Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-11-12 00:00:00

3 t

On Sunday next,. the Empress of the French wil I
Make her first appearance`ou any stage (since she has
become au Empress) in a new proverb by M. Octave
Feuillet, to be called "Le 'Wed et I'Homme Marie,"
which will be played before the court at Compiegne.
A FARMER CRARGED WITH FIRING HIS OWN.
STACKS.--At the Eckington petty sessions on Thursday,
John Galley, farmer, MoSbrough, was charged with set-
ting fire to two oat stacks and one haystack, on the 15th
.
alt. It appeared that the. stacks were small ones and
and -stood in a field some distance
ofromfli little value,
prailsuol,er's house. On the day in question
the prisoner fastened a horse between the stacks,
and about twenty minutes before eight o'clock in
the evening they were discovered to be on fire.
A crowd of persons were attracted to the • spot and
exerted themselves to stop the flames, but the pri-
soner, who Wb3 .among the number, made no such
exertions. The stacks were destroyed, but the horse
escaped. After the fire the prisoner sent in a claim of
£34 teethe
~London anti Liverpool Insurance Company,
with whom the stacks were insur&l, and it was stated in`-'
evidence that £l5 or £2O would have covered the loss.
The charge 'against the prisoner rested mainly on con-
flicting statements he had made with respect to the fire.
—The Bench said there was not a sufficient case to send
l'to a jury at present ; but, on the application of Mr.
Flewker, who said there was a clue to further evidence,
remanded the prisoner on bail.
OBTAINING SITUATIONS BY FALSE CHARACTERS.—
Two young men, of decent exterior, passing under the ,
names .of -Robert Osborne and John Cooke, have
recently been before. the West BromsVich magistrates,
charged with , obtaining situations in a grocer's
establishment, at Wednesbury, by means of false
characters. On Saturday, it .being proved that the
reference given by Cooke from St. Albans was a false
anie, he was sentenced 'to pay a fine of £2O, or go to
gaol for three months. The defence set up in the case -
of Osborne, and borne out by Cooke, who was put in the
witness box, was somewhat extraordinary. It was as-
serted that the prbper name of the prisoner Cooke was
John Bayley Cooke ; that he had dropped the name ,of
Cooke, being insolvent ; that he had formerly been in
.actual business in Liverpool, as a grocer and licensed
victualler, when Osborne had been his shopman ; that
the reference produced at Wednesbury by Osborne was
written from his (Cooke's) dictation ; and that the
printed address card, which had also been produced by
Osborne, was hik -The court ultimately ordered the
ease of Osborne to stand over for further inquiry. It .
_ should be stated that when first confronted, the two
prisoners tried to make it appear that they were
strangers to each other.
ARRIVAL OF CHINESE CANNON IN FRANCE.—It was
stated, sonic weeks back, that the Audaeieuse steam
frigate, had broughtfrom China to Brest thirty-six
pieces of cannon, which were part of those taken by the
Anglo-French forces in the first attack on the forts of
Peiho. Eight of -these guns -are of large size, the rest '
being cnlverins_. All bear Chinese or Tartar inscrip-
tions, and some are elegantly ornamented. The-large:l •
of all is about 101 feet long, and bears a Chinese
inscription, of which this is a translation The
Great General who extends power and secures victory
(this is the name of the cannon) was cast in the sixth
.year of --the reign Of the Emperor Hion Foug (1856) ;
it weighs 9,0001 b.; it receives 91b. of gunpowder,
and a 271 b. ball. The great Minister Kko-chi, who
by Imperial favour has been admitted as a prince into
the Imperial family, president of the committee of arms, .
&e., and Prince Botalkatai, Dando Badon
riro, and Seng-
gentsin, directors of the Mantchoui Fire Arms Manu-
factory, have ordered this cannon to be made. Ming. .
Tai, chief of the wings of the camp of fire arms, and
Soni-Khi, a man of letters, employed as reader to the
privy council, have superintended the casting. The
principal workmen were Sietourntching and Ousing-kie."
The inscription on the cannon next in size shows that it
was cast in the year .1841, under the reign of the Em-
peror Tao Konang, and that it bears the name of
" General of the First Class who commands the sea."—
Galignani. • •
A FOOLISH BARGAIN.—On Wednesday last, at the
County -Court- held at Bury, William Barnes, fish;
monger, Bury, preferred a claim for £lO for damages,
'resulting from a breach of contract, against William:
Diggle, also a fishmongef, at the same place. It ap-
peared that the parties, while drinking together, at a
public house, made a bargain with each other, Diggle a
offering the whole of his stock in trade, furniture, &c.,
to Barnesaon the condition that he paid him by twelve
o'clock on the following day the sum of £4O. It -
was said that Diggle's wife and child were to be
thrown in at the bargain. Before the appointed
hour Barnes tendered the money, but Diggles refused -
to give up possession, alleging that it was only a drunken
spree, and that he was willing to forfeit the hall-crowp,
which had been paid as earnest money. After a con-
siderable number of witnesses had been heard, the judge
asserted that if the evidence had shown that Diggle was • -
'so helplessly. drunk as to be incapable of knowing what
he was doing, or if, while drunk, fraud had been- .
