8.--M. Gompertz's panorama of the invasion of British India by the Sikh
Army of the Punjaub was exhibited at the Assembly Rooms, Norwich. One of
the scenic attractions was a representation of "the crypt of the Holy
Sepulchre, under three distinct aspects," a dioramic illusion which forms
a popular feature in similar entertainments at the present day.
13.--A miraculous escape was recorded at Swaffham. A drunken man named
Edward Horsepool went into the yard of the Angel public-house, at three
o'clock in the morning, with the intention of lying down in a shed. By
mistake he opened the door of the covering of a disused well, and
stepping in, fell to the bottom, a depth of 117 feet. A tramp sleeping
in the shed was awakened by the man's cries, and gave an alarm. Mr.
William Laxon, collar maker, procured ropes, and Horsepool was rescued
uninjured, after having been half an hour in 20 feet of water. He had
kept his head above the surface by clinging to the broken sides of the
well.
22.--In the Prerogative Court, before Sir J. Dodson, was tried the action
Gilbert (administratrix of Woolner) _v._ Hammond. It had reference to
granting administration, with will annexed, to the goods of Miss Margaret
Creak, of Norwich, who died on June 5th, 1850, possessed of personal
property of about 30,000 pounds and realty of the estimated value of 500
pounds per annum. The will bore date January 13th, 1844, and its effect
was to leave, with some trifling exceptions, the personal property to Mr.
Woolner, a chemist and druggist, who was also appointed executor. The
will was originally propounded by Woolner, who afterwards committed
suicide, and his sister, Mrs. Gilbert, now applied for probate, as his
administratrix, which was, in the first instance, opposed by Mrs.
Hammond, a cousin-german and one of the next-of-kin of the deceased, but
she died during the pendency of the suit, and her husband subsequently
took up the case. When the disposition of the property became known, a
great many rumours were put in circulation, imputing foul play to Mr.
Woolner, which was the cause of his committing suicide. Judgment was
pronounced, on Feb. 4th, in favour of the will. The Judge said the
relatives had a right to inquire into the transaction, and had they
confined themselves within due limits would have been entitled to costs
out of the estate; but they had persisted down to the close of the
argument in charges which they had failed to prove, and, therefore, in
decreeing probate of the will to Mrs. Gilbert, he must accompany it with
the condemnation of Mr. Hammond in 100 pounds costs, _nomine expensarum_.