Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-19 00:00:00

• ADJOURNED MEETING OF COTTAGE OWNERS ON XIIE WATER -RATE DIS COUNT QUESTION. List itiglit; an adjoUrned meeting of cottage-owners and agents was held in the Philadelphia-hall, Hackin's hey, for the purpose of taking into consideration a reso lution of the Water Committee, confirmed by the Town Council, to the effect that ,in future the water-rates on houses exceeding £l3 a-year would net be compounded for. Ou the motion of Mr. WILLIAMS,i Mr. JONES was called to the chair. The CHAIRMAN went over the grounds which had been adduced at the previous meetings, in opposition to the decision of the Water Committee and the Council ang,..in the course of his observations, gave it as his opinion, founded on what had been stated by the collec tors: that if the proposed new system was adopted, they would not be able to collect as much as they collected at present on houses under £lB a-year. At present, there was a loss of £23,000 a-year on the water account, and this deficiency would be increased by the new regulation, which would fall, to a great extent, on the owners of cottage property. He enlarged on the neceisity of cottage-owners becoming- more active in defence of their rights, inasmuch as it was the intention of the Council, in the next session of parliament, to increase the water rates 'on cottage property. He had this information yesterday—and there were other gentlemen present who knew it—from a gentleman in the Council, who, next to the Mayor, was most likely to know it. Mr. OwEN WiLi.r.B.ms next addressed the Meeting, and complained that the owners of cottage property had for a long series of years been called upon to make up the deficiencies of other classes in the community. The authorities ought to have been able to show that the cottage-owners were the cause of their tenants not being able to.pay the water rent, but it was not so. Still the question having been settled, the owners of cottage property had entered into agreements with their tenants; and now, without any notice at all, the Water Committee and the Council wished to unsettle those agreements. The speaker condemned the proisosed boulevards, as unnecessary, and ex pensive, and which could not be carried out without an increased rate, which would fail heavily on the owners of cottage property. The Mayor's salary was also unnecessary and extravagant, and ought to be resisted. He concluded by stating that there ought to be in Liverpool a house-owners' association, to look after Mr. M'Gowan. . (Hear and laughter.) Such an associa tion should be mainly for the watching of the adminis tration of the law. He bad no doubt that there were' plenty . of attornies who would undertake the office of attending an the part of the committee, just in the same manner as Mr. Evans attended as attorney on behalf of the Guardian Society. air. FRASER, in answer to the Chairman, said that he id not know whether the shipping. paid more or less for water than they did under the old system. The chairman also stated that every councillor, to whom the comnitlee of Cottage Owners' Association had spoken, had Stated to them that, in their opinion, the proposed alteration would involve a still further loss on the water account. On the motion of Mr. William Evans, seconded by 31r..10hn Roberts, it was resolved that a deputation be a veinment to wait upon the Water Committee, to lay t ieir . views upon the proposed alteration before them. It was next arranged that the deputation should con -,;;;`, :of the following gentlemen :—Messrs. Owen Williams, H. wiiiiami, Qwen Elias, T. Fraser, W. Roberts, and G. Golding. A memorial to the Council on the subject was next adopted, which closed the proceedings. BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. The annual meeting of the above society was held yesterday evening, in Myrtle-street Baptist Chapel, and was largely attended by a most respectable and attentive auditory. The meeting commenced at half past six o'clock, at which time the body and galleries of this larguand commodious place of worship were well filled. The proceedings were commenced by the Rev. H. S. Brown, minister of the congregation, who went through the introductory devotional services. The following other ministers were present and Rev: Baptist Noel; Rev. Messrs. C. Stovel, J. P. Chown, C. M. Birrell, James Davies, H. S. Booth, Thos. Dawson, James Buck, Jchn Edwards, and H. S. Brawn. The Rev. H. S. BROWN then introduced the secre- tart', who read the report, from which it appeared that the total amount of contributions to the society for the year ending Oct., 1859, was £542 18s. 81d., of which £173 7s. 4td. was from the schools and juvenile mis sionary associations, as reported at the meeting on Mon day night ; Myrtle-street congregation contributed £B6 9s. 3d. ; Pembroke Chapel, £2Ol 14s. ; Byrom street Chapel, £2l 10s. ; collection at annual meeting, £22 "12s: 9d. ; Great Crosshall-street Welsh congrega tion, £l5 Os. 10d.• Athol-street Welsh congregation, ' £3 14s. 11d. • Welsh Baptist congregation, Price-street, Birkenhead, £6 17s. 4d. ; and Bootle English BaptiSt crngiegation, £ll 12s. 3d. The Rev. C. STOVEL, of London, was the first to address the meeting. He commenced by referring to the exertions the society vas making to send the Word of God to the perishing heathen. The missionaries of the society were doing - their duty abroad, and it behoved them to do their's equally at home. (Hear, hear.) He then noticed India—The Buddhist, and the Brahmin were most devoted to their forms of worship, yet, amidst all the recklessness of their idolatry, and their devotedness to their forms of Pagan worship, still they regarded the Great God as the great cause of all causal cal works. And although the various important sections of the Brahmnical tribes worshipped God in figurative -symbols, yet they appeared convinced from the works of Nature itself, that there mast be one great Supreme Being. Well, then, what was th e i r duty? Was it not plainly to hold up to the perish ing heathen " Jesus Christ, and Him crucified ;" and to point them through this Saviour to God, the Eternal Father. To christianise India ought to be their aim and object. He cared not for the dogmas of creeds and sects; let them preach the Gospel to the heathen, and endeavour to deliver them from that idolatry and super stition in which they were plunged. (Applause.) He exhorted them with all earnestness to devote themselves to this great work, and invite the iii3doo to " Taste and see that the Lord is gracious," and point him to that " Stone which is laid for a foun dation steno in Zion," The Press, too, was doing a mighty, work in printing copies of the translation of the Scriptures, and distributing them among the heathen in thousands and in millions. The aged and venerable clergyman then went into a statistical account of the work in India, and the establishment of the Popish inquisition at Goa. He then