Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-25 00:00:00

LIVERMOL. POLICE ,-INTEIILIGENtE—SArtaImy.
BEFORE MR. PRESTON.

" Two TO 0 'Gormley,' a 'fireman on board
one. oftehe Glasgow 'boats' was charged by police-offieet 704
with.;beinst drunk and disorderly, anti also with shaving
a.ssautted. him. The officer said he sate the prisoner rolling
about James-street 'very, drunk, abort a quarter :to 1I
ie'ekr,k the previous night. He was':: raking a great noise,
and witness told him to depart and keep quiet, when he up
With his right hand, awl gave him et, blow on the ;left jaw
'aid ear, and knocked him down. When he got ten; the
priSoner again drew his left ha.nd,,and gave him another on
the right ear, in miler to keep the left one company, and
dawn he -went: a 'second time. When he got up, the
prisoner again made,* him, but le drew his staff, and gave
him " one " the arm, so liis arm dropped. Not so,
however, the other arm ; for he-gave him another blow, and
down he went ag:ain. The officer then hit him on the head
with his staff, and captured him. Mr. Cobb (for the.
prisoner) : - Did -you see a 'woman there ? No. Did you
see two men there? No. Mr. Cobb said his client came
out of a public-house, whew Le observed two Inen.beatitig a'
woman, and,, .of course, he couldenot stand that, and .he.
interfered, when one of the men knocked him down, and,
on getting -dap, he' happened td 'strike the policeman,'
thinking he was .one of the men who struck him e but. it
seemed he had run away. He trusted that as the man had
received severe cuts in the head from the policeman's. stick,.
his Worship would think, it sufficient punishment.' The'
prisoner was fined 10s. and costs, which he -paid.
A FEARTUL SHARE.—A splendid-looking young, man,:
about..six feet four' hitches high. who gave the name of
George HenryJohnstone of Allerton Hall, was charged by
Inspector Thomas Smith with having assaulted him. The
inspectoreeaid : At twelve lastaight I was.en duty in Lime-
street, and went into Derry's supper rooms, where there
Was a great number eof people; men and women. The
prisoner was there also. Some of them emid, "Well, Mr.-"
Bobby, is this yew ?"'" Others said, " Ile is a policeman
on duty, and ho has no right to be-insulted." Some"
of the people there -were drunk, and cautioned Mrs.
Derry lboet them, and said if she ventinued to har-e
bour them, I would lay an information against her.
I then crossed -over towards the Adelphi
when the prisoner ran after me, seized ere by the' breast,'
and shook me violently, saying, "If you go back and,
make eel apology to;the lady, I will shake you out of your:
shoes," and then lie shook me again. 'Cross-examined by
Mr. Cobb (for the prisoner) : Was lie svery drunk ? No,
not very drank ; he could walk and talk. Mr. Cobb : He
merely wanted, yoleto.go back to the lady ; he was only in
joke ;to protect her, as it .were ? Inspector : I don't know
that ; her husband is in gaol, as he was one of the fellowi
-sent to gaol the other day by the Recorder. He tore the .
buttons off my coat, but did not hurt me. Mr. Cobb :
Don't you think it was done.in joke, more than anything
else? Well, I don't know exactly, but I was not hurt..
Inspector Tobin said': I was along with Smith all the '
time, and I saw all he states. Mr. Cobb said his client
was extremely sorry for what had happened, and expressed,
'through him, his great regret. He had had too much wine,
and itd it merely en joke. He had been in prison all night,
and that was some punishment. .His Worship regretted to
see a gentleman in such a position, but he would deal with
him as he would with any other person, and fine him
'The fine was at once paid.
.4‘ A JOLLY BEGGAR."—A stout -" old buffer," named
Thomas Farrell, was brought up by officer 417, who said,
at one o'clock on Good Friday he got him begging from
door to door in Pointon-street. On .searching him at the
station, he found six sovereigns, six shillings in silver, and
six shillings and sixpence in copper, on him. He said the
prisoner made a great deal of money begging about houses
of fame,. and it was supppoied that he had a great deal
of money at some place or other. The prisoner, in answer to
the magistrate, said, I. am 40 years in :Liverpool; and never
was before a magistrate till now. He was sent to jail for
three months with hard labour, and the cost of his support
to be deducted from the money found on him. The "old
buffer " nearly -fainted.
CURIOUS CASE UNDER THE NEW YRAUDULENT TRUSTEE '
Act. —A young woman, named Sarah Cross, a person of ill
repute, was charged with having stolen £1 5s from a sailor,
named John Ashe. Mr. Bluck was for.the prisoner. The
complainant said he gave the money to theprisoner to keep
for him, andin the morning she denied having had it. Mr.
Bluek argued that it was not a stealing under the circum-
stances. -'His 'Worship said he would take it under the
Fraudulent Trustee Act. Mr. Bluck said, that act never
contemplated such a case as the present. The prisoner was
remanded, to have the point considered.
Edward Robinson, alias Kendall, was brought up by
detective officer Patrick, on a charge of having stolen £5O
from a cattle-dealer in' Carlisle. The details of this case
appeared 'in our paper of Friday. The prisoner was
transmitted to Carlisle to answer the charge.

