The Press. — London, England, 1853-07-23 00:00:00

Y 274 sent to Holman. Mr. Hall considered her mad, and consigned her to the care of the officers of St. Martin's workhouse. THE WPM FOR A HOLIDAY induced a lad named Joseph Cook, employed as a machine-boy at Messrs. Tallis's printing establishment, to cause serious da mage to one of the machines. He had been employed for several days in working off an edition of some book, when he was heard to say to a companion, " We must have a smash, for this is a long number, and get a holiday." An hour afterwards the machine they were tending broke down, evidently from wilful disarrangement. Loss from similar misconduct, it was stated, had been sustained by the firm during the past year to the amount of more than 1001. The lad's com panion had since been drowned in the Lee, it was reported, by his own act. After an examination at the Clerkenwell I'olice Court on Tuesday, Cook was committed to prison for a month. AMONG the multitude of cases which the magis trates at the various courts have been called upon to decide under the new cab law during the past week, the charge brought by Mr. Bigg, fruiterer, of Covent-garden Market, came again before Mr. Henry at Bow-street on Tuesday, the cabman being in at tendance to answer the summons. The complaint, it will be remembered, arose first out of the over charge of Is. in the fare from Monument-yard, in volving afterwards the claim set up of 1!. 14. Md., under the "luggage clause;' for the conveyance of 1:10 pineapples. Clark, the driver, now admitted that this claim was untenable, but complained that Mr. Bigg had refused to go at once to the court to settle the dispute, which would have saved time, trouble, and expense : • Mr. HENRY maid the defendant was hi error on every point. He was wrong in consenting to take a Mail of pineapples, in the first place, for cabs were not designed tor any such purpose ; then he was wrong in seeking to charge for them us luggage. lin was Wrong in &HUMOUR more than his fare fir the distance ; and, finally, ho was wrong in supposing that the new art gave linn the power to take the hirer to a police court, upon the question of a disputed fare. By thee new kW, the hirer could compel the driver to go to the nearest nangistratte; but the act gave no power to the driver to convey the hirer tee the police eons* without the consent of the latter. The defendant, there fore, was altogether wrong. lie must pay the penalty of 40e., or be committed for a month. The defendant preferred the latter alternative, and was accordingly sent to prison. THE RIVALRIES between two parties into which the Methodist body are split have led to disputes and quarrels, of which one result has been to place John Sykes and Thomas Mann on trial at the York assizes, upon the charge of firing a blunderbuss at Hiram Yeadon, on the 18th of March last. James Oat was at the same titne indicted for aiding and abetting the other two prisoners:— It appearisl that the Methodist body was new divided into two parties, eonsist ing of th e '" Referrers" and tl %only, Mid Ilist, at the village of Woolen, where the lintiorily forlllol the ryfilllll party, the disputes had led to tiiuehi bitteniess and anti proceedings had been token both in law and eqnity for the possession of the old chapel. The Reformers, having at last got ponnemni tell tile ringlet, held their lliveting.4 there, while the Conference party held theirs ire it pliice %hick they eletlnillhlatedd the Chapeldionse. A 141110 time prior to Sun day, the Ulth of Mardi, the Reformers 441 that cute that day a pop u lar preacher named Everett would deliver it discourse. This 1111111 was particularh obnoxious to the I . ..Willie** , party; and, in coulee urndn of his announced visit, some anticipation of a renewal of the strife was entertained. The 4 'ourerenee !aim, it wait alleged, then sent for the prisoner Sikes, who is an Al soldier, and it lilinislerinins Nan taw procured. On the Sunday night emisidemble exeitet..cnt prevailed, a stone was thrown ail. the Chapehhouse whitlows, in %bleb the Conference party A 144 1114/411111111011, and Sykes was eommanded by the prisoner dlunm tee fire. upon which he tired the Id Wilms,' out of the a indow. and wounded the proseeutor, Who Wan coining Ull a hale fronting the chapel. The diorite took effeet he the leg. from which live shots were extracted, std he was in danger of losing him limb. For the prisoners, wine pleaded guilty, it was submitted that it. was dusk at the time, that there bad been much pre% ions exeitemeet, and it was dear that they had no intention o f doing any p ar . fielder person any mischief. Mr. Justice Eitt.i: 'oddities helot' often had he wane persona of the extreme peril they ran if they resorted to the law of firearms in repressing a chi! trematss. They were liable to be emivietssl of felony if the shooting took effect, and if thew' ling Was followed by ilentli they were liable to be Indicted for per; believing, however. that in the present easel 011`1%1 was MOM 1/1 . 111i1 4 441‘4 4 1111111 11111111 . 0, he 1410/11111 0144 moderate sentenve. Sykes and Mann were therefore ordered to he imprisoned for one mantle, and B u tt leer a fortnight. SoRE 01: THE WORKMEN engaged upcti the Syden ham Crystal Palace have amused themselves timing their journeys to and fro on the railway in throwing stones and various missiles from the carriages. As the line passes through a very crowded district at the outset from London, and at. a considerable eleva tion, many of these missiles broke windows in the houses, or, falling into the streets, severely hurt the passers by. The inhabitants had complained, and some officers were sent in plain clothes into the carriages or on the line, by whose evidence the fact of having thrown various heavy substances from the railway carriages was established against four or five of the workmen.