The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-29 00:00:00

He was remanded.

THE PRICES OF BREA-D.—A very interesting little sheet is
circulated by Samuel, Brothers, Ludgate-hill, London, showing
the highest and lowest prices of bread (best and seconds) and
wheat during each year for the last 21 years, that is from
January 1, 1835, to December 31, 1855. From it we find that
the lowest prices of bread were, in 1850 and 1851,—namely,
7d. per quartern for best, and sd. for second, flour being 40s.
to 325. per sack, and wheat 445. 11d. to 355. 6d. per quarter.
The highest price was in 1847, when best bread was is.
per quartern, flour being 755. to 445. a sack, and wheat 102 s. 6d.
to 495. 6d. a quarter. Taking the maxima of each, the price
of bread, flour, and wheat do not appear to constantly observe
the same proportion. Thus, in 1847, when wheat was 102 s. 6d.
a-quarter and bread ls. old. a-loaf, flour was 755. a-sack ;
while in 1855, when wheat was 83s. ld. a-quarter, and bread
ls. a-loaf, both lower than in 1847, flour was 775. a-sack, or
2s. higher. Again, we find best flour quoted at 60s. in five
several years, with best wheat varying from 78s. 4l d. in one
year to 60s. ld. in another ; 10d. a-loaf for best bread, how-
ever, invariably corresponding with the 60s. for the sack of
flour, The table altogether is of a very suggestive nature.

DINNER TO THE CRIMEAN CORRESPONDENT OF " THE
TIMES."—A very gratifying meeting took place at the London
Tavern, on Saturday, when a dinner was given to Mr. William
Russell, the Times' correspondent in the Crimea, by about 50
of his friends, to which number were added a few friend more
or less connected with literature and art, The meeting was

strictly social, and, therefore, of course, I have nothing to say
of the proceedings, except that, as a journalist, I could not
but feel that the press itself, as an institution of the country,
was honoured in the person of a gentleman, whose celebrity
rests solely and nobly on his having done his duty as a news-
paper writer. General Sir De Lacy Evans was present ; and
were it permitted to record his tribute to Mr. Russell's ser-
vices, it would be most pleasant to me. Let me say, too, that
a well-merited courtesy was paid to Mr. Woods, the accom-
plished correspondent of the Morning Herald, who was in-
vited to be present. Society was very well represented in the
muster Which appeared upon this occasion. One story, which
I heard 'of General Shirley, I will add- During one of the
assaults, the general's eyes became choked up with the dust,
which the terrible bombardment brought in clouds from Sebas-
topol. He sat down in a hole, where a shell had burst, to rub
this dust out. Some Irishmen, hurrying past him to the
attack, took it into their heads that he was weeping, and
bawled out, " Don't cry, general dear, but stop there—sure
we're going to take the place for ye !"—Correspondent of the
ifeeerness Courier.
MunnEn.—The Exeter police apprehended, on Thursday,
a woman, named Mary Weeks, on suspicion of having mur-
'dered her son. It appears that a few days ago the body of a
fine boy, aged about four years, was found in the Exe river,
'near Starcross. A black apron was tied tightly around its
face and head, and there were indications that the poor child
had been foully murdered. Information was forwarded 'to the
Secretary of State, who immediately offered a reward of £5O
to any person who would give information about the child.
During the past week a person residing in Exeter has com-
municated with the police, 'and the result is that the woman
Weeks, who left Exeter on Wednesday for Plymouth, has
been apprehended. She appears to have lived as servant in
two or three public-houses in the city, and had an illegitimate
child of the same age,4ind having similar appearances as the
murdered boy. The <child was kept by a person in Exe-lane
until a few days ago, vhen, in consequence of her refusal to
keep it any longer, Weeks came and took her boy away, and
said she would send it 'home to her mother, who 'resides at
Sticklepath, near Okehampton. One night, at nine o'clock, a
woman resembling the prisoner was seen, apparentlyweeping,
standing near the river Exe, and a child's frock and another
article of wearing apparel were subsequently found near the
spot. It is, therefore, suspected that the boy was thrown into
the river Exe, at 'Exeter, and that the black apron was tied
round its face and'head to prevent its making any alarm and
to facilitate its death, and that the body wascarried down by
the current to the spot.near Starcross, where it was -discovered.

