The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

478 THE RETIREXENT OF COLONEL OLIPHANT from the I East India Direction is reported. A PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS for a reform of the existing superannuation system in the civil service, is in course of signature among the principal London merchants. A similar document has proceeded from Liverpool, signed by almost every leading merchant, broker, and shipowner. THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS OF INQUIRY into military purchases iu the army, hava resumed their meetings this week. The Duke of Somerset was president, and the other Commissioners. present were Lord Stanley, Mr. Sidney Herbert, M.P., General Wynyard, General Sir Harry Jones, General Sir Henry Bentinck, and Mr. George Carr Glyn. THE EQUALISATION OF POOR RATES WB3 discussed at a meeting of Hackney ratepayers on Thursday evening. The Rev. G. H. M'Gill called the atten tion of the meeting to this fact, among others of a statistical nature, that in the west unions a poor man received assistance to the extent of 2s. Od. a week and a loaf of bread, whereas in the eastern districts Is. and a loaf were only given, upon which no man could life. Mr. Ayrton, M.P., also addressed the meeting, and complained bitterly of the traps of the House of Commons. He had introduced a bill upon the subject, but— The day appointed for its discussion had been named for keeping the birthday of her Majesty, and as the house never sat on such an occasion, he should only have to make the best effort in his power to get another day named for introducing the measure. Various resolutions in favour of such a measure were proposed and passed, and the meeting separated. A DEPUTATION, consisting *of Mr. Collins, M.P., Mr. Whately, Q.C., Mr. C. E. Lewis, Mr. Isaacson, and other gentlemen, waited upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for the purpose of stating as a serious objection to the Chancellors' Savings•hank Bill the extensive and undefined powers it gave to Govern ment, insomuch that it would deprive managers and trustees of all power whatever over the affairs of the bank. Finally, all that the deputation and the banks required was that they should have the privilege of going before a select committee of the House of Commons; and that the restrictions intended by claus.ts 2,3, and 12 should be expressed in the bill. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, nothing could be further from the fact than that the Govern ment were desirous of increasing their powers, and they would much rather leave the matter as it was; but the present state of things was bad both for the Government and the people, since there was a belief on the part of the latter in the moral obligation of the former to make good any loss which might arise front the defalcations of officers of savings•banks, while the Government did not think themselves justified in applying the public money to such a purpose. Under such circumstances, he had thought it his duty to propose a measure for giving a guarantee to depositors ; but this could not be done without a guarantee that the trust should not be abused, and that there should be such reasonable ions and precautions as could be taken to the safety of the deposits. In undertaking responsibility for so many millions of money, it absolutely necessary to introduce restrictions and regulations, but they would be more in the nature of statutory provisions than 3f any interference with OWEN : Who will appoint the paid officers. CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER: The trustees and managers. of course. Mr. OwEN : But if the Government object to the ap. pointment? CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER : Then the trustees ippoint another. OwEx : And if they objected again ? CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER : Oh, you ought suppose anything so unreasonable. In a country this, where all public men are so much under the eye, anything like systematic abuse of power is (together unlikely. After some further conversation, in the course of . the Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated his ~avowal of all intention of interfering with the Independence of trustees and managers, and inti '►ated his opinion that it would be impossible to ibody the necessary rules and regulations in the the deputation retired. Rlttropolitan. ,LL OF HOUSES IN TOTTENHAM•COURT- ROAD. cause of this lamentable accident, which hap :. la.st Saturday morning, has not yet been ex• ' mined. The facts are as follows :—Two rival uphol sterers, Messrs. Maple and Messrs. Hunter, owned between them the five houses numbering 145 to 149 Tottenham-court road. A short time since a fire out in Messrs. Hunter's premises, and injured _ to that extent that a partial rebuilding was necessary. While these works were progressing, Mr. Maple thought it necessary to make certain en largements and improvements upon his premises. Friday week the district surveyor examined the premises, and at once condemned the old party-wall restrictions and secure the safety the responsibility was absolutely ne regulations, but tl statutory provisi( details:— . Mr. OwEN : Who The CHANCELLOI managers. of course Mr. OwEN : But pointment? The CHANCELLOI will appoint anothe Mr. OwEx : And The CHANCELLOI • not to suppose any like