The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-11 00:00:00

Two unlicensed stockbrokers at Paris have been sentenced
to two years' imprisonment for swindling and betting upon
the public funds.
Niw Acx ow WEDDING RINGS.—Among the acts of the
late session was one to except gold wedding rings from the
operation-of the former act relating to the standard and silver
wares, and from the exemptions contained in the acts relating
to gold wares. Wedding rings are now required to be assayed
and marked. _

Tzin-WW-n" DISEASE.—From Oporto, under date of the
30th ult., we learn that the vine disease has made rapid pro-
gress, and in the Douro it was becoming as destructive as last
year. It is expected that about the same quantity of wine
will be made ; but, as the vintage will be a very late one, the
quality will depend upon the state of the weather.
A Hein CENTENARIAN.—George Stephenson has just died
at Romaldkirk, near Barnard Castle, aged 105 years. He was
an agricultural labourer, and famed as an early riser. He
used, it is said, frequently to reprove his daughter and her
husband, both of whom are upwards of 70 years, for indulging
in }red so long in the mornings, though they invariably rose
before 6 o'clock, telling them, if they would not work when
young, what would they do when old !
ONE of the minor curiosities of Paris is the enormous vine
which ornaments the court of a house in the Rue des Marais
St. Germain. It is said to have been planted by Racine; and,
supposing that he did it in the last year of his life, the vine
must now be not less than 156 years of age, as that celebrated
writer died in 1699. It is this year in an unusually flourishing
condition, and covered with fine fruit.
A NUMEROUS GANG of the London swell mob have made
their appearance in Constantinople. They came from London,
and finding an open field for their exploits, set to in earnest,
robbing and swindling officers and sailors indiscriminately.
Twelve vagabonds have been taken up, thanks to the active
exertions of Major Hackett ; and the rest, supposed to be 70
in all, have dispersed, or are concealed. The culprits in
custody are in irons, and will be sent to Malta for trial.
SUICIDE IN A RAILWAY TRAIN.—On Thursday morning,
a son of Dr. Payne, of Nottingham, committed suicide in a
railway carriage, between Nottingham and Derby. He had
taken a black silk handkerchief from his neck, and suspended
himself from the ventilator at the top of the carriage-door.
He had also taken off his shoes, and turned his trousers up
to the knees. He was immediately cut down, and although
life was apparently not extinct, he was beyond hope of
recovery.
WEAVING BY ELECTRICITY.—An invention that promises
to create a revolution in the manufacture of silks, linens,
cottons—in fact of all woven articles—has just been perfected
here, and a specimen is now on its way to the Paris exhibition.
This is the electric loom, invented by Cavaliere Bonelli, in-
spector of telegraphs in the Sardinian States. Some time
since I noticed to you his application of electricity to the
jacquard loom, whereby he was enabled to dispense with cards,
and much of the manipulation necessary for the old system of
weaving ; but in the more perfected specimen now about to be
exhibited, the inventor has added steam power to supersede
manual labour, so that one intelligent workman may attend to
many machines at the same time, and the operation of making
all kinds of patterns will be as easy, cheap, and expeditious, as
printing and knitting in different patterns is also performed
with similar instruments.— Turin correspondent of the
Times.

THE ABORIGNIES or AIISTRALIA.—The last report of the
Protector of the Aborignies has recently been published, but
beyond testifying to the rapidly diminishing numbers of the
native tribes, it claims little of an interesting character. The
Adelaide tribe have returned to their winter quarters in and
about town, occupying themselves by day in begging food and
clothing, and by night in holding corobbories by their wurley
fires. Archdeacon Hale, with unwearied perseverance, con-
tinues his efforts at Port Lincoln, and speaks hopefully of the
indications of some of his pupils. But the steady diappear-
ance of the natives is what every report on their condition
most uniformly points to, although everything is done that
could promise to alleviate the discomforts of their condition.
—Adelaide Register.
TICKET or LEAVE CONVICTS.-0a Saturday a Return
was issued which states that the Secretary of State is not in
possession of any sufficient information to enable him to state
the number of convicts with tickets of leave who are known
to be now in employment or conducting themselves properly.