THE EXPRESS 'OF .THE FRENCIL—The pregnancy of the
Empress of the French is an event scarcely second to any of
the present age in importance, not only to thedestinies of
France, but to the interests of Europe and the world at large.
Sinister rumours 'have been set afloat in Paris'by those dis-
affected to -the Bonapartist dynasty.: and it is.in the highest
degree imperative that the gestation of her Imperial Majesty,
and the birth of a direct heir to the empire, should receive the
highest scientific attention, and be watched with the greatest
and most impartial assiduity. We alluded to this subject in
the last number of the Lancet : and we are informed, on
good authority, that Dr. Locock wishes it to be mentioned,
that certain of the points referred to by our " Correspondent,"
are not entirely correct. The Empress was in this, country in
April last, and we believe that Dr. Locock was consulted at
that time; and he was subsequently summoned to the Palace
of the Tuileries. 'The Empress Eugenie did not become preg-
nant until the last weektin June. Dr. Loco& ava.s first con-
sulted in this country, and he then attended a consultation of
distinguitthed physicians and surgeons in Paris liefore that
auspicious event occurred. Dr. Locock has not yet been re-
quested to attend at the approaching accouchement of the
Consort ,tif Napoleon III:; .he has not, therefore, declined to
attend. There are reasons of state, in France, for and against
his attendance, but if his presence should be called:for, we do
not see why Dr. Locock should refuse his services.—Lancet.
We read,,in a letter fromiParis :—" The Empress's ,secretary
is wholly, occupied in replying to the expressions of-solicitude
and good -.wishes which arrive from all parts of France, to-
gether, very often, with relics and consecrated articles, which
' the senders believe will assist powerfully in obtaining the
desired result. Amongst the gifts, however, is one of a diffe-
rent kind,, namely, a, pigeon which was taken in its -cage by a
voltigeur,. DR the occasion of the assault upon the Malakhoff,
and upon the very spot. The authenticity of these antece-
dents of the bird having been ascertained, the present has
been accepted and the donor rewarded."
BRUTAL MURDER OF ,A WIFE AT BiTff...—Between
twelve and one o'clock on Saturday night, the I.9th instant, a
woman named Eliza Howell, living in Avon-street, was kicked
in the abdomen by her husband, and bled to death in about
twenty minutes. What renders the case more shocking is
that the unfortunate woman was very near her confinement,
and the life of her child as welbas her own has consequently
been sacrificed. The prisoner, James Howell, was brought
before the magistrates at the Guildhall on Monday, when a
crowd assembled in the Market-place. Howell, who is about
thirty years of age, is a costermonger, and is well 'known.
about the streets as a hawker of oysters, nuts, &c., under the
soubriquet of- " Ferret." His wife also carried about turnip
greens, and was about the same age as her husband. Four
children have been the fruit of the marriage, but they are all
dead. The principal witnesses examined were a labourer
named John Bnown and his wife, who occupied two rooms on
the garret floor, adjoining prisoner's bedroom. From their
evidence it appeared that at about half-past eleven o'clock on
Saturday night they heard the prisoner enter his room, utter-
ing angry exclamations, and threatening repeatedly that he
would kill her. About ten minutes afterwards the prisouer's
wife came up-stirs, and when outside the door she said,
"Are you in Jim?" He answered "Yes, I am you
--; where have you been all nighter His wife said, " I
was looking for yme-but I could not find you." The prisoner
then appeared to come: out of the landing . and push her into
the room. He pushed!her into the room, and the sound of
-two blows was then heard. After the blows something fell
iheavily, and the prisoner's wife cried oat " Oh," and said,
"Jim, you have killed your child, and you shave killed me."
She then said, "Jim, look, about and see what you have done."
After she said that the prisoner ran down stairs as hard as he
could. Brown and ,his wife, entering the deceased's room,
forted her lying on the floor, avhich was covered with blood.
She.said, "Jim has killed me;" and died in a short time. Her
body was completely hlanched,:as was also that of the infant,
whose life it was vainly attempted to save. It appears that
the poisoner and his wife had been drinking together in the
course.of the evening, and had,quarrelled at the ;Seven Dials
public-louse, when the prisoner gave his wife a backhanded
blow in the face. He afterwards .left, and the wife went away
with another woman.
AN FAOPEMENT ExIsA.COILDINARY. Harrogate was
thrown into a state of excitement on Sunday, by an event which
has supplied considerable food for gossip in the absence of more
profitable engagements. On Saturday a young lady,,accom-
panied by a gentleman considerably her senior, wearing.a fine
moustache, and having all the appearance of a military officer,
arrived by the evening train at the Brunswick Railway
Station, where they engaged a cab .to convey them to the
White Hart Hotel. On their arrival at the inn, they repre-
sented themselves as a married couple, and, consequently,
suitable accommodation was prepared for them. All went on
smoothly and uninterruptedly until Sunday evening, when
the old adage, that ``true love never does run smooth," was
verified. About six o'clock that evening, two gentlemen,
with a hasty business-,tike air, made their appearance, and,
after making sundry inquiries about the railway station, pro-
ceeded to the residence of a police officer, to whom they con-
fided the secret of their mission; at the same time acquainting
him that one of the mysterious strangers was a detective, and
the other the brother of the fugitive lady, who having, it is
said, just attained her majority, appeared to think that she had
no further need of parental care or restraint. On their reaching
the hotel, the "happy" pair were at dinner, which they were
allowed to finish without interruption. When the repast
had been well discussed and dessert served up, the waiter was
requested by the three pursuers to conduct them to the room
and introduce them by merely opening the door. The infu-
riated brother of the lady abruptly entered, and, like Hamlet's
ghost, " made her blood run cold." She shrieked and fainted.
No time was lost in parlying. A post chaise being waiting at
the door, the lady was speedily placed inside, and hastily
driven off by the detective and leer brother, and the gallant
Lothario was left lamenting over his fate to the remaining
policeman, who kindly advised him to take a comfortable
night's rest, and then depart by the first train in the morning.
The young lady is the only daughter of highly respectable and,
wealthy parents, residing in one of the fashionable squares of
London ; and her seducer (according to his own statement) is
a married man, with half a dozen children, but is separated
from his wife, and holds a commission in the army. Until
recently he was admitted as a friend into the family circle,
but his too close familiarities with the young lady hastened
his expulsion. By way of eluding pursuit, they had taken
tickets through to York, but left the train at Church Fenton,
for Harrogate. The party in pursuit, therefore, on arriving
at the former place, found themselves at fault, and the keen
perception of the detective enabled them to return to the latter
place and try Harrogate. The seducer had by him a pair of
loaded pistols, which, on his arrival at Harrogate, he took
from his pocket and deposited in his portmanteau.—Leeds
Mercury.

