gbe iliftetropotis.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress entertained the Count and Countess de Neuilly at a dejeuner a la fourchette in the Mansionhouse, on Thursday afternoon. The Dutchess of Orleans and the Counts of Paris and Chartres were of the party, with a numerous suite. The Lord Mayor received his visiters in state, surrounded by a number of civic guests; the banqueting hall shone with plate; the feast was sumptuous, and right royal in the brevity of its speeches to the toasts. When the ex-King returned to his carriage, several citizens insisted on shaking hands with him; ap- parently to his hearty satisfaction.

A Special Court of the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was held on Monday, to receive plans for the drainage of the Metropolis. The doors of the court were crowded by engineers. As soon as admittance was gained, the walls were seen hung with two gigantic plans illustrative of the respective schemes of Mr. Phillips and Mr. Austin. " The other competitors were in a state of great exitement on the subject." The Secretary announced that hejiad received fifty-three plans before ten o'clock in the morning, and three or four since; and daring the sitting several more went in. Captain Vetch, Mr. Beller, Mr. Johnstone, and others, ap- plied for an extension of time, as they had received communications com- plaining that the period of one month already given was wholly inadequate. Three hours of irregular discussion ensued. Various resolutions were pro- posed, objected to, amended, and withdrawn again. Mr. Leslie, amidst the applause of the competitors present, urged that steps should be taken for protecting the plans sent from the possibility of plagiarism. Other Com- missioners took up the same view; each suggesting what seemed to him the most efficient means for doing so. The necessity for furnishing the other candidates with information about the levels of the Metropolis, so as to put them on a more equal footing with Mr. Austin and Mr. Phillips, was also discussed at length, and the best and least expensive mode of doing so con- aidere,d. It was at last unanimously resolved, that all the plans should be received, but that in addition each competitor should be requested to send in a concise statement of the main features of his plan in principle and de- tail, and that such statement be printed for the use of the Commissioners; that outline maps of the Metropolis, with data of levels, &c., should be fur- nished to the competitors; and that the time for sending in plans, and for developing those already received, should be extended to the 1st October. The Court then adjourned till the 3d October.

The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers, who met on Thursday, re- ceived the report of Professor Donaldson on the experiments with sewage manure in 1848 and 1849. It stated that at first the farmers would only permit experiments, without cost to them; now, they will take large quan- tities, and pay for it. It can be carried out in pipes for thirty:or forty miles, and would return the ratepayers of the Metropolis 500,0001. a year.

The murder of Mr. Patrick O'Connor, at Bermondsey, loses none of its Snit interest, as inquiry discloses further details of the long-planned plot.

On Saturday, an inquest was held. Mr. Pierce Walsh and Mr. W. Flinn were examined to identity the body. Mr. Walsh was a personal friend of the de- ceased, and a relative by marriage; and Mr. Flinn was his fellow-officer in the Customs. They both recognized the remains by the peculiar formation of the chin—unusually long and thin—by his false teeth, and by the general aspect of his large and strongly-marked frame. Mr. Walsh had spent most of the evening of Wednesday the 8th instant with O'Connor, at his own house. [It is presumed that the murder took place next evening, Thursday the 9th instant.] He went to O'Connor's on business, as he had been collecting debts for him, and staid some time; they then left O'Connor's for Manning's house at Minver Place, and arrived there at a quarter to ten. Witness at first supposed that O'Connor was merely ac- companying him part of his way home, but when they got to Fenchnrch Street be found they were going to Bermondsey; and he was not surprised, as he had been there before. On arriving at Bermondsey, Mrs. Manning let them in. When they had sat down, Mrs. Manning said, "Mr. O'Connor, why did you not come to dinner today ? we kept dinner waiting an hour for you." She then said, "Did you not ggeArittervile said, " No." " I wrote a note to you to the Docks to come to dinner 1,, she_ea.4 Mr. Walsh said "Perhaps it may have been late when you

.o-therrieceeong, -office, and it could not be received at the Docks at four -s-aireaa f§r .his leaving the office" She said "It was two o'clock, an

the monies that Walsh had been collecting for him; and Walsh was see_ prised to notice how Mrs. Manning seemed to know all about it. she mentioned some bills of exchange which Mr. O'Connor held of a Mr. Pitts, and said, "I suppose you will take proceedings against him for their recovery." hr,.. O'Connor said, " Yes." Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Manning then began to smoke. Presently O'Connor grew very faint, and laid himself down on the sofa. He did not drink—he was a teetotaller. The Manningagot him some brandy and water but he refused to take it Mrs. Manning then rubbed his temples with can de Cologne. He was not actually sick: he took some water and recovered. He and Mr. Walsh went away together at twenty minutes past eleven, and parted at the corner of Commercial Street, Whitecbapel. Since that time the witness had never Seen Mr. O'Connor alive.

