The Sun. — 1845-10-16 (London, England)

FATAL. OCCURRENCE TO A MILITARY OFFICER. or ft A very considerable and painful excitemmat has Vgi last few days prevailed in the village of Elstree, aenrcaor ware, from the general rumour that Lieutenant-, be Edward James Metcalf, of the Royal Horse aartille,.V been killed in a duel by a brother officer, and t hat t,"l had been removed to his residence in the demd of the !ie, and that it was the intention of his friends t) conee% affair from the public, and to bury the corpse -without Dia vestigation of the circumstances leading to hie death- a e r..port was so current that every body believed it, il}c4 affair became so public that it was the general topicjoin versation. The parish authorities lost no time 111 , the necessary inquiries, and succeeded in asoertainl the report of the unfortunate gentleman haviiagied A duel was without foundation, although he had dl. as effects of a pistol-bullet under circumstances of ti" ' t,tl afflicting nature. Notice was immediately forwarded Joe Coroner, and an inquest was held at the Artichoke b'n!tatif village, when the following evidence was given in On° the melancholy affair : to 1.1118 ,i William Howard stated that he lived as groom Colonel Metcalf. He occupied the room irnmediatelSh, ? that of his master. On Saturday night last, the lit, ae'l• witness saw him go into his apartment for the Pt' one dressing to attend a party ; w tness heard him g°, to about an hour after, and lie ( witness) then went i,or i In a short time his master returned, and again at'erL, • j'el room, but did not remain long before he left. Ntr",I;PIF, to sleep, and did not hear any more of him during wet): At about seven o'clock the next morning, he welt room, as was his custom, to call the deceased, w"-ba9 entering, he was astonished at finding two in the sockets of the candlesticks, and his master petit 011, nor had the bedclothes been disturbed. ITP°n.oriP,i behind the screen, which divided the room, lie diece‘",erv„ deceased sitting on the sofa, with his head reclining fr co' side, weltering in blood, which appeared to Collo Lee mouth, although his lips were closed, and he was flu. Witness made an immediate alarm, and hastened to r-t the attendance of a surgeon, who, on arriving, dec,l,,sear f, deceased to have been dead some hours. The dece;elo candles undressed, with the exception of his drawers and stool in witness afterwards found the pistol, now produce' 4,f drawers, which were hanging about his legs. if ae The deceased was a widower, and lived by him about 57 years of age. o Oat' Captain Robert Maynard stated he was well with the unfortunate gentleman, who was very hiVei4F7l, netted. Witness saw the remains of his Gallant Fo e nod after the last witness gave the alarm. The pistol 01)Pr, have been recently discharged. On opening the b`akt whole of the upper Jaw was found to be completelYl we 306, am/ the ball had lodged in the back of the head, and to sequently extracted. Witness was confident tbs'as (1,1 ceased never intended suicide, but that his death bal someway or other by accident. He was a particulark Wno spirited man, and the last in the world to O murder. io In answer to questions, 14'1 hie 0 La Captain Maynard said he was strengthened irt d iera that it was accidental, from the examination lie halos t‘'• the pistol. Upon looking at the ramrod be found difficult to remove, from which he believed that t 171,idait was about to draw the charge of the pistol, and plioo could not shift the ramrod with his hand, lie ba" nadir), teeth of his bottom jaw to a small ridgenear the top v of in so doing the jerk must have caused the pistol tog produced the dreadful event. sad The pistol was closely inspected by the Coroner and the ramrod certainly was difficult to remove. r save Pr Captain Maynard further stated that he neYea,,oitY-A thing in the conduct of deceased indicating in—, arioTri. rirr nwney lgaitensosii neocsxeuahpr sidegriroehi could state that in all his experience be had nerd; il6 moremccueopaani‘onsitneialldjao: ra lswTl hoyhcooaott ii-meaetr mhnwtass sv,t.ahi ttahntththleel empd.aerete;:vA It lila job pheasants. , •Ig dare By the Jury—There was no gambling introduce" tj evening, by which the deceased lost money. occasion' Lieutenant Mahon said the pistol which e lter spirits. d a plireeN7-ioduesc,e9asnetr-killea calamity was his property. He lent that and anel.tb deceased a short time ago. Witness thinks his de.ao cidental, as the unfortunate gentleman was notorl •611, less of fire-arms. ict, After much discussion, the jury returned a verci the deceased was accidently shot." P' The inquiry lasted three hours, and was attended. morons friends and brother officers of the deceased, he was highly respected.