The Press. — London, England, 1856-08-30 00:00:00

-4-4wow- , A o4llooolll kr • ti".,4- ' ' AUGUST 30, 1856. the fire, then losing his presence of mind tore out his boxes of gold from underneath the bed, snatched up the burning bluelight, rushed upon deck, and. mad with fright and alarm for his dear guineas, screamed out for, and scrambled to, the lee boat : the ship gave a lee lurch, he tumbled over the hencoops, and dropped boxes and all to the bottom, not of the boat, but of the British Channel. Here was a pleasant termination to all his sufferings, hopes, and frights. It was very hard. The night was dark, the deck was slippery ; but for a seaman of fifty years to lose his sea-legs, tumble over the hen coops, and deliberately drop his two boxes of gold into the water, would not bear reflection. Cooler after the catastrophe, he did not jump is after them, but immediately reported the case to the under writers, who declined to pay the insurance. An action t iok place, a commission hal been sent to Australia, and the present action was the result. Several wit nesses corroborated these various facts, when Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, for the defence, rose and admitted that the claim would be no further disputed : His Loansme : I think that is quite right ; I am glad the case has terminated in this way. At first it struck me as one of the most ludicrous things in the world that a man should have tripped in the British Channel, and dropped his boxes of gold into the sea. But the truth is, when the thing becomes thoroughly sifted, f am satisfied of the correctness of the case. I think the underwriters would have acted exceedingly wrongfully if they had not fought out the case to the beet of their ability ; but I own 1 feel as satisfied as a man can be by hearing an ex parte case that Captain Petrie has made out his case. It is clear, it is abundantly proved over and over again, that he had the means of having the gold in his possession. My notion is—and I have repeatedly expressed it since I had the honour of a seat on the bench—that very rarely yon will find people commit a fraud unless the thing is done and completed in a very short space of time indeed ; and to doubt the plaintiff in this case would be to suppose a most elaborate scheme of fraud on his part. I must say I feel satisfied—of course keeping one's mind in reserve for the other side of the question—that he has made oat his case. The learned judge further said that, if he were Cap tain Petrie, he would take nothing less than his entire claim, and a verdict was accordingly entered. A STAFFORDSHIRE JURY have just rivalled their Bodmin bretbren in a testimonial " non-sequitur." The question for inquiry was the cause of the late explosion in Lord Ward's Ramrod - hall Colliery, Oldbury, whereby four men were killed. The pit was under the management of two responsible persons, Mr. Spruce, the ground bailiff, and the butty, Baker. The evidence clearly proved that the pit was left unworked and unvisited between the Saturday and the following Wednesday ; that, in disobedience to Act of Parliament, the pit had not been tried with a safety-lamp on the morning of the explosion, and that the ventilation was grossly neglected. The Government inspectors were both of opinion that gross neglect, and a disregard of the most ordinary precautionary measures, were the causes of the explo sion, and that the ground manager and the Inlay (one of the men killed) were the responsible persons. The coroner in summing up said : He considered that on this occasion the hutty (Baker) had been guilty of the grossest and most culpable neglect, fur after he had received warning from below, and had been requested to bring the safety lamp down into the pit with sin,, and after a lamp had actually been sent for, he said, "Oh, there's no sulphur," and went down into the pit with the other men, carrying with him a quantity of ligh•ed coals, which caused the explosion. If Baker were now alive, he (the Coroner) should have felt it his duty to direct them to find a verdict of manslaughter against him, for there could be no doubt that had he performed his duty the explosion would have been prevented. Having dis posed of the case as regarded Baker, it would be for the jury to consider whether M r . Sp ruce or an y o th er p erson had been guilty of such culpable negligence as to warrant a verdict of manslaughter against them. The jury, who had not. asked a single question of any of the witnesses, and did not appear at all to understand the evidence as it was laid before them, then retired, anti shortly afterwards announced that they had agreed to a verdict of " Accidental death." The Coroner : Do you all agree to that verdict? Foreman : Yes, we are all agreed !