NO SIIIP SHOULD GO TO SEA without one of Saunders
find Co.'s Patent Self-cleansing Charcoal Filters, cased and
atted-up expressly for use on board ship. Note the address,
SAUNDERS & CO, 16, Parker-street, Liverpool.
Were emery man to sum up his own case as impartially as
he does that of his neighbour, he would in all probability
come to the conclusion that he knows enough of others to
be certain that he has enemies, and enough of himself to be
as certain that he deserves them.

EXTRAORDINARY AND USEFUL INVENTION.—There 1S
nothing that housewives complain of with greater truthful-
ness, than the breaking of some favourite piece of glass,
valuable china, or earthenware. In hundreds of eases such
things cannot be matched, and of course cannot be mended.
The latter want has been obviated by an extraordinary and
effective invention, by Mr. Adshead, of Derby Pottery, near
Derby. It is a cement that may be said to heal, in a per-
fect manner, all cracks and breaks in the articles spoken of ,
and not only in these, but in marble, alabaster, &c. The
benefit of this article need not be dwelt on. We have seen
some of its effects at Mr. Hall's, our neighbour's, and the
glass that has been cemented by it is stronger in that part
than in any other. The article is very cheap, and no house
can be long without it. .Mr. Hall is the agent for its sale
in Liverpool, and all interested can judge for themselves by
looking in at his establishment. Agent for Liverpool, E.
T. Hall, 23, South John-street. Sold in bottles, is each,
or sent free on receipt of sixteen postage stamps. N.B.—
None are genuine, except bearing the signature, "E. T.
Hall."