referred to Africa,—yes, Africa for which. Wilberforce wept at the results of the wretched slave-trade on that continent. After a most powerful address, he called upon them never to relax their exertions until hallelujahs would resound from the Nile and the Niger to the Ganges " Unto Him that lovedus, to Him be glory for ever and ever." (Applause.) Rev. J. P. CnowN next addressed the meeting in a Scriptural and useful address, which was very atten tively listened to. One leading point in his address was to inculcate a spirit of lib era li ty among teir people to erect the temple of God and of Christ in heathen lands, and a nd through their devoted energies sp rea d the name o Christ to the farthest part of the Indian world. Might he not say, with the immortal Heber— .. Waft, waft, ye winds his story, And you ye waters roll, Till like a sea of glory, ' It spreads from pole to pole. " Salvation! oh, Salvation! The joyful sound proclaim; Till each remotest nation p, Has learned Messiah's name." God had raised England in the world, not that she might glorify . herself in her elevation, but that she might be the instrument of sending the Word of Truth to the remotest corners of creation. (Loud cheers.) The collection, at this stage of the proceedings, was taken up ; after which The Hon. and Rev. BAPTIST NOEL spoke to the meeting for some time in a religious and most feeling strain. His . speech was characterised all through by a deep persuasive religious tone, containing sound theo logical reasoning and practical advice to all present. It was listened to with profound attention. Several other speakers having addressed the meeting on the . great absorbing and important subject of mis 61°P5 m which they impressed upon those present the privilege they enjoyed in being permitted to contribute to send the story of the Cross to the heathen world, the usual blessing was given, and the proceedings ter minated, COUNTY :COURT.--YESTERDAX. I (Before W.A. HULTON, Ban., Jadiel BUSINESS OP TIIE COURT.—TiIe following ;is rthe business of the Second October Count, which commenced on Monday:—Wednesday the 19th, Thursday: he ZOth, Friday the 21ht, Monday the 24th, and Tuesday the 25th, 140 original oases and judgment summonses each .day ; Wednesday the 26th, insolvency ,cases...; Tb.nraday the 27th, cases of 1110 and upwards.; Friday the 28th, ,adjourned cases. The total number ,of noriginalcasestte icome before the comet is 1,006. COSIMITMENTS.—Eis Honour granted 'warrants ,for the commitments of the following . persons ;for ithe periods as under, for:non-compliance with the.previons ;orders of the court::—Andrew Mee it, -stevedore, 59, Townsend-street, Great Howard-street, 14 days, ;to issue in a fortnight, - ; John lathers, 209, Athol-street, cotland-road, 14 days ; John Smith, 11 Court, Bostock-street, Scotland-road, 14 days, to issue in three weeks. THOMAS v. BAKEN„—This action was .brought bvttlie soprietor of the Edinburgh Castle Hotel, Limo-street, to recover the sum of £9 Is., alleged to be due by the defendant to the plaintiff, for having boarded and lodged his wife for a month. The evidence went Ao show that the.defendant's wife had left her husband +®f her own accord, and after the soyaration defendant ;allowed his wife 10s. a week. Many years had elapsed since the separation took place, and when the defendant's wife came to the complainant's house, the &ClA:dant, after discharging one bill, informed the complainant that - he would note liable for any further debts, as he gave her 10s. a week.—His Honour said that the only question in the ease was, whether that amount was adequate to her maintenance, and as that had been paid for a number of years, without complaint, he decided that the com plainant was non-suited. BIRKENHEAD COUNTY COURT. CLAIM Fox A PIANO.—This was an action brought by Mr. Lee, of Rock-ferry, to recover the sum of £lB 135., from Mr. Rya% pianoforte manufacturer, in Birkenhead. From the evidence adduced, it appeared that in July last Mr. Lee had in his possession a piano, of which he was anxious to dispose, it not being of sufficient compass for the performance of the latest concert music. With the view of selling this piano, Mrs. Lee called upon Mr. Ryall, and asked him to call at her house to examine and priae-it., Mr. Ryall did not go, but sent one of his men ; and in consequence of the favourable report made ,by this man, Mr. Ryall, according to the evidence for the plaintiff, offered . Mr. Lee £ 2O - in cash, or £25 in exchange for another. This offer was accepted by Mr. Lee, and the piano was consequently removed. Some time after, Mr. Lee received a letter from Mr. Ryall, stating that the latter had on sale an excellent Broad wood semi-grand, which he would let him have for £63. To this the defendant agreed, but stated that, with regard to the old one, he thought it was distinctly understood £2O was the sum to be given in exchange, and in consequence of the defendant's persisting in this opinion, the present action was brought. Mr. Ryall, however, in his evidence, entirely denied having offered £2O in cash, and a number of witnesses were called to prove that it would have been an absolute loss to the defendant had he given more than £lO or £l2 in cash.— After listening attentively to the hearing of the case, which occupied more than two hours, the jury, without any hesitation, returned a verdict for the plaintiff. SELECT VESTRY. The usual fortnightly meeting of this body was held yesterday, at the Parish-offices, in Brownlow-hill. The Rev. Rector Campbell presided ; and the other members present were—Messrs. Smith, Critchley, Satchel!, Denton, Owen, E. Byford, Bairstow, Hand, Peck, Turner, W. Whitby, Whitty, Syred, Williams, and Cropper. The minutes of the last meeting were read and con firmed. Mr. BROOME, as one of the workhouse visitors on the 11th inst., reported that the butter was bad, and the meat poor in colour, and far from the best quality. THE WORKHOUSE COMMITTEE. Mr. BAIRSTOW asked how it was that this committee were now ordering things for the surgery and drug store, which used formerly always to be contracted for ? He had heard outside of their having sent an order for 100 leeches, and when they came to the store they were not made use of, but all died. Mr. S3IITII said 150 came down, and only two were made use of. Mr. BAIRSTOW said it was really time for the com mittee to consider whether that was a good system or not. Mr. OWEN said, as regarded leeches, the system of supply was somewhat extraordinary. They sent for them to London, and when they came to the workhouse they died ; but, when sent to other places, they lived. As regarded castor oil, they had formerly contracted for it, but contracted with persons who went to certain wholesale houses for it. They now got their supply direct from the wholesale houses, and had thus effected a saving. Mr. Frei: said the policy of the Vestry had always been to throw the contracts, as much as possible, into the hands