The inquest was adjourned till Friday.

A post-mortem examination has shown that the murder was effected by violent blows with some such instrument as a plasterer's hammer. Two slugs had been fired into the skull; but they are not considered to have been an adequate cause of death, as they only lodged in the bone without depressing it muclion the brain, The whole of the back part of the skull had been fractured into minute pieces, and several of these fragments were driven into the substance of the brain. No examination has yet been made of the stomach, to ascertain the presence of any narcotic drug; but in the grave under the pavement of the back-kitchen, among the lime underneath the face of the body, was found a cut glass scent-bottle con_ taining a considerable quantity of laudanum. The lime, with which the floor of the grave was thickly strewed, had been purchased by Blaming himself of Mr. Wells, Long Lane, Bermondsey, about a month ago; and car- ried to Minver Place by a boy, who turned it out of his basket on the pavement of the back-kitehen. It is stated that some weeks since, Mee_ ning went to the shop of Messrs. Dean and Co., the ironmongers in King William Street, and ordered an iron crow-bar of a particular pattern, "for raising stones ": he paid the price of the instrument on ordering it, and left his direction of Minver Place ; but Messrs. Dean and Co. finding that they could not get a ready-made crow-bar of the pattern ordered, sent back the money to Mr. Manning; and he observed to the messenger that he should be able to do without the instrument. It is evident that the pavement of the passage has been raised as well as that of the kitchen; but the situation and size of the kitchen seem to have subsequently determined the preference of that place. The grave was six feet long, two feet and a half wide, and three feet deep. No portion of Mr. (Mon. nor's property or raiment was discovered, except his umbrella and some buttons from his coat—the umbrella concealed in one of the chimneys, and the buttons thrown into the ash-heap. The neighbours of the Mannings caw Mr. Manning smoking at seven o'clock on the evening of Thursday the 9th, the day of the murder. Daring that night they beard unusual noises; and one of them saw on the wall at the bottom of the garden, the shadow of a man stooping: he called his wife's attention to it, as he thought it was that of a man trying his own door; but the wife suggested that

i it was the shadow of Mr. Manning in his back-kitchen. It is very possible that Manning was then lowering O'Connor's body into the grave prepared for him.

