The Press.
London, England, 1858-09-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 25, 1858.

922

and shovel were resumed with deep and sullen
curses, and the captured prisoners walked off to con-
finement. As the day passed on small spasmodic
rushes of desperate men took place, but the swords
of the warders and the front of the Wexfords re-
pressed any tendency to violence, ana they were
easily captured. Some of the convicts admit their
plan to have been to rush from all outlying parts
of the quarries, to concentrate in the centre, and
to arm themselves with the tools, such as ham-
mers, picks, &c., then overpower and murder the
guards, burn the prison, plunder the villages, and
make their escape to the mainland before assist-
ance could arrive • and I am quite convinced that bad
they been allowed even a few minutes to concentrate,
a most desperate scene of bloodshed would have
ensued. On Tuesday all the convicts appeared sulkily
quiet, and proceeded to work as usual, but without
any appearance of alacrity, when suddenly the same
shouting was heard, and a body of between thirty
and forty were seen rushing from the western quarry
towards the centre. These were promptly met by a
body of Wexfords on the raised road between the
quarries, and the same scene occurred as on the pre.
vious day. The conspiracy then assumed the dogged,
sullen form of small numbers at a time, or indivi
duals throwing down their tools, and walking quietly
into the sheds and surrendering themselves. This
continued throughout the day, and partially so on
Wednesday, when, the convicts apparently no longer
being able to resist the conclusion that they were
overpowered, it subsided."

A SHOCKING OCCURRENCE took place at Strand-
upon-the-Green, near Kew, on Thursday morning.
Some workmen were proceeding along the bank of
the river when they passed a respectably-dressed
young female with an infant in her arms; she
wished to avoid ;hem, and her manner was strange
and agitated. On the return of the men, half an
hour afterwards along the same path, which is very
retired, they met some boys, who said they had just
seen a woman, with a child in her arms, jump into
the river, at the same time pointing to a large sub-
stance floating with the tide. The men gave an
instant alarm to a waterman, who rowed off in his
boat, but when he arr;ved at the spot both woman
and infant had disappeared. The drags were pro-
cured as quickly as possible, but the bodies were not
recovered.

THE CATASTROPHE AT THE SHEFFIELD MUSIC•HALL,
on the 13th inst., when five persons were killed, was
further inquired into on Thursday, at the Town hall,
before Mr. Badger, coroner. The chief point to
which the coroner and jury directed their inquiry
was as to whether the flash and report proceeded
from an explosion of gas or from the firing of a
pistol. The evidence was conflicting. Several
persons who were examined deposeu to having seen
a pistol in the hands of a man, and the gas fitters
who had been deputed to examine the fittings, denied
that any explosion of gas had taken place. The
inquiry was again adjourned.

A FRIGHTFUL DEATH has occurred at Woodchurch,
in Cheshire, Mrs. Watkeya, a young lady who had
only been married a few weeks, having been burnt
to death by the ignition of a quantity of pitch,
which came in contact with her muslin dress. She
was stirring the pitch which her husband had
de-ired her to prepare in order to cover the roof of
a henhouse, when some of it escaped into the fire,
and the flame extended to her clothes. The un
fortunate lady lost her presence of mind, rushed from
the wasbhouse, where she VMS at the time of the
accident, through the garden into the kitchen, and
thence into the parlour, where was a young friend of
hers named Rimmer. No other persons were in the
house at the time. Miss Rimmer ran after her in a
state of excitement and distraction. By this time
Mrs. Watkeys was a mass of flames, and from her
dreadful screams her sufferings must have been
most intense. The attention of the neighbours was
now aroused, and a gardener who was working near
ran to the lady, threw her upon the ground, and
endeavoured to stifle the flames. Other assistance
was soon rendered, but unfortunately it was too late,
and Mrs. Watkeys expired soon after in great agony.
At the inquest a verdict of " Accidental death " was
returned.