of Liverpool tradesmen. The principle now acted upon, however, seemed to be, to send to wholesale houses for particular articles (perhaps the only ones on which any profit was made), and contracting for the remainder. They should either give tradesmen a fair chance of supplying all, or let them go for every item to the wholesale houses. He believed that in that case, the parish would not be so well supplied as by the trades men of the town ; for their contractor:, generally speaking, were men of ability and capital. Mr. BYFORD did not agree with Mr. Peck ; the Vestry were bound to go where they could get what they required best and cheapest. They knew what the tricks of tradesmen were. He believed that in the article of castor oil a great saving had been effected. The proceedings were confirmed. THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS' COMMITTEE. Some conversation took place in reference to the report of Mr. Browne, the government inspector, as to the state of education in these schools, and the posi tion of the Rev. I. Holmes as head master. Nothing resulted, however, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, Mr. DENTON, for the voothiine, - ;enewed his mo tion, calling upon Mr. Weightman, the surveyor, to furnish the measurements of the new buildings at the workhouse. Mr. CROPPER said he had asked Mr. Weightman himself, and he said the contractors were bothering him. Mr. Cropper told him he was very glad to hear it. He answered that he really could not get it done. Formerly, his reply had always been that he should do it in a month. • (A laugh.) Mr. DENTox would move that an official application, signed by the chairman, be made to Mr. Weightman to furnish the Vestry with the measurements required ; and if lie failed to do so, he (Mr. Denton) should be pre pared to move a vote of censure upon him. The CHAIRMAN Said it would be merely wasting ink and paper, and wearing their pens. lie had asJted Mr. Weightman very often, but he set them at defiance. Mr. PECK said,when the matter was discussed before, the impression was that the Vestry could take no action, unless the sub-contractors first did so.—The subject then dropped. Mr. DENTON moved for a return of the assessments revised within the last twelve months, under the follow ing heads :—Revised under the personal inspection of the surveyor; ditto, from the representation of collectors; ditto, on the application' of tenants ; ditto, on that of landlords. Mr. WHITEY seconded the motion, which after some conversation was agreed to. The board then proceeded to consider the contracts considera su bl p e plY dis o c for the fu:evsFonne previouslyan d spirits ta k t i o ng th p e la w ce or as kh o ous t h e e , contracts3iessm Bennettbein r e li n ed, seeing that the tender of communication was read frPormevi:as had been accepted. A long Messrs. Bennett, protest ing against the decision of the board to rescind the con tract which had been entered intoprhe zmlll bthe.te however them, and declin ingt to send in fresh tenders. resolved to take Messrs. Bennett's formerl tender into consideration. The board ultimately resolved t the tender of Messrs. Baty and Searight for the supply of spirits of wine and other spirits, and to submit three samples of port wine to Mr. Christopher Bushell, upon the understanding that the one chosen by him should be accepted. The Vestry then adjourned. It is reported that an amalgamation is contemplated between the Caledonian and the London and North western Railway Companies. 1171 E GREAT EASTERN. VISIT , OF THE PRINCE (*N-SfiRT. On Monday anorniug, his Royal Highalees,..theiiirce Consort, accompanied by the Duke of .Newoadtle, Admiral Sir George 'Seymour, and Colonel Ponsonty, paid an early visit , to the Great Eastern, in Hblyhead harbour. His Roy alllighness quitted Penrhyn 4 Castle about seven (Vele& in the morning, and arrived at Holyhead at half-past eight. At the rierhead, - the Despatch, one of the boats the Liverpool flteam-tug Company, was in waiting, with Mr. Campbell. the 'Chairman of the Great Ship Com pany, and Mr. Bold, one of the managing directors, on board. By these gentlemen the Prince scas re ceived at the pier, and immediately embarked. All the ships in 'the harbour were " dressed;" the Hastings and other men-of-war manned yards, and the former fired a Royal salute, which 'echoed from the diffs of 'the headland with a thundering boom. His Royal Highness did not come at once on board the ship, but :remained on the steam-tug, which moved easily round and round the colossal bulk.of the Great Eastern, so as afford the Prince an °ppm. trinity of inspecting it from every point of view. iUnder the bows • the Prince seemed especially struck with the sharpness and fineness of her lines, and here the little tug remained some time. The vessel then steamed round to the -starboard gangway, where Cap tain Harrison, and Mr. Prowse, the chief officer, were in waiting. Captain Harrison received his Royal Highness, and conducted him up through the two lower compartments to the quarter-deck, where Mr. Kett, the second officer, Mr. Al‘Lennan, the chief engineer, and Captain Lay, the paymaster, and all the officers of the executive and engineering staff of the vessel were stand ing. Captain Mends, of the Hastings, and the officers of her Majesty's ships- in harbour, with a few visitors from shore, were also present; but the number was, of course, very limited. Accompanied by the captain and managing directors as before (with Mr. Brereton and Mr. Jacomb, as the late Mr. Brand's representatives), the Prince then proceeded to inspect the ship. THE PROBABLE TIME OF DEPARTURE.—The exact time of departure of the vessel for America still seems (says the Times) as undecided as ever. It has been stated over and over again that Monday, the 24th inst., or the 27th at latest, was positively to be the day for starting ; but we should be deceiving our readers if we did not dissuade them from entertaining anv expectation of this kind. The day when the Great 'Eastern will really leave these shores rests with the Board of Trade, and is only with the company in so far as they exert themselves to comply with the very proper requirements which the Board of Trade demand for the safety of any passengers the Great Eastern may carry. That the number of these same passengers will be limited in the extreme on the occasion of the first voyage, seems beyond a doubt. Rightly or wrongly, the public evidently entertain a strong wish to see this great experiment fairly tested by the only test by which the merits of the vessel can be judged,—a real trip across the Atlantic and back. Of course, before the Great Eastern leaves, the Board of Trade are determined to see that every precaution is adopted to secure the safety of the ship and those on board ; but even with this qualified guarantee passengers will prefer to wait and judge for themsel ves what the ship can do on a regular voyage. The coasting trial trips which have