—And Mr. Spruce probably thinks himself fortunate. At; INQUIRY into the alleged flogging of certain girls in Marylebone Workhouse has taken place this week before the guardians. The evidence was con flicting. The girls swore to having been cruelly beaten by the porters, and the house-surgeon deposed to having found weals and bruises on their persons. The master denied, on the other hand, that he had authorised the use of canes ; and the porters and matrons swore to the uproarious conduct of the girls, who beat and kicked them till they were obliged, in self-defence, to use " prompt " measures. They denied, however, having beaten or illtreated the girls. MR BAXTER, of Greenside, near Durham, a retired i ngneotor of Excise, has been arrested for the murder ci his wife. The circumstbucAm are curious. Mr. THE PRESS. and Mrs. Baxter were accustomed every night to get very drunk. Last Friday (week) night they re tired to bed in their usual agreeable state. About two a.m. their servant was roused by the bedroom hell ringing. She got up, went into the room, found her mistress lying hal f off the bed, and her roaster in it, both apparently helplessly drunk. She put her mis tress into bed and went away. About four a.m. she was roused by the voice of her master crying out that Mrs. Baxter was dead ! She ran into the room and found Mrs. Baxter dead and cold. On Monday an inquest was held. The jury viewed the body, and to their surprise they discovered marks of discolouration about the body and a clear ring round the throat. They adjourned, a post-mortem examination took place, and the medical men decided that deceased had died from strangulation. The inquest was re sumed, but the jury could not agree to a verdict. The coroner dismissed them, ordered the arrest of Mr. Baxter, and has laid the circumstances before the Home Secretary. THE SUSPECTED MURDER AT HAMPTON-COURT is Still enveloped in mystery, as the phrase goes, that is to say the police, as usual of late, have utterly failed as yet to discover any facts connected with the man's death, to trace the large sum of money he was known to possess on the day of his death, or to account for his being found in the Thames with a frightful wound in his side. The exhumation of the body this week, and a more careful examination, has resulted in the discovery of several swan-shot in the left lung, going far to prove that the deceased was shot down and then flung into the river. The stomach of the deceased will be analysed to discover, if possible, whether he was drugged or not before death. The adjourned inquest was resumed on Thursday and adjourned for further inquiry, information having been received that the deceased had been seen alive after the day mentioned in the depositions. A PATIENT IN THE LEICESTER LUNATIC &SSYLUM, one Sparrow, was put into a hot bath last week for punish ment by two of the attendants. The poor fellow, in his violent struggles to free himself from his forcible immersion, turned the hot- water tap. The attendants did not perceive this for some minutes, when they took Sparrow out of the bath. He was severely scalded, and, from the fright, excitement, and injury, died in three days. The jury, at the inquest, found a verdict of "Accidental death," passing a severe censure on the attendants. A DREADFUL MURDER has been committed in Liverpool. A man named William Ray, quarrelling with a woman be lived with, struck her. She threatened that if he struck her again she would " stick " him. He dealt her another blow, when she immediately snatched up a knife and plunged the blade in his breast, producing a wound of about two inches deep under the left nipple, in the region of the heart. He rose from the table, and, followed by the woman, went into an upper room, shook her by the hand, said " I forgive you," and fell back dead. The woman has been committed for trial on the charge of " Wilful murder." Two COLLIERS, Griffiths and John, were committed for trial last week, at the Cardiff Sessions, for ac tempting to set fire to the Cefn colliery , Iythegstone. MR, JOSEPH PAVINTON. of Thornton-heath, Croy don, blew out his brains last week in a fit of melan choly. For many years past he had been in extremely delicate health l'iom an injury to the hip. The jury returned a verdict of " Temporary insanity." JOSEPH MARTIN, a respectable, well educated shipping clerk, was committed by Mr. Hamill, on Thursday, for six months' bard labour, for cruelty to his wife. THOMAS MANSELL, a private in the 49th Regiment, encamped at Dover, deliberately snot one of his comrades, M‘Burney, last Wednesday. Mansell has been handed over to the civil authorities. ,40 "741,40" 'lva woes++. -loir 827 as the most favorable ports. The minute then ob serves that if a steam-packet service be established by a private company, the Government will adopt it as a mail passage, and make such improvements in the ports as may be required. The minute con cludes : But, before my lords proceed actually to incur any ex pense upon the ports named, for their improvement, in pursuance of any report that may be made by the Ad miralty, it will be quite necessary that they should be well satisfied that all the arrangements herein referred to, and which would be necessary to give public utility to the scheme, will be completed. With regard to the memorials for aid in completing the railways by a public loan, it appears there is no fund disposable for such a purpose except that an nually voted by Parliament for public works, and administered under the board of commissioners ap pointed for the purpose:— It will (says the minute) therefore be necessary for those requiring such a loan to apply to the Public Loan Commissilmers, with whom rests the responsibility of judging of the security to be accepted in such cases, and who alone can determine how far the other demands upon the fund at their disposal will enable them to entertain the rcquest. _ _ A CORRESPONDENCE between the Lord Mayor and the Earl of Clarendon upon the subject of the con tributions lately raised in this country for the rclia