6.--A dastardly attempt was made to destroy the church of St. Lawrence,
Norwich. Mr. David Penrice, the churchwarden, accompanied by a lad, went
to prepare the church for evening service, and found it to be full of
gas. The lad, on endeavouring to open the windows, was overcome by the
fumes. Assistance was obtained, and it was discovered that every burner
in the church had been fully turned on. At the Police Court, on the
21st, a lad named George Nobbs, described as a shoemaker, of St.
Martin-at-Oak, was charged with "wilfully and maliciously turning on the
gas at St. Lawrence' church, thereby endangering the lives of her
Majesty's subjects." The offence was fully proved, but the magistrates
dismissed the case, on the ground that "the lad did not show he had any
knowledge of the consequences of the act."
13.--A boiler explosion occurred at the brewery of Messrs. Arnold and
Wyatt, St. Margaret's Plain, Norwich. William Whitworth, an engine
driver, was killed, "his body being hurled into the beck containing six
quarters of boiling wort."
20.--The hearing of the petition against the return of Sir E. H. K. Lacon
and Mr. J. Goodson commenced, before a Committee of the House of Commons.
Bribery, undue influence, and treating were alleged. The inquiry
concluded on the 22nd, when the chairman (the Right Hon. J. R. Mowbray)
announced that the Committee had arrived at the unanimous conclusion that
the members had been duly elected. On April 12th Mr. Mowbray gave notice
of his intention to move the appointment of a Royal Commission "to
inquire into the corrupt practices which prevailed at the last election
for Great Yarmouth." The Commissioners, Mr. Wyndham Slade, Mr. Lucius
Henry Fitzgerald, and Mr. George Russell, began their sittings at the
Town Hall on August 16th, and on September 11th adjourned until October
3rd, on which day the proceedings recommenced. The final adjournment
took place on October 15th, the thirty-fourth day of the inquiry. Six
hundred and fifty-six witnesses were examined, and full investigations
made as to the elections of 1865, 1859, and 1857. The Commissioners
reported that corrupt and illegal practices extensively prevailed, and in
consequence the borough was disfranchised.
27.--The 13th Hussars marched from Norwich, _en route_ to Newcastle.
28.--In the course of a civil action, Creake _v._ Smith, at the Norfolk
Assizes, before Mr. Baron Martin, reference was made to "the science of
Bibliomancy," as practised by a "cunning woman" in the neighbourhood of
Wells-next-the-Sea. The defendant, who was landlord of the Railway Hotel
at Wells, had lost articles from his house, and had consulted the woman
with the view of discovering the thief. A Bible was suspended by a
string and made to revolve; during its revolutions the names of several
suspected persons were called out, and it was alleged that it stopped on
the name of the plaintiff being mentioned--a clear proof that he was the
guilty person. The defendant returned to the hotel, alleged that Creake
was a thief, "for he knew it by the turn of the Bible," and dismissed him
from his service. Hence these legal proceedings for slander and wrongful
dismissal, which resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff on the first
count, and for the defendant on the second count.