The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-23 00:00:00

FIRST STEPS IN CRIME.

At the City of London Guildhall, on Tuesday, George Turner, aged
15, William Sutton. 13, William Culver, 14, Charlrs Deakins, 15,
and Frederi k Turner 14, children of respectable parents, were
charged with picking pockets on the vier at Blackfriars-bridge.
Alfred Green, a detective officer, said: About half-past three o'clock
yesterday afternoon, I saw George Turner, Sutton, and Culver on
iilackfriars pier. They were upon the dummy, which, with the pier,
we 'e very much crowded. inner and Culver p'aced themselves in
front of a female who was endeavouring to get out of the crowd, while
Sutton 11f:ed.:her dress with his right hand and took something from
her pocket with his left, which he transferred to his own, and in
doing so drop; el a shidirg. I secured him, and asked him to give
me what he had taken, and he accordingly gave me the shilling which
he had picked up. I then took them into the pier-master's office and
searched them, when I found upon Sutton Is in silver and 4d in cop-
pe • concealed in the lining of his jacket, and a florin In his trousers
pocket. On Calver I found only a halfpenny, and upon George Tur-
ner, the pier master found les in gold, three half-crowns, and 43d
n copper money. I was taking them off the pier, when the pier-
man pointed out Deakins and Frederick 1 rimer as being associated
with the other prisoners, and I therefore took them into custody also,
when 3ed in copper money was found upon Deakins, and two half-
crowns, Is, and 4d in copper, upon Frederick Turner. At the station,
when asked to account for the money found on them, the two In-
ners stated that Sutton gave it to them to take care of tor them. I
also found upon each onthe prisoners passenger tickets to Voolwich.
Corroborative evidence having been given by Mrs. Boardman (whose
pO. ket had been picked), Alderman Hale asked whether the friends
of the boys were in court ? Green : I believe the parents of all are
present, sir. The father of the two Turners then said : lam a com-
positor, and hove brought up my children respectably: the elder
boy, George, is at present in a large firm, and his indentures are lying
at the lawyer's, ready to be executed. Alderman Hale: Have you
any idea how they became possessed of so much money ?
Mr. Turner : No, Sir ; but they have no business with so
much, for all I allow them is 6d per week to the younger
one, and 9d per weak and what he makes by overtime to the
elder. I heard some time ago that Sutton had been in custody, and I
remonstrated with my boys for associating with him, and 1 thonget
they had given up his acquaintance. Sutton's father said : lam a
tail er, and since myboy was here last, I have kept him at work at my
own business, and he has only been out on Sundays. I thought he
was quite reformed. A gentleman, who said he was the missionary
of the district, said : Mrs. Calver is afraid to trust herself to speak
with regard to her boy. She is a widow with seven children. The
boy has been here once, and twice at Bagnigge Wells, and is con-
stantly In the habit of stealing. There is a woman living in Plamtree
court Holborn, with whom all these boys are conne ded. She plies
them with drink, and takes from them the produce of their rob-
beries. Young as he is, he frequently comes home drunk, beats his
mother, and on all occasions uses the most abusive language towards
her. Ald. Hele : How does she get her living? The Missionary: By
cotton winding, sir. Alderman Hale (to Culver) : Can you tell the
name of this woman in Plumtree-court ? Culver Ido not know it
sir. Alderman Hale: lint you must know the house you are in the
habit of going to. Will any of you point out this woman to the officer
if I send him with you ? None of the prisone a, although implored by
their parents to do so, evinced the slightest inclination to 'peach" upon
the " fence." They all persisted in denying all knowledge of the
woman's name. Ald. Hale : 'I his is a very serious matter, for you
appear to be on the hi.ih road to rain, and I wish I could send' some
of you to a reformatory, as it might prove the saving
of you. However, I will gins you as severe a punish-
ment as I can under the circumstances. I shall com-
mit Sutton and Culver, who have been here before, for three
months ; George Turner for six weeks, Deakins for 21 days, and F.
Turner for 14 days, with hard labour. The prisoners were then re-
moved ; Cu:verethe most hardened criminal of the number appearing
the moat repentant.

ABOLITION OF TIM G.NERAL BOARD OF HEALTH.—TiIIs job has
die I ent from inanition—there was a president, a secretary, an assist.
an;; secretary, su:,erintending inspectors, seven clerks, and plenty of
other offieeri, and no dearth of salaries, but there has been n,thing
for them to do. This Alta of things was well known, and the Govern-
ment felt it would be useless to ask the House of Commons to con-
tinue the General Board of Health in its old form. They have,
therefore, brought in a short bill to abolish the board as at present
constituted, .end to place it under a committee of the Privy Council,
whereby a saving of from .43,000 to e 4,000 will be accomplished.
But alnongh the board will be abolished, the a t will continue in
force, and become permanent.—Morning Chronicle.

