Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-05 00:00:00

number of years, and that security would have to be
provided by a special rate upon the inhabitants, whether
they took the water or not. A letter from the Rev.

Joshua King, rector of Woodchurch, in opposition
to the company, on the ground that the proposal
was impracticable and visionary, was read. It was moved
that a petition in favour of the bill be presented to both
houses of parliament. Mr. Webb moved an amendment,
but, he not being a ratepajer of the district, the amend-
ment was not received, and the petition was adopted.
Thiuble Pantomime Company at the Theatre Royal, on
Wednesday next, for Mr. Stoyle's benefit.
THE AUSTRALIAN Men. —The steamer Wye reached
Marseilles, on Thursday morning, with the light portion
of the Australian mail, which will be delivered in
London this morning.

FATAL ACCIDENT''ON THE LANCASHIRE RAILWAY.—
We regret to . state that a fatal accident took place
yesterday morning, at the Waterloo Station, on the above
line. The facts, as well as can at present be collected,
are these. It appears that on the arrival of the 8-o'clock
train at the above stations a young man, named Doyle,
who was engaged as a newspaper carrier, in the employ
of Messrs. Smith and Son, news agents, was
proceeding with a quantity of papers for distri-
bution in the neighbourhOod ; that in his hurry to
leave the train he jumped ottt while it was yet in motion,
and, falling on the rails, the train passed over him,
i
mangling his body' n .a frightful manner, and of course
killing, him instantly. On further inquiry, it appears
that the deceased went out by the 7.50 train, and in his
attempt to get on the platform before the train stopped,
he was thrown on his back, and in his attempt to rise,
the step of the carriage caught and threw him under the
train, the carriages passing over his chest, the body
stopping the train, and the latter had to be pushed back
to get out the body. He was sixteen years of age, and
the son of a porter. •

Thu ENGLISH OPERA. COMPANY.—At the Amphitheatre
this company continue their performances with success,.
the change of pieces fully evidencing the wish of the
managers to
_keep pace ,with the public desire. For
nings during the week Miss Fanny Reeves,
we regret to say, was too severely indisposed to perform,
her parts, and, at short notice, Madame Maude Bishop
kindly undertook her characters, and met with unbounded
applause. On Thursday evening " Lucia di Lammer-
moor " was well put upon the stage,. Madame Bishop
playing the arduous part of LUcia,, and its satisfactory
performance was an excellent proof of her capabilities as
an actress as well -as a singer. There is, about
the character of Lucia, something tragic, and the music
demands not only great powers of voice and execution,
bUt:.also an ' intensity of passionate expression,
ancr ill all this Madame Bishop showed herself to be a
perfect artiste, capable of. giving force and- expression
to. Donnizetti's charming music. Mr. Elliot GaTer, as
Ediai Ravenswood, admirably sang and acted, seldom
with better effect, and in the well-known "malediction"
scene, loud applause was bestowed upon both. Bide-the-
Bent, by Mr.. Corn, and Arthur, by Mr. Lyall, were
also excellently given, each receiving well-merited recog-
nition. Mr. Barran as Colonel Ashton, was highly
effective in the music, sustaining his long and well
established reputation. ' Last evening the per-
formances were for the benefit of. Mies Fanny Reeves,
when Bellini's opera of Sonnambula was produced, in
which she played. the part of Arniruz; Mr. Eliot Galer,
Elvin ; Mr. Borrani, Count Bodolpho. Miss Reeves,
although evidently very ill, and appearing only iii conse-
quence of . its being her benefit, sang with sweetness,
and gave a good interpretation of the "sleep walker."
Mr. Galer was encored in the well-known airs, and Mr.
Boriani was also satisfactory. The " Quaker," concluded
the evening's amusement, in which Mr.. Corri and Mr.
Lyall, in conjunction with the ladies, were loudly
applauded. To-night, "Il Trovatore " and the " Loan
,of a Lover," will make up an excellent night's entertain-
ment. •

