The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

THE COMMERCIAL INJURY arising from the forgery
of a manufacturer's " mark" was referred for assess-
ment to a jury at the Secondaries' Court on Wednes-
day. The Messrs. Dent had it seems attained much
celebrity for the excellence of their gloves, which, in
the course of years, enabled them to realise a handsome
fortune and retire from business in 18-10, leaving their
manufactory to a succeeding firm of Allcroft and Co.
These in their turn endeavoured to maintain the re
putation of the house, bestowing great care 'on the
workmanship and materials used in the fabrication of
their gloves, and also continuing the old "mark," well
recognised in the trade, consisting of the words "Dent
and Co." in rod letters inside the right band of every
pair of best gloves. Some time since, however, they
discovered that a mark almost identical was stamped on
gloves not of their make, and of very inferior quality;
and having traced several packages of this article to
the warehouses of Mr. Culverwell, an extensive draper
in Bristol, they brought an action against him in the
Common Pleas. This was allowed to go by default
by the defendant, and the case being referred to the
Secondaries' Court, for the purpose of assessing the
amount of damages, the counsel for Mr. Culverwell
now explained that the fraudulently-marked gloves had
become included among his stock without his know
ledge, and expressed his readiness to make every re-
paration in his power for the accidental wrong. He
accordingly offered 2001. by way of damages, in which
the jury immediately concurred, and a verdict was
taken for that amount.

gltatnts and Oftittes.

A ROPEMAKEB named Ellis has recently been dis-

charged from her Majesty's dockyard at Devonport
for writing and publishing in a local newspaper a
letter complaining of certain arrangements for the
working of the ropemakers in the dockyard. His
name was attached to the letter, and, soon after its
publication, an order came down for the immediate
discharge of the writer from Government employ.
Ellis, who has always borne a good character, has
memorialised the Admiralty to be reinstated, on the
ground that, at the time of his writing the letter, he
did not know it was contrary to any rules of the ser-
vice.
MANY INCENDIARY FIRES have occurred in Devon-
shire and the neighbouring counties during the last
few weeks. Agricultural buildings have chiefly suf-
fered, but in several instances some malicious per-
sons have set fire to extensive tracts of plantation.
At Rora Wood, Elsington, near Ashburton, fire was
set to a plantation, and before it could be extin-
guished upwards of an acre was destroyed. A few
days before a similar conflagration took place near
Collumpton, a town about twelve miles from Exeter.
A young fir plantation was set on fire, and within one
hour more than an acre was consumed. The devas-
tation
would have been much greater had it not been
for the prompt exertions of the neighbours. The
plantation belongs to Sir Thomas Acland, M.P. for
North Devon.
A WOMAN NAMED BARBARA MITCHELL, who resided
in Little White Lion-street, Seven Dials, and coha-
bited with a man named William Busey, was killed
on Tuesday by her paramour. The deceased came
home tipsy, when Busey commenced kicking her,
and knocked her down. Her cries of murder were
heard, but had been so frequently repeated before
that no notice was taken of them by the neighbours.
In the morning her body was found lying on the
floor, the head shockingly disfigured, and every part
showing marks of brutal violence.
ON Goon FRIDAY a man was killed on the Furness
Railway, whilst walking on the line in a state of in-
toxication. Three men have been killed on this rail-
way since its formation, all by the same engine-

dri-ver.
LIVERPOOL WAS VISITED BY ♦ VIOLENT TECIINDEI

STORM on Tuesday night, which lasted several hours,
accompanied by heavy showers of rain. No injuries
to the shipping or property in the town or neigh-
bourhood are, however, reported.
A SERIOUS FIGHT took place in Winchester, on
Sunday last, between about 150 soldiers belonging
to the 88th Regiment and the Hants Militia. It
appears that the regulars bad been sneering at the
awkwardness and unsoldierlike qualities of the
militia men : the consequence was a desperate fight
with fists, sticks, stones, and soldiers' belts, a terri-
ble weapon, with its large metal buckle. Several
soldiers were taken to the hospital dreadfully and it
is feared fatally wounded. The militia men were
victorious, as they numbered two to one over the
regulars. The policemen were too few to interfere
to stop or even to mitigate the disgraceful affray.
TAE GOVERNMENT Entosswr SHIP Maria Hay,
Captain Brown, 1,007 tons, which left Southampton
on Monday morning, with a large cargo and 401 pas-
sengers, came in contact at nine o'clock in the even-
ing with a strange steamer, which carried away her
bowsprit close to the stem. The Maria Hay was
obliged to put in at the Sound, and will be detained
for several days by the necessary repairs.

