The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-07 00:00:00

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15,000 Copies of a Medical Book for Giltuitous Circulation
R. H. THOMAS, having been effectually
cured of Nervous Debility, loss of Memory, and
Dimness of Sight, by following the instruct'on3 given in a Medical
Work by a Physician, considers it his Duty, in Gratitude to the
Author, and fur the Benefit of Nervous Sufferers, to publish the
Means used. Re will, therefore, s.nrl Free, to any Addr as, in a
Sealed Envelope. en receipt of a directed envelope enclosing two
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ing every information requi,ed.—Address, Mr. 11. Tnoaras, St.
John's-lane, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

e j)t J tli 4tllUt3

------ -
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1857.

THE DAY'S NEWS.

Parliament has not yet got into proper working
order. Last night the House of Lords met at five
o'clock, and after a few questions had been made.
and notices of motions given, their lordships
adjourned a fatiguing sitting of fifteen minutes !
The House of Commons were rather more atten-
tive to their duties, and as will be perceived,
several matters of general interest were the
subject of friendly conversation and debate.
Nevertheless, from the scanty programme put
forward by ministers, it is evident that they do
not propose doing any extent of business during
the Session, and that in all probability there will
be a dissolution ere the close of the summer.
Recent events have transpired which show that
Lord Palrnerston has not improved his position
during the recess. The reported attachment which
is said to have sprung up between Mr. Disraeli and
Mr. W. E. Gladstone, has something rather omin-
ous about it ; and, if any credit can be attached
to the rumours which now prevail in. the West end
clubs of London, it would appear as if a combina-
tion of parties had been formed for the purpose
of ousting the Palmerston Cabinet. For the
accomplishment of this object, Disraeli is to shake
hands with Gladstone and the Peelites, and Lord
John Russell is to be invited to cast his lot with
the allied forces, and to assist them in overthrow
ing his political enemy. It will be perceived that
Mr. Disraeli will not consent to postpone his
motion respecting the Income Tax. Lord
John Russell complained that the wording
of the address iu reply to the Queen's
Speech pledged the House to a declaration approv-
ing of the war with Persia, in consequence of that
Power having violated her engagements in the
capture of Herat ; but Sir George Grey said such
was not the intention of the government. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer moved for a select
committee to enquire into the operation of the Bank
Act of 1844. . Mr. Lowe afterwards moved for leave
to bring in a bill for the abolition of passingaolls,
which are levied at Dover, Rarnsgate, Whitby, and
Burlington. The House rose at twelve o'clock.
Of local incidents there are a variety reported in
our columns this morning. The trial at the police
court for a breach of promise of marriage, will no
doubt be pernsed with attention. But although
the compit'inant, Brid get Bird, told a pretty straight-
forlr:act story, and her solicitor, Mr. Bluek, argued
roost ingeniously, sill Mr. Snowball's rejoinder in-
duced the bench to discharge the prisoner, Mr.
Mansfield remarking that Bridget, instead of arrang-
ing with a priest resorted to the police court, and no
jury could have the least sympathy or feeling for
such a girl as she was. There were two or three
important Smoke Nuisance cases before the police
court. Inspector Wagnall proved the cases. We
are glad to notice the zeal and activity which this
energetic officer displays in the discharge of his
official duties. F-om a statement which has been
made by Messrs. Carrington and Co., of Vauxhall
Glass Works, it appears that the nuisance arising
from smoke can be prevented with proper care and
attention.
We have to call attention to a case of unwarrant-
able interference, by certain police efficers, in
getting up a case against a licensed victualler,
named Francis M'Donald, for selling liquor in
prohibited hours. Police constable 554, with the
greatest coolness imaginable, stated that although
lie was told it was a private party of friends, he
insisted upon tasting all the glasses of the company,
so that he could prove the case. This is
an authority which no policeman should possess,
and while we should insist upon the law being
strictly observed, we would not subject any res-
pectable publican to the annoyance of having his
house and, as in this case, a party Of his private
friends, insulted by a police officer rudely pushing
himself forward, and making up a case, without
legitimate grounds for bringing it into court. We
are surprised that Mr. Mansfield should have
pleaded an apology for the officer in question. He
was obliged to dismiss the case.
The news from the East is important in many
points. It confirms the rumour of an amnesty for
Wallachian and Moldavian refugees beieg in pre-
.
-paration by the Porte ; and we observe that the
exiled patriots from Jassy and Bucharest express
I better hopes for their country, and declare them-
selves satisfied -with the behaviour of Turkey.
They begin to lose fear of Austrian domination,
and France has just reiterated her assurance that
she will not forsake them in the project of uniting
the two Principalities. We gather from the article
of the Moniteur that the objections of Austria and
. England to the union have defeated their own
Object.
Intelligence from Teheran is to the 4th of last
mOnth. The capture of Bushire had only deter-
mined the Shah to display greater vigour in
defence of his kingdom. Our'forees at Bushire are