several

THE DONALD M'KAY.—At the police-court, yesterday,.
before_ Messrs. Benn and S. Holme, Capt. Tobin, of the
Donald M'Kay, one of Messrs. Jas. Baines and Co.'s vessels,
wassuitimoned on a charge of being short of provisions, oz
the passage from Australia, and also having hides on board.
Captain Schomberg appeared on j)ehalf of the Emigration
Commissioners, and Mr. Forshaw defended. A question
arose as to whether the vessel came under the provisions
of the Emigration Act, as was what is known as a "short
ship." She had 30 steerage passengers ; but in addition,
32 men were taken on board who were registered as
seamen, although in reality sailing as passengers. • Mr.
Forshaw, however, on the part of the defendant, offered
to waive all technical questions of whatever kind; and
in reference to the charge of having deficient provisions
applied for an adjournment, until this day, at twelve
o'clock, inasmuch as he would able to produce the most
complete defence to the charge ; but owing to the short-
ness of the notice, was unable to have his witnesses then
in court. With reference to the other charge he stated
that Messrs. Baines and Co. knew nothing whatever Of
it, the arrangements of the vessel having been conducted
by their agents in Melbourne, for whom be admitted
that they were, of cowse, legally responsible. The vessel
sailed with a cargo of 7'oo tons of hides, so that of course,
supposing her to passenger ship,_ she was infringing
the act ; but in order that no inconvenience might ensue,
he was informed that sonic feet of salt were put over the
hides, wool over that, 'and that in fact no inconvenience did
arise. They had had •no sickness, and none of the crew
or the passengers had died. He quite admitted that
Messrs. Baines highly 'disapproved of the manner in
which the arrangements had been made as to the shipping
of the additional passengers, and they would take care to
write to their correspondents in Australia, directing that
nothing of the kind should ever occur again. Under
these circumstances, he appealed to the Bench for the
lowest possible penalty ; and in reference to the charge of
want of provisions, stated that he would be able to pro-
duce a complete defence. The case was then adjourned
to this day, both as regards the question of penalty for
the admitted infringement, and the eharge of deficiency
of provisions.
THE Poon. LETTER-CARRIEHS.—We have more than
once directed attention to the very' inadequate remuner-
ation of the letter-carriers and letter-sorters, in the
employ of the Post-office, and the annexed extract from
the Civil Service Gazette, will give some information on
the working of the New Scheme :—" Althongh the sorters
and letter-carriers of the metropolis refrain from giving
public expression to their feelings, it must not be con-
cluded that the late concession' has removed the causes
of their discontent, and reconciled them to their lot.
Having already stated their grievances, they deem it
unnecessary to weary the public ear by repeating their
complaints from day to day ; and, moreover, they have
come to the conclusion that no real redress will ever-
be obtained except through the intervention of
Parliament. In the meantime they request us to
state that since the '.,New Scheme came out the duty re-
quired is beyond human performance. Indeed, the
General Post-office, during the time the sorting is going
on, is described as the most complete scene of confusion
it is possible to imagine. As an instance of one result
Of these attempts to do what is impossible, we are assured
that on Friday, the 14th inst., six large baskets full of
newspapers were left behind, and detained till the fol-
lowing day, for -want- of sufficient hands o
,o.et them
sorted and sent off. No wonder that wetand all our
contemporaries suffer from the delays of transmitting
our papers through the post, and that we ars
inundated with complaints from country subscribers
that the irregulation in the delivery of their
journals is intolerable. But the loss of newspapers
is not the worst consequence of the overworking,
frightening, and coersive measures now in full opera-
tion. One melancholy story will illustrate another
description of loss : —Dukes, a General Post Letter-
carrier, a quiet, inoffensive man, on the Wardour-street
and Oxford-street Walk, was, on the 18th inst, threatened
by the authorities with the punishment of having to
work three days without wages, for having in the hurry
and bustle of his sorting duty on the morning of that
day, miscounted the number of his letters, about three
hundred, for delivery (a duty required of each letter-carrier
one week every month). The communication to him of
this intended punishment, and the manner in which he•
was pounced upon and treated by one of the 'drivers,'
so completely upset the poor fellow that he went on
doing his duty till the Saturday evening, in a very
desponding state of mind; and on Sunday morning he
was found in the water-butt, almost lifeless, and only
lived twelve and a half hours afterwards. He died a most
lamentable death, in a state of madness, and has left a wife
and eight helpless children—one child lying a corpse at
the time this sad occurrence took place—and the widow
is just on the verge of confinement again. This is a
most heart-rending case, and shows in a shocking
iight the effects of the intimidation and overworking
system now carried out with such rigour at St Martin's-
le-Grand. The perplexity. created, too, by the numerous
edicts issued is most harassing, and makes confusion worse
confounded. A code of new printed instructions was
sent, a few days ago, from the General Post-office to the
different district offices of the metropolis, with orders that
they were to be strictly acted upon. On the following
morning, however, fresh orders were despatched,
commanding that the previous instructions were
not to be .acted upon, but were to be cancelled or
destroyed. In this manner a very considerable sum is
wasted, besides keeping the unhappy employes in a con-
stant state of terror, apprehension, and uncertainty.
What with orders and counter-orders, instructions and
counter-instructions, regulations and counter-regulations,
no man knows whether he is doing right or wrong.
Indeed, the laws of the Post-office, like the statute laws
of the realm, are a monstrous mass of inconsistencies,
which would puzzle the profoundest lawyer in the land.
There must be a radical reform of this establishment."