371

A ROMANCE or A COALFIELD is related by the Mining
Joarnai to have happened a few years ago in Parr, about
thirteen miles from Liverpool. An elderly widow lady sold
to a gentleman some property in Parr, consisting of a
house and about thirty acres of land, for 3,0001. Thu old
lady thought there must be coals under the land, as there
is so much in the neighbourhood ; and insisted that all title
to them should be reserved, unless the purchaser would
give her 1001. extra. This he refused doing, and the coals
were, accordingly, excepted from his purchase, and reserved
to her. The old lady died soon after, bequeathing the
coal-mines among the children of a deceased sister, seven
in number, who were all labourers, and the residue of her
property, worth about 3,0001. to the children of another
sister. The bequest of the coal-mines was considered a
nominal thing, and dissensions in the two families arose
on account of it. The coal legatees brooded for a length
of time over their disappointment, but at length contrived
to induce some persons, who were supposed to have morn
money than wit, to undertake the expense of boripg on the
land, to ascertain whether there were coals or not. Thu
boring continued for a considerable time, to the great
amusement of persons connected with collieries; but at
last, to their great astonishment, the chagrin of the put--
chaser, and the unbounded delight of the legatees, two
delis of the best coal in Lancashire were discovered, ex-
tending nearly the whole breadth of the land, and which
could be easily worked. These coals were immediately
purchased by the proprietors of a neighbouring colliery for
20,0001. On subsequent borings three lower dell's were
found, which the same parties purchased for 15,0001.
THE FORMATION OF A TUNNEL under the river Ohio at
Cincinnati has been seriously entertained, the necessity of
providing some means of communication with Kentucky
being manifest, while the navigation of the river would be
seriously impeded by a bridge. It is proposed to construct
this tunnel of iron, and a plan has been laid before the
town council of Cincinnati. The inventor thus describes
his project:—" I propose to build a tube of iron of any
desired dimensions, and sink it in the bed of the river, in
sections, as low as may be found practicable, by first
dredging a channel deep enough to admit of the top being
sunk below or even with the bed of the river, entirely
avoiding the use of cofferdams. There is no question about
the practicability and superiority of iron tunnel over all other
materials, besides being about 50 percent. cheaper. 1 put
the footway in the top of my arch, the arch being as near a
parabolic curve as practicable, combining strength and
cheapness. If it is proposed to lay down a railway through
the tunnel, I would propose putting the track on the top of
the arch, in place of the footway. I should not, in any
event, recommend running locomotives through, but simply
the cars, by atmospheric pressure, as has been done in
other instances. This would dispense with the necesity of
a footway, as passengers could go through very expeditiously
by the ears. I also propose to make the approaches all of
iron, as being cheaper and safer."
Uenze the heading of "Law's Muskets,' the New York
Evening l'ast says :—" The famous muskets have gone off at
last. Law is reported to have sold his two hundred
thousand guns for something like a million of dollars, to
some person in London, concocting revolutionary designs
in Europe. The clipper barque Grape tihoe was purchased
some time since by George I.sw, for twenty-four thousand
dollars, and has just sailed for Constantinople, freighted
with those guns, which have been so long at rest. If they
do not prove more quick to the trigger in the hands of the
Turks, and go offmore speedily than they have done daring
Law's skirmishing, the Russians will have reason to be
grateful.
THERE WERE 188 RAILROAD ACCIDENTS in the United
States during the year 1853 ; 227 persons were killed, and
488 injured. In the same year there were 81 steamboat
accidents, by which 359 persons were killed, and 158
injured. The list includes the wholesale slaughter of 48
persons on the New Haven road in May last, the molt
awful catastrophe in the annals of railway travelling.
During the present year 17 fatal steam-boat accidents oc-
curred in the Unit** States. Of these, one—the burning
of the Independence near Margaretta Island, in the Pacifie
—hurried 120 souls into eternity. The sinking of the
John L. Army, in the Mississippi, ranks next in magnitude,
and the burning of the Caroline in the same river, and of
the America in the Alabama river in January last, which
destroyed respectively 51 and 50 persons, complete a total
of 281 deaths from four accidents.
Corroe-pownen dissolved in etherforms a varnish which
sticks fast, dries quickly, is impermeable to water, and im-
penetrable to air. It is called collodion, and is much used
in surgical cues. A gardener has just discovered that it
is of vast utility in producing plants and shrubs from cut,
tinge. On making the cutting the varnish is applied to
the part cut, which immediately becomes closed, or, so to
speak, healed. The cutting is then planted in the ordi-
nary way. Out of twenty-six cuttings of hothouse plants
to which collodion was applied twenty-three struck root,
whereas out of the same number to which it was not
applied only twelve succeeded. With plants kept in
greenhouses and in those in the open air even more
satisfactory results have been obtained. The collodion
may also be most advantageously employed in grafting.
Tut Zuist, in giving some accounts of the results of
" spirit-rspping," says :—" We have given (samples of in-
sanity produced by these ignorant fancies, and now we
have to record another in the person of a well-known au-
thoress, who always had indulged in such superstitions,
and has, of course, adopted all the recent spirit fancies.
She has gone stark mad and stark naked on the spirit-
rapping. She was found the other day in the open street
as her mother bore her, except that she had a pocket-
handkerchief in one hand and a card in the other. She
said the spirits had informed her that if she walked
out so prepared she would be invisible. She is now la •
madhouse.

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