The Sun. — 1858-04-12 (London, England)

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OP SELF-MURDER, AND DESTRUCTION OF A DWELLINGHOUSE.  The village of Beaufort, South Wales, has been ;he scene of one cf the most remarkable cases of  aolf-de,truc•iou which it has ever fallen to our lot  to record, and a cor(mer's jury has decided that at the time of his committing the fatal crime, ire perpetrator was in his right senses, and accountable for his acts. The deceased, whose name was George Screech, and who was between 45 and 50  years of age, was not a native of the principality, hut came to the neighbourho, d. of Beaufort from Somersetshire four or five years ago, and had since work9d in the mines. At the time of his death he was residing at the house of a relative of his, a decent man, who also got his bread as a miner, nanit-nd Richard Greenland. During the last few months he had once or twice said he wished he was  dead, as he was tired of so much hard work, but nothing in his conduct had induced any suspi, iou that his "mind was effected. ' Latterly he had been out of work, and looked more poorly than usual, but his appetite continued good, and no apprehensions were entertained regarding him. On the day of his death he was talking to Mrs. Greenland as usu,d, and she was working about her house performing her usual household duties. Her husband being a miner, lie always kept some kegs of blasting gunpowder in his house, which, with a view to greater seeutity, he deposited in an upstairs room. At the time in question there were quantities in two casks, one of which had the head our, and the other a I.ole bored through the top. In the course of her duties Mrs. Greenland had to leave her house for a minute or two. As  she passed the door she noticed the deceased going hurriedly towards the bottom of the staircase, and in a minute afterwarls au expl, sion was heard, which shook the place like an eatthquake. The utmost terror was occasioned, and the affrighted neighbour.; ran from their cottages to see what was the cause of the alarming occurrence. It was soon perceived that Greenla ,scl's house was shattered to pieots. The roof was completely blown off, its fragments being scattered in all directions, the windows were torn out, he walls shattered, and the lower rooms filled with a dense cuff...cating smoke. On a search being made, Mrs. Greenland's intait, which she had left iu a cradle in a lower  °urn,' was found alive, but the elthes were ou fire  and the poor little thing half choked with the vapour. Screech was found amongst the debris frightfully burnt and mangled, but a ill alive and con,cious. Prior to his death, which occurred some six or seven hours afterwards, he confessed that lie had himself wilfully caused the explosion, and, must have been tempted by the - devil. He said, being determined to dtstroy himself, he took the tongs, drew a red-hot coal from the fire, carri-d it upstairs, and threw it into the open cask of gunpowder, which was under the bed. As to the baby, he forgot that she was there. An inquest was held on the b.,cly at the Beaufort Arms Inn before the deputy-coroner, Mr. E. C. Davies, % and a respectable jury. The foregoing particulars 14 were deposed to, and Mrs. Greenland and a man named Amos were examined with a view to ascer,ain the state of his wind. A verdict of felo cis se  was returned, and the remains of the unhappy man were interred in unconsecrated ground, and without funeral rites, at ten o'clock at night. i% Some of the adjacent houses were much shaken by the explosion, but were less injured than from its . violence might have been expected.  CountrW Markets