The first call of the Police was made on the 12th. They were received by Mrs. Manning, and their questions were answered without the least hesitation or flurry: Mrs. Manning was then cooking in the back-kitchen, and trod on the stones which covered O'Connor's body. Mr. O'Connor's nephew was present, and once thought he observed a tremor in her voice: he remarked that she seemed ill, but she said instantly that she had not quite recovered from a severe illness which she had lately undergone. The suspicion momentarily awakened was not acted on. An- other call was made on Monday, but still nothing was seen that justified action; and it seems that immediately after the policeman withdrew that time, Mrs.Man- ning took a hasty departure, in a cab. After that, no person was again seen in the house. The furniture would seem to have been removed on Tuesday, by a broker who had purchased it of Mr. Manning. Soon after this removal, the Police entered the house, and renewed their searches; digging up the garden, as well as examining every corner of concealment. These explorations were unsuccessful till Friday the 17th: on that day appearances were noticed in the pavement of the back-kitchen which led to the discovery of Mr. O'Connor's body. The discovery was due to a policeman named Barnes, and happened thus—"The back-kitchen, where the body was buried, was the apartment generally occupied by Mrs. Man- ning in her cooking operations. Here she received the officers on the Monday afternoon, shortly before she determined upon absconding. The appearance of the room at that time was remarkably clean and neat; and it was observed by Barnes, that the flagstones with which it was paved had been recently and very carefully rubbed over with hearth-stone, giving the floor a very white appearance. When Barnes again visited the house, on the Friday after it had been deserted, he re- marked that the mortar or cement between the interstices of two of the stones had a brighter appearance than in the others. On examining this he found it very soft. He was naturally surprised at this circumstance; and as he could observe no irregularity in the mode of laying the stones in question, he was at a loss to ac- count for it. He next tried the cement between other stones, and found it firm and hard. This strengthened his suspicions, and he at once removed two stones, measuring together about five feet. Beneath these stones he found a bed of mor- tar carefully spread over the whole space. This satisfied Barnes that they could not have been laid by a workman, as masons only place mortar round the edges of the stones. He found the earth beneath the layer of mortar very loose; and on scraping it up to the depth of about two inches, he discovered a stocking. He then dug down a little lower; and when he hadreached the depth of about six inches, after a layer of lime, his hand came in contact with the toe of the mur- dered man; the body, as before stated, lying with the face downwards, in a bed of lime, and the feet being tied up to the haunches." During the rest of last week and most of this week, no traces had been dis- covered of Manning later than Wednesday morning, or of his wife later than Mon- day afternoon. It was found that Manning had changed a fifty-pound check of Mr. O'Connor's, on Saturday the 11th instant, at the Bank of England ; and that he had been met on Tuesday in Southwark. Afterwards, the broker to whom he bad sold his things was found out—Mr. Bainbridge, in Bermondsey Square Manning slept in Mr. Bainbridge's house on Tuesday night, and allowed many traits of uneasiness. He appeared excited and nervous; said be would not go into his own house again for twenty pounds; told Mrs. Bainbridge, if any one asked for him to say he had not been seen for a fortnight, as he had a 2001. bill to meet, and no money; went to bed intending " to have a good night's rest, and sleep till eleven tomorrow," yet was up before Mr. Bainbridge; would not stay for breakfast, though urged to do so; and hurried off at about eight o'clock, in a cab which was called, and which drove him by back streets to the South-western Railway. If he went off by that railway, he must have gone by the Parliament ary train; but it is thought by the Police that be still lurks about London. Mrs. Manning was seen to leave her house in a cab, on Monday evening; but no trace could be discovered of the place to which she bad driven. On Tuesday of this week, it was thought that a clue had been detected: a newspaper reporter' discovered in one of the fire-grates of the house two cards; one of them a plain card, inscribed, "Mr. Wright, passenger to New York ";_ the other, a card bear- ing a printed list of the departing-times of the New York packets. It seemed probable that the Victoria packet, which was marked as leaving London on Friday the 10th, had been selected by the Meanings as a mode of escape. The police- men in charge discouraged the idea; but the reporter found on inquiry that two persona named Manning were actually passengers by the Victoria. Application was made to the higher authorities, and they acted with promptitude: telegraphic orders were sent to Portsmouth to step-the Victoria when- she celled there, and send officers on board; and two Inspectors acquainted. with Manning's person were sent down on Saturday. On Monday evening the Victoria came round to portsmouth,. and was telegraphed to heave-to; but she disregarded the signal, and was far in the offing be'ore night The Inspectors applied for a Government steamer; and the Fire-Queen steam-frigate, under Captain Langley, was instantly ordered to get her steam up. The Fire-Queen left Gosport at half-past eight o. ne, and continued stern chase, hailing every light they save At length they 'obeerved a large ship, and after chasing her for about five miles came alongside; bat only to the disappointment of the officers, for the vessel turned out to be a Prussian man-of-war. The Fire-Queen then steamed out for the West; and at two o'clock on Tuesday morning they hailed a ship about ten miles East of St. Catherine's, and she turned out to be the Victoria: they gave her signal to stop, as they wanted to board her. The Victoria hove to; and Captain Huntley, Lang- ley, Thornton, and a local officer named Leggett, went on board. They had a private interview with the master; and he informed the officers that there were two persons on board named Manning, but he did not know who they were. After about an hour and a half's search through the berths of 270 emigrants, the policemen found the persons whom the master had mentioned; but they turned out to be a mother and daughter, having no connexion with the fugitive Mannings. The Fire-Queen then returned to Gosport. On Monday evening, was discovered the driver of the cab in which Mrs. Man- ning left her house; and the Police soon followed up the clue. It was found that she had left the house with several travelling-boxes, and drove first to the South- eastern Railway terminus at London Bridge. As the cab turned from the foot of the bridge, Mrs. Manning stopped it at the door of Mr. Ash, a stationer, and purchased some plain direction-cards, upon which she wrote several directions— "Mrs. Smith, passenger to Paris. To be left till called for." Proceeding to the station, she instructed a railway-porter to tack two of these directions on two of the largest boxes, and then gave them intohis charge to keep at the station till she returned. She reentered the cab, and drove to the North-western Railway station, at Easton Square. Inspector Haynes traced these motions; and on Tuesday found the boxes directed for Paris still at the South-eastern station. They were opened; and in them was found a quantity of Mrs. Manning's linen, marked with her maiden name " Maria Rue," or "Maria de Roux "—the statements vary; a number of letters from Mr. O'Connor to herself, written in terms of warm endear- ment; and the will of her husband, Frederick George Manning, dated in June 1848, and leaving her all his property. It was found that Mrs. Manning had taken a ticket for Edinburgh. The telegraph was again set in motion with explanations and directions to the Edinburgh Police. Inspector Haynes had scarcely returned from Euston Square to Scotland Yard, before a mounted messenger hastened in with information that Mrs. Manning had been arrested at Edinburgh, with the whole of Mr. O'Connor's railway seep in her possession. Mrs. Manning had arrived at Edinburgh on Wednesday or Thursday week, from Newcastle. She took lodgings in Haddington Place; preserving her as- sumed name of Mrs. Smith. At the shop