The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-09-23 00:00:00

THE ' CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS.

A MARKER SHOT AT • PRIVATE RIFLE RANG!.—On
Thursday night, while Mr. Archibald Todd, of Clench.
foot, waa practising with the rifle at his private range
on the farm, he accidentally shot the marker, who was
killed on the spot. Smith is the name of the unfortu-
nate lad who met his death. He was aborit 20 years of
age, and wits for some time past employed as ostler at
the Tower Hotel, Hawick.
THE LATE FIRE AT THE LIVERPOOL WORAIIOOBI.
The adjourned inquest upon 23 bodies of nurses and
children destroyed by the recent fire was held on Wed-
nesday. The evidence showed that although water was
plentiful there was not enough pressure from the
hydrants to cope with the fire, and that had the engin, s
been used at first the fire might have been checked
before great destruction took place. The jury returned
• verdict of " Accidentally suffocated," with a pre-
sentment as to insufficient pressure and water supply.
A scandalous case of imposition is reported from
Oldham in connection with the existing distress. A
woman named Hannah Cumming had been before the
Westwood Ward Committee, and told them that ss. or
Is. 6d. per week was all she had coming in to support
herself and children. She received in consequence from
the committee two sums of 7s. It had since been
discovered she had at that time 30s. per week from her
husband, who was working at Keighley, in Yorkshire,
and 4s. 6d. per week from the Board of Guardians. On
Monday she came again before the Westwood Ward
Committee, and when told that her imposition had
been discovered she asked if they really thought that
parties who came for help to them told them the truth.
A warrant was taken out against her, but she had left
Oldham.

No Mona SILVER REQUIRED.—"Mr. J. W. Benson,
the well-known silversmith, of Combat, has intro-
duced to public notice a first-class specimen pf Argen-
tine, as applied to spoons, forks, and other articles
of domestic use. Thar appearance is certainly such
that, but for the absence of the customary credentials
of silver, detection would be almost impossible. They
are warranted not to tarnish, and with proper use they
would stand a very long course of herd wear. —British
Standard, 151..11115t1i, 1861." J. W. Benson, Prize
Medalist, No. 6606, International Exhibition 1862, has
just published a most elaborate and complete Catalogue
of his manufactures, both in Argentine and Silver Plate.
It consists of 130 pp. Imperial See., and includes a full
and carefully arranged prize list, And upwards of 300
engravings of articles of various kinds. It will be sent
post-free by enclo log six stamps to J. W. Benson, 46
and 47, Cornhill, London, E.Co
"A SAFE ON SAFE TERME"—The attention of Our
readers is requested to an advertisement which appears
in our paper to-day. headed "Fire-proof Bates at Half-
Prim," from which it will be seen that a Provincial
Insurance Company having lately becomed merged in •
London office, and having no further use for the Safes
and Deed Chests, lying at the various branch offices,
they have been retained to the inanufzeturers,to be sold
for half their cost ; but the moat important feature is
that parties at a distance are requested not to remit the
money until the safe is reoeived, when, if not found in
all respects satisfactory, it may be returned without
any cost whatever to the person ordering it, and as they
are sent carriage free to any station, it may prove
worth the attention of ftarties requiring one of those
uieful arch**

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

PARTRIDGE SHOOTING (Oontinued.)—No. 6.

"Bee Juno, " cried Rivers, almost off his
guard through • sportsman's ecstasy in observing his
beautiful dog lead up to the birds we had marked
down, in the most perfect style imaginable. " I have
heard you my," I ventured to whisper, "You did not
approve of„clogs leading to game." "Hold your tongue,
sir ; not such dogs as Juno, she may lead an angel if
she wished, and make no mistake. Don't talk. Now
Juno is • fixture, Don backs steadily. Whirr, it is.
Bang, bang, bang, bang: "Good gracious! My
buttoner I involuntarily exolaitned. "Good gracious,
your buttons, Judge, well may you cry; why man, not
• feather toughed! You pulled both triggers at once,
and shot a yard wide of your bird. Here man r and he
pulls out • little silver flask, "Just a mouthful, the
dew is oa your stomach ; warm it, and tnend your
mermen." "Mend my manners, indeed, friend
Rivers ;do me the favour to avoid levity when speak-
.. .

