The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-01 00:00:00

WIND AND WEATHER REPORT.

• • ---
London, wind S., Portsmouth, S.E. unsettled ; Carlisle, S.,
Berwick, Hull, Great Grimsby, S.W., Derby, S.S.W., Poole,
E., Cowes, Cardiff, S.E., cloudy • Whitehaven, S., fine, cold ;
Ipswich, Glasgow, Plymouth, S., Taunton, Perth, Edinburgh,
Sunderland, Yarmouth, Nottingham, Stoke, Lancaster, S.W.,
Manchester, Lowestoft, S.S.W., Bristol, E., Leicester,
Brighton, Exeter, Gloucester, Cambridge, York, S.E., Whitby,
Scarborough, W., Gainsborough, N., Aberdeen, N.W., Am-
sterdam, S.E.,fine ; Dundee, S.W., stormy; Newcastle, S.W.,
Leeds, E., outhampton, S.E., very fine ; Haverfordwest,
S.W., windy; Portsmouth, S.E., unsettled.

LATEST SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.
Dorsetshire, from Algoa Bay ; Bellona, from Alexandria—
at Deal, 31st Dec.
GALATZ, DEC. 29.-23 vessels and 62 lighters have been
lost with all hands.

WRITING AND BOOKKEEPING.—A proper acquaintance
with these two most important branches of education would
in many cases, prevent numerous frauds and delinquencies in
the commercial world ; and to those desirous of acquiring a
mastery in this respect, we would recommend the system
taught by Messrs. Thompson, Clayton-square.
CHILD OVERLAIN.—On Friday night, Sarah Pilling, living
at 19, Snowdon-street, went to bed with her twin infants, aged
eleven weeks, and, on getting up in the morning, she found
one of them, having been overlain, dying in convulsions. At
the inquest, on Saturday, a verdict of "Accidentally suffocated"
was returned.
THE GERMAN CHURCH, SIR THOMAS'S-BUILDINGS.—The
sum of £3 14s. ld. was collected on behalf of the above object,
at St. Paul's, Prince's-rark, on Sunday morning, after a sermon
by the Rev. Dr. 31`Neile. This is a very liberal amount, con-
sidering that no previous intimation had been given that the
collection would be made.
FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Thursday, as Michael Kilkelly,
aged 14, was standing in a lorry, near the George's-pier, wit-
nessing the embarkation of the Nottinghamshire Militia, the
horse suddenly went on, and he was thrown with great vio-
lence to the ground, sustaining a scalp wound and concussion
of the brain. He was taken to the Northern Hospital, where
he died on Friday.
ANOTHER ROBBERY FROM THE "DONALD M'KAY."—
A young man, about 18 years of age, named James Bournes,
was charged at the Police-court, yesterday, by a passenger
from Melbourne per the Donald M'Kay, named Alfred Ap-
pleton, with breaking into and stealing from his chest a large
quantity of wearing apparel, consisting of coats, vests, trousers,
neckties, &c. Bourses was committed to the house of correc-
tion for one month.
SUDDEN DEATH.—An inquest was held before the borough
coroner, on Saturday, on the body of Ann Andrews, a servant
at No. 5, Finch-street. The deceased, her mistress, and other
persons drank until all were intoxicated on Christmas-day.
On Wednesday Andrews was taken suddenly ill, and, becom-
ing worse, she was on Friday removed to the house of her
friends, 18, Pall Mall, where she died in a few minutes after-
wards, before a medical man had an opportunity of seeing her.
The jury, not being satisfied that death was the result of
natural causes, the inquest was adjourned until yesterday, in
order that a post mortem examination might be made. The
medical gentleman employed to make the post mortem ex-
amination reported that death had been caused by disease of
the heart.
A WOMAN KILLED.—On Saturday, an inquest was held
before the Borough Coroner, on the body of Ann Hickman,
aged thirty-nine, wife of Thomas Hickman, boilermaker, of
No. 3 Court, Llanrwst-street. On Friday week, the deceased,
her hushaud, and her husband's father, all drank to intoxica-
tion, when a quarrel arose between the former and the latter.
