The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-29 00:00:00

MISS MADELEME SMITH lett her borne last week, for the south of Etgland. It is said that before leaving Scotland she had received by letter no less than ten offers of marriage. THE REV. MR. WEST, curate of Hemel Hemp stead, has been suspended, for refusing to read the form of thanksgiving ordered by the Government for the birth of a princess in April last. The Arch bishop of Canterbury has confirmed the act of the bishop of the diocese. A GREAT SEIZURE OF TOBACCO was made just out side Southampton, last Saturday morning. A Custom-house messenger, one Atkins, residing about t Fro miles from the town, early in the morning noticed a cart driven past by two men. The owner's name, with " Landport," a place some twenty miles distant, painted on the cart, was also noticed by Atkins, who, with that intuitive sagacity an employ ment in a detective atmosphere naturally gives, immediately suspected that the cart could not have come that distance so early in the morning, and that therefore all was not right. He ran after the cart; one of the men ran away; Atkins seized the other, and found the cart to contain a ton and a half of contraband tobacco. It has since been seized by the proper authorities, and Atkins no doubt will receive a handsome recognition of his services and sagacity. A GOOD CROP OF RAILWAY ACCIDENTS are re ported this week. First of all, we have a Brighton passenger train running into some gocds-waggons being shunted off—just time enough to be too late— st the Redhill station. No blame was to be attri buted to any of the officials on the spot, for the passenger-train was before its time, arid the danger signals were " dead against" the driver of the up train. It appears, from the preliminary examination which has occurred, that the driver and fireman were both putting on coke at the time of reaching the viaduct at Reigate; that hence they did not observe the danger.signal, ran past it, and, roused by the guard putting on the breaks, shut off the steam too late to prevent the concussion. Several of the pas sengers were severely hurt, though no lives were lost. In the train were some persons of rank. The Duchess of Inverness and the Bishop of Oxford were both in the same carriage, and were both more or less shaken. The bishop, however, was very active in calming his fellow-passengers and in ren• dering gencral assistance. The train was delayed about one hour and a half.—On the same afternoon the 2.24 mail-train from Aberdeen to London met with an accident close to Montrose. One of the axles of the engine broke, the train was thrown off the line, several carriages turned over an embank ment, and, though no persons were killed, several were most severely injured.—On the same evening a pointsman, one Henry Holloway, employed at the Wolverhampton station, was run over by an engine, horribly crushed, and died in a few hours.—On Saturday evening, on the West Somerset Mineral Railway, a dreadful accident, evidently the result of grass carelessness, occurred. Two engines tra versing the same line of rails came into collision about a mile from Watchet. One man was killed on the spot and two others died in a few minutes after their removal, while six or seven more had their arms and legs broken.--And, to conclude, a Mr. George Cox, a bookseller, was killed at the Colney hatch station of the Great Northern Railway, on Thursday week. On reaching the station the train passed to the extent of several carriages beyond the usual resting point, seven or eight carriages having passed the platform altogether. Several of the pas sengers then alighted upon the platform, one of whom, a Mr. Wilson, a solicitor, residing at South gate, saw the deceased open the door of the carriage and come out. As it appeared evident that the train must back in consequence' of having gone so far, he called out to the deceased not to get out. He had, however, taken a second step, when the train being rut in motion, he lost his footing, fell between the platform and carriages, and disap peared. The train was immediately stopped and the unfortunate gentleman was taken up, but death must have been instantaneous, the head being lite rally crushed. A verdict was returned of " Accidental Death," coupled with some severe animadversions upon the conduct of the station authorities. Ma. FRANCIS BATEMAN, a resident of Bath, was accidentally drowned at Teignmouth last Saturday. He appeared to have had a fit while swimming. THE PRESS, AUGUST `29, 1857. THE IRISH MILITIA REGIMENTS to be embodied, observes the Saunders's Letter, though probably de cided upon by the Government, have not yet bean officially announced; but from the statements made by Lord Palmerston and Sir J. Ramsden, that the most efficient and strongest on disembodiment would be first selected, it is almost certain that the Antrim Rifles, South Cork, South Mayo Rifles, and Limerick County, will be among the first, they having