The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-22 00:00:00

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.

No CALENDAR, AND AN EMPTY GAOL.—At the Epiphany
Quarter Sessions, held at Rye, on Thursday, there were no
prisoners for trial. Jessop, the chief officer, also informed us
(Sussex Advertiser) that the gaol was empty.
Tnn WAR, it appears, has eaten up all the spare bronze.
To an application to Government for a contribution of metal
for the proposed statue of Newton, an answer has been re-
ceived that all the bronze in the possession of Government is
required for the casting of cannon.
- - - -

IT is stated, in a medical journal, that Dr. Marshall Hall
has discovered that the hitherto inscrutable poison of strychnia
may be discovered, on post mortem examination, by the aid of
a frog, the fiftieth part of a grain of the acetate of strychnia,
dissolved in water, being sufficient to kill a frog immersed
therein.

ATTEMPTED BANK ROBBERY.—A desperate attempt was
made, on Tuesday morning, to rob the bank of Messrs. P. and.
W. Hancock, of Wiveliscombe. The burglars effected an en-
trance, forced open a door, several drawers, and one iron safe, '
but found the strong room impenetrable. They only succeeded
in stealing between £3 and £4, left in a private till. It is be-
lieved that four persons were concerned in this robbery.
ONE dark night last week, William Goulder, a labourer at
Caversham, was driving his master's cart over a bridge of the
Great Western Railway, near Sonning, when the wheel ran
against a projecting stone, and jolted his whip out of his hand.
In alighting to pick it up, he stepped on the parapet of the
bridge ; thinking it was the step of the cart, he took another
leap, and fell on the line of railway, a distance of full forty feet
from the parapet. He died a quarter of an hour afterwards.
THE statue of Charles 1., at Charing-cross, London, has just
undergone some very necessary repairs. It has been raised one
inch, and generally strengthened in its place ; it having been
found, on inspection, to have been only kept erect by an iron
bolt, of the thickness of only half an inch• by three-sixteenths
of an inch (which was considerably corroded), inserted into
the near hind leg of the horse. New spurs have been given to
the King, and a bridle to his horse.
RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On the Great Northern Railway, on
Wednesday, a tire of a wheel of a first-class carriage in the up
mixed express train broke about two miles south of the Tal-
lington station. Before the train could be quite stopped, the
carriage turned partly over, and two passengers were injured—
Lady Harris, who had the small bone of her arm broken, and
a son of Colonel Smythe, who was slightly hurt. They are at
the hotel a. Peterborough, and doing well. None of the other
passengers were hurt, and all proceeded on their journey.
MR. FREDERICK SERGEANT, son of a farmer at Northill,
went into a hovel where there was a bull, which had been in
their possession five years, and had always been very quiet.
The bull rushed at Mr. Frederick Sergeant, knocked him
down, and gored him so frightfully that he died the same day.
It was stated at the inquest that the deceased had just been
assisting in killing a pig. and went to the bull with hands
covered with blood. Several jurymen remarked that bulls
always evinced great irritation at the sight of blood. A verdict
of "Accidental death" was returned.
THE correctional police of Dijon last week punished a man,
named Viennot, for selling his wife to a neighbour of the name
of Saget, and this latter for being concerned in so immoral a
bargain. The former declared before the-court that the sale
was only a fictitious one, devised by him to try the affection
and virtue of his wife ; whilst, on the other hand, Saget
assured the court that he had acted with perfect good faith,
since, being lame, and earning his bread by the sale of ginger-
bread and sweetmeats in the open air, he considered that the
wife of his neighbour would be a valuable assistance to him in
