The Sun. — 1870-05-17 (London, England)

MORE MURDERING.  A horrible affair became known in Hanley, Staffordshire, on Saturday morning—the murder of an infant and attempted murder of another child by their mother, and the atempted suicide of the murderess. The scene of the tragedy is Brownedge, a small namlet lying off the main road from Hartley to Leek. One of the inhabitants is James Goodwin, who with his wife, his daughter, aged ten years, and an infant of ten months, on Friday morning constituted an apparently happy family. Towards night, however, the daughter ran screaming. out of the house, bleeding from a wound in the throat. Some of the neigbours went to the cottage door, which was found to be fast. An entrance was effected, and on going upstairs Mrs. Goodwin and her infant, both with their throats cut, were seen lying on the bed. A surgeon was sent for, and he attended to the wound, but the little-one's life could not be save. The self-inflicted wound of the mother was not so serious, and it is believed that the elder child will also recover. From the latter it has been elicited, that being asked by her mother to go upstairs, she did so, and was closely followed by her mother, who immediately seized her and cut her throat with a razor. She, however, managed to struggle away, and ran out of the house, as stated above. Goodwin was at once sent for from the colliery, and was naturally much affected by the deplorable circumstances. Mrs. Goodwin was nine years ago mentally affected to such an extent that she was placed under proper care in the Leek workhouse, but there had been no recent indication of aberration, and Goodwin states that when he left her on Friday morning there was no observable excitement or peculiarity of manner. The razor was found under the bed, and proved to be Goodwin's. Mrs. Goodwin, as it was dangerous to remove her, was placed under police charge in the cottage.  A countryman, who had never paid more than 25c. to see an exhibition, went to a New York theatre one night to see " The Forty. Thieves." The ticket-seller charged him 75c. for a ticket. Passing the pasteboard back, he quietly remarked, "Keep it, mister; I don't want to see the other thirty-nine," and out he marched.  BETTING BY MAciIiNERY.—An ingenious instrument, of French manufacture, for the purpose of mutual betting, was introduced for the first time on the Roodoe, on Wednesday. The chief constable (Mr. Fenwick) saw this in operation, and being of opinion that it combined the features of a betting-list and sweepstake, he had it seized, the proprietor undertaking to appear at the police-court on Thursday morning. He did so, and produced handbills explanatory of W. Chase and Co.'s " Parri-mutuel," or system of mutual betting. Fhe chief constable asked him to explain to the magistrates the principle upon which the instrument was worked, and he did so, stating that he had had it in operation since August last, and had not been interfered with. The instrument was in a box about three feet by two and a half, and seven or eight inches in thickness. When the lid was taken off it disclosed a dial on which were three rows of small levers, which correspond with the numbers of the horses which run. Different numbers may therefore, be backed at uniform shares of half-a-crown each, and the total appears at the top of the dial. As soon as the flag is up, indicating that the horses have started, the whole of the handles or levers are locked until the result of the race is known, when the total subscribed is divided among those who have backed the winning number, less a commission of 10 per cent., which the proprietor charges to cover his own expenses; for he keeps two clerks, and stated that the instrument cost over £5O in Paris. The magistrates, after consulting together, determined to retain the instrument till the following morning, and in the meantime would consider what they should do. Accordingly, on Friday morning Major French told the defendant it was very clear that he came under the Gambling Act, and the magistrates knew from information that he had been trying this game in other places, till they got too hot to hold him. As this was the first instrument of the kind the magistrates had seen, they expressed their disapprobation of its use and fined the defendant 40s. and costs. The money was paid, and as no order was made as to the instrument, it was given up to the defendant.—Chester ' Chronicle.