The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-29 00:00:00

DREADFUL MURDER .AND BURGLARY IN

BEDFORDSHIRE.

LEIGHTON BUZZARD, Saturday Evening.—The inhabitants
of this town are greatly agitated by two crimes of unusual
magnitude which have happened in close succession—the
first the brutal murder of an old woman, and the second the
plunder of property from a jeweller's shop to the extent of
about £l,OOO. The murder was perpetrated yesterday
morning, in the adjoining village of Heath-and-Reach, and
the robbery was effected early ,this morning from the shop
of Mr. Alfred Matthews, one of the most respectable trades-
men of the town; but these crimes, occurring at almost the
same time, have no necessary connexion.

Heath-and-Reach is a long and lonely village ; a good
proportion of its inhabitants may fairly be described as
unusually ignorant, and wild and fanatical religious opinions
distinguish many of them. This requires to be mentioned
in the present narrative, because it may in some measure
account for the extraordinary disposition of a man named
Abel Burrews, who has just been conveyed to Bedford gaol
on a charge of having murdered Charity Glenister, a woman
76 years of age. Burrews is a labouring man, whose tem-
perament inclined him to Primitive Methodism ; but it is
right to say, that for the last few years he seems to have
forsaken practical religion for the most dissipated kind of
life, mixing up, however, his religious predilections with his
numerous dissipations. On Friday morning he rose from
breakfast, threatening vengeance against some person, and
arming himself with a road-man's stone hammer, sought
the unfortunate " Old Charity," as he called her, evidently
with the intention of putting her to death. The old woman,
who is in no way related to him, seems to have been pro-
tected for a little by a man named Adams, whom Burrews
met at the top of the stairs, but Adams, having received
a blow, ran off, when Burrews in the most ferocious man-
ner hurled the hammer on the woman's head, repeating
his blows, and of course striking her to the floor and de-
priving her of all consciousness. A police-constable named
Fowler lived in the next house, and alarmed by the occur-
rence, rushed to the scene of action and secured the
murderer, but too late to prevent the fatal consequences of
his conduct, for though the poor victim breathed for an hour
or two, she never recovered her consciousness or rallied for
a single moment. Fowler put handcuffs upon Burrows, and
a message was dispatched to Leighton for surgical aid.
The medical men found the skull in several places com-
pletely shattered, and proceeded to extract fragments of the
bone, but without the least hope that any treatment would
save the woman's life. While this process was going on,
Burrews, handcuffed and in the custody of the constable,
continued to stamp his foot upon tho ground, and to_ make
use of such words as " Hallelujah !" " Praise the Lord ! "
and similar expressions, to which he was accustomed in what
may be termed his religious exercises. Superintendent
Young conveyed him safely to Bedford gaol to await his
examination. We need not say that an occurrence so
horrible has rendered the villagers almost unfit for any other
occupation than that of gazing upon the spot where the
murder was committed, and speculating upon the motives
or the madness which may have led to it.