THE EXPLOSION OF • SUBMARINE SHELL On Wed •
nesday disturbed the serenity for which Herne Bay
is so remarkable. It appears that, Captain Harvey,
R.N., a visitor there, put posed to astonish the natives
by an experiment with a submarine shell of his own
invention. For this purpose ho obtained an old
cutter, used by the coastguard, but recently con-
demned, and, having furbished her up, proposed ooe
fine afternoon to illustrate the force of his infernal
machine by blowing her to pieces. The cutter was
anchored, and awaited its final doom. The captain,
with two or three of his friends in a boat, took out
the shell, and all was anxious expectation. The
captain, in the boat, with a long rope attached to
the shell, tried in vain to cause it to explode, and

at last he became so excited at the failure that he
was obliged to be removed. Meanwhile the shell
remained floating in the water. After a time a
seaman named Wood, thinking it harmless, took the
rope and commenced hauling the shell on shore
No sooner, however, had it touched the beach than
it exploded with a terrific noise, a dense volume of
smoke shooting up into the air. The excitement
and alarm in the crowd of spectators on the beach
were intense. Fortunately no serious injury to
life or limb resulted, but the concussion was suffi•
cient to blow out the face of the clock tower in tha
immediate vicinity, and to smash nearly every pane
of glass in the shops of a neighbouring pastryconk
and linendraper, and also of an adjacent public-
house. In addition to this, windows were broken in
every house in St. Augustine's-terrace, and other
houses adjoining. In the pastrycook's glass jars
were broken and the confectionery strewn about the
road. Altogether the damage done is estimated at
between an. and 401. A shower of beach stones
and lailt water was thrown over the spectators, but
nothing more. Had the shell taken a slanting
instead of an upright direction, many lives must have
been sacrificed.
A FEARFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSION has occurred in
Monmouthshire, at the New Tredegar Pit, near
Rhymney, the result of the incautious use of the
open safety lamp. The pit, owing to a disagreement
between the proprietor, Mr. Powell, and his men,
had not been in work for a fortnight; hut, on the
morning of the mishap, some of the men had given
in, and returned to their employ. Five of them de-
scended the pit, which is more than 000 feet in depth,
but had not long been down when a noise as of
thunder was heard, the machinery of the shaft being
at the same time thrown completely out of order.
About eight yards from the bottom of the shaft three
of the men were discovered, dreadfully burnt and
bruised, and quite insensible, while a fourth, named
Pierce, was lying a little further off. He has since
died. These were, as well as possible, conveyed
above, and search continued for the missing man,
whose body was found seventy yards further in, burnt
completely to a cinder by the instantaneous action of
the fire-damp. The poor fellow's lamp was lying
about ten yards off, its being open indicating the
origin of the catastrophe too plainly. The previous
night the pit had been examined by the manager,
and the air-passages were reported to be safe. An
inquest was held on Thursday before Mr. Brewer,
and a verdict of " Accidental death " returned.

A DETERMINED ATTEMPT was made on Saturday
by Thomas Williams and Simon Leonard to murder
George Wheaton. The men were employed at the
Pontymoile Ironworks, near Newport. On leaving
work in the morning they went to a public house on
the banks of the Monmouthshire Canal, where a
quarrel arose between Leonard and another man, but
Wheaton interfered and prevented a fight. Neither
Leonard nor Williams approved the interference, and
upon leaving the house the latter exclaimed, '° Let's
kill him." Both attempted to seize Wheaton, who
ran away and jumped over a wall. He was pursued,
however, and dragged back by the hair of his head,
the wall being broken down in the struggle. The two
then threw Wheaton into the canal, walked in after
him, and, while h Ading him under water, swore the
same fate to any one who should render assistance.
When Wheaton became quite still and insensible
they left him, and he was got out of the canal by
several men and laid upon the bank. A number of
women then applied various restoratives, but it was
upwards of twenty minutes before the unfortunate
man returned to consciousness. Leonard subse-
quently absconded, but Williams was apprehended,
and on Monday committed to the assizes upon a
charge of attempting to murder, bail in 4001. being
accepted for his appearance.