represented as pre-Paring to march into the interior

There is some coiifusion about the names of the
places mentioned, but the intended march can have
no other object than to take possession of Shires.
The Zeit (the ministerial organ at Berlin) denies
that negotiations between Prussia and Switzerland
have begun, and expresses doubts of an early
meeting of the Neuchatel Conference.
The Bourse Cicvette of Vienna, of the 30th, states
that the last de3patches received flout Count
Coloredo, the Austrian Ambassador at Rome,
confirm the account given of preparations being
made by the Court of Rome to introduce the
administrative reforms recommended by the
Western Powers, The Austrian troops are to stay
hi the legations until these reforms are completed
Those at Parma will leave at the same time.
From Paris we learn that it was the opinion in
that city that the Neuchatel question remains in
an uncertain state, of which Switzerland has just
reason to complain, and English diplomacy no
reason to be proud. The Fresse expresses astonish-
ment that Lord Palmerston was unable to throw
• any light upon the present state of the question,
and notices that the Swiss journals again manifest
apprehensions. The language, of the Berlin
Government prints has produced a very bad im-
pression in Switzerland, and it is feared at Berne
that the imith:nse responsibility which h
the Federal
Council has taken upon itself will be difficult to
justify to the country, in the face of the present
• attitude of the cabinet of Berlin.
From the United States we learn that the Senate,
on the 22nd, passed a bill granting aid to the
American and European Subniasine Telegraph by a

vote of 29 to 18. The Contract is authorised on the
same terms as agreed to by the British Government.
The war has been renewed in Florida • General
Harvey had withdrawn the flag of truce, and
declared war against the In.liaos. The committee
for investigating:the charges of corruption preferred
against some members of the House, continued their
sittings. A bill had been passed compelling news-
paper reporters and others to teatif The Was-
hington correspondent of the New York Daily Times
had been arrested and kept in close confinement for
refusing to give •evidence before the Corrupt
Practices Committee. The affair had caused quite
a sensation.

Among the dpmestie occurrences of the day is
the colliery ekploSion near Halifax, on Tues-
day, when four men were killed) and much
damage done. The seats no* vacant in the
House of Commons will be keenly contested
next week Southampton, Greenwich, and
Newport, Isle of Wight, will be among the first
to come off.- On Tuesday, in the House of Com-
mons, Mr. Monckton Mitnes will move, as an
amendment to Mr. Roebuck's motion, " that the
select committee on transportation which sat last
year be re-appointed, and that it be an instruction
to the said committee to enquire into and report
upon the best means of procuring temporary em
ployment for discharged prisoners ; and that Mr.
Roebuck be added to the committee." Yesterday
morning the Sullie, Capt. Giron, from Bordeaux,
hound for Liverpool, was totally wrecked near
Holyhead. The captain, mate, and twelve hands
were drowned ; only two were saved, and it-is not
expected that much of the cargo will recovered and
got on shore. _ _

The Earl of Aberdeen voted in the Ministry on
Earl Grey's amendraent on TtieSday. Government,
on the recommendation. of the Board of Trade, has
directed a further enquiry to be instituted at Hong
Kong into the circumstances attending the ship-
ment at that port of coolies on board the ship
Dunne, of Portland, for the Havannah.
The first annual meeting of the National Dis-
count Company was held yesterday, when a favour-
able report was presented of the operations during
theseven months that it has been in existence,
although in the interval discounts had risen from
4 to 7 per cent, and money had, to December 31,
amounted to 5.926,0001, and the number of accounts
opened was 845. After payment of expenses and
doubtful debts, the nett profits amounted to
7,7661.