inc on so serious a eubject. However, give to the
flask ; my stied seems thinly clad this morning, I must
confess." 'The drop did good. "I'll surprise you
Rivers, yet," I cried, feeling my liver in a glow, and
consequently Imy thoughts brighten. "Beg pardon,
Judge, Imu never surprised," was the cool answer.
"Now to uork ; the covey is scattered or broken."
"Less chance tor us," I remarked ; "Let us go after
the other covey." "No, no! Judge, you ought to
know me too well for that. Don't you see the old birds
are killed. Whilst the young ones have the old ones
with them they are 'up to every move on the board.'
Deprived of the old ones they are knocked out of time,
they do not know how to act. It is now, Judge, that
the well practised sportsman' with a steady dog,
ferrets them o '
tint • and we will take up Don, if you
please. Don't look sulky; Don is a good dog, but not
quite a Juno; and you will see the cunning of the
partridge. It is not a bad match, and the native craft
of the young bird is great. You may find him in a
, likely place; you are more likely to find him in an un-
likely place. From my experience I hardly know I
where a stray bird will nut get—into one's pocket, 1 !
sometimes believe, when it is] urged by fear' or lin- I
Felled by instinct to seek for safety. Search always
for stray birds, Judge, and you will pick up many a
shot; the very exertion of doing which, when attended
' with success, will make the bird doubly prised." We
I were on the beat, Don was in leading strings, so was
his muter. I felt small still—the fact of needing a
I lecture made me feel extra liverish. Oh! self-conceit,
how strong ard yellow, and full of tender points it is.
Oh! velf-repret mon, how•-beautiful art thou; but how
can • man with a damaged liver be expected to have a
practice! knowledge of the mild, soft, eunthiuy virtues
of self-repression? Of course not! the competition
within is too great. Oh! if a man would just bring out
a work styled "The partridge, and how to make • bad
shot bag him." I think I would invest, simply to see
if it is possible to pick up • wrinkle. Rivers don't
know! There geed! Killed! Yea! No! Gone to
the ditch. See Juno! her nervous attitude! Now her
change of feeling as the bird is recovered; how elated!
and how well she knows all about it. Indeed, she
grows every minute extra instinctive in device. She
has double the sagacity of a rational animal in her
partinular vocation. We had good sport. I made a
fair shot or two, and when we had bagged about four
brace from this fine covey, Riverscried "enough." We
had handled the birds, and "one brace of old birds,"
he said, and strange to say, three brace of young cock
birds. "The hens are the best for eating," I observed.
"We mind have left • good many of them ' • cant we
manage stew more ?" "No! you pot-shooter—bestfor
eating—just what you liver men are always thinking
about, what is best and nicest for your blessed diges-
tion. No sportsman, sir, cares one fig for his stomach
on the question of game. If we had killed hen birds
we would then have had a further turn at the cocks,
but as we have got the latter, we will leave the former
in peace, at least for a time." "There are more cock
birds left I suppose," I grumbled out. The fact was,
I did not want to face the heavy ground to our right,
the direction Rivers would certainly take, if we did not
follow up the remnant of the covey we had been
operating upon. "Of course," was the answer, "or
most likely ; yet surely, Judge, you would not deprive
the poor little sisterhood of all the superior family ties
in a single day." I did not mean to move, I was
getting tired, or fagged, or stubborn. I wanted a pipe
and a that, so I put my back against • gate, and said,
