The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

Applito

TUESDAY.

3m it may concern

On TrEsnai.Y- next, the—
precisely, at hiessrs, Golding

instant, at Half-past One o'clock.
and Nash's saleroom, Corn Exchange,'

Brunswick.streer,
A Quantity'Damaired. INDIAN co:,T
ex J,:emoah Thompson, from New York.—For particutars apply to
Itodocanachi, Sons & Co. or to
J.&

L. HEYWORTIL

HARNETT, Brokers

RAILWAY RE FORM

-v---

TO THE EDITOR 0

TE NORTHERN TIMES,

Sir,—There is one sophism in Mr. fleyworth's speech
at the meeting on the subject of railway reform yester-
day, so glaring., arid'which has been .so often expOsed,
that it is a matter ofigreaturpriSe that he should have
invested it with his authority in: again putting, it forth.
It is,' that the main cause of,the present deterioration of
railway property has been, and is, competition and com-
peting fines, and that the legislature was to tdaale for
permitting such' to be .tinade." floss so consistent a sup-
porter of the doctrines arid principles of free trade could
enunciate.a doctrine which is the soul and body of the
almost defunct giant, monopoly, is indeed a matter of
wonder.

'1 he grand axiom of the present day is, that competi-
tion is the soul of lbusiness ; but poT there can be
competition where there are no competitorS, is to me a
mystery. Mr. Heyworth took for an' illustration
the competition that is now going on .between the
Lancashire And 'Yorkshire and the -East Lancashire Rai l-
ways.on theirline,te Southport ; and; without pursu-
ing the argument to its 'legitimate conclusion, at once
took for granted that this rivalry had been the means of
doing immense injury to both companies, (the exact
reverse would, I apprehend, be found to 'be the case on
strict investigation,) that the original and natural route
was the one via Crosby, and that, therefore, the East
Lancashire Company ought not to have been allowed to
construct their line via Ormskirk, on the ground, of its
posiible interference with its predecessor via Crosby.
Now, to fully carry outthis doctrine to its true result,
would be to destroy, or iather'never to 'permit, competi-
tion to arise at all";, for Jones,.the'draper, in any street,
would have just as!proper a right toiobjectto Robinson
the draper establishing himself over the way, on pre-
cisely the same grounds ; and-yet were helo do so, we all
know that the only consolation he would get' would be
to be laughed at. And to carry out this illustration on
a larger scale, we should have no competing lints of ocean
or channel steamers, clipper-ships, telegraph companies,
nor, indeed, railways themselves ' • for the old coa.c.hAnd
canal proprietors might as feasibly have objected to their
being called into existence at all, on the ground of their
probable interference with the then existing modes of
conveyance.
_

No, sir! Mr, Heyworth may rest assured that it is with
railway as with all other trade, competition is not the
bane but the antidote, not the thing to be dreaded but
the thing to be desired, for is it not true that increased
facilities are increased communication, and how can
these be afforded except by enlarging competition ?
What our railways require are—competition in all cases,
even if by direct and parallel lines ; business-like
management; the instant closing of capital accounts;
non-extension and non-amalgamation, (leaving new wants
to be supplied by new companies) ; a total cessation of
legal and parliamentary wasteful expenditure reduced
fares and rates; increased accommodation for the cornfort
of the public ; and the strictly confining themselves to
their proper sphere of action ;leaving all extraneous
business, such as canals, harbours, docks, steamboats,
&c., to their proper and independent proprietors. When
the present depressed railway companies conduct them-
selves and their concerns in a business-like manner,
they may once more look forward to their being viewed
in the same light as their better managed, and therefore
better paying brethren,—the Lancashire and Carlisle
Company to wig.—l am, Sce., QuAsasouo,
29th January, 185 G.

At the Brighton and South Coast railway meeting on
Tuesday, Capt. Young moved his customary resolution
declaring the inexpediency of running trains on the Sab-
bath, but five hands only were raised in its favour.
Tier Majesty, on the recrmimendation of the Premier, has
been pleased to confer a pension of £5O on Miss Thomasina
Ross, known for her long connection with literature, and
her admirable translations from the French, German, and
Spanish.

^DUTY ON TOBACCO AND SIMI-T.-011 Tuesday a return to
Parliament was issued, showing that in the year ended the
31st of March last, the duty on tobacco and snuff was as
much as £4,773,555. It was in 1853 £4,542,572 ; and in
1854, £4,728,642.