JENNY LIND has given forty guineas to the Cheltenham
Hospital.
The following advertisement appears in a Paris journal :
" The parents of a young lady, aged twenty-one, handsome,
well educated, and possessing 4,300 francs per annum—but
affected with St. Vitus's dance—offer to unite her to a doctor
from forty to forty-five years old, who will pay her incessant
attention.'
A FRENCH lady of property, who has just obtained a guar-
dian for her son on the ground of his inability to manage his
own affairs, alleged against him, amongst other things, at the
civil tribunal of Paris, that he had fitted up a studio at great
expense, and " painted there a portrait of the Emperor, six
times as large as life, although he had no taste whatever for
drawing."
A VETERAN BUPPOON.—On the 3rd, died, at Constanti-
nople, a certain mussahib (Imperial buffoon), named Said
Effendi, at the age of 121 years and 7 months. He had served
four Sultans as jester, and, notwithstanding his advanced age,
the venerable old gentleman was often called up by the present
Sovereign, and ordered to say witty things, and to perform
antics, which latter he generally did with remarkable agility.
THE WEATHER IN PARIS.—A Paris letter, of Wednesday,
the 23rd, says :—" This has been one of the most extraordinary
days ever seen at this season of the year. From morning to
night we have enjoyed warm sunshine, and seen a deep blue
sky streaked with light fleecy clouds, sailing gently before a
soft westerly breeze. Windows are thrown open, fires let out,
ladies show forth in spring dresses, Talmas and Lord Rag-
lans' are hung on their pegs, and people complain that a
single coat is too hot. Should this weather continue but for
three or four days, we shall see the trees sprouting in January."
THE SHIPWRECKED MARINERS' SOCIETY has just received
from the corporation of the Trinity House a gift of £5O, and
from the East India Company their annual donation of £25;
also notice of a legacy of £lOO, left by Miss Elizabeth Herbert.
The value of the service rendered to our maritime population
by this institution may be judged of by the fact that on the
18th it distributed £5OO among the widows of drowned seamen
and fishermen ; and it is only lately that we had a notice of a
disbursement by it of £5OO in one week, to relieve the distress
caused among mariners and their families by the fearful ship-
wrecks on our coasts in the beginning of November.
ACCIDENTAL POISONING.—On Tuesday, three gentlemen
were accidentally poisoned at a dinner party at Provost
M'lver's house, Dingwall, Scotland. It appears that the
party consisted of Provost M'lver, Mr. L. M. Mackenzie, of
Findon, two Romish priests, and several ladies. After dinner,
and when the ladies had retired, the gentlemen were seized
with pains in the throat and mouth, and in half-an-hour the
two priests and Mr. Mackenzie were dead. Provost Inver
remains in a hopeless state. The case is undergoing investi-
gation. It is believed that the roast meat was garnished with
the root of henbane, and that the wine excited the chemical
action of the poison. Mr. Mackenzie was about to become
son-in-law to Lord Lovat. None of the ladies were affected.