THE BISHOP OF EXETER ON " Sciusm."—The Rev. J.
tE. Gladstone, formerly a clergyman of the Church of
England, but now the minister of a Free Church, at St.
Mary Church, near Torquay, wrote to the Bishop of
Exeter a few days ago, informing him that " two youths at
school in the parish wished to receive confirmation at the
forthcoming opportunity. Their parents were members
of-the Church of England, and when at home attended their
parish church:" " Your lordship is aware," continued the
rev. gentleman, "that there exists a strollg impression
that ;in the parish church of this place doctrines and
practices are taught and maintained more in accordance
with _those of the Church of Rome than of the Church
of England. On this account many sincere members
of the Church are compelled by conscientious feelings
to absent themselves from the church of the parish.
By ;heir parents' wish, these two boys have done so,
and have attended at' the Free Church. They have
applied to the vicar to be =rained that the.y may
be confirmekl. He has refused to receive them, unless they
promise to attend henceforth at the parish church. At this
' parish church they will not; at their etvn, when they return
.home, they Will. I beg to ask your lordship whether, under
these circumstances, they are to be denied participation in
the rite." To;this communication the Bishop, through 'is
chaplain, the 'rev. Reginald Barnes, replied as follows :—" I
am directed' y the Bisop of Exeter, ih answer to your letter
of the Bth inst., to inform you that your ministry being;
manifestly sclosmatical, the Bishop cannel, admit to confir-
mation any candidate who has been under your ministry,
unless he is first brought to see and acknowledge the sin
which he has committed, and promise before God, and in
(faithful reliance en His aid; to renounce it for the future."
To this letter Mr. Gladstone replied as follows It is very
.well for me and those v,!ho think with me that the voice of
,the Bishop of Exeter is not the voice of God,' that his say-
ing my ministry is manifestly schismatical,' .does not
prove it to be so. It is also well that all the bishops,
clergy, and members of the Church do not agree of necessity
with -him, for my own daughter Las within the last few
months been prepared for coufirmation by a canon of .one of
our cathedrals, and confirmed by one of the bishops of the
church, after having. received the religious instruction of
her life .from myself. Pee sit me to add that by such a
course as ,this, the bishop doe; not, and cannot, prevent per-
Sons f,rera reeeiving confirmation, but sends them to other
diocesses for that purpose ; and I commend to him and yeti
the consideration that it is rather your duty to endeavour
to win persons .back from schism than to ?harden them in it.
I shall ta,ke permission in the last place to tell you, that
that which the Bishop calls 'schism' was -not caused in this
parish by me, but by Mr. Maskell and his proceedings; that
Mr. Maskell afterwards became honestly a Papist, that the
schism is perpetuated and strengthened by those who hold
Mr. Maskell's principlw without Mr. Maskell's honesty;
and that I am preaching without the Bishop's lieense, in
spite of a sentence of the Arches' Court, which forbids me
doing so in 'the diocess of London and the province of
Canterbury ; and Ido so beesase I believe it to be right to
obey Goa. rather than man.' I believe the Bishop has as
much power over me as over any clergyman in his dioeess,
that I am as much a priest as any of his clergy, and being
as he thinks contumacious he has only to move the Arches'
Court
.to issue a monition to carry out their own sentence,
and
and v‘
sc-latnhdotail, t tarniadl
lam guiltyissue.itmustof and am
Ifsehismsubpo
epsrotng othersgireatasin
in it, is it not the Bishop's duty either to try to teach me
better, or stop me by the power
which .
asi Bishop he pozsesses ?
Will be 40 so?" The above correspondence
t.cemal
ways rcehaudrbchy :Mr,
Gladstone at a publie meeting held
,

