The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-04 00:00:00

THE BURGLARY AT ALDERMAN WOODRUFF'S.

James Taylor and John Berry were brought up on
remand on suspicion of being concerned in a burglary
and robbery committed at the pawnshop of Alderman
Woodruff, of Park-lane, on the night of the 13th
December. Mr. Bluck appeared for Taylor, and Mr.
Cobb for Berry, both of whom are celebrated house-
breakers and robbers in Liverpool. In addition to the
evidence already published in this case, it appeared that
Mr. Winstanley, the manager of the house, secured the
premises on the night in question, and in the morning
he found that an entrance had been made by cutting a
circular hole through one of the doors over the lock, and
he missed silver spoons, gold guard chains, and brooches.
The value of the property was about £lOO. The whole
of the evidence given on the former examinations was
then gone into, but as it has been already published it
is not necessary to repeat it here. The witnesses were
then cross-examined at great length by the advocates
who appeared for the prisoners, and at the conclusion of
the evidence for the prosecution Messrs. Bluck and Cobb
addressed the court for the prisoners, when his worship
said the case against Taylor was not sufficient, and
therefore he must discharge him. He remanded Berry
for seven days further. The case lasted over two hours,
to the obstruction of all other public business.

CHARGE OF ASSAULT AND ATTEMPTED ROBBERY.

Edward Drum, described as a barman, and lately of
the Lancashire Volunteers, was charged with having
assaulted and attempted to rob John Kelsey, who said
he was a provision merchant. Mr. Cobb appeared for
the prisoner. The prosecutor said, last night I was in
Vauxhall-road when I saw the prisoner hauling a
woman about. I told him it was a shame to act in that
way, when he turned on me and tried to rob me, and
assaulted me. In reply to Mr. Cobb the witness said
the attempt to rob consisted of the prisoner having
caught hold of his coat where his pocket was ; he tore
the prisoner's coat, too, but it was in his own defence.
Witness was " fresh" from drink, but knew well what
he was doing. Ponca-officer 453 said he saw the priso-
ner assault complainant, but he did not know how it
commenced. The prosecutor charged the prisoner with
an attempt to rob him. Mr. Cobb said the prisoner
bore an excellent character, and he (Mr. Cobb) was
proceeding to address the magistrate on his behalf when
Mr. Raffles said he would discharge him. from the
accusation of robbery, but fined him 105. for the assault.

The attempt to float the steamship Queen Victoria,
which has the Rangoon telegraph cable on board, had
not been successful up to 11-30 last night, although very
powerful means had been tried.

The ceremony of christening the infant son and heir
of Lord and Lady Ingestre was performed during the
morning service on Christmas Day, at Ingestre Church,
by the Hon. and Rev. A. Chetwvnd Talbot, the rector.
The sponsors were the Lady Ingestre, the Earl of
Shrewsbury and Talbot, and Captain the Hon. W.
Talbot, M.P.

THE QUESTION OF MAYORAL PRECEDENCE. - The
following circular has been addressed by the town-clerk
of Birmingham to the principal boroughs in England
and Wales. The replies received lead to the expecta-
tion that a powerful influence will be brought to bear
on Parliament when the question comes before it :
" I beg to call your especial attention to the reports
of the application made by the Solicitor-General to the
Court of Queen's Bench, on the Bth instant, for a rule
calling upon the justices of this borough to show cause
why a mandamus should not issue commanding them to
concede the mayor the right he claimed to preside at all
sessions and meetings of the justices, by virtue of the
precedence conferred upon hint by the 57th section of the
sth and 6th William IV., cap. 76. I venture to call your
attention to the interpretation put upon the section in
question by their lordships, and particularly by the Lord
Chief Justice, who considered that the precedence in
all places' thereby conferred upon the mayor was merely
social precedence; as, for example, that he would be
entitled to go first into a room, and the like. Now, it
is quite clear that on all occasions social precedence
would be readily accorded to all gentlemen holding the
office of mayor, and would continue to be accorded to
them by all persons with whom they might come in
contact, of mere courtesy and politeness, in the absence
of any enactment on .the- subject. Indeed, it is diffi-
cult to conceive the effect or utility of any enactment
conferring mere social precedence, as it is described
by the Lord Chief Justice. It is still more difficult to
conceive that it could have been the intention of the
reformed parliament which enacted the Municipal
Corporations Act to confer such precedence upon the
mayors of boroughs as that described by the Lord
Chief Justice. That act was passed for the aboli-
tion of the alleged corruption and the unnecessary
paraphernalia and parade of the old corporations,
and it is not very likely that at such a time and in such
a mood the Commons would consider it necessary
to give a dinner-party precedence to the high public
functionary they were creating by the act referred to.
Under the circumstances, some decided action is necessary,
and to that end I shall be glad to be informed that your
corporation will be prepared in the next session of
Parliament to assert the right of your mayor to the
position so rightfully claimed by the mayor of Bir-
mingham, and to join a deputation of the whole of the_orne
mayors and town clerks of the kingdom, to the .H _
Office, for the purpose of vindicating and restobering(i
possible) by legislation the privilege intendei to, con-
ferred by Parliament upon the people's magistrate,'