The deceased snatched up the poker, and struck her father-in-
law. He wrested it from her, and aimed a bllow at her, but
whether it took .effect, her husbund, who was the only witness
of the brawl, could not say. She was taken ill the next day,
and though attended by a surgeon, became rapidly worse, un-
til Wednesday, when she died. Mr. Whittle, surgeon, who
had made a post mortem examination, stated that death had
been caused by a rupture of the bladder, the result of violence,
and that, on examining the body, he had found two bruises on
each thigh. The jury returned as their verdict that the de-
ceased had died of certain injuries, but how received there
was no evidence to show.
THE WOODSIDE FERRY BOATMEN.—We are glad to learn
that the small Christmas subscriptions—intermitted last year
owing to the indisposition and the absorption of the gentle-
men who had usually taken charge of it—has been revived,
and we trust will soon make general and rapid progress
amongst the residents on the Cheshire side of the Mersey on
behalf of the captains and crews of the Woodside ferry
steamers for their general good conduct. Their occupation,
at this time of the year is a very severe one ; and a little en-
couragement of this kind will stimulate them in their endea-
vours to persevere to merit the approbation of the public.
The collective mode of conferring Christmas boxes, which
are taken home as marks of public approval of humbler
public servants, and so is appropriated to purchasing some
article of comfort, or necessaries for their wives and children,
is clearly a vast improvement on the former custom of indi-
vidual contractors giving this or that boatman his shilling or
two, tempting him to spend driblets in the public-house or
beer-shop. Mr. J. H. Hind has consented to act as treasurer,
and will also superintend the division of the money collected.
Books are placed at the contractors' gate, and have also been
taken by Mr. J. M. Hannay, Mr. Macgregor Laird, jun., and
Mr. Richard Godwin, of Oxton.
EMIGRATION PROM LIVERPOOL.—The emigration returns
for the past year will exhibit a diminution in the number of
persons sailing from this port, to the extent of nearly one-half,
as compared with the previous year's return. The total num-
ber of ships which have sailed hence for all foreign parts,
during the year, including " short ships," or those which do
not come under the surveillance of the Government officers,
has been 576, carrying altogether 122,480 souls, against 957
ships, which took their departure hence for all foreign ports, in
the year 1854, with 210,742 souls on board. Of this number,
about 90,000, or two-thirds, have proceeded to the United
States, and about 27,000 to the Australian colonies, the bulk
,of the remainder being equally divided between Canada and
New Brunswick. 113,037 of these emigrants went in passenger
'ships under the inspection of the local emigration agents, and
of that number 59,025, or more than one-half, were Irish,
:824108 were English, 14543 Scotch, and the remainder, with
.the exception of 1,364 who were cabin passengers, and were
,nonclassified, were natives of other countries, but chiefly Ger-
mans. Of the 27,000 who sailed for Australia, 9,859 were
English, 8,158 Irish, 3,482 Scotch, and the remainder natives
of other countries. It is expected that next spring there will
'be a great influx of Germans into Liverpool for the purpose of
,emigrating to the United States.
BREWING INTO A FOUNDRY.—Two youths, named John
Fortune and John Hughes, were charged at the Police-court,
yesterday, with the following daring robbery, and John
Sharkey, s marine-store dealer, was brought before the magis-
trates, charged with receiving the property, knowing it to
have been .stolen. A police inspector said he received infor-
mation that the premises of Messrs. Lawrence and Daniels,
Sandon Engine Works, Boundary-street, Vauxhall-road,
had been broken into during the evening of Sunday,
or early on Monday morning, from which a large quantity
of valuable property was stolen. Ile immediately went
in pursuit, and in an apartment behind a marine-store,
at 10, Eldon-place, kept by Sharkey, he saw Fortune and
Hughes standing n'ith a bag in their hands, containing a
number of copper-taps, while Sharkey was weighing a quantity
of the same kind of metal. The inspector went in and ap-
prehended all three. All the property that he found was
identified by the foreman of Messrs. Lawrence and Daniels.