as yet been made can no more be fairly taken as a criterion of what the °T eat ship will do in an Atlantic gale, than if we were to b judge from a run at the measured mile what a vessel could effect off the Cape of Good Hope. That the Great Eastern will never pitch heavily, seems to be believed on all sides ; that she will roll, and to a certain extent deeply, appears equally undoubted, though the motion will be slow and steady. Some time back, we informed our readers of the principal requirements of the Board of Trade: Very many of these still remain to be done. Done they must and will be before the ship leaves ; but we mention the fact that they still have to be effected as a reason for our belief that the g reat ship cannot, and is not likely to, start before the middle or end of next month, if she leaves this winter. The patches which were so unwisely put on the forward boilers befora the ship left Portland, are now being re moved, and replaced with entirely new plates. The India-rubber packing between the lower flange of the iron masts is to be done away with, and its place sup plied with hornbeam. This also is to be done at Holy head, and will, of course, take time to perfect. No bilge and feed-pumps have been fitted to the main machinery, which is still dependent on its feed-water being supplied by the donkey-engines. This, as we have I before pointed out, is a most objectionable arrange ' meat, as, in case of the donkeys breaking down (and, in spite of every care, on both trial trips they have always done so), the engines must come to a dead stand. As this is a matter which can only affect the speed of the ship, and not in any degree interfere with its safety, the company of course have a right to their own way; but if they have any regard to the commercial success of the Great Eastern, they would be wise to adopt every precaution against the possibility of a slow voyage. It is urged, and with truth, that, to fit these feed pumps now would require a delay of at least two or three months, and that the vessel could not then start for America before next spring. Those best acquainted with the internal arran g ements of the ship think that such a delay would be of reat advantage to the future success of the vessel, as affording time for a thorough administrative organization of all its depart ments. This at present is much needed, and until the vessel is solely and entirely given over to the charge of Captain Harrison and the officers under him it can scarcely be looked for. One of the chief requirements of the Board is that fire-pumps shall be fitted to the auxiliary engines of the screw , and to do this i will require such an amount of time and labour that it is most probable that two powerful hand-pumps will eventually be supplied instead. It is rumoured, indeed, that at some remote period two such hand-pumps were put on board, but of their whereabouts at present none can tell. These, with the fitting of extra boats, communication in case of accident with all the stoke-holes, better ventilation of the ship in some places apportioned to the crew, &c., are the main conditions insisted on by the Board of Trade before the vessel can receive her passenger certifi cate ; and to do these as they ought to be done will re quire a delay which makes it absurd to expect that the Great Eastern can possibly leave England during this month. There is one precaution, however, which, though not required by the board, is so imperatively necessary that unless it is adopted not even sailors would venture now to start for America in the Great Eastern. We mean, of course, precaution against cold. Only those who know what a North American winter is, or who have been off the banks of NewfOundland towards the end of November, can appreciate the extreme severity of the cold which prevails there. Yet throughout the whole of the Great Eastern there is not yet a single stove or hot-air pipe fitted to prevent either crew or passengers from almost freezing in such weather. It is true that these will all be put up before the vessel leaves, but this is only an additional element of delay, and one which makes it still more certain that the ship cannot leave at the time stated. HER WORKING POIVER.—The greatest number of revolutions obtained durin g the last trial to this po r t was 11 from the paddle and 41 from the screw engines, and at this the Great Eastern went, with her trysails set, 15 knots, or very nearly 171 statute miles an hour. Without the aid of the trysail it is F:ssible the speed would not have been more than 14 knots—if indeed it had reached as high. Mr. M'Lennan, the company's chief engineer, than whom with regard to the s hip it wou ld be to quote a better authority, is of opinion that in working order the paddles will go 12 and the screw 43 to 44 revolutions a minute. This, according to the calculations, which give a certain amount of speed for a certain number of revolutions, yields a nominal rate of 18 knots an hour. From this, however, has to be deducted the " slip " or yield of the water to the force of the screw and paddles, which varies with the wind or other causes from 18 to 22 per cent. loss of power. Taking the mean of this loss as 20 per cent., it follows that the average rate of the Great Eastern's steaming ought to be at about 141 knots, or more than 16 miles an hour. There will, no doubt, be many days, and even voyages, when her rate , of speed throughout: may average 16 knots, or almost 19 miles an hour; but, as far as can yet be ascertained from the results of the last trial trip, her speed in ocean-going voyages will not exceed the average we have stated—namely, from 14 to 14i knots. If the Great Eastern go to sea next spring, her run is likely to be one of great success, for by that time both ship and engines will be in full working order, which they most certainly are not now. If, on the contrary, her :trial trip across the Atlantic is hurried forward, it is more than probable that the whole journey will .prove a failure in speed. The engineers will fear, and most reasonably fear, to drive the engines overmuch, for a breakdown within tea miles of laud, and a breakdown in the middle of the I Atlantic ina.winter's gale, - are aridity:different things ; and the wand labouring only for 11-11;n0i:day in a heat) , sea will soonifind ont the wed eest point in ler engines. The paddle engines are fittted with what is termed a "marine-governor," which, when a homy Wave forces round the paddles at great seed, instantly shuts of the steam till the machinery slackens down to the rate at which the governor is re,gulated; ;yet even with the aid of this govermor (which by the way is not yet connected with the machinery) every one van , understand how engines strain when, after flying round at fourteen, or perhaps fifteen, revolutions a minute, :they are suddenly brought tip to five or six. This :isrthe kind of labour which tests ships' engines to the very !utmost. This is the test which the