of the sufferers by the late inundations in France, has been published. The Lord Mayor states that 705,000 f. (30,6001.) has been sent from London; that the total subscription has reached 32,0001.; and be has no doubt the contributions from other towns will sw'll the amount to nearly 50,0001. Lord Clarendon, in reply, says : I have not failed to lay your lordship's letter before the Queen, who has commanded me to express to you her entire approval of the manner in which the committee so worthily presided over by your lordship has discharged the duties which it undertook. Her Majesty also desires me to convey to your lordship the assurance of the great satisfaction with which she has observed the generous sympathy displayed by the public in responding to the appeal made to them by the committee, and in thus en deavouring to alleviate the calamity which had befallen the people in certain departments ofilerance. Mr. Hugh Seymour Tremenheere's report on the mining districts for 1856 has just been published. The commissioner urges the necessity of a measure to compel all boys between ten and fourteen years of age, who work below ground, to attend some school for 100 hours every six months. The efforts at, im provement made at the great mining districts of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire are next no ticed. The proprietors have taken some steps to provide for their people better means of moral, reli gious, and general instruction. The unfeminine employment of women upon the " pit-banks and cinder tips" has long been indicated as degrading to the female character, and EIS fraught with many and most obvious evils. A woman of this class, so brought up, and from an early age, marries at or soon after twenty ; and how, it is asked, is she qualified for the discharge of the con jugal duties! The strike in the principal coal and iron districts in Scotland occupies the remainder of the report. The loss of wages between March and June (when the strike terminated) is estimated at a minimum of 500,0001., but this very imperfectly represents the total loss inflicted upon the commu nity. These strikes are likely to take place from time to time in Scotland, and the employers are urged to adopt, without delay, such measures as may tend to abridge their duration. Mr. Tremenheere thinks that it is possible, were the effort fairly made, to establish eo much confidence between workmen and masters as should satisfy the former, when a demand for an increase of wages was resisted by the latter, that they really could not afford to comply with the request. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. Tuesday, August 26. BANKRUPTS. EDWARD JACKSON Dsvirs, High street, Poplar, draper—Hann TURNER, late of Kingstreet, - Hclhorti, ribbon manufacturer and licensed victualler—Jons RICHARD YON, Trinity-street, Cambridge. taiIor—CHARLES WATERS BANES, GEORGE BANKS, and ROBERT BANES, Bermondsey New-mad, Surrey, printers and publishers—SAMUEL I3ATLY, Bournemouth, Southan pton, hOI(3I4I3OperCLIARLES HAMILTON COLLINS, late of Great St. Helen's, City, merchant—WlLLlAM HENET WHEELER, Mickleton, Gloucester. brewer—Geoaon Dotoot, Birmingham, painter and glazier—Tnomss Houle, Stoke-two*. Trent, Stafford, innkeeper—Grusue PUCICRIN,TunstaII. Stafford, grocer—Timm PERCIVAL WILLCOX and EDWIN WILLGOZ. Bristol, contractors--Jsmrs MICHELL, Crews-hole, St. George, and Westbury-upomTrym, Gloucester, copper and lead smelter— JOSHUA MINNS, Dukintield, Cbester, cottan manufacturer WALTER ADAM SLATER, Standish and Preston, coal proprietsr and dealer—Baum BRADY Simpson, Deptford, Sunderland, builder. pisrtilantilus. THE EARLDOM OF SHREWSBURY promises to be come a question for the highest legal tribunal to settle. The late earl has disentailed estates worth some 35,000/. a year, and left them to Lord Bernard Howard, second son of the Duke of Norfolk, and to his grace's brother, Lord Howard, M.P. The Duke of Norfolk has taken possession of Alton Towers, but a formal notice has been published by Earl Talbot's solicitor, addressed to the Shrewsbury tenantry, warning them "not to pay any rent to Lord Edward Bernard Howard, or any of his agents, or ctherwise to acknowledge his claim to the estates, as the successor to the earldom is entitled to the rents from the day of the death of the late earl." Major William Talbot, of Castle Talbot, Wexford, is also disposed to assert his claims to the title against Earl Talbot. The funeral of the late earl took placo on Tuesday, at Alton Towers. THE POSTAL AND PASSENGER COMMUNICATION be tween Ireland and the north of Scotland has received the attention of the Lords of the Treasury. A minute of the 15th August, 1858, upon the opinion of the Admiralty, recognises Port Patrick and Donaghadeo Friday, Aqua 29. BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED—TwomAs Tauw, Ponty pridd, Glamorgan, ironmonger. BANKRUPTS.—JOHN How's Tunas, Norwiob, abos manu facturer—l ENRY BOITOMLICT, Halifax, grocer— H ZNRY STOTT, H lifaa, grocer -FRANCIS WILLIAMS . Almondabary. Gionceetir shire, baker—WILLIAM HENRY BROADHICAD and %t ILLIAM HEM sox, Nottingham, builders EPHRAIM Seem., Alfred-road, Harrow-road. Paddington, builder—RowLAND OLDHAM, Stam ford, wine and hop merchant—Wm. ELD, Brierley-hill, Stafford shire, treeer—Joine Brumes, Kidderminster. budder—PAßß. VITT/ LUO, Greek ViliMbeeter•SKeet i inereheltdi. ._ T 1"" C~lSS.'i ~. -.,,,,,..., -..r ‘