The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-07-11 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

THE CASE OF INFANTICIDE AND SUICIDE.— The worst fears have been realised with respect to Mrs. Davies, , f Major-street, the unfortunate woman who, on Friday morning last, two days after the decease of her husband, deprived her young infant of life by immersing it in a mug of water. The body of the infanticidal mother has been found, but in a place where it was least expected to be discovered. The police continued, as we stated on Saturday, to drag. the Rochdale canal until a late hour on Friday evening; but their efforts were unavailing. On Saturday, a clever diver, wi io had before been successfully employed i when drags 4 and grappling hooks failed, was engaged to dive n the canalti search of the body of Mrs. Davies; for her cdn. .lued absence confirmed the belief that she had . thecnn:itte d suicide, and the canal was generally thought to be place which she would in all probability select for the accomplishment of her fatal purpose. The diver continued at his task for an hour and a half; but his efforts were as unsuccessful as had been those of the police, and he then abandoned the work, being convinced that the body was not there. All hope of finding the woman, at least until after the lapse of several days, was nearly given' up, when her body was accidentally and unexpectedly found on the very premises in which she had lodged. In the back yard of the louse in Major-street, there is a large rain-tub; and as he water for several weeks had a bad smell,• Mrs. Bailey, one of the occupants of the house, insisted on Sunday !morning that her son should clean out the cask, seeing that .here was an excellent chance, from the state of the weather, if quickly obtaining a fresh supply of rain water. The young man accordingly set about the task, and having drawn off the water, borrowed a ladder to enable him to get into the cask, to that he might clean out the accumulatedbhdirt. On mounting the ladder, and looking into the e saw there the body of the lost woman. She was c,seeateud,,or rather squatted, it the bottom, with her head i•estThe occupants of the house were one of her bands. iso astonished at the dislovery that they could with diffire ty believe the statement d the young man. The rain-tucb Which is placed in one :orner of the yard, rests upon a beam red in the walls, nd the beam is about seven feet friogneoewhethground. The fength of the cask is about five feet. rived, without ladder, chair, or any kind of asseiswtaentncea,nsocofnar. S is known, to get into the cask, is a mystery to ever .00king from below, it would seem that after she had coonne. lived to get a resting-place upon the beam, and to scramblety the cask, she must have precipitated herself into it bead foremost; but, from the position in which she was 'otlnd, it does not seem likely that she did so. In all prontbility she managed, somehow, to get upon the roof of the 'sok part of the premises, which are only a little higher than ,se top of the "am-tub, and slided into the water feet first. 'here is no window in the wall against which the cask ?,sts- The inquest on the body will be held this afternoon, t four o'clock, at the Royal Infirmary, after the inquiry filching the death of the child has terminated.