The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-02-24 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER.—An inquisition yesterday
took place before Mr. Curry, the borough coroner, on view
of the body of John Wilkinson. A boy of 14 years of age,
named Doyle, was in custody.
Owen Handwright said,—l am a cooper, and live in
Midghall-street. I knew the deceased very well by sight.
He worked in the next shop. On Saturday last I was at
work, and the prisoner, whose name is Moses Doyle, was
sitting by the fire, when the deceased came in and asked the
prisoner for a key. The prisoner replied that he had no
key. The deceased then took hold of the prisoner by his
jacket collar and pulled him up, and struck him on the face.
The prisoner then lifted up a nail hammer that was lying on
the floor and threw it at the deceased, and struck him on
the shoulder. The deceased then took hold of the prisoner
and threw him down by the fire-place, and struck him in the
eye while he was down. When the prisoner got up I went
between them to prevent anything further occurring. As
soon as he got up, and while I was standing talking to the
deceased, the prisoner made a blow at him and struck him
on the eye. I did not observe any thing in the prisoner's
hand at the time. As soon as the deceased was struck he
called out that his eye was out, and I observed blood flowing
from his left eye. The prisoner remained standing in the
shop when the wife of the deceased came in and lifted up a
brick to throw at the prisoner, but was prevented, and the
prisoner went away. The wife of the deceased went and
brought a police-officer, and he was taken away, and I did
not see him again. He did not complain of being much
hurt. Nothing else occurred, but the deceased struck the
prisoner first. I did not see any thing in the prisoner's hand
either before or after be struck the deceased. The shop
where I work is in Marlborough-street.
Elizabeth Wilkinson said she lived in Marlborough-street.
The deceased, who was her husband, was 28 years old. On
Satuarday afternoon, on going into the smithy kept by de-
ceased to see what detained him from his dinner, she saw him
standiug in the cooperage, which is next door to the smithy,
and blood was flowing from his eye. I saw the prisoner
standing a short distance off him with his right arm raised
up, and a gimlet in his hand. Witness lifted up a brick to
throw at him, but was prevented. She asked the deceased
what was the matter with him, and he said the prisoner had
stabbed him in the eye. She went for a police-officer, and
on her return to the cooperage the prisoner had gone. The
deceased was brought home, and then taken to the Dispen-
sary by the police-officer. He was attended by a surgeon,
but kept getting worse, and died on Wednesday night. She
saw no scuffle between the prisoner and deceased.
John Newall, who keeps a cow-house in Marlborough-
street, said the cooperage where the deceased worked was in
the yard. On Saturday afternoon he heard the prisoner's
voice in the cooperage, and some one telling him to be quiet.
He then heard the prisoner say, " No ! I'll have my ven-
geance." He then went round to the cooperage, and saw
the deceased holding his head down, and blood flowing from
his eye. I did not observe the prisoner at all.
John Lunt, a policeofficer, said he was called from Vaux-
hall-road, on Saturday afternoon, by the wife of the deceased,
who told him that a boy had stabbed her husband in the eye.
He went with her to Marlborough-street to a smithy, and
found the deceased bleeding from one of his eyes and his
nose. Witness took him to the Dispensary, where his eye
was dressed, and then took him home again. I did not see
the prisoner there at all. On being informed who the boy
was, Inspector John Moore and I apprehended him on Tues-
day last. On the way to the Dispensary the deceased said
that he had been stabbed in the eye by the prisoner with a
sprig bit.

- gr. Hartley Samuel Laycock said, I am a surgeon. On
Monday night, about five o'clock, I was called to the de-
ceased, and found him in a state of shivering, and was in-
formed that he had been stabbed in the eye. I examined the
wound, and found a small circular opening in the inner corner
of the left eye, and which I considered of so dangerous a cha-
racter that I sent for another surgeon. I attended him up
to the time of his death, and have since made a post morten
examinatioc. The wound extended into the brain, which
was lacerated. I found inflamation of the adjacent parts of
the brain, and also an abcess on the right lobe. The injury
to the brain had been the cause of death. Such an instru-
ment as that produced would cause such an injury, which
must have been done by violence.

Owen Handwright being recalled, said,—During the scuffle
which I have before stated, I saw the deceased knock the
prisoner down on to the fire, and struck him when he was on
the fire, which was then burning in the cooperage. I know
the gimblet now produced. It was generally placed in a
box, and the box was on the ground just at the prisoner's
feet when he and the deceased were struggling. There are
two doors to the cooperage. The prisoner could have run
away by the further door, if he had thought proper. Just
before the prisoner struck the blow over my shoulder, I
think, but I cannot swear, that I saw him stoop down, as if
to pick up something.
As there were two other witnesses, who had gone into the
cooperage to sharpen some table knives at the time, one of
whom was heard (as one of the witnesses stated) to say, that
if the prisoner were his child, and were maltreated in such
a manner, he would fight for him—the Coroner said, that as
such testimony was desirable fully to elucidate the case, he
should adjourn the case until this day, at half-past twelve
o'clock.

The probability appears to be, that the prisoner will be
committed for manslaughter.—He was taken in custody to
the main Bridewell.

A whale, 22 feet long, was driven ashore at Sandymount,
near Dublin, on Friday night. It appeared to have been
dead some time. At an early hour on Saturday morning a
number of persons assembled, hewed it in pieces, and car-
ried off the bones.

On Monday last, the creditors of Captain Henry Phipps
Tuckett, a bankrupt, whose name has become notorious from
the affair with Lord Cardigan, met at the London Bank-
ruptcy Court. His creditors were stated in his accounts (for
he furnished no regular balance-sheet) to have owing to them
£3,322 lls. 9d. and his liabilities £5Bl 18s. 10d. His ca-
pital on embarking into trade at £BO4 65., and his profits at
£255 15s. 6d. There was owing to his estate (debtors)
£173 16s. 6d., and property £361 13s. 6d.
RAILWAY TRAFFIC.—The following calculation of the
last weekly returns of 41 railways, 1,490 miles in length, will
be of interest :—Nnumber of passengers on 27 railways,
217,286; consequently the total for the week must be about
500,000. The receipts for passengers on thirty-nine railways,
£50,025 Bs. 6d. ; ditto for goods on thirty-five railways,
£18,403 9s. 2d. ; the total, £68,428 17s. Bd. This is an
average of £46 per mile per week. The traffic, therefore, is
certainly at the rate of about £1,500.000 a year, and carrying
20.000,000 of passengers.—Railway Journal.
UNITED STATES BANKING.—The delinquency of parties
engaged in the banking and money companies of the United_
States was never better characterised than in the extract of
a letter received from New York, dated the 31st ult., which
is now subjoined :—" You will have read of the pretty defal-
cation of the cashier of the New York Insurance and Trust
Company. According to a statementollars o
ared f thehdicompanrectors, het i
sa
s
a defaulter for about 250,000 d, t e y i
lost from 10 to 15 per cent. of its capiital. n
The
very stock ha
res
fallen considerably, for it was previous i.go
pute. I hear 50 only is offered, the nominaly quotation
annum, and
and
70.
The president quits his office of 5,000 dollairsper od p
is made actuary, with a salary of ?,000 dol ars'