The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-02-23 00:00:00

V ampobire.

Sonatas:Pros Docsa—The accounts show a net
revenue, after payment of the interest on the deben-
ture debt, of the dividends on the preference stocks,
and of all the working expenses, repairs, &c., for
the half-year ending working
31, amounting to
£6,728 19e. 10d. • add surplus carried over from
last half-year, £626 16s. 10d. ; making an available'
balance of £7,355 16s. Bd. From this sum the
directors recommend that a dividend for the half-
year, at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum (payable
on the 3rd of March), be declared, amounting, on
£360,725 ordinary stock, to £7,214 10e. ; leaving a
surplus to be carried to the credit of the next half-
year of £l4l 68. Bd. The earnings for the year 1857
amount to £53,066 ss. Bd, aa against £54,180 28. 9d.
in 1856, being a falling off of £1,113 17s. Id. during
the pant year, nearly the whole of which, or £1,054
7e. Bd., has occurred in the second six months. This ,
is the first year since the o . 'lig of the docks in
which there has been any ....inution of earnings, ,
each successive report for the previous thirteen years
presenting an increase over its predecessor. The
board of directors unanimously recommend to the
proprietors to sanction the immediate completion of
the inner dock, and for that purpose to authorize the
issue of a further amount of £35,000 of preference 5
per cent, stock, to be offered rateably at par to the
holders of the present general stock of the company.
The interest of this sum at 5 per cent will be
£1,750 per annum, no part of which will, in the
ordinary course, be chargeable against the revenue of
the current half-year; and the despatch of twenty-
four additional ships per annum from Southampton
to Alexandria, and the consequent return of twenty-
four additional ships from Alexandria to Southamp-
ton, now undertaken by the Peninsular and Oriental
Company, together with the increased operations of
the combined Royal Mail and Australian Companies,
will, irrespective of all other increase of trade, at a
very moderate computation, yield to the company
an addition of revenue more than sufficient to cover
that amount, and will secure the company not only
from any diminution of the present dividend in con-
sequence of the proposed outlay, but cannot fail to
ensure a considerable and progressive increase. The
cart of the contemplated completion and improve-
ment of the inner dock has been estimated at £35,000,
and the directors have reason to believe that it will
be satisfactorily executed for that sum. With no
other increase of shipping than that in course of con-
struction for the Peninsular and Oriental and Royal
Mail companies, to confine the trade to the outer
dock for eight months will a year hence be absolutely
impossible; and, therefore, if increased accommoda-
tion be not now provided the company will, twelve
months hence, not be in a position to receive the
shipping requiring acoommodation in the docks.
ALRXBFORD.—HalnpBltire Hunt Dinner.—A din-
ner was given on Thursday, at the Swan Inn, Aires-
ford, to E. Tredoroft, Esq., the Master of the H. H.
Hounds, Edward Knight, Esq., in the chair, which
was attended by between 60 and 70 gentlemen and
farmers in the district of the hunt
RINGWOOD.— Westeott v. Burford and Tarrant.—
This was an action brought by the plaintiff in the
County Court at Fordingbridge, against the defen-
dants, Burford (a gamekeeper, duly appointed and
registered by John Morant, Esq., for his Manor of
Ringwood), and his assistant, George Tarrant, for an
assault, and taking away his gun, on the 7th of
January last, the plaintiff being at the time on
piece of land belonging to John Mills, Esq. (within
the manor), in the renting and occupation of Mr.
Brown, his tenant. The cause came on for hearing
on the 6th instant, before E. Everett, Fmk., the
judge of the County Court. The plaintiff's evidence
having been completed, Mr. Cozwell drew the atten-
tion of the judge to the law as laid down by the
judges of the Court of Queen's Bench, in the case of
Cox v. Reid, 132 B. p. 558, but his Honour did not
give the defendants the benefit of that decision, and
directed Mr. Cozwell to go on with his evidence.
The trial lasted a considerable time, and, after long
arguments by Mr. Pocock, of Southampton, on the
part of the plaintiff, and Mr. Coxwell, of the same
place, on the part of the defendants, and a careful
summing up by the judge, • verdict was given by
the judge in favour of the defendants, with oasts.
ANDOVXR.--A Foresters' Ball, ga up by the offl
cern .
and brethren of the Court Alma of the South
Western district, took place at the Townhall, on
Thursday, which was brilliantly decorated for the
occasion with emblematical designs in connection
with forestry, executed by Mr. Conway, a member
of the court. About 100 brethren and their friends
were present, and dancing was kept up until the
dawn of day.
CRAM. TIULA.IIIINY OF A egno• —On l'huredef.
J. May, and J.
before the Borough M •
, Jamesaf= and Ann, his wife,
wCirrergeehargtTswith assaulting, and otherwise ill-treat-
ing, Fanny Cash, aged 'ix yearn,t the illegitimate
•r charge. Mr.
child of the male prisoner, and in el
Francis Buckell, sworn: I am • surgeon at Itemeef
on Monday the lit inst., I was called in to see a
female child about six year' of lige, in Middle-bridge'
street, Ramsey; the child was then at Mr. George
Medley's, it was in an extreme state f e
on ttlirhltbe.
the ekm beinVl7 and nnuginli:- I"er.on dimme ;
I could not =Dover anY Lo co— want of
believe 't to have been brought on
from
it had been neither well ied
proper nourishment; she muse. I didn't
nor well cleaned, and that wne . .
consider it required medical treetimir;svts
under-
,tood the name of the child to be Ata

