The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-11-29 00:00:00

ROMANCE IN THE WORKHOUSE.

At the last rileetiiig Cif the Workhouse Committee, it
was resoled, as the inauguration of a saltitary practice,
to make a personal inspection of all the inmates of the,
house classed ds " able-bodied" in parochial phrase-
ology,—that is, bet*ecn the ages of sixteen and sixty.
The direct object of the inejnity fins tH ascertain whether
there were not some quite capable of maintaining them-
selves, and who should at once be discharged from the
house. _A secondary object was, to learn how many
parents there **ere with children in the house who, if
, the latter were transfetted to Rirkdale and adopted by
the parish, would be able to earn a lip ellhood fot them-
selves outside. By the regulation at present in fotee,
children whose parents are living are inadmissible to the
schools, unless the parents themseltes are in the work-
house: the whole family must thus be patiperised before
the children can fully benefit. The reason for this rule
is pretty obvious ; but that it is attended with occasional
hardship is equally clear ; and we are glad to observe
that a motion is to be brought forward for rescinding or
varying it according to circumstances, at the next meet-
ing of the select vestry.
The inspection, which is likely to extend o'er several
days, commenced yesterday, at the Workhouse, the
inmates being marshalled for the purpose in the dining-
ball, and separately admitted into the store-room, where
they were each questioned and examined by the mem-
bers of the committee. The process was necessarily a
hurried one ; and yet ,the total time occupied was so
great, that it was only found possible to go through the
able-bodied men, 85 in number, and the nurses in the
different wards. It was resolved, however, to resume
the inspection at a future day.
Some curious little snatches of biography came out in
the course of the inspection yesterday, Of a few of
those we took notes ; and which we shall just give as
they arise,—leaving the facts in each case to suggest
their own inference. 'We should state, however, that
Mr. Hagger, the vestry clerk, made memoranda in each
case, with a view, if necessary, to future action. •
The first case called was that of Humphrey
H—, a rigger, who has three children in the house.
He had come to visit them, when, in accordance with
the rule, he was detained himself and made a pauper.
He was asked if it was not the truth that he had
deserted them? 'He said no; he had been in prison.
ale was taking a vessel out for a relative of his, when
they forgot the can-hooks, and • he was charged with
stealing them. He was an old man, but he thought
he should be still able to maintain himself if

the children were kept in the workhouse.—Shortly
after Wards, it tall old mans of most commanding figure,
was brought forward. He stated that he had only been
home a few months from India. He has a pension of
9d. a day, but found it was not enough to live upon ;
and as he was medically disabled, he had been obliged
to enter the house. (His pension of course goes to the
funds of the parish.)—A third man, named Hoffman,
stated that he was
,a native of Quebec, and had been
obliged to seek relief, as he Was suffering from rheu-
matic fever.. Afterwards came the case of another
soldier from India. When fifty years old, he would
be entitled to a deferred pension of 4d, a ddy. He
had been accustomed to wear flannels in India, and
woad gladly leate the house if he. had some decent
clothing. He would be sure of a situation froni Cdl.
BroOks, or some of the Other officers, at GoapOrt; if he
could only reach there. He was discharged at Chatham
but, being a native of Liverpool, came down here. There
was no one to welcome him, however, for he found, as
he said with pathos, that "all- his family and friends
were in Low-hill Cemetery."—Next came a clerk, who
said, if sent out he
„could get nothing to do: He was
suffering, besides, froui neat aiid fate.-4r. If.,
an old inmate; was asked how it *as that lie. had left
a situation to attend upon a gentleman, which had been
got for him.? He said the reason was that the gentle-
man had been removed to The-Brook (Itinatic dsyluM).
lii answer to it fiirtheir tinestioii; the pauper stated that
his teeth had beau Ittiodked oitt by a ltinatie in the
house. One of the vestrymen said that he belonged to
.a.. most respectable family. Several coopers were
amongst the paupers brought forward : two of these
had lost fingers, and so were scarcely able to follow their
work. A third had struck, with a number of others,
about ten Months ago, in this towns and had gone on tramp.
Ile had obtained work at Allsopp4s brewery, Burton-upon-
Trent, When he, liith 40 others, Was discharged; owing
to slackness caused by.tlie sbarcity of imps) and he had
retiirfied to LiVerptiol iti sitar a state of dettittititin
forced him to seek relief..t. 4.; a inal-of-War4s thaii,
•1
had. entered the house with shots in his leg; b'ut was
getting better.—E. I\l., a very stout, jovial looking man,
a baked had been slit of seven Yeatslh the hoiise, Where
he is, of course, tnade tl-., fro' ii Glasgow,
fine, tall, intelligent looking man, with expansive fore-
head, stated that he was a clerk. At the request of a
vestryman, he exhibited a document in his handwriting,
which was certainly a most beautiful specimen of Cali-
graphy. • He has three children in the house ; and it
was stated, if we heard aright, that he had been impri-
soned for twelve months in Scotland for having I.t,t erted
theiii.A. tolerably able-bodied man, Who has a wife
and two children iii the lithiSe; said he was 4 letterpress
printer; but. the trade Was /id* entirely diine
up, the work being all done by machinery or boys !
The last place he was in he had only Bs. ; that was with
a Mr. Wilson, in Toxteth-park. He was employed in the
house wheeling harrows, "navvying." --Afterwards hopped
forward a little Frenchman named Fontane, with twisted
moustache and strangely curled beard. He answered
the queries .put to him in French; but all that could be
clearly made out, was that he had been a dancing
master at a school in Atertion4oad, WhereVer that may
be.-7-to a than With a broken arm; WhiCh had been so
badly set that h'e had lost the perfect
,iise,Of,it? one of
tiechiliMittee bbsei4ed (aside); "Fort shad have gone
to Evan Thomas." "Why," replied the pauper, "that
was the gentleman who set it,"—Another bookkeeper:
Had been two years and upwards in the house ; had
been in the United States for seven or eight years,
and arrived here destitute.—A seaman from New
Brunswick : paralysed.—An old man said he was
a quill-dresser by trade, but there was none of
it ho*,bihde steel pelts had been'introdiided:
Had ofteii tried fOi• Work outside ; got a little street-
sweeping once ithen,ie went; out,
,bfit could
.not get
enough of it to lite iiPon; he had, perhaps, only a day
week. —Another soldier frOm India, very sickly-
looking; said he had been in no less than fourteen
engagements in India. Begged to be allowed to stop
till after Christmas, and expected then to get work with
the adjatant, at an office
,in Chapel-walks.
a 'A vestry-
man observed that it was great shame that a man who
had seen so much service should be there.—Another
bookkeeper, and who is employed in that capacity in the
house, said he would gladly take work outside,, if it
could be get. It waS stated; iowever, that having acted
for some time as store-keeper, the V-eitii had .voted him
for the service. He had gone out with this, spent it
all in drink, and immediately returned. The Governor
had a like report to give in a great many of the other
cases which had been heard : it was almost hopeless to
discharge the parties, as they would be certain imme-
diately to return.--A number of lads who had been
brought up in the Industrial Schools, but cling to the
house and promise to be paupers for life, were next
eiamined; One boy said he ran away thin the schools ;
then worked in a fiat thi the &Mai, brit did not like it,
and so came to the house..-Another, It Very stoat lad,
said that he came from the schools to the workhouse in
1858, to see his mother, when he was detained for good,
or till he shotild be sent back with a new set; "
The nurses were next examined; it Was found
too late to proceed; as had been intended,• With the
females in the " classification " ward, and who are 130
hi number: Nearly all of these hate infants, or are in
daily expectation of becoming mothers,—the children,
in about nine4enths of the cases, being illegitimate.
This branch of the enqiiiry Was aecordingly adjourned.