EXAMINATION OF THE TWO FOREIGN -
PROCITRESSES.
At the Hull 'borough police court, on Wednesday, the
two German 'women, named Mary Catherine Margaret
Hamann, apparently about 28 'years of 'age, and Mary
Schwartz, about 50, were brought up before T. IL Travis,
Esq., charged with illegally procuring Mary Ann Ferguson
and Martha'Vernon, for the purposes of prostitution. The
following •evidence was adduced:--Mary Ann Ferguson.: I know Mary Catherine Margaret
Hamann. I saw her first lastsummer, being taken to her
by a gentleman. She asked me to go with her to Ham-
burgh as an unfortunate girl. I should have gone with
her, but a friend took me away, and I: promised to go-
with 'her afterwards. I next heard of her being in
Liverpool` last Sunday night. She had a room at a gay
house, 'kept by a Mrs. Berry. I "rent to her arid asked.
her 'if she would take me to •Hamburgh, as I 'did not
go last year. She said she was not going to take
girls this time, but told me to call next day,-as s'he saw I
was determined to go; I did so, and she said she would
take me, as I wished to go. She said she had two houses
in Hamburg. I understood 'her to mean two gay houses.
I loft Liverpool yesterday, in company with the two pri-
soners and Martha Vernon. I am not certain who paid
our fares. Neither I nor Vernon had .any money. For
the three days we were in 'Liverpool we had our meals at
Mrs. Berry's.. " Madame" (Hamann) always gave us
them. She did not find us with clothes. She gave me
this shawl to wear. I first saw Mary Schwartz on Monday
last, at Mrs. Berry's. She was with Madame Hamann,
but was not present when it was decided I should go; they
tame to Liverpool together. I told Vernon, who was my
'fellow-lodger, that I was going, and she went with me 'to
-see Madame Hamann, who agreed to take her, • after a
little persuasion. Schwartz was there. We came to Hall
via New Holland, and arrived here about half-past .one
-o'clock on Friday. We drove in a' cab to a house in the
town, and were to go early on Saturday morning to
Hamburgh. We were apprehended by the police about
eight o'clock on Friday night. I know 'that last summer
Madame Hamann came fer girls. 'I think she only got one'
girl, named Alice, who would then be about nineteen or
twenty. I am twenty years of age. Hamann said she
would dress us up and-keep us, but I don't know that any
arrangement was made about money. Hamann told me
that Alice had been taken away from Hamburgh by a
gentleman. She said there were four German girls in the
house she lived in. The other house was for English girls.
She said she only.intended to keep six together, and that
and Vernon were to have the other house to ourselves. She
said it was better for me to be at Hamburgh than at-Liver-
pool. She said nothing to me about walks, concerts; or
theatres, but she said she had music and dancing in her
house every night. The deposition of the Witness
was then read aver by Mr. Ayre, the magis-
trate's clerk, and translated to the prisoners by Mr.
Jacobson., In the course of it the prisoner Ha-
mann made the following statement. On coming
to the point where the witness said she had promised to go
to Germany with her the next time she was in England, the
prisoner said, " That was the reason I came." Respecting
the travelling expenses of the witness, the prisoner said she
"paid all," and had taken a dress out of pawn for the
witness, for which she had paid 2s. She also stated that
sloe came for girls to Liverpool last summer, and that the
" Alice " alluded to by the witness was a girl named Alice
Scott. She said she came over to England last year in
consequence of a letter which she received from " her agent"
in Liverpool (a person who was stated to have only one
arm,) and that she had had some unpleasantness with him
on the present occasion, because she would give him no
money, as the girls came to her of their own accord, and
the agent had been put to no trouble about them. She
wished to correct one statement. She did not tell the
witness that there would be music and dancing every night,
but they would be taken out to a dance on Sundays. She
believed the witness had told the truth, as far as she under-
stood it. Martha Vernon was then examined, but her
evidence was substantially the same as that of the other
witness. She said she was still willing to go to Germany
with the prisoners, and so was her companion. On the
evidence being completed, the prisoners did not deny the
charge, but Madame Hamann, in defence, stated that she
was "licensed" to keep a brothel at Hamburgh, and was
not aware that she had acted illegally in what she had done.
She entreated his 'Worship to deal mercifully with her, and
said if set at liberty she would never come to this country
for such a purpose again. Mr. Travis remanded the pri •
soners to Saturday, in order that further inquiries might be
made into the case. He stated that he would accept sub-
stantial bail. Ferguson and Vernon were then placed in
the dock, charged with being in company with the two
first-named prisoners for an unlawful purpose, and were also
remanded to Saturday.

The ocean of love is not always a Pacific ocean.
EPITAPH ON A COCKNEY.-Peace to hi,: hashes!

Qur.wrioN FOIL SURVEYORS.—Is a crazy, tenement a mad-
house?

A. pipe is like a quack medicine, it is nothing until it is
puffed.

No man is always wrong; a clock that does not go at all
is right twice in the 24 hours. •
The current coin of life is plain, sound sense. We drive
a more substantial and thriving trade with that than with
aught else.

There are many things that are thorns to our hopes until
we have attained them, and evenomed arrows to our heart
when we have.

That was a very singular mistake made by Digg,iat the
wedding, who, when introduced to the bride, wished that
she might enjoy many returns of the present happy occasion.
A SOUND INFEUENCE.—A gentleman remarking that he
had fallen asleep during a sermon preached by a bishop, a
wag observed "that it must have. been Bishop the ,com-
poser."
"The wicked don't live out half their days," said a good
man to his negro servant. " Dat is queer," said Cuffy.
" Him, no live out half his day ? Den I s'pose he did 'bout
'leben o'clock in de forenoon".