On Wednesday evening, a large public meeting
was held in the Council chamber, Ipswich, to
consider the bombardment of Canton and the
expedition to Persia—Mr. Richard Dykes Alexan-
der occupied the chair. After an address from
Mr. Passmore Edwards, showing the absurdity and
the iniquity of these wars, a resolution emphatic-
ally condemning them was moved by Mr. Edward
Grimwade, and seconded by Mr. Robert Ransom,
and carried unanimously. Both of the lccal
speakers expressed a strong desire that the repre-
sentatives of the borough should in no way support
the intermeddling and reprehensive policy of Lord
Palmerston ; and that they ought to devote their
attention to financial, political, and social reforms
at home. Both the feeling of the meeting and
that of the inhabitants of Ipswich generally is
decidedly antagonistic to the war spirit of the
government.

WHAT IS WATER ? We ask this question on
Mr. HAWKSLEY'S behalf, and fur Dr. TAYLOR'S
instruction. Both gentlemen seem to have for-
gotten altogether the very simple character of
this prime necessary of life. They call any and
every liquid which does not kill a man on the
spot—water ! Now, we have always been given
to understand that one hundred parts of pure
water are composed of 85 parts, by weight, of
oxygen, and 15 parts of hydrogen. If these are
the only constituents of water, it is quite certain
that the discolouration Mr. HAWKSLEY talks
about, and the vegetable, animal, and mineral
matter Professor TAYLOR says he found in the
Pike water, had no business there. Dr. TAYLOR,
however, passes over this important subject, and
goes on to inform us of all the ingredients he
discovered in the water, without stating whether
he found them mixed mechanically or in positive
chemical union. We have, therefore, no means
of judging whether Mr. HAWKSLEY'S filtering
beds are worth one blackberry for the purpose
for which they have been constructed, or
whether the Pike water can be purified at all
or not.

The tanning which the peat gives the water,
and which decides its colour, the learned Pro-
fessor must have found in a perfect state of
chemical union, and hence the trouble it gave
him to devise a mode of filtering it for domestic
use. He found it necessary to employ charcoal
to rob it of its carbonic acid and other foul gases,
the result of chemical union, and if these most
dangerous properties are to be added to the long
list of deleterious matters he found mechanically
diffused through the liquid, we should like to
know what Dr. TAYLOR will say regarding the
safety of drinking such a compound ? He has
not deigned to enlighten us as to the propor-
tion the tanning or colouring matter bears to
the imperial pint of water, or what effect
it would have on health. He merely declares it
to be " decidedly objectionable." This, most
common sense people, would think quite enough ;
but will the Pikeist in the Council think so ?
The water the Professor analysed, as coming
from Newington, was mixed, say in equal pro-
portions ; and, if in this water he found only
two grains of poisonous matter to the gallon, it
is quite obvious that there must be at least four
grains in a gallon of the Pike water. If, then, a
man only drinks half gallon a-day of this
beverage, he must, of necessity, take two grains
a-day, or 365 grains in the. course of the six
warm months, into his stomach.

The tanning or colouring matter, so recently
discovered by Dr. TAYLOR, is not included in
the above dose. The " decidedly objectionable"
ingredient was not dealt with chemically in the
Doctor's analysis. Probably he has been asked
if the statements we have made on this point
were correct. If so, it would have been as well
to have asked Dr. TAYLOR what he thinks of the
parafine which comes from the peat, and which
floats on the surface of all peat coloured waters.
He might have ventured a word or two on this
interesting subject, whilst he was endeavouring
to bolster up his analysis, and give to the Cor-
poration the support they so much require. But
we may safely leave Dr. TAYLOR to his profes-
sional meditations, and turn to Mr. HAWKSLEY,
who has already established his name in the
ledgers of the Borough, in a form which cannot
be easily forgotten. That gentleman talks
largely of what he has given us in the way of
quantity, for the very large expenditure be has
entailed on the inhabitants. The scandalous
Pike job has cost us 1,150,000/., and for this
HAwKeLEY says he
shamefully large outlay, Mr.