The housebreaking and robbery effected upon the pre-
mises of Mr. Matthews, is one of the most dexterous tran-
sactions of that kind which the annals of crime can reveal ;
and it is important that the truth should be elicited, in order
that tradesmen throughout the country may be upon their
gaard against the visits of metropolitan thieves, and also
that Mr. Matthews may, if possible, be saved from ruin by
the discovery of the property stolen from his premises.
His house and shop are situated in the most public part of
Leighton, and he has occupied the premises for many years
as watchmaker, jeweller, &c., having necessarily at all times
a large amount of property intrusted to his care for cleaning
and repair. On Friday night he locked up his shop and
house, and with the household, consisting only of an ap-
prentice and a sister, retired to bed, leaving, as was custom-
ary, two dogs down stairs, the one loose and the other tied
up. Nothing whatever disturbed the slumbers of this
family—there was not even the bark from one of the dogs to
create suspicion; but in the morning the apprentice, on going
down stairs into the shop, found that the door shutter, which
fastened inside, had already been removed, and that the
watches and jewellery in the windows were gone. He in-
stantly proceeded to Mr. -Matthews's bedroom and asked his
master if he had removed the watches and jewellery. Mr.
Matthews replied, " Certainly not." " Then," said the lad,
" some one has cleared them out for us." Mr. Matthews
came down stairs, and upon investigating the premises, dis-
covered that all was gone except the clocks and other large
and unwieldy articles. The thieves had opened the cases
and taken everything, with the sole exception of a brooch,
which seems to have fallen out of their fingers, and a small
piece of a Geneva repeater ; they must have lit up the shop,
and calmly, but dexterously, have packed up every article
which would come within a narrow compass. It was soon
discovered in what way the robbers effected an entrance,
and this will show how very much the whole proceeding. was
the result of arrangement. The house is three stories high.
Miss Matthews slept in the top story, and in the middle
were the bedrooms of Mr. Matthews and the apprentice ;
below, the business premises. Adjoining the bedrooms in the
middle story is a sitting-room, NI, rich fronts the street, with
a window overlooking iron rails, which stand in front of
the shop. One of the panes of glass in this window had
been opened by an instrument, and in such a position as
to admit a hand to unfasten the snap, and the person
who accomplished this must have been assisted by another
standing upon the iron rails. Once in the sitting-room,
the thief who acted as leader would seem to have passed
the bedrooms of Mr. Matthews and his apprentice, the
doors of which were open, and to have gone down stairs,
quieting the dogs by some chemical process, and opened the
front door, and thus allowed his companion to enter. The
dogs were discovered next morning still in a state of stupe-
faction. The articles which the thieves managed to secure
comprehended 8 or 10 gold watches, about 150 silver
watches, 12 gold Albert chains, 6 silver guards, with silver
pencil cases, dessert spoons, table spoons, fish knifes, gold
and silver jewellery, electro-plate spoons, wedding rings,
&c., indeed, all the usual stock of a jeweller's shop, and
which Mr. Matthews would not be able to replace for less
than £l,OOO.
Mr. Matthews lost not a moment in calling in the assist-
ance of the police. It soon came out that three persons
in gentlemanly attire, reached Leighton last night, by
the mail train, at half-past 10, and took up their quarters
at the Sun Inn. They inquired about a mail train leaving
Leighton for London in the morning, and they found there
was no such means at their command. They remained in
the Sun Inn till about one o'clock, and departed, saying to
the landlord that they would not need sleeping accommoda-
tion there, as they should go elsewhere. Suspicion, of
course, at once fell upon them. Inquiries were made at all
the railway stations, but without avail, and Mr. Matthews,
with the landlord of Sun, and a constable, proceeded to
London, to give the metropolitan force the earliest informa-
tion of the facts. The landlord of the Sun says he shall be
able to identify the men who were at his house.

The only cabinet ministers absent from the council on
Friday, were the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the
Duke of Argyle.
EXTENSIVE ROBBERY AT SHEFFIELD.—On Thursday
night the shop of Mr. Schwarar, clock and watch-maker,
Westbar-green, was broken into, and gold and silver
watches, &c., to the value of about £l2O were stolen.
Owing to the activity of the police, within half. an-hour of
the discovery of the robbery £lOO worth of the goods was
recovered. The facts connected with this singular case are
these :—About half-past one o'clock, a.m., police-constable
Rushton, while on duty in Silver-street, saw two men
lurking about, and as he approached them they ran off.
Rather more than a quarter of an hour afterwards he again
descried the same two men in Westbar-green, and chased
them for some distance, but they escaped up a passage. As
he returned along Westbar-green he found on the ground a
gold watch-case. He at once concluded that the men whom
he had been phasing had committed a robbery somewhere in
that neighbourhood, and while proceeding down the street
he saw Mr. Schwarar's shop door wide open. He imme-
diately aroused Mr. Schwarar, and it was then found that a
large glass-case, four feet long and a foot wide, which con-
tained five gold watches, 23 silver watches, three gold
watch-guards, five silver ones, and a number of other guards,
had been stolen ; and also four or fiye other old silver
watches frt.,. ..uther case which had been broken open.
Sergeants Rodgers and Hatfield made an examination of the
premises ; and, feeling convinced that the large glass case
must be secreted somewhere in the neighbourhood, for the
thieves could not have had time to carry it any distance,
the officers commenced a rigorous search. TL err labours
were very soon rewarded. In No. 5 court, Westbar-green,
they found the glass-case with the whole of its contents
untouched. It was just as it had been taken from the shop,
with the exception that a small time-piece shade had been
broken. The thieves had evidently been afraid to break
open the glass doors in the shop, and had been disturbed
while in the passage by the approach of Rushton before
they had time to strip it of its contents. The only booty,
therefore, which the thieves obtained was the four or five
old silver watches, worth about £l5. The premises had been
entered in a very easy manner. Over the shop door there is
a small window which is ordinarily secured by two bolts.
Somehow or other this window had been left unbolted.
The thieves, therefore, met with no obstruction. Some one
had been put through the window into the shop, and then
the door had been unfastened. There was a young man
sleeping in the room above the shop, but it appears that
the thieves were so noiseless in their operations that he was
not awoke.