Among the English families of rank paQsing the winter
at Nice are—the Earl and Countess Delawarr, Lord and
Lady Hatherton, the Marquis and Marchioness of Lothian
and Lady Gertrude Talbot, the Marchioness (Dowager)
of Lothian and Lady Alice Kerr, Sir Robert and Lady
Emily Peel and Lady Jane Hay. &c.
MURDER OF TWINS.—On Tuesday afternoon the
bodies of two male infants were discovered in a field
near the Orphanage, 'under circumstances which leave
little doubt that they have been cruelly murdered. At
about a quarter past four o'clock Mr. W. J. Birch and
Mrs. Birch, of Poulteney's-place, were proceeding on a
bridle-way that leads from the back of the Orphanage
to Goldthorn-hill, and near the footpath they discovered
the bodies of two children, apparently twins. The
bodies were tied in a piece of towelling, which was
covered with some black ragged stuff—a kind of merino
—much worn, and they were fastened to each other
with a piece of tape or staylace tied round their necks.
Information was at once given to the police, and the
bodies removed to the police barracks, where they now
He, awaiting the coroner's inquest.— Wolverhampton
Chronicle. .

BLONDIN OUTDONE.—One, and perhaps not the least
surprising, of the feats performed by the Turk seen by
Evelyn in 1657 (query, at Bartholomew Fair ?) was, even
at that time, not unprecedented. When Edward VI.
passed through London the day before his coronation
(February 19, 1546-7) a Spaniard descended on a rope
stretched from the battlements of St. Paul's steeple and
fastened to an anchor near the gate of the deanery,
"lying on the rope with his head forward, casting his
arms and legs abroad, running on his breast on the rope
from the battlements to the ground, as if it had been an
arrow out of a bow." The same exploit was repeated
on the entry of Philip and Mary into London after their
marriage (August 19, 1554) at the same place, or
according to one authority, " from the chapter howse."
The performer on the last occasion soon afterwards met
with the too common fate of such persons, and paid with
his life for his foolish temerity. The Turk had a suc-
cessor as well as these his predecessors, a man having,
about 1750, performed a similar feat in different places
in the country, among them Hertford, where his " rope
was stretched from the top of the tower of All Saints'
Church, and brought obliquely to the ground about
fourscore yards from the bottom of the tower."—Notes
and Queries.
THE RELIEF OF DrsrnEss.—What does become of
those enormous sums which are annually contributed to
charitable institutions ? It is not too much to say that
a very uneasy feeling is growing up on this subject, with
the exception, perhaps, of the case of our great hospitals.
Where the wisdom of Parliament and the charity of
individuals have made such ample provision for the poor
and destitute of this metropolis it is too bad that our
feelings should be so constantly harrowed Up with tales
of distress, and still more by the consciousness that all
we hear represents but a portion of the misery actually
existing during seasons such as the present. He would
do the country good service who would look carefully
into the matter and tell us how the expenditure of these
charities is directed, controlled, and checked. Mean-
while, as above all things, it is desirable to avoid vain
declamation and the idle cant of philanthopy, the best
recommendation we can give to our readers is to be upon
the watch for the misery which may fairly come under
their notice, and to relieve it as best they may. He
would not have spent his Christmas ill who had enabled
two or three poor families to tide it over the starving
time until employment is again forthcoming. It is
much to be feared that the sufferings of the London
poor have formed a gloomy background to our Christ-
mas merriment.—Once a Week.

