The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1842-03-29 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE.—One of the soldiers of the Guards in the St. George's Barracks loaded his firelock with ball cartridge, just after the drums had ceased last evening, while four other men were in the room, and commenced firing, whether at either of them it is not possible to say, but immediately on his doing so the others most improperly left the room, instead of disarming him, and he continued firing for some time, until the whole of his ammunition (12 rounds) was expended. One of the shots seared a man who happened to be near. During this time he was so furiously excited that nobody durst enter the room ; he then threw himself from the room he was in, that being a top room, into the barrack-yard, clearing most miraculously the iron railing, and is now carried to the hospital, of course in a hopeless state. He had been drinking apparently very little at the canteen, and had but a short time previous obtained some bread, some of which was found on the table.—Times of Thursday.—We take the following from the Times of Friday :—Thomas Hutchins is a private in the third battalion of the Ist regiment of grenadier foot guards, now stationed in the Mews Barracks, Trafalgarsquare, and was considered the finest man in the regiment, measuring 6ft. 2 in. in height, and stout in proportion, and, when, uninfluenced by liquor, was a quiet, inoffensive person; but a little drink would sometimes excite him to an "extraordinary degree, and cause him to quarrel with his comrades. On Wednesday night, at about nine o'clock, after having in, dulged rather freely, he retired with three others to one of the  sleeping-rooms at ihe top of the building for the night, where, however, he had not been many minutes before he commenced quarrelling with a man named Greene, whom he at length threatened with his vengeance, and, fearing the consequences,  Greene made his escape down stairs, and informed the s  geant that Hutchins was drunk. The sergeant immediately repaired up stairs, and ordered him down to the orderlyroom, for the purpose of testing his sobriety. He, however, struck the sergeant under the ear with his bayonet, and slightly wounded him. Another man was slightly wounded in the face in endeavouring to rescue the sergeant, who, but for his interference, would no doubt have been murdered. An, however, ran out of the room with the exception of one man, who had got into bed, to whom Hutchins said, " You have never injured or given me any offence ; I shall not therefore hurt a hair of your head." Hutchins, however, now commenced firing at the door, imagining, no doubt, that some of them were on the other side of it. Six bullets passed through the door, which is about two inches in thickness, one of them lodging in another door at the end of the passage, which is about 12 feet in length. He also fired through the front• window at the sentries in the yard, who, however, fortunately escaped. Hearing several persons coming up the stairs, he threw up the back window, and flung out his belt and pouch, and having exclaimed. " Now, you , follow me," precipitated himself frOm the window into the back yard, a height of about 50 feet, when a rush was instantly made, and he was found lying upon his back in a state of insensibility. He was immediately placed upon a stretcher, and conveyed to the barracks hospital Din Rochester-row, Westminster, where he was attended by rs. Johnson and Bellam, of the regiment, who discovered that his left arm was broken ; lint the extent of injury sustained could not then be discovered. On inquiry yesterday at the hospital, it was ascertained that he had been spitting blood the whole of the day, which proceeded from the internal injuries he had received, and which are of so serious a nature as to preclude all hope of his recovery. The flagstone upon which he fell was broken into several pieces, but not a spot of blood was to be seen. Hutchins is in the 2Sth year of his age.