his little business. The court condemned both the men to a
year's imprisonment.
ADVICES FROM MEMEL give the statistics for the past year of
the Russian exports and imports carried on through that port,
and demonstrate that the traffic, instead of being checked, is
largely'increasing. The quantity of flax exported was 47,000
tons against 32,230 tons in 1854, and of tallow, 25,140 tons
against 15,500. Hemp shows a moderate diminution, the
totals being 17,930 tons against 20,510 tons in the preceding
year. All kinds of munitions of war are stated to have been
imported across the frontier with such perfect connivance on
the part of the Prussian authorities as to have reduced the
current prices for them to a point in many instances almost
approaching those of times of peace.
JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES.—It is rumoured that the new
act now in preparation by government for the incorporation
and regulation of joint-stock companies contains a clause
which will increase, by defining, the responsibilities of
directors. It is said to declare that every director shall be
held to be acquainted with all the acts of the board, and also
that every director shall be responsible for the truth-of the
statements which they put forth. If they say that a -railway
has made a profit, or that a hank has assets to meet its en-
gagements, they are to be held responsible to all parties
interested, for the truth of what they thus publish.—Tirnes.
FARMERS' PROSPECTS FOR 1856.—Seldom has a year
commenced with fairer prospects for the farmer. 'Though
the prices of wheat and other agricultural produce have fallen
considerably within the last month, they are still high. We
never participated in the opinion that something like famine
prices would occur, and have -constantly looked for a reaction
in prices as has occurred. The supply of Christmas meat to
the metropolis has so much -exceeded the demand, that prime
meat has been sold at very moderate rates. The wheat plant
generally looks well. The worst effect of the high prices has
been that landowners are drawing back from improvements,
which they felt compelled to effect when wheat sold for 40s.
per quarter ; whilst farmers are again falling into their old
error of neglecting to insist on terms which they know to be
essential to profitable farming.—Economist.
BONA FIDE STARVATION.—In the storm of the night of
Tuesday, the 18th ult., at about ten o'clock, the schooner
Ellen, of Wisbeach, was cast ashore at the entrance of the
Tay. At the moment she struck a poor boy was washed
away and perished, and after a time the master, the mate, and
two hands succeeded in gaining the inhospitable shore, and
made for the lights on the xailway. Unfortunately, it was past
eleven o'clock before they were able to claim admittance at the
door of an inn, where they were refused shelter, and, on appli-
cation at other houses of so-called entertainment, these un-
profitable customers were " not heard." In fact, in Car-
noustie the law is so rigorously observed that it was three
hours before these poor, half-drowned, perishing strangers re-
ceived that shelter they thought they had a right to expect
in a Christian land. At last, it appears, they fell into the
hands of one who considered them to be both " bond fide
travellers and bond fide fellow-creatures," and, regardless of
the law, took them in, and made them as comfortable as his
circumstances would allow.—North British Daily Mail.
EXTENSIVE ROBBERIES.—Tho daring and successful rob-
beries have just been committed in Devonshire. On Monday
night the premises of Mr. Barrington, of High-street, Exeter,
were entered, and from 60 to 70 gold and silver watches, 30
to 40 gold chains, the same number of Albert chains, and a
number of second-hand silver watches, estimated to be worth
in the aggregate upwards of £l,OOO, were stolen. The thieves
effected the robbery in a most ingenious manner. They en-
tered at the back of the premises, cut a piece of glass out of
the kitchen window, carefully removed some hyacinth glasses,