After all the evidence had been heard, Mr. Clough stated that
both the father and mother of the prisoner, Sharkey, were in
partnership; the mother was brought before the magistrates
so lately as last week, for having, in her store, property which
she could not account for; but had been discharged because
she said that she had nothing to do with the store, as it be-
longed entirely to her son. The elder Sharkey is at present
in gaol for having stolen property in his possession. John
'Sharkey, in his turn, laid all the blame on his mother, saying
that he was not proprietor of the store, but just acted as his
mother and father's hired servant, All the prisoners were
committed for trial at the. Sessions.
110/103ERY ON BOARD TUE DONALD M`KAT.—A delicate-
looking seaman, named Thomas Jones, was charged at the
Poliee-court, yesterday, with stealing two hams belonging to
the stores of the Donald M`Kay. He was also taken on sus-
picion of stealing three watches from different passengers by
the same ship, Captain Warner, of the Donald M`Kay, said
while on the voyage he gave a number of hams out of the
ship's store to the butcher to be served up to the passengers
and crew. The morning after he had given the hams to the
butcher three were missed. All the crew and passengers
were called aft and examined, and afterwards all the
seamen's chests and hammocks were searched, and one of the
hams was found in a bundle belonging to the prisoner.
Another was found in a seaman's chest (not the prisoner's)
in the forecastle ; but the seaman in whose chest it was found
said Jones gave him the ham until they arrived in port. The
prisoner confessed to the captain, when at sea, that he had
given the ham to the seaman in whose chest it was found, to
keep for him. Captain Warren said that several very serious
robberies had taken place on the voyage home, and he had
reason to suspect the prisoner as being connected with one at
least, from the fact that a knife belonging to the prisoner was
found in the same berth in which one of the passengers had
'been robbed of a gold watch. One gold watch and chain were
found in a hen-coop, and beside it was another watch-glass,
wrapped in a piece of canvas. For the prisoner it was con-
tended that there was no connecting link between him and
the watches, and Jones did not deny that he had taken the
hams, because the crew were short of provisions ; and it was a
common thing for them, under the circumstances, to take a
ham or two out of the store, the door of which was left nearly
always open. The owner of the watch and chain had gone
to Scotland but he bad promised to come and give evidence.
The hams were identified by the purser of the Donald WICaY,
and the prisoner was committed to gaol for eight weeks,

INDISPUTABILITY THE ONLY COMPLETE
SECURITY IN LIFE ASSURANCE.
(Extracted from " The Register.")
. What is meant by an indisputable policy ? In the first place, it
Is unlike other policies ; the adjective being used to imply some-
thing to mark and iistinguish such a policy from all other poli-
cies. In the second place, it means much more—it implies that
the policy to which the epithet " Indisputable" is given cannot-
be disputed, except upon grounds beyond the reach and power of
the contracting parties to control. In other words, the policy is
represented as being as indisputable as man can make it.
Nothing can be more embarrassing than the situation of a man
who, after making payments to an Insurance Company for ten,
twelve, or twenty years, on the supposition that by such pay-
ments he has purchased for his family the absolute property in a
reversionary estate, is then told that at his death his survivors
may receive such property, but that there is a great chance—a pos-
sibility—atnounting to a probability, that they may not ; and that
the contingency depends upon circumstances which he cannot
foresee. Yet such is the position of those who are held as wholly
responsible for the precise and literal accuracy of every statement
in numerous documents and schedules which precede the issuing
of a policy. Take one of these schedules as au instance of aver-
ments, upon the accuracy of each of which the whole value of
the policy will ultimately be made to depend :—" I do hereby
declare that my age does not exceed years ; that I have had
cow-pox or small-pox (state which); that I have (or have not) had
the gout; that I have not been afflicted with any fit or fits, or
convulsions, nor with asthma, insanity, or spitting of blood ;_and
that I am not afflicted with habitual cough, diseases of the lungs,
nor with any other disease or disorder tending to shorten life;
and that the foregoing proposal contains a true statement of
every matter and thing thereby required to be set forth; and that .
I am now in good health; and I do declare that I have not-con-
cealed or withheld any matter or circumstance touching my past
or present state of health, habits of life, or condition which may
render an insurance on my life more than usually hazardous; or
with which the Directors of this society ought to be made ac-
quainted; and that my private referees are well acquainted with,
and fully competent to give, the requisite information as to my
habits of life. And Ido declare that this declaration shall be the
basis of the contract between me and the said society; and that
if any true allegation or statement be contained in the said pro-
posal, or in this declaratiot., or if any material information be
omitted which ought to be contained therein, all moneys which
shall have been or shall be paid to the said society, on account of
such insurance, shall be forfeited to the use of the said society,
and the policy be absolutely null and void."