It may, however, be stated that of 960 convicts released during
the year ended 30th June last, 690 have made application at
the end of the stipulated interval of three months after their
discharge for the balance of the gratuity 'returned on their
release, in accordance with the regulations, and that 684 of
the number produced satisfactory testimonials of their gold
conduct. Of the 270 who have not applied, the greater
portion have not been at large the regulated period. Ninety-
seven convicts who have received tickets of leave have been
re-convicted of various crimes.
EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE.•.- On Mondaya singular circum-
stance happened to Thomas Malkin, while travelling by the
7 a.m. train from Hull to Sheffield. As the train was proceed-
ing at a rapid rate between Kiveton-park and Woodhouse
Junction, near to Aston colliery, Malkin, while leaning over
the carriage door, found it giving way. He grasped the door,
in his effort to save himself, but it swung open, and he was
thrown with great force upon the opposite embankment.
When the train arrived at the Victoria station information of
the accident was given to Mr. Ward, the manager, and he
immediately proceeded with a carriage and engine to the spot.
On arriving at the Woodhouse viaduct he met the man walk-
ing along the line. He was taken into the carriage, and it
was foun that he had sustained no injury beyond a severe
shock and a few slight bruises on his hands, back, and head.—
Sheffield Iris.
COLLISION AT SEA.—On Sunday morning the schooner
Snowdrop, of Sunderland, Captain Adamson, while on her
voyage down to Sunderland, timber laden, came into collision
with the Charles of Lyme, three miles off Whitby. The
Charles was seen at some distance by the crew of the Snow-
drop, the wind blowing fresh at the time, and every effort
was made to avoid her, but all their endeavours failed to
avoid a collision. The vessels soon cleared each other, but
quence of having lost herjib-boom, anstern
damaged, the wreck of which impeded her movements. On
looking for the Charles, it was found she had sunk, upon
which the schooner's boat was instantly put out, and exer-
tions made to save the crew, but only one man was found
above water, the remainder of the hands, five in number,
having perished. The Snowdrop has since arrived in Sunder-
laud, with the solitary survivor of the ill-fated Charles ou
board. •
PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SIIIPWRECR.—On Thurs-
day, a meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
was held at its offices, John-street, Adelphi, London, Captain
Lambert Perrott in the chair. Mr. Lewis, the secretary,
having read the minutes of the previous meeting, the silver
medal of the institution was voted respectively to Mrs. Gil-
braith and to Mr. William Rae, in testimony of their humane
and gallant services to one out of three persons who were
upset in a small punt near Whitburn, on the Durham coast, on
the 6th ult. Rae was in the boat with the three men when
the accident happened, and 'had almost succeeded in swimming
ashore with two of them who clung to his clothes ; one of
them, however, fell off, when near the land, from exhaustion.
The other he brought to shallow water, when Mrs. Gilbraith,
with much presence of mind, rushed over some rocks to their
assistance. The special thanks of the institution were pre-
sented to the Rev. Owen Lloyd Williams, of Llaufairyng-
hornwy, Anglesea, and £5 to his boat's crew of five men, for
putting off early on the 28th ult. in the Cemlyn lifeboat, with
the view of rendering assistance to the crew of a large ship
which was observed to have been wrecked near the Skerries
during the previous night. Before their arrival, however, the
crew had landed in their-own boat. A reward of £2los was also
voted to the crew of the same lifeboat for putting off to render aid
to the crew of the sloop Ann Susannah, of Bangor, which became
also a total wreck near the same dangerous locality. As in the
previous instance, the wreck's crew of four men had succeeded
in landing before the arrival of the lifeboat. A reward of
£1 12s. was voted to the boat's crew for rescuing four persons
from a boat which had capsized in Redwharf Bay, on the
Anglesea coast. The crew of the upset boat were seen
clinging to her in an exhausted state when rescued from a
watery grave. One of them had lost his hold, and was being
drawn away with the tide, when help was given him. Two
poor Irishmen, who, with the promptitude and humanity
which always characterise this class of the Irish people,
put off in their curraghs to the rescue of the master of a
smack thrown out of his vessel near Foy Island, on the coast
of Donegal, received £2. A reward of £9 was voted
to a smack's crew for saving two of the crew of
the emigrant ship John Bright, who had been capsized
from a boat when that vessel struck on Arklow Banks,
on the 24th ult. A communication was read from
Count Walewski, stating that the attention of the French go-
vernment would be directed to the various models of lifeboats,
&c., exhibited by the institution at the Paris Exhibition.