A farmer who had married a rich wife, after promising
another of meaner circumstances, endeavoured to palliate
his conduct to a clergyman, who told him it was so wrong
that he didn't know anything like it. "If you do not, I
do," says Hodge ; "It is like your leaving a poor parish for
:a rich one."
A certain Scotchman, who is not a member of tho
temperance society, being asked by a dealer to purchase
some fine old Jamaica rum, drily answered, "To tell you
the truth, sir, I canna say I'm verra fond o' rum; for if I
tak mair than sax. tumblers, it's very apt to gie a body the
head-ache."

M.A.m3foni Nnwsp.ti,F.a.—The latest effort at Yankee
snpremacy is in the newspaper line —the proprietor of the
Constellation, having promised to produce at the latter end
of March, or early in April, the largest newspaper the world
ever saw 1 The sheet will be three yards and two inches
long, and two yards wide.
ROLLING OFF A LOG.—An editor out west, being deser-
ted by his printers, who were " on strike," was compelled
to turn into the office himself. _ In his next.week's paper
appeared a graphic account of the circumstance, composed
by the editor's own fair fingers, concluding with the words,
—" Talk o,; tile sublime art of Printing! bleSs our soul ?
it's as eAsy es roLling off a La."
A Scimsiriric Toy.—A pretty toy has been invented by
Mr. Gorham, which he calls a.Kaleidoscopic Top. The idea
is to blend the primary colours by rapid motion,. and then
break them by an intervening card, cut into patterns.
Some beautiful affects are produced by the top. At first it
is rather complicated for a child, but grows easy .with use.
It is the sort of toy an indulgent schoolmaster will like to
exhibit to his boys on a holiday afternoon.
Coiiposmow SLEsr.---Lord Thurlow told his
nephew that " when yTung he read much at night, and that
ante, while at college, having been unable to complete a
particular line in a Latin poem he was compoSing, it rested
so .on his mind that he dreamed of it, completed it in his
sleep, wrote it out next morning, and received many
compliments on his classical and felicitous turn."—Lord
Campael;'s " Lives of the Lord Chancellors."
ANCIENT CANOE.—The loch which surrounds the ancient
castle of Closeburn is at present in course of being drained.
On Satmelay last the workmen employed in mating the
drains discovered an ancient canoe embedded aboitt three
feet deep in the moss forming the bed of the loch. The
canoe is of .oak, in an excellent •state of preservation,. save
that on one side a small extent of white wood is decayed.
It measures II feet in length, is 2 feet 4 in width within.,
and twenty inches deep. —Dumfries Courier. -
EIGHT CHILOHE:Y AT A BlRTH.—Abant five months since
the wife of Jacob 4.bbott, living about ten miles cast of
Golconda, in Pope .county, C.W., presented her husband
with eight pledges of affection at one birth. These.
children survived until six weeks old, when two of them
sickened and died. The remaining six are still living and
thriving finely. The whole eight were very small specimens
of humanity when ushered into the world, as might have
been expected. This statement is literally true ; it is
vouched for by numbers of respectable witnesses who saw
the children.—Lockport Journal. Literally true..--Gates-
head Observer.

THE GOLDEN Ros E.—" The Pope," says a letter from
Rome, "recently, in accordance with annual custom,
blessed what is called the "Golden Rose." This flower,
which is made of the purest gold, and ornamented with
precious stones, was rubbed with balm, and incensed,, his
Holiness reciting verses explaining the mystic meaning of
the benediction; after which he took it in his left hand and
blessed the people. Mass was then celebrated in .the
Sixtine Chapel. The gold roses are ordinarily sent to
female Sovereigns, sometimes to princes, and sometimes,
though rarely, to towns and corporations. The one of last
year was sent to the Empress of the 'ranch, and that of
the year Wen to the Queen of Spain."

GROSS, JOBBERY.
To THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TIDEWAITERS' CLOTHING

COMMITTEE.