Now, looking at the wording of this clause, it may be affirmed,
without much exaggeration, that there is no human being upon.
earth who, looking on it as the literal condition of his contract
with a company, can possess a certainty that the event of his
death will place Isis family in possession of the sum specified in
the agreement. It is a professional notoriety that there are nu-
merous diseases which may be in active play long before their ex,
istence is suspected by the patient or any one else.. Yet, by the
contrivance of making the proposer warrant the literal accuracy
of numerous statements, the clause above quoted would vitiate
and nullify the policy, if it could he proved that the invisible foe
had commenced his ravages at the period when the instrument
was issued. The responsibility of the party effecting the a,,nr-
ance is unconditiona , and wholly irrespective of the contingency
whether the " omission" of any fact, material or immaterial, were
wilful or not.
The person who makes the statement must not only declare
that he makes no wilful mis-statement—that he has not " with-
held any matter or circumstance," and observe, not deliberately or
of design, but that he has not done so at all. The declaration re-
quired is absolute as to circumstances or possibilities beyond the
sphere of human knowledge ; and the responsibily of the decla-
rant is equally absolute, no matter how innocently he may have
been led into error.
All the authorities are of the same opinion as to the sole and tua.
divided responsibility of the assured. Thus, Lord Eldon will not
hear of any distinction as to whether an omission has been ma-
terial or immaterial. "If material," his Lordship observes, "that
a materiality may be inquired into and shown ; but if there be a
warranty, it is part of the contract that the matter is such as it is
represented to be; therefore otateriality or immateriality signifies
nothing. The only question is as to the mere fact." This opinion
has been affirmed, to the total ruin of families, by numerous deci-
sions of the Courts.
It may perhaps be supposed that liowes• close the net and
narrow the meshes which are entwined round the party whose
life is the subject of assurance—however minute and important
and liable to error are the facts, and yet stringent in construction
of law are the terms of the declaration lie is called upon to make, ,
yet that by great care lie may be able to comply with every de-
mand, and escape without a forfeiture of his policy. But that he
cannot do; for there is something yet more demanded of him
before he becomes entitled to a policy—a requirement in which
the greatest amount of care, and prudence, and scrupulous accu-
racy is of no avail. The proposer must give the names of medi-
cal attendants and two friends, each of whom returns answers -
to a long list of questions, and the facts and statements so
received by the company, although the proposer is not made
' acquainted with any one of them, are yet as much the subjects of
warranty as his own declaration,, so that a wilful or innocent
error in answer to any of the questions put to tnese referees will
as effectually vitiate the policy as if. had preceded from. the
assured himself. We can make room for only one example of the
provisions just noticed, which see select from a large family of
similar cases, and from the practice of a highly respectable office,
Wilshere v. The Law Life. Wilshire resided near London, and
on several occasions had consulted a London physician as to his
health, besides having the advice of a country gentleman. Ills
came to London to effect an assurance on his life, and, in answer
to the question, " Who is your ordinary medical attendant?"
gave the name and address of the London physician, with whose
report and that of their own medical examiner, the director of
the company were satisfied. Some years after that Wilshere
died, and his executors were defeated in a claim against the corn.
pany for the sum assured, merely, and upon no other 'ground,
because the name of the surgeon, and not that of the physician,
ought to have been inserted in the proposal.
In consequence of this state of matters, there arose in the public
mind a general feeling of insecurity in Life Assurance, which was
increased by the perusal of numerous cases occurring in the courts
of law and reported in the newspapers, most of them at the
instance of assured parties against Life Companies, but many of
them in which Life Companies were arrayed against each other.
The great desideratum was to make policies indisputable, so as
to remove all doubt, and dissipate every apprehension as to the
certainty of the sum assured being paid when it became due;.
whereby the public generally would be benefited, and the business
of Life Assurance much extended.
