The Sun. — London, England, 1859-09-19 00:00:00

MAJOR TREMENHEERE'S REPORT ON THE MINING DISTRICT S. A report addressed to the Home Department by Mr. Hugh Seymour Tremenheere, the commissioner appointed under the provisions of the act 5 and 6 Viet., cap. 99, to inquire into the operation of that act, and into the state of the mining districts, has just been published, dated August 8, 1859. We ex tract from it the following, relating to the South Staffordshire districts : THE BUTTY SYSTEM. In the course of the strike last autumn, which lasted about fifteen weeks, the complaints against the " butty " system were renewed by the men, and the continuance 'of that system was urged as the most prominent among their grievances. The " butty is a contractor, or middleman, between the master and the men. He has under him an agent, the " doggy," who superintends the work in the butty's absence. It is a complaint of long standing that the contractors and under agents take advantage of the men in various ways ; by stopping money from their wages, which they are obliged to spend in drink ; by making them work until two o'clock for half a day, or until half past ten or eleven for a quarter-day ;by measur ing four yards for three and a half in estimating the amount of work done; by sending drink to the pits in the middle of the week, and making the men pay for it, whether they want it or not; by paying the men late on Saturday night, and keeping them waiting in or about the public-houses in which the butties are interested, in order that they may spend money in drink ; by unskilful and improper management of the pits, "to save money and time," whereby their health is injured and their lives endangered. These and other complaints against the butty system were urged at ♦arious meetings, attended by from 1,200 to 3,000 and 4,000 of the men (as the one at West Bromwich, on the 17th of August, 1858), wher e they were all enumerated; and it was added by one of the speakers, " the man must pay whether he has the drink or not, and if the man does not drink there is little or no work ;" meaning that those who do not drink are soon got rid of. Complaints of this nature have been attracting public attention in South Staffordshire for many years. About '2O years ago, as lam informed by Mr. Phillip Williams, the chairman of the Iron Masters' Association, than whom no other is better acquainted with everything that concerns the dis trict, a county meeting was called, and was pre sided over by the then lord-lieutenant of the county, Earl Talbot, to take this alleged " grievance" in to consideration. The meeting was attended by forty magistrates. Mr. Philip Williams, on being called upon, gave such explanations relating to it that the meeting abstained from further inter ference. In 1843, Mr. Tancred was instructed by the Secretary of State to inquire into all matters affecting the social condition of the mining popula tion of this county, and in his report dwelt much upon this question. In my report of the year fol lowing, to the Secretary of State, upon the same subject, and in my reports for 1847 and 1850, I directed attention to the fact that complaints arising from this source still existed, although ap parently to a less extent than formerly, and I stated the various disadvantages, social as well as econo mical, which many enlightened persons in the dis trict believed they could trace directly to this sys tem of employment. As the question has again been raised, I deemed it my duty again to investigate it, and I have re cently discussed it with a considerable number of gentlemen representing large firms in Staffordshire and Worcestershire, employing mining labour, and whose position and experience entitle their opinions to the most respectful consideration. The question is much narrowed by one or two preliminary considerations. First, the two counties, as regards the raising of coal, are separated into two great districts, the thick and the thin coal district. In the former the pits are for the most part ex. tensive, and the number of men in each is consider able. In this district it is more easy to do away with the butty system, and adopt that by which the colliers are in the direct employ of the master. Accordingly, in this district several of the principal employers have for some years past worked many of their own pits, under the superintendence of their own agents, with results satisfactory both to themselves and their men. In the latter, the thin coal district, the pits being for the most part small, containing only from 10 to 20 or 30 men, it is alleged to be more difficult to dispense with the system of letting the pits to con tractors (butties) ; and it is asserted with, I believe, perfect truth, that the butty system is not neces sarily attended with the evils that have been specified at the meetings above adverted to. Indeed, the character of all the principal per sons in the coal and iron trades in the whole of this important district, and that of the great majority of the small masters, stands far too high to permit a doubt that if those evils could be sub stantiated as existing in their works the contrac tors would be immediately dismissed, or efficient means taken to remove any such causes of com plaint. In point of fact, many of the masters have again recently assured me that the men in the em ploy of their contractors make no complaints, and that they are perfectly aware that the master is at all times ready to listen to, and take immediate steps to redress, any complaint relating to any form of oppression that might be attempte 'l. But, although the question is narrowed by the above considerations, there is no doubt that in many instances the complaints above mentioned are well founded. To appreciate the causes which lie at the bottom of the system which has become so rooted in the habits of these two counties, it is necessary briefly to pass in review certain facts, which cannot but have exercised a great influence upon their social condition. The great development of industry in this part of the country is shown by the statement given on undoubted authority at page 26 of my report for 1849, namely, that in 1806 the number of iron fur naces in Staffordshire was 42, and the annual make of iron 50,000 tons, while in 1848 the number of furnaces had increased to 151, and the make of iron to 385,840 tons. The number last year is given • as 183 furnaces, and the produce, on a moderate estimate, 616,400 tons. It will readily be understood how great has been the simultaneous increase in the mining population of the district, rendered necessary by this vast in crease in the iron trade, and by that of all the other numerous branches of industry which have spread themselves over many square miles of country, from Birmingham to Wolverhampton in one direction, and from Walsall to Stourbridge in the other. Among the firms which supply the vast consump tion of coal required for these branches of indus try and for the population engaged in them, are many old established ones, both in the coal and iron trades, and also many new ones, who, as their men are well aware, would not permit of any abuse arising out of the butty system or any other to exist a'day after they became aware of it, without the most decided effort to put an end to it. But out of so large a number of firms, many of them comparatively new to the occupation, there will naturally be a cer tain proportion, happily, however, as I was assured by a gentleman of very large experience in the dis trict, not employing more than one-third of the whole number of colliers and miners in it, who are from circumstances less able, or from other reasons less disposed, to interfere with their butties, upon whose knowledge of the business and on whose capital they to a certain extent depend for a steady supply of coal, &c., and whose acquaintance with the habits of the men enables them to deal with them better than they could themselves. Ten years ago the number of butties in the district was estimated at about 900. They are at present more numerous. Under the kitties, in each pit, is a man who superintends the work in his absence, the local term for whom is a " doggy." Both " butties" and " doggies" are selected from the intelligent of the working colliers. The former, Often by superio r s kill an d i n t e lli gence, rea li se i n the _course of years co ns id era bl e sums b y t h e i r various contracts, and some of them rise into the class in ni son aattersh ...having pits of their o wn . tafford'hhire, in the year 1850, as I stated in r a y: for that year (page 33), on th e authority of one of t the principal mine agents, or " underground bailiff s of_ that county, of the then estimated total numb s , mine agents of the district direction these butties were (60) under whose gene r a employed—" who have the a ' l l:iervision of all the coal and ironstone pits—who lay th em all out for work for and ventilation—who are