EXTRAORDINARY MASSACRE OF MICE.—On a recent occasion the
tenant of Musbay, in the Island of Stronsay, had occasion to take down
ten stacks of bere, to ba thrashed. Oa the first being demclished, it
was found to contain an enormous number of mice, so much so that
the parties engaged had quite a field day in slaughtering the an:mals,
many of which succeeded in escap ng. Additional men and dogs, the
former armed with sticks and other instruments of murder and tor-
ture, were then obtained to assist in despatching the squatters in the
remaining nine stacks; and at the close of the work of destruction,
which occupied several days, it was found that the slain amounted to
no less than the almost incredible number of 3,140, besides an im-
mense quantity that the dogs had devoured, and those that escaped
during the assault.—Northern Ensign.
IG,OMINIOUSLT SLAIN.--That reeless and turbulent military
gentleman, Marshal C aitellane, commanier at Lyons, put himself
during these last few days at the Lead of the garrison and made
them go through all the movements and incidents of a pitched battle
On a sma'l scale. He choose noontiue for this exhibition, when the
sunny heat was oppressive, and he teased them with commands of
attack and retreat in tee most frightful manner. In the midst of
terrible volleys of musketry, executed at his orders, he observed two
Grenadiers, who, overpowered by the heat and by exertion, had
quietly fallen on the grass. fie immediately rode up to them,
bursting with rage, and exclaime " You cowards, you rniserahles,
why are you here ? While your comredes are fighting you are
sleeping ! Yon are clo'ng nothing !" "I beg your pardon, Marshal,"
said one of the Grenadiers, "we are acting the slain in the battle."
The marshal smiled and turned his horse.
DESTRUCTION OP SALMON SPAWN OR Far.—We understand that
the practice of taking and destroying the fry of salmon, or salmon
kind, is very prevalent both in the rivers Spey and Lossie, and that
the number so destroyed or injured is enormous; perhaps one of
every twenty is thus only permitted to grow to maturity ; and it is
asserted on the best authority that if the decrease in the number of
salmon in our rivers continues in the same ratio as it has done for
several years, this fish will soon be exterminated. A very unjastiftable
practice has also for some years past been adopted at several mills on
the Lossie of intercepting the fish by cruises in their passage up and
down at their different seasons of migration. SO great has been the
take of fish on thole occasions, by such improper and unfair means,
that the pigs at those mills are actually fed on them. Stich nefarious
conduct ought to be put down by the strong arm of the law.—Elgin
Courant.

STRYCHNINE WHISKY.—The use of strychnine in the manufacture
of whisky is henceforth to be pnnbhed as a felony in Ohio. By means
of this drug, used in connection with tobacco, shim, distillers were
making five gallons of whisky from a bushel of grain, whereas the
quantity obtained by the old process was but half so much. The
topers never complained of the new liquid, but swallowed all they
could get of it, and smacked their lips for more; but the hogs, not
being so case•h❑rdened, could not stand it, and died off by hundreds
of what is called " Hog Cholera." The fish, too, in the rivers into
which the refuse of the distilleries was drained, began to die off in
shoals; and a chemist reported that a barrel of this strychnine whisky
contained poison enough to kill ta enty men. (So doss a bari el of
any whisky, if administered to produce that result.) Ohio could not
bear to have the qn dity of her poisoa distrusted, anti so has made the
use of strychnine in whisky a State Prison offence. Making this
whisky without strychnine is not even declared a misdemeanour as
yet.—. Yew York Tribune.