is giving us 8,000,000 gall_ I] of dyke drainage
per dierri, and one-half of thi* he thinks it advis-
able to withhold from the town, and run it away
to the Kensington reservoir, and from thence,
we presume, through the sewers into the River.
He scouts the idea of its acting on lead, but he
does not think it safe to bring it in contact with
iron pipes !
But why follow Mr. HAIViiSLEY through all
his childish folly ? He is only the employe of the
Countil—that assembly of public guardians
who are bound by the sacredness of an oath to
do justice to their fellow-townsmen, They are
the men who are to blame, individually and col-
lectively, for the monstrous doings which are but
just coming to light in all their magnitude. That
there should be any such body of men in this
enlightened age is a national disgrace. If muni-
cipal councils are to be such social and political
abominations, we had better forego all preten-
sions to local self-government, and leave our
substance at the mercy of statesmen and
strangers. The Ratepayers cannot stand under
the burdens their time-serving and jobbing
representatives are heaping upon them ; and now
that we find them tampering with the public
health in a vain effort to reclaim a lost prestige
is the time for the Burgesses to speak out, and
forbid the continuance of such doings as we see
going on in their name. Jobbers may have ma-
jorities at the municipal hustings, but there can
be no popular voice to applaud a set of men who
would run the risk of spreading the seeds of
cholera and death broadcast through a town
which contains 400,000 souls. Such things are
too outrageous, ;and if anything were wanted to
brand the conduct of the Corporation with the
utmost contempt for the public, whom they
profess to represent, we have it in the quibbling
of the professional men they have employed, and
the insolence with which they treat the opinions
of the corporate constituency and inhabitants
of the town generally.

THE trading monopoly possessed by the
Hudson Bay Company has long been a source
of bitter complaint in the highest mercantile
circles. Mr. LABOUCHERE must be well aware
of this fact, and it does appear strange that the
right hmourable gentleman should have moved
for a Committee of the House of, Commons to
inquire into such a subject, instead of asking for
leave to bring in a bill, as Mr. ROEBUCK sug.
gested, to abolish the powers of the Hudson
Bay Company in British North America. This
is about the last of our chartered monopolies in
trade, and is based on one of those unconstitu-
tional acts of the Crown, which were so very
common in the seventeenth century, The
Sovereign thought nothing in those days of
alienating and disposing of the public domain,
without the sanction of the people or Parliament.
But this cannot be done now. Large tracts of
continents, and groups of valuable islands, can-
not be frittered away from the nation, and held
as British possessions in perfect independence of
the State ; and to talk of an absolute,right to
the soil being vested in any body of mere trading
adventurers, is perfectly preposterous. This
Company have enjoyed undisturbed possession
of this large and fertile Empire since 1670, or
just 170 years ; and what have they done to
increase its population, enlarge its trade, or pro-
vide for its defence ?

Mr. LABOUCtIERE, her Majesty's Colonial
Secretary, answers these inquiries. He says—
" The Company employ 1,200 persons, selected
" chiefly from Scotland," and believed generally
" they gave satisfaction to the natives, numbering
" about 300,000." This is all the Company
have done in 170 years for the development of
the resources of this vast tract of our Colonial
Empire, and for its defence against the territorial
rapacity of others. In the face of these dis-
closures Mr. ELLICE, jun., had the courage to
tell the House that the Company's rule " had
" been a beneficent and good rule, and beneficial
"to the Indians. In the neighbourhood of the
Red River population had slightly decreased,
" but in the north part they had increased and
" were increasing, which depended greatly on
" the materials for comfort provided for the
" Indians, because they were not easily civilised,
" The difficulty would be to provide such a
" government in British North America as would
" prevent the inhabitants from attaching them-
" selves to the United States, and to whom the
trade would be tran-ferred '"rhis threat of
300,000 poor and untameable natives transferring
themselves and their trade to the United States,
is rather amusing.
If the Hudson Bay Company directors, share-
holders, and the 1,200 persons they employ,
were to follow the example of the Aborigines,
our loss would be very far from irreparable.
They would scarcely take the wild beasts, with
their valuable furs, and absolute right to the soil
of the profitable hunting grounds, with them !
No ! They would leave the Hudson Bay terri-
tory, with its rivers, mountains, bays, and,.
islands, open to our enterprising colonists,in
Canada, who are now excluded from all partici-
pation in the pleasure and profits of fur
hunting. Our North American Colonies would
soon supply the regions this Company monopo-
lise with a populal.ion of 300,000 genuine
Britishers to guard the little family of Indians
whose safety causes Mr. ELLICE, jun., so much
concern. The Canadians have long desired to
break in upon the Hudson Bay Company's mo-
nopoly, and they have, more than once, contem-
plated doing so vi et armis ; and we could not
possibly bestow a greater commercial boon on
the British American people, or provide more
speedily for the colonisation and progressive im-
provement of the Hudson Bay territory, than by
throwing it open to Canada at once, and placing
it on the same footing as all the rest of our
Colonies.

