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

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 BuprooN.—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 venerab!e 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.

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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 3rlver, 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 M'Jver
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 FOR A LARK.—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. Be 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.
He 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 DuEß.—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, riftlied 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 691, of which 163 were
Prussians, 109 Danish, 90 Swedish, 69 Norwegians, 68 English,
66 Germans of different states, and 27 Dutch.

THE RIIGELEY PoisoNlNGs.—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 INTERRTIPTED.-011 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
Selhausen, 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, gilders, 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-
disant 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, be was only the son of a ruined tradesman of the Ile
de la Rinuion (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 Awindling, and had carried it on with
such skill that he 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.
Galignani's Messenger.
- - - • --

LIABILITY or UNDERWRITERS.--A recent trial in the
Court of Queens 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
£1668, 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 iu 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 Bahia 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
not otherwise."