GREAT IRISH EXHIBITION.-MR. D. JONES.—The fol-
lowing is from Saunders's News Letter, Dublin journal :
We understand that all the officers connected with the
Dublin Exhibition have in the handsomest manner come
forward for the purpose of presenting Mr. T. D. Jones, the
financial officer, with a testimonial worthy of the occasion.
The presentation consists of a handsome tea service of plate,
manufactured by T. Bennett, of Grafton-street, and a mag-
nificent salver from the celebrated establishment of Elking-
ton and Mason. The salver is now engraving, and bears
the following inscription :—" Presented by the officers of
the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853, to Thomas Dillon
Jones, Esq. (chief financial officer), in testimony of his
urbanity of manner, gentlemanly demeanour, and energy of
action, In the discharge of his responsible and onerous
duties.-Ist November, 1853." It gives us pleasure to find
the' indefatigable exertions of Mr. Jones so highly appre-
ciated, and by those by whom his official experience can bo ,
best attested;

COUNTY COURT. YESTERDAY.

BEFORE JOSEPH POLLOCK, ESQ., JUDGE.

GRAY V. DILLEMORE. —The plaintiff is a nurseryman at
West Derby, and the defendant is a gardener, having a stand
in St. John's Market, and the action, though nominally
brought to recover £2, was in reality only for 6d., that
being the sum in dispute between the parties. His Honor
gave a verdict for the plaintiff, and in doing so, commented
on the absurdity of parties coming into a court of justice,
and ineurrinz, loss of time and costs four times the amount
of the item in dispute, for so paltry a sum as sixpence.
The costs, exclusive of the hearing fees, amounted to two
shillings.
OWEN V. BENNETT.—The plaintiff, Mr. Hugh Owen, is a
builder and joiner, residing at 6, Newington, and the de-
fendant, Mr. John Bennett, is also a builder, residing in
Radcliffe-street, Low-hill, and the action was brought to re-
cover £7 45., value of a quantity of sand sold to the de-
fendant. Mr. Smith appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr.
lime for the defendant, by whom it was contended that the
sand had not been sold but given to him, in order to save to
the plaintiff the expense of carting it away. It was also
alleged that the sand was not of the value stated. His
Honor gave a verdict for the plaintiff for £4.
WOOD V. JARVIS.—Mr. Almond appeared for the plaintiff,
who is a merchant in this town, and Mr. Hime for the de-
fendant, master of the " Fidget." From the statement of
Mr Almond it appeared that the plaintiff had chartered the
" Fidget" in March last to bring a general cargo from
Nassau to Liverpool. In the bill of lading received by the
plaintiff, among the items set forth as having been shipped
to him, were eight hundred dozen of pine apples, and sixty-
six turtle ; but on the arrival here of the " Fidget," in
July, only six hundred dozen of pine apples, and forty-six
live, and three dead turtle were delivered. The present
action was accordingly brought to recover £4O, the estimated
value of the deficiency in the cargo. The captain alleged
that lie had shipped 22 of the turtle for himself, and he also
'produced a receipt from the Messrs. Thompson and Son, of
Nassau, which showed that he had purchased from them,
and shipped on his own account, six dozen of pine apples.
The case was about half heard, when, at the suggestion
of his Honor, a consultation took place between the profes-
sional gentlemen engaged in the matter; and, after some
deliberation

Mr. ALMOND informed the court that they had agreed to
take a verdict for the plaintiff for £22 9s. 7d., without costs.
Mr. RIME observed that he thought it right to say that
had the case been proceeded with, they were prepared to
account satisfactorily for every item shipped.
His HONOR : I am glad it has been settled, because if it
had gone on it was quite clear that there might have been
some imputations thrown out, which are now avoided.