e
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London,
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nt
y:hoaense seventy.ntTdhell t
formerly himself a Baltic merchant largely engaged
in the timber trade. He was a fellow of theßoyal
Society, and a member of most of the learned societies
of the metropolis. He was one of the earliest and
principal aids of Lord Brougham in the foundation
of a London University, and was a member of the
senate when the first and second colleges were ia-
corporated. Political economy was his special study,
in what was termed half a century since the school
of Adam Smith. His hereditary political creed was
that of a Liberal ; but he entered the House of Com-
mons, in 1826, as one of the members for Bridport,
almost an unknown man. The late James Mill,
father of Mr. John Mill, was his chief political in-
structor. With David Ricardo, C. P. Thompson
(Lord Sydenham), Mr. Hyde Villiers, the elder de-
ceased brother of Lord Clarendon, Mr. Warburton
usually acted when first in Parliament. He imme-
diately attached himself to the small minority voting
in Mr. Hume's early divisions. Mr. Warburton's
first parliamentary essay was the prosecution of a
reform of the Royal College of Surgeons. His bill
to legalize and regulate the supply of subjects for
our schools of anatomy was passed in 1831. His
next legislative subject was an attack upon the game
laws as they then existed. On the combination and
machinery laws, select committees, and legislation
before the Reform agitation Mr. Warburton was the
active ally of Mr. Joseph Hume and Francis Place.
In the memorable few days of May, 1832, he con-
tributed much to induce the more violent Radicals
to accept the Reform Bill as amended in its
passage through both Houses of Parliament. Mr.
Warburton was an advocate of the ballot, and on
Lord Melbourne's return to office he was spokesman
of a deputation of members of Parliament, who
stipulated with the Premier for the ballot being
" an open question," and for the concession of the
penny postage. Mr. Warburton continued to repre-
sent Bridport in seven successive Parham Jots. His
last return was in 1841, and after a close and corrupt
contest he was at the head of the poll; but a petition
being presented against both the sitting memhers be
surrendered his seat, accepting the Chiltern Hun-
dreds. He remained out of Parliament from the
spring of 1841. till November, 1843. From that time
he represented Kendal till the dissolution of July,
1847, when Mr. Warburton voluntarily retired from
public life. In private life his character and private
integrity were universally respected, and even his
political opponents often advised with him on neutral
and social questions.
SIR GEORGE RICH died at his residence in
Lowndes-street on Saturday. He was a Knight
Bachelor created in Ireland in 1822, and was a
second son of Sir Charles Rich, the first baronet.
He was appointed Aide-de•Camp and Controller to
the Household to Earl Whitworth in 1813, and was
Chamberlain to the Viceregal Court to the Marquis
orelceViveelideBtiheYe' hoonnohuil.. appointmentof
three years of age. knighthood. to whichHe was
osffievceenthyg-

SIR OFFLEY P. WAKEMAN, BART., died on Tuesday
forenoon, while on a visit to Mr. J. A. Taylor, of
Strensham Court, Worcestershire, after an illness of
only two days. Sir Obey was born in 1799, end
succeeded to the family estates and baronetcy on the
demise of his father, Sir Harry Wakeman, in 1831.
He married in 1848 Mary, daughter of Mr. Thomas
Arlington, of Bradenham, Norfolk, by which lady,
who died in 1852, he leaves two sons—the eldest,
his successor to the baronetcy, being born M 1850.
The late baronet was much respected in the county
of Worsester, and also on his estates in Shropshire.
He was a Conservative in politics, but took no active
part in political affairs, chiefly devoting himself to
agricultural improvements and matters appertaining
to the welfare of his tenantry.
LADY WILLIAMES VAUGHAN expired on the 16th
inst. at Rhug, near Corwen. The county of Me'
rionethshire has sustained a severe loss in the death
of one of the most estimable ladies in North Wales.
Her ladyship, Frances Margaret, was the daughter
of Mr. Edward Lloyd, of Rhagatt, late chairman of
the Merionethshire quarter sessions. She was born
in 1810, was married in 1835 to Sir Robert Willi
amees
the
Vaughan, of Rhug, Nannau, and Hengurt, in M-
rionethshire, to whom, and to the poor of all
neighbouring localities, tier loss is irreparable. ife,r
ladyship, who was in her forty-eighth year, has leg
no issue. Her remains have been interred at Liao.
fackreth, the burial-place of the family.
LIEUT. THE HON. CROSBIE R. MAXWELL WARD, of
the 73rd Regiment, brother of Viscount Bangor,
died on the Bth of July, on board the Indiana, on
his way home invalided from India. He entered
the army as ensign in 1851.