To leave theEl,2oo well selected Scotchmen,
and as many hundred thousands of wild animals,
is not, we trust, the proposition which Mr.
LABOUCUERE'S Committee will venture to make

to the House of Commons. All that Canada
cannot do for the development of the trade of
• -
that immense territory, the capital and enterprise
of England will undertake, the instant the Com-
pany's monopoly is removed. Liverpool mer-
chants understand the fur trade, and they no
doubt envy the monopolists .what we must call
" their ill deserved wealth." We say this, as
the little which has been told of the Company's
wort proves that they have not done anything
for the colonisation of the country corrimitted to
their care, in a period of very nearly 200 years.
Its geography and general capabilities are almost
as little known as they were in the days of
CHARLES 11. ; and if there be a dark
and veiled spot on our Colonial Em-
pire—a land which civilisation dare not ap-
proach--it is that very territory which the mo-
nopolists venture to ask the Imperial Legislature
to restore to their iron grasp. That any such
unconstitutional proposition should have been
entertained, even in the most indirect way, by a
Minister of the Crown, is deeply to be regretted,
but in order to counterbalance the influence of
the Company, the Bankers, Merchants, and
Traders of Liverpool, Ought to petition Parliament
forthwith for the abolition of the Hudson's Bay
Company's power and monopoly in British
America !

MorinAi next will, in all probability, determine
whether or not our Town Council are still going to
permit a few
,j obbing and imaginative individuals---
self-dubbed civil engineers—to play the tricks
upon the inhabitants which they have been
doing for some time past with regard to the im-
portant question of water supply. Is it to be
longer tolerated that such individuals, having
solely their own aggrandisement in view, and
regardless'of that of the public, should continue
to wield the irresponsible powers which they
possess ? —that with impunity they can give or
withhold an absolute necessary of existence, as
suits their pleasure or caprice—that they can
give certain districts of the town the filthy wash
from the Pike, for a week or so, diluted with six
times its bulk of, well water—that when it is
found that even in this proportion it is offensive
to the inhabitants, and the complaints loud and
deep, it is suddenly changed, and the pure well
water substituted in its stead ? By these means the
people are led to believe that the dirty water they
had been receiving previously was the result of cor-
rosion in the pipes—a belief which the authorities
at the Waterworks take care to foster. This is
the artful dodge now being played by our water
engineers, in order to bewilder the Council and
the public at large. How long this systematic
deception is to be tolerated remains to be seen.

The manner in which the Pike water was'
smuggled into the Kensington reservoir, on the
night of the 2nd January, was utterly disgraceful
to all concerned, and is without a parallel in the
history of waterworks. Take every town in the
known world, and see what rejoicings and ova-
tions were made on the introduction of their
various water supplies ! Look.at London, when
Sir THOMAS MIDDLETON, at the head of his
navigators, first opened the sluices of the New
River, and bade the limpid stream flow on in its
Mission of mercy—a blessing alike to small 'and
great. Oa that occasion even Royalty itself
condescended to do homage to the engineer-
philanthropist and his sturdy aids, and the whole
metropolis followed the example. In short, this
might be called a national ovation. Then look
at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Manchester—
and in fact every other town where the want
of water was felt—on a new supply being first
introduced, there have invariably been manifesto-
lions and rejoicings, greater or less, except in
Liverpool, where the new supply was first turned
in o- the reservoirs at the " witching hour of
"night" on the 2ndJanuary,lBs7. And such was
the secrecy observed, that only a few favoured
members of the Water Committee were made
acquainted with the intentions of the engineer,
until the inhabitants themselves discovered the
vile trick which had been thus played upon them
by their own servants, who fancied that they
would prove their devotion to their patrons,
the Pikeists, by palming off the diluted
poison from Rivington on the town, in the
vain hope that the quantity of the well water
being so much in excess of the other, the mixture
would not be detected. Like professedly clever
rogues, however, they overshot the mark, and
although there was but one gallon of the Pike to
six gallons of the well water, the foul impreg-
nation was at once discovered and exposed.

