The Press. — London, England, 1856-12-27 00:00:00

1282 be opposed to him, offered to withdraw his resolu tion, but Mr. Bennoch insisting on the question being put to the vote, the amendment was carried without a dissentient, and the proceedings termi nated. _ Mn. ERNEST JONES on Tuesday gave his last political soiree, at St. Martin's Mali, Long-acre. As on the previous occasions, the political portion of the entertainment was preceded by a concert, of which it is impossible to speak but in terms of just admira tion. Mr. Jones's own address commenced with the praise of that portion of the press which was liberal enough to open its columns to the reports of his own lectures, and the condemnation of those paper: which, as he alleged, misrepresented them. He then went into an arithmetical calculation to show that every labouring man in the country ought to have at least 1451. per annum. This, in Mr. Jones's opinion, is to be accomplished by the simple process of doing away with a territorial aristocracy, with the Established Church, with the factory owners, and with Royalty itself. THE RECTORY OF ST. GILES.IN-THE -FIELDS, vacant by the elevation to the bench of the Rev. D. Bicker steth, has been conferred upon the Rev. E. H. Curr, M.A., incumbent of Christ Chapel, Maida•hill. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF \VORIS had an interview with Sir Benjamin Hall on Monday. The Chief Commissioner explained his views regarding the adoption of Plan B• as follows : The plan you have now submitted to me fixes the out falls at the points referred to by Captain Buratal. and which are fifteen miles below London-bridge. But we are well aware that it is desired by the inhabitants of the towns and districts bordering on the river Thames below the fifteen miles' point that the main sewer should be ex tended, and that the outfall should be carried still further from the metropolis, provided the funds can be obtained for the increased expenditure which that extension would render necessary. I shall therefore desire three engineers to report to me whether, in their opinion, there is any other point of discharge still further down the river calcu lated to meet the requirements of those districts. If so, I shall desire that when they submit a plan for such an ex tension of the main sewer that they at the same time set forth the increased cost consequent upon any such exten sion, and the benefits to be derived by the districts through which the extended main drainage will pass. I shall desire them also to state how far, in their opinion, those districts should be required to contribute to the expense of such extended works, having relation to the benefit which those districts would derive from that extension ; as, of course, it is not my intention in giving these instructions, to impose upon the inhabitants of the metropolis a larger sum than they would have to pay if the main sewer stopped at H•. To that extent only ought they to be taxed, unless there should be a general taxation for the works, and then they would come in on the same terms that are applicable to the rest of the kingdom. But it is certainly very desir able, as the people in the vicinity of the Thames are of opinion that the main sewer should be carried further down the river, that three eminent engineers should well consider the subject, so that we may have it fully before us previous to any application to Parliament. A YOUNG WOMAN was killed in a cab on Sunday evening in the New-road. The cabman, will was drunk, ran his cab into an omnibus. He was thrown from his seat by the concussion, and the cab horse, starting off at a great pace, came into collision with another omnibus. The pole of the omnibus was forced through the cab, and, crushing in the chest of the poor woman, killed her on the spot. The cabman is in custody, and under remand for the result of the coroner's inquest. THE CITY MILITIA, it was decided at a Court of Lieutenancy held on Monday, will be made up to its full complement of 1,000 men, and be called out ou Friday, the 17th of April nest. The new head quarters building, between Bunbilf fields burying ground and the Artillery-ground, will be completed by the end of next year. The extent of ground covered will comprise four acres, a lease of which the commissioners have obtained from the Ecclesiasti cal Commissioners for 100 years for the use of the militia. The ground lease for the whole of Fins bury-square and the parts adjacent has nearly expired, and at its expiration the ground will come into the hands of the Church Commissioners. It was understood that the militia would not be again billeted upon the inhabitants of Finsbury, but that immediately upon the assembling of the butly they would be sent to the camp at Aldershott. THE REGISTRAR GENERAL'S RETURNS for the week are of a favorable nature. The deaths have decreased to 1,060, an unusually low average. The births for the last week amounted to H6B boys and 823 girls, in all 1,1191 children. The mean daily temperature of the week was 38.8 deg. The mean temperature of the Thames was 43.7 deg.; on the whole, below the average of the last thirty-eight years. Vrobintial. THE MYSTER4ous DEATH or A YouNa LADY in Banbury has (mused much excite►nent in the town. The circumstances of the case are ea follows i—On Frida7 last the two daughters