expe cted to understa nd all the details of the machinery, both be fiun zu ,, m Bz p e ing and drawing, where shafts are to there were some 14 or 15 unable to write, and „ ocneL tainly some of them unable to read , or were so a short time ago," and that out of the 60 th e ' r Y e might be 25 who were educated men," it may easily be inferred what is the state of education among the class of butties and their subordinates, and that among so many who are in a low intellectual state there must be many whose moral notions and whose mode of governing their men, can scarcely fail to lead to acts whi c h th e men f ee l to be unjustifiable, harsh, and irritating. That an industry employing such an amount of capital as is engaged in the business of raisin g minerals in this district should be under the practical man agement of two classes of men whose general grade of intellectual cultivation is as above described, and that it should flourish under it, cannot but be re garded as something extraordinary, and at the nine time as affording a proof of the degree to which sound common sense and acuteness may, under cer tain circumstances, supply the place of more regu larly acquired knowledge ; but that it should not leave much to be desired—that much waste, many losses, and many drawbacks, economical and social, should not, in a vast number of instances, result from such a system—will scarcely be disputed. Accordingly several of the largest employers in the district have from time to time during the last twenty years endeavoured to substitute for the butty system that of working their pits, or some of them, under agents of their own, the men being directly in their employ, and being paid, not according to their day's work, but accord ing to what each man may choose to earn—the mode of employing colliery labour most generally prevalent in other districts. In the thin coal nearly all these attempts on the part of the employers failed. Those described to me by the gentlemen who undertook them had evi dently been taken in hand with the best intentions, and the most earnest desire for the sake of their own pecuniary interests that they should succeed. The reasons given to me by those gentlemen for the failure were that they could not get the men to do them justice. They found that the men would not work with the same regularity- or steadiness, or do the same amount of work that the butty, whose in terests are so directly involved, was able, by con stant vigilance, to induce them to do. The ill success attending those attempts made by gentlemen of high standing in the trade, at much cost, and under circumstances rendering it very de sirable that they should succeed, has greatly tended to strengthen the general opinion of the masters in the iron and coal trade, that the butty system is the one under which they can obtain their coal at the cheapest rate ; a consideeation all the more important in consequence of the increasing competition to which Staffordshire has for many years past been subjected. Nevertheless a few, even in the thin coal part of the district, did succeed, and have continued to work their coal without butties until the present time. Mr. D. G. Round, of Portland-house, Edgbaston, a magistrate for the county, and a considerable em ployer of colliery labour, informed me that nearly 20 years ago he abandoned the butty system, and is so satisfied with the results that he should never think of returning to it. A few other gentlemen also in formed me that they had introduced the other plan in some of their pits, and that they found it to their advantage, the conditions of success apparently being—First, a very intelligent, sufficiently in structed, and thoroughly trustworthy agent, under whom to place the working of the pits; and, secondly, a well-selected set of men. It is obvious that those conditions could not, in the present state of the district, be combined to an extent to be capable of general application. The difficulties, however, have not deterred other gentlemen from turning their attention again to the subject. Mr. James Bagnall mentioned to me that he hoped soon to be able to make a trial with the new system in one of his numerous pits, which would be selected with reference to the facilities of working it without the intervention of a contractor. Mr. Thomas Bagnall, jun., also expressed his in tention of making a similar experiment. It is much to be desired that the result should encourage a further extension of the new system in their own and other works. But it does not follow that if the butty system were generally abandoned•—which it could not be until after many years, even if there was a general wish among the masters to do so—the alleged social disadvantages of the system, that of keeping the men apart from the masters, and preventing that knowledge of each other which so much tends to harmonise society, would necessarily be replaced by greater opportunities of intercourse, and the benefits which flow from it. While it is alleged on the one hand that the butty system is not inconsistent with such mutual intercourse, and that, in fact, many masters who employ butties enjoy the confidence of their men, and are well known by and greatly esteemed by them, and are always ready to attend to any reasonable complaints, it is asserted, on the other hand, that the new system would not neces sarily lead to any greater amount of mutual know ledge or personal intercourse. The most common opportunities for both parties being brought to gether are the pay days; but where the pits are scattered, or the number of men to be paid great, the payment must be made at several places, to com paratively small numbers at each, in order that the men may be detained as short a time as possible— all being anxious to be paid at an early hour, in order to have the rest of the afternoon for going to market or for recreation. The master, it is said, cannot always be present at more than one or two of such places in the course of one pay day; and if his habits and inclination dispose him to take a personal interest in his men, he will find or make opportunities of becoming personally acquainted with them, and of making them understand him, although not he himself but the butty is the em ployer; and that this has long been so in the in stance of many masters in the district is well known, and at times, when a question of wages arises between the butty and the men, the opinion and advice of those masters have often been effec tual in preventing a strike or leaning to an amic able settlement. The more it becomes the habit of the masters to interest themselves in the welfare of the men, and to show personal sympathy with them in the mat ters that most nearly affect them, the more they will obtain their confidence, and the more will any just ground of complaint, arising from the butty system or any other source, be removed. But the spread of improvement among the great body of the men is quite as essential towards the introduc tion of a better state of things. It is asserted by masters most desirous of promoting every good work in therdistrict, that the number of men ad dicted to drinking habits, and who consequently lend themselves willingly to the butty system which ministers to those habits, prevents any decided stand being ms de by the men themselves as a body against it ; also that the insubordinate habits of a large proportion of the men prevent their being dealt with by the master directly, as effectually as through the butty; and, consequently, that in a great majority of cases the only mode of getting the mineral economically worked is to give the butty a direct interest in it. Accordingly, to raise the general standard of morals and intelligence in this district must long remain the principal object to which the minds of all within it who look beyond the material occupa tion °Mlle passing moment must be directed. Out of the generally improved mass will arise in greater numbers men less willing to lend themselves to a demoralising system, and butties and sub-agents more capable of being converted into trustworthy and intelligent agents, who will, as some do now, work the masters' pits more profitably than can be done by the butty system. " I keep a debtor and creditor account," said to me, one of the gentlemen who have successfully introduced the new system in the thin coal district, " with each pit. Each pit is debited with its amount of capital and machinery, horses, material, and wages. My ground bailiff measures the work and it can be ascertained pretty closely whether the time keeper (the doggy) is dis honest or not, i. e., whether he favours any of the men, by marking them as having done seven days' work instead of six, &c. I get the best and most trustworthy timekeeper that I can, and check him as well as I can. I find by the results, after many years' experience, that I work the coal much cheaper than I did when I employed butties. I get steady men, men who work regularly six days a week ; I lay out the pits for work more profitably. and get the coal one-third quicker than under the old sys tem, consequently there is a so much quicker return on the capital. I paythe men, either themselves or their wives, or a child for them, early in the after noon, about one o'clock, so that the wife can go to market early. The men can then talk over with me anything that relates to their work in the pits, and discuss the question of wages, when times arrive which require a chang e . 