The Sun. — 1849-10-22 (London, England)

PRUSSIA.  been put in, The CORONER addressed the jury, observing that the inquiry they had been so long engaged in, had been laborious, important, and painful; indeed he had never been called upon to perform a more painful duty than that of presiding over this inquiry. Three unfortuuate men had been stricken down in the prime of life, while fulfilling their daily avocation, but the fact of two of them having been previously cautioned not to enter this sewer, sufficiently established that they were aware of the danger they had to encounter, and that they were not trapped into the place where they died. Two others had nobly gone to their rescue, one of them being a surgeon, must be supposed to have been aware of the risk he was running in entering the sewer ; but the poor fellow Walsh, who in his lifetime was the support of an aged "mother, could not have possessed the same knowledge. All the parties had been identified either by their immediate relations or some friends, and the manner in which they had entered the sewer had been fully described. The sewer, it would seem, had been properly built, at least the regulations of the Commissioners of Sewers, to whom the public looked for the proper constructions of such works, had been fully complied with, but it was admitted that it had not been properly cleaned. Two causes, however, were assigned for the deaths of these poor fellows. One that the gas which killed them was generated by percolation, the other that it resulted from the foul deposit contained in the sewer ; but the chemical witnesses who traced these causes all agreed that had the sewer been properly ventilated the gas, no matter how produced, would have been comparatively innocuous, and he must be allow to express some regret that more precaution was not taken to ventilate the sewers before they were entered by labourers. The jury, therefore, had to decide— first, whether or not the deaths of those unfortunate men were caused by a noxious gas in the sewer in question ; secondly, if they could do so, to say what that noxious gas was ; and lastly, whether that gas was increased by the gas-lime above the sewer. A Juror said, some of the jury were not quite satisfied that Mr. Wells and Walsh were properly treated when they were taken from the sewer. The CORONER suggested, then, that one of the medical witnesses had better be recalled.  Day on gold and silver manufactures ... ... ... Post•ofice . 6. • • • • •  Lotteries ... ... .. The increase in 1849 was : Direct taxes ... .. Port dues... ... . . Excise ... • • . .  Duty on :gold and silver manufactures •• Lotteries... . • •  Total  The decrease in 1849 was on— Registration . • . . . Post-office • • ...  -- Mr. Orde was accordingly recalled, and stated that everything was done for the unfortunate men, but when they were brought into the public house they were quite dead. Police Constable 113 4, stated that Mr. Wells appeared :quite dead when he was brought from the sewer. He was covered with black slimey mud. Mr. George Bishop, the landlord of the Clarendon Tavern, stated that nothing was done to Dr. Wells, although some warm water was being got ready, but he was ordered to be taken off to St. George's Hospital directly. A juror—Was his face not washed ? Witness—No. A juror—Nothing whatever was done to him then? Witness—No, nothing. A juror—Did he appear dead ? Witness—Yes, he did. The jury then retired to consider their verdict with closed doors when oar report left.  On the 15th Oct. the news was spread through Berlin of a suicide committed under very singular circumstances. An apothecary's apprentice here (17 years of age, the son of a respected physician in the little town of P.) was found dead in his room. The investigation that took place immediately showed that poisoning by means of sulphuric acid had taken place. A letter of the victim contained communications of the following import : that he was afraid of being rendered unhappy for life, and that he therefore preferred a quick death; that he was a member of a union which had imposed upon itself the task of opposing the reaction by all the means in its power ; that there had been a meeting of the union on Sunday evening, and that cheers had been given for the chiefs of the revolution and the radical party ; that thereupon all of a sudden an old man, whom they had not previously remarked, stepped into the midst of them and called them traitors ; that they were thrown into much confusion by this incident, but that they drew their daggers with the intention of assaulting the old man, who fled and escaped. While they were deliberating on what had just happened, a scrap of paper was thrown into the room, with these words written on it :—" All is betrayed, instant flight is your only safety." This scrap would be found in his waistcoat pocket, and further that he himself could not escape, as he had no pecuniary resources or means of subsistence in a foreign country. After reading this they searched his waiscoat pocket, and found the scrap of paper as indicated. The strangeness of the incident was increased upon its perusal ; for some people in the house, who knew the deceased very well, positively declared that the scrap of paper was written by himself, for they recognised his handwriting.  The next thought was that the whole story in the letter was a pure fiction, but then, if this were so there seemed no motive for self destruction, since the deceased had enjoyed good health, was not in lore, and had always conducted himself to the satisfaction of his superiors, neither had he any debts. These facts being ascertained, the affair will be submitted to a most rigid investigation, and if the occurrences, as described in the letter, really did take .place it is not doubted but that the old man will give the information required.