SUICIDE FOB ALARK.—David Lothian, a seaman of drunken
habits, was sitting in a lodging-house at West Hartlepool, on
Monday, where he declined to take any breakfast. He had a
half-finished glass of ale before him, which he removed into
the back kitchen, a room in which nobody was at the time.
Tie staid away only about a minute; and when he returned he
set down his tumbler, which was now empty, upon the table,
and then threw a phial, which he held in his other hand, under
the firegrate, with the exclamation, " There, that's done." A
man said to him, in a jocular manner, not suspecting anything
serious. " Aye, many a thing's done." I asked, " Are you
breaking glasses ?" and deceased said, "You'll all know e'now."
He then pulled off his boots, lit his pipe, and went up stairs
smoking. A woman rose after he went out ; she said," What
is he doing ?" and proceeded to pick up the broken phial from
the fireplace, on which was the word poison ( laudanum.) He
was found up stairs, quite sensible, and confessed to having
taken laudanum in his ale. The stomach-pump and galvanism
were applied, and, as he appeared to recover, he was taken to
the police station, where he sank and died, In answer to a
clergyman, he muttered something about having revenge."
A witness said deceased did not appear sorry for, but, on the
contrary, laughed at, what he had done. He didn't think he
expected he would die. He thought that the deceased took
the laudanum for a " lark," and that he had an attachment
for a female in the house.

THE SOUND DUES.—The conferences on the subject of the
Sound dues were really opened at Copenhagen, on the 4th inst.,
by the Minister von Scheel,who stated that the Privy Councillor
Bluhme was appointed plenipotentiary for Denmark, and
then quitted the apartment. There were present the repre-
sentatives of twelve different states, among whom was the
special plenipotentiary for Russia, the author on statistics,
M. de Tengoborsky. Bluhme laid before the meeting the
Danish proposals, consisting of a plan for the capitalisation of
the Sound dues, the particulars of which are already known
to our readers. His opening speech was interrupted, when
he came to talk of Denmark's willingness to make concessions,
by M. de Tengoborsky, who stated that it was Russia who
was most eager to make advances, and had expressed herself
against the abolition of the Sound dues, as Mecklenburg and
Hamburg had previously done. Baron Lagerheim, the special
plenipotentiary for Sweden and Norway, replied to Bluhme's
speech. As all the documents and statistical tables promised
by Denmark were not yet finished, and as a general view of
the receipts of the Sound dues from 1840 to 1847 was de-
manded by some of the plenipotentiaries, the conferences
were adjourned to the end of this month. After some formal
difficulties with respect to the protocol, the meeting was dis-
solved. The number of vessels that passed the Sound in the
month of December amounted to 591, of which 153 were
Prussians, 109 Danish, 90 Swedish, 69 Norwegians, 68 English,
66 Germans of different states, and 27 Dutch.