1 find them very reasonable, and much less inclined to join strikes, or to listen to those wbo propose them, and on the whole much better satisfied. " I don't deny that there are many respectable butties, and many masters who never allow their butties to have anything to do with public-houses, and who do their best to prevent the abuses of which the men complain, and there are many but ties who, in consequence of the master knowing his business, only obtain a reasonable profit from their contracts, such as they have a right to from the amount of capital they employ (often considerable in horses and stores), and as a remuneration for their services. " As regards this point the matter stands thus : A respectable betty ought to reckon to make as a remuneration for his services at least £lOO, a year. But you could not give a groun d b a iliff less than £2 a week, so that, as regards salary, there is no material difference in paying a butty through his contract or an agent by his salary. And as to re turn on the butty's capital, it is a much wholesomer state of things that the master should find the whole o f th e cap i ta l emp l oyed to work the pits, than that a part of it should be furnished by th e butty, p le Inu point of fact, many b u tti es ma k e f rom £2OO to partially_ work upwards o f £4OO a year b y th e i r contracts, and it has n th known that they frequently only ployer knowing th e e a pit, in order to p reven t th e em amount of their p ro fit s ." But a la rge numbe r butties either keep or are interested in publi c-houses; pmayienwgheree and although many th m ne en not actually in a and to public-house , evade ubijc- t h h o e u act seb b u y t drink te men are ex do not attend their quantity i men fond otshfyestreecognised q p u ec a t n e t d ity t , o an g d o i f theme , any drink have, s drunk by the rest. The therefore, no objection to the butts when the pay hour is late in the day, .m. Also Anct when the pit stops from any cause during the week, the butty knows that many of the men will go to the public house. The profits arising to the butty from this source enable him to take a contract to work a pit at a lower rate. Nevertheless, considering the idle ness and demoralisation to which the butty sys tem contributes, it is the opinion of many persons that the masters lose by it in the main. As to its being necessary to get change to pay the men through the public-houses, it is an argument of no force. It is perfectly easy for the master to obtain all the change necessary to pay any number of men, if he desire's to do so, from his banker. Many publicans and retail tradesmen are also glad to hand over their superfluous change, as it accumulates, to a neighbouring large employer. To send the men to the public-house, in order to remunerate the publi can for giving to the butty gold and silver which he would under ordinary circumstances send to a bank, is superfluous, and an encouragement to drink ing habits as well. But although a few masters may have been, and a few others may be, successful in doing away with the butty system, it does not follow that under pre sent circumstances many could. If done at all, it must be a work of time. DECREASE OF SUNDAY LABOUR• Towards its necessary preliminary above adverted to—the raising the general standard of morals and intelligence in the district—much has been done of late years, and with very encouraging results. Sun day labour, which was formerly so common, is greatly reduced, and in the opinion of many of the best informed persons in the district might with a little further effort be entirely put an end to. The general practice in regard to the furnaces was de scribed to me as follows : The practice of working the furnaces in blast on Sundays has been gradually decreasing for the last 10 years. Now the furnace men are liberated nearly everywhere throughout the district from 7 a.m. on Sundays tos p.m., and the Sunday i s no w n ea r ly as quiet as in Scotland. In some places, however, they take advantage of the Sunday morning to do any repairing to the engine, &c., but the men get away by dinner time. This, where it exists, is certainly an evasion of the professed rule. Formerly at such works those repairs were done during a week day. Now, although the more conspicuous work of continuing to blow and consequently to feed the furnaces is discontinued, the work of the repairs, which go on without observation, is resorted to instead. It is to be hoped that these are the last relics of a practice which is repudiated by the better feelings that are becoming general, and that a sense of the contradi'- tion involved in them will lead to their abandon ment also. In another part of the district a large employer stated to me that " the Sunday here is now as quiet as in a rural parish. In the population of 8,000 in this immediate neighbourhood there has been an astonishing improvement of late years. The dis trict is no longer like what it used to be. Drunken ness is greatly decreased, as shown by the police cases. The places of worship are full on Sundays. The habits of the people are in every respect im proved. The beerhouses are respectable and well looked after." Another gentleman informed me, "We stop our furnaces from seven a.m. to five p.m. on Sundays, and we find we make as much iron in the course of the week as we did when the furnaces went all Sun day. Taking quantity and quality into account, we are no losers by the change in a pecuniary point of view, and certainly the change, which we adopted on principle, has, we are satisfied, had an excellent moral effect. Our men are more careful and atten tive during the week. We arc convinced that the Sunday labour at the furnaces had most injurious effects on the young especially." It is a circumstance deserving of especial notice, in reference to this subject, that a short daily ser vice having been established for the last two years at the above works, the only men who have never attended it are furnace men. As those men grow up to manhood under the influence of a system which, for them, made no distinction between the Sunday and any other day, it is but natural that they , should show themselves less open to religious im pressions than their fellow-workmen in other de partments who had the Sunday to themselves. The daily service is held from 9 to 94- a.m., by the cler gyman of the parish, and consists of a short selec tion from the Prayer-book, and a brief exposition of a text of Scripture. Two other instances of the same kind exist in this district. When circumstances admit of the clergyman undertaking a duty of this kind, it must manifestly contribute greatly to the diffusion of those higher views, and principles from which every good may be expected, and to the cementing the bond of union between master and servant, the absence of which has been from time to time, and to so great a degree, the source of enormous injury to both. SANITARY MEASURES. The local boards of health have done a great deal of late years, throughout a large portion of the district, by the various sanitary measures which promote the cleanliness and comfort of the popula tion. A full supply of water at a very moderate rate, through the recently completed South Staf fordshire Waterworks, has supplied a deficiency that has been greatly felt by the labouring classes in the district. In no part of the country were sani tary measures of all kinds more wanted. Much more, doubtless, remains to be done ; and experience has shown that by a judicious outlay excellent ac commodation can be provided for labouring men and their families, at a rate which affords a satis factory return upon the capital, while by proper vigilance overcrowding with lodgers is prevented. If any experiments of this kind should be made in this thickly-inhabited district, they would doubt less be attended with public benefit. As far, how ever, as the colliery population is concerned, it is asserted that some portion of it will be gradually transferred to new sources of supply, oven if the scat of the production of iron remains where it is. The increase of clergy, churches, and schools has been very great during the last 15 years, and there can be no doubt that the improvement already de scribed in the conduct and habits of the population is traceable to a great extent to their influence. STRIKES. One conspicuous and lamentable fact still re mains, the liability to have the industry of this most important