The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-28 00:00:00

THE POLICE IN QUESTION.

gross manner, and took me to the station, where

they offered to compromise the matter with me if
I would give them half-a-crown. I did not do so;—
but said I would let the matter.go before the court.
The next morning I was astonished beyond mea-
sure to find the inspector make a fabricated state-
ment, the whole of which was a tissue of lies from
beginning to end. I had, unfortunately, employed
an attorney, who said it was no use saying anything
—but asked the man a few questions, expressing
doubt as to his statements; which he, of course,
stoutly stood to, I was fined 10s. and -cOsts—

though I had allowed the matter to gointo-COurt
with the intention of getting the man punished.
The man, however, soon repeated his conduct to

some other gentleman and got discharged. And- he
was on the point of being taken on the force again,
but I had the satisfaction of preventing it, by having
mentioned my case to the late Mr. Coglan, chairman
of the board, lam glad to see, Mr. Editor, that
you are taking this matter in hand. The police
can, if they like, be very oppressive to the poor.
Great care, therefore, should be taken either that

too much power be not given them, or that they do
not'abuse it.

I am sir, your obdt. servant,
A MEMBER OF THE SOCIAL MASS
December, 1850.

TICE LATE COUNTESS or EGLINTON.—The funeral of the
much-lamented Countess of Eglinton and Winton took place
on Friday afternoon. In accordance with the wishes of the
deceased lady, the obsequies were conducted with the strictest
privacy.—N. B. Mail.
Viscount Lehon, son of the former ambassador of Belgium
in France, having lately applied for admission into the jockey
club of Paris, was rejected almost unanimously. The reason
of this failure is said to be found in the circumstance of this
gentleman having been the person who conducted the ba-
nished generals to the French frontier after the coup d'etat of
the 2d of December. It would appear from this rejection
that the members of the jockey club have tenacious
memories.

DEATH OF MAJOR BOWEN, POOR LAW AUDITOR FOR
SOUTH WALEEL—We deeply regret to announce the sudden
demise of Major Thomas Bowen, of Picton-terrace, in this
town, poor law auditor for South Wales. The lamented
gentleman was found dead in his chair. The gallant major
was formerly in the Prince of Wales's regiment of hussars.
—Carmarthen Journal.

THEATRICAL CRITICISM.—Booth's Othello was much liked
in America. An old Yankee, who had never seen a play,
was taken to witness Booth's performance of the Moor ;
and on being asked at the termination of the piece if he liked
it, he replied, " Ye-as, amazing; but cuss me if I don't
guess that little nigger (Othello) played as well as any o'
the white fellers, if dot better l."—Bunn's " Old England
and New, England."
CHARITABLE DONATIONS FROM THE EMPEROR OF THE
FRENCH.—The Emperor has ordered the sum of 700 f. to be
paid by Messrs. Orsi and Armani, merchants in London, for
the benefit of the Dreadnought hospital establishment in the
Thames. Not a day passes, at this inclement season of the
year, as we learn, without the receipt, by the same gentle-
men, of like instructions. Scarcely any of our benevolent
institutions appear to have escaped the kindly consideration
of the Emperor. We could desire to particularise the dif-
ferent objects of his Majesty's munificence, but fear we may
already have said more than we are warranted in doing
upon a subject involving so much delicacy.--Morning Post.
A PITMAN'S SUCCESS AT THE DIGGINGS.—A man named
Fxancis Bagan, left Jarrow, where he had been working as
a pitman about five years ago, and went to the " diggings"
of California, during the gold fever in that country, and so,
fortunate has he been that in a letter directed to his wife,
who Is at present earning her living by cutting rags at the,
Ford paper-mill, near Sunderland, he has enclosed a bill of
exchange from San Francisco for £lOO, with a message
that "all well, he will come home and eat his next Christ-
mas dinner with her in Old England." The sum just,
received is the second sent; the formor was aO. She also
received a nugget of gold some few months since.—Durham
Advertiser.

