The Sun. — 1847-03-02 (London, England)

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE NEAR PRESTON. PRESTON, PER. 25.—0 n Saturday morning a report ' circulated in t reston that a woman of respectability, ole° Leadbetter, residing at Walton-le-Dale, about one mile i!tl,, a half from this town, bad committed suicide by droirol herself in the river Ribble, after having administered poison to her five children. In the course of the day circumstain happened which, it is to be feared, confirm the rumour. 1" appears that Mrs. Lndbetter, whose husband is a she; broker in Manchester, has for the last twelve months bei residing at Walton-lc-Dale with her children at the bouse,; Mr. Livesey, her father, a highly-respectable gentleman, 014 some time ago retired from the cotton trade. About eit o'clock on Friday evening last she left the house of her fst er unknown to the family, after having assisted an attendant in putting the children to bed; previous to which 611.8 ministered a dose of what she called medicine to eac"' 0 the presence of the servant. About ten o'clock in the ing all the children began to complain of illness, and e7j. cb appeared to be affected in a similar manner. The eitc_ll.,A., stance alarmed the inmates of the house, and Alm Lead' better better not baying returned, information was given to 'ill neighbtmrs, with a view of making inquiry for her. It shoo be stated that for some days previous Mrs. Leadbetter been exceedingly low spirited, and the fact of her lesvi t¢the house on Friday evening, and not returning, token connexion with the children s sudden illness, induced t6~ family to suspect that something was wrong. The for evening was spent in the village in a fruitless scarc he Mrs. Leadbetter, and towards morning a fisherman en river Ribble went in a boat in search of her. itrid.erer e soma time he discovered the body in that part of the river in t called he the Walton Salmon Fishery, lying about a yard deep Mr. water. It was immediately forwarded to the house of Livesey, there to await a coroner's inquest. In the Mean time the children had continued to get worse during the evening, and a surgeon was sent for, who applied the usual remedies, when four of them began to improve. One, boil' ever, named Fanny, gradually got worse, and eventually died about four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. We an glad to say that the other children are considered out of danger. til An inquest was held on the bodies, but was adjourned,t, Monday evening for further evidence, and in the mellow— postmortem examination of the body was to be wade"  SERIOUS FlRE.—Yesterday afternoon, between the hours of two and three, the utmost excitement and was created in the immediate vicinity of Battle-bridge consequence of the sudden outbreak of a fire in the Lonelef. Fever Hospital, situate in St. Pancras-road, cret; The flames first showed themselves by shooting through roof of the nurse-ward, at the northern end of the building' From the strong hold the fire had then obtained, it hecIRIG quite clear that the inmates would be unable to subdue it, and the first thing sought to be accomplished was the removal of the patients from the burning building. As so: as the intelligence was communicated to them, some idea may be formed of the state of consternation they ive_nr° thrown into. Owing, however, to the precautions taken by the heads of the Institution, not one of the patien!: alarm was hurt in being removed, and from the fact of the' having been well wrapped up, it is to be hoped that thei will not ultimately receive any injury. As soon as the information was received at the fire-stations, Mr. Braidwo. the superintendent, and Mr. Golf, the foreman of the B :district, started to the scene with six ,or seven brigade engine`'' and were followed by others of the parish, and Mr. Cenri.°r: ton with the West of England one. By the pen ofoe however, that the first engine arrived, the flames tre', mounting most fearfully, and it was the general opin'°„ that the entire range of pfemises was doomed to destru,', tion. The firemen,_ however, set to work most vigorously' carrying the hose to the top of the building, they (11.1tabled full power over the fire, and were enabled to Prevent the conflagration from travelling further ; but ther, were unable to get the flames entirely extinguished, unto the roof of the nurses' ward, between 20 and 30 feet squared' was burned olf, the ceilings below damaged by water, 11° • the beds and other furniture severely injured by bast/4 removal.  THE SMALL DEBTS Am—Yesterday the 01" lowing notice was issued throughout the metropolis and It 6 environs;--" Notice is hereby given, that in consequence Of the notification in the supplement to the London Gazette Df the bth of February instant, that the New County Act will come into operation on the 15th of March next, °further sitting of the Courts of Requests in London will b!, held after that date, and no summonses or executions be issued alter Tuesday, March 2 (this day), but the office" of the Courts will continue open as usual, for the receiving and payment of money until Wednesday, the 10th of Mare? Public notice will be given of the commencement of tu,e, operation of the New County Court under the Act of 9t' and 10th Vic., cap. 95." INFLUX or