been strongest of the Irish militia when disembodied, and each having performed a tour of garrison and camp duty. - - - THE FARM now cultivated by Mr. Alan Pollock in the west of Ireland consists of 20,000 acres. There are at present under turnips 2,000 acres ; oatq, 3,000 ; wheat, 1,200; potatoes, 400. He has 1,000 head of cattle for stall feeding, 400 working horses, and pays 4,0001. monthly in wages. There have been erected on it 30 miles of stone wall fences. Mr. William Wiley, LL.D., is reported to have been appointed to the office of registrar of the New Court of Probate and Administration in Ireland. Tne salary will be 10001. per annum. gabi an Volta. ANTONIO DE SITS', tried and convicted last Friday at the Central Criminal Court, and sen tenced to fifteen years penal servitude, on the charge of wounding with intent to kiil Mr. Robert son, in the Queen's Bench Prison, on the Bth of July last, appears certain to meet with a severer punish ment, Mr. Robertson having died on Saturday evening. A coroner's inquest was held on Tuesday in the prison, when Mr. Waken, the surgeon of the prison, stated, in addition to the testimony that has previously appeared, that the deceased died on Saturday evening, and on the following morning he made a post-mortem examination :- All the wounds the unfortunate man had received had entirely healed externally, and he only considered it necessary to make a minute examination of the one at the nape of the neck, in which he had always believed the broken portion of the knife still remained. He ascertained that the spinal cord had been divided, and discovered about two inches of the pointed portion of the blade of a knife imbedded in one of the neck bones, and it had entered to such an extent as to require considerable force to remove it. The cause of death was paralysis, produced by the division of the spinal cord, and the consequent exhaustion that followed upon an injury of this de scription. Mr. Wakem produced the portion of the spine that he had removed, preserved in spirits, and with the broken blade of the knife still remaining in the place where he discovered it. The point of the knife was subsequently removed and compared with the weapon that was picked up at the time of the occur rence, and they were found to correspond exactly. After several other witnesses had been examined, and who entered at length into all those details which have already appeared, the jury returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder " against Salvi. A CURIOUS CASE OF EITIUDFLENT ENLISTMENT was brought before Mr. Seeker, at the Woolwich Police•court, on Tuesday. William Masters, an athletic young man, was charged with fraudulently enlisting into the regiment of Royal Artillery, under the following circumstances :—From the evidence of Sergeant-Major Kinnear, R.A., it appeared that about a fortnight since the prisoner enlisted at Ipswich, and on being attested, stated, in reply to the usual questions, that he had never served in the army or navy. On arriving at head-quarters the prisoner was recognised as having been discharged from the Royal Artillery in January, 1834, for not being able to learn his dutie.s. The prisoner now admitted the truth of this statement, hut urged that he ought not to have been discharged, as he wished to die an artilleryman, and hearing that the Queen wanted soldiers to go to India he thought there was no harm in enlisting again. Mr. SECKER: But the Queen does not want men to enter the service by means of taking a false oath. It is now my duty to sentence you under the Mutiny Act to two months' hard labour. Prisoner: lam sorry for that. I would sooner go to India and fight for the Queen. The prisoner was committed for two months. ANOTHER REFRESHING CASE of commercial mo rality has come to light. The Royal Surrey Gardens Company, consisting of Mr. Beale, Mr. Chappell, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wyld, and the illustrious Mr. Cop• pock, formed with a capital of 40,0001., and starting with 32,5601. actually in hand, has come to a sudden and mysterious stop. It appears that the gardens belonged to a Mr. Tyler, and that to him, in the first instance, 14,0001. was stated to have been paid as the purchase-money for ground, with only a lease of twelve years to run, and which had been previously offered to and refused by M. Jullien for 10,0001. It is not quite clear to whom these 14,0001. found their way. lrt!ant. SPOLLEN has been re-arrested by the police, on a charge of robbing Mr. Little, and has been fully com mitted for trial. A HORRIBLE MURDER has been committed in Tipperary, about eight miles from Thurles. Two families of the name of Stapleton quarrelled about some land. The men of the one family attacked the other with scythes, cut down and killei one man, horribly mangled his sister, and stabbed his father. The offenders have been arrested. 