The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-12-12
aartieniars Of the Norfolk harder.

81
Early yesterday morning {between 5 and
O'Clock some hands on dat ia Che dock
at the foot Of Commerce street discovered
flames Issuing from the; cabin Of the sIoop
b. Il. Rodman, lying In the same dock. They
at once gave the alarm, and with the assist
alice Of The crew Of the steamer Smithfield
extnguished the flames. On entering tue
! cabin Henry French, the cdptain of the
sloops was found in his bunk dead, aud his
| face, arms, and breast terribly charred. On
examination it was discovered that he had
been murdered, and that his death was
caussd BY a stab inflicted in the right
side by What Is stipbosed to be a sbeaf-
knife. The authorities were at once
notified, and about half-past O'Clock Jus.
tice Thomas T. Kempe, acting coroner, held
an inquest; and the jury rendered the follow.
Ing verdict; That Captain John French
| came to his death by wound inflicted in
the right side By person or persous un.
known, and the cabin set on fire." No post
mortem examination was held, the coroner
and jury considering the case 80 plain as not
| to require one. This murder, with the Cir
cumstances attending it, Is one of the most
hendish, brutal, and mysterious we have ever
had to record. The victim was quiet, hard
workings sober young man, only eighteen
years old; and respected by all who knew
him, and the only supposltion as to the cause
which led to the commission Of the crime
is that the party or parties who committed
1t attempted to rob the sloop or the captain,
and being discovered and known by him,
they took bis life. Besides the stab in the
right side, it was found after the remains
had been carried to the residence of his
brother. Captain ", II. French, on
Water street, that the back Of lis head had
been fractured by heavy blow, which was
evidently inflicted by the murderers on find.
ing that the wound in the side had not pro-
duced instant death. Then, to cover up
their helish deed, they saturated with kero-
sene the bedding and clothing of the MUIR
dered man, and set fire to them in order to
produce the impression that the sloop had
taken fire, and that the captain, being asleep
at the time, was burned to death. 1t is sup
posed, however, that this was an after
thought, the belief being that the murder
had been committed some hours before the
vessel was fred, and that the murderers had
fled the spot; butthat afterwards the thought
Of burning the vessel in order to hide all
trace of their guilt occurred to them, and
returning to the sloop, they composed the
remains Of their victim, folding his arms
over his breast, &C., and then, s;turating the
bedding, &C., set it on fire.
No clue whatever has been discovered.
No one knows of an enemy that the boy
captain had. Monday he had unloaded his
vessel of her cargo, had drawn the freight
money from Burgess, Grandy & Co., amount
ing to S22.15, which he paid over to the
owner of the vessel, B. +. RodmaD, Esq.
From him he received on account Of his pay
$40, 18th which he purchased an overcoat.
He also made a purchase of n stove for his
mother, and was at the house of his brother
until 90 o'clock Monday night, when he bid
the family goodbye, telling them he might
not see them again before his return, as he
expected to start soon in the morning, and
as he had freight on his vessel he would
sleep on board to protect 1t from robbers.
This was the last seen of him alive.