Great Eastern has not yet , had, and which when it comes will try both the piston and air-pump rods of the paddle-engine to the very , utmost. The trial trip showed that, with an average . amount of fair weather, for a vessel of such magna-. tude, her engines worked well and easily ; but as the sea-going qualities of the Great Eastern cannot be fairly judged by a coasting voyage, so also machinery of such size and power require a proportionate amount of rough work to test it fully and satisfactorily. This test, as we have said, it has not yet undergone, and can only meet with in an ocean voyage—and for an ocean voyage the Great Eastern -is not yet ready. Ap parently there has been some miscalculation as to the size of her boilers to generate the steam-power required, for, though the boilers have done their duty admirably, it is believed that at full steaming the screw and paddle engines can find employment far more steam than the boilers are equal to supply. This may be, in a great measure, due to the fact that for her size the Great Eastern is " under-powered," as it is called. Few steamships are built at a lower proportion than that of one-horse power to four tons. In the Great Eastern the horse-power is only one to nearly nine tons, and the speed which is gained with this disproportion is due entirely to the length of the ship and her unequalled form. LIVERPOOL POLICE COURT.--YESTERDAY. (Before Mr. MANSFIELD.) ASSAULTING THE POLICE. John Gill and John Jeffreys were charged with being drunk and assaulting an officer.—Officer 144 said he heard a noise in Dalton street last night. In going up the street he fell, and the defendant Gili came up and gave him a severe knock on' the stomach.—Mr. Mansfield : Are you off duty ? Officer: Yes sir.—No. 13 saw the defendants running away. A gentleman stopped them; and they were secured.—Gill was fined £5, or three months' imprison- - ment, and Jeffreys diecharged. CHARGE OF STEALING A WATCH.—Catherine Mooney was charged with pawning a watch, knowing it to have been stolen.—Mr. Bluck defended.—Police-constable 80 said he found the watch at Mr. Robertson's pawnshop, Sand-street. The watch was stolen near the Exchange in August last, from a man named James Cubbins. She told him that she boug'at the watch from a woman that was going to America. She said she gave 355. for it. Mr. Bluck : Isn't it a street where a great many emi grants pass on their road to the steamer. Officer Yes; It is near the docks. Mr. Mansfield : Where did you get the 355. ? Prisoner : I had it in the house, sir. Mr. Mansfield : Do you work ? Prisoner : No, sir; but my husband is an upholsterer. A little boy from Robertson's pawnshop said the prisoner was a regu lar customer at his master's shop. Mr. Bluck said -his client bought the watch from a person who said she was going to America. She pressed her hard to buy it, and she eventually consented to do so. —Mr. Mansfield said the circumstance of the prisoner having gone to a place where she was a re g ular custo mer, showed that she was not aware that the watch had been stolen. Discharged. ENGLISH BIRDS AND FISHES IN AUSTRALIA.—We are glad to learn that Captain M'Meckan, of the Omeo, was successful in landing two and a-half dozen carp, which he took with him from England, with the object of domesticating; them in Victoria. They are now in the care of Mr. Brown, of Como, a locality situated on the Upper Yarra. The four dozen English thrushes have also arrived, consigned directly to Dr. Mueller by Mr. Edward Wilson.—Australian and New Zealand Gazette. DEATH OF THE HON. JOHN WILLIAM FOILTESCUE.— We have to announce the demise of the above noble man, which occurred at Camacha, Madeira, on the 25th ult., at the age of 40 years. The deceased was son of the second Earl Fortescue, and was born in 1819 ; he was appointed a deputy-lieutenant for the county of Devon in 1845, and held the rank of Major in the East Devon Militia in 1846. He represented Barnstaple from 1817 until 1852, when he unsuccessfully contested Youghal, being only defeated by the small majority of two. DEATH OF LADY RAMSAY.—The Inverness Courier says :—" In our obitfiaryof this week will be found the name of Lady Ramsay, sister of the late Glengarry, and mother of the late Chisholm. She had, it appears, reached the ripe age of eighty-two, and died surrounded by her grandchildren, at the residence of herson-in-law, Mr. Chisholm Batten, in the fine valley of Taunton Dean, in Somersetshire. It is, perhaps, worthy of remark, that Sir Walter Scott's famous dog Maida, which lies sculptured by his side in the Edinburgh monument, was given to Sir Walter by Lady' Ramsay's brother, Alexander Macdonell, of Glengarry, the proto type of " Fergus M'lvor." The dog was named Maida by Sir Walter, in compliment to Sir James Macdonell, brother of the chief, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Maida. These family reminiscences are all of the dead—' the place that once knew them knows them no more.' " THE CHINESE REBELS.—A Hong Kong paper says : —The latest news of the rebels is, that their celebrated leader Chin-kin-kali& has been killed by his own people. He was a native of Samshung district, and a car penter by trade. Five years ago he joined the rebels, and soon became distinguished. Report says that at the time of his death, in the Kwang-ning district, he had several tens of thousands under his command. Of late his party had been acting in a barbarous manner, and at last he took to ill-treating his followers, whereon they despatched him. It is likely that the Imperialist cause will be aided by the quarrels of the ten or twelve leaders who were under him. The rebels were still around Nan-heung, and in possession of Lochang ; but for a fee of 20 per cent. ad valorem ' they were quite willing to let merchandise pass up or down. Referring to the above report of the death of Chin-kin-kang, or as the name is pronounced in the local vernacular, Chun Kum Kong, our native reporter writes, "The report of the death of Chun Kum Kong is not true. He is not dead, but for all his good to the cause he might be." A COOLIE SHIP ON FIRE.—The Calcutta EngliBhinan translates from a Mauritius paper an account of the burning of the ship Shah Johan, with 250 Coolies on board, besides her crew. She left Calcutta laden with rice and oil. On the morning of the 27th June smoke was first observed to rise through her fore-hatch, and the cry of fire was raised. One after another the explosion of the . casks of oil was heard, and the fire spread. The .captain made vigorous efforts to subdue it by closing, the scuttles up with wetted sails, and pour ing water through small holes made in the deck, but in vain. At daylight on the 28th they could no longer continue in the ship. The captain, doctor, three`offlbers, and sixty Lascars left in three boats, with out food or water, and 800 miles distant from the Mau ritius. The coolies could not but be abandoned to their fate. After four days in the leaking boats, during which three died, the Vasco de Gama picked them up, and landed them at the Mauritius. From the narrative, it seems no blame can be attached to the captain or crew. Their efforts to save the ship were incessant ; the fault lay in the small number of boats—only four— attached to the vessel. The Legislative Council has extended the provisions of the English Passenger Act to India just in time. Loss OF A SHIELDS SHIP AND ALL HANDS.