Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1870-07-08 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

FEARFUL TRAGEDY NEAR SEVILLE.  If Paris and London have recently been supping on horrors, each more terrible than its predecessor, I think when your readers have listened to the following story they will allow that Andalusia is not far behind the two great capitals in affording a tale of blood, which in ferocity and dramatic details out-Herods the Pantin and Uxbridge massacres. On the outskirts of Castille de as Guardias, • village some eight leagues from Seville, stands a small unpretending farmhouse, tenanted by a hitherto thriving and industrious man and his wife. They had not been married very long, and a baby bad just art ived to complete their happiness. Amongst the acquaintances of this young couple were a gipsy and his wife, with whom they were on very friendly terms, the intimacy being cemented by business transactions of an important nature, the gluey Mill being employed as an agent in the disposal of the farm produce, and in the purchase and sale of annuals, &c. It was, therefore, in uo way surprising that on the advent of he little stranger, the gipsy couple solicited the honour of being its godparents, • request which was readily granted. The baptismal day having arrived, the whole household, with the exception of the mother, who was, of course, unable to leave her bed, and the gipsy woman, who remained in attendance, proceeded to the church, a distance of two miles.  After everybody had left, and sufficient time had been given for the party to get well out of hearing, the gipsy woman, armed with is pistol, approached the bedside of the invalid, and threatening her with death in case of refusal, demanded of her all the money that was in the house. The poor woman, with rare presence of mind, and without a moment's hesitation, indicated that all their small fortune was in a drawer in the lower part of a chest in an adjoining room. No sooner had the gipsy entered this room to obtain the cash, than the invalid jumped out of bed, ran to the doar, secured the woman inside, and seizing her husband's trabuco, or blunderbuss, rushed to the outside of the house to the window by which the gipsy might escape, and covering her with the gun threatened her with instant death if she moved, at thesame time raising cries for help, which, unhappily, no one appears to have heard. In the meanwhile, the christening party were now on their return. Meeting Iwo !Imola chile mutual compliments passed, and the so'diers were asked to come to the farm house and partake of the modest liesta prepared for the occasion. This proposal and its ready acceptance must have somewhat disconcerted the gipsy man, for lie now proposed to run on before to see that everything was ready, and begged to be allowed to carry the child, so as to return it the sooner to the bosom of its mother. On reaching the house he immediately perceived that his deeply. laid design had in some way miscarried. Ap.. proaching the woman at the window, lie desired her to let his wife go free, or otherwise lie would kill her child. Never dreaming the man would be so utterly diabolical, she decliued. Without another word the man whipped out his knife, and with one blow nearly severed the little innocent's head from its body, and tossed the quivering corpse upon its mother. Maddened by this horrible act, the woman turned her gun upon the:man, and laid him dead at her feet. The explosion sod screams brought the guarda cirile almost instantaneously to the house, one of whom rushing in and uulucking the door where the gipsy was confined, was at once shot through the heart by that woman. The second yuarda cirile hearing this second explosion hurriedly entered the house, and seeing his comrade dead on the floor and the woman with the still smoking pistol in her hand, raised his carbine and dropped her lifeless where she stood. As our informant rather curiously observeß, this affair has aroused some public attention, on account of the peculiar circumstances attending it, and giving it an interest which murders and crimes of this nature, unfortunately too common in Andalusia, du not usually command.  - - ---- --