The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-11-27 00:00:00

SEctLAlusM —Last night, at the Teutonic-hall, G. J.
Holyoake, Esq., the celebrated tree-thinking writer,
delivered the first of a series of three lectures on the
subject of Secularistii; befjr;.., a large attendance of
persons.

CANARY Snow.—Very few of on readeti r_re atare
that there is a '"LiVerpool Canary Society;" and yet
such an institution is in ekistence; and 'Managed by a
committee which holds its meetings periodically a t Mr.-
Matthew Walker's, .trawberry Gardens, West Dorhy-
testerday Was a great day in the history of the
society, which then held its ditufal canary shoW.. At
first, one naturally thinks that the chief arcelleve of
the little yellow-feathered songsters. whose sprightly
warblings cheek so many a hoMe, would be in the beauty
and variety of notes which are poured so voluminously
' from their tiny throats; but this is a mistake. There
are professional admirers of the little bird, who are
breeding him up to a certain ideal -standard ; and
the following, as we learn from one of the society's
rules, are the points of beauty which arc sought to he
attained :—" 1, small flat head ; 2, projecting neck ; 3,
high square shoulders; 4, good back, mid well' filled ; 5,
goodness of-feather ; 6, richness of colour ; 7, length of
bird; 8, hest curve underneath ;. 9, best. standing pro-
perties." It is well known that there is roguery even
in the bird trade ; and one rule we observe runs—
IfThat no bird mottled, painted, or stained, or out of
feather, or Marked in any way, shall be a show bird,
except marked on toes of beak a cleir. bird, withy
equal properties, to have the prefeience.'" The breed
of canary which every amateur most affects iS the Bel-
gian,—a very gawky-looking bird, with long, thin
shanks, and heavy projecting 'shoulders, which seem to
weigh down the head, and give " .Dick" a very strange,
pert, and saucy appearance. The Belgian canary, in
fact; bears about the same relation to our old. domestic
favourite of English breed, that the Cochin China doeS
to our farmer dunghill fowl; and there are but two
grand varieties, the yellolr and the -buff.. The show,
*MA Was "open to all Erigland,'l took place at the
pdblie•.hall in Ifygeia.;street; and.ahout forty birds were
eitlitfitcdi Who filled the room With a goad of harmony•
during the mil& tiny: The canaries were not all
Liverpool-bred, but had beet brought from Bolton,
Wigan; Warrington, and some evert all the way from•
Kendal. A majority-of the visitors, judging from their
dppearauce, Were factory operatives from the mama-hie,
turing distfßis. Mr. John Robinson, of Manchester;
was the judge; and the fist' prize for a yellow was
awarded to a bird belonging. td i Mr', Baron', of Kendal,
whose birds carried off also the second aild third prizes
in the same class. The canary Which won the first prize
has, we are told, carried off like honours at Whitehaven,
Salford, and Carlisle ; and, the. exhibitor, who was
enthuSiastie in his praises, declared that he bad just
refused £l5 for him. The first prize for buffs was won
by Mr. P. B. Vanderblies.