district, in all its numerous branches, seriously affected, and a vast amount of loss inflicted upon every- interest within it, by the combinations and strikes of the colliers. Towards the end of June (1858) a strike of the " thick-coal colliers" commenced, and did not ter minate until near the end of October. The men de manded 59. a day. The masters alleged that the state of the market " made it impossible for them to give that rate." Early in October it was calculated that there were upwards of 6,000 men on strike, be longing to 120 pits, principally in the Oldbury and West Bromwich districts, but comprising many also in the west of Dudley. Much illegal interference with colliers who were willing to work had taken place, and also many acts of vagrancy and begging, ac companied with intimidation. Several meetings of the magistrates were convened by the Lord-Lieu tenant (Lord Hatherton), and active measures were resorted to by the magistrates of Staffordshire and East Worcestershire, and the police of both coun ties, for the detection and punishment of offenders, and for preserving the peace of the district, at the various open air meetings, which were attendedby large bodies of colliers. The strike having lasted 14 weeks, and threaten ing to become still more serious, a meeting of the Coal Mast ers ' A ssoc i a ti on f or t h e two counties was called, and was held on the 7th October at Birming ham, the chairman (Philip Williams, Esq., High Sheriff of Staffordshire), presiding. The opinion of the meeting was stated in the followitg terms " The meeting, in the first place, considers it neces sary, with a view to bring the point at issue be tween the coal masters and the colliers fairly under review, to call attention to the fact, that in conse quence of the serious and long-continued depression in the price of iron, coal, and all iron making ma terials, it was found necessary at the commencement of the present year, to effect an immediate reduc tion to an extent of about 20 per cent on the wages of every department connected with the iron and coal trades ; that this reduction was cheerfully sub mitted to by every description of men employed in the -works of the district, with the underhtanding that on a revival of trade, and an improvement in the price of iron, the rate of wages should receive a proportionate augmentation. The men have ever Since been steadily at work at this reduction, except in the Oldbury and West Bromwich districts, where they have been in receipt of the old rate of 6s. per day, although the price of bar iron has since been further reduced 10s. It being found therefore ab solutely necessary that the rate of wages there should be placed on the same footing as that paid in other parts of South Staf f ordshire, notice was given in June last for a reduction from ss. to 4s. per day; and at this reduced rate an ordinary collier may readily earn 28s. per week, with the usual allow ance of two quarts of beer, and his fire coal in addi tion. To this reduction the Oldbury and Webt Bromwich colliers refused to accede, insisting on retaining the previous rate of ss. per day, and they have now been out on strike about 14 weeks. Be sides refusing to work themselves, these men have had recourse to threats, various modes of intimida• tion, and urgent appeals for support and co-opera tion from the colliers in other parts of the districts who have been steadily and contentedly at work at the reduction since February last. In the meantime the men on strike are endeavouring to support themselves by begging, and other appeals for sup port, whilst the large sums which should be dis bursed in wages for the benefit of the neighbour hood are being expended for the purchase of coal and coke from other districts. It is only necessary ' to add, that if the resistance to the proposed reduc tion of wages on the part of the colliers in question is founded on just and reasonable grounds, those classes of men who have already been reduced may with as much reason demand that their wages should be again raised; a process that, in the pre sent state of trade, would speedily shat up nearly every iron work and colliery in the South Stafford shire district, and throw the bulk of the iron trade population out of employ." The resolution founded on this statement was— " That the attempt of the thick coal colliers of the Oldbury and West Bromwich district to maintain their rate of wages at ss. a day, and the proceedings to which they have had recourse in furtherance of their object, in the face of the serious and long-con tinued depression in the state of the iron and coal trade, is unreasonable and unjust, and will be stre nuously resisted." The above "fair and dispassionate statement," and the resolution founded on it, were signed by upwards of 50 coal and ironmasters in the district. Among the names, which include nearly every firm of importance in the district immediately concerned, are many gentlemen unsurpassed in the manufae• turing world for high integrity, for an enlightened and generous regard for the welfare of the people under them, and for a due sense of the responsibilities which belong to their position. No right-minded person in the district would hesitate for a moment to accept as scrupulously true the plain statement to which such a body of gentlemen have placed their names, and as their full justification for the course they felt obliged to pursue. With the colliers themselves it had its effect, and by the following week they had nearly all resumed work at the re duction proposed by the masters, after a disastrous and ineffectual struggle of 15 weeks. It may reasonably be asked whether the facts so fully and so temperately laid before them by the masters were before unknown to them ? By no means. They were fully cognisant of them, but they preferred to listen to bad advice from persons of their own class, and others who took upon them selves to interfere, who had nothing to do with the matter—one described as a "herbal doctor," and others as little competent to direct them aright. Their conduct during this period, when many among them were suffering severe privation, was on the whole quiet and orderly. The police, how ever, were strong and vigilant. If, as was thought, the general absence of violent proceedings, such as used formerly to occur on these occasions in this district, indicated a moral improvement in the mass of the colliers, it cannot be said that the course they took in determining upon a strike, under the circum stances of the case, showed that their intelligence had increased in equal proportion, or that much ad vance had been made towards the right understand ing of each otherbetween the masters and their men, and towards that mutual confidence which might be looked to as the effectual guarantee against the per petual recurrence of these unfortunate contests. Accordingly, within a few weeks after the appa rent settlement of the question, it was re-opened ; and in the second week of November notice was given on behalf of the Oldbury and West Bromwich colliers that unless an advance of 6d. a-day was given (their previous demand having been for Is.), they would cease work. In a few cases, which were stated to be exceptional, the demand was acceded to ; but the masters as a body adhered to their resolution. No very large number of the men put their threat into execution, but by the second week in December about 1,500 men were "on strike" in the two districts east and west of Dudley, and were addressed by their leaders, and en couraged to hold out, and to support each other by the united action of the men of both districts. Again, in January and February, the leaders en deavoured to incite the men to a demand of the advance; but gradually labour was generally re sumed, and has so resmained. _ _ In the meantime, during the period over which these struggles extended, great distress was felt by , the men and their families, and much loss was in flicted upon the masters and upon the whole com munity. When the strike commenced the iron trade was said to be " reviving ;" the men, how ever, "would not wait," hut, acting on bad advice, made a premature demand for an advance of wages, which their masters could not grant, and then, by ceasing to work, caused many orders to be lost to the district, and stimulated the supply of coal from neighbouring coalfieldss, so as to prevent the con sumers in South Staffordshire from being alto gether dependent upon the coal raised there. The natural result will be that, as soon as the demands of trade decline there will be a larger proportion of the colliers of South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire out of employ, and it must be some time before the trade altogether returns to its natural channels. Many shopkeepers asserted that, rather than incur again the losses from want of custom, and from extra expenses, and from contri butions to the men on strike, they would leave the district