of Mr. John Garland, THE PRESS. a timber merchant, aged respectively eighteen and twenty, left their home for the purpose of taking an airing. Returning home earlier than they expected, the elder proposed they should go down to the timberyard, and return with their father to dinner. When at the timber-yard they crossed the bridge leading to the railway, accompanied by their father's large Newfoundland dog, for the purpose of seeing the train pass, due at that time. At the station the •Ider sister had occasion to leave the younger with the dog, for the purpose of recalling two younger brothers who were going another road. Returning to the spot where she bad left her sister a few minutes before, she was much surprised to find her gone. Looking around, and puzzled to know how her sister could have passed without her seeing her, she started for home, and told her friends how she had lost her sister all at once at the station, and in quired if she had been home. A short time after the dog returned besoddened with wet and dirt, and, the sister not retuning, the parents began to grow uneasy. Inquiries were set on foot, with no result. Not a word could be heard of the missing young lady. The neighbourhood was searched with no better success. Night came on, with no tidings. The whole town was excited with the wildest and most stupid conjectures—elopement, abduction, and so forth—without the least foundation, and with it passed Saturday, and Sunday forenoon. At about two o'clock on Sunday the mystery was partly solved. The young lady's body was found in the river Cher well, about a quarter of a mile from where she was last seen, but how it came there the coroner's in quest will endeavour to find out. THE TICHET-OF-LEAVE SYSTEM is not looked upon favorably in Sheffield. On Monday evening a public meeting was held in Sheffield-park (the district in which Mr. Bradley's residence, the scene where the late atrocious burglary took place, is situate.), to con. sider what better means could be adopted to protect life and property. The ticket-of leave system formed one of the principal topics of discussion. Mr. George Allen moved the following resolution : That this meeting deeply regrets the vast increase of crime in this country, and the consequent insecurity of life and property, and pledges itself to sink all minor differences in considering the cause, grappling with the evil, and bringing about, if possible, a better state of things. It appeared from the speeches made in support of the resolution that a gold deal of alarm prevailed in the out-districts of Sheffield, and that householders had appointed private watchmen for their protection. It, was stated that people were obliged to go armed when they went out at night, and were also com pelled to bolt, bar, and line with iron their doors and windows. The resolution was carried, and another resolution was also proposed, recommending an in crease of the Sheffield police force. In connection with this burglary we may mention that two men, Dickinson and Gledall, have been arrested and identified by Mr. and Mrs. Bradley. THE TENANTRY OF MR. G. LANE Fox, of Bram. ham.park, Yorkshire, subscribed upwards of a thou. sand pounds for a portrait of that gentleman, and on Thursday week it was presented to Mrs. Fox in the presence of a large assembly of the subscribers and others. Mr. Lane Fox lowered his rents ten per cent. in the " hard times," and when agricultural affairs became more prosperous he declined the offer of the tenants to pay the old rents again. A DANGEROUS HOAX is related by several of the West Riding papers in an account of the shooting of a burglar by a woman who believed her house was about to be attacked by robbers. It turns out that no robbery was intended, but only a joke. A surgeon who lives in the neighbourhood of the woman's resi dence was, it appears, in the habit of paying his devoirs to her occasionally. He was on some such errand on Friday morning at about two o'clock, and was followed by two or three boon companions, who had been spending the evening with him, and who made their appearance just as he was endeavouring to obtain admittance to the woman's house. She, being alarmed at the noise made, opened her chamber window, and, hearing them say something about going round to the back door, she fired a horse pistol at one of the intruders, who instantly fell, and was soon afterwards removed by his com rades. The wounded man is the surgeon alluded to, and he is rather seriously injured in the neck. At the same time the repulse of a bona-fide burglar is related of a Miss Blamires, a maiden lady, resid ing at Great Horton, near Bradford. About half past one a.m. on Sunday the lady, who was sleeping in a room on the ground floor, was alarmed at hear ing a noise. She started up, turned on the gas, and saw a man's head projecting through the window into the interior of the room. The house had been but recently broken into, and therefore, for pr o t ec ti on , Miss Biamtres kept in her sleeping apartment an iron crowbar. With this she struck sev era l h eavy blows at the intruding head, severely mauling it. While this was being done an accomplice outside cried out" St ike her; cu(lgellier with tho bludgeon, Jaok." The adviQe, however, could not be followed; SAT and Jack's head, being somewhat impressible to the