Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-13 00:00:00

velocity, and the fore would undoubtedly be cooler than the
after stoke-hole. Pugh, the head fireman, whose evidence
is to be preferred to Wilson.'s, who (having been in irons,
may have borne malice) certifies to this, and that he was
straightening bars for one ;lour in it, with 3fitchell assisting
him, these bars having to. be heated in the furnace, their
ends projecting, would prevent the doors being shut.. It is
also in evidence that the old and sick man sat voluntarily in
the fore stoke-hole, immediately behind the ladder to which.
the deceased was tied. Can there be a doubt that 'the tem-
perature has been greatly exaggerated? Lander was to be
placed in what, I contend, was the coolest place in the
stoke-hole ; he -would be right in the currrent of air
descending from the hatchway to supply the fires, and
immediately in. front of the passage between the boilers,
through which there would also be a current towards the
engine-room. Had I been engineer of the ship, I would
have insisted en there being one man at least, no matter
what the hest, at all times in the stoke-hole. This I deem
necessary to meet contingencies, and is the practice in all
such ships. Flogging is resorted to in eur army and navy
it is considered, and properly so, the most odious and, de-
grading cif all punishments. Had it been put to the vote of
the wholecrew, whether this man should be flogged, or tied
to the ladder in the stoke-hole, I will stake my existence
the latter would have been preferred without a discontented
voice. Ido not advance this, thinking the case required
either, but to show that flogging, legalised in our navy, is
deemed a more severe punishment than the one resorted to.
Had 13nclmnan ordered Mitchell to throw the man over-
board, he, knowing that death would certainly result, if he
had thought his superior serious, would have refused with
indignation; but here there was not only no such certainty,
butevery reason to feel that no permanent injury even would
ensue. So thinking, Mitchell carried out the order,
Buthannan's power to give which he had no right to
question, and should stand exculpated ; if he be not, why
are the two men—the one who assisted in getting the
deceased below, and the other who brought the rope
(willingly, I dare assert), without which he could not have
been tied—not in the dock, instead of the witness-box ?
They were obeying orders, as it has been ruled, illegally
given ; and, by the same reasoning, are parties to
the crime. It is inconceivable to me, that, had any of the
witnesses to the proceeding, and there must have been
many, deemed the punishment more than could be borne,
they should not have brought it under the notice of the
captain or some of the officers who would ; it was done
openly, and the distances on board ship are very circum-
scribed.

The learned Judge remarks with great severity on
Mitchell, for not cutting the man down immediately on
finding him in a state of collapse, (though, as it does not
appear there was sufficient assistance to take him on deck,
he might not have been in a batter position lying on the
flooring plates, rendered hotter than the stoke-hole by con-
duction) ; what must he think of the fireman Wilson,
admitted as a tallness, who, after noticing his condition,
actually pushed him away with his legs, and completed the
operation of fireing, before reporting to Mitchell, who, he
acknowledges might have been, and who Pugh asserts was,
in the after stoke-hole at the time, assisting him to
straighten bars, probably out of view and hearing also, for
the operation is attended with great noise ?
In heart-disease physicians strongly impress on their
patients the necessity of guarding against any excitement ;
what punishment would he deserve, who, ignorant of the
existence of the disease, should be the means, from what-
ever cause, of producing excitement resulting in death ;
if such a case has never occurred, it is a possible one.
Read in last week's papers the report of the inquest, so far
as it has gone, on the boy Marsden, on board the Akbar,
whose death, under circumstances strongly analogous, would
almut seem to be providentially intended to illustrate this
very case, and teach us how widely erring human judg-
ment is.

It may be expected that I should give some opinion how
death resulted in this unfortunate case. I firmly believe
that Landor had some organic disease of which no one on
board the ship knew, but which the excitement, consequent
on being punished, and the heat, hastened to a crisis,
resulting in death. So strongly do I feel that a healthy
man would have received no injury, I would willingly, were
the thing possible, submit to be tied up in the same place,
for the same length of time, and under the same circum-
stances of heat, &a., simply to show that neither of the
engineers (whom, by the way, I do not know) could have
anticipated, far less intended, even bodily harm, and that
neither (but certainly not Mitchell) is guilty of manslaughter.
Should exception be taken to anything I have herein
advanced, on the ground that it is mere assertion, I have
only to say that it has to support it the honest experience
of thirteen years, in similar steamers, as a
Liverpool, April 11, 1859. CHIEF ENGINEER.

MR. KEAN BUCHANAN'S " HAMLET."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.

Sir,—ln your criticism on Mr. Kean Buchanan, in
to-day's paper, you mention, among other things,
" that the grave scene, in particular, you thought
heavy and inert." Now, it so happens that Mr.
Buchanan had risen from a sick-bed, to which he
had been confined with an attack of rheumatic gout in
his foot, to come and act Hamlet, one of the most
arduous of the tragedies of Shakespeare. The fact
of his illness had been duly announced before the
performance began, and the usual indulgence craved.
As regards the grave scene, one of the actors acci-
dentally struck his foot, which must have caused
him fearful pain, as he was speechless for fully
three minutes.

I quite agree with you, he is by no means a good
actor, but let us see him fairly before we criticise.—
I rernaiin sir, yours, &c.
Liverpool, April 12, 1859.

TIME BALLS, TO ENABLE MASTERS OF
SHIPS LYING IN THE RIVER TO REGU-
LATE CHRONOMETERS.
The Secretary of the Mercantile Marine Service
Association has favoured us with the following com-
munication received by him from the Mersey Docks
and Harbour Board :
" Secretary's Office, Liverpool,
11th April, 1859.
" Sir,—Referring to y our note, dated sth instant,
I beg to inform you that the Mersey Docks and
Harbour Board have decided that two Time Balls
shall be placed in elevated positions along the line
of docks, viz., one on the summit of Victoria Tower,
and one on the south-west corner of Albert Dock
warehouses.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
" RICHD. P. AUSTIN, pro Secretary.
" Benjamin J. Thomson, Esq., 20, Water-street,
Sec. Mercantile Marine Service Association."

"Have you no shame, sir?" "No, neither of us has
any—you because you
.have no sense of shame, and I
because I never do anything to be ashamed of. "
" I declare," said Brown to Robinson, "I never knew
a flatter companion than yourself." " Ah, my friend, " said
Robinson, " all the world knows you are a flatter-er 1"
Lord Derby having been asked why he did not confer the
order of the Thistle upon the Earl of Fife, his lordship
remarked that the noble Thane• was " such a ass he'd
eat it. "

Voltaire had a perfect horror of inquisitive persons.
Ire said to one, " Sir' I am delighted to see you, but I give
you fair warning, I know nothing of what you are going
to ask me. "

I put outside my window a large bnx, filled it with mould,
and sowed:it with seed. What do you think came up ?
Wheat, barley, or oats ? ---No, a policeman, who ordered
m© to remove it.

it's honest folks were at home. " Well,
going, for time
" Come, Bill it's ten o'clock •, I think we had better be
yes, " was the reply ; " I must be off, but you needn't go
on that account. "
CLUSTERED CONS —Why is half a dinner like "a Count-
out " of the Lower House ? Because its short commons !
Why is Lord Overstone like bell metal ? Because he's a
Lloyd (alloyed) with tin.—What is that which every one
can divide, but no one can see where it has been divided ?
Water. Why can't a deaf man be legally convicted ?
Because it is not lawful to condemn a man without hearing.
—A common domestic clock, " a kitchener," having run
,Tones, with unblushing effroutery, observed, that it
had co down,
untimely end t
to an

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