Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-20 00:00:00

case was
ady to hear
SENSIBLE LITIGANTS.—In a village near Yvetot,
'.iaust as that
functionaryt o somebe timeargube
dahcakd before((g vyesnt
the
eoi
egebee
tldlhe/ ea
trebarrietzwhao
s<n'sde:e
the particulars, the defendant, a pretty young female,
entered. On seeingher, the plaintiff rose and said—
" Mademoiselle, I have not the courage to plead against
you, and am sorry to have given you the trouble to come •
here. I abandon the case, and will pay all the costs.
Deign to abeept my arm." The proposltion was ac-
cepted. The acquaintance thus commenced has produced
its fruits, as three days back the banns of marnage be-
tween the two were duly published.
VISIT OF A COUNTRYWOMAN TO LONDON.—A_ few
days since an elderly lady from the Vale of Holmesdale •
started on a visit to some friends in London. On leaving
the station at London-bridge she placed herself in the
'bus, having a small basket in her lap, Containing two
dozen new-laid eggs, a,present for her friends. Passing
through the city,' "Hold hard, Bill," cried the conductor,
and in came a jolly fat old gentleman, who, with much
difficulty, navigated his way to a vacant seat, but in
so doing on went the omnibus, and down went the
gouty gent, squash. Luckily the eggs were perfectly
fresh. "Oh dear, oh dear, you great brute, see what
you have done ; let me get out, let me get out ! "
screamed the old lady. The conductor opened the door
for her to alight, but Mrs. B. incautiously stood upon
the steps while she received her change, when on went
the vehicle and down went she in the mud, but is as not
hurt, only ruffled a little in temper, and much dirtier
in appearance. However, she scrambled up and trotted
away. On arriving at her friends, she discovered that
her pocket had been picked, and she was penniless, ex-
claiming, " Well, I've had plagues enough for one day."
—Dover Chronicle.

FEARFUL HOMICIDE AT ATHLONE.-ATHLONE, SA-
TURDAY NIGHT, TEN o'CLocx.—A most brutal homicide
(says Saunders' .7a,urnal) has been perpetrated within
the last hour upon the bridge of this town. The
following are the particulars :—Patrick Lyons, the
unfortunate deceased, a " ganger " on the North-
western Railway, and left his work this evening at the
usual hour, accompanied by his brother and a fellow
workman named Nevin, at whose solicitation they
went to a public-house and had some drink. They
were joined by two men, named Kieran Egan and
Henry Darby ; and an altercation ensued, in which
threats to have satisfaction for some previous quarrel
were muttered by Darby. Egan and Dar by then left the
house. In a few minutes they were followed by Lyons
and his brother, who midway on the bridge met Egan
and Darby returning, when the latter drew from
under his coat a weapon, shaped like a hurdle,
and struck deceased on the head, smashing his
skull, and scattering his brains on the pavement.
Death was instantaneous, and a cry of " Murder !"
was raised. The police followed quick on the track
of the assailant, and arrested Darby in a field at
the back of the town. The bludgeon with which he
committed the deed was found within a few paces of
where he lay. Egan was also discovered in a ditch close
by. Darby is a strong, thick-set man, with arm and
muscle to fell an ox ; and it is said by a bystander that
when he knocked down the deceased, he jumped on the
body and gave a yell for "Tipperary !" The body was
at once conveyed to the police barracks. Dr. Hethering—
ton was in attendance, but nothing could be done to
restore animation, as the skull was literally cloven in
two. Deceased was a widower, and leaves two orphans