" The Indisputable Life Policy Company" undertook this task,
and in order most effectually to make the policies they issued in-
disputable and certain documents of security, they inserted the
following clause in their Deed of Settlement, thereby creating
an effective and legal obligation, imperative upon the Company to,
fulfil, and which it is the right of every assured member to plead
and insist upon:—
Clause 84. " That every Policy issued by the Company shall be
indefensible and indisputable, and the fact of issuing the same
shall be conclusive evidence of the validity of the Policy; and it
shall not be lawful for the Company to delay payment of the
money assured thereby on the ground of any error, mistake, or-
omission, hoverer important, made by or on the part of the per-
son or persons effecting such Assurance; and that, on the con-
trary, the amount so assured shall be paid at the time stipulated
by the Policy, as if no such error, mistake, or omission, had been
made or discovered."
We have said that the above clause forms a part of the Deed of
Settlement of the Company, and that deed being registered in.
terms of the Act 7 and 8 Viet. c. 110. there is nothing wanting tzi
give it the fullest effect. It is not merely to be found in a pro-
spectus or other circular, which may or may not be obligatory on
the Company, according to circumstances, but it forms a com-
ponent part of the existence of the corporate body. A mere pro-
mise of indisputability is not enough. Such a clause as the above
is required to give legal efficacy. It app.sars to have been care-
fully and anxiously prepared, for the purpose of cutting off
every ground and pretext of dispute as to the validity of the
Policy; and we confess that we cannot find any words or series
of sentences more operative, effective, or compulsory for that
purpose. in order the more effectually to show this, we
would invite onr readers to compare this clause with the
law as laid clown by Sergeant Marshall in the passages
already quoted from that learned authority. The indis-
putable clause says—" Every policy issued by the Company shall
be indefeasible and indisputable, and the fact of issuing the same
shall be conclusive evidence of the validity of the policy." Mr:,
Sergeant Marshall, speaking of the clause ordinarily inserted,
policies, says, "It is quite immaterial for what purpose or with-
what view it [a warrant] is made ; but being once inserted in the
policy, it becomes a binding condition on the assured, and unless-
' he can show that it has been complied with, he can derive no
benefit from the policy." In other words, an indisputable policy,
when once issued, declares that, de facto, all precedent questions
are held to have beets finally settled, whereas an ordinary policy
declares on the face of it that the Directors retain the power to
keep all these questions open to dispute, until they have actually
paid the amount of the policy to the executors. Again, the indis-
putable clause says, " It shall not be lawful for the f„,giopany to
delay payment of the money assured, on the ground of'lnOrror,
mistake, or omission, however important, made by or on the part
of the person or persons effecting such insurance." Alr.Sergeant
Marshall, on the other hand, says, "The very meaning of a war-
ranty is to preclude all question whether it has been substantially
complied with or not. Whether the thing warranted was material
or not, whether the breach of it proceeded from fraud, negligence,
mis-information, or any other cause, the consequence is the same
—i.e, the policy is void," In the next place, the indisputable
clause says that, "on the contrary, the amount so assured shall
be paid at the time stipulated by the policy, as if no such error,
mistake, or omission, had been made or discovered." Mr. Set--
getnit Marshall says, "The warranty makes the contract hypo-
thetical ; that is, it shall be binding if the warranty is complied
with. The only question is, has the thing warranted taken place
or not? If not, the assurer is not answerable for any loss, even
though it did not happen in consequence of the breach of the war-
ranty." Can anything be more conclusive than this in proof of.
the superiority of the Indisputable Policy? The Indisputable
Policy settles all precedent questions—an ordinary policy leaves
them all unsettled. An Indisputable Policy declares, by the mere
fact of its issue, that all questions relating to the health, habits,
age, &c., of the assured are, as far as the Company is cancerned,
set at rest for ever—an ordinary policy leaves these points.
open to dispute, until the claim has actually been discharged.
London Indisputable Life Policy Company, 72, Lombard-street.
—Manager, ALEXANDER ROBERTSON.

DEAFNESS AND DISTRESSING NOISES
IN THE EARS AND HEAD.