We have said that the Pike water was first turned
into Kensington reservoir on the 2nd January,
but if we are not greatly misinformed, a portion
of that water was turned into that reservoir a
month previous by the engineer, and that this
fact was known to at least one member of the
Council—a gentleman rather fond of sporting,
and who is famous for his skill at the game of
blind hookey, and who is a member of the Witter
Committee as well. Certain it is that the party
in question offered to bet long odds with some
of his brother councilmen that he could prove
that the Pike water had been in Kensington
reservoir a month before the time stated by the
Chairman. Whether he succeeded in "making a
"book," or whether a certain official at the Water-
works went shares in the transaction, we do not
pretend to know ; but the report is more than
confirmed by what fell from Messrs. BENNETT
and WOODRUFF on the 14th ult., to the effect
that the engineer had told them that the water
had been introduced into Kensington six weeks
previously. Alderman COOPER justified its intro-
duction on the old ground—the cry of "fire, fire;"
like that of "wolf, wolf," the cry may be raised
once too often. On the other hand, Mr. DUNCAN
assigned the want of water for brewers and
others at the north end as his justification for '
thus clandestinely, and without even acquainting
his own committee, taking upon himself to
supply the town with water disgustingly offen-
sive to all who received it. Whether the reasons ,
assigned by the Chairman or the engineer are

true or not, or which version is nearest the truth,
we shall not stop to enquire, but we beg these
worthies to tell the Council and the town how
it happened that there should be such a s.carcity
of water at the time named. In the sum-
mers of 1847 and 1848, when .the quantity
of water actually supplied to the town did not
exceed 20,000,000 gallons per week, there was
an abundance for all purposes. The consumers
were all satisfied with an 'ample daily supply.
There were no complaints whatever on the score
of supply. There was abundance for shipping,
for baths, and all sanitary purposes, and the
mains were kept constantly charged at high
pressure for extinguishing fires. Notwithstand-
' ing all this, there was still a very large surplus
stock of water left in all the lodgments on Satur.
day nights. And we again repeat our question,
if all this was done, even during the summer
months of 1847, with 20,000,000 gallons, how
comes it now, that, with an acki:Pwledged yield
of 45,000,000 gallons per week, this oute-;7 of
want of water should be raised, even in the depth
of winter P Has the population doubled in the
interim ? Assuredly 'not. Then, what has
become of the water ? If certain servants of the
Water Committee dared but to tell the truth,
the public would not remain long ignorant on
this Point; but they dare not. Such has been
the system of intimidation pursued in these
works, that the poor creatures dare not mention
a single occurrence, however gross, of which they
may be cognisant; in fact, they are led to believe
that they are only consulting their own interests
when doing all in their power to depreciate the
yield of the wells in every possible way, and,
unfortunately, the conduct of the Water Com-
mittee has afforded these poor men too good
grounds for this belief.
It ought to be borne in mind, at the present
moment more especially, that, in 1848, a most
determined effort was made by the officials, at
that time in charge of the Waterworks, to put
the town on a short allowance of water, at a
time when there was abundance to give, and
when the necessity for it was urgent in the ex-
treme. This proceeding was denounced by one
of the servants of the Water Committee, and the
matter having been taken up warmly 'by the
Press, an investigation was. instituted, and it was
clearly proved that the cry raised of scarcity
was a mere pretext—that millions of gallons
were being pumped: to waste, down sewers and
through broken pipes, in order that the water.
from the wells might be got rid of, and the
necessity for prosecuting the Pike scheme ren.
dered thus more apparent.
We have good grounds for inclining to the
belief that the policy which dictated these
proceedings has predominated even in later
years. And for the same reasons we again repeat
the question: Why, with a supply of forty-five
million gallons per week to a population of
400,000 people, there should be any scarcity of
water felt, and how is this large• supply appro-
priated ? Assuredly not fairly. Forty-five mil-
lion- gallons per week is just 61 millions per
diem, or upwards of sixteen gallons per head to
each inhabitant. And as all experience has
proved that the actual consumption of water for
all domestic purposes whatever is under five
gallons, in fact in most cases under three, we
would-ask what becomes of the residue ? The
quantity used for baths, wash-houses, the supply
of shipping, • and manufacturing purposes,'
although large, will not account for one-fourth of
the surplus ; and we again ask, what becomes of
it ? And we cannot, under all the circumstances,
do otherwise than repeat our own conviction, that
the game of 1848 is being played out in 1857 ;-
and we shall entertain that conviction until con-
vinced to the contrary by something more than
mere assertion unsupported by proof.