BANK FORGERIES.—CAUTION.—Sir James Duke, as
one of the directors on duty at the London Joint Stock
Bank, attended at the Guildhall Police Court on Tues-
day, for the purpose of drawing attention to a new
system of forgery and fraud which was being carried
on to a very considerable extent at the 'West-end,
with 'a view to caution the public, and put them on
their guard against such nefarious practices. The sys-
tem which the directors were so anxious to check was
one vary much calculated to deceive, and the, mode
of operation was that of obtaining a blank cheque-
book in the name of some customer of the bank, and
filling up the cheques for small amounts of £5 or £6
each, which they presented at various newspaper offices
in payment for one or two insertions of advertisements
cut from any newspaper ; and as the cheques were
signed with the names of persons well known
to the public, no difficulty was experienced in
obtaining change for the cheques in cash, In one
instance, a cheque-book, containing 100 cheques, was
obtained of the London Joint-Stock Bank upon a forged
order only a short time ago, and in one day as many as
four cheques which had been passed in that manner
had been presented at the bank for payment not one of
the persons whose names were forged to the cheques
being customers of that bank. One cheque was signed
in the name of "Edwin Smith and C 0.," another in that
of " Savory and C 0.," and, doubtless, the remaining 96
blank cheques would be filled in with the names of
other persons equally well known. lie (Sir James
Duke), and his brother directors, however, considered
that the most effectual means of preventing the circu-
lation of these cheques was that of publicity, and they
trusted that this exposure would have its effect among
that class of persons most likely to be victimised.

ASSESSMENT OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.—
On Tuesday the long-pending dispute between the Great
Western Railway Company and the local authorities of
Paddington, was brought to an amicable adjustment
at a meeting of the vestry of that parish, held at the
Vestry Hall, Harrow-road, the Rev. Archibald Boyle,
the rector, in the chair. It will be remembered that
about a fortnight since, when the subject was before the
Paddington vestry, reports were presented, showing an
extraordinary discrepancy between the rateable value
put upon the line by Mr. Penfold and others employed
on behalf of the parish, and the surveyors employed by
the company, the former maintaining that the rateable
value of the property in the parish of Paddington was
over £30,000, whilst the latter only estimated its rateable
settle
11tIr. . e C. i
sp A. t
e,
the Saunders,
directors
the
value at £14,000. As a medium course, an intima-
tion was made that the directors of the Great Western
Company would consent to an assessment of £20,000 ;
but as that proposal was not made in an official manner,
the proceedings were adjourned. Yesterday, a commu-
nication
iasn orderreceived to
from
h secretary of the Great Western Company, stating offi-
cially that
would submit to an assessment of the line and property
of the Great
w
Western Company, in the parish of
Paddington, at £20,000 per annum. Mr. Price,
who had made the ofer on the part of the com-
pany, at the previous meeting, moved that the
proposal be accepted, and that the assessment of
the property of the Great Western Company, in the
parish of Paddington, be fixed at £20,000, which he con-
sidered just and equitable. The motion having. been
seconded, Mr. Bowles, in its support, and when it was
considered, after seizing the carriages of the Londono
and North-Western Company by the parish„l
Pancras, their assessment was fixed, after I,nufe.
litiga-
tion by the judges, at £21,000 in that parisolfrt.nimsoproc-
posal was most fair. In order to show this iv.l •
entered into the following interesting statistics,._ showing
the relative position of the two compFues the parishes
of St. Pancras and Paddington Paddington the
Great Western occupied seventy-one acres of land; in St.
Noeh-Western occupied 107 acres. Great
Pancras the • ,
Western length of rail, 1 mile 1 iuriong; North-Western,
1 mile 3 furlongs. P
Ca ital—Great Western, £28,000,000;
,
North-,
Western £37,800,000. Revenue—Great Wes-
tern,
£1 189,000 ; North-Western, £3,500,000. Ex-
penses—Great Western, £812,000; North-Western
£1,773,000. General and preference charges—Great
Western, £1,715,000 ; North-Western, £2,462,000.
Balance available for dividends—Great Western
£103,000 ; North-Western, £1,104,000.
These com-
parisons, he contended, showed that the proposed
£20,000 on the Great Western Company was a fair
assessment. The resolution assessing the Great Western
Railway Company at £20,000 per annum, was carried
with but three dissentients.