(for I knew Rivers would talk for a week upon the sub.
jut of breeding, preserving, and the like) " I don't be-
lieve there are more oocics than hens born in • covey."
"Born! you griff," cried Rivers; hatched, mita ; and
you don't believe. I wonder what you do believe, most
worthy Judge, at this period of your feelings. Lunch
won't be here this hour or two. I believe, Judge, that
a preponderance in the number of cock birds users in
the breedings of each season, in consequence of which
the hen partridge is so tormented by a number of males
that she drops one egg in one place and one in another.
until there remains for her but one cock, and no nest."
"Now to obviate this great master ef the trigger," I
cried, yawning, and slipping down upon a hurdle.
Rivera laughed. He saw my dodge. "The best way to
destroy the superabunance of cocks is, during the first
three weeks of the season, to net the covey, and destroy
all the old cocks, leaving as many young ones, u hens,
or even one or two less ; for it is certainly better that
the hen should look for the cock, which she un-
doubtedly will find, than two cocks for one hen.
When old Wrds are left they will at the pairing season
beat off, or beat away the young ones and prevent
their breeding, No sportsman, I think, will say, on
finding • single brace of partridges in the shooting
season that have not bred, and are called in sporting
words a gelt peir, he has men a covey near the place he
found the old birds. This can only be explained by the
natural inference or conclusion that the old birds had
driven the young ones from the locality, and thus pre-
vented their breeding there. It is- therefore • wrong
notion that some birds should not be killed every year,
and those who have manors, and sometimes evince a
dog-in-the-manger spirit about them, will find by not
allowing fair weeding of • season, that in a short time
their ge tints become almost destitute of game. We
often hesr men say I have only a f w old birds on my
lands. Why is this? Why, because in 'even cases out
of ten, tho owner of the land (I cannot call 'him •
sportsman) is a selfish, narrow-minded, illiberal person.
He is but a poor shot himself. [Don't grimace like
that, Judge;] and prowls about by himeelr frightening
or maiming what game he has, or if he ever gives a day
it is to some swell who knows more about the fit of the
kid gloves—(nothing personal, Judge:—Cian sorking
the ground. When men shoot fair, ict liberally. act
MA if sporting was a genial glorious paAiine (and there-
fore don't nag, wad be nasty to one auothei; a neigh-
bourhood is almost always sure to have game, and to
afford fair sport, even in bad aeasons ; but when men
turn out with the purpose uppermost of doing • neigh-
bour's killing sharp in one district, because so-and-so
shall be foiled, and adopting the course before hinted
at, no wonder there is a common dissatisfaction, and
that the remark between men should be, who know
pretty well how it is, "tame gets mercer and scarcer
every year." Why, Judge, you are all but asleep."
I own I was drowsy—just in that sort of state that it
would only take a very little to make the case a de-
cided one. "It has been so beastly hot. Let me be for
half-an-hour." I was compelled to knock under. Oh!
that horrid liver. Rivers understood me; I heard him
grumbling about "excitable, irritable, poor devils,
never at rest when nature wanted it, and always
making nature look shamefaced in the sunshine.
And then I felt him wrapping a plaid round me. I
always carried a plaid on such excureioas, or my man
did for me; and when he had done me up to his satis-
faction, and pretty much to my own, he patted moon
the back, and said, "Old fellow, I will knock you up
I when the luncheon comes."

