The Press.
London, England, 1856-12-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

a timber merchant, aged respectively eighteen and
twenty, left their home for the purpose of taking an
airing. Returning home earlier than they expected,
the elder proposed they should go down to the
timberyard, and return with their father to dinner.
When at the timber-yard they crossed the bridge
leading to the railway, accompanied by their father's
large Newfoundland dog, for the purpose of seeing
the train pass, due at that time. At the station the
•Ider sister had occasion to leave the younger with
the dog, for the purpose of recalling two younger
brothers who were going another road. Returning
to the spot where she bad left her sister a few
minutes before, she was much surprised to find her
gone. Looking around, and puzzled to know how
her sister could have passed without her seeing her,
she started for home, and told her friends how she
had lost her sister all at once at the station, and in-
quired if she had been home. A short time after the
dog returned besoddened with wet and dirt, and, the
sister not retuning, the parents began to grow
uneasy. Inquiries were set on foot, with no result.
Not a word could be heard of the missing young
lady. The neighbourhood was searched with no
better success. Night came on, with no tidings.
The whole town was excited with the wildest and
most stupid conjectures—elopement, abduction, and
so forth—without the least foundation, and with it
passed Saturday, and Sunday forenoon. At about
two o'clock on Sunday the mystery was partly solved.
The young lady's body was found in the river Cher-
well, about a quarter of a mile from where she was
last seen, but how it came there the coroner's in-
quest will endeavour to find out.
THE TICHET-OF-LEAVE SYSTEM is not looked upon
favorably in Sheffield. On Monday evening a public
meeting was held in Sheffield-park (the district in
which Mr. Bradley's residence, the scene where the
late atrocious burglary took place, is situate.), to con.
sider what better means could be adopted to protect
life and property. The ticket-of leave system formed
one of the principal topics of discussion. Mr. George
Allen moved the following resolution :

That this meeting deeply regrets the vast increase of
crime in this country, and the consequent insecurity of
life and property, and pledges itself to sink all minor
differences in considering the cause, grappling with the
evil, and bringing about, if possible, a better state of
things.

It appeared from the speeches made in support of
the resolution that a gold deal of alarm prevailed in
the out-districts of Sheffield, and that householders
had appointed private watchmen for their protection.
It, was stated that people were obliged to go armed
when they went out at night, and were also com-
pelled to bolt, bar, and line with iron their doors and
windows. The resolution was carried, and another
resolution was also proposed, recommending an in-
crease of the Sheffield police force. In connection
with this burglary we may mention that two men,
Dickinson and Gledall, have been arrested and
identified by Mr. and Mrs. Bradley.
THE TENANTRY OF MR. G. LANE Fox, of Bram.
ham.park, Yorkshire, subscribed upwards of a thou.
sand pounds for a portrait of that gentleman, and on
Thursday week it was presented to Mrs. Fox in the
presence of a large assembly of the subscribers and
others. Mr. Lane Fox lowered his rents ten per
cent. in the " hard times," and when agricultural
affairs became more prosperous he declined the offer
of the tenants to pay the old rents again.
A DANGEROUS HOAX is related by several of the
West Riding papers in an account of the shooting of
a burglar by a woman who believed her house was
about to be attacked by robbers. It turns out that
no robbery was intended, but only a joke. A surgeon
who lives in the neighbourhood of the woman's resi-
dence was, it appears, in the habit of paying his
devoirs to her occasionally. He was on some such
errand on Friday morning at about two o'clock, and
was followed by two or three boon companions, who
had been spending the evening with him, and who
made their appearance just as he was endeavouring
to obtain admittance to the woman's house. She,
being alarmed at the noise made, opened her
chamber window, and, hearing them say something
about going round to the back door, she fired a
horse pistol at one of the intruders, who instantly
fell, and was soon afterwards removed by his com-
rades. The wounded man is the surgeon alluded
to, and he is rather seriously injured in the neck.
At the same time the repulse of a bona-fide burglar
is related of a Miss Blamires, a maiden lady, resid-
ing at Great Horton, near Bradford. About half-
past one a.m. on Sunday the lady, who was sleeping
in a room on the ground floor, was alarmed at hear-
ing a noise. She started up, turned on the gas, and
saw a man's head projecting through the window into
the interior of the room. The house had been but
recently broken into, and therefore, for protection,
Miss Biamtres kept in her sleeping apartment an
iron crowbar. With this she struck several heavy
blows at the intruding head, severely mauling it.
While this was being done an accomplice outside
cried out" St ike her; cu(lgellier with tho bludgeon,
Jaok." The adviQe, however, could not be followed;