crowbar, was as soon as possible withdrawn, and then the rascals decamped. Although their track was for some distance marked with blood, they have not yet been captured. CAPTAIN HARI STEIN and the American officers who brought over the Resolute were on Tuesday waited upon by a deputation from the Liverpool Shipowners' Association, and presented with a friendly and congratulatory address. The address observed : The of a common ancestry and a common language, a similarity of laws, and in many respects an identity of interests, to say nothing of private friendships and personal ties, united your country to ours by bonds which cannot easily be severed, but spontaneous acts of friendship by the one nation to the other, such as that to which it has been your pleasing duty to accomplish, are the beat evidence to mankind at large of the indissoluble character of those bonds, and engender the utmost confi• deuce in the nations themselves that the peace which has so long happily subsisted between them will continue un• disturbed. This association, representing the shipping interest of this port, has witnessed this graceful act ou the part of the United States with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction. Our flags and those of your country are blended together in the harbours of commerce throughout the world ; and we rejoice upon every occasion when the good feelings which the trading community of each country bear towards each other are encouraged by more than ordinary acts of friendship on the part of either of their Governments. To this Captain Hartstein replied : In my present mission to your Government you can read the spirit of Americans towsrds the people of this country, and can easily believe that your happy allusion to the mutual bonds of origin and a community of feeling be tween us will meet with a cordial response. The advance ment of science and the arts, to which both nations have, in a spirit of generous rivalry, so greatly contributed, have changed our ancient geographical positions. Miles and seconds have become almost synonymous words, and now the iron messengers of our commerce fly like steam shuttles, weaving between us a fabric of mutual interest. May that spirit of friendly emulation, enterprise, and enlightened purpose which has given to our shipping interests the distinguished place they occupy throughout the universe ever continue. For your expression of friendly interest and congratulations to myself and officers of the Resolute be pleased, gentlemen, to accept our hearty thanks. A grand banquet was given on Tuesday to Captain Hartstein and the American officers by the mayor and corporation of Portsmouth. About sixty-five gentlemen and officers were present. The most cor dial feeling was exhibited, and the speeches on both sides expressed the warmest friendship between the representatives of the two countries. A TURKISH FUNERAL took place last Saturday at Plymouth. The deceased was a seaman belonging to the Peiki Zaffer, Turkish line.of-battle ship, now being converted into a screw, at that port. The body was brought on shore on a bier of rough hewn board covered with a flag, followed by a large cor tege of the officers, seamen, and marines, belonging to the vessel. The melancholy and novel spectacle on its way to the burial-ground attracted a large con course of people, and on its arrival at the grave, the officiating priests commenced in a sonorous voice to read and chant the burial ritual, according to the Moslemite faith, the funeral attendants standing, kneeling, and prostrating themselves during the ceremony. After the conclusion of the service, the grave was carefully dug, and tested by a compass in order to ascertain its bearings in relation to the holy city—Mecca. The officiating priest then went into the grave, into which the body was lowered coffinless. The bier was afterwards broken up and piled in the grave, and the mould well trodden on the re mains, the priests taking up positions at a consider able distance east and west. On the procession leaving the grave the former commenced chanting certain passages in a loud voice, and finished the ceremony by pouring water around the edge of the grave on both sides. A DEATH FROM FRIGHT occurred last week at Alfreton, in Derbyshire. The deceased, Robert Mitchell, a farmer's boy, aged fifteen, was in the habit of going, after leaving off work, to a farmhouse at some little distance to fetch milk. The farmer had two servant lads, one named Percival, twenty years old, the other named Hudson, fifteen. On Monday evening, the 15th inst., the deceased went as usual, about six o'clock, for the milk, and remained till nearly eight, listening to tales about some knock ings they had lately been frightened with. Percival and Hudson then agreed between them to frighten the deceased as he went home, the former arranging to put ott a white tablecloth and stand in a field not far from the house through which Hudson was to conduct the lad, and to feign alarm as if he saw a ghost. This scheme was accordingly carried into effect, the pretended ghost gliding behind a style through which the poor lad had to pass. Deceased said twice, Is it Jack ?" but reoaived no answer beyond a moaning noise, Hudson in the meanwhile having hid himself behind a tree. At length Percival throw off bit disgttitse i but Of,