—There appears now no doubt that the South Shields collier brig Edgar, which left the Tyne exactly a month ago for Hamburg with a fleet of other vessels going oversea, has perished with all hands. Shortly after leaving the Tyne the fleet encountered a heavy gale, and three or four of them were lost on the Dutch coast ; the William, of South Shields, with all her crew. Some hope was entertained that the crew of the Edgar might have been picked up by another vessel, but that has been abandoned. Her stern has washed up within abort sixty miles of the Elbe. When the vessel sailed from the Tyne she had ten hands on board. Her master was Mr. Edward Mackay, and his brother, William Mackay, was the mate of the vessel. The usual complement of hands (officers, crew, and apprentices) was nine; but it seems that as the vessel was proceeding to sea a little lad, brother of the cabin boy, stowed himself below to get a runaway voyage to sea, and the poor little fellow has perished with the vessel and her crew.—Darlington Times. 31.A.NNLNG. THE .NAVY. _ _ _ THE NAVAL RESXRVE . FORCE. 'ln yesterday's Times, there is along .letter from Sir Charles Napier, addressed . to:Abe - Nike of Somerset, %rst Lord of the Admiralty, _en the subject—Manning Fthe Navy. In the course of the letter, Sir Charles Napier 'alludes to the naval reserve force. He says— , "It seems now- - understood we are always to have a channel fleet, and if any attempt is made by the House of Commons to destroy it, I hope we shall have a Prime- Minister who has victim enough.to resign his place, and. independence to tell the House of Common's that without a fleethe will not be responsible for the safety of the coup - try; and if we have not a Minister capable of so doing, trust we shall have an Admiralty who will not serve under such a Minister. Depend upon it, my Lord Duke, it will never come to that. - No' Houseof Commons would ever think of reducing the navy contrary to the Opinion of the government, and the country would never allow the House of Commons to do anything of the sort, . Well, I shall suppose we have a Channel Fleet of ten sail of the line . ' and, - for the sake of clearness, th e y s h ou ld' b e manned with 800 officers, . men, and boys, and 200 Marines. All the blue jackets ought to be able seamen. In time of peace only 100 Marines should he embarked, and - their number filled up by A.B.'s. I don't mean to reduce the Marines, quite the contrary, - they should be increased, and the seaport towns garrisoned by them. In the event of war, one watch should be discharged into another ship ready to receive them, and the Marines completed. This would give us at once twenty sale of the line, manned with 650 men. The officers, - boys, and idlers (which are easily obtained) would -amount to 150 more. To complete them we are obliged at present to fall back on the Coastguard and" Coast Volunteers. The first being draughted would endanger the revenue ; and the second would be comparatively useless, as they are not obliged to go more than 100 leagues front the laud ; besides destroying your fleet for the defence of the coast, all of which should be efficient ships,' and never touched till the last extremity, It is to - obviate this that we are now searching for a reserve of disciplined seamen to the extent of 30,000 men. On the first breaking out of war, we must not suppose that 20 sail of the line and 10 sail of the coast ships, which can only b.; considered sea-militia, would be suffi cient for the home stations, and to reinforce our squadrons abroad. It is for that purpose that the 30,000 men are required, and that the Marines should garrison our. sea ports. _ _ - We have now in all our ports ships quite ready to receive men, and in the event of war the necessary number would immediately be commissioned, an d th e reserve, which ought all to be at home, would be ordered to join their respective ships, to which they ought to be told off beforehand; in addition to the reserve, the Marines should be embarked, and the moment the crews get on board, they should find the captain and the officers ready to receive them, the hammocks slung, the mess utensils on the table, and their (limier cooked. The next step to be taken is to call out the Militia, to replace the Marines in the sea port towns ; they would have ample time to be disci plined, protected by the fleet, and thus in one month the country would be armed to the teeth, and ready to fight any two nations that thought proper to attack us. I now come to the most difficult part,—that is the formation of a reserve ; that is purely a money question ; so if the money is forthcoming the difficulty vanishes. If the country will not give the money, we must remain as we are—open to attack and insult by nations better prepared than ourselves ; and if we meet with a disaster it will not be so easily recovered as many people imagine. Parliament has voted £lOO,OOO to form this reserve. It is proposed to give each man £5. For this he must be ready at all calls. He must serve twenty-eight days each year, and must know all his drills. Durinc , this time he will receive the same pay, provisions, and the same privileges as seamen serving. Now, my lord, to. make this reserve efficient they must give up all trades except the coasting trade. Now, a sailor in the prime of life does not like to be thus restricted. He is fond of wandering all over the world ; and if he is not in the prime of life, he is not fit for the reserve. Your Grace will find that £5 is not a sufficient inducement for a good seaman to take up such a line. It appears to me the formation of the reserve must be begun with men who have served ten years in actual service. At present those men are entitled to a pension ; that should be abolished, and they should only be entitled to • enter the reserve. They should be designated the " Queen's Naval Guards ;" they should be exempt from corporal punishment whn serving ; they should be men of exemplary conduct, and, after having been ten years in the reserve, they should receive a good pension, but subjected to be called upon, if fit and wanted, and then designated the " Old Guard," and receive, as they do now, both pay and pension. They should be eligible-to civil situations, and care should be taken to employ them if fit. If artificers, they should be preferred to others to serve in the dockyards, which is never thought of ; on the contrary, the dockyard officers are generally against them This ought not to be. Now, my lord, comes the question, what pay is