THE RITGELEY POISONINGS.—The coroner's inquest on
the body of Mr. Walter Palmer terminated on Wednesday in
a verdict that he " died from the effects of prussic acid, ad-
ministered wilfully by William Palmer." Additional evi-
dence has been collected which has led to the re-exhumation
of the body of Cook, and to an enquiry into the conduct of
other persons as accessories. The friends of Mr. Leonard
Bladen, the collector for the firm of Charrington and Co.,
the brewers, who died suddenly in the prisoner's house, are
desirous of having his body exhumed, and it is said that
Government has determined that the whole of the circum-
stances connected with the mysterious deaths of so many
persons shall be thoroughly sifted. An official inquiry is also
in contemplation with respect to the conduct of Mr. Ward,
the coroner of the district, in connection with charges against
the prisoner. The reason why the body of Cook was re-
exhumed on Friday was, that an experiment had been tried
upon a cat. Strychnine was administered to the animal,
which afterwards died, and an examination of the body
followed, the result of which was that strychnine was dis-
covered in the spinal marrow. It was then resolved to re-
exhume the body of the late Mr. Cook, which took place on
Friday morning, at six o'clock ; and we understand that the
examination of the spinal marrow of the body took place on
Saturday, and that the result will be stated at the trial by
medical witnesses.
A WEDDING INTERRUPTED.—On the 25th of October last
a family of distinction, residing in the Chaussee d'Antin, gave
a grand banquet in honour of the signing of a contract for the
marriage of their daughter, a young lady of great beauty, and
possessed of 28,000 f. a-year, with Louis Elie Adolphus, Baron
de Selhausen, a young man of 25, chief of one of the most
ancient and distinguished baronial houses of the province of
Silesia. In the midst of the banquet a rude-looking stranger
arrived, and demanded to see the Baron. The concierge told
him that on account of the joyful event of the day the family
had given orders that no visitor should be admitted. The
stranger insisted, and the concierge, getting angry, threatened
to turn him out by force. At length, after a good deal of
altercation, the stranger espied a large bell, and began ringing
it furiously. This drew all the inhabitants of the house to the
windows, and the man then cried in a loud voice that he
wanted to see Baron de Selhausen—at the same time threaten-
ing to ring the bell until his request should be complied with.
The concierge at last allowed him to go upstairs to the family,
with whom the Baron was. Stalking into the middle of the
room, the man cried out, " My name is Bozeluc, and I let out
:carriages for hire. I have let out carriages to the Baron de
sSelhausen, and he owes me 700 f. ; but he will never pay me,
:for he is a swindler, and not a baron at all ! lam not the
only man he has cheated—tailors, glovers, hotel-keepers, up-
holsterers, painters, gliders, all sorts of tradesmen, in fact,
have been swindled by him ! Good people," added Bozeluc
-solemnly, turning to the young lady's parents, "you had better
put off the marriage, for I tell you again the man is no baron,
but a swindler !" The marriage was postponed, and the soi-
discuit baron was, after some explanations, handed over to the
custody of the police, until inquiries could be made about him.
It was then ascertained that, instead of being a baron and a
. German, he was only the son of a ruined tradesman of the Ile
de la Reunion (Bourbon) ; that he had come to Paris to accept
a place as clerk in a bank and that, finding his salary insuf-
ficient, he had taken to swindling, and had carried it on with
such skill that be not only made a vast number of dupes, but
contrived to gain access to very good society. He has been
tried and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and 50f. fine.
--Galignanis Messenger.
LIABILITY OF UNDERWRITERS.—A recent trial in the
Court of Queen's Bench of an insurance case at Lloyd's has
excited much attention, the verdict apparently being little
calculated to increase the confidence of mercantile men,
whether at home or abroad, in appealing to English law upon
points which depend in any way upon commercial custom.
Mr. Engelhardt, of London, on account of the Netherlands
sugar refinery in Amsterdam, bought of Messrs. Goodall,
Chilton, and Co., a cargo of sugar which had just arrived off
Plymouth from Bahia. On the cargo reaching Amsterdam it
was found to be damaged. Lloyd's agent at that place imme-
diately took the usual steps on the part of the underwriters ;
the injury was duly ascertained to have been caused by sea-
water ; and the captain made the requisite declaration that it
was owing " solely to the labouring of the ship and the gales
encountered during the voyage." The loss amounted to
£1568, or about 19 per cent. The underwriters for some
time took no notice of the claim, but after a lapse of three
months announced that they would contest it. An action was
accordingly brought against them in the Court of Queen's
Bench. The ground of resistance was that, instead
of the sugar having been damaged by the voyage, it
was in a bad state at the time it was shipped. The
bill of lading disproved this, since it certified that the
sugar had been " shipped in good order and well-
conditioned ;" but Lord Campbell ruled that " this was
no evidence at all against the underwriters, and hence, as
Mr. Engelhardt had not summoned from Baliia the shippers
(who have since failed and left the place) or witnesses from
the plantations where the sugar was grown, the jury declared
the claim to be invalid, and the underwriters tree from all
liability. The case was especially hard, because on no inter-
pretation of it should the loss have fallen upon the buyers of
the sugar. Either the damage occurred during the voyage
and the underwriters were liable, or the sugar purchased of
Messrs. Goodall, Chilton, and Co., on the faith of a clean bill
of lading, was not what it was represented to be. Under
these circumstances, Mr. Engelhardt has drawn up a narrative
of the proceedings, pointing out to his brother merchants the
serious results involved in the decision.- The chief of these is,
that it must, for the future, weaken all reliance on the value
of a clean bill of lading ; but there are also two other points
of only slightly less importance—namely, the illustration it
affords to the technical obstacles which may be interposed to
the recovery of claims by buyers under policies of insurance
on floating cargoes, and the way in which underwriters at
Lloyd's will disregard or set aside the acts of their own public
agents. In this case, observes Mr. Engelhardt, "Lloyd's own
agent at Amsterdam was a principal witness, and came over
to England to testify to the perfect regularity of the survey,
the sale and all other proceedings in reference to the cargo,
and to his firm belief in the justice of the claim." In conclu-
sion, it is to be remarked that Mr. Engelhardt and his cor-
respondents have been urged to appeal against the verdict, or
try a new action. With their experience of legal technicalities
and delays, however, they shrink from a further expenditure
of labour, time, and money. "If the underwriters, or any of
them," they say, "are disposed to submit the case to practical
commercial men, whose decision would be prompt, just, and
inexpensive, we are ready to join issue with them again, but
sot otherwise."

