The Sun. — 1862-11-19 (London, England)

ATTEMPTED MURDER.—Yesterday morning, between two and three o'clock, Captain John Peter Sweden, a Norwegian, and Peter Lawson, mate of a vessel in the London Docks, and also a Norwegian, who had been to Deptford on business, were returning home, and when near a low beer-shop by the Commercial Docks, stopped to listen to what three Dutchmen were quarrelling about. The latter suddenly pulled out their long knives and attacked the two unfortunate fepracomroui elernsdo .fec rabmaAl noeopd, doa.l police,cd fvco oiutnnhps found uaotbtohleleeeo dast esnwddoo of time nt ftmaohi rleeto urts they heao ytteeawrs iuen fromrf getcfwehohrneeevrenesreyiieeensdthoato the hospital, where it was found that the captain had three very deep stabs in the back, one in the chest, and several in the face. Lawson had been stabbed through the jugular vein and in the region of the heart and chest. Both now remain in a very dangerous condition Up to the present time the assassins sns have not been apprehended.  Mr. Whitworth, in a letter to the Times, says-Will you allow me to state, with reference to the late trials of my shells at Shoeburyness, that their effect upon the timber of the target which represented the ship's side will not be really ascertained until the iron plates are removed P The target is formed of a solid frame of teak 18in. thick, plated with iron on both sides, the plates being 4 and 5 inches on the outer and inch thick on the inner face of the target. There is no doubt that the  18 inch timber between these two faces is very much shattered internally byemy shells, though the iron plates themselves are perforated with comparatively unsplintered holes, In these, the first  trials of the shells with large guns, I was desirous of using means already in use as far as I could. The cavity of the 7.inch shell was therefore filled with 51b. of ordinary cannon powder. It is now evident that greater quantities of powder, either alone or combined with other chemical agents more powerful still, may be employed as bursting charges, and much greater shattering effects will be produced. The simple construction of shell and the means of enclosing the bursting charge employed by me will I believe admit of such agents being used with much advantage, and without danger of premature explosion. _  There is also another point to be considered ; flat fronted shells are not deflected upwards by water like the " round-heads." They will pass through very many feet of water and then penetrate a ship's side, or damage her rudder, or screw, as was shown by experimf nts made at Portsmouth. A shattered hole made in a ship's side below the water line will be plugged, if at all, with very great difficulty. The further trials of the 12-pounder field gun  reported in the Times of November 15 show that inclined plates will not deflect these shells, the plates having been completely penetrated at an angle of 45 degrees. ith some reluctance I take this opportunity of adding a few words in reply to Sir W. Armstrong's letter which appeared in the Times of November 13. In a former letter addressed to you by Sir William he invited me to a " proper and systematic trial" of our respective guns, admitting, in reality, that such a trial had not yet been made. I readily accepted the proposition, and offered to refer it to $ tribunal tube jointly appointed, and to agree to any condition that might be determined upon by that tribunal. But Sir William now states that the only comparative trials that can be made must he official• It was not necessary to wait for the proposition or consent of Sir W. Armstrong to enable official trials to be made. If he meant his proposition to go on further than this, his former letter would appear purposeless, so far as it related to comparative trials of our respective guns.