British Miner and General Newsman : — 1863-01-10 (London, England)

THE BRITISH' MINER AND GENERAL NEWSMAN.  tO 1 ower the men into the pit. A search for the old mat was at once commenced, and, as he could not be found, information was given to the police, who arrived as the day was dawning, and as the light gradually increased, one by one the discoveries were made which led to the conclusion that Barton had been murdered, and his body placed in the boiler fire. First it was found that at the entrance to the ash-Pit beneath the fire nearest to the shaft, the cinders bad been caked by the dropping of some liquid upon them. A closer inspection proved this to be blood, and blood was also found upon the door of the furnace, traces of blood in the boiler-house, stains Of blood in a cabin on the pit-bank, and drops of blood upon a seat in the cabin. Upon the floor of the hut were a couple of lumps of coal which appeared to have been thrown forward from the door, and this fact, together with that of finding the crowbar alrea,dy mentioned in the cabin and smeared with blood, have led to the conjecture that the deed was done at the door of the hut, as Barton was entering with the coal for the cabin fire in his hand. If he was so struck down, he would fall forward, and the coal would he thrown to the spot on which it was found. After the body had been searched, it is probable it would be taken through a small doorway distant half-a-dozen yards from the cabin and from where a plank runs over the fire-hole to the top of the boilers, the descent to the fires being then by a flight of steps. It is suggested that the body was thrown from this plank to the front of the fire. Certain indications which haVe been noticed near the spot, amongst the rest finger marks on the wall Of the boiler-house, have originated the supposition that unless one of the murderers fell after the body, and did not descend in the usual manner by the Steps, Barton may have been still alive when thrown from the platform, and that, consequently, it is quite possible he was thrust into the furnace before he was dead.  Barton was in the habit of wearing a scarf round his neck, and this he was frequently. seen to throw off in the hut. In order to destroy all traces ot bim, this scarf Was thrown upon the fire in the cabin, a half-burnt tassel being found on the floor. Captain Ogee, the chief constable of the county, came down from Preston yesterday, and he was aCCOmpaniol by Superintendents Beetham, of Chorley, and Ellison, of Wigan; and Inspector Peters made a long examination of the boiler-house and cabin. The chief constable of Wigan, Mr. Simm, was also on the spot (luring the day. A rumour is current that Barton was seen in a public-house in Wigan on Thursday evening, displaying a iinniber Of notes and some gold. The house is in a very had neighbourhood, and it is thought that by this exhibition of cash, the cupidity of Some vagabonds may have been excited. ,  felt when the door is opened. "Whoever did it," said our informant, "has had his whiskers brunned" (burnt). _ _  • It may not be a fact without importance that a lunatic named Taylor, a native of Aspull, the township which adjoins Haigh, on Thursday night escaped from the Wigan workhouse through a window from which the lunacy commissioner ordered the bars to be removed, and has not since been heard of. Nothing is more likely than that he should make to his former residence, and many persons consider it far from improbable that he has been the murderer. The great difficulty of the police is to find a motive for the commission of the crime. Though they may have had their suspicions aroused in one or two quarters, yet we believe we are correct in stating that at present they have no solid ground to work upon, and their labour is especially difficult from its being almost impossible to find a reason for the .-iurder.