In recording the verdict, his Honor remarked, that this
was one of those cases in which it was for the benefit of
both parties to have professional assistance, as without it
the case would not have been so arranged.
JONES V. PARDEW. —The plaintiff is a licensed victualler
and boarder in this town, and the defendant is a smith in
Sheerness dockyard, Kent; and the action was brought to
recover £6 18s. 6d., under the following circumstances :—lt
appeared that some time since the defendant's son, who was
an apprentice on board a vessel, came to this port and put
up at the plaintiff's establishment. He was boarded and
lodged for some time and also supplied with clothes, and on
the father being communicated with, a letter was received
from him stating that he would send a bill of exchange for
the amount (E 6 18s. 6d.) if his son returned to him. The
son did not return, and it was contended that the quasi-
recognition or adoption of the son's contract by the father
could not be held as valid or completed.
His HoNon concurred in this view, and the plaintiff was
accordingly nonsuited.

At Woolwich there is the large number of 28,000 ship and
garrison guns arranged on the ground of the arsenal, on the
south side of the stores, and upwards of 4,000,000 cannon
balls and shells on the ther.
REPORTED APPROACHING MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS
MARY OF CAMBRIDGE.---The Gazetta di Genova of the 19th
instant, copying from the Parliament° of Turin, announces
the approaching marriage of H.R.H. Princess Mary of Cam-
bridge with Prince Napoleon, son of Prince Jerome Bona-
parte. We cannot, of course, certify the correctness of this
report, nor should we insert it had it not gained ground
among the highest circles in Loudon an 1 Paris. It would,
indeed, be a singular instance of the vicissitudes of fortune
and the short-sighted speculations of our greatest men
if a Bonaparte should be united to a " fine d'Angleterre."—
Rerald.

POLICE NEGLIGENCE.—On Sunday night, as the machine-
man of this office was passing through Rodney-street, on
his route to this office, he was knocked down by one or two
drunken fellows whom he encountered on the way. Our
employe was at the time keeping the middle of the street,
and after he met the violence he complained to policeman
463, pointing out the men who had assaultEd him. The
policeman refused either to take them into custody for an
unprovoked assault, or even to ascertain, or endeavour to as-
certain who they were. Now, we may ask the officers,
what is the use of a police force in Liverpool, if they
refuse to sake any stops to prosorvo peaceable citizens from
assault, or to make known the peace-breakers to the law.
FATAL Gri.; ACCIDENr.—On Saturday a young man named
Daniel Watkins, son of Lewis Watkins, a farmer, residing at
Rumney, came to a sudden and violent end while out shoot-
ing. It appears that he was leaping across a ditch with his
loaded gun in his hand, and on alighting on the other side
he must have jarred the gun, which went off, and the whole
of the charge entered his right side below the ribs, and
passed through his liver into his chest. He lingered for
about an hour in great agony, and then death terminated
his sufferings. The charge had made a large round hole,
through which the cavity of the chest might be plainly seen.
This is another warning to young men against the incautious
use of firearms.