—Mr. a Beckett, however, found much difficulty in adjudicating upon the ease. Before he could punish the parties it was necessary to show that the offence haul been committed in some public street or thoroughfare. This was not the ease now, and the railway companies haul always insisted that the police could exercise no authority over their lines. At the same time. he blamed severely the managers of the Brighton Railway, who had taken no Measures to prevent such misconduct. A summons THE PRESS. was granted against one man, Sullivan, whom a police constable charged with committing a personal assault, and the other defendants were dismissed. SEVIP:RAI, IRISH RIOTERS, charged with assaulting an Italian, named Staurenglii, and resisting the police in Leather-lane and the adjacent courts near Ilolborn, on Monday last, were examined before the Clerken well magistrates on the following day. Two men, named Neale and Carroll, were shown to have at tacked the Italian, striking at him with stones, and afterwards taking refuge in a house, which the police vainly endeavoured for some time to enter, being kept at bay by a shower of missiles of various descriptions, including a hatchet, brickbats in abundance, pots and kettles, and finally scalding water, by which the seve ral officers engaged in the capture were most severely injured:— _ _ Mr. CORRIE asked Mr. Staurenglii if he knew anything of the prisouers?—He said they were strangers to him, and not a word was uttered until they struck 1 • , muttering an iutcutiou to do for him. Neale'► defence was, he hail been spat upon by an Italian, and, being drunk, he avenged himself on Mr. stanreugl►i, but in right or wrong lie could not tell. Ile expressed his sorrow, promising better behaviour in future. Carroll merely said : I did nothing. They called no witnesses. These two defendants were lined 408. for the attack on Mr. Staurenghi, and a like sum for assaulting the police, or two months' imprisonment. Seven others, all Irish, were sentenced to a single tine or one month's incarceration, for having participated in the latter offence. A DIsPUTED FARE, involving the sum of one shil ling, and turning on the point whether the distance from the cemetery at Fulham to Wellington-street, Strand, was over or under four miles, came before Mr. Henry, at Bow-street, on Tuesday. As the offi cial book of fares bad not yet been issued, the magis trate suggested that the ground should be measured, and called on each party to deposit five shillings for the costs of that operation, for which of course the ono in the wrong must pay. The gentleman passen ger produced the money, but the cabman, whose name was Phillips, said that he had not got five shil lings in his pocket, it being his first fare that day : Mr. HENRY : Then, as you cannot pay the rive-shilling deposit, I shall take Mr. Bond's statement as evidence of the fact, and convict you of the overcharge, for which you must pay the pe nalty of forty shillings, or go to prison tOr a month. Mr. Bond, who appeared rather startled at the suddenness and severity of the, evision, said he did not think the matter would have taken this turn. The cabman WWI very el% II through out the triumetion, and ho hoped that the penalty would not be Mr. Ilrainv refused to listen to this appeal. The object of the act in enabling passengers to go at once to the pollee court was, not to dispense with the penalties, but to save the complainants the trouble of applying tbr a snuauons. The cabman was committed to gaol in default of paying the tine, and his horse and cab were sent to the greenyard. This sentence, it will be seen else where, was mentioned in the House of Commons. and will lead to further investigation. The delay in preparing the official list, of distances has pro duced great inconvenience and interference with the working of the new act. SARAH BAKER was tried at Stafford on Wednesday for the murder of her illegitimate child. The pri soner had been ill and in great distress, and it was shown that generally she hail manifested much affec tion for the child, whose father had deserted them. The child being missed by her neighbours, she re plied at first that a strange lady, passing in a carriage, had taken a fancy to it and carried it. way, but after wards confessed that she had thrown it down the shaft of an old mine. Search being made the body was found in the place indicated, and the woman committed by the jury that sat at the consequent in quest. Before the coroner she made the following statement have lawn destitute on thew idc world three weeks. When I made away with my baby I intended to make myself away in the same pit, but was reventeil doing it by the timlwr across tho pit. I came ant sit the workhouse three weeks yesterday. I was in the workhouse four months. i I made application to the gentlethen to send me to the intirmary, or otherwise let me leave the baby iu until I got stout, hint they said l must take my baby out and work forit myself. I was from Thursday morning xt.ll l l ll 0 iieloek till between one and two on Saturday, end until I went to my alines at InloxNirh,and never had anything. A verdict of Gni/tp was returned, and sentence of death recorded against the prisoner. Tile transactions between Mr. Hudson and the York and North Midland Railway Company have produced several actions, another of which was argued during Wednesday and Thursday in the Rolls Court. Various claims were made by the company upon their late chairman, on account of interest on moneys kept in his hands, of overcharge in brokerage, and especially for a considerable margin of surplus which he had obtained upon '2.5(X) tons of iron rails, having contracted in his own name for the rails at 6/. 