IN the Court of Common Pleas, lately, an action was
brought to recover £32 10s., the price of a hundred thousand
snowdrops. A verdict for the plaintiff was returned.

TUE Bristol Mirror asserts that about ten days before
Christmas a Cochin China fowl was lost at Bath, and was
found alive, after a fast of 22 days, in an empty barrel.

THE priory of Holy Island, familiar to the readers of Mar-
mion as Lindisfarn, is in process &restoration to the appear-
ance it presented in ancient days.
THE Times says Sir George Grey has advised Her Majesty
to remit the remainder of the sentence of twelve months' im•

prisonment, passed upon Mr. Jackson, of Doncaster.
IT is said that in future tickets-of-leave will only be granted
to convicts on condition of the
.licentiate absenting himself
from the county of his old domicile and practices. His re-
appearance in which infers his apprehension and return to

the hulks.
TEE Messager du Midi states that surveys have been
ordered for the extension of the railway from Paris to Cler-
mont as far as the Mediterranean. The new line is to traverse
the Gard and join the Montpellier railway at Marseilles.
IT is stated that the new decree of the French government,
which substitutes fixed duties by weight, on the importation
of wool for ad valorem, amounts to a reduction of duty of
about one-half.

A LETTER from St. Petersburg says, that in the course of
the last campaign in Asia more than 60,000 images of saints
were despatched from that city for the edification of General

Mouravieff's army.
Ox Wednesday morning there was another general fall in
the price of bread in London of one halfpenny in the 4 lb. loaf,
the best wheaten bread being 9d. and in some places Sld.; and
the full-priced bread 10/d and 11d.
THE STEAMER BELGIQUE has put back to Southampton,
with one boiler burnt, and five feet of water in her hold. She
had proceeded 700 miles west of the Lizard, when compelled
to return. The passengers and crew worked day and night to
keep her afloat.

THE Leeds Chamber of Commerce has now under discussion
the propriety of forming trade associations in connexion with
the chamber, the particular objects of which shall be to watch
over the interests, and regulate, to some extent, the customs of
the respective branches of trade in the district.
THE arrangements on the Egyptian railroad give great sa-
Asfaction. The railway carriages are very superior; each one
costs £4OO. The Egyptian Transit Administration realised a
profit of £75,000 last year, and this sum is likely to increase
when the railway is made use of for the conveyance of
. .

Egyptian produce from the interior.
A QUEER FISH.—A codfish about 181 b. weight was caught
a few days ago in Brodick-bay, Island of Arran, by Andrew
Hamilton, a seaman, and in its gullet was found a thick silver-
plated spur with leather strap attached. This unusually
strange circumstance has excited no little surprise, and even
consternation, among some of the natives.
IN 1851, 5,000 widowers were married to spinsters, 2,400
bachelors to widows, and 2,700 widowers to widows. More •
than 7,000 widowers stand here by the side of rather more
than 5,000 widows. In one case, a widower of 90 was married
to a spinster of 80. The youngest widower was 20, the
youngest widow 10.
LORD ASHBURTON has placed himself in communication
with the committee of the Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' In-
stitutes, and offered to engage a gentleman at his own expense,
for one year, to deliver a series of lectures before the members
of the Yorkshire Mechanics' Institution, on subjects of interest
to them, and to place him under the direction of the committee
of the Union.

