The Press. — 1853-06-25 (London, England)

gluiDents anb efintas.  Six HousEs in Circus-street, New-road, were seriously damaged by fire on Tuesday morning. The flames were discovered about four a.m. on the premises of Mr. Wilkinson, a coach-builder, and were not subdued until after several hours' exertions, leaving the house where the conflagration originated nearly a wreck, and five others in the neighbourhood more or less injured. DURING A SEVERE STORM of thunder, lightning, and rain which passed over Liverpool on Sunday, the fine ship the Prince of the Seas, from St. John, N. 8., lying in the Brunswick Dock, was struck by the electric fluid, which split her mainroyal-mast, royalyard, and destroyed her signals.  A SHOCKING ACCIDENT happened on Saturday last, at the factory of Mr. George Smith, Moor-lane, Preston, by the falling down of a wall which had been undermined. Three labourers, Birnes, Parsons, and Murray, were engaged near the wall, and the two first named were completely buried in the ruins. Murray, who was nearer the end, had his legs covered by the wreck, but was able to extricate himself, his injuries not being of a fatal character.  A MURDER AND SUICIDE were committed on Tuesday morning at Poplar, by a man named Francis Picking, a blacksmith, the person he murdered being his wife. A quarrel took place between them the previous evening at an inn, but they returned home and went to bed as usual ; in the morning, on being called by his son, and asked if he would go to work, the man replied, " No, I have something to do first." A few hours after a girl entered the room and found on the bed Picking and his wife weltering in their blood ; the man was still alive, but died from the effects of his wound on Wednesday morning, having confessed the murder of his wife, without assigning any cause. Picking was in the receipt of good wages.  A CONFIAGRATION occurred on Wednesday on the large premises occupied by Messrs. M'Neill as a patent felt factory, near Bunhill -row. The tire broke out during the men's absence at dinner, and arose, it is conjectured, from the spontaneous combustion of some tow. Large quantities of pitch and other inflammable matters were in the factory, and the flames in consequence extended rapidly, and defied all the efforts made to subdue them for some hours. Several floors were burnt through, with great destruction to the building and valuable stock of machinery it contained. The loss is heavy, but the owners are insured.  A Fntuttrr•tut, AccmENT occurred on board H.M.S. London, during her passage front Lisbon, resulting in the death of seven individuals, one of whom was the first lieutenant of the ship—Wellesley Pole Chapman. On the 15th inst. the London was in tow of the I mperieuse, screw-frigate; the tow-rope was joined to the London's chain messenger on the lower deck, the latter being made fast to a ringbolt. The messenger does not seem to have been properly secured to the bits, and, a sudden strain taking place, the ringbolt was carried away, and the cable flew round with tremendous velocity and force, killing six men, who were sitting down to their dinner at the time, and Lieutenant Chapman, and wounding nine others, one of whom is not expected to recover. The force with which the chain-cable flew round may be judged fron► the fact that. striking against a thick stancheon, it broke it in half. This dreadtill casualty has produced the profoundest grief on board the ship. A LUCKY BUT SILLY 60LII-11100E11, lately returned from Australia, with the proceeds of two years' labour, visited the Victoria Theatre on Monday night, with 109 sovereigns in his pocket. He got into conversation with astranger in the theatre, went out with him afterwards to a public-house, and presently lost all consciousness of what happened to him until he found himself in the street minus all his money. All his recollection of the " stranger " amounted to the fact that he wore a white hat. The police, nevertheless, ate said to be on his traces. 

Article type: Incident