Tut LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.—The
fourth ordinary meeting of this society was held last
night at the Royal Institution, the Rev. 11. H. Higgins
in the chair. The following gentlemen were elected as
mothers: Mr. Sames gen worthy, M.D. and Mr. W.
Tooke: Mr: Moore, curator of the Derby Museum,
exhibited living specimens of the trionyx ferox (a kind
of turtle)`, from the Satarrnah river ; also the pen of a
squid (a gigantic cattle fish), which had been presented
to the Museum by Captain Mortimer, of the Flora
Some rare and beautiful coloured corals, from the South
Sea Islands, were exhibited .y Mr. Fabert, who also
showed some cowrie and other shells from the Persian
Sea and New South Wales, besides a variety of other
objects of interest in natural history. Several donations
of books and other publications were announced. The
paper of the evening was then read by Mr. Thomas
Dobson, 8.A., head master of the-school frigate Conway,
and was entitled "The Results of the Royal Charter
Storm." The principal object of the paper, which was
illustrated with diagrams, was to show- that the storm was
not local, but was concurrent in its action throughout
Elio Conntryi arid that there was a marked coincidence
between the atmospheric distUrbance which prevailed
during the year with the number of fatal accidents from
gas in coal mines. In 1859 there were 139 vessels
totally IOSt on our coasts, and of these wrecks 77 took
place between the 21st of October and the 9th of Novem-
ber. If this period of nearly three weeks were -omitted,
the total loss during the remaining forty-nine weeks was
62,—leafing an average of only 2 weekly, whereas the
average of the three weeks in question was upwards of
20. each week. The ninnber of lives lost by shipwreck
in 1859 was 1,645 ; and 871, or more than one-half,
were lost in the same three weeks. The number of fatal
accidents in British coal mines, by accumulation of gas,
also was far above the average in the month of October,
1859, Tiler° were in the year 81 such'fatal accidents,
of which 18 happened in October, leaving an average of
less than 6 for each of the other months of the year.
One conclusion to which he came was, that the
storm in question was a cyclone travelling to the
south-eastward. At the close of the paper, Mr.
Dobson remarked upon Sir John Herschel's theory of
cyclones, which he thought too dogmatical for a science
as yet so imperfectly understood. To his mind there
was a great connection between cyclones and atmos-;:
pheric electricity. All great storms arose in certain
foci, those being also foci of galvanic action.—Captain
Inman afterwards rose, and, from his practical experi-
ence as a shipmaster, threw doubt upon the truth of the,
circular theory of storms. The conclusion to which he
had come was that every storm was caused by two dis-
tinct currents of alt, forming an elongated semicircle,
which crossed each other at two points, the force of wind
being greatest at the points of crossing, so that one ship,
by adopting the circular theory, might be saved, whilst
another was lost. He denied, also, that -the Royal
Charter storm was a cyclone. An interesting discussion
ensued.

LIVERPOOL POLICE COURT.--YLsTERDAT.