Sir,- Your letter and mine are now before a dis-
cerning public, and I am content to leave it with
them, to say which of the two is most like what you
call a " rigmarole." Mine is =B, statement of facts,
which you are unable to gainsay. Evidently your
cause is bad to defend ; hence arises the Jesuitical
manner your reply is dictated in ; another fact will
confirm my previous statement, and that is, namely,
—the contract has been given to a house in this
town who are neither tailors, drapers, or outfitters,
hut, -as you -well know, ure wholesale clothiers,
and consequently no more eligible than myself,
according. to the construction you put upon
your advertisements. You state that it would be
unwise, for your reasons for so doing, to be .made
public. No -doubt it would, because publicity would
at once expose the rotten foundation upon which
they rest. For my own part, I believe the advantages
'of publicity far outweigh any • disadvantages arising
therefrom; and, as regards my samples being opened,
as you now say they were, allow me to ask you what
bUsiness had you to open them when you had decided
that I was ineligible; and also, again, I press you to
give me a straightforward answer to the question.
Why did you not state so when I applied for par-
ticulars, and not put me to the trouble which you
acknowled you did. Let your reasons for this
be stated, if you do not consider this
unwise also ; and as to the statement that my
samples were not the best, allow me to tell you that
it is mere assertion, and that founded upon ignorance,
as I can prove to the world that what I state is
correct, providing you had the manliness to accept
my challenge, which you very Jesuitically pass over,
without even noticing. I again repeat it; if you
are right, you have nothing to fear by a comparison
of samples ; and though you imagine that the public
have nothing to do with the question, what, may I
ask you (if my charge be correct), will they think
of Her Majesty's Custom-house Officers ? For
your comrades' sake, you ought to clear this
question up. 'Tis true, your assertions may
do amongst your intimate friends, but I
imagine they will be few in comparison with
the public, who are legion ; and, unless you throw
off that Jesuitical mode of reply, and answer my
questions fairly, depend upon it they will denounce
your committee's transaction what I have termed it
to be-- Grose Jobbery. . .

WILLIAM EVANS, 8, Pitt-street.

THE LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.

Sir,—Yesterday being a partial holiday, myself
and a few friends went to Garston, having ordered
dinner the clay previously at the Wellington Hotel.
After dinner, everythilig being conducted in the
most
.quiet and respectable manner, to my great
surprise, two policemen had the assurance to walk
up stairs, and, without the least intimation, open the
door, and walk into the room, and was very impu-
dent. I ask .you, Mr. Editor, if the liberty of the
subject is to be, infringed upon by such unworthy-
representatives of Government.—l am, yours respect-
fully, ' VINDEX.
Liverpool 23rd April, 1859.

THE BRUSSELS GREAT CATTLE SHOW. —Th e great
cattle show held at Brussels, on the 18th, attracted a large
crowd of spectators, notwithstanding the unfavourable state
of the weather, snow and sleet having fallen on that day.
The animals exhibited, 532 in number, were extremely
fine, being chiefly crosses of the Durham breed. Prizes
were adjudged to the amount of 2,800 f. for oxen, 850 f.
for heifers, 375 f. for sheep, and 400 f. for pigs, besides 18
silver medals.
SENTENCE OF DEATH ON A GENERAL FOR POISONING.—
The Criminal Court Of the Hague has delivered its
judgment in the case of General Gunckel, accused of
poisoning his mistress. The jndnment, which was of great
length, declared unfounded the plea of insanity raised on
behalf of the prisoner, and condemned him to death by
hanging; the execution to take place at the Hague. The
General manifested no emotion on heal ing the sentence.
The court was crowded to excess, chiefly by personages of
distinction.

SCOTCH REPRESENTATIVE PEERAGE.—At the customary
election of 16 representative peers for Scotland, which
will be held at Holyrood-palace, shortly after Easter, there
will be three vacancies to fill up, even if the other 13 should
be all re-elected as a matter of course. Two vacancies are
occasioned by the bestowal of the English barony of
Strathspey on the Earl of Seafield, and the intended grant
of a similar honour to Lord Elphinstone, as already an-
nounced by Lord Derby in his place in Parliament. The
third vacancy will arise from the retirement of Lord
Sinclair, who has long been the senior representative
peer, and who has nearly completed the 91st year of his
age, and is the oldest member of the Upper House, with the
single exception of Lord St. Vincent. We understand that
the Earls of Haddington and Morton and Lord Saltoun
have announced themselves as candidates for the expected
and actual vacancies. It is remarkable that the late Earl
of Morton, and also the late Lord Saulton, were for some
time representative peers for Scotland, while the late Earl
of Haddingtou held a seat in the House of Lords in virtue
of his English Barony of Melrose, which did not descend
with the Scottish earldom to his kinsman and successor.
The three new candidates for seats in the Legislature are all
supporters of the present government.