A WONDERFUL CLOCK.—There is now in the possession
of, and manufactured by, Mr. Collings, silversmith, Market-
place, Thornburg, Gloucestershire, a most ingenious piece of
mechanism, an eight-day clock, with dead beat escapement
maintaining power, chimes the quarters, plays sixteen tunes,
plays three tunes in twelve hours, or will play at any time
required. The hands go round as follow :—One, once a
minute ; one, once an hour; one, once a week ; one, once a
month; one, once a year ; it shows the moon's age, the time
of rising and setting of the sun, the time of high and IoNV
water, half ebb and half flood; and by a beautiful contri-
vance, there is a part which represents the water, which rises
and falls, lifting the ships at high water tide as it were in
motion, and as it recedes leaves these little automaton ships
dry on the sands ; it shoNirs the hour of the day, day of the
week, day of the month, month of the year; in the day of
the month there is a provision made for the, long and short
months. It shows the twelve signs of the zodiac ;it strikes
or not, chimes or not, as you wish it; it has the equation
table, showing the difference of clock , and sun every day in
the year. Every portion of the clock is of beautiful work-
manship, and performs most accurately the many different
objects which are called into action by the ingenious
proprietor, who is most willing to describe, all,its yens
achievements to any one who may feel •Plea Sure in kit*
him a visit.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.
Sin,—ln your paper, a few days ago, appeared a
letter from "A Working Man," exposing the conduct
of the police, especially with regard to public beer-
houses and poor girls of ill-fame. As I have testi-
mony of a similar character, it may probably be
worth insertion in your columns, to corroborate
the statement of your correspondent. Some time
ago, on returning home at night through Birken
head from Liverpool, I observed, for several even-
ings, a young and trembling girl, plying for the
wages of iniquity. I accosted her, and held a short
conversation with her, which was to the following
effect :—She told me that she had lately come from
Shrewsbury, and lived in " a gay house." She was
about 17 years old. By some allusion to the police,
the conversation turned upon them, when she told
me that they frequently enter these houses on some
pretext or other, being at liberty, I presume, to do
so at any time they think proper. I then, asked
what they usually did on such occasions. " Why,
sir," she said, " it is expected that they will either
have something given to them, or they claim to
indulge themselves in the house. They generally
make these demands upon the youngest, or such
as have most recently come to reside." " But,"
said I, " they can refuse those demands, can they
not?" "Yes, sir; but they dare not do so, unless
they have something to give them instead." "Do
you mean to say, then, that any policeman ever
asked you for a gratuity ?" " Yes, sir ; I was
obliged to give one eighteenpence the other day,
wu" "..atid began to solicit me." "And what
do they do if tne gu y Ctv 4:63/14 them money ?"
" Well, sir, they annoy them in many
threaten to report them, or the house," &e. Now,
sir, such conduct as this, and that reported by "A
Working Man," requires no comment ; but it is
time that some notice was taken of the power of
the power possessed by the police force, and the
manner in which it is abused. That a number of
" men, taken promiscuously from the multitude, and
raised from a state of humble dependence and
fustain jackets, to one of authority and broad-
cloth, should take advantage of their position
to enrich themselves at the expehse of the
public, is not surprising ; • but that such per-
sons should be entrusted with power greater
than any magistrate possesses, does not seem
quite compatible with wise legislation, or quite
consistent with the liberty of the subject. To
give liberty to any man, or set of men, to enter at
will, anylicensed victualler's, or other public-house,
and go into any part of that house and demand
admittance into any cellar or apartment that the
inmates wish to keep closed or secret, without a
warrant, I cannot think to be a good social
regulation. The case of the woman closing a
cellar against the admission of a policeman,
adjudged by Mr. Mansfield the other day, is one
in point; and it does him honor to have given the
doubt in favor of the landlady of the public-house.
A policeman ought not to be allowed to enter any
other than the bar, or the ordinary customers'
rooms, without a magistrate's warrant. • There is
one other matter I wish to mention ; the police
in general are notorious for disregard of truth.
.I. have only had to do with three policemen in my
life, and all three swore falsely in a most deliberate
manner ; and that, too, in the presence of their
head. This deliberate false-swearing, I am in
dined to think,• was increased rather than dimin-
ished by the strictness of the late Mr. Rushton.
If a man hesitated or forgot part of his evidence,
(and the best of us often require time to collect
our ideas,) he would be treated as if he were
fabricating a statement. This has had the effect
making the policemen agree before-hand what
the;, 'elan say; and as two of them generally
appeaf4Pgettier as witnesses, they can always
manage to gupport each others' testimony. They
will then, after giving evidence, stick to it
whether true or Pal,se, to the last. Some years
ago, a police inspectOr Ticked a quarrel with me
when going home late at night in Liverpool ; lie
collared me, insulted, and ill-treated me in the mos

BELFAST MARKETS-MANUFACTURES AND
• PRODUCE.

