The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-17 00:00:00

A PRISONER SUFFOCATED BY SETTING FIRE
TO HIS CELL WITH INTENT TO ESCAPE.
(From the Bates Herald, Feb. 15.)
An awful occurrence took place at Chandos House, in
this city, on Thursday morning, a prisoner confined in
one of the cells having perished by the work of his own
hands, in attempting to make his escape. His name was
James Thomas, a man about thirty-six years of age, and
who for some time past has been living at Pipe House,
near Freshford ; he was brought before the magistrates
at Chandos House on Tuesday last, under circumstances
which we shall detail below, and had been remanded
until Friday (yesterday) for the production of further
evidence against him. It would appear that on the
night of Tuesday there were several other prisoners in
the cell with him, but on the following morning they
were removed to Shepton gaol ; on the way, however,
they informed the constable, Bindon, that the prisoner
Thomas had tried to persuade them to attempt an escape,
that they would not agree, but that he (the constable)
had better take care what he was about with Thomas
when he got back, for he was a desperate fellow, and had
expressed his determination to break out of the cell.
In consequence of this information, Bindon, on his re-
turn from Shepton, leg-ironed the prisoner Thomas,
with the view to his greater security, and on the night
of Wednesday he was locked in his cell with the irons
upon him about seven o'clock. The room in which he was
confined at night, was an inner room, the door opening
into another chamber in which the prisoners are allowed
to be during the day time. Nothing was heard of
Thomas during the night, but upon the constable going
to open the doors, about halt-past seven o'clock on
Thursday morning; he discovered to his great terror,
that the outer room was filled with dense and suffocat-
ing smoke; after two or three attempts, he succeeded in
reaching and opening the window, and then he found
that the door of the prisoner's cell was on fire. He
opened it with all despatch and then found the prisoner
dead upon the floor, a dreadful spectacle, his head rest-
ing close to the burning door, his hair and scalp burnt off,
his face blackened and disfigured, and the floor beneath
him still smouldering. Bindon had procured the assist-
ance of police-constable Francis, and having succeeded
in extinguishing the fire, they began to investigate into
its origin, when it soon became apparent that the un-
happy prisoner had himself kindled the flame. His
mattress had been ripped open, a portion of the straw
pulled out, and evidently placed under the door to set
it on fire, for fragments of burnt straw were found still
lying upon the floor. 'The door itself, which is secured
during the night by a strong iron-bar, was partially
consumed, about two feet of it being charred away; but
nothing in the interior of the cell had the fire reached;
even the clothes of the unhappy man himself, who was
lying, as we before stated, with his head close to the
burning door and his feet towards the back of his cell,
had net taken fire; the mattress on which he slept was
still uninjured, and his hat, containing the bread which
had been given him for his supper the night before, was
found under the bed.
Information of the dreadful occurrence was immedi-
ately transmitted to the Coroner, and
THE INQUEST
Was held on the same day, at Chandos House, before A.
11. English, Esq., and a respectable jury, of which Mr.
Wisden was foreman. After having viewed the body,
the following evidence was adduced :
James Bindon—l am a constable at Chandos House,
and the deceased was a prisoner in my custody. He
slept in the apartment in which he now lies ; he was
committed for felony on Tuesday last. At ten minutes after
seven o'clock last evening, I saw him for the last time
alive ; he was in bed ; and I locked the door and left
him. In the afternoon of yesterday, he broke
the windows of the room in which he was confined.
Last night was the first on which he had slept alone, there
having been other prisoners in the room with him up to
that time. This morning, at half-past seven, I went
to let him out ; when I opened the door of the outer
room, I found it full of smoke ; a policeman went in
with me ; and after getting open the window of the
outer room, I found the door of the cell in which de-
ceased was confined was on fire, as well as the floor.
The deceased was lying on the floor, and there was
some burnt straw lying about the room, which had been
pulled from the mattress on which the deceased had been
sleeping. He was quite dead. On the previous night I
had taken the fire out of the grate of the outer room ;
the deceased was searched on Monday night in my pre-
sence ; and when I was going to lock him up, I missed
a little poker, and on asking him for it, he said he had
it, and I found it in his bed, and took it from him. In
consequence of having been told by other prisoners that
deceased was determined to make his escape, I put the
irons on his legs. There was no fire-place or fire in the
cell in which he slept.
Mary Bindon, wife of the last witness, was next exa-
mined :—Yesterday morning I took the wood and coal,
in the absence of my husband, to light the fire in the
room where the prisoner and another were ; I left the
wood, coal, and some straw, together with a lucifer
match ; I left only one match, and that I gave to a man
who was discharged yesterday. Some time after, one of
my children came to me and said the fire would not
burn, and I took another match and some more straw,
and gave that match also to the other prisoner. The
child said the men had asked for another match, as their
fire would not burn. Yesterday afternoon the deceased
broke the window; he broke two panes. I told Mr.
Lovenbury, and he had the deceased locked up in the
inside room.
The Coroner then proceeded to address the jury.
Though the evidence would go to show that the de-
ceased's death was the act of his own hand, they were not
justified in saying that he did it feloniously, with the
view of committing suicide, as the presumption was that
he had set fire to the room with the view of effecting his
escape. As to the cause of death, there was the doubt,
as to whether it was caused by burning or by suffocation,
or both ; and if they were in any doubt, and wished for
medical evidence upon this point, a medical man was in
the room, by whom it could be readily cleared up.
The jury decided upon taking the evidence of the me-
dical man, and W. A. Cox, Esq., surgeon, was then
examined :—I was sent for between eight and nine
o'clock this morning, to Chandos House ; I found the
deceased lying with his head against the door of his
cell. The scalp was off and his hands and hair were
also burnt ; he was still warm, and my opinion is that
burns to so small an extent would not have been suffi-
cient to cause death, but that it resulted from suffoca-
tion; I should think that the scalp was taken off partly
by his violently beating his head against the door, and
not altogether from burning; I should think he found
himself suffocating and endeavoured to get his head
under the door to procure air.
The jury consulted for a few minutes and returned a
verdict that the deceased died from suffocation, through
setting the door of his cell OA fire with the intention of
making his escape.