examined by James Andrews: I believe the child to
have been starved.—Thomas Giles stated that he
was a labourer, and resided in Newton Court. The
two defendants and their little girl, Fanny, lodged
at his house from the 6th of November to the 2nd of
January last, and during that time they both treated
the child very cruelly, by beating her and keeping
her without proper food, &c. This witness's testi-
mony was corroborated by his wife, and others.
The Magistrates convicted both the defendants, and
sentenced James Andrews to two months' hard
labour, and bound him over to keep the peace for
the next six months, and his wife to one month's
hard labour.

W INTERBOURNE EARLS.—Melancholy Accident.—
It is this week our painful duty to record the death,
by drowning, of Mr. H. Cuss°, yeoman, of this
place, which sad event occurred early on Saturday
morning week, about three miles from Fordingbridge.
It appears that the deceased had been to Christ-
church to see some sheep, and that he left Fording-
bridge, with his pony and four-wheel, on his return,
between twelve and one o'clock. The night being
intensely dark he was persuaded to remain at
Fordingbridge, but having business requiring his
attention at home early in the morning, he decided
on continuing his journey. He appears to have pro-
ceeded in safety until within a short distance of the
Bat and Ball Inn, where, from some inexplicable
cause, the pony turned about, but instead of return-
ing direct to Fordingbridge, it passed down a bye.
road leading to Mr. Taunton's farm. A broad sheet
of water lies on the side of this road, after planing
which the pony seems to have again turned, or to
have been brought round, and without retracing its
steps to have gone into the water and crossed to the
opposite side. The animal being unable to ascend the
bank, it appears to have been carefully unharneseed
by the unfortunate deceased, who attempted to re-
cross the stream leaving the vehicle behind. In
passing round the four-wheel, however to get into
the original track, he unfortunately fell into deep
water and was drowned. On the following morn-
ing the pony was seen standing near the bank,
almost exhausted, and this discovery having led to
a search, the body of the unfortunate gentleman was
found shortly afterwards. From the hour at which
his watch stopped, it is inferred that he must have
remained in the water a considerable time before he
met his untimely end. The body was conveyed to
the Bat and Ball Inn, where an inquest was held on
Saturday, before Mr. R. Brown, deputy coroner,
and a highly respectable jury, and a verdict of
"Found Drowned" returned. The deceased was
well known to be a man of very temperate habits,
and from the fact of his being perfectly sober when
he left Fordingbridge, we can only account for his
getting out of the road from the extreme darkness
of the night.
An address was presented to the Queen at her
levee on Thursday, congratulating her Majesty on
the recent marriage of the Princes Royal, from
the Council of the borough of Hastings, by Mr.
James Rock, Mayor, and Mr. Growls, Town Clerk.
Mr. Rock was presented by Mr. P. F. Robertson,
M.P., and Mr. Growae by Mr. F. North, XP.