A FEMALE SAILOR t

The members of the committee were subsequently
introduced to a novel applicant for parochial relief. On
the previous evening a smart-looking sailor lad, dressed,
tar fashion, in hhie jacket, canvas trousers, and oil-skin
cap, with shirt collar throWn back in the approved
fashion, entered the receiving-honse, and elpressed a
wish to see the Governor. To that gentleman the
assumed tar Confessed that he was not what he seemed,
bitt a Woman in disguise. The applicant further gave
her name as Annie Stewart, and then told a most extraor-
dinary story. She was a native, she said, of Glasgow.
Her father was a seafaring man, but was lost off the
coast of Africa. Her five brothers all went to sea, and
she also secretly resolved on pursuing the same vocation.
For that purpose she donned male attire, and without
her sex being at all suspected, bound herself for five
years to a shipowner in this town. She sailed in two
different vessels, and was about completing her time,
with a fair prospect of being made second mate, when
she met with an accident, by falling from one of the
yards, when the ship eras lying in the river here, and
fractured her ribs. She was taken to the Northern Hos-
pital, where her sex was first discovered by the
surgeons attending her ; and on recovery was
brought before Mr. Mansfield, shortly before that
gentleman's removal to London. The facts of the
ease, it will be remembered, were at the time
made public. gho -was discharged and according to
her tale, again assuming male attire, proceeded to Hull,
from whence she went several short voyages. Returning
to Liverpool, she sought for a ship all Saturday and
Monday last, but was disappointed. She had actually
been engaged to proceed to Valparaiso, and had gone on
board. the Vessel, when the mate, who had heard the
case before Mr. Mansfield, recognised her, and the
skipper put her ashore. In this dilemma she
had come to the Workhouse, stating that as
she finds she cannot, since her injuries, take
so well the part of a "man before the mast," she is
anxious to resume the proper habiliments of her sex, if
the parish will provide them, and go out as under-
stewardess. She has learned all the accomplishments
of a sailor,—chews, smokes, and confesses to a weak-
ness for grog. Her carriage and bearing is that of a
thormigh seaman, and in the absence of trousers pockets
she sticks her hands into the waistband of her gown.
It was obsetted by one of the vestrymen, yesterday, that
her hands were clean and comparatively soft, without
the slightest trace of tar; and it is a question, after all,
if she is not an impostor. Her story certainly scarcely
challenges belief. The only reason which she gives
for first going to sea is, that she thought she might
meet with her brothers. She did meet with one of
them some time ago, who wished her to don proper
attire, and stay in Liverpool, when he would allow her
one-half of his pay, but says she preferred to work and
get full pay. The whole story is as unsatisfactory as it
is extraordinary, and we shall be glad to hear of its
being subjected to a more rigid investigation.