THE Lim Foes.—The dense fogs which have prevailed
during the past week have caused considerable detention to
the steamers plying between Bristol, Newport, and Cardiff.
The Swift, for Cardiff, did not start from Monday to Wed-
nesday. The Dart missed her due time every tide from New-
port to Bristol. The Avon screw steamer was, however, the
most unfortunate, as on her voyage from Newport to Bristol
she went ashore at the round point on the Bristol river (near
where the Demerara struck), in endeavouring to avoid the
Jenny Jones. She remained in this position from 11 o'clock
in the morning till Bat night. No injury was sustained by
the vessel or passengers. The fog was so dense at the time
that steamers passing were not observed by each other.
WATER IN MANCHESTER.—The works are nearly Com-
pleted ; little more money remains to be expended, and they
are expected to bring to Manchester upwards of 25,000,000
gallons of water daily. Up to the present time only 8,000,000
to 10,000,000 gallons have been received, and that quantity
has been found sufficient to meet the demands for
domestic, and trading purposes ; and there is little doubt
that for many years to come there will be a surplus beyond
the quantity required for public and domestic purposes of
15.000,000 gallons of water daily, or thereabouts, to be
disposed of for trading purposes. Already an income of
£14,000 is received for water sold for trading purposes ;
the demand steadily in-creases, and it is confidently
anticipated that in the course of a few years three or four
times that amount will be annually obtained from this
source.—Letter from the Town Clerk.
FATAL GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION.—A man- named Jesse
Turner, a blacksmith employed on the works of the North
Devon Railway, now in course of construction, was killed by
the explosion of gunpowder a few days ago, at a village
called Dunn St. Mary, in Devonshire. It appeared that
more than 4 cwt. of powder, for the prpose of blasting
rocks, had been imprudently deposited in the blacksmith's
shop, where the deceased was accustomed to work. A por-
tion of it had been removed, and in doing so it is thought
that a small quantity escaped from the barrel to the ground.
At all events, when the explosion occurred, there was more
than 2 cwt. of gunpowder in close contiguity with the
smith's forge. Whether a spark lighted on the powder sup-
posed to have been accidentally scattered on the ground,
and, being fired, communicated with the powder in the bar-
rel, or whether a spark fell through the crevice of the barrel,
is not known. But it appears that while the poor man was
at work in the shop, a terrific explosion took place ; was
blown up, his faca was dreadfully injured,, and he sustained
such severe injuries that he expired shortly afterwards.
A Tuniusii LADY.—One was young and pretty, with a
very sweet mouth, something like Lizzy's, only fuller lips.
She had very lively, bright, expressive, large dark eyes,
tinged with antimony ; beautiful white teeth, with. rosy lips,
a colour in her cheek, and a complexion not darker than a
Spaniard's or Italian's. She wore a little skull cap,
embroidered by herself in gold and silver braid, her front
hair in little thin curls parted on her forehead, the rest of
her tresses hanging behind in two plaits. She had a sort
of loose shirt, of rose-coloured satin, reaching to the hips,
with full sleeves, and fastened at the throat, very wide
green satin trousers, so full that they looked like a petticoat,
and a row of silver tangles, six inches deep on each arm,
finished by a gold one ; silver chains round her neck, pretty
gold earrings something like the Genoese filagree, but the
top of each ear disfigured, and made to hang over by the
weight of half-a-dozen large gold rings.—Airs. Colin
Afalkenzie.

BOILER-BURSTING PREVENTED.—The Nashville Banner
editor has seen and examined an invention which puts
it out of the power of an engineer to explode a boiler, either
through negligence or purposely. This improvement pro-
vides the upper part of the boiler with two openings or aper-
tures, in addition to that for the safety valve, and the bot-
tom of the boiler with one. These apertures are closed by
one cylinder and piston, and by two valves which are ar-
ranged to pass the water from the boiler on to the fire under
it, when the steam gets to a given height, thus dampening
down the fires., and preventing explosion should the safety
valve and engineers fail to perform their functions. This
safety guard is intended to be independent of the engineer,
beyond his control entirely, to be enclosed, locked up, and
the key placed in possession of the captain, the inspector
having previously determined the amount of pressure the
boiler will bear, and adjusted the pea upon the lever accord-
ingly. In the experiment on Wednesday, when more steam
was raised than was necessary, the extra quantity imme7
diately lifted the guard, and the water rushed out upon the
fire and put it out, soon reducing the steam to the proper
point. This improvement can be adopted to the loco-
motive boiler, and all other steam boilers,—New York Tri-
bum,

THE OPERATIVES AND THEIR
MASTERS.

The following letter appears in the Times, in reference to
the memorial of the operatives of Preston which has already
appeared in this journal. It is forwarded for publication by
the pro. tem. secretary of the Masters' Association, Mr.
John Catterall

". Sir,—Seeing in the Times a few days ago a copy of a
memorial sent from the delegates of the power-loom weavers
of Preston to the home secretary—which we do not con-
sider to give a fair account of the cause of the cessation of
labour in this town—we deem it our duty to the public to
notice a few of the statements therein made.

"In the first place, we give a complete denial to the
charge made against us as a body, that when we reduced
wages in 1847, we promised to restore the same at some
future period. No such promise was made by the masters
generally of this town. The charge has been frequently put
forth of late, and we are glad of this opportunity of denying
the truth of it.

" We may further state that, since 1847, at various times,
advances in wages have taken place, and, taking into consi-
deration the diminution of the hours of labour, from 69 to
60 hours per week, the weekly earnings of the great majo-
rity of the operatives were higher previous to the strike than
at any former period.
" We need not again enter minutely into the cause of
the strike, this we have previously put the public in posses-
sion of—those mills where it first commenced were among
the highest paid in the town, the delegates stating that, after
obtaining their demands in these cases, they would take the
rest of the mills in detail, and so bring them all up to the
same standard.