THE WHOLE DUTY OF WOMAN.
Sincerely, Imy dear, I am going to offer you a few
words of advice as to the conduct and behaviour most
calculated to insure your happiness; and I am sure you
will take it kindly of me, considering the experience I
have had, and your early time of life. What an ad-
vantage it is to be told things, instead of having to find
them out! I wish I had had somebody to advise me
when I was at your age. Of course, my dear, between
ourselves, almost every young woman is either married
or intends to be. It is what we have to look to, poor
things! Now, in order to get married, my love, you
must learn to manage yourself; and, after 3ou have got
married, to manage your husband, and both together is
what I call the whole duty of woman. As long as you
are single and looking out, your first study must
be to control your inclinations. All of us, ou know,
have our little failings ; the great thing is to conceal
them. For instance, dear, suppose you. have a hearty
appetite, you should restrain this a little in company ; it
is a thing that many gentlemen (particularly the most
susceptible) object to ; and you can indemnify yourself
by a nice supper in your own room. You will thus,
dear, please the kind of men who make the best hus-
bands—those most easily managed. Always keep down
youetemper, my dear; never speak sharply, or look cross,
whatever you may feel ; and be cautious, my love,
how you talk scandal, or say spiteful things of friends
behind their backs; many good catches are lost by little
weaknesses peeping out. If, my dear, you have any per-
sonal blemish, or peculiarity, which you think would
prevent a certain person from liking you, hide it from
him if you can, and let him find it out after you are
married. If anybody is attached to you, never contra-
dict him, dear, but fall in with all his little wishes and
whims, however unreasonable. In short, devote your-
self to him entirely; your turn will come. When you are
married, my dear, you should pursue another course
altogether. The object of all husbands is,
in to put
upon their wives as much as they can, by making per-
fect slaves of them, and stinting them their pleasures
and enjoyments, so as to have the more to lay out on
themselves. You will most likely find your husband very
near. He will be trying to calculate how much you re-
quire for housekeeping, and will want to allow you so
much and no more. At the end of the week or month
he will ask to look over your account-book, to see how
the money has gone. Now, my dear, you will find that
there are numerous trifling extras that you will want,
which you would wish him to know nothing about ;
little suppers when he is absent ; presents to friends,
and a thousand other odds and ends. You will make
these up by putting id. or ld. a-pound upon the tea or
sugar, or by charging so much for imaginary soap or pearl-
ash. And then, love, if you find him questioning the price
of this thing, or inquiring about the quantity of that, you
must seem hurt and angry, as if he doubted or mis-
trusted you ; and if he persists in being inquisitive, you
should get into a little pet with him, slam the door, and
run upstairs crying. And observe, when there is a tiff
between you, never come to till he has made amends by
promising you something that you want—a bracelet, for
instance, or a new bonnet, or dress. Your husband will
sometimes wish you to wear a particular sort of cap,
or other article or ornament ; if he does, let it be a
bargain between you for some concession or indulgence.
He may not behave himself at all times as you could
wish ; in that case, dear, there are plenty of ways to
bring a man to reason. His buttons may be not sewn
on ; his dinner kept waiting ; pickles or potatoes not
provided ; and there may be nothing for him but a cold
shoulder, when he expects a hot joint. There are two
things, in conclusion, love, that I would strongly im-
press upon you. One is—never let your husband have
a latch-key., or he will take advantage of it to stay out.
The other is this—tell nobody your age ; for, recollect,
my dear, . that human life, is uncertain. You may be-
come a widow ; and, in that case, find the disclosure a
disadvantage.— -Punch.

POISONING AT CAMBERWELL.—The inquest on the
bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Montague was commenced on Friday. The
evidence of Thomas Froud, the servant boy, was received, which
went merely to describe the circumstances, already stated, under
which the deceased persons drank the tea which poisoned them. He
was not aware that there was arsenic in the house till it was found.
The inquest was adjourned tai wedueeday nut, to um tale mums
QS the gawky laned.
- - -au