and, having lifted the sash, they thus obtained entrance into
the house. They then went through a sitting-room into the
shop, and took away the property named, without disturbing
the owner, who slept in a room above the kitchen, where they
first entered, and made off with their booty. The police are
on the alert, but as yet no clue has been obtained to the rob-
hers. On Sunday night the premises of Mr. French, a gentle-
man residing at Crediton, were entered, and a large quantity
of silver plate was carried off. In this instrnce also no clue
has yet been obtained to the perpetrators of the robbery.
THE KING OF PRUSSIA. AND RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.—

Our readers will remember that Sir Culling Eardley and
others, as representatives of different countries, waited on the
King of Prussia some weeks ago, at Cologne, as a deputation
from the Paris Evangelical Alliance Conference. His Majesty's
answer is published in extenso in the Post Zeitung, of
Frankfort. It is dated the 11th of December, 1855, and
signed by his Excellency M. de Bernsdorff. The representa-
tive of the king reiterates at the outset, in the name of his
august sovereign, the assurances of hearty goodwill given by
the king himself to the deputation at Cologne ; he then informs
Sir Culling Eardley that his majesty has ordered a searching
inquiry with respect to the acts of intolerance which had been
notified to him by the deputation as having been committed
in his own dominions ; and that he has, moreover, instructed
his representatives at the courts of Electoral Hesse, 'Mecklen-
burg-Schwerin, Saxe-Meiningen, and Schaumburg-Lippe, to
call the attention of those goiernments to the acts of perse-
cution committed in these several states, as set forth also by
the deputation—and to urge an inquiry and the adoption of
measures for insuring religious liberty to Baptist Christians.
In conclusion, his majesty request Sir Culling Eardley to
communicate this reply to the members of the deputation.
A WILD Ox.—We take the following from the Perthshire
Advertiser :—An ox belonging to Mr. Thompson, a farmer
of Elcho, broke loose, and when next heard of was in a
perfectly wild state, and ravaging the country around.
Various tactics were adopted to capture or shoot it, but the
animal seemed to know the real range of a rifle-shot—even
its scent appeared to have become as acute as that of a red
deer—so that it was impossible to surprise it at its favourite
repast in the barnyard. A few days ago, we quote
the Advertiser) the obnoxious brute was seen sumptuously
feasting itself in a stackyard. Suddenly it seemed to know
that preparation was being made for its capture, and went off
with its tail in the air as usual, clearing hedges and ditches
with as much ease as if it had been a thorough-bred hunter.
In a short time the country got awakened to what was going
on. Every one grasped a fork, a spade, or something else ;
whiz went the bullets in wonderfully rapid succession, and
past rushed the wild chase like a whirlwind. Over height,
over hollow, through moss, and through moor---dykes,
ditches, wilds, and woodlands were cleared with a celerity that
mocked at space. Four balls had now taken effect, but the
animal unflaggingly pressed on, and, leaving the hill range,
thundered away among the woods of Bacgowan. About 9 miles
had already been gone over ; and, although the horsensbegin-
ning to flag, the ox appeared vigorous as ever. Gaining by a
double, another shot was fired, which, taking effect, rendered
it defiant in return, and, wheeling upon its pursuers, the
tide of war had every appearance of showing a melancholy
reverse, and in all probability would have done so had the
' infuriated beast, in its eagerness, not slipped a foot and
tumbled into the Pow, where another shot rendered it lifeless.
BRANDY FROM CoAL.—Brandy distilled from coal is one
of the proposed applications of chemical science to support the
wants of man, which is just now creating some sensation.
Hitherto brandy has been made indifferently from potatoes,
wine, beet-root, and other vegetable sources; but from coal—
villanous black mineral, mirabile dictu I The experiments of
Berthelot, which demonstrated the possibility of producing
alcohol from common coal, have so seized upon the imagina•
tion of some French Yankees, that it is seriously proposed to
distil alcohol first from coal, and after dilution to give it the
colour and taste of the best vin cognac. I have no doubt that
the thing will be tried, for brandies have risen enormously.
Possibly it may succeed, for Frenchmen are not only inge-
nious, patient, and persevering, but very enterprising. For
the information, probably amusement of your readers, I may
state that the modus operandi, is as follows :—Coal gas is
first distilled in the ordinary way, and conducted into a re-
ceiver. It contains about eight per cent. of hydrogenous bi-
carbon in a gaseous state, which is separated therefrom (ra-
ther a complicated affair), and introduced into a close vessel,
containing sulphuric acid ; the vessel is agitated until the acid
absorbs the gas. Water is then mixed with it, and the whole
distilled for alcohol, which is brought over. Good news this
for the Londonderrys and Lambtons, if the chemical experi-
ment should prove capable of being applied to a manufacturing
purpose. Our coal districts transformed into brandy-producing
countries, rivalling with Angouleme itself, will be one of
the curiosities of the nineteenth century, although, probably,
our children may find nothing unusual in asking for a drop of
the best old Northumberland, or a glass of Durham water,
hot, with a slice of lemon, and not too much sugar.—Mining
Journal.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SouTH COAST RAILWAY.—
The directors have decided upon recommending the payment
of a dividend for the half year of £2 18s. per cent. on the con-
solidated stock of the company, making the total dividend for
the year 1855 amount to five per cent.
- -