altogether. A gentleman, largely engaged in the coal trade, published an address, recommend ing a compromise, in order to put an end to the strike, in which he st.atecl that still, in the first week in December, many collieries were closed, and many others had only a few men at work—that all interests were suffering, that partial ruin to many was inevitable, thousands of pounds per week, formerly paid as wages, having ceased to circulate —and that the buyers of coal, manufacturers, :and housek ee p ers , were paying dearer for their coal, either by using au inferior quality, or by an advanced price, or both. EDUCATION - PRIZE SCHEMES. So far as the raising the general standard of intelligence among the working colliers by a better elementary education may be looked to as one of the means of curing this state of things, much has been done for several years past in that direction. Ample opportunities of good instruction have been provided all over the district, and the stimulus of the prize schemes, now from five to seven years in existence, has been felt every year more and more in the greater numbers of children able to satisfy the requirements of the examination, and the larger amount of sound elementary instruction possessed by the generality of the candidates. It had been feared that as the children of the working classes had to compete with the children of shopkeepers and superior artisans, an un'lu. proportion of the prizes would be carried off by the latter, and conse quently the children for whose special encourage ment these associations were instituted would derive little benefit from them. It has, however, not turned out to be so. By making the smaller prizes for the more elementary requirements much the most numerous, an ample share of them has fallen to the children of the working classes, especially so called, and that this share has increased greatly is shown by the fact, ascertained by Mr. Norris, that whereas three years ago one in seven of the prizes was gained by the children of that class, this year the proportion has been one in four. Nevertheless, for their greater encouragement, it has been deter mined by the East Dudley Association to con fine the money prizes in future to the children of working men in the employ of the iron and coal masters and the proprietors of glass works, and to give the books and honorary prizes to the children of other classes. The prizes of these two associa tions were distributed this year on' the 16th of May, at Walsall, by the Earl of Lichfield, who occupied the chair. The Lord Bishop of Lichfield, Lord Hatherton, the lord lieutenant of the county, the Archdeacon of Lichfield, the Rev. J. P. Norris, her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, several of the pr'ncipal employers of the district, and a large as semblage of spectators, were present; also several working men who had accompanied their children, for the gratification of seeing them receive the re wards of their industry and application, and such encouragement for future good conduct as was given in the addresses which were delivered. The main object of a prize scheme is, in the words of the circular of the Birmingham Educational As sociation, that the result of school attendance should be, to all the children, that before leaving school they should be able " to understand what they read, and write so as to be understood." That this result is not now attained in the case of the great majority of the children attending the ordinary day-schools of the kingdom is well known. It is adverted to in the circular of the Committee of Council on Education to her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools of 30th September, 1857, and again in the circular of 27th February, 1858, in which it is also stated, that "this fact is m apparent from all the earlier examinations under every prize scheme." That the prize schemes are causing an increase in the proportion of those who beforeleaving school have acquired the rudiments of education to such an extent as to render it probable that they will re tain, if not improve them, is shown by the reports of the examinations. But that they reach, or are likely to reach, the whole mass of the children, in the colliery districts especially, is not, in the pre sent state of the adult population in those districts, to be expected. I find, on inquiry that although the proportion of colliers' children engaging in the competition is in most localities slightly increasing, it is nevertheless still small, the great majority of such children being still removed from school at or before the age of ten to go down the pits. Although many good impressions may be made and much may be learnt before the age of ten, which may be also kept up and improved by the evening school, the fact is otherwise as regards the mass ; little is learnt, and that little is frequently lost, and but' seldom improved. -- Tho effect of the prize schemes seems to be now pretty well ascertained to be, to produce a greater amount of exertion and consequent acquirement among the more active intellects in the school, and to a certain extent to stimulate mary others who do not ultimately compete for the prizes in consequence of irregularity of attendance or of being sent to work, and further, to excite emulation among the masters, and to give them the satisfaction of seeing a recognition of their efforts in the public distribu tion of prizes and cards of merit to their best pupils. The number of boys who have thus been brought before the eye of the public in the ten prize schemes in mining districts during the past year has been nearly 3,000. It may reasonably be expected that out of this number, which, occurring and increasing annually, presents, in the course of a few years, a considerable aggregate, there will be many whose faculties will have been fairly prepared for further cultivation in the line of the special requirements of mining in dustry. That there is great room for a class of men pos sessing much higher acquirements than are now common to fill subordinate situations of all kinds in and about the collieries, is generally acknowledged. The question arises—are any means being pre pared by which an opening might be afforded to those lads who have shown ability at these prize scheme examinations, or otherwise, to receive that special instruction which would be useful to them in their callings, and might qualify them for those subordinate situations, and also by which the class of subordinate agents generally might have oppor tunities of acquiring a more scientific knowledge of the principles which they have to apply in their daily duties. THE NAVY. The Trusty, 14, screw floating battery, has been removed from Chatham to Sheerness, preparatory to being sent to Shoeburyness, where she is to be experimented upon by guns of heavy calibre, in order to ascertain her capacity of resisting the steel pointed spherical shot when fired at her from short and long distances. The sides of the Trusty are lined, from her water mark, with wrought-iron plates of immense thickness, and the sides of the battery sloped at a very obtuse angle to resist, as much as possible, the effects of shot. At the for mer experiments made with the Armstrong gun, several of the shots penetrated the sides of the Trusty, splitting the iron plates, and one passed right through her sides. The Trafalgar, 91, screw, Capt. Fanshawe, left Spithead under canvas on Saturday morning for the westward. Wind fresh, from N.N.E. The Iberia, screw steamer, left Portsmouth har bour during the night of the 17th inst., with troops on board for Queenstown. _ _ _ Orders have been received from the Admiralty per telegraph, by the authorities at Portsmouth dockyard, to bring forward the Megrera, iron screw troopship, for immediate service, and requesting a return of the number of troop-boats available at that port. Hands from all the departments are also ordered to be employed upon the Perseverance, screw troopship, in the steam basin, from 5 a.m. until 7 p.m., to complete the necessary repairs to her as quickly as possible. The Pearl, 20, screw, Captain John Borlase, C. 8., has berthed alongside the Malabar coal depot, in Portsmouth harbour, to fill up her complement of coal. The Brazilian sailing corvette Bahiana, 28 guns, Captain d'Houdain, arrived at Spithead, on Satur day, from the North Sea. On bringing up at Spit head the Bahiana exchanged the usual complimen- tary salutes with the Victory, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral W. Bowles, C. 8., and the garrison saluting battery on the King's bastion. The Defence Commissioners were conveyed from Plymouth by the paddlewheel steam tender Vivid, to Falmouth, where they remained the night, and returned to Plymouth on Saturday. They were accompanied by Colonel Pester, Royal Artillery. The screw steam corvette Scylla, 21, Capt. Lam bert, left Plymouth Sound on Thursday evening for Gibraltar. The paddlewheel steam