occasion to reprove one
of them, a boy named James' abed eight years; the boy having
at the time a bow and arrow n his hand threatened to shoot
his mother, on account of the 'reproof.
threat
into execution, and shot the arro
a horse nail) into one of her ears, which had such an e•ffeet
w,( which was He put his
ith
pointed
We have since been
that the woman died on Wednesday night at five
informed
o'clock.—Derby Mercury.
upon her that her life is in great danger.