The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-05-14 00:00:00

THE STRANGE OCCURRENCE AT DENTON.

(From Me Manchester Guardian)
Since our previous notices of this affair, we have had an
opportunity of making more particular inquiries a. to its cir-
cumstances, 41ne or two respects, differ slightly
from the statement originally It seems that it
was as nearly as may be about eight o'cl6ck in the evening,
while yet day-light, that the wounded man, John Edwards,
i , fi 1(1 House, and that rho ~-----
allowed about four hours to pi they thought fit to
send for Mr. Samuel Lees, the deputy-constable of Denton.
He arrived there at or after midnight, and then found Ed-
wards attended by Mr. Frederick Coke, surgeon, Denton,
who was putting in writing the several interrogatories which
we have already noticed, and the man was writing his an-
swers. Mr. Lees learned that the landlady and a young
man, previously to his arrival, indeed shortly after Edwards
made his appearance, had gone from the house, and traced
his steps thence to a place inside a field, near the highway,
where they found two small papers, one containing gunpow-
der, and the other shot of one of the middle sizes, which ap-
peared to have been thrown or dropped there by some one.
They were proceeding further ; but, hearing a noise, and be-
coming alarmed, they turned back. Mr. Lees then, accom-
panied by two or three others, went to the bottom of the
field in which the shot had been fired ; and, within a very
few yards of the fence separating that field from an adjoining
one, close by a blood-stained spot on the grass, Mr. Lees
found a pistol, and others of the party picked up the hat and
neck-handkerchief of Edwards, the latter soaked in blood.
The hat had crape on. These things they brought away.
Early ,the following (Saturday) morning, Mr. Lees again
went to the spot, and found a portion of the wadding of the
pistol (which appears to be a fragment of the London Times),
and in the midst of the blood a small pin, with which the
ends of the handkerchief had apparently been fastened to the
shirt ; for both ends were torn, as if Edwards had forcibly
pulled the handkerchief from his neck, in the agony he must
have suffered on the shot taking effect. The pistol is a small
old one, with the word " London" on the lock. It was
unloaded, and had the appearance of having been recently
discharged. There was a flint in the lock of the pistol; and
six others of similar size were found by Mr. Lees in the
pocket of Edwards.
In searching Edwards, in order to obtain some clue to his
name and connections, Mr. Lees found in his waistcoat
pocket an address card, " George Parker, Commercial Board-
ing-house, No. 7, Howe-street, Birmingham." Hoping
that this might lead to some information, Mr. Lees wrote on
Sunday week to the Birmingham police, enclosing a copy of
the card, and a description of the person and dress of Ed-
wards. On Wednesday last, he received the following letter
in reply :

" Police Office, Birmingham, 7th May, 1839.
" Sir,—Mr. Parker says, the above-described young man
came on Wednesday evening ; supposed to have come from
London by the train. He left here about half-past nine
o'clock on Thursday morning, and went by coach to Man-
chester. Mr. Parker's servant says, he was very restless in
the night, and appeared low in spirits in the morning. He
had on the ciothes described in the letter. The have a strong
recollection of them. They believe him to be a gentleman's
servant.—Yours, respectfully,

" GEORGE REDFERN.
" To Mr. Saml. Lees, Constable, Town-lane, Denton."
There being a word in one of the written answers of Edwards,
to the question " Where do you come from ?" which ap-
peared something like the commeneement• of " Sheffield,"
though it was doubtless meant for " suffering," Mr. Lees
thought it desirable to write to the Sheffield police ; and
having prepared his letter, he came over to Manchester on
Thursday last, in order to have an interview with Edwards,
and make another effort to induce him to reveal his place of
residence, or his connections. He found Edwards somewhat
better and more collected, and he showed him the letter, and
asked him to give him all the information he could, as it
would be satisfactory to the public. Mr. Lees asked him if
he had a father living. He nodded ; but intimated that his
mother was dead. At first he signified that be had a sister
named " Mary," but to brother ; but at length he wrote on
the slate, "My brother Samuel lives at Chapel Mews. Port-
land-place, London. He is coachman to Dr. Bright, No.
19, Manchester-square." Mr. Lees lost no time in writing
to Dr, Bright the same afternoon, and is now awaiting a
reply.
We understand that when lie entered the Sunfield public-
house Edwards was searched ; and the person who keeps
that house took from him gold, silver, and copper, to the
amount, we believe, of £2 15s sd. This sum, we are in-
formed, he refuses to give up to Mr. Lees, although he has
repeatedly applied for it. Some expenses were incurred in
bringing Edwards to the Manchester Infirmary in a spring-
cart; the landlord of the Sunfield house paid the tolls, &c. ;
but though Mr. Lees offers to repay him all costs, he still
holds the money. Mr. Lees, who has been at some personal
expenses in reference to this matter, having paid portages,
&c„ applied to Mr. Maude the other day on the subject, and
by that magistrate was directed to skate the circumstances to
Captain Clarke, who resides at Hyde Hall, in the neighbour-
hood of Denton. In conclusion, we may say that the con-
duct of Mr. Lees, in prosecuting his inquiries, has been dili-
gent and meritorious.

The Queen's levee intended to be held on Wednesday, was
postponed to Wednesday, the 15th instant.

MUSHROOMS.—In the market of Moscow, 200,000 rou-
bles, or £B,OOO, are drawn every summer for mushrooms
alone. There are at least twenty varieties used at table ; in
England only three are eatable.

HORRID MURDER AT HENLEY-ON-THAMES.—Ahout 7
o'clock on Wednesday morning, it was discovered that the
dwellinghouse of Mrs. Phillips, 84 years of age, living near
Woodcot house, near Henley-on Thames, had been broken
open during the night, and its inmates murdered. The de-
ceased lived by herself, and was attended by the wife of a
farmer's servant who lived near the spot, who left her the
previous evening in bed between eight and nine o'clock, and
on going up next morning, discovered the house had been
broken open and robbed. On entering the bed-room, she
found the bedclothes saturated with blood, and the unfortu-.
nate woman's brain exudhig from the skull, which had been
beaten almost to a mummy. She went immediately to Mr.
Adam Duff, of Woodcot-house, a magistrate, who has been
most indefatigable in his endeavours to discover the murderers.
The arms of the.old woman bore marks of having been se-
verely pinched. A sawyer's bag with two files, a line, and
a pair of compasses were left behind, but no instrument has
yet been found by which the act was perpetrated. A gold
ring was taken from her finger, and some money from a
chest of drawers in the room in which she slept. In the
drawers thus ransacked, an old fashioned box, with £B, and
a roll of calico, with thirty-five pounds, in Bank of Eng-
land notes were overlooked by the parties. A coroner's in-
quest was to be 'held on the body at 12 o'clock on Thursday.
The tools found on the premises were stolen from a sawyer
in the neighbourhood about a month ago, and the parties
supposed to have stolen them reside in the neighbourhood of
Mrs. Phillips's cottage.' Since the former part of this
paragraph was written, we have heard'some slight clue has
'been obtained to the discovery of the perpetrators of the dia-
bolical act.—Standard.