PRESENTATION OF PLATE TO COLONEL THE HON. HENRY
BOYLE BERNARD.—Monday being the anniversary of the
embodiment of the regiment., a deputation of. the officers
of the South Cork Light Infantry met at the Imperial
Hotel, to present to their colonel, the Hon H. 8.-Bernard,
a piece of plate, consisting of two handsome claret jugs
and stands, bearing the following insc-ription :—"Presented
to Colonel the Hon. Henry Boyle Bernard, commanding
87th South Cork Light Infantry, by the officers of his
regiment, as a sincere token of their esteem and regard.
Cork, February 2, 1857." The anniversary dinner of the
officers of the regiment took place in the evening, at the
Imperial Hotel.
BANQUET TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE FUROPEAN AND
AMERICAN STEAM SHIP COMpANY.—At Southampton, a
banquet was given, on Thursday, by the above company on
board their fplendid steam ship the Golden Fleece; Mr.
Croskey, of the firm of Croskey and Co., in the chair.
Among those present were R. W. Crawford, Esq , chair-
man of the new company, T. M. Weguelin, Esq., the Hon.
Sir Edward Butler, two of the candidates for the borough,
and Captain Weguelin, Captain Engledne, Capt. Christian,
and Captain Brooks, of the Peninsuiar and Oriental Com-
pany, Captain Higgins, of the Ocean Steam Company. 0.
Hedger, E q., and several other gentlemen enmeated with
the shipping interest of the port. At two o'clock, on the
directors of the new company reaching the deck of the
Golden Fleece,.the new.flag of the company floated in the
breeza; and simultaneously a salute from the battery on
the platform was fired in hononr of the event. About two
hundred "gentlemen were present. The principal toasts
wee "The Queen," the "President of the United States,"
" &wee:A to the European and American Steam Shipping
Company," the " Health of the Chairman and the Direc-
tors," &c. &e. The toasts were given and re'ponded to in
an able manner, and everything passed off with the greatest
eclat. -

SUICIDE AT A ROM I.N CATIIILIC CONVENT.-0n Wednes-
day afternoon Mr. Wakley held an inquest, in the school-
room of the Roman Catholic Convent, o.ldogan Terrace,
Sloane Square, Chelsea, respecting the death of a young
girl, 'named Mary Read, aged 18 years Mrs. Theresa
Watkins stated that she was the " mother superior" of the
establishment, and that the deceased had been there three
years. Witnes3 was present at her death. She then asked
deceased what she had taken, and the latter replied, " salts
of sorrel" .(oxalic acid) She was then asked why she had
taken it, and she answered,." I wished to leave the world."
Same other questions followed, and she made no answer,
but ,began retelling violently, and afterwards became
insensible.. Witness.sent at _once for .medical assistance,
and Mr. Treyan, surgeon, of Chesham street, Eaton Square,
attended almost immediately, Mr. Irelande, the druggist at
whose shop the poison had been purchased, having preceded
him. Mr. Irelande, of 12, Hasley Terrace, opposite the
convent, stated that the deceased purchased the poison from
him, at his shop, on the morning in question. She•had an
ounce, saying that she wanted to take stains out of linen
with it. He remarked upon' the largeness of the quantity,
and she said she had a 'great deal of work to do. He asked
her if She knew that it was poison, and she replied that she
.did, because she had used it before a great many times. He
then gave it to her, and wrote "poison" in large letters
upon the paper. She seemed rational enough at the time.
The coroner examined a pupil teacher, in the absence of the
authorities of the school, as to treatment and complaints of
herself and the deceased, and the answers were deemed
perfectly satisfactory by the jury. The coroner regretted
that people should neglect calling in medical assistance to
complaints of the head until too late ; and after summing
up the evidence, a verdict was returned to the effect that
the poor girl had committed suicide when in a state of )
insanity.