of a draper, while making a purchase, she inquired for some respectable share-broker, and was directed to the offices of Messrs. Hughson and Dobson, of the Royal Exchange; to whom she went on Sa- turday. She entered into fluent conversation, and mentioned that she had some French railway shares which she would not object to sell at advantage. The brokers told her that there was but little market for foreign stock in Edinburgh; but that they would try to negotiate a sale through their London agents. Con- tinuing the conversation, she expressed herself delighted with Edinburgh as a place of residence, especially with the sea-bathing at Portobello; mentioned her father, as Mr. Robertson of Glasgow, a great dealer in railway shares, and a great loser by them. On going, she_lat some scrip of the Hunting. don, St. Ives, and Wisbeach Railway Company; commissioning the brokers to ascertain if there was any further money to be returned on them. She called on Monday, and, without giving a reason, took this scrip back again. She said she was going to Newcastle, to see her mother, who was unwell; and she added, with a smile, "Of course I mast pay every attention to my beloved patent." She wished also to get back the name and address she had left on her first visit; but it was not at hand, and remained in the share-broker's office. On Tuesday, Messrs. Hughson and Dobson received a circular from London, stating that some foreign railway scrip had been stolen; and they immediately suspected "Mrs. Smith." Mr. Dobson went direct to the Police; and in a short time, having found the slip of paper with her address, they went to her lodgings,fonnd her in her room, and charged her with being an accomplice in the murder of O'Connor. She made no answer; but her face became deadly pale, and she bit her lips. Her luggage was examined, and the proofs of her complicity were at once discovered. She asked permission to retire into an adjoining apartment for a few minutes; but this being refused, consoled herself by taking a glass of wine, and she repeated the draught more than once during the time that the ex- amination of her luggage was going on. This inspired her with renewed confi- dence, and in a short time all her coolness and self-possession had returned. She was conveyed from her lodgings to the Police-office in a cab, and her arrest was telegraphed to London." The daily papers supply some particulars of the history of Mrs. Manning ; whose maiden name was • De Roux." "She is a native of Lausanne in Switzer- land; and inherited some small patrimony from her parents, both of whom are deceased. About six years since, she served in the family of Sir Lawrence Palk, at Haldon House, Devonshire, as maid to Lady Palk; and while travelling to and fro with his family, she appears to have made the acquaintance of Manning, who was at that time a guard on the Great Western Railway. At Lady Palk's decease, in 1846, she obtained a situation as maid to Lady Blantyre, second daughter of the Database of Sutherland. She came to reside with her Ladyship at Stafford House in Jaly 1846, and accompanied her to Scotland in the autumn of the same year. While attending her Ladyship on a brief Continental tour, before pro- ceeding to Scotland, she met with the deceased O'Connor ; who seems to have been struck with her appearance and manners—so much so as to have offered her marriage. In the early part of the season 1847, she returned to town with Lady Blantyre; and it appears was frequently visited at Stafford House by both Manning and O'Connor, the latter of whom appeared to entertain a very warm affection for her. Manning, however, seems to have been the most favoured suitor; and on the 6th of August 1847, she left Stafford House with the avowed intention of marrying him. Upon her leaving Stafford House, handsome presents were made to her; and not only was this kindly interest in her own welfare dis- played, but a relative of her supposed husband, Manning, recently received a public appointment. After her marriage, she accompanied Manning to Devonshire for a week or ten days; and then, returning to Stafford House, went with Lady Blantyre to the Continent a second time; one motive for her doing so being, as it is alleged, the opportunity it afforded of arranging her own affairs abroad previously to settling down to married life in England. All this time, she had been deceiving Patrick O'Connor as to her marriage with Manning; and when O'Connor ascer- tained that she really was married, he manifested the greatest distress of mind, tore the hair from his head, and conducted himself altogether in a most ex- traordinary manner. On her return from the Continent, she went to reside with her husband in lodgings at 2 Church Street, Paddington; Manning at this time still filling the situation of guard- on the Great Western Railway. We should here state, that it is believed Manning, in prosecuting his addresses, succeeded in persuading Maria De Roux, that he was entitled to property under his mother's will, amounting to between 6001 and 7001 This was of course only a fiction; bet so deeply did he lay his schemes, that he actually drew up a will, which has been found among the papers in his wife's possession, by which he bequeathed this property to his very dear and beloved wife,' to the exclusion of all other claimants; appointing her executor, conjointly with Henry Poole, recently con- victed of the mail-robberies on the Great Western Railway, who is one of the subscribing witnesses to the deed. There does not appear to be the least reason to believe that Manning had any property himself; but with the money he ob- tained from his wife, very shortly after their marriage, he took a public-house or hotel at Taunton; which promised at first to do well, but, partly owing to the bad associates with whom he became connected, and partly to the unfitness of his wife to play the hostess, the business soon fell off. While they lived' together here, Mrs. Manning, on one occasion, left her husband, pretending that she had too to the Continent to receive some money. She remained absent about five weeks, with- out communicating with her husband; and Manning, finding the business of his house falling off, made over the lease to another party, and left Taunton. At length Mrs. Manning returned, and presented herself at her former house, and was of course refused admission. She then hastened to London, and found husband living with his brother in Francis Street, Newington. She remained with him only a short time, and then decamped again; and was at length dis- covered living with O'Connor. A Second time their differences were healed; and they next appeared as the host and hostess of the Old King John's Head, in this Kingsland Road ; where they remained only a very short period; and on leaving Kingsland, they went to live at Minver Place." The shovel with which the grave of the murdered man was in all probability dug, was, it seems, purchased by Mrs. Manning, on Wednesday the 5th instant, from Mr. Langley, ironmonger in Tooley Street. She told the shopman, that she wanted an iron shovel. and that it must be a strong one. He asked her if she wanted a regular shovel; and she replied, that she would make a short-handled one do. The price was Is. 2d.; which she paid, and had the shovel sent to No. 3 Minver Place.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Monday, John Lee, clerk to Mr. Wright, a cheesemonger in Giltspur Street, was tried for embezzling the money of his em- ployer. It was the young man's duty to send the cash received in the business to his master's bank ; on divers occasions he sent 20/ short of what he had received, but entered the whole sum as paid to the bank; and in this way, the prosecutor believed, he had appropriated to his own use some 2,0001. He was found guilty on one indictment for stealing 201, part of a sum of 901. in gold which be should have sent to the bank. A second indictment charged him with stealing 201. in " bank-notes "; but there was no proof as to what kind of notes these were, whether of the Bank of England or of a country bank. In consequence, the Re- corder directed an acquittal. All Mr. Ballantine could urge in behalf of the cul- prit was, that he was in a dangerous state of illness. In passing sentence, the Recorder remarked, that in the prisoner's state of health a sentence of transport- ation would not be carried out, and therefore it would only needlessly distress Lee's mind to pronounce it: he felt it his duty, however, to send him to prison for two years, to be kept to such hard labour as his strength would permit.