(Before Mr. RAFFLES.)
ATTEMPTING TO OBTAIN MONEY. •
Arthur todaskie, a foreigner, living at 37, Park-lane,
was brought up by detective officer Layeoek, ou a charge
of having attempted to obtain money by false represen-
tations from the society for the Relief of Foreigners in
Distress. From the evidence of the officer and Mr.
Hartman, the secretary of the society, it appeared that
some ,days ago the prisoner applied to the society, for
relief, and he, got 10s. and a pair of shoes: Subsequently
the prisaner wrote to the Mayor, inclosing a letter from
some person (a foreigner), stating that he was'an object
of charity. The Mayor sent th letters to the society,
and then it was discovered that the letter purporting to
have been Written by the foreigner was a forgery; and
Mr. Hartman, finding the prisoner was the person he
had so recently relieved, gave hint into custody. When
the officer 'asked the prisoner where he got the
letter ? be said—from a foreigner ; but when pres-
sed about it, he said there was no use in denying
the fact that he bad written it himself. Mr. Bartman
in reply to Mr. Black (for the prisoner), said he believed
the prisoner to have been in distress, but when be went
to his house he found him in bed drunk; so that having
spent his money that way, he did not think he must be
very distressed. Mr. Bluck said, unfortunately the,
talents of the prisoner were not duly appreciated in this
country ; he spoke seven languages, and was a highly
educated person. He had a wife and child very badly
off, and if be were sent to jail they must be sent to the
workhouse: Mr. Raffles said if the prisoner was a man
of abilities he. ought nofto go about forging letters. tie
thought the case'a very oad one. Th society was
formed for the relief of foreigners in distress, and it was
only right to have them protected from impostors. lie
would send the prisoner to jail for a month. Laycbck
said the prisoner's wife had good friends in Liverpool,
who were able to take care of her.
BURGLARY..
An elderly man, named Thomas Alford, was charged
for having committed a burglary in the house of Harriet
Milliken, Rose-vale. Police-officer 847, said about half_
past three in the morning, I met the prisoner in Great
Homer-street, and 'seeing something balky about him,
I asked him what he had got ? He said, nothina.; but
as I suspected" him, I said I must search him. 7-it the
,station I found a tea-pot, some candlesticks, caps, knives,
tea-holders, glasses, and a variety of other property_ on
him; and also a black coat. I subsequently found that
the house of the prosecutrix had been broken into, and
the property stolen from it. The prosecutrix said, I
Went to bed ahout eleven, and left all fast below. About
half-past six in the morning I got up, and found the
Brack door open and a square of glass broken in the
scullery window, and the things
.now produced gone.
In reply to the magistrate, the prisoner said, I got the
things from a man whom I met in the, street. He was
sent for trial for burglary.
NEGLECTING A
John Levee, a German, and Mary, his wife, were
brought up on remand charged by, Inspector Valentine
for neglecting their child. The details of this case were
published a few days ago. The prisoners lived in Davis_
street, off Dale-street, and it was proved that they were
drunkards, and - they used to go out and leave the child
(thirteen months old) in the room on some straw and
nearly naked. In this way they frequently left the
child for many hours, and gave it very little food, so
that it was nearly starved. The inspector had the ebiid
sent to the Workhouse, where every attention was paid
to it, and the surgeon from that establishment now said
it was ant of danger and going on very well ; an, it
wanted was attention and food, which it now had. The
prisoners were sent for trial on a charge of misde-
meanour for neglecting the child.
(Before Messrs. CHILTON and MAXWELL HYSLOP.)
KNOCKING DOWN A " WOODCOCK."
Sarah Woodcock, with a face like the top of Mount
Etna in the twilight, and a gown of many colourS, and
who lives in Upper Atann-street,summened Sarah Bently,
for having assaulted her, by giving-her a smack on the
right side of the face that knocked her down. Mr.
Parker appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Black for
the defendant. Mr. Parker commenced to open the ease
by going back some time abont the period when the
parties were iii perambulators, but after proceeding' from I
that interesting period up to the. time they were about
ten years of age, Mr. Black interestbd him by stating
that however interesting the story of the young
lives might be, neither the magistrates nor-himself had
time just then to hear it; but if Mr. Parker would
condescend to confine himself to last Friday week, when
the knocking down of the Woodcock" took place, it
would be beneficial to the community at large. The
complainant was then called, and proceeded in a romantic
strain to tell how the little game commenced, and went
on tOstate that she was standing on the top steps of her
own door,
when the defendant came up and gave her a
blow on the right
her toside of the face, and knocked her down
telling smoke puttruetkhat in her pipe and eit ! Mr.
Parker : you on the rightosideuo.vof h
don't you consider tht very wrong . The witness ace,f
andlt
acquiesed in the
gooobservation. Mr. lack : Dllo. yoDuikdnuowY
Mrs. Bentley's
know him six months ? Oh,
yes,
very
we
you
a Yes," Mr. Black : The lady smiledf a neat
sllarVe?yori very " t" on him
about that time? •
The witness laughed. Igt. Black :
Used you not put your hands about his neck and kiss
him ? Witness (
decd.
deed. Mr. Black :
Yes, in fact and
de - I don't remember. Mr. Pluck
Could you have Ln :
you
without knowing it? Hardly.
Mr. Black : But did udo it ? It's very unvirtuous to
ask me, but I didn't do such a naughty thing. Mr. ,
Parker called another witness, and, when she was
examined, he said in the
most condescending way :Now
Mr. Block, you may
ask
Mr. Na her
any questions you like.
(Loud laughter.)
that I am in thanks, but yet I Thank you, sir—beggar
thanl: yuu. Mr. Parker
insinuated that the quotation was from an ancient Greekstaff. Two witnesses were examined
to corroborate thekbnockina d
fownof the "Woodcock;" and
Mr. Black called as man more.who as positively asserted
that Mrs. Bentley was really the
and that Miss Woodeeeil,.etruly insulted "indivi-
.d used to kiss (Kr. 'Bent-
ley) quick and go my honey, which.- was a state
of frightful g
of things in Mann-street. The '
g strate, however
thinking the density of evidence in favour of
complain-
ant, fined the defend Ant 6e, and costs.