Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1871-07-01 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

VALLANDIOHAM'S DEATH.— Mr Vallandigham, the well-known American Democratic leader, seems to have met his death by a pistol shot accidentally fired by himself. The circumstances under which the accident happened, as related in the New York papers of the 17th, are extremely peculiar. Mr Vallandigham was engaged as counsel for the defence of a man named M•Gehan, who was charged with murder by shooting. The murdered man had been killed by a shot in the abdomen, and the defence set up a theory that the occurrence was accidental, and that the shot had been discharged from the man's own revolver as be was drawing it out of his pocket. Mr Vallandigham's colleague in the defence expressed some doubt when they were alone as to the acceptance of this theory, whereupon the deceased said, "I'll show you in a minute." There were two pistols on the table, one of them unloaded. Mr Vallandigham put one of these weapons into his pocket, and withdrew it hastily, with the muzzle turned towards his body. At that exact moment one of the chambers was discharged, the trigger having caught in Mr Vallandigham's clothing, and he fell to the ground. The unfortunate advocate had demonstrated the resonableness of his theory, but at the cost of his life; for the pistol which he had taken up was the loaded one, and the ball caused his death in a few hours afterwards. The report does not state what effect the melancholy result of the experiment had upon the fortunes of Mr Vallandigham's client. SPURIOUS Tra.—The subject of the importation into this country of spurious and unwholesome tea again engaged the attention of the City Commissioners of Sewers, at their meeting on Monday. The Sanitary Committee, to whom the matter had been referred, with a view to some action being taken, reported that after inquiring into the proceedings which had been instituted by them in similar cases in 1866 and 1870, and the unsatisfactory results of the various efforts made to bring the offending parties within the power of the law, they deemed it useless to attempt any like proceedings against the persons who had offered the spurious tea for sate last month. They accordingly determined to lay the matter before the President of the Board of Trade, and at an interview with him recently, they described the difficulties in which they were placed, and endeavoured to impress upon him the necessity for empowering tb• Customs offi:iials to take steps for the seizure and destruction of spurious tea on receiving a certificate from persona duly authorised that it was unfit for human food. Mr Chicester Fortescue, after affording them every opportunity for the expression of their opinions, requested them to furnish him with a written statement of all the facts in connection with the previous cases, and with copies of the reports of the solicitor and medical officer of health, which they had done. These the Committee believed were required to be submitted by the President to the Treasury for consideration, and they hoped in the end such steps would be taken by the Government as to put a stop to the discreditable traffic which still continued, a large cargo of rotten tea having recently arrived in London under consignment to various persons for sale in this country. Mr Paw, the chief clerk, read a communication to the effect, that on the 21st inst., a ship arrived in the Docks from Shanghai, with 5,000 chests of the poisonous mixture. The Commission, in the result, approved of the steps taken by the Committee, and referred the matter back to them for further consideration.—Times.