On Wednesday, Mr. Henry Smithies, an attorney, was tried for forging and ut- tering a retainer. Smithies was in partnership with Mr. James at Aylesbury; the firm were engaged in a Chancery suit for infants named Miles; a Mr. Soden, a relative of the minors, consented to act as " next friend," but on the under-. standing that he was not to be responsible for any costs. Smithies managed the whole affair, Mr. James not interfering. After some time, the solicitors in the snit were changed. Then Mr. Smithies began an action for 3551 costs against Mr. Soden; but he did not proceed to trial. On the taxing of the costs in ques- tion, Smithies produced a document to this purport- "Ia Chancery. Stiles v. Miles.—I hereby consent to act as next friend to the infants for the purposes of this suit. RICRABD SODEN."

This was the alleged forgery. When the accusation was made, Mr. James got possession of the paper by breaking open his partner's desk in his absence: Mr. James wanted to get quit of his partner, as he admitted at the trial. At the trial on Wednesday-, Mr. Soden deposed, that the signature to the alleged retainer was not his, and that he had never agreed to become responsible for costs: the costs were to be paid out of the estate. Mr. James stated, that his partner, when he questioned him about the disputed document, said he had lost the original re- tainer, and had therefore made a copy, to which he had signed Mr. Soden's name, imitating the signature. Mr. Cooke, for the accused, took certain legal objections to the indictment ; which Mr. Justice Erie overruled for the present. The coun- sel then made a speech in defence; in the course of which he pointed out that there was no motive for a forgery, as Mr. Smithies would be sure to obtain his coats out of the estate.

