The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-21 00:00:00

BIRKENHEAD.

OBTAINING TOBACCO BY FALSE PRBTBNCES.-A country-
man, named John Craig, was charged, by Mrs. Hannah
Vickery, tobacconist of Market-street, with defrauding her,
by means of false pretences.

On Thursday last he went into her shop, and said he
wanted half a pound of tobacco, made up in half ounces,
and half a pound of " thick" twist, for Mrs. Margaret
Dodd, of Moreton (wlal keeps a grocer's shop there, and is
a customer of Mrs. Vickery's). Mrs. Vickery told him he
must have made a mistake, as Mrs. Dodd only took " thick"
twist in harvest time, and he was given the half pound of
tobacco, and some " thin " twist. He came again on Fri-
day, and asked whether a milk-boy had called for some mere
tobacco for Mrs. Dodd, for if not he was to get it. He also
scolded Mrs. Vickery for giving him " thin ' twist the day
before, saying it was " thick" his mistress wanted. He
then got a half pound of thick " twist, selected a fancy
pipe for himself, and got half an ounce of " bird's eye," all
"on Mrs. Dodd's account." Mrs. Dodd came to Birken-
head herself on Saturday, and it then turned out that the
prisoner had not been sent by her at all. He paid another
visit to Mrs. Vickery's shop ou. Monday, and on the latter
putting some inconvenient questions to him, ho rushed out
of the shop. She ran out after him, calling out " Stop
thief," and the prisoner, turning round to see whether his
pursuer was gaining ground on him, unwittingly ran into the
arms of police-constable Castles, who was on duty in Ches-
ter-street. He was lodged in Bridewell, and to-day brought
up before the court, when he was fully committed for trial
at the quarter sessions.

Mr. Robert Macfarland has been 'appointed sheriff of
Renfrewshire.

The Journal d' Augsburg announces the death of Comte
Vincent de Tabasz Krosnowiski, Hereditary Commander
of the Order of Malta, one of the most distinguished noble-
men of Gallicia.

RAILWAY PROPERTY AND THE POOR-RATES.—It iS Shown
by a return that last year the amount contributed by rail-
way property to the poor-rates was in England and Wales
£186,539 4s. 94d.
GREENWICH losPrrAL.—lt has hitherto been the practice
to give the pensioners boiled meat, either beef or mutton,
daily for dinner, but it is now varied alternately with baked
meat, instead of boiled every day. They are indebted for
this improvement to the late governor, ' Sir Charles Adam. "
I kFIB.E. —Yesterday morning a fire broke out in a shed be-
longing to Mr. Norris, chain cable manufacturer, Brick-
street. The reels belonging to the fire-brigade were quickly
on the spot, and the fire was speedily extinguished without
any material damage being done. The reels from the
Brunswick dock station were first in attendance.
CIVIL LIST PENSION.—Lord Aberdeen has announced to
the family of the late Mr. James Simpson, that the Queen
has granted them a pension on the civil list. Mr. Simpson
was well known in Scotland for his services to education.
SERIOUS ACCIDENT AT THE NEW GAS WORKS, ROCH-
DALE-ROAD, MANCHESTER.—Yesterday (Tuesday) morning,
about eight o'clock, a scaffolding over No. 2 compartment
of the canal shed now in course of erection at the gas
works, Rochdale-road, fell, when three of the carpenters en-
gaged in the formation of the roof were precipitated to the
ground, and severely injured. The distance between the
roof and the ground is twenty-four feet. The names of the
parties who fell are William Robinson, 30 years of age, a
man with three children ; William Taggart, aged 26 years,
unmarried; and Alfred Kelsey, 24 years of age, unmarried.
The wounds of Robinson being dressed, he was taken in a
cab to his own house, in Lever-street; Kelsey and Taggart,
who are more seriously hurt, remain under medical care at
the Royal Infirmary.
COLLISION IN THE THAMES.—GRAVESEND, Dec. 19.
Last night considerable excitement was created in this town
by a report that the Meteor steamer, one of the Star com-
pany's packet boats, was run down and sunk on her way
from Blackwell to her destination here—the Terrace-pier.
The crew and passengers were providentially saved, as wi'l
be seen from the following summary of the particulars of the
collision, as far as they could be collected by the writer of
this notice from authentic sources :—The Meteor, having
left Blackwell at about half-past 5 p.m. for Gravesend, the
tide being ebb, kept the usual course, about mid-river, un-
til she came nearly off the point above the half-way house
on the Kent side, where are generally many barges or other
vessels bound upwards, awaiting the next flood tide. At
about a quarter to 6 o'clock a large screw steamer was de-
scried by the captain of the Meteor coming up the river,
and making a diagonal course from the Essex shore to-
wards the point in question. Both vessels had, as it appears,
showed lights, in conformity with the regulations of the
Trinity-house. The captain of the Meteor, seeing that the
steamer was approaching him ih a track that would inevi-
tably produce a collision, unless both vessels ported their
helms, called out to the latter to do so, at the same time
porting his helm, but the large steamer kept her course,
and the result was that she struck the Meteor on
the starboard side, before the paddle-box, with terrific vio-
lence, nearly cutting her, as is stated, in two. The passen-
gers in the Meteor, forty-five in number, were all below
when the collision took place, and it is needless to describe
the dreadful alarm they were in and the confusion which
followed. Some rushed on deck as the Meteor was sinking,
and more, who were in the forecabin, forced their way
through the skylights. The steamer that thus came into
collision with the Meteor fortunately remained entangled
with her, and the passengers and crew of the latter had Just
time to scramble as best they could on board of her. Cap-
tain Hollingham, of the Meteor, was the last who so es-
caped, he remaining on the after-deck of his sinking vessel
until all his crew and passengers were safe on board the
large steamer. He then sprang on board the latter at the
risk of his life. At this moment, the Mars, Star steamer,
• on her way from Gravesend to London, came up and assisted
in extricating. the then unknown steamer from the Meteor,
as she was going down. From the instant of the collision
to the sinking of the Meteor scarcely ten minutes elapsed
The large screw steamer that came in contact with her is
said to be the Sylph, belonging to the Petersburg Steam-
packet Company, and was on her way from Ireland to
London. She is, as is further stated, quite a new ship, and
) of 800 tons burden. The preservation of the lives of all
on board the Meteor is justly considered providential, con-
sidering the circumstances of the casualty. The Meteor
was one of the fastest and finest steamers of the Star Com-
a pany. It would be premature, if not rash, to hazard an
opinion as to which vessel was in fault in producing this
catastrophe.