WAR STATISTICS. —ln a peace lecture recently
delivered at Bury, by Mr. William Stokes, of Manches-
ter, he gave the following particulars as the result of a
careful examination of the subject :—IIe assumed as his
basis the statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
in the House of Commons, in August last, that the
national expenditure for the present financial year
would amount to £76,400,000. Deducting about
£14,500,000, as the cost of the civil government, the
actual expenditure for war purposes (including interest
of war debt), would be upwards of sixty millions stea-
ling! This would exceed by above £5,000,000 the
whole amount of the export trade of 1859, in cotton,
woollen, and linen goods, En whose manufacture the
millions of Lancashire, Yorkshire (West), and Cheshire
found employment and support. It would more than
double tha total annual receipts from all sources, of all
the railways in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
The entire rental of all the landed estates in Great
Britain would not equal it by upwards of ten millions
sterling; and it would exceed by a still larger sum the
rental of all the dwelling-houses, mines, quarries, mills,
and manufactories throughout Great Britain and Wales.
Mr. Stokes also stated that where one million had been
contributed, in every form, for the conversion of the
world, the people of England had paid one hundred and
fifty millions for war. These statements appeared to
make a deep impression on the audience.
FRIGHTFUL COLLIERY ACCIDENT AT MANSTON,
NEAR LEEDS.—Major Wand, of Manston, the eminent
colliery proprietor, has been for some time past engaged
in sinking a shaft on Brown Moor, near Whitkirk,
Leeds, with the object of reaching the deep Beeston bed
of coal, which lies at a depth of 200 yards from the
surface. At the bye-pit, which is already sunk 120
yards, and which goes by the name of the "New Odd,"
the sinkers have been very much inconvenienced by the
stream of water which flows into the shaft, and renders
the use of expensive pumping-engines necessary. On
Tuesday morning, a little after seven o'clock, Robert
Taylor (a man about 40 years of age), Wm. Ambler, (a
young man of 20), and the overman, Thomas Greenhow,
were on the cradle or half-moon of the .bye-pit, on their
way to their work at the bottom. The engine had only
given a half-stroke when the crank broke, and the three
men were precipitated to the bottom of the shaft. The
brake was on, and would probably have the effect of
keeping the cradle exactly perpendicular in its fearful
descent, but it did not further act in the way of ar-
resting the progress of the men. It is thought that the
brake would not bite owing to the slipperiness of the
machinery, caused by the frosty weather. As soon as
possible after the accident "crabs" were got into requi-
sition ; and Greenhow, who was alive, and had sustained
himself in the water, which was five yards in depth, by
the aid of a piece of wood, was brought to the surface
about eight o'clock. He was in a very exhausted con-
dition, but will be' fully recovered, having sustained no
severe bruises, in the course of a day or two. At nine
o'clock the bodies of Taylor and Ambler were also
brought'' to bank," and as they were nut disflured by
their fearful fall, it is thought that they must have been,
suffocated in the water. Taylor has left a family ;
Ambler was unmarried.
THE PENMANSHIP OF ENGLISH STATESMEN.—WO
are bound to add that the present race of statesmen are,
on the whole, distinguished by excellent penmanship.
Lord Derby's handwriting is beautiful—equally elegant
and legible.but certainl Lord Stanley
y 'sLisoratsi legible Palm er.sston's largepica,
not elegant.
is free,
pleasant, and by no means obscure. The Duke of
Newcastle writes an excellent hand—long, well-formed
letters, and very distinct. Lord John Russell's pen.
manship is not unlike the colonial minister's, but on a
smaller scale. Other instances might be cited, but it is
more to the purport of the present paper to say that the
East ;India Company, nearly all through the present
century, have been remarkably fortunate in the call-
graph;' of their chief servant, 'the Governor-General,
who has set an example of penmanship to the whole
class of writers which ought not to have been thrown
away. Lord Wellesley's handwriting is, perhaps, the
bst that we have ever seen. Sir George Bariow's was
little inferior. Lord Mini() wrote a remarkably firm,
solid, legible hand. Lord Hastings and Lord Amherst
were somewhat stately in their penmanship, but every
letter was 'as clear as type. Lord William Bentinck
ran his letters, and sometimes his words, a little too
much into each other, but he wrote a good flowing
hand that was rarely otherwise than legible.. Lord
Auckland's writing was peculiarly round and distinct,
the very reverse of his successor's, Lord Ellenborough's,
which was pretty and lady-like, and not distinct; but
he was always one of the honourable company's naughty
boys. Lord Dalhousie wrote a beautiful hand—flowing
and elegant, but very distinct; and the present Gover-
nor-General, Lord Canning, need not blush to see his
handwriting placed beside any of his contemporaries.--
Blackwood's Magazine for January.