practised upon-him, the verdict would have been- in his- -
favour. In this case the damages had been laid very
low, for it had beeri proved that the property -was worth
£100; for which the plaintiff had only to pay £4O. The -.
defendant was required to pay £5 immediately, and the
remainder in a month. Costs also were allowed.
THE.Analsanoam GUNS.—The first step towards the
long-contemplated reorganisation of the important
establishment composing the gun factories in Woolwich
Arsenal, was on Wednesday taken by handing over the
direction of the department in due form from the
to the civil service, to be conducted in future under
the auspices of Sir W. Armstrong, C. 8., and the resi-
dent, superintendence of Mr. J. Afiderson, late inspector
of machinery. Great preparations are made for manufac-
turing rifled ordnance on Sir William's principle, cal-
culated, according to present arrangements, to bring -
out 1,000 a year, with the prospect of a considerable
addition to that number, in case of actual demand.'.
A number of cast-iron guns will be made in the factories -
and by the trade for -experimental use, to be encased in
a kind_of net-work termed " chemise," composed of
wrought iron, which, it is suggested, will add to the en-
durance of .the inner metal of which the gun is cast,
and render it sufficientlystion,g for the purpose. The
new department has received instructions to bring out as.
•speedily as possible a batch of 46-pounder rifled guns,
to carry the elongated shot for field service in China, to •
be transported overland. It is stated that, as a neces-
sary consequence of the whole of the gun factories being
employed for the manufacture of Sir William's suns,
the shot and shell foundries will be ultimately hrinded
over to the same direction, and the superintendence of
t t
tradesmen
aodr thee
s Am general
se
nvSWINDLER.—The
üBL expenditure.r
tEs.t—rthe laboratory will merge into that of the 'gun factories,
which
will create a reduction. of no insignificant im-
portanceolragh ae i n
CAREERhIs rt
c'gern
executing' Press
orders cau-
tions -
given by a notorious swindler, who, it is believed, has
arrived in that city, after duping tradesmen and lodging-
house keepers in various parts of the country. The
Press says :—" From what we can gather respecting
him and his movements, we find that ho has arrived
in- Southampton, from the Isle of - Wight, in the
early part of the present year, where he hired a fur-
nished house by the year, stating that his name was
William Pearce, Esq. He is a man of gentlemanly
appearance, and dresses well ; rather thin, wears a
black moustache, to hide a scar on the right side of his
lip; has fine black hair, and is rather lame in one foot.
Walks with a stick. He pronounces all his v's as
av's ; thia for visitors' he .would say wisitors.' His
wife is a short woman.. They have three little girls,
with flowing hair, a little boy, and a baby.' From
Southampton he decamped within a few days of.the
quarter's rent' becoming due, and several of the trades-
men had cause to regret his sudden departure. We
next hear of him at Poole, and more ,recently at -1%-rey-
mouthaunder the name of Thomas Cocks, about the-
15th Jane, where he took lodgings; in an obscure street,
in the immediate vicinity of the railway station. On
the 25th Juno he agreed to, rent a furnished house
onhe having
from Mr. Barrett, a short distance from :the ,town, for
six months, for £45. He represented that had been. _
in the army; that he had a large house in London, a flat .;
in Edinburgh, and a hunting lodge at Dzinoon, which
he had let to Lord Derby. He soon opened accounts
with the principal tradesmen, but paid for nothing He
debt,brought
24th September, leaving
_ become greatlY,
his wife. and children.: On 'alendav morning. (three
days before the quarter day) his wife locked up the
house and went. oil; taking the children with her. She
took her ,ticket to. Bristol, where they probably now
he no
disappeared
Ipiegaargede;
alillt
are, and will repeat their conduct. It does not appear
that the tradesmen at 'Weymouth were in any way
injured, but the landlord of the home was completely
have led
duped. Further inquiries :to tha conelusam
hi 3 real name is Thomas Gale, his father having-
beea found, at Manor Piece, -Witlyc,-irt'i, -where has
bceu beadle. He. is, 70 years of age, and ree:cives
p‘m3ion, While the son is no olAel• than a tailor. it k
surrais,,i tha: ,;) dr; cos 1 With a gang in I.:m(1
, to whova• the. g)ct' 3 Ord: c." ' sat.