TEXPICHATINIE OF EIIHOPS.—II is confidently stated that an inter-
esting scientific convention—the initiative of which is due to France
—is on the point of being arranged between the different European
powers. It is known that a series of observations made at different
points in the empire, and the results of which have been transmitted
to the Imperial Observatory at Paris, by weans of the telegraph,
allows of daily bulletins of the state of the temperature of trance
being collected and pub.ished. It is proposed to apply this method
to all Europ . Many of the states have already consented to transmit
daily to Paris bulletins of the temperature of their country, clad these
observations will be published with the greatest exactitude. The daily
temperature of the whole of Europe will be thus as well known, as
that of France. This fresh application of electricity to the interna-
tional relations o f Europa will not only benefit science, but still more
commerce, which will be able, by the constant study of the temper-
ature, to keep account of the state of the harvests and the productions
of the earth.—Morning Post.
COCKFIGHTING IN SHREWSBUKY.—For some years past it has been
the custom in Shrewsbury for cockfighting to take place during the
race week, and this year some of the inhabitants being determined to
put a stop to the inhuman sport, solicited the help of the Society for
the Prevent!on of Cruelty to Animals, who at once obeyed the call
by sending their superintendent, Mr. Wemyss, accompanied by an
active detective officer, to Shrewsbury. The cockpit was behind the
Lion and Pheasant Inn, in two rooms of which not less than 200
birds had been brought together, and Love, who attended for the
purpose of giving evidence, described the scene at the cockpit as
most shocking. When he went to it, there were between ono and
two hundred persons present, each of whom paid ss. on entrance,
and a great deal of money changed hands in the pit. On Wednesday
the inn was surrounded by 14 of the borough police, and five of the
most active participators in the brutal sport wore secured before they
had time to escape. They were taken before the Mayor the same
day, and fined 50s. each and costs. Half of the penalty, to which
the society were entitle was given to the poor box of the court.
A Ceti ORNIAN TRAGEDY.—An Englishman named Joseph Lester,
a miner, has been living for the last month with his wife in a cabin on
the Sacramento and Auburn-road, a short distance above the Foun-
tain House. At about five o'clock last evening, Lester quitted
working at his sluices, went to the cabin, and deliberately shot his
wife dead with a double-barrel shot-gun, after which he consummated
his diabolical deed by blowing his own brains out with the remaining
barrel. No one else was present at the time, although there are a
number of miner's cabins within a short distance; but the reports of
the gun were heard by several parsons, who thought nothing unusual
of the noise, until perhaps ten minutes after, when Lester's partner
came to the cabin and found the woman lying on the ground, in front
of the door, with her head in a large pool of blood, and life entirely
extinct, the shot taking effect on the right side of her head. On look.
ing into the door of the cabin, ne beheld Lester's lifeless body lying
on the floor in a large pool of blood, and the brains scattered over the
ceiling, tides, bed, and floor. His head was split in two • from the
point of the nose clear to the top. The gun was lying on Lester's
body, with his right hand firmly grasping it. It seemed that Lester
deliberately took off his boot, either before or after he shot his wife,
and pulled the trigger with the big toe of one of his feet.—Sacramento
Union.

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE.—A general meeting of persons who
occupy leading positions in connection with the educational movement
will be held in London on the Bth, 9th, and 10th of June next, and
he proceedings of the conference will be opened by Prince Albert.
The committee for conducting the deliberations of the conference
includes the names of the Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl Granville, the
Bishop of Oxford, Lords Lyttleton and Stanley, the Hon. Wm. Cooper,
Vice-Prr sideot of the Committee of Council, Sir J. Kay Shuttleworth,
Archdeacon Sinclair, the Deans of Westrnin ter and Salisbury, the
Rev. Canon Moseley, Mr. Edward Baines, and many other gentlemen
well known for their honourable share in promoting the work of
education. The conference will ba divided into four sections, as
follows A—Section A ; chairman, the Bishop of Oxford : To enquire
into the causes and results of the early removal of children from
school, in the agricultural, manufacturing, and mining districts.
Section B , chairman, Lord Lyttleton : To institute similar enquiries
in respect to the state of education in foreign countries. Section C ;
chairman, Sir J. Kay Shuttleworth, Bart.: To consider the expedients
which have been proposed for keeping children longer at school,
under the heads of certificate schemes and prize schemes. Section
D ; chairman, the Dean of Salisbury : To enquire into the merits of
whatever other expedients may be proposed for the consideration of
the conference, and particularly those known as half-time schemes.
Papers will be read before the sections on the subjects specially
assigned to them.
FACILITIES FOR CLANDESTINE MARRIAGES IN LONDON-A letter
incumbent, in a I. tter to the Times, condemns the present system of
marriage by proclamation of harms. He says " Your advertising
columns, sir, have told from time to time of very different housetio d
experiences; and every London Clergyman knows that beneath the
system represented by that parenthetical interruption to the liturgy
on the one hand, and by those white-aproned lounger's of St. Paul's
Churchyard on the other, there larks a mischief compared with
which the facilities for border marriages were scarely worth a
mome- t's thought. We might as well, air, expect to put a stop to
intemperance in England by withdrawing, the license of an alehouse
in Some Cornish or Northumbrian village, as imagine that clandestine
marriages can be effectually checked by anti-Gretna Green legislation,
so long as the present practice remains in force in London churches
and in Doctor's Commons. I address you, sir, as a London clergy-
man who finds himself totally unable to cope with en evil by which
he shocked and scandalised. 'cannot ask you to afford me enough
of your most valuable space to enter into the details upon which my
conclusions have been based; but if the subject is one, as I cannot but
believe, deserving of public attention, I trust you will not refuse this
letter a place in your columns. I am prepared to show, if necessary,
that while our present ecclesiastical system of marriage after banns or
by license may work well in the rural districts, yet in London certainly,
and I believe in all our great towns, It affords no security whatever
against clandestine or irregular marriages."