The Shropshire Examiner and all round the Wrekin advertiser. — 1877-06-08 (Wenlock, Shropshire, England)

THE PENG I.: MYSTERY. THE MAGISTERIAL INQUIRY.  The four prisoners charged with the wilful murder of Mrs. Harriet Staunton were again brought up on Tuesday morning before the Bromley magistrates. The prisoners looked much more anxious than on any former oecat•ion.  The croes-eiamination of Dr. Lonerigne was proceeded with. Ile said his opinion was 6011 the same, viz., that the deceasAl bad been poisoned. . , .  Dr. John Brizlit, who assisted at the p ren examination, said the ai.pearance of the lower part of the body and intestines led hint to beliete at the time that the deceased had first an irritant poison administered to her (he would not say for certain) by injection, and then afterwards that she had had some narcotic, such as opium, given to her but as Professor Rogers had not found any in the body, he was bound to believetbat no poison had ben) administered. . ,  Dr. Wilkinson, of Sydenhatu, was the next witness. Be said his opinion at the p ,•• en ••, ).,2 was that the deceased's cause oc death was first by starvation, either from the withholding of food wilfully or by voluntarily refusing food, or else from starvat:on caused by vomiting ; and that there were also symptoms of poisoning. In cross-examination, Dr. Wilkineon said that be had bad in his experience two cases ot' voluntary starvation, in which the patients resolutely ref used fond, and food could only be got into them by the stomach Pump. Professor Rogers, the analyst, then recapitula,eci the evidence he formerly gave, u.titg that he found no poison in the deceased s stomach.  lir. Creasy, who, the Staunton. stated, had been tailed in to see the deceased, deposed that he had never been called to such a peroon. Two members of the county constabulary, cal:ed, said that on the 10th of May last they found a window open In Patrick Staunton's house, at which they got an and examined the house. They found the front bedroom barely furnished. On entering the back bedroom they discovered the floor in a filthy condit•on. There was nothing in it hut an old door or sh..tter to serve for a bed, with a dirty old mattreee on it, and dirty pillow. There was no washing or chamber utensil, or anything in the romn beside,. but an old box. On going on the '2oth of May they found the floor of this room thoroughly scrubbed and fitted up with the ordinary chamber utensils. When they searched the place downstairs they found one of the sitting-rooms occuyed by Patrick Staunton as a studio. The other room was egrpeted, and on lifting up the carpet they found a trap doer in the floor. When the, lifted it up they came to some steps which led them into a cellar underneath, which had some iron grating opening at the side of the house. covered with a small areu trap and surrounded wish garden mould.  The evidenco of Wil:ism Merchant, [-einekeeper Mr. Dubery, farmer : lary Ann Wee: herley, and Mary Ann Langridge as to seeing deceased in a state 0. constraint, was repeated. John ,teples, who formerly used to call at Patrick Staunten's with n:h. deposed to seeing deceased In the kitchen looking starved. The inquiry was adjourned.  Tiir TiltNI,ERT7ll.—The Thunderer, haling repaired her breakdown of machinery which recently lad to her return to Plymouth, left Spithead on Tueeday.  Eor or GRAis,—The Board of Trade notifii, of cattle plague the prohibition of the export of grair. from Hewett°, Ain, KONIOTII, Adrianople, on,: Salonica.  CA.-lir-Sergeant Ellery, of the Royal Conivrat Rangers Militia, is in custody on a charge of curt, witting a frightful outrage. He was returning fr, annivil training, and when near bcloshale he met ot. the road a girl eleven years of age. and respectab.. ronnrcted. He seized licr by the throat, and cuttic, her throat with a knife he silenced her *cries a,.. druged her behind the hedge. When the girl liberated she she met a policeman, sew went in pursed% and captured Ellery.