vessel Centaur, 6, Chief Engineer Thos. Duncannon, was taken from Key ham Basin on Friday to the Devonport liDockyard, for the purpose of being fitted for sea. The lighter Rochester, J. Dyer master, with stores from Portsmouth, arrived at Plymouth on Saturday. The paddlewheel steam-sloop Virago, 6, Com mander Montague B, Dunn, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Saturday. The screw steam-frigate Melpomene, 50, Captain Ewart, rejoined the Channel fleet in Plymouth Sound on Sunday morning. The screw steam-frigate Imperieuse, 51, Captain J. B. Frere, is ordered from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze, to repair and stop a leak. This will occupy about four or five days. The screw steam frigate Mersey, 40, Capt. Cald well, C. 8., which parted company withthe Channel fleet at sea, rejoined the Admiral in Plymouth Sound on Saturday. The paddle-wheel steam tender Advice, M. C. Raymond, Second-Master, from Queenstown, arrived at Plymouth on Friday. The screw steam gun .vessel Pioneer, Commander Reilly, having been repaired at Devonport, left Iraineaze on Saturday for Plymouth Sound. The screw steam sloop Fying Fish, 6, Commander lope, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Saturday. The following ships of war were in Plymouth Sound yesterday (Sunday)—viz., the Aboukir, 90, the Agamemnon, 91, the Algiers, 91, the Cesar, 90, the Emerald, 50, the Flying Fish, 6, the Hero, 91, the Imperiense, 51, the James Watt, 91, the Melpomene, 50, the Mersey, 40, the Nile, 90, the Pioneer, 6, the Royal Albert, 121, the Topaze, 51, the Virago, 6, and the Dutch corvette Atlo, 3 . The Channel fleet requires about 1,200 tons of coal. The movements of the James Watt during the late cruise are extolled ; half of their crew received the bounty (£5 to able seamen) on Friday, and obtained leave until to-day (Monday), when the other half go on shore. The gunboat Lark is constantly on duty, attending on the liberty men belonging to the ships in the Sound. It is reported in Plymouth that 2,000 seamen and 1,000 marines are to be raised from the fleet for service in China. Rear-Admiral of the Blue John Kingcombe has tendered his services to the Admiralty. The new screw steam corvette Clio, Capt. Thomas Miller, left Sheerness yesterday at 2.45 p.m. for Portsmouth. The Mars and Clio saluted the flag of the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral of the Red Edward Harvey. The salutes were returned by the guardship in ordinary Formidable, Capt. Superintendent Rundle B. Watson, C.B. &c. Mr. John Trott Butcher, the naval and military contractor at Sheerness, has received instructions from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to continue to supply beef to all ships and vessels -at this port under the supervision of the proper authorities for 12 months. The screw line-of-battle ship Mars, Capi. James N. Strange, left the Nore, yesterday, at 2 p.m., for POI tsmouth. The following appointments were made on Satur day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. R. P. Dennlstoun, and Lieut. W, A. K. Craven, to the Pearl ; H. H. Boys, mate, to the Pearl ; C. B. Charlewood, mid shipman, to the Pearl ; and Gt:;Prge E. G. Jaakson, master's assistant, to the Pearl. THE ARMY. Some important alterations are to be made in the East India depots now quartered at Chatham garri son, in consequence of the determination of the au thorities at the Horse Guards to remove the whole of the depots of those regiments whose service com panies are in India from Pembroke, and station them at Chatham and at the other depot batta lions. Two depots, the 31st and 91st, have already received orders to move from Pembroke and pro ceed to Chatham. The 31st depot, which numbers about 250 men of all ranks, is expected to arrive at the garrison this day. The depot of the 91st (Argyleshire) Regiment, which is upwards of 400 strong, is also to move from Pembroke to Chatham, to be quartered in the hut barracks. The depot is expected to march into the garrison this afternoon. The head-quarters of the 91st have been in India nearly five years, having left England in December 1854. A number of the Indian Sappers and Miners have arrived at the Royal Engineer establishment, at Chatham, from the depot at Warley, having been selected by Lieut.-Col. Ross, R.E., for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of sapping and mining, pontooning, the construction of earthworks, and other engineering operations, preparatory to pro ceeding to India, intelligence having b e e n received by the Hon. Council for India of the great want which is at present experienced in India of well qualified engineers for the Indian En g ineers' force. The Clasmerden, 1 , 598 tons , hired troopship, Capt. Bennett, arrived at Spithead yesterday from Calcutta with the troops of the first division of her Majesty's 29th (Worcestershire) Foot. STATUE OF THE LATE GENERAL SIR JOHN EILL.—A duplicate of the statue of this gallant officer has been successfully past at the foundry of Messrs. Robinson and Co., London. The one previously executed is to be erected in the town of Ayr, Sir John Neill's native place; that now cast is destined for Madras. The size is heroic, and General Neill is represented in the dress which he wore when he recieved his mortal wound at the gate of Luck now. when he, with General Havelock, made his second and suceessfnl effort to relieve the heroic little garrison of that city. non At t;:;,:; whicl2 foot of the fio.ure in the background is a broken eah the Inilitary cloak of the general , touches in easy folds. lit , t i r m qtaes will be placed on pe destals of granite.' 'llomceopathic Chemist) A. D VERTISEMEN T.] —E rrs's . is sold by the prin- Co coA.—This esteemed preparation in Vb., and lib. cipal grocers at' Is. 6d. per lb., packets. Each packet is labelled i( —"" .9 • pps, Homoeo pathic chemist London." IS.IMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL. ( From the Times.) Our columns of Saturday last contained the ordi nary record of the death of one of our most eminent engineers, Mr. I. K. Brunel. The loss of a man whose name has now for two generations, from the commencement of this century to the present time, been identified with the progress and the application of mechanical and engineering science, claims the notice duo to those who have' e done the State some service. This country is largely in debted to her many eminent civil engineers for her wealth and strength, and Mr. Brunel will take a high rank among them when the variety and mag nitude of his works is considered, and the original genius he displayed in accomplishing them. He was, as it were, born an engineer, about the time his father had completed the block machinery at Portsmouth, then one of the most celebrated and remarkable works of the day, and which remains efficient and useful. Those who recollect him as a boy recollect full well how rapidly, almost intui tively, indeed, he entered into and identified himself with all his father's plans and pursuits. He was very early distinguished for his powers of mental calculation, and not less so for his rapidity and ac curacy as a draughtsman. His power in this re spect was not confined to professional or mecha nical drawings only. He displayed an artist-like feeling for and a love of art, which in later days never deserted him. He enjoyed and promoted it to the last, and the only limits to the delight it afforded him were his engrossing occupations and his failing health. The bent of his mind when young was clearly seen by his father and all who knew him. His education was therefore directed to qualify him for that profession in which he afterwards distinguished himself. His father was his first, and perhaps his best tutor. When he was about fourteen he was sent to Paris, where he was placed under the care of M. Masson, previous to entering the college of Henri Quatre, where he remained two years. He then returned to England, and it may be said that, in fact, he then commenced his professional career under his father, Sir I. Brunel, and in which he rendered him important assistance—devoting him self from that time forward to his profession exclu sively and ardently. He displayed even then the resources, not only of a trained and educated mind, but great original and inventive power. He pos sessed the advantage of being able to express or draw clearly and accurately whatever he had matured in his own mind. But not only that ; Ise could work out with his own hands, if he pleased, the models of his own designs, whether in wood or iron. As a mere workman he would have excelled. Even at this early period steam naviga tion may be said to have occupied his mind, for he made the model of a boat, and worked it with loco motive contrivances of his own. Everything he did ; he did with all his might and strength, and he did it well. The same energy, thoughtfulness, and ac curacy, the same thorough conception and mastery of whatever he