TICE LETTER-CARRIERS IN LEEDEL—Several meetings of
the sub-sorters, stampers, messengers, and letter-carriers in
the employ of the Post-office have lately been held, for the
purpose of taking into consideration (consequent upon a late
reduction which has been made in the rate of wages) their
present position and prospects. A strike was at first pro-
posed, but ultimatly a committee was appointed, with orders
to report to a future meeting, and the proceedings closed.

THE SHIPBUILDING- TRADE AT DIIMBARTON.—The strike
among the joiners in the yard of Messrs. William Denny Bro-
thers have now extended to nearly every yard in the burgh,
and includes all departments connected with shipbuilding in
which Unionists were employed. Some hundreds of labourers,
too, who had no connection with unions, have also been thrown
out of employment in consequence of the absence of the other
workmen from the yards.—Dumbarton Herald.
IN the Court of Queen's Bench, last week, Lord Campbell
granted a rule, calling upon the publishers of the Stockton,
and Hartlepool Mercury to show cause why a criminal in-
formation should not be filed against them for the publication
of a libel imputing to Mr. Joseph Ratcliffe Wilson, the town-
clerk of Stockton-upon-Tees, misconduct and corrupt motives
in the discharge of his duties at the annual election of town
councillors for that borough in November last.
POPULATION OP ROME.—The General Vicariate of Rome
has just published an official census of the population of
Rome for the year 1855. In all, there are 177,461 inhabi-
tants ; among whom there are 36 bishops, 1226 secular
Priests, 2213 monks and other religions, 1919 nuns, and 687
seminarists. At Rome, therefore, there are, in all, five thou-
sand and eighty-one priests, monks, nuns, or seminarists—
that is to say, one to every 35 inhabitants.
AN AMAZON. —Among the slain in the engagement at
Mohoumdpore (Oude) was found the body of a woman,
dressed in a garment dyed black ; she was armed like the
rest of her tribe, with a pair of pistols and a sword, and must
have been killed by a grape shot. It is said she was a very
religious woman, and was much venerated in consequence of
having made a pilgrimage to Mecca.—Calcutta Englishman.
AT the meeting of the London Joint Stock Bank, on th
18th, it was stated that the net profits for the half-year and
the balance of £35,724 brought forward on the 30th Jnne
last, amount to £80,355. The directors are thus enabled to
declare a dividend at the rate at 122 per cent. per annum,
and a bonus of 14s. 3d. per share. The remaining £lO5 is
carried to the reserve fund, which now amounts to £160,853.
AMERICAN RAILWAYS.—It is estimated that the aggregate
length of railways in the United States was, in December,
1855, 20,260 miles open for traffic ; and at the corresponding
period of 1854, about 17,810 miles, showing an increase in the
mileage during last year of 2,450 miles. The length of line
in course of construction and in abeyance is estimated at
14,000 miles, of which about 3000 miles are in active progress.
THE GREAT GOLD FREW-HT.—The expense of bringing to
England and lodging in the Bank of England the monster
freight of specie brought home in the West India steamer
Tyne amounted to about £7,000. The expense of conveying it
to London by railway after it was landed at Southampton was
£225. There were 75 tons, and the charge per ton was £3.
When specie is brought to Spithead in any of the Queen's
ships, one-eight per cent. is paid for conveying it from Spithead
to the Bank of England.
ASSASSINATION IN LONDON.—Mr. George Waugh, a soli-
citor, of Great James-street, Bedford-row, was assassinated, on
Wednesday morning, by a client, named Charles Bradford
Westron, aged 25 years, of Newland-street, Kensington, who
fired a pistol at his victim, and shot him dead upon the spot.
near Hand-court. The murderer was immediately secured,
and, after undergoing an examination at the Police-court, was
committed for trial. The cause of the murder was a dispute
about some property, the deceased being married to Westron's
aunt.