NEW ACT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CONVICT PRISONS.
—A new law was passed on the prorogation day of the late
session for the management of convict prisons abroad. The
governor of a colony where a convict prison is established,
by virtue of his office, is to have the same power as the
visiting justices in England, or the director of convict prisons
in England, and the same powers are to be exercised by
visitors appointed by the governor, with the sanction of the
Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may appoint
(and remove at his pleasure) a comptroller, or super-
intendent, or a deputy ; also a chaplain and surgeon,
and assistant chaplains and assistant surgeons. Subor-
dinate officers may be appointed and removed.
A governor is empowered to suspend the chief
officers until the pleasure of the Secretary of State is ascer-
tained. The Secretary of State is also empowered to make
regulations for the good government of the prisons, to pre-
vent the introduction of spirits and prohibited articles of
food. No convict is to be discharged who is labouring
under any acute distemper, unless at his own desire. Every
term of penal servitude is to commence from the expiration
of any unexpired term. Offences under the act are to he
tried according to the law of the colony. Returns are to be
made, and to be laid before Parliameat. The Act is to
apply to Bermuda and Gibraltar, and to any place hereafter
appointed for the confinement of offenders, and the keeping
of them to hard labour.

GUN MAKING AT WOOLWICH ARSENAL —Of the inumer-
able experiments tried during the last two years at Wool-
wich Arsenal for the purpose of ascertaining the best way to
make large guns, one good thing has come, at all 'events—
the authorities and ourselves know the proper kinds of iron
to use for the purpose. Failures there may have been in the
subsequent stages of manipulation, but many guns were
certainly cast of the best possible admixture of metal for the
purpose. So long back as 1356 ironmasters and others
were invited by public advertisement to send to that estab-
lishment samples of the iron they could confidently recom-
mend for this particular branch of 'manufacture. Fifty
samples came on this invitation. These were subjected to
tests chemical and mechanical in the first instance, and
selections were made from them. The result of these
primary experiments demonstrated what has sub-
sequently been completely confirmed—that English cold
blast pia iron is quite equal in purity and strength to
the bulk of foreign iron. Northerton and Parkhead were
found in these early trials indeed to be far superior to East
Indian or Nova Scotian. Swedish grey occasionally proved
of very superior character, but generally it seemed extremely
hard, and it could not be used, therefore, safely in the com-
position of guns. The impurities sought for in the chemical
testing of the iron were silicon, sulphur, and, phosphorus,
and if these existed in quantities larger than 1.5 per cent.
of the first, .05 of the second, or .5 of the third, the iron
was uniformly rejected. The mechanical tests were
applied to ascertain the tensile and transverse strength
of the material when cast into bars. Its specific gravny
was also taken into account. Without going further into
detail, however, upon this interesting subject at present,
it may be stated,—and there is some satisfaction, in
a patriotic sense, in doing so—that the irons peculiarly
adapted by nature for the manufacture of large guns
are English, and these stand in the following order—
Northertou and Parkhead, Staffordshire ; Bowling, York-
shire; and Blacnavon, Shropshire. The cost of these
averages from £6 to LG lOs per ton, against £8 15s -to £lO
per, ton for foreign. The charge of metal necessary for
the casting of a 68-pound gun, with the " dead heads"—
the latter is used, however, in the charge for the next gun
to be cast,--iS eight tons or thereabouts, and the conve-
niency of using English irons, with the certainty that they
are the best becomes thus apparent. ,Fhether the Arsenal
will yet be able to finish these weapons in it style equal to
twat of :certain contractors is, we believe, a proam yet to
Q 157 9 -- fe chan Magaziite.