Captain Robertson, R.N. of the Board of Trade, has recently
visited some of the lifeboats of the institution, and has re-
ported very favourably of their efficiency. It appeared that
the society has now a class of lifeboat—after Mr. Peake's de-
sign—that admirably answers every purpose for which a life-
boat can be required. A strong appeal was made for pecu-
niary aid to enable the institution to increase the number of
of its lifeboats on dangerous points of the coast. The pro-
ceedings then closed. •
HORRIBLE OCCURRENCE NEAR BATA.—ATTEMPTED PAR-
nroms.—Mr. Charles Fulton, an opulent tradesmen of Bath;
and one of the members of the municipal corporation of that
city, has had several doses of arsenic administered to him, with
a view to his murder, by his only son, Thomas Fulton, a young
man of between 24 and 25 years of age. Mr. Fulton did not
reside upon his business premises at Bath, but occupied a
country residence called Lambridge. His family consisted of
his wife, some daughters, and the son, Mr. Thomas Fulton.
The latter was a young man of extravagant and somewhat
dissolute habits, but he was indulgently treated by his father
and all the family. Little doubt, therefore, is entertained that
his object was to destroy his father's life in order to possess
himself of the property wherewith to sustain his extravagant
habits. For some weeks past, Mr. Fulton, sen., had been
attacked at intervals with violent pains, which symptoms came
on generally after meals. Medical aid was from time to time
procured, and the malady succumbed to the treatment em-
ployed, but the symptoms, nevertheless, caused great uneasi-
ness to be felt by all the members of the family. On Sunday,
the 19th ult., Mr. Fulton had a very violent attack, which, it
is now remembered, came on shortly after his drinking a glass
of beer, which was handed to him by his son. Mr. Harris,
surgeon, was sent for, and prescribed for the symptoms which
he found, and under his treatment the unfortunate gentleman
got better, and was sufficiently recovered by the 27th to be
able to go into Bath to his place of business. Upon going
hou,e again in the evening he felt weak and exhausted, and
fanciful as regarded his appetite, and he requested that he
might have some fried potatoes and a thin rasher or two of
bacon prepared for him. The meat was served up, and Mr.
Fulton, after eating a portion of it, complained of tastins• in
his mouth the same metallic coppery taste which he had'ob-
served on former occasions. This was at first ascribed to
fancy, but in a few minutes he was seized with pains as be-
fore. Mr. Harris was again called in, and his suspicions be-
coming excited, inquiries were instituted, and it was
to
and dis-
covered that when the fried potatoes were being prepared,
Mr. Thomas Fulton entered the kitchen, and under pretence
observedust have contrived
water
into,
tto the
away,frfrying-pan,
n a
g then pa,
table
of being anxious to prevent delay, volunteered to cut up some
on, h
emptied
otatoes ;
e
which
n:ipitcltliyie
hppel afterwardsotvheartafterthe fihis
fouled t .ah
nr a's
sickness
afterwards me oy
the
placed
to
boil,
took the plate of potatoes which remained into the garden,
that he e
e he
was &so to t o thw them
pour
must
the water away. The circumstances increasing the sus-
picion against him, and leaving little doubt that he•had con-
trivel to mix some poisonous substance with the potatoes,
portion of the contents of the stomach, and subsequentlya
the l
frying-pan, were sent to Mr. Herapath, the
well-known ana-
lytical chemist, of Bristol, who succeeded in producing arsenic
from both. Finding that his diabolical
Fulton attempt at parricide
had been detected,
• young .fled from his home and has
not since been heard of. A warrant has, however,
ms, been issued
fin. his arrest, and a
description
of his person telegraphed to
the different police-stations.