The Jury found a verdict of " Guilty of uttering a forg'd instrument with ire- tent to defraud." A discussion then took place upon the disputed point relating to the jurisdiction; and, eventually, the Judge requested the Jury to give a spe- cial verdict, expressing their opinion whether there was any evidence of a forgery having been committed within the jurisdiction of that Court. On their finding that there was not, he said the point should be reserved for the consideration of the Judges; and, in the mean time, he should postpone judgment.

A shocking case of cruelty to a child has been investigated on two occasions at the Westminster Police-office. Richard Harrison, of Coleshill Street, Pi mike a grocer, and Maria his wife, a middle-aged woman of forbidding appearance were charged with maltreating Ellen Harrison, a girl of eleven or twelve. There was some mystery about the paternity of the child: Ellen called the defendants her uncle and aunt, and until November last she had been brought up in the country by a couple whom she thought to lie her parents; but Harrison now declared that the child was his and his wife's. The girl was carefully examined. She said her "uncle" and "aunt" beat her with a large whip. [Mrs. Harrison was fined 51 in April last for beating the child with a whip.1 She was flogged on the naked body; the woman had cut her head with a cullender, because she had " thrown some bones down in the kitchen"; she was kept short of food; she had teen hung to a door by the ankles, head downwards; Mrs. Harrison fre- quently made her put her tongue out, and then struck her under the chin. These assaults seem to have been made on pretences of the child's misbehaviour, such as not learning her lessons, or crying when beaten. The ippearance of her body, head, and limbs—shocking in the extreme—and her emaciation, bore out great part of her tale; witnesses who lodged in the house also corroborated por- tions of it. Harrison had admitted that he had beaten his daughter with a whip. Under legal advice, the accused made no remarks on the case against them; and they were held to bail to appear at the Sessions.

At the Thames Police-office, on Tuesday, Cooper and Jones, powerful young men, were charged with burglary. The feature of the case was the skill with which the culprits had been caught by the Police. The officers suspected that some fellows were intent upon breaking into a house in Great Prescott Street; and a watch was planted in certain houses for two nights. On the second night, four thieves broke open the back-door of Mr. Cohen's house. Two entered, the others remaining on the watch. Some females who passed made a remark which induced the men outside to alarm their accomplices: but the Police secured the two men as they attempted to escape from the place. The others escaped. A " jemmy" found on Jones corresponded with marks on seven houses which have been recently broken into. The prisoners were remanded.

The Westminster Magistrate having discharged Mr. John Daly, the surgeon accused of robbing Mr. Morgan, on the ground that he had no jurisdiction in the matter, the accused was again seized by the Poll'':, to be conveyed to Aberdeen, that the charge might be made before the aut,'".orities of that city.

Robert Ward, a twine-spinner of Stepney, in a quarrel with his wife, lasteFni- day, struck her on the head with a red hot poker; and the poor woman died' next day.