this, where all public eye, anythi altogether unlikely Alter some furl which the Chanel disavowal of all independence of meted his opini • embody the nece! bill, the deputatil FALL OF rioi THE cause of th pened last Satui • plained. The fac aterers, Messrs. between them tt in Tottenham-cc broke out in Me them to that e necessary. Wh Mr. Maple thou, largements and On Friday week premises, and al THE PRESS. of Messrs. Maple's three houses, and ordered the wall to be underpinned, and new brickwork to be put in from the ground to the first floor. The next morning the men came to work at six o'clock, and commenced to remove the old brickwork, and by seven o'clock had succeeded in knocking out two large holes, about oft. by 3ft., at each end of the wall, when suddenly a workman called out to one of the principal clerks, then watching the process on the ground floor, " See how the dust is coming from that wall—l don't like that ;" and instantly after he cried out, " Run, Mr. Hughes ! Run for your life ; the wall is coming down !" In a moment a crash like thunder was heard, another and another followed, and the three houses were a mass of ruins. The thick bressemers, strengthened with iron, which carried the front of the houses, cracked in two like thin laths of wood ; girders and beams snapped, flooring boards were wrung from their joists, sheets of lead, torn off like paper, rolled and curled up in the most curious shapes; lath and plaster, brick and mortar, doors and staircases, window frames and cupboards, bedsteads, chairs, tables, and looking glasses, were all smashed and broken and pounded up into one vast heap of rubbish, while underneath lay the crushed and breathing bodies of dying men and women. The horror and excitement in the neigh- bourhood was intense. Thousands of people rushed to the spot, and energetic means were at once taken to rescue the sufferers known to be buried under the ruins. Ten persons, more or less injured, were soon rescued, and the dead bodies of four more recovered. The chief clerk of the establishment, a Mr. F. Byng, was found lying in his bed, which had fallen with the upper floor. He had evidently been suffocated, as there was n 3 mark of violence whatever upon his person. One small drop of blood was at one of his nostrils. Another body, that of the cook, when dis• covered had a knife grasped firmly in her hand. At the moment of the accident she was preparing breakfast. One miraculous escape is noted ; the knife•boy fell literally from the top to the bottom of the house, and escaped with only a few scratches. On Wednesday the coroner's inquest was held. The bodies of the deceased having been identified, the medical evidence was heard as to the cause of death in each case, after which evidence was taken as to the cause of the accident. Arthur King, a bricklayer, who was at work at the party-wall, de posed : He was running up some brickwork to strengthen the party-wall between Mr. Maple's two houses. He was at work, with two others, under the direction of Mr. Taylor. By the Jury : In running up the brick he used Roman cement. It was about twenty feet from the street. Examination continued: The first intimation he had of the accident was the tolling down of dust from the party wall. The foreman called attention to it. He said toJohn• son's men, " You are cutting away too much brickwork, and we shall have the wall down." Did not hear what reply was made to this. The observations were made about five minutes before the wall fell. He saw the party-wall on Mr. Hunter's side bulge, and split in the middle. Two men shouted to Mr. Hughes, the foreman at Maple's, and others whom he could see, to get out of the way, as the place was falling. He ( witness) ran and made his escape by getting down a ladder into Tottenham•place. Just as he got to tte doorway the place fell down with a heavy crash. There were two openings in Mr. Hunter's party wall, one at one end and one at the other, about four feet square, as near as he could judge. Mr. Hughes corroborated this witness's evidence, and Mr. Harrison, the builder's foreman, employed at the same time upon Mr. Hunter's premises, said At half put seven he was called out by a man named White, who said he was alarmed at seeing some dust fall. ing over. He (witness) then looked in from the front of the shops, so that he could see the partrwall, and thought he saw it cracking. The wall is fourteen inches thick. On examining it he fancied he saw it cracking. Knowing the state of the party-wall between 146 and 147, he called out to both sets of men. One of the openings was about flee feet by three. The dust came from the party-wall between Mr. Hunter's and Mr. Maple's. Immediately after he called out to the men he heard a crash, and saw the building fall. He then assisted to get out some of the injured persons. At this stage the inquest was adjourned till Friday, when, after viewing the body of another deceased sufferer, further evidence was heard, and the inquiry again adjourned. SIR WILLIAM MAGNIN'S CASE has fully occupied the attention of the Court of Common Council this week. The charge against Sir William Maknay is simply this. A few years since Sir William became a director of the Great Luxembourg Railway Company. The board was guilty of great extravagance and indis cretion. Legal proceedings in Belgium ultimately arose with respect to a