TIIE LATE POISONING CASES.—At the close of a lecture
delivered on Monday evening, at the Bristol Philosophical
Institution, Mr. William Ilerapath, the eminent analytical
chemist and professor of toxicology, took the opportunity
of adverting to the state of alarm which 'bad been pro
duced in the public mind by the recent alleged secret
poisonings at Rueeley, Manchester, and elsewhere. The
apprehensions which the cases to which he had referred
had given rise had, he said, -been much increased by cer-
tain statements which had been put. forth, and Which as
he understood them., were these—that prussic acid could
not be discovered in the .system at more than fourteen
days, that stryehnia could only La detected a few hours,
after death, and that cocculus Indicus could not be detected
at all. Now, he had himself detected the, presence of
prussic acid in a human body after the interment of two
months ;•he had found cocculus IndictA in dead fishes, and
in a human body after it had beet' buried forted months.
The difficulties in the way of detecting poison of this class
were not, therefore, so insurmountable as some supposed,
and he hoped that the knowledge of the fact would 'have
the effect of re-assuring the public mind.
A GOOD STORY.----" A bear and its leader," says-the
Courrier de Lyon, "lately arrived towards night at a
village near this city, and the latter sought admission
into the only, public-house of the place. The host at
first declined to admit the .strange pair, not knowing
where to place the animal, but finally he consented 'to
' receive them. The bear was placed in a pig-sty, and
its occupant, a' fat pig, which was to ,be killed on the
morrow, was let loose in the court-yard. - In,the middle
of the night, cries of help proceeding from the.pig-sty
aroused the house, and the host, his, wife,,and theiser-
vants at once ran to the spot. It was then ascertained
that a thief, excited ,by • the 'splendid condition of the
pig, had determined on eloping with it, and had entered
the pig-sty with, that laudable intention: The bear,
displeased . at being suddenly awakentd,,by, thii enter,
prising individual, rewarded him with a-fraternal'hng,
which caused the would-he thief to :cry out so:lustily.
The man was delivered from :the paws of.the' bear, but
only to be handed over into the hands of justice."
AMATEUR HANGING.—Last week, an inquest was
taken at Marchwood, on the body of Abraham Longman,
aged twelve years, a remarkably fine boy, and, when
living, of a most cheerful and good-humoured disposi-
tion. Deceased's parents went to SouthamptOn
Tuesday, leaving him, at home with three younger chil7.
dren. After playing about with -thein some
.fer, 'ioc • Itwe,
deceased got-on a cAEOr,' and tied'a long leather strap to
abeam. He then in •a joking waylaid to a boy who
Was with him, "This thing" (taking hold of the strap)
ould soon cut. a fellow's windpipe, .and hint in
about ten minutes" The boy soon'afterwards-left, and
Longman gave his little brothers a ride on the donkey.
Jonathan Longman, aged five years, was too young to be
examined as a witness, but he stated, "My brother then
said he would hang himself, and he then got up into the
chair again, and slipped up the strap, and put his head
into it, and swung himself off the chair. He did •not
kick about or make any noise, but fell straight down,
with his hands by his side, and swung backwards • and
forwards," • When one of the deceased's elder .sisters
returned from. Southampton in the 'afternoon, she met
-two of the children crying outside the house. The told
her thatAbrahatn was hung up by the 'neck to the beam
They then went indoors, and found their brother Abra-
ham hanging dead by a strap round his neck'to a crook
in the beam across the honse. Several of the jury who
knew the deceased, expressed their Opinion that he had
no intention to destroy himself, but had committed the
fatal act in sport, without being
,aware of its danger.
The coroner expressed his concurrence, and the jury
returned a verdict to that effect.—ln. Bermondsey a case
similar to the foregoing in all but its termination,
occurred only on Saturday last. A boy of ten years old
was playing with his fellov.'s, when a game of hanging
was proposed, and he undertook to go through the opera-
tion • there being a strong line passing across the room
he threw another over, and formed a noose, which he
adjusted round his neck, and, either accidentally or in.
tentionally, kicked away rthe chair on which he was
standing. The frightful contortions of the boy's
countenance, the eyes and tongue Protruding, alarmed
the children, their cries brought assistance, and he
was got down almost lifeless. A surgeon was immedi-
ately called in, and it was not until after great 'exertion
that perfect animation was, restored. •