(To be continued with luncheon.)

THE WAY OF DEATH.

OUTRAGES IN DARTMOOR PRISoN.—Ths atrocious
assaults committed by convicts on the warders and
other officers in Dartmoor Prison, which were recorded
some time since in our columns, have been more than
paralleled by those which have recently taken place.
and which cell loudly for a reform in the system of
management on the part of the authorities connected
with the prison. No later than the afternoon of Thurs-
day, Warder Rose who was in the charge of fifty-six
convicts employed trenching land, had occasion to
stoop down to examine the trench, to see that it was
level and properly laid out. when at that moment one
of the convicts, named Kemp, came stealthily behini
him, and dealt him a fearful blow with the edge of his
iron spade on the back of the bead, thereby fracturing
his skull in a most dreadful manner. The brains pro-
truded and the blood rushed forth in .& stream from the
wound inflicted in this brutal and cowardly assault.
While the warder lay prostrate and apparently lifeless,
Kemp attempted to repeat the blow, exclaiming, with
an oath, that "he would give him the finishing stroke. 4
He was, however, preventei from carrying out his
fiendish purpose by the principal warder, who happened
to witness the assault at a distance of about forty yards.
As poor Rose still lay weltering in his blood, Liks would-
be amnia shouted to the other convicts, " let's see
how he likes it; he is one gone I" upon which
his convict comrades, with one or two exceptions,
raised a shoot of exultation, declaring that it served
him (Roan) right. Not one of the convicts offered to
render the least assistance; end they even refused to
help to convey the wounded and insensible warder en
their shoulders to the prison. The prisoner Kemp, by
whom this ferocious assault wan perpetrated, is • mot
hardenel criminsl, having undergone two t rm
sentences, one of tr tnspartation. and one of pehal servi
tude ; and while undergoing (se of the senteni es
Dertmoor made a similar tette, a on a seer ler name
Evans, but did not then succeed in accomplishirg
murderous purpose. Kemp is now under sentsne•
ten years' penal servitude for • burgt.ry commute I
with violence. No cause can be assignid for the attack
on Warder ROM b3yond the Ravage disptsit on of the
man, and his thirst for blood to satisfy • feeling of
revenge for some imaginan wrong. This attach, brutal
and atrocious as it is, Is oar one among many which
have recently occurred. With n the last few weeks, a
fearful attempt was made on the life of • warder named
Cann, by a prim nor named Lomas, who rushed at Cann,
knocke I him down, and commerotd kicking him shout
the head and face. Cann, however, made &determined
resistance, and Lomas, seeing that be could not be easily
overpowered, seized a carpenter's chisel, end snide a
fearful thrust at him in the direction of his heart; but
before the blow could take effect, the arms of Lomas
were tightly pinned by another prisoner named Mitch, 11,
who by so doing undoubtedly saved Cann's life. No
sooner, however, did Mitchell release his bold upon
Lomas than the latter turned ferociously upon Cann's
deliverer, and, being thwarted in his design on the life
of Qin'', sprang like a tiger on his fellow roe v:ct
Mitchell, thrusting his sharp pointed chisel
with full force into Mitchell's right shoulder,
which it deeply penetrated. Mitchell's life
being in imminent danger owing to this
murderous assault, the prison authorities sent for two
magistrates, by whom Lomas was committed for
trial at the next assizes to be held at Exeter. LOIDIN
underwent • former sentence of penal servitude at
Dartmoor, and had only regained his liberty a few
weeks when he committed a garotte robbery, for which
he was sentenced to four years penal servitude.—
Several other warden have also been recently assaulted
with atones and other dangerous missiles. Among
others, Warder Collin received a severe fracture on
the head, owing to which his life was for several days
' in peril. Warder Castle was set on by three convicts
' and seriously Injured; Warder Hodge was lately
Assaulted, and other Often of the prieou, pot ex.

cepting the principal warder, have, as represented to
me, austamea severe injuries. Even prisoners who
in any way express ryrnpathy with, or assist
the warden thus brutally assailed, are, as far as
opportunity avails, in like manner maltreated ; also,
well disposed prisoners, who perform what they bon-
eider to be a fair day's work, are specially marked out
for vengeance by their more brutal fellow-convict
labourers; and many of them have been injured, and
are undergoing surgical treatment in consequence, in
the prison hospital. A few nights ago a well-conducted
prisoner, who had assisted a warder, was taken by his
fellow-prisoners into the water-closet, and had to
undergo a most severe and cruel castigation. The
officer on duty in the ward heard the poor man's cries
for mercy and help, but being at the time alone in the
ward be could nut get into the closet, which was
fastened from the inside nor could he ascertain the
names of the perpetrators Of this outrage, The injured
convict had to be removed to the infirmary where he
now lies. Several columns might be filled with similar
revolting instances of ertielty. The suits of violence and
infamy that were practised in old times in the hulks
were not so atrocious as the deeds of violence that are
now constantly perpetrated on the warders and well.
disposed prisoners in Dartmoor prison. It is no unusual
occurrence to Kee old convicted garotters practising, by
way of experiment, their hellish art on the inexpe-
rienced criminal, and under such teaching in a very short
time rendering him as export as one of themselves.
Under the present system of prison discipline at Dart-
moor, is no exaggeration to say that all restraint and
good order are virtually in abeyance.
A shoemaker named Treanor, of Cootehill, county
Cavan, has been arreskd on the charge of poisoning his
wife. Her remains were disintered on Monday, and an
inquest was held by Mr. M'Fadden, one of the coroners
of the isounty. The prisoner was committed pending the
analysation of the contents of the stomach, bail being
ref used.