10s. per ton, and afterwards transferred to the company at 12/., keeping the differenee for himself. After a very long hearing, the Master of the Rolls reserved some points in order to look over the evi dence, but decided that Mr. Hudson must repay the profit derived from the contract for the rails, his fiduciary character of chairman to the company ren dering him incompetent to enter into any contract with it on his own account. SATURDAY, . q4,cettents anti Offences. DI:TItrCTIYE INUNDATION, arising from the luta long continuance of rain, covered large tracts of country in various counties during the early days of the pastweek. Serious damage is reported to have followed in many quarters, with great loss of hay, stock, .Cc., and much apprehension for the corn crops in the low-lying districts. In the valley of the Thames, the Essex marshes, in Oxfordshire, along the banks of the Cherwell and Ouse, and iu South Wales, on the Wye, the consequences have been es pecially calamitous. Along the South-Western Rail way the low lands were covered with immense sheets of water, with thousands of haycocks floating on the surface. At Guildford, Chertsey, Woking, and Bat tersea the water was several feet deep, and much da-- mage has been done to the crops as well as the hay. On the Eastern Counties line immense injury has ' been caused to the sheep and lambs. and some of the crops have been destroyed. In Kent there has been a destruction of many thousand pounds' worth of property. The valley of the Cherwell and Isis were extremely flooded, to the serious injury of the far mers occupying the meadows adjoining. Hundreds of tons of hay have been swept away by the sudden swelling of the water. In the neighbourhood of Ox ford great damage has been done. The country around Banbury was completely inundated, and nn immense quantity of hay outlying ready for being carried has been in the nukjority of eases completely swept away. At Brackley a great amount of damage was done by the overflowing of the Ouse. So rapid was the flow of water that it rose no less than eighteen inches in about half an hour, sweeping sheep and hay away in its destructive course. In Carmarthenshire great damage has been occasioned. The Vale of Llanddowror, on the western side of the county, has been completely swept of hay, sheep. and those articles which could be carried away. At Llanddowror, where the main road from Carmarthen to Haverfordwest crosses the bridge, the waters ac cumulated until they capped the parapets, when the structure gave way, thus cutting oat' the communica tion. The factories of several manufacturers in Lei cester were invaded so that the machinery could not be set in motion, and some hundreds of hands were unable to get to work. The gardens on the western side of the town were literally destroyed, and large quantities of hay have been carried off from the mea dows. At Bristol an extensive landslip occurred, a large mass at the extremity of Brandon-hill, which overhangs Jacob's Wells, Bristol, giving way, and falling on the houses beneath, causing a very consi derable destruction of property. Tip: TOWER OF HEREFORD CHURCH was struck by lightning during a violent storm last week. A marriage ceremony was being perfomed at the time, which had brought rather a large number of persons into the sacred edifice. 'While they were still within a vivid flash struck the tower, and, descending the staircase, entered the church, whence it passed out by a western window. Little damage was done to the fabric, but four persons, two women and two children, were much hurt, one child being so much burnt by the iluid that it is feared she will be a cripple for life. THE INQUEST ON THE OLDHAM COLLIERY Exet,o mos, in which twenty miners perished, has termi nated in the following verdict:— " The jury are of opinion the deaths were accidental. They also strongly recommend the proprietor to make a 'Unmet- in necortlance with the hountrtions given by the Goveniment he speetor. Further. they consider that strict Injunctions be given to the underlooker that no collier whatever shall work with his lamp-top otf, under pain of immediate discharge, until the fur mires shall have been erected." FATAL SHIPWRECKS are reported from several parts of the Yorkshire and Durham coasts, conse quent upon the heavy gale of yesterday week. The most serious loss, however, is that of the Countess of Strathmore, one of the fleet of collier-steamers which have lately been engaged in competing with the railways for the conveyance of coals to London. She left Shields on the night of the 13th, but the violence of the storm during the following day gradually shook her almost to pieces. Her tires were put out by the heavy seas which swept on board, her pumps choked, and in the course of rhursday night she was bearing up for Hartlepool in a wrecked condition. A billy-boat front Boston came to her aid, and by superhuman exertion twelve of her crew were saves, the captain and two others being drowned. The steamer sunk in deep water a few minutes after the rescued men got away. A CHARGE OF MrlmEn was brought at the Liver pool Police Court, on Saturday last, against Captain J. W. Chapman, of the ship Cleopatra, trading between that port and the coast of Africa. It appeared that the Cleopatra sailed from Liverpool for Bonny River on the 16th of August last, and afterwards fell in with the near qf Bray, Captain Harrison. The two captains visited each other several times, a boy named White being engaged in rowing the boat of the Cleopatra from ship to ship. On the night of the ;Ind of October, when it was