Ilistellantotts.

THE GREAT EASTERN.

THE following are the details of a scheme to be sub-
mitted to the shareholders at a meeting to he held
for the purpose in the course of the next three
weeks. A new company is to be formed to be called
"The Great Steam Ship Company (Limited)," with
a capital of 330,0001., in shares of it. each.
This sum, it is calculated, is sufficient to fit the
vessel for sea, and it is proposed that she should at
present be employed in voyages between this country
and America.
The projectors propose that 2s. per share of the
new capital shall be paid upon application, a further
sum of 3s. on the completion of the contract for the
purchase of the ship from the Eastern Steam Navi-
tion Company, and the remainder in three calls of
ss. each at intervals of two months. Should, how-
ever, the promoters of the new company fail to pur-
chase the ship, Is. 10J. of the deposit is to be re-
turned. It is further stated that a large portion of
the capital has been subscribed by the shareholders
of the old company. It is presumed that the vessel
when finished will he enabled to make eight voyages
within the year to Portland or New York, and that,
according to statistics of existing traffic, the earnings
of the ship, after deducting insurance, wear and
tear, and every possible contingency, will leave a
balance from which a dividend can be declared of
15 per cent. The estimate of the ship's earnings, as
now submitted, is as follows, presuming that she
makes eight voyages out and home within the
year :-200 first-class passengers at 211., 4,2001. ;
400 second-class at 151., 2,500 at 71., 27,7001., less
dietary, 4,700/. ; homeward, 900 passengers, less
' dietary, 11,500/. • cargo, 3,000 tons out and 2,000
home, at 3/. and 305., 6,000/. ; total, 38,2001. From
this there is to be deducted 6,3301. for agency, corn.
mission, loading and unloading, making the receipts
per voyage 31,8701.; or for eight voyages 254,9601.
The estimated expenditure for the eight voyages
would be 101,5001., leaving a balance of 153,2001.
From this there will remain to be deducted 40,0001.
for insurance, 49,5001. for wear and tear and depre-
ciation at 151. per cent. ; management, 5,000/. ;
contingencies, 9,2001., leaving for dividend, at 15 per
cent., 49,5001. _

In order to give effect to the arrangement the
following options are offered to the shareholders in
the old company : either to exchange their shares at
the rate of five shares in the new company fully paid
up for two of the present shares ; to exchange at the
rate of ten shares in the new company, with ss. paid,
for one old share, in which 154. per share would re-
main to be paid ; or to exchange at the rate of five
shares in the new company, with 10s. paid, and the
liability to pay 10s. more, for one old share. The
terms thus offered contemplate giving the old share-
holders precisely the present market price of their
shares. The present price in the market is as near
as possible 21. 10s. per share ; and therefore five new
shares fully paid up would be equal to the market
value of twn old shares.

Should the proprietors, on the other hand, elect
not to take any new shares at all, the company state
they wil! be entitled to their divisible share of the
assets, whatever that may be. It is also stated that
the new project, the originator of which is Mr.
Campbell, one of the directors of the Eastern Steam
Navigation Company, has received the assent of the
majority of the huge shareholders, including the
chairman, Mr. Hope, Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P., and
others.

The whole of the new shares are to be offered to the
old holders, but should a sufficient number not be
taken up, which seems extremely probable, then they
are to be offered to the public. Proposals are also
to be received from the holders of original shares
for shares in the new company in excess of those to
which they might be entitled in virtue of their old
shares.