suffi cient to induce men to join the reserve ? Five pounds will certainly not do. We must be careful not to risk a failure, and we ought to make searching inquiries amonc , the men themselves what, in their estimation, would be sufficient encouragement to induce them to adopt the coasting trade, so as to be at hand at all calls. What ever is thought just must be given. There is no help for it, for neither the sailor nor the country will stand compulsion. The ballot would be fair, but the ballot would not furnish trained men. It would be easy to register all the 'long-shore-men, and draw them for the naval ser vice; but, as I have already said, that would not get you trained seamen—it would only get you coast volun teers, which you have already. In 1847 I brought a bill into Parliament for regis tering the seamen, and authorising the Queen to call them out by classes, beginning with those just out of their apprenticeship. This bill provided that all masters and owners should be obliged to discharge men coming under the proclamation, and to those men a bounty should be given. That was certainly a mild compulsion, but still it was compulsion, and the House of Commons would not entertain it ; and the Admi ralty shortly after gave up the registration tickets, and left us where we were in 1815. So many improvements have taken place in all the navies of the world that this system, or rather no system, will not now do ; and if we are to be preserved from danger and insult, no time should be lost in doing what th House of Commons and the country expect. I shall conclude this letter my lord, by saying that England expects the Admiralty will do its duty." SIR M. .F. F. BERKLEY ON THE CHANNEL FLEETS AND THE CHANNEL DEFENCES. Sir M. F. F. Berkley has addressed a letter to Sir Francis T. Baring on this subject. In the course of his remarks, he says : "Cherbourg appears to be the great bugbear of the day ; for England it is the best port in which the French fleet could rendezvous. In whatever port France (being our enemy) has a fleet, there we must have one in attendance; the further from our shores the worse for us. Cherbourg can easily—most easily—he watched from Spithead, or better still from Portland. Coals are one of the greatest essen tials in future maritime warfare ; we cannot afford to expend them in blockading, The fleet with the most coal would be the most effective. Admit that the opposing Channel fleets meet, under present cir cumstances, it is probable that both would be nearly annihilated. But for a moment let me imagine that our fleet had sustained the greater loss. Are we to depend upon the chances of a single battle for the safety of our homes ? We ought to have a Channel force—l will not call it a fleet—quite independent of the Channel or any other fleet. This force should ever be at hand; it should be marked for and appropriated for Channel service, and Channel service only. No temptation, no circumstance, should induce us to divert it from its intended purpose—namely, to give security to our shores, and to relieve the country from ;hose fits of occasional panic or negligent security which. have already entailed upon us such enormous. expenses. The destruction of the opposing fleets would be no hindrance to the attempt at invasion. 'Even admit that part of that of the enemy survived the shock, while the whole of , ours had been, destroyed, I should have reliance on my propo€ed Channel force successfully to prevent invasion. One vat featfire which has changed the whole system of defence on our part, and which seems to me to have been entirely over looked by b f a y e the t th v a a t r i t o h u e s s s p in e a at ke e r s s t and gunboat d l e a s . r a na n T g h Te ga C un o nd c k e a e h a a f t e e d r w de r s i t t r e u r writers on sti v armed the as subject, b a e lti c ot t nh weapons equally mischievou s an, e. I d st t" throw ingbe a o r r a r ia d e s t p h ar e ogi l ue a cn r t g i ol e ef s t q ship l yc in a lei t b h rr s e ce r iqv v u_ l ea c eq by the Duke of Wellingt t on. he In former times the s i ze of the vessel determined size of the weapon, , and c onsequent length of range. The 32 -pounder of the ship of the line could cut the frigate to ribands before the 18-pounder of the latter could be of any avail. In the same, way the 18-pounder of the frigate over whelmed the 12 or 9-pounder of the sloop, and gal! the sloop disposed of her more pigmy opponents. Small vessels had but small chance of disabling -their more powerful pursuers. Many shot might be fired with good aim, but it took many to disable or even to cripple the giant; In the present day, one projectile from the pigmy, striking mast, yard, or bowsprit of the pursuing, giant, down it must come—indeed, it m i g ht be lodged' in a more vital point, and the consequences be more serious than even the loss of a spar; and it must be remembered how large the target to be aimed at on the one hand, and how small the target on the other: •Let us have a swarm of these pigmies and Cockchafers -they would be the force, of all others, to preven! invasion under all and every ci r cumstance. Brand them for Channel service, and that alone. Beep them rigged as fitting for Channel service, and hot for long voyages, when square sails and more canvass may be necessary. I believe you would succeed in man ning them, although you do not succeed in doing so li r large ships liable to go foreign, if you will not only impress upon our seafaring home population that there is no intention to ask them to serve till their homes are threatened, and to serve only in defence of those homes. I admit I was the originator of the Coast Volunteers, but I am not to blame for it! failure or rather partial failure. The rules that would have established, the details necessary to carry it out as proposed by myself, have all been altered, and, in many instances, set aside. The evidence taken before the late commission on manning, bears me out in this assertion, and I could have proved it, had it been thought right to examine me. From the moment I went to the Board of Admiralty, I have strenuously advocated the necessity of an available reserve to a large extent. T ° , meet the objections of all, to comb a t the prejudices o. others, the subject must be well s t u di e d. Carrying ou t details and makino. regulations . are not the lea st difficult part. The e constant change of Boards -- above all, the frequent change of the individual at the head of the Board—renders it almost a hope less task—it requires perseverance in one system in detail as well as the whole. No scheme can prosper that is so constantly altered ; and, above all, any scheme on the subject of manning the navy, as well as estab lishing a reserve, must be steadily persevered in, and the one end kept constantly in view. There arc two distinct requirements,—how to insure the services of $ large body of able seamen at the shortest possible notice for your fleets and cruisers, necessary