"In various interviews of the operatives with their
masters they appeared to have had no power to make any
terms without first consulting the committee of delegates,
and, consequently, the slight differences that existed were
made impossible of settlement by a body of agitators, who
have 'made a profit to themselves by first creating, and
then widening the breach between the masters and the
operatives.

"To illustrate the good feeling which has always existed
between the employers and employed of this town, we may
state that, for the last 17 years, we have been free from any
general strike, and disputes lave been of rare occurrence
and of short duration.
" THE COMMITTEE OF THE MASTERS'
ASSOCIATION.
"Preston, Nov. 21."

The Price of Wheat at the present time is about
double what it was at a corresponding period of the years
1834-5, and for the past 21 years wheat has not ranged
so high at this season of the year as it does now.

On Tuesday, during the prevalence of the dense fog, a
plate-layer on the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway,
at the time the express train was coming up at the rate of
forty miles an hour, stepped to one side for the purpose of
getting out of the way of the train, but being deceived by
the fog, he walked in front of the engine, was knocked
down, and killed on the spot.—York Herald.
There is a talk of erecting a new theatre at Paris, near the
Hotel de Ville, in the prolongation of the Rue de Rivoli, one
of the finest streets in Europe. The theatre, it is said, is to
be called " The People's House," and is to be set apart for the
production of pieces calculated to amuse and instruct the work-
ing classes exclusively. —Literary Gazette.
THE EARL OF GUILDFORD, AND ST. CROSS.-Mr. Watson,
Q.C., the eminent barrister, has given it as his opinion that
the Rev. the Earl of Guildford cannot be taken as properly
appointed Master of St. Cross, and that this claim t 3 possession
is therefore bad. The emoluments are about 511,000 a year,
and have been held since 1805.

CHARING CROSS TO IVESTMINSTER.—In some places the
roadway is more like the " moraine " of a glacier than the
highway to the great laboratories of law and justice in the
capital of the " most favoured nation." Heavily laden
waggons and carts have no chance with the gigantic ruts to
be found here, and the stoppages are provokingly frequent.
Having regard to the recent " improvements " in the law,
the lawyers are entitled to have the way to Westminster
made as seductive and easy as possible.
COUNTY SEATS VACANT.—There are two county repre-
sentations vacant—the one, East Gloucestershire, vacated by
the Marquis of Worcester, consequent on the death of his
father, the Duke of Beaufort. The second is South Staf-
fordshire, vacated by Lord Lewisham, now Earl of Dartmouth.
The liberals calculate on returning Mr. G. Holland. There
is yet no candidate for Staffordshire, where the constituency
was, at the revision of 1852, so large as 10,000
A case was decided on Saturday, before the Vice-Chancel-
lor, which will probably be interesting to our readers. A
bill was filed by Messrs. Forbes and Co., East India
merchants in London, against Mr. Limond, the secretary of
the Chamber of Commerce at Calcutta, seeking to charge
him as the inspector, under a deed of inspectorship, of the
affairs of Messrs. Lyall, Mathewson, and Co., with the pay-
ment of them and the other unpaid creditors of that firm of
such dividends as they ought, as the plaintiffs alleged, to have
received under the deed of inspectorship. Judgment passed
for the defendant, the plaintiffs having already received a
part of the fund under the insolvency with other creditors.

BELFAST AND BALLYMENA RAILWAY.—The report of the
directors, which is to be submitted to the shareholders at
the halt-yearly meeting, on Monday, shows, says the Belfast
Mercury, a very satisfactory state of affairs. The company
mid have divided 24s per share, and left a reasonable sum
to go to the reserved fund ; but with a proper exercise of
prudence, they recommend a dividend of 225, which will
leave £l,BOO to go to the reserve fund. The previously-
expressed opinion of the directors was, that a sum of £2,000
per year should be set apart ; but, as the summer receipts
are higher than the winter, they prefer to adopt the course
which we have mentioned. The dividend at this time last
year was 18s.
WHAT LONDON' FOG IS MADE OP.—lf we could get a
bucketful of fog analysed, we should be curious to find how
much of it came from our chimneys, how much from the Essex
marshes, how much from tanpits, grave-yards, sewers, the clay
of Regent's-park, the mud of the Thames, and other sources
which might all be abolished, and which will in time be all
abolished. Our island is a misty one, it is true ; but it is not
foggy in the sense of London fog. Leeds is foggy in that
sense; and a few other large towns, as ill-drained, and smoky,
and mismanaged as London and Leeds; but the climate of
Great Britain is not to be blamed for anything worse than the
blue damp mists which curl round her mountains, and ascend
from her lakes, to form the lustrous white clouds that deck
our spring and autumnal skies. When our spirited home
secretary shall have seen that all our men of business do their
duty by their neighbours as well as Messrs. Price, at their
candle works, consuming all their smoke, and kindly showing
all applicants how easily and certainly it may be done, we may
expect to be relieved of the murkiest element of our own par-
ticular fog.---Londcn Paper. _ _