ROBBER Snor.—Early on Sunday, the private watchman
on the premises of Messrs. George Crowther and Co., cloth
merchants, Churwell-lane-side, near Morley, having gone off
his post, theworks were entered by thieves. The robbers appear
to have been armed, and the watchers at the manufactory were
also provided with fire-arms. Severalshots were interchanged,
and, the neighbourhood having boen alarmed, a regular com-
bat ensued, in which the robbers were worsted. Five robbers
were captured. In the encounter, or rather as one of therob-
bers ( a man named Steel, a carter in the service of Messrs.
Crowther) was attempting to rim away, he wes shot in the
right thigh, and was subsequently removed to the Leeds Gen-
eral Infirmary, in which institution he expired on Wednesday
morning, of the wound be had received.
THE SULTAN AS PATER FAIIILIAS.—We find the fallowing
curious bit of gossip in the Paris letters of the Globe :
" According to the letter from Constantinople, it seems that
the Sultan has brought up the ladies of his family in ,extrava-
gant habits, which, it seems, lead their august father into
difficulties. One of his highness's daughters, whose marriage
with a son of Reschid Pacha was not long since recorded, is, it
seems, in debt to the amount of 10,000 piastres, and Alide
Sultana is ' down' in the books of Stamboul tradesmen for a
larger sum. It seems rather hard to a 'Western mind that
the Sultan should be made responsible for the little
accounts' of his married daughters ; but this, it appears, is
the case, as the Patrie gives us to understand that in conse-
quence of these drains upon his purse the Padischah's allow-
ance has been increased by several thousand piastres."

PRINCELY BEQUESTS.—The late John Ferguson, Esq., of
Cairnbrook, who died at Irvine on the Bth of January, was
born in that burgh on the 28th March, 1787. At his death
he had amassed a fortune estimated at about a million and
a quarter, vested in British, Continental, and American se-
curities, with small landed estates in Ayrshire and Wigton-
shire. Besides recently distributing among certain of his re-
lations sums and properties varying from £l,OOO to £O,OOO,
and contributing largely to charitable and educational insti-
tutions, he has left legacies amounting to £381,000 to and
amongst his known relations by the father's and mother's
side—the degree of relationship varying from cousins-german
to .cousins in the third degree once removed; the legacies
being from £5OO to 860,000, and the legatees upwards of 100
in number. There are also bequests to the amount of
£20,000 among twenty-four personal friends.
TICE SOUND DIIES.—A private letter from Altona mentions
that the Danish government has now lost all hope of bringing
anything like a conference together on the subject of the
Sound dues. The government'is described in this letter as in
the greatest embarrassment and disunion as to the course to
be pursued towards the flag of the United States, on its first
attempting to pass Kronborg duty free after the expiration
of the present treaty. It is naturally enough feared that the
attempt, if successful, will be imitated by other nations, and
the example become widely contagious. It is even affirmed
that the Danish authorities have at last deliberated upon the
plan of letting the Americans through unmolested, but of
keeping an account against them for presentation when the
subject of the Sound dues shall have been adjusted. The
Cross journal announces that the United States government
has declared to that of Copenhagen that it is disposed to pay
a sum of 40,000 dollars, and not more, in lieu of all demands
for Sound dues, and further, a given sum as equivalent for
maintaining lighthouses, buoys, land-marks, &c.
TAGLIONI'S HUSBAND.—A Paris correspondent says—" An
anecdote much talked of just now proves the sort of morality
of some part of society in this country. A short time since, a
very highly-famed personage, Count Gilbert Desvoisins by
name, the son of a peer of France, and husband of the
famous Taglioni, the dancer, was caught in the act of cheat-
ing at cards, and consequently cut by all his acquaintance.
Last week Dr.' Viiron, meeting a man whom I will not
name—his name is no matter—a man very much known and
liked, as essentially a man about town'—said to him,—
' Why, so and so, how is this ? I hear you shook hands
with that rascal Gilbert the other day. How can you do
such a thing ?' The other looked embarrassed, and at last
replied, Why, look you here ; I shook hands with him
because I felt that, if I did not do so, Gilbert would have a
right to say that I had for twenty years taken him for an
honest man, and only found out now that he was a rogue ;
and I thought what a fool he must hold me for in that case,
which is more than I can stand. This speech has an immense
success."
PITCAIRN'S ISLAND.—An interesting communication has
been received from this place. The inhabitants were all well
on the 14th of September, 1865, the date of the chaplain's
letter to the Rev. T. B. Murray. They had heard of the death
of the Czar Nicholas; but, as no newspaper was on board the
vessel which conveyed the intelligence, they were still in the
dark. Though they had suffered some anxiety from a poor
yam harvest, they had a good stock of sweet potatoes to turn
to, and the "pinch of the year" was past. They were await-
ing the measures of government for their transfer to Norfolk
Island, some having relinquished house-building in expects,
tion of this important change. It appears, by accounts from
Sydney, that Sir W. Denison, Governor of New South Wales,
had, in September last, under instructions from home, de-
spatched a vessel to Pitcairn's Island, with a view of making
arrangements. It was intended that, on her return to Syd-
ney, a transport should be fitted out, for the purpose of con-
veying the islanders to their new and beautiful abode. All
care would be taken in the manner of accomplishing the ob-
ject which they themselves have sought to attain, and every
respect paid to their admirable principles and exemplary ways.
Mr. Nobbs stated that the church and school were well at-
tended. His eldest son, Reuben, had died of an attack on the
lungs, the youth having returned from Valparaiso, where he
had held a mercantile situation, to die among his family, and
be buried on his native island. Much unanimity prevailed