all over the and how, at the same time, and at equally short notic e, to bring together a strong force of seafaring men, suffi cient to defend the Channel and repel invasion. The latter is the more easily accomplished of the two. B°l are absolutely necessary to our existence as a grea t nation, and when the subject shall be undertaken in rea l earnest I have no fear but both may be accomplished , although the measures recently ad o pt e d w ith res pect ~_t ° bounty have increased th e difficulty, and cannot but u` prejudicial to the fo rma ti on o f any permanen t re serve, most assuredly, rendering it more expensive." wo rld r MR. KINNAIRD, M.P., ON THE ITALIAN QUESTION. The member for Perth, who has lately been in Rail , has addressed a letter to Lord Provost Imrie on the Italian question. He says :—" After the vote in Par; liament which led to the resignation of the Ministry a Lord Derby, and when it became evident that a Reform. Bill was out of the question, from want of time sufficien t to discuss that or any other important measure, the attention of Parliament and of the country was naturally directed to Italy. Whatever outward agreement there might be among rival statesmen, it was evident that very different sympathies were manifested, and verydif ferent sentiments entertained, as to the real condition of central Italy, and as to the fitness of its people for constitutional government. My sympathies were, al they have ever been, in favour of Italian liberties; but still wanted the assurance that years of oppression and misrule had not unfitted the people for the full exercise of their rights as the constitutional subjects of fre e States. I determined, therefore, as soon after the recess as possible, to revisit Italy, and ascertain what I could by personal observation. The result has even surpassed my expectations ; and I rejoice to know that both in Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell we Nape' from their avowed sentiments, the guarantee that 10 16 :: ever moral support can be given will be afforded by t't - Government of England in this crisis of Italian liberty. I first went by Zurich and the Lake Maggiore te, Milan, and visited the scenes of Garribaldi's successf!l campaign with his volunteer troops. Having Passn through the field of Magenta on my way, I reach ed Milan just after the brilliant reception given to t Tuscan deputation, and from what I witnessed ail heard, in answer to the inquiries I made there a n elsewhere, I came to the conclusion that there is a deer seated and wide-spread unanimity of sentiment in fave ur of uniting under the rule of Victor Emmanuel. Consider ing how recently the iron yoke of Austria, both directly. and indirectly, repressed all aspirations after liberty,, I; is really marvellous to see the orderly bearing of tu t people, combined with their resolute determination ti°, again to submit to any foreign yoke. Could they b secure from interference from without, I believe th:. we should see civil and religious liberty in full exer el ! ii * I had the privilege of conversing with Signor Far t ; and General Garibaldi at Modena, and with IW ° O Ricasoli and General Salvagrioli at Florence, and we almost equally delighted with the sentiments expres% a by each, manifesting a statesmanlike comprehen s l„, of affairs, combining moderation with energy, and prs . tical wisdom with ° honest determination of InP . P u s g Most sincerely do I wish them God speed, believin,, , , it• e I do, that with their success i s h oun d u p, no t only happiness of Central Italy and th e religious welfare cu f t he thousands of its inhabitant s , b u t th e ma i n t ena nce o peace of Europe. Of course, in the above, re membe r do not refer to that c l er i ca l p ar ty w h ose wor ldly int i e r :" h e are identified with the triumph of the Papacy, and ; ir e care not who is sacrificed so that its interests advanced." RESCUE FROM DROWNING.—On Saturday eve ri l; betweeen nine and ten o'clock, P o li ce - cons t a ble ge"; while on duty at Carlisle-bridge, was informed that sni t , person had fallen into the Liffey, and he immed iatev • the went down the steps, and observed some object in e d river. He threw off his outside clothing, and jurriP into the water. At the same time a man named G°.lrje man, of 13, Aston's-quay, got into a boat at the 0pP,1 1 4 , side of the river and pulled towards the object, "„, - 0- he reached before the constable, and discovered a Y°"„l,' boy named James Byrne, whom he took into the b ° ",. together with the constable, and brought both to shorre The boy was conveyed to Jervis-street Hospital , wil e . te , he was detained until yesterday, when he, had e l er recovered. It appeared that his falling into the rl . ! r t was accidental, in consequence of his foot ha"" slipped. ; „ r 31° MINERAL WEALTH OF NEW ZEALAND.—The contain, interesting accounts of Dr. Hochstetter's ge. ° t to gical exploration. He had just returned from a visi ri d Coromandel Harbour, where the coal was examined %, both goldfields explored. Mr. Heaphy and 31r. P o ; pointed out a locality where a thin bed of auri fer i f il l quartz grit was known to exist, and the first shot id. washed yielded the usual show of grain and scale r ich l ' iw Dr. Hochstetter then dug and washed a dishful, ett yielded a quartz specimen with a streak of gold thro7o, it of about the size of a hazel nut, together With 3 C a ble siderable quantity of large scale gold—a most favour le prospect ; and in every panful wa3hed the gold g.el e abounded. His opinion is said to be that there ex l ', ero great quantity of gold not far from the locality the specimens were obtained , but that the search shvehe be carefully prosecuted amonz, the quartz veins in mountains rather than by digging in the alluvia l dePO6l- —Australian and New Zealand Gazette. n A CCIDEN T ON THE HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.-- - `-' ti *" day, an accident , which mi g ht have been attended " el . serious co nsequences, occurred to the three o 'clock .. rn press from Holyhead, and delayed its arrival in n e ; mor e than an hour-an&a-half. By some inadverwt'e the on the part of the engine-driv er , the train over ra- ,,r- Conway-station, and dash e d i n t o a t ra in of emP t Y !lie riages which were being shunted across the line• tf shock was rather severe and two or three o f the esloProe carriages were broken and thrown off t h e line. s an d one or two of the passengers in the express were cut_ we, bruised, and o th ers a good deal shaken, though ne,n!teie believe, so much so as t o preven t their continuin„_Piee, route When the li ne was cleared of the broken carrn o s after delay of nearly an hour. Just a s the eoxprhe7.4.. resuming its journey, it was found th at one v w ere riages s red wasci h m ot ti , c w h l f f t nicjhu!'ednecienssiittsataeldlesan, oththaetr till the carriage was removed a nd replaced. tisiteoppog e getting YORTITERN 'IiAILY TIMES. OCTOBER 19, 1859.