Oust COAL FIELDS.-LThe following is the extent of the
workable area of the coal fields in the United Kingdom :
Northumberland and Durham, 500,000 acres ; Cumberland,
Westmoreland, and West Riding, 99,500 ; Lancashire,
Flintshire, and North Staffordshire, 550,000 ; Shropshire,
and Worcestershire, 79,950 ; South Staffordshire, 65,000 ;
Warwickshire and Leicestershire, 80,000 ; Somersetshire
Gloucestershire, 167,600 ; South Tales, 600,000 ; Scottish
coal fields, 1,045,000; Irish coal fields,—Ulster, 500,000;
Connaught, 200,000; Leinster, 150,000; and Munster,
1,000,000. Not less than 37,000,000 of tons are annually
raised, the value of which, at the pit's mouth, is little less
than £lo,ooo,ooo—at the places of consumption, including
expenses of transport and other charges, probably not less
than £20,000,000. The capital employed in the trade ex-
ceeds £10,000,000. About 400 iron furnaces of Great Bri-
tain consume annually 10,000,000 tons of coals, and
7,000,000 tons of iron-Stone, in order to produce 2,500,000
tons of pig iron, of the value of upwards of £8,000,000.
For the supply of the metropolis alone 3,600,000 tons of
coal are requiredfor manufacturing and domestic purposes ' •
our coasting vessels conveyed, in 1850, upwards of
9,360,000 tons to various ports in the United Kingdom, and
3,350,000 tons were exported to foreign countries and the
British possessions. About 120,000 persons are constantly
employed in extracting the coal from the mines, and in some
of the northern counties there are more persons at work
under the ground than upon its surface. Such a trade is
capable of meeting the anticipated demand from France, and
if in return for our good fires we set free the pleasant wines
of that country, the reciprocity will be cheerful and
satisfactory.
LONDON POLICE.—ALLEGED ROBBERY BY A FEMALE
SERVANT. AN AWKWARD DISCLOSURE. Nary Anne
Rofman, a smart looking girl in the service of
Captain George Burslau, of Lordship-lane, Dulwich,
was charged with stealing a towel, the property
of her master, and on suspicion of stealing an eme-
rald ring value £l5, the property of her mistress. The
captain deposed that on returning with his wife from a party,
about two in the morning of the 10th instant, Mrs. Burslau
took off her rings and placed them on the dressing-table,
and on the following morning the emerald ring was missing.
The servants all denied any knowledge of the ring, and as
the prisoner in particular had the duty devolved upon her of
coming into the room, suspicion rested on her, but he did
not feel justified in giving her into custody. That morning,
the prisoner being insolent, he ordered her to quit his house.
She refused, and he was compelled to turn her out ; and on
having her boxes searched by a policeman, one of a new set
of towels purchased by him was found, and he then rave her
into custody. A witness, who hemmed the towels, -deposed
that it was one of the captain's. The prisoner assured the
magistrate that the towel was her own, and that she knew
nothing about the ring. On the night in question, her mas-
ter brought home from the party Dr. Millengen and a Mr.
Hudson, and there was a quarrel, as she believed, about the
doctor's attentions to her mistress at the party. The doctor
was to have stopped in the house all night, and the servants
believed he had done so, but on going to the room the bed
was found untouched, and the doctor had disappeared no
one knew how. Various prices had been set on the ring,
and on each occasion it was made to increase in value. The
prisoner added, addressing the captain, " There would be
nothing of this had I allowed you to kiss me when you gave
me the wine to drink, and told me you had purchased me
the earrings you promised." The Captain (colouring) : Me
want to kiss you ? Prisoner : Yes, but I wouldn't let you.
The prisoner being without friends to bail her, the magis-
trate accepted her own- recognisances to appear on a future
day,