Saturday 11 Oct 1845 (p. 4, col. 3-4) LOCAL NEWS. ----- MYSTERIOUS DEATH.—Between five and six o'clock on Sunday morning, two boys, who were walking in a field in Clayton, belonging to Mr. WOOD, of Bank Bridge, saw the head and shoulders of a man in a pond of water in the field; and under a hedge by the side of the pond one of the boys, named SHUTTLEWORTH, found a coat and hat, which apparently belonged to the person in the water. The boys took the coat and hat to the Manchester police-office, where they also gave information that there was a man in the water, and Peter JONES and another police constable went to the spot, and very shortly succeeded in getting the body out. It was that of a young man, apparently not more than 20 years of age, and his throat was cut in a most shocking manner, from ear to ear. There were no other wounds about the body, nor were there any traces of blood upon his hands, or any of his clothes. He was fully dressed, with the exception of his coat, hat, and handkerchief. In his waistcoat pocket were two half-pennies, and some valueless scraps of paper. The body was conveyed to the Humphrey Cheetham Inn, where it was identified as that of a young man who had been lodging for some time with a Mrs. DRIVER, in Travis-street. Mr. HENSHALL, deputy-coroner, held an inquest on the body on Tuesday, when it appeared, from the statement of a boy named ETCHELLS, who had been gathering blackberries in the field about four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, that at that time there was no appearance of the man in the water, where the body was said to have been found, nor of any articles of clothing near the pond.—Mrs. DRIVER, with whom the deceased lodged, said his name was Christopher WALLER. He had lodged with her about half a year, having come from Appleby, Westmoreland, to a situation as clerk in the office of Messrs. THORLEY and ROBINSON, solicitors. She saw him last alive on Thursday morning, when he left the house about eight o'clock. He was very unwell, and on the previous evening complained much of his head being ill. He was at the office on Tuesday, and returned home about seven o'clock in the evening. He then complained of being unwell, and did not take his tea as usual. He remained at home the whole of the following day, and had some medicine, but declined to have medical aid. About two months ago he was attended by a surgeon, and since that time he has been very melancholy. The half of a razor case was found in his coat pocket, but the witness said she did not know to whom it belonged, for the deceased's razors and knife were in his box at her house. About seven o'clock on Thursday morning, when witness went into his room and asked how he was, he stared at her, and said he did not know.—Thomas SOWERBY, another lodger at the same house, and an acquaintance of the deceased, said he had been the means of procuring him the situation with Messrs. THORLEY and ROBINSON. He was to have £35 a year, with promise of an advance. He had not been in very bad health, but was melancholy and low spirited. He had been reading a great many books lately. The last one he read was "The Pleasures of Hope;" but the books he read were mostly on religious subjects. On Wednesday last, from some rambling sentences which he uttered, witness thought him to be in an unsound state of mind for the moment.—James WALLER, brother of the deceased, from Appleby, identified the body, and said the deceased was 19 years of age on the 27th of October last. He never had any reason to suspect his mind was deranged. A small volume of poems was found in one of the deceased's pockets, of which he was the author; and on a sheet of paper were written in pencil, in his own hand, a number of scattered sentences, which proved that he was in a very melancholy state. For instance, he says— "How has my life been spent from childhood up? It's been my lot to drink the bitter cup Of woe, and cares, that rankle in the human breast And keep the mind from all the sweets of rest." The inquiry was adjourned to Thursday, when a verdict was returned, to the effect that the deceased had died from the effects of the wound, but how it had been received, there was no evidence to show.—We understand that Mr. WOOD took much interst [sic] in the case, that he employed about a score of men to empty the pit, which was done with the greatest care, and the mud at the bottom carefully riddled, for the purpose of discovering the razor, or other instrument, with which the deceased's throat had been cut, but nothing of the kind has yet been found.—Manchester Guardian. FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE LANCASTER AND CARLISLE RAILWAY.—An inquest was held on Thursday week at Sedgwick, before R. WILSON, Esq., on view of the body of William REYNOLDS, railway labourer, the particulars of whose melancholy death, as stated at the inquest, are given below:— George HODGSON, now residing at Sedgwick, and employed as a labourer on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, examined:—I knew William REYNOLDS. He was a labourer employed on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway. I was working with the deceased on the railway on Thursday (the 2nd September). The deceased was employed in driving the horse which was drawing the waggons laden with earth. I was employed in "tipping" the waggons, about eight o'clock in the morning, when the deceased was driving the horse drawing a laden waggon; the horse went further than it was required, and the deceased sprang forward to get hold of it by the head, to pull it out of the way of the waggon, but he missed his foot, slipped, and fell down across the rails, and the near side wheels of the waggon passed over both his legs below the knee, and broke one of his legs and injured the knee of the other. I raised him from the ground, and another labourer came to my assistance; we were assisted by some of the other men, and we brought him down to his home here. The doctors have taken one of his legs off, and he has been confined to his bed ever since, and died on Tuesday night last. There is no doubt but his death was caused by the waggon passing over his legs. He was 16 years of age. No one was driving or interfering with the horse but himself, and his falling down was quite an accident. No one was near him when he fell.—Verdict, “Accidental death, caused by injuries received by a waggon passing over his legs on the railway."