POSTAGE TO THE EAST INDIES.—From the Ist of Febru-
ary the postage upon letters forwarded to the Fast Indies, rid
Southampton, will be reduced to a combined British and
Indian rate of 6d. the half ounce. Letters forwarded rid
Marseilles will be liable to the same rate, with the addition of
a French transit rate of sd. per quarter ounce.
AT Castle Eden the other day, in an assault case, the Rev.
Mr. Park, in announcing the decision of the bench, addressed
the defendant in the following manner :—As the assault is
not proved, we will dismiss the case on your paying the costs,
but, if you refuse to do so, then we shall fine you for the
assault!—.Darlington and Stockton Times.
FROM statistics given by the Cornish papers, relative to the
profits of mines during the past year, it appears that on every
£5 share in the Buller Mine, there has been paid for the year
just ended a dividend of £l3O, and the market value of a £5
share is now £650. Similarly, on a £5l share in the Basset
Mine, £137105. has been paid, and the shares are selling—or,
rather, would be purchased—if offered, at £4lO.
EDUCATION or PAUPER CHILDREN.— A circular has been
issued by the Poor-law Board relative to the education of out-
door paupers' children. It gives an abstract of an act passed
in the last session on the subject, and, without requiring the
guardians to carry into effect the provisions of the act, re-
commends them not to lose sight of it. The guardians are
empowered to defray the expense of schooling for children of
recipients of out-relief so long only as the parents are
chargeable, and the cost is to be placed to the same fund as
the parents' allowance is charged. Orphans and deserted
children may also be sent to school by the guardians. The
selection of the school or schools is left to the discretion of the
guardians.
THE NEW BILLS OF EXCHANGE ACT.—At the judges'
chambers a decision of considerable importance has been given
under the new Act on Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes.
A plaintiff named Smith issued a writ in one of the superior
courts against a defendant named Evans, on a promissory note
for £l3 ss. and costs. The defendant's attorney took out a
summons to stay the proceedings upon the payment of the
debt without the costs, on the ground that the parties resided
within the same county-court district. The application was
opposed, and it was urged that the new act authorised all
actions on bills and notes to be brought in the superior courts,
irrespective of the amount. Mr. Justice Crowder was of
opinion that such was the law, although he thought with
others of the judges that there had been an oversight or omis-
sion in the framing of the act. The plaintiff's attorney sub-
mitted that it was very important that a decision should be
given on the point in reference to other cases. The learned
judge decided that the summons must be dismissed, thereby
establishing the principle that in all cases on bills of exchange
and promissory notes under the new law the proceedings may
be by writ of summons in the superior courts. By the new
rules, costs are allowed in-all cases under the act.
A RAILWAY ROMANCE.--A singular affair occurred on the
Wear Valley Railway (Durham) the other day. A gentleman
from Birmingham found himself seated in a first-class carriage,
his vis-a-vis, and the only other passenger in that compart-
ment of the carriage, being a blooming lady, answering to the
alliterative description of "fat, fair, ana forty." The train
had scarcely moved a hundred yards from the station before the
lady suddenly leaped from her seat and exclaimed to the other
passenger, " How dare you, sir ! What do you mean ?" The
gentleman, astonished, replied that he did not understand; he
had done nothing to harm her. Again and again she sprang
from her seat in apparent terror and rage, and declared with
vehemence that her neighbour was a villain, and she would
have him taken into custody at the next station. The gentle-
man protested his innocence, and asked what he had done;
but the eccentric lady still kept leaping from her seat, raving
against his treatment, till the gentleman decided that she was
mad, and resolved, on the arrival of the train at the next
station, to give her into custody. As her eccentricity did not
abate, he, on the arrival of the train at one of the stations,
was about to carry his resolution into action, when she sud-
denly sprang to the door, and screamed out " Guard, guard,"
at the top of her voice, and presently collected not only the,
guard, but a crowd of people around her. She then com-
menced her accusation in words both loud and deep, protest-
ing that the gentleman had improperly pinched her legs, and
the gentleman, horrified at the charge, protesting with equal
vehemence his perfect innocence. At this juncture, when
matters looked serious for the gentleman, the guard happened