undertook distinguished him in all minor things, whether working as a tyro in his father's office, or as the engineer of the Great Western Railway Company, or, later, in the con ception and design in all its details of the Great Eastern. Soon after his return to England his father was occupied, among other things, with plans for the formation of a tunnel under the Thames. In 1825 this work was commenced, and Brunel took an active part in the work under his father. There are many of his fellow labourers now living who well know the energy and ability he displayed in that great scientific struggle against physical difficulties and obstacles of no ordinary magnitude, and it may be said that at this time the anxiety and fatigue he underwent, and an accident he met with, laid the foundation of future weak ness and illness. Upon the stoppage of that under taking by the irruption of the river in 1828, he be came employed on his own accouut upon various works. Docks at Sunderland and Bristol were con structed by him, and when it was proposed to throw a suspension bridge across the Avon at Clifton, his design and plan was approved by Mr. Telford, then one of the most eminent engineers of the day. This work was never completed. He thus became known, however, in Bristol, and when a railway was in contemplation between London and Bristol, and a company formed, he was ap pointed their engineer. He had previously been em ployed, however, as a railway engineer in con nexion with the Bristol and Gloucestershire and the Merthyr and Cardiff tramways. In these works his mind was first turned to the construction of railways, and when he became engineer of the Great Western Railway Company he recommended and introduced what is popularly called the broad guage, and the battle of the guages began. This is not the place or the time to say one word upon this controversy. No account of Mr. Brunel's labours, however, would be complete without men tioning so important a circumstance in his life. Considering the Great Western Railway as an en gineering work alone, it may . challenge a compari son with any other railway in the world for the general perfection of its details, and the speed and ease of travelling upon it. Many of its structures, such as the viaduct at Hanwell, the Maidenhead bridge, which has the flattest arch of such large dimensions ever attempted in brickwork, the box tunnel, which, at the date of its construction, was the longest in the world, and the bridges and tun nels between Bath and Bristol deserve the attention of the professional student. They are all more or less remarkable and original works. Ii the South Devon and Cornish railways there are also works of great magnitude and importance. The sea wall of the South Devon Railway, and, above all, the bridge over tlib Tamar, called the Albert-bridge from the interest taken in it by the Prince Consort, deserve to be specially mentioned , together with the bridge over the Wye at Chep stow, as works which do honour to the ge nius of the engineer and the country too. It was on the South Devon Railway that he adopted the plan which had been previously tried on the London and Croydon line—viz., of propelling the carriages by atmospheric pressure. This plan failed, but he en tertained a strong opinion that this power would be found hereafter c apable of adoption for locomotive purposes. It is impossible, in such a rapid sketch as this of his energetic and professional life, to do more than notice, or rather catalogue, his works. It was in connexion with the interests of the Great Western Railway that ho first conceived the idea of building a steamship to run between England and America. The Great Western was built ac cordingly. The power and tonnage of this vessel was about double that of the largest ship afloat at the time of her construction. Subsequently, as the public know, the Great Britain was designed and built under Mr. Brunel's superintendence. This ship, the result, as regards magnitude, few years' experience in iron shipbuilding not only more than do uble the tonnage ge of the Great v aam t W es tern, and by far the largest shipin e h x e is G te r n e c a e t , but she was more t han twice as large as a hesitated t im e ab h o a j be ex t e nding the use of iron in the construction of Northern,attmthpe rges N t Vte l d a . s h h i l l p e w o h th ic e h rs ships, Mr. Brunel saw it was the only material in which a very great increase of dimensions could safely be attempted. The very accident which be fel the Great Britain upon the rocks in Dundrum Bay showed conclusively the skill he had then at tained in the adaptation of iron to the purposes of The means taken under his imme diate direction to protect the vessel from the injury of the winds and ;salves attracted at the time much attention, and they pr o ved successful, for the vessel was again floated, and is still afloat. While noticing these .great efforts to improve the art of shipbuilding, it must not be forgotten that Mr. Brunel, we believe, was the first man of emi nence in his profession who perceived the capabi lities of the screw as a propeller. He was brave enough to stake a great reputation upon the sound ness of the reasoning upon which he had based his conclusions. Fr )m his experiments on a small scale in the Archimedes he saw his way clearly to the adoption of that method of propulsion which he afterwards adopted in the Great Britain. And in the report to his directors in which he recommended it, he conveyed his views with so much clearness and conclusiveness that when, with their approba tion, he submitted it to the Admiralty, he succeeded in persuading them to give it a trial in her Ma jesty's navy, under his direction. In the progress of this trial he was much thwarted; but the Rattler, the ship which was at length placed at his disposal, and fitted under his direction with engines and screw by Messrs. Maudslay and Field, gave results which justified his expectations under somewhat adverse circumstances. She was the first screw which the British navy possessed, and it must be added, to the credit of Brunel, that though she had originally been built for a paddle ship, her perfor mance with a screw was so satisfactory that nume• rous screw ships have since been added to the navy. Thus prepared by experience and much per sonal devotion to the subject of steam navigation by means of large ships, he, in the latter part of 1851 and the beginning of 1852, began to work out the idea he had long entertained—that to make long voyages economically and speedily by steam required that the vessels should be large enough to carry the coal for the entire voyage out wards, and, unless the facilities for obtaining coal were very great at the outport, then for the return voyage also; and that vessels much larger than any then built could be navigated with great advantages from the mere effects of size. Hence originated the Great Eastern. The history of this great work is before the public, and its success in a nautical point of view is ad mated, as well as the strength and stability of the construction of the vessel. More than this cursory notice of this last memorial of his skill cannot now be given. Ali the circumstances attending the chon struction, the launching, the trial of this great!ip are before the üblic. It would hardly be j ust, however, to the memory of this distinguished enr neer if we were to conclude this notice without an allusion to his private character and worth. Few men were more free from that bane of professional life—professional jealousy. lie w as always ready to assist others, and to do justice to their morits. It is a remarkable circum stance that in th e early part of his career he was brought into frequ ent con flict with Robert Stephenson, as Stephenson is as with him, and that, nevertheless, their mu tual re gard and respect were newer impaired. Brunel was ever ready to give his advice and assistance When ever Stephenson desired it, and the public. w ill re collect how earnestly and cordially during the launch of the Great Eastern Stephenson gav his e assistance and lent the weight of his authority t 9 his now deceased friend. Such rivalry and such unbroken friendship as theirs a re rare, and are honourable to both. e The death of Mr. Brunel was hastenedff by th to fatigue and mental strain caused by his eorts superintend the completion of the Greatent. Easterik and in these efforts his last days were spent. Bu t ., we must not forbear to mention that for sever..ai years past Mr. Brunel had been suffering from 1 11 health brought on by over exertion. Nevertheless h . e allowed himself no relaxtion from his prnf e° ; sienal labours, and it was during the period 0 , 1 bodily . pain and weakness that his greatest diffial7 ties were surmounted and some of his greatest works achieved. Possessing a mind strong I . n T e consciousness of rectitude, he pursued, in W i g!" hearted truthfulness, what he believed to be . tne course . of duty, and in his love of and devotion to. his profession he accomplished, both at home ana abroad, on the continent and in In dia, works, his the history of which will be the best monument to memory. With an intellect singularly po.vierfil' and acute, nothing escaped his observation in any branch of science which could be made . ava u able his own pursuits, et it was accompanied by. humility and a kindliness y of heart which endeared him to all who knew and enjoyed his friendshe, The very boldness and originality of his w orks, 0.! which he was never known to boast , w hile it addedt to his fame, added no little to his anx iet y , and a° nnfrequently encompassed him with difficulty-- " Great was the glory, but greater w as the strife," which told ultimately upon his health and strength, and finally closed his life when he was little T o than 53 years of age. We have left unnotic.ea and . study of the young engineer. TheY many of his works, and many' deserve the attention_ their record in professional works, and in them nsi . his works will hereafter be fully described and cosy dered.. Mr. Brunel was a member of the 1 0 ;4 Society, having been elected at the early age.