The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-04-18 00:00:00

KIRK DALE SESSIONS.

The quarter sessions fdr the Xirkdale diVisieft ef the
county were formally epoxied yestefday morning by
Lord Sltanlex.. A meeting of the.,reagistratea. Wit also
held; a the. noble. lorld ..presided. The other
gentlenien present Tinibs;; ' -grillitim
Hall, Esq., Richard Heslieth, E 64., Joliii CaipMl;
Esq., J. G: Morris, Esq., J. I. Blackboarne, Hate
Warrington, Samuel Holmes, R. W. Wrigley, H.
Royds, Major Bourne, and T; W. Rathbone, Esq.
From the report of the governor of the gaol, it appeared
that there •were yesterday 232 female and 72 male
prisoners in the gaol. Of these, 8 were for trial at the
assizes; and 3.5 for trial at the sessions. There were
133 prisoners under sentence, and 2 awaiting her
Majesty's pleasure ; for penal servitude, there were 23
military er naval, 3 ; from the •county court, 12 ; sum-
mary convictions, S 8; number for examination, 5. The
head constable's report was read and confirmed. It
began by: StAting dial the criminal atifietied fir
the Odle r ending the 31st March were mere
favourable than they had been for any pievious
quarter during the
.last two years. The number of
persons apprehended and summoned was less, with the
exception of those summoned for non-payment of rates,
than during. the quarter which ended on the 31st of
March, 1859, which presented a marked improvement
over the quarter preceding it. In the serious offences
classed as housebreakers, there had been an increase,
Which ftit induced the head-constable to reepmmend
that the efficiency of the police force might be promoted
by the appointment of a. detective officer in the Kirk-
dale division of the county. In the middle of February
upwards of 20,000 of the colliers of St. Helens and the
townships of Haydock, struck for wages, and
remained on strike for a long period, during which the
St. Helens police were reinforced from the surrounding
districts ; the result has been that no serious consequences
followed the strike. The strength of the force was 861
men. The number of apprehensions had been 1,477,
of whom' 123 were committed for trial, 971 summarily
convicted, and 38 discharged. , The Visiting Justices
reported that the buildings of the prisoit were in
exoellent repair, and the prisoners were fully etilpitiyed.
None of the prisoners were on the sick list, but two
deaths, had occurred in the gaol during the quarter, from
causes under which the prisoners were suffering when they
entered the prison. The report, of the Finance Com-
mittee, and that of Mr. Gee, the bridge:no.ster, were also
read, from the latter of which it appeared the bridges and
roadways of the Hundred of West Derby were in good
repair. They were 4onfirrited. This being all the busi-
ness, Mr. Theakstene said he could not alnvi them to
separate without calling their attention to the great loss
which the county had sustained by being deprived of the
services of Mr. Sellers. That respected officer's widow
was now left in a state of helplessness. Some of the
magistrates had already subscribed two guineas each for
her benefit, and he hoped they would all do the same.
The proposition was cordially approved, after which the
proceedings terminated. •

A SEEP DESTROYED BY A RAVEN.-=A 'Oait cf tdvehs
have built their nest on the west cliff of Ramp°, on
the island of Btroma. 'the hen is sitting. On Thursday
evening last, a ewe, large with lamb, belonging to
Christina Robertson, was. tethered near her cottage.
Mrs. Robertson had occasion to go to a neighbour's,
and on her return she found that one of the ravens had
nearly destroyed the poor ewe, and, as it was so much
.mutilated, it had to be destroyed.
• THE EXAMINATIONS FOR COMMISSIONS IN THE ARMY.
—The Tinws confirms the rumour to the effect that the
examination papers proposed to candidates lot Military
appointments have been surreptitiously obtained by
some of the candidates in anticipation of the examina-
tion. It appears that the French questions in the
examination for direct commissions now in progress
have been 'obtained by some person who has reprinted
-them- and then sold them to such of the-candidates as
desired to avail themselves of information so dishonestly
purchased. The result has been that the whole exami-
nation- has been .vitiated by this discovery, that the
exercises of candidates have been cancelled; and that a
new.exaniination will at once begin. The Dimes trusts
the. Commander-in-Chief will bring those pe,rilons to'
justice who have first stoles and then sold what may be
fairly regarded as the price of a commission in ner
114esty's service.
THE PARLIAMENTARY REFORM BILL.—The
of yesterday exclaims :-" It is of no use,—the British
public absolutely refuses to work itself into a state of
excitement on the question of Parliamentary Reform
The Dallg Yews adverts to the motion which Mr. W. X.
Massey intends to brine forward for :referring theßeform
Bill to a select committee, and says that no one will
misunderstand the truth of his proposition.. He has
selected a'forrn of procedure which unites the greatest
power-of obstruction with the least show of antagonism,
If amendment and not resistance to the Reform Bill were
desired, how/ it would. be to propose specific improve..:,
easy.
ments in the course of the discussions of that measure.
Mr. Massey has: doubtless not resolved tp invite the House
of Commons- to refuse to legislate on.reform this session,
for that and nothing lesS is the meaning of his.motion,
without satisfying. himself as to the extent of support he
may. expect._ He* is' the volunteer leader of mire ,or
-fewer reactimiary liberals.- . _

.CRIM. CON. AND. ATTEMPTED Surcum.---At the Lon-.
don Mansion. House, Sarah JOhnson, a
.decently. attired
young wernAn, was charged with attempting to destroy
herself; by taking laudanum, in the ladies' waiting-room
at the ..131ac1lwall Railway Station. The prisoner, it
appeared, had taken sixpenny worth of laudanum while
sitting in the waiting-room of the railway. A surgeon
was.sent for, and he was enabled to recover his patient.
A. very respectable-looking young man now came for-
ward, and stated that he was the husband of the
prisoner. They had been married about three years,
and durinfr the first part of the time they had lived
very happily together, but he then discovered that there
had been
animproper intimacy carried on between her
and his master. The prisoner had admitted this allega-
tion. Witness consulted a lawyer as to what he could
do, but was told that there must be a witness to the
adultery, or he could take no priiceeding,s frAainst her.
Upon this intimation he went to his master, who
offered him a sum of money to compromise the affair.
Witness accepted the money, and then took his . wife
back and tried to make her comfortable again ; but of
course after what had happened there were often a few
words between them, and at last she left home on the
30th of January, and he had not seen her since until
now. The witness said he had no family.—The Lord
Mayor asked if he were willing to take her back and
Hve her another trial ?—Witness said this could not be.
e had given her a very fair trial.—The Lord Mayor said
in that'case it would be his duty to send her to prison
for seven days.—Witness said that she had a father
alive, who was a very respectable man, and would per-
haps take care of her.—The Lord Mayor said in that
case he would remand her for the present, ill order that
her father might be comumuitc,atierrwith. •