This day published, by a Physician of fifteen years' practice in
diseases of the Ear only, a Book, to be giren away or sent by post"
to any part of the world, MODE of SELF-CURE for Country
Patient., by means of his new and infallible treatment, only dis-
covered within the last few weeks by Dr. 31A NFRED, r'hysician-
Aurist. Thousands in this short space of time have been restored
to perfect hearing, without absence from home or causing the
least pain or inconvenience to the most aged or nervous sufferer,
although having been deaf for twenty or thirty years; many are
enabled, almost instantaneously, to hear a whisper. This dis-
covery has been proclaimed by all the head Physicians and Sur:
geons of London, to be one of the most miraculous and invaluable
ever made in Aural Surgery; and the same gentlemen have pur-
suaded Dr. MANFRED to give publicity to it, for the purpose of
saving the poor afflicted from theadvertising quacks with assumed
titles, whose fraudulent advertisements area disgrace to the press,
their only desire being to plunder the afflicted; and, in doing so,
many hundreds are rendered incurable for life through their entire
ignorance of the treatment. Doctor MANFRED, M.R.C.5.,E.,
Physician and Consulting Surgeon to the Institution for the Cure
of Deafness, 84, Wimpole-street, Cavendish-square, London,
receives Patients as above, and applies his New Treatment every
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 11 until 3.—Poor, on
Monday and Thursday, between 6 and 8 in the Evening. Dr.
MANFRED hopes they will not refrain from seeking relief by
means of his recent discovery; and if confidence is required, Dr.
MANFRED will be happy to show thousands of letters from perk
eons cured, both rich and poor.

RUPTURES PERFECTLY CURED'
WITHOUT A TRUSS.--Dr. BARKER'S great European
Remedy for these alarming complaints has been successful in -
curing thousands of cases during the last sixteen years. which
have been regularly published in quarterly reports. It is appli-
cable to every variety of single or double rupture, in either sex;
of any age, however bad or long standing, and causes no incon-
venience in its use whatever.
Sent free by post to any part of the world, packed so that no
one can know the contents, on receipt of 75. 6d., in Postage
Stamps, or Post-office Order, payable at the General Post-office,
to ALFRED BARKER, M.D.. 25, Argyle-square, King's Cross,
London. Consultation hours daily (except Sundays), from eleven
till four o'clock. A copy of the last Quarterly Report, with
numerous cases and testimonials,
ptesetninmyonpoiasltsa,gweislltabme
psesnttogirjraetpunityointsly to any
one onrecei pt of
Hundreds of old trusses, belts, and bandages, have been left
behind by persons cured, as trophies of the success of this mode.
Extracts from bona fide Testimonials :—" I gave a poor
parishioner is. 6d..that be might avail himself of your aid, and
on meeting with him yesterday, lie assured me he was cured."'
Rev. W. M.,Lincolnshire.—" The remedy you sent for my
mother has one her a great deal of good, andshe fleealms altogetherha happy
pt
o
J. ~ Sheffield.—" Sir, having used your remedy for
rupture,
cured.NV
find myself completely cured ; I have tried every means
to prove
the cure, by lifting and running, which
say I can do without pain, or using any truss." Yours, &c
F. W.. Fife.—" I have received a perfect cure from the remedy:
you sent me." H. T., Alford. I applied your remedy six'
' weeks ago, and it gives me pleasure to inform you that my rup-
ture has not been down since." D. 11. T your remedy-
has cured my rupture; I have used violent exertion since, but•
there is no sign of its coming down." Miss S., Bayswater.—
' Mail), thanks for your remedy ; I have thrown away my truss,-
glad enough to get rid of the torture of it." G. H. Chepstow.--
" A fair time has elapsed since I used your ;remedy, moreover F
have been examined by our surgeon, who declares I am quite-
cured." J. P., Bath.—" My rupture being twenty-eight years
old, I never expected so perfect a cure." Mr. E., Longthorpe.—
" According to promise, I now write to tell you that my daughter
is perfectly cured by your treatment." Mrs. H., Uxbridge.
—"Enclosed is remittance for another; the last I had quite
cured the case 1 told you of." H. M. S., Surgeon, Edgeware-
road.—" My rupture has not been down since I used it."—
W, 13„ Lynn.