The Sun. — 1844-08-30 (London, England)

FATAL CURIOSITY.—TRYING WHAT TILE SENSATION OF HANGING IS.—On Saturday night last, C. Swann, Esq held an inquest at Mr. Smith's, the sign of the Wrestlers, Sneinton, on the body of Frederick Smith, 14 years of age. It appeared deceased was Mr. Willard Morley's servant-boy, and was of a lively, cheerful dispesition, happy in his place, and ne.t at al; likely to commit suicide. Iti the evening of the day Saville was executed, he askel Thomas Hallam, Mr. Morley's farming-man, if he had been to see the execution ; he told deceased he had not, and here the conversation ended ; but the same morning, he said to Wm. Keep, the farming-servant, " I wonder how that man a ill feel as he was going to be hung." On Saturday last it seems he determined to gratify, this faish and dangerous curiosity, by trying an experiment, which proved fatal to himself, as it has done to many other thoughtless lads. William Straw, Mr. Morley's gardener, deposed to telling deceesed to water some trees about four o'clock in the afternoon of Saturday, and to discovering him hanging under a shed, in the orchard, ahem an hour and a halt' aftere girds t. he gave an alarm and the body was immediately cut down, but life was extinct t' his hands, face, and arms were quite cold. Mr. Burrows, surgeon, was soon in attendance, but of course all attempts to restore animation were fruitless. The witness Hallam saw the cord was is four or five doubles, but was not quite round deceased's neck, and the other end was fastened round a spar of the shed.' His shirt, jacket collar, and frock were between the cord and his neck, and the cord was not in a running noose. The witness Hallam said he believed deceased took the cord with which he hung himself off a post, near to the shed. There is some timber lying near to the place where he was hanging ; witness thought, by some dirt which he saw, that deceased had stood upon the timber to tie himself up, and then swung himself off. The jury, having fully considered all the circumstances, returned the. following verdict:—" Hung himself accidentally, in trying what the sensation of hanging was, and not with an intention to destroy himself."—Nottinyham Mercury. SUICIDE OF A LADY AT ELTFlAM.—Throughout the whole of Tuesday this little village was in a state of the greatest excitement in consequence of the following melancholy affair :—Shortly after twelve o'clock as a yoUng man named Bently was crossing some fields of his master's, he discovered a fashionable tuscan bonnet, trimmed with blue and white satin ribbon, lying amongst the rushes on the bank of a small but deep pond, which, on picking up, he found contained a pocket and a number of letters. These he took to his• master, oho sent for Sergeant Osborn, 13 R, of the Eltham police, who proceeded to the pond, and from a number of female footprints being round it he concluded that some one was in the water. There being no drags in the village, he was compelled to wait until a smith had made a brace of hooks, with which, after a short period, he drew out the body of a person, apparently a woman about 30 years of age, but from the circumstance of there being a great quantity of hair upon the chin he imagined it was a man in woman's clothes. The body was conveyed to the Crown Inn, Court-yard, Eltham, when it proved to be that of a woman, and evidently had not been long in the water, as a handkerchief in the hand was quite dry in the palm. She was elegantly attired in a pale green plaid silk gown, and cape to match, trimmed with black blonde. • lier linen was marked " M. W. j," She had also a valuable gold watch, name " Harlfriend, 157, Regent-street." On a subsequent examination of the pocket, it was found to contain a considerable sum in • gold and silver, a letter addressed to her mother, " Jackson, Hanover-street," several talkiresed to " Miss Jackson," and others to her friends at Bath and Beriek, taking a farewell of them. There was also a will bequeathing property, to which she is entitled, to the amount of Some thousands. Wednesday afternoon Mr. C. J. Carttar, Coroner for West Kent, hilt] an int Fest ou the body of the deceased, Miss Mary Ward Jackson, aged thirty years. Mr. Isaac Henry Tym, of 13, Beau- • fort-buildings, Strand, said he was well acquainted with the deceased. On Sunday three weeks he dinA with her f,t Osborne's Hotel, Adalphi. SNs was then very unwell, and had ben so since last July. On Monday witness heard that she was missing. He was satisfied that her 'pied was impaired. After some further evidence had been gone into, Mr. Alexander John Sutherland, physician, of Fludyer-street, Westminster, said he had seen deceased several times. She was decidedly of unsound mind. Verdict —" Insanity." WooDcocxs.—Last year we noticed that two woodcocks' nests were discovered in Melkinthorpe Woods, . near Lowther, by Mr. George Harrison, gamekeeper to the Earl of Lonadale, and that in both instances the eggs were all hatched. At that time both Mr. Harrison and his brother (his Lordship's principal gamekeeper) expressed their decided opinion that many of these delicate , birds, if unmolested in their favourite retreats after the beginning of February, would become naturalised and breed in this part of the country. In support of their opinion we have now to report that five young birds, strong upon the wing, were sprung a few days ago in the same locality. As these woods are strictly and carefully preserved, and seldom entered during the summer months, probably many more breeds yet remain to be discovered.—Lancaster Guardian. • • - • - I