So far as we have been able to ascertain, the general
trade of Belfast, and the adjacent towns, was very brisk
during the latter portion of last week. The "turn over" at
the large establishments in town is stated to have been quite
equal to that of any Christmas season for some years past.
As- to the linen- trade we cannot say that there is what
could be called activity ; but, at the same time, business is
not such as to create complaints on the part of holders of
white goods. Foreign markets have been fairly active ; and
in the home trade a regular demand rules transactions. We
find full work going on at the bleachfields. Brown webs
have been more sought after, and on the average of sales
an advance was conceded. Lurgan, on Thursday, exhibited
ample supplies of those classes of goods so extensively ma-
nufactured in that quarter. Cambric handkerchiefs, and
plain lawns, of the different descriptions, went off on better
terms, and in the more fanciful departments, damasks and
diapers were taken up at some turn in favour of pro-
ducers. Our market,:on Friday, was a full one for the
description of heavy goods generally disposed of
at the Brown Hall ; but, as we have before intimated, the
quantity of webs sold there forms a very trifling portion of
the business weekly transacted in unbleached goods by the
Belfast trade. Ballymena, on Saturday, was an exceedingly
large market, and drapers well pleased at the state of
markets, while buyers evinced every disposition to go largely
into stocks.
Yarns are taken into consumption at the rates noted last
month,and now that short:time in spinning has been carried
out for some weeks, the stocks held stand comparatively low.
For the week, the Belfast exports, connected with the linen
manufacture are thus stated :

Flax - 5,820 cwts.
.. 129 bales.
Thread and linens.. 1,782 "
In the flax trade, we may report ample supplies of home
grown fibre at all the markets, and, for some qualities, the
prices paid certainly exceed the highest rates paid for many
vets past. Hand-scutched, on Tuesday, in Armagh,
sold at les. oa. trilled lots were current at 7s. to
14s. 6d.
Home-grown grain may be quoted 6d to 9d per cwt.
above the former week's rates ; and it is gratifying to report,
that as demand increases, growers show ample capability to
meet the requirements of consumption. We annex the
average rates of value at the markets of Belfast for the six
weeks preceding Christmas, in each of tho following years :
2 0.53 143
w 8
heat, per cwt... 13s Od to 15s Od-95 Od to 9s lid—lOs 6d t 01833 11s 3d
oats ~ 74 Od to 8s 9d-48 6d to 5s 6d— .40 6d to 5s 8d
Barley , Od to Os 3d—es 6d to 7s 6d— 6s 3d to 7s 6d
Bakers' dour. ditto 23s Od to 24s od—lOs Od 'lss pd-178 Od to 18s Od
We have frequently alluded to the really wonderful changes
which the sweeping away of corn-law restrictions has effected
in the household economy of the people of Ulster, as referred
to the consumption of grain food. This season that change
has been still more decided than at any former period.
Instead of potatoes forming the chief article of use in the
dietetic' economy of the working classes, wheaten bread,
coffee, tea, sugar, and butchers' meat, are at present
largely consumed by the higher order of mechanics and
artisans. We do not say that the mere unskilled la-
bourer is able to purchase full supplies of the more nutri-
tive varieties of food, as this season's high prices press
heavily on the comparatively narrow earnings of such
people ; but, even that class are now better fed than was
usual in the " good old times" of the sliding scale. One
thing may be said now, at the close of this season of exceed-
ingly high prices, that we do not recollect a time when,
under the pressure of similar tightness in the necessaries of
life, there were so few signs of discontent among the masses.
If corn has run up to extreme rates, the people aro aware
that the market is not artificially acted upon by arbitrary
laws, but that the existing state of affairs arises from local
circumstances, and irrespective of legislative enactments.
The provision trade has been inactive for the last week,
and large quantities of cured were taken off on fair terms for
holders. Rates of value are well supported in all varieties
of the business. Hams sell at 71s to 74s 6d per cwt. for
prime, and 68s to 70s second qualities. Mess pork 85s to
88s 6d per brl, prima, and 80s to 82s 6d second. Bacon, 52s 6d
to 65s per cwt. Mess beef, 109 s to 110 s per tierce. Pork
sells at better prices. Farmer's pigs, 48s to 50s, and
dealers lots, 47s to 49s per cwt. Butter continues to main
tain high rates; 95s to 100 s per cwt. ruling all sales fo
prime qualities