among the people.
C. J. MARE'S BANKRUPTCY.—An examination meeting
was held on Wednesday, but owing to the accounts not being
ready it was adjourned. The works in progress at Mr. Mare's
yard, for the government and other parties, are being prose-
cuted with great vigour by the assignees for the benefit of the
estate ; and, recently, several large additional orders have
been received. About the beginning of the present month an
order was given by the government for twenty mortar vessels,
of 100 tons each, to be completed for £2200 each. Six of
these are to be delivered in the present month, six in Febru-
ary, and the remainder by the 10th of March. Since the last
meeting, two of the gunboats then in course of construction
have been launched ; the remaining four, as well as four
despatch boats, will be lauched some time next month. There
are also in band for the Admiralty two mortar vessels of an
extraordinary description, which are expected to be able to
throw shells of a ton weight three miles. Should this be
effected, we may easily conceive the destruction which will be
effected in the Baltic ports next summer. Three weeks ago
an order was received from the South Western Railway Com-
pany for an iron steamer to ply between Southampton and
Havre ; the vessel is to be of 580 tons, and is to be completed
by the 6th of April. Though this order has been so recently
given, the vessel is already in the cradle. There are also in
progress two large iron ships, of 1880 tons each, for the Genoese
government. The works at Westminster-bridge, the contract
for which was taken by Mr. Mare, are going on as favourably
as possible. In the foundry also very heavy works are in
progress ; and the operations in this department are stated to
have been doubled since the bankruptcy. The wages paid in
different departments average about £3,500 a week. All these
works are being carried out under the direction of Mr. Lee,
the official assignee, and Mr. James Johnson, the messenger
of the court. In a failure to so enormous an amount, the
liabilities being supposed to exceed £200,000 (already upwards
of £lOO,OOO has been proved against the estate) the creditors
are naturally anxious as to the prospects of a dividend. At
present we understand the assignees have nothing in hand
which can be made available for a dividend. About £13,000
has been realised by the sale of the bankrupt's splendid esta-
blishments Hyde-park gardens and in Cheshire (about £BOOO
from the former, and £5OOO from the latter); but these sums
have been disbursed in the payment of wages and other ex-
penses incidental to the carrying out of the contracts. When
these are completed a pretty considerable amount will be re-
ceivable by the estate; and the assignees anticipate being able
to declare a first dividend in March or April. Ultimately, it
is thought probable that a dividend of we. in the pound will
be realised.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.