charge against the board for having misappropriated a sum of 58,000/. ; and on the 27th of February last the Court of Appeal at Brussels decreed that Sir William Magnay, charged in connection with Mr. Masterman with having abstracted 58,000/. from the funds of the company, be adjudged in default guilty of fraud, and be con demned to three years imprisonment, and a fine of 3,0006. SATURDAY, Mr. Blake last week submitted a motion to the court : That Sir William Magnay not having taken any steps for the revocation of the judgment against him, this court feels bound to express its opinion that he ought no longer to occupy the position of an alderman of this city, and to request that he will relinquish that office. This was met by an amendment by Mr. Millard, that the court was " not bound to express" its opinion on the question. The discussion was resumed this week, when on a division the amendment was lost by a large majo rity, and the original motion negatived by 39 to Mr. r. H. FRY then moved, as a further amend ment : That it be referred to a special committee to examine into the nature and truth of the charges brought against Sir William Magnay in the Belgian courts, on which judgment by default has been pronounced, and to report to this court to what extent those charges, if true, affect his moral character, and whether in consequence it has be- come necessary that he should be called upon to resign his gown as an alderman of this city. ➢lr. Ross seconded (the amendment, which was carried. A committee, consisting of Mr. Alderman Cubits, Sir J. Musgrove, and a commoner selected from each ward, was then appointed to institute an investigation in accordance with the terms cf Mr. Fry's amend ment. THE ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE SONS OF THE CLERGY was celebrated this week with the usual service at St. Paul's and banquet at Merchant Tailors'. His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury and nearly two hundred guests were present at the dinner. After the usual loyal toasts, the report was read, by which it appeared that the income for the year had amounted to 28,500/., while the expenditure fell short by 1,8251., which remained as a balance on hand. A most liberal contribution was made to the funds of the charity, amounting to 3,2701., while donations and legacies, including a gift and legacy from Miss Charlotte Beaumont, were announced amid great applause as amounting in all to about 14,0001., of which sum Miss Beaumont's legacy alono , was 12,0001. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS last Tues day received a deputation of architects, upon the subject of keeping open the vacant space at the south-east angle of St. Paul's-churchyard. The value of the area is 75,0001. The City corporation also sent a deputation. It appears that the corporation have it in view to build upon one-fifth of the extent and leave the remainder unoccupied, but they will give up the whole plot upon compensation. The question was referrA to the Committee of Works. VroVinuai. AN UNUSUAL NUMBER OF MURDERS are reported this week. At Bradford a horrible case of love, re venge, murder, and suicide is told. On Monday an assistant bailiff, one Charlton, fell in love with a widow, a Mrs. Holroyd, residing at Liozet green. Jealous of his rival, a man named Normanton, who on that evening met Charlton and Mrs. Ho!royd walking home from a temperance meeting and stopped to talk to Mrs. Holroyd, Charlton accom panied her home, murdered her in her sitting room, then rushed home, took a farewell of his children, and drowned himself in a mill pond. The Coroner's jury returned a verdict of" Felo de se." Thu body of Charlton was the same night interred with out funeral rites.—At Canterbury, on Thursday, another horrible case of revenge and murder occurred. One Stephen Fox, a planemaker, engaged to be married to a handsome girl, the daughter ol a bricklayer, was dismissed by his mistress upon her discovering him to be the father of an illegitimate child. He immediately took steps to revenge him self. He appears to have purchased, or to have possessed, a brace of pistols, and in the presence of an acquaintance deliberately to load them on Wed nesday night, swearing that he would shoot Miss Hadley. He was seen from time to time that night loitering about the house. Information was given to the police ; but they only told bim to " move off." The girl appeared frightened, and slept not at her mother's house, but with the wife of a gardener, ono Gurney. At five in the morning Gurney got Ul•, reconnoitred the neighbourhood, and could seenothing of Fox. We quote the witness's words at the inqueA held the same morning : About seven o'clock I accompanied the deceased towards Vauxhall, where she was going to work. Just as we reached the last gate of the cavalry barracks, Fox rushed out front a lane close by, and presented two pistols, one at me, and the other at the deceased, at the same time saying, " If you, Gurney, come one step further, I will blow your brains out." I stood still, but the deceased crossed towards the hedge, and got by him. He was in the centre of the road. He ran across the road after her, and fired both pistols at her. Having done it he tried to run away, but I followed him, took the pistols from him, and then, with assistance, took him to the station-house at once, 1 saw the deemed