to recollect that he had placed a basket under the seat of the
carriage containing a live goose, and, pulling it out, the mys-
tery was explained, the bird being the criminal, and having
caused the lady's fears and the gentleman's apprehensions.
This explanation was received with perfect good humour and
satisfaction by the parties concerned, and the train renewed
its journey amid the convulsive laughter and applause of the
assembled multitude.
A Memora, OF WILLIAM PALMEX.—It appears that Mr.
William Palmer is a member of a very wealthy family, and
is now in his 34th year or thereabouts. He was educated for
the medical profession, was a pupil at St. Bartholomew's,
recived the diploma of the College of Surgeons in 1846, and
settled at Rugeley, his native place. He seems, however, to
have paid more attention to the " turf" and what are com-
monly called sportipg pursuits than to his own profession, and
to have confined his practice to his own family and friends.
His name appears in the London and Provincial Medical
Directory of 1851, and again in 1855, as that of one of the
persons who had neglected to inform the editor of that work
of the nature of their qualifications ; hence it has been hoped
that his claim to be considered one of ourselves was not a just
one. But his name appears in the list of the College of
Surgeons ; and we may suggest, in passing, that it will be
necessary for the future to be cautious in assuming the exist-
ence of no qualification,
merely because none is recorded in
the Directory. He married in 1847, Anne:the natural daughter
of Colonel William Brookes and Mary Thornton, his house-
keeper. Colonel Brookes, who, after quitting the East India
service, took up his residence at Stafford, died in 1834, leaving
considerable property, and more than one natural child. To
Anne Thornton he bequeathed, by a will dated July 27, 1833,
nine houses in Stafford, besides land, and the interest of
20,000 sicca rupees, for herself and her children, and ap-
pointed Dr. Edward Knight, a highly respectable physician
of Stafford, and a Mr. Dawson, her guardians and trustees.
To Mary Thornton, the mother of Anne, the Colonel be-
queathed certain property, which was to pass to the daughter
at the decease of the mother. Mary Thornton departed this
life, it is said, while a guest at Mr. Palmer's house, in 1848
or 1849. Now, although the will of Colonel Brookes would seem
clear enough to any one who was ignorant of the law, and al-
though, in the present state of the law, as we are informed,
it would be sufficient, yet it was discovered by the legal
fraternity some years since that the; language conveying the
bequest to Anne Thornton was not sufficiently forcible to con-
vey it to her absolutely, but only to give her a life interest in
it; insomuch as at her decease it was liable to be claimed by
the heir-at-law to Colonel Brookes. Under these circum-
stances, there was nothing unnatural or unusual in the idea
that Palmer should insure his wife's life, in order to protect
himself from the inevitable loss which must ensue in case of
her decease; and, since her property consisted of 17 acres of
land, valued at between £3OO and i.:400 an acre, besides nine
houses, and the interest of the sicca rupees—probably alto-
gether worth at least £4OO per annum, upon which he had
borrowed largely from his mother—there could be no doubt
of his having such an interest in his wife's life as would jus-
tify insurance. Accordingly, in January, 1854, he insured
her life for £3,000 in the Norwich Union, and in March in the
Sun for £5,000; there was also an insurance in the Scottish
Equitable for £5,000. It appears that proposals for insurance
were made to other offices ; but there seems nothing unusual
in this, for he might only have had in view to obtain the best
terms, unless, indeed, such proposals were made after the full
value of his wife's property had been covered. To proceed
Mrs. Palmer died on September. 29, 1854, under circumstances
which we shall proceed to examine, leaving only one surviving
child, a boy of seven years ; and, as if to justify the husband
in effecting an insurance, an action was brought within a
month by Colonel Brookes's heir-at-law to obtain possession
of Mrs. Palmer's property. Palmer brought up the life poli-
cies on the Sun and Norwich Union on the 16th of October,
1854, and employed Mr. Pratt, the solicitor, to obtain the
money from the offices. Mr. Pratt, who seems to have acted
with entire bona fides, and the caution usual among lawyers,
required to be furnished with evidence of the husband's pecu-
niary interest in his wife's life, took counsel's opinion on every
step, and obtained the £B,OOO from the offices on the 6th of
February, 1855 ; strangely enough, the £5,000 from the Scot-
tish Equitable was paid through a banker, unknown to Pratt.
—Medical Times.