847 " Mr. Tyler appeared to be the party," said an indig nant shareholder at a meeting last week," but it would be found be did not receive it. He would not men tion r.ames, but no court would say that any direc tors had a right to expend 14,0001. in the purchase of property which was not worth one farthing." And then, in connection with this mysterious advance of 14,0001. for property " not worth a far thing," is found the na.ne of James Coppock, to whom Tyler is reported to have been " considerably indebted ;" and simultaneously with the formation of the company, and the payment of these 14,0001., we find Tyler appointed manager of the gardens at a salary of 3001. a year. Mr. Coppock appears to have been the heart and soul of the whole affair, and, of course, he will be able to enlighten the Bankruptcy Commissionets upon all points. Nothing was done at the meeting of the committee of directors, except at the instance of Mr. Coppock. 1 ' Mr. Coppock," said M. Jullien, "had so much power in the com mittee, that the others were sitting round him like mouses,' and trembling ; they never decided any thing ; and he says, ' I vote for that," I vote for that,' and it is done. Some day I give some objec tions, but no use, and then I say, You don't under. stand public amusements—l could better trust you to make members of Parliament than for amuse ments.'" After the disbursement of 14,0001. for the ground, 18,0001. appears to have been expended in building the music -hall, 3,1751. for preliminary ex penses, and everything appears to b 3 going on couleur du rose ; dividends of ten per cent. are declared out of profits, and flourishing prospectuses are issued, when all of a sudden the architect peti tions the Bankruptcy Court, an expose is made, and it is discovered that, though very large receipts have for come months been coming in, none of the employes had been paid, M. Juilien had never received a far thing for his services, his cheque for 2,0001. had been dishonoured, the architect had never been paid, that go )(1 soul Mrs. Seacole had never received a single sixpence of the proceeds of the nights' performances given on her behalf, and altogether as pretty a piece of—to use a mild term—mismanagement, was laid bare as it was ever the fate of unfortunate shareholders to encounter. The debts of the company amount to '16,0001. The great question is, into whose pockets have the large receipts gone? The proceedings in the Court of Bankruptcy on Thursday do not en lighten us much. Mr. Coppock appealed, and spoke out boldly, denying that he had ever received a far. thine, that he was heavily involved in the affair. The court has ordered the matter to stand over until the 17th October next. " TAKE CARE OF YOUR POCKETS" would appear to be a necessary notice to be put up at the Crystal Palace, for we learn from the police reports this week that, on Wednesday evening, one of the assistants in the " Cheese and Salad Department " diverted himself with the amiable eccentricity of picking the pockets of visitors. Keen detective Sergeant Copping dis tinctly observed that be had "put his hands into the pockets of several, and immediately after doing so he wiped his face with a pocket. handkerchief." With the eye of experience remarking that these hand kerchiefs were differeut in pattern and appearance, the suspicions of the sergeant were first excited, then confirmed, and he made several efforts to se cure the prisoner, but his dexterity was such as to avoid apprehension for a considerable time. At last he was caught, and in different pockets and various parts of his person no less than eight handkerchiefs were found. When questioned, he said at a guess that he bad ten handkerchiefs in his pocket. The prisoner was committed for three months' hard labour. A BANKRUPT BROKER OF LIVERPOOL, Mr. J. Do herty, was charged on Wednesday at the local po.ice court with having obtained certain securities from Messrs. Bingham and Co., under the false pretence that he was entitled to 1,50 J barrels of flour by a certain ship, the C,nturion. The case involved such nice legal points that Mr. Mansfield resolved to send the case to the sessions, granting bail to the defendant to the extent of 4,0001. ONE CORNELIUS DENNY went into a coffee-shop in the Hampstead-road on Sunday evening, and fell asleep. Upon being roused, after some hours' sleep, he attacked the attendant, a Swiss boy, Benzonelli, struck him twice in the face, and then, drawing a clasp-knife, stabbed him in the stomach. Benzo nelli died in University Hospital the following night, after identifying the prisoner, who has been fully committed to take his trial. MRS. CHARLOTTE KNOX, the widow of an officer formerly in the East India Company's service, and in receipt of the widow's pension, has been arrested, charged with continuing to receive that pension and to sign the receipt papers as a widow since the 11th October, 1855, when she remarried a Mr. Cross. The case is under remand, but it is understood that the defence will show the illegality of the marriage on the part of Mr. Cross.