SAT

and Jack's head, being somewhat impressible to the
crowbar, was as soon as possible withdrawn, and
then the rascals decamped. Although their track
was for some distance marked with blood, they have
not yet been captured.
CAPTAIN HARI STEIN and the American officers
who brought over the Resolute were on Tuesday
waited upon by a deputation from the Liverpool
Shipowners' Association, and presented with a
friendly and congratulatory address. The address
observed :
The

of a common ancestry and a common
language, a similarity of laws, and in many respects an
identity of interests, to say nothing of private friendships
and personal ties, united your country to ours by bonds
which cannot easily be severed, but spontaneous acts of
friendship by the one nation to the other, such as that to
which it has been your pleasing duty to accomplish, are
the beat evidence to mankind at large of the indissoluble
character of those bonds, and engender the utmost confi•
deuce in the nations themselves that the peace which has
so long happily subsisted between them will continue un•
disturbed. This association, representing the shipping
interest of this port, has witnessed this graceful act ou the
part of the United States with the greatest pleasure and
satisfaction. Our flags and those of your country are
blended together in the harbours of commerce throughout
the world ; and we rejoice upon every occasion when
the good feelings which the trading community of each
country bear towards each other are encouraged by more
than ordinary acts of friendship on the part of either of
their Governments.

To this Captain Hartstein replied :
In my present mission to your Government you can
read the spirit of Americans towsrds the people of this
country, and can easily believe that your happy allusion to
the mutual bonds of origin and a community of feeling be-
tween us will meet with a cordial response. The advance-
ment of science and the arts, to which both nations have,
in a spirit of generous rivalry, so greatly contributed, have
changed our ancient geographical positions. Miles and
seconds have become almost synonymous words, and now
the iron messengers of our commerce fly like steam
shuttles, weaving between us a fabric of mutual interest.
May that spirit of friendly emulation, enterprise, and
enlightened purpose which has given to our shipping
interests the distinguished place they occupy throughout
the universe ever continue. For your expression of
friendly interest and congratulations to myself and officers
of the Resolute be pleased, gentlemen, to accept our hearty
thanks.

A grand banquet was given on Tuesday to Captain
Hartstein and the American officers by the mayor
and corporation of Portsmouth. About sixty-five
gentlemen and officers were present. The most cor-
dial feeling was exhibited, and the speeches on both
sides expressed the warmest friendship between the
representatives of the two countries.
A TURKISH FUNERAL took place last Saturday at
Plymouth. The deceased was a seaman belonging
to the Peiki Zaffer, Turkish line.of-battle ship, now
being converted into a screw, at that port. The
body was brought on shore on a bier of rough hewn
board covered with a flag, followed by a large cor-
tege of the officers, seamen, and marines, belonging
to the vessel. The melancholy and novel spectacle
on its way to the burial-ground attracted a large con-
course of people, and on its arrival at the grave, the
officiating priests commenced in a sonorous voice to
read and chant the burial ritual, according to the
Moslemite faith, the funeral attendants standing,
kneeling, and prostrating themselves during the
ceremony. After the conclusion of the service, the
grave was carefully dug, and tested by a compass in
order to ascertain its bearings in relation to the holy
city—Mecca. The officiating priest then went into
the grave, into which the body was lowered coffinless.
The bier was afterwards broken up and piled in
the grave, and the mould well trodden on the re-
mains, the priests taking up positions at a consider-
able distance east and west. On the procession
leaving the grave the former commenced chanting
certain passages in a loud voice, and finished the
ceremony by pouring water around the edge of the
grave on both sides.
A DEATH FROM FRIGHT occurred last week at
Alfreton, in Derbyshire. The deceased, Robert
Mitchell, a farmer's boy, aged fifteen, was in the
habit of going, after leaving off work, to a farmhouse
at some little distance to fetch milk. The farmer
had two servant lads, one named Percival, twenty
years old, the other named Hudson, fifteen. On
Monday evening, the 15th inst., the deceased went as
usual, about six o'clock, for the milk, and remained
till nearly eight, listening to tales about some knock-
ings they had lately been frightened with. Percival
and Hudson then agreed between them to frighten
the deceased as he went home, the former arranging
to put ott a white tablecloth and stand in a field
not far from the house through which Hudson
was to conduct the lad, and to feign alarm as if he
saw a ghost. This scheme was accordingly carried
into effect, the pretended ghost gliding behind a
style through which the poor lad had to pass.
Deceased said twice, Is it Jack ?" but reoaived no
answer beyond a moaning noise, Hudson in the
meanwhile having hid himself behind a tree. At
length Percival throw off bit disgttitsei but Of,

DECEMBER 27, 1856.

deceased was :much terrified, and arrived home al-
most exhausted with nervous excitement. He lost
his appetite, and although he went to work the next
day, was obliged to be conveyed home and put to
bed, where he was seized with vomiting, and raved
wildly until his death, on Fri4.ay evening. An in-
quest was held, and the medical attendant being of
opinion that death had resulted from the shock caused
to the nervous system on the previous Monday even •
ing, the jury returned a verdict of " Manslaughter "
against Percival, who was accordingly committed to
gaol.

A FATAL ACCIDENT occurred last Satnrday after-
nom on board the Persia, while coming to her
moorings in the Mersey. The capstan suddenly
spun round, and one of the bars struck the second
officer, Mr. George Downing Stanley, in the abdo-
men, producing injuries of which he died on Monday
night. The deceased was one of the picked meu of
the service.