° l In 1857 he was admitted by the University. 9. Oxford to the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil I Laws, a distinction of which he was justly proud. will find COUNTRY MA.RIBTA LEICESTER--SxrT. 17. There was a good supply of wheat t o-da y , with a erode' Be rate show of other grain. Prices — W hite wheat, to 500 barley, grinding, —red, 40s to 44s per 36 stone; new red realised 43s per qr.; the oat trade was dull, at quotations ranging fr" a 255 38 35s per 24 stone. Beans a heavy gale, a 44s to 52s per stone. 29s to 30s ; malting, 40s to 43s per qri;) Fine flour, 31s i Seconds, 32s I Thirds, 30s per 20 stone. NORWICH—SEPT. 17. Here, to-day, there was rather a good attendance of the trade, and a ng. The show of wheat was fair' and pries for better old and feeli best new were is to 26 high°r ; ferior quality at about late rates. Th e su pp ly of new bar ley was pretty fair, at about late rater Malting barley;...3Bs to 44s I New nialting White wheat. 45s to 48.; I Red wheat.... .... 38s to 4 3 . Distilling Oats.. ............ 246 to 265 Flour, 29s 6d to 30s per sack from the miller. DarleY3Ss to 44ts DERBY—SEPT, 17. Trad e A good supply of wheat at market yesterday. - f last w w e a e s k. active, B a y t i an m ad o r d a e n ra c t e e o d f ona ls on o d n , the currency 0 - _ in retail demand, at about is under late rates. t e e a a ris w°eB i l l a a small show, old maintaining quotations, and neo t t W urn hit l e a ;h er eat, new, 44s to 46s Barley, grinding* • 28 24 : to 3 3 ° 2: Red do. 4os to 46s Oats, old, .• ...... 26 Old white 44s to 51s New .... ....... 245 t o o _ Red do. 4os to 46s Beans.. .......... 44 i t 1 . 1 Barley, malting 36a to 43s Beans, new ...... — 4 t° CAMBRIDGE—SEPT. 17. d .n ira• Thereas a moerate sow o wheat, which we , ' to proved demand, at higher h rates. f White wheat,old, 46_,5 4Ss ; ne, 433 to 41s per 36 stone. Barley in limited fair tities at former terms—inferior, 28 s to 345. Oats wore a o show, from 22s to 30s per 24 ston e. Beans (old), at 3 - = to 465 ; new, 385 to 40s per 38 stone. STAMFORD—SBPT, 17. of At our market yesterday whea t obtained an advance Is to 2s per qr. Barley went at extreme p Th rices. e °9 ' supply was good. Beans rather lower. White do Barley :4440: t 0 00 52e46 O B a ea ts o . s . .... . . . .. ............ 225 13 tt t o s o 4 2 . 8 Wheat B. .28s to 43s Peas ......... ..• NORTHAMPTON—SnrT. 17. was in. fair supply', an d sold At this corn-market wheat at fully lae rates—prices rnging from 42s to 46s f o r nevi , and 408 to t 47s per 36 stone for old. There was not mu ch sin assing in barley. Oats, with a fair demand, quoted 24s to 32s per 24 stone ; beans old, 47s to 525; no w 40s to 44s per 38 stone; barley, 32 ' s to 38s per qr. ; malt, 60 to 68s ; rye, 30s to 365; tares, 7s 6d to 8s per bushel. --- NORWICH CATTLE—SErT. 17. A large supply of store ca ttle to .day, comprising S cots, d ail shorthorns, Devons, end Irish. A fair a ttendance, pa inactive business c lone, at fully late rices. Scots, 45 6d to 5 s ; shorthorns, 4s p Od to 45 6d ;. 36 6d , to 45 ; Devons, 4s 6d. to 5s (estimated weight when fat). Tat beasts firm, 7s 6 d to 8s 6d per stone, w ith a clear ance. sheep—The pens were tole rabl y well filled. The best lambs in demand at 36s to 38s per head. Fat sheep, 8s 8s 6d per stone. Pigs—A good supply. Store pigs 25. to 30s; fat pork, 7s Od to 7s 6d per stone. DUBLIN—SErr. 16. of nem' Our market was brisk , with a lar g e supply ril l ' ear e and we note the prices of best wheat as fully a dr from last market. Oats were a slow sale, an d nomittauf unaltered in price. Malting b arle y was in fair request, and also bere, at Friday's currencies. Indian corn was almost without inquiry. s. d. s. d. a. d. I. 41 * Wheat 22 0t023 0 Do., new • 11 otol2 9 Do red, white 20 oto 21 6 Bore ......... 13 •to 14 0 Do., new 2l 0t023 6 Rapmealeseed .... 2 12 0 0 6 to 14 6 to 22 6 Barley Oats Do., black... • 14 0 to New Xl 5 eat, 36s 0 Indian corn .. 28 oto 29 0 h to 445. [AD VEItTISEMENT.]—t is ever a pleasing duty for a journalist to introduce to his readers some discovery calcu lated to benefit that vast portion of our fellow e creat lt urs w hi c h has the strongest claims upon our sympathies. la with this feeling that we call the attention of invalids to the following extracts from Dn Barry's interesting report of cures without medicine of indigestion (dYe pepsia), flatulency, constipation, nervous, bilious, liver complaints, cough, asthma, consumption , a nd debility by Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food 4 Cure No. 52,422—Bridgehouse, Frimley, 3d April, 18 u I have suffered these 33 years continually from dis e lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement , deafness, slag; and ins in the ears, constipation, debility, shortne ss of breath ica• cough, which have been removed by your Revalenta Arab My lungs, liver, stomach, head, and ears are all right, my hearing perfect, and my recovery is a marvel to 1 1 I '2: acquaintances. James Roberts, timber I:I:Lembo11_, In tins, at ls. 6d. ; 11b., 3s. ; 21b., ss. 9d. ; 51b., 12 5 .; 265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on receipt of p?on office order. Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent-street, 60,L0na02! Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182 , Picc adi lly; Abbis, . Gracechurch-street ; 4 r Cheapside ; 63 , an d 150, Oxforta. street ; 330 and 451, Strand ; 49 and 60, Bish°gsa street ; 85, Tottenham-court - road. A lso at •L'uco Bewley and Draper ; at Edinburgh, RaiMea an d at Liverpool, Nixon and Thew ; at Manchester, Shall? a t y r , Scott; at York, Raimes, Blanchard, and Co.; at S " ampton, Randall and Son. BIRTHS. BAKER.—On the 16th inst., at 21, Breckn.ock-place, Cara den-town, Mrs. Wm. Baker, of a daughter. do ur of DRummoND.—On the 16th inst ~ at Fulham, the ° Francis Berkeley Drummond, Esq., of a daughter. en- PETo.—On the 15th inst., at 10, Campden-hill-road, sington, the wife of Charles Peto, Esq., o f daughter. PORTER. —On the 15th inst., at Hammond daughter. e Ch e - hunt, the wife of Robert Porter , Esq., of a g MARRIAGES. STUART—NrciroLsoN.—On the 13th inst., a t Rathboyl Church, county Meath, W illiam Stuart, M.l'., E5(1.92 4 . l Kempston, Bedfordshire, e ld e st son of William Stufo' Esq., Aldenham Abbey, to Katherine, the eldest, daughter of John Armitage Nicholson, Esq., of Ba co. Meath. STANLEY--TALBOT —On the 10th inst., at St. gerl'‘' Lambeth, S. F. Stanley, Esq., late of 11.M.'s 6th ate goon Guards, to Eliza Wakefield, daughter of the late J• Talbot, Esq., of Staningfield Hall, Suffolk. DEATHS. Au d N en e i L y ly -0 e rh:----__;z--------uinx2G6trilahjaurniyA, at Kilgore, Auisatraga, so. Heathcote, second son of the Rev. Chas. Arngo of Tinwell, Rutland, aged 27. CRIDLAND.—On the 16th inst, atForest-hill, Kent, Arth.lF. John Cridland, Esq., fourth son of the late John Cria, land) Esq., of Sprig-grove-park, Somersetshire, age' 45. DAY.—On the 11th inst., Thomas Clark Day, Esq. of the firm c i K 6. of Day and Watkinson, of Huddersfield, age v Tr. It, ROLL—On the 14th inst., at Merton, Surrey, las. .-- (3 Esq., aged 66. STEPHENS.—On the 14th inst., at Coblentz, ?, ill gh t ilsdt,rrateect:ri Ii on. 0 . r Sir i n Jamesthe e University Ste phen, K o f . C c . B a m . , b Prirdogfee,s saonr an d ti f h flo tr i l 7 od er rn iy Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, aged 7: Bel. WALHOUSII.—On the 13th inst., at Halkin-ter! grave-.osq.uare, Miss Walhouse, sister of Lord Bather LONDON : Printed an d Published 1:y 1111130 —YOUNG of No. 112, Stran d, Printer, at The Bun Oftlc,e, No. 11 of 2, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the conntl Middleaex, Monday, September 19, 1859. th. T t. ( ‘ ; A the ri 'r r at , th Zoti l ti 1 , be"