Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-29 00:00:00

.-COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS'' BENS-
VOLENT INSTITUTION.

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The half-yearly meeting of the friends and subscribers
of this society :wai held, on Tuesday at the London-
tavern, Bishopsgate-street; to receive..a, report frOni the
directors, and to consider certain resolutions, 'of which
notice had ,beengiVen. • Mr. Jillius Aders, was in the
chair, in the absence of Sir James Duke, • Bart., M.P.
The advertisement -convening the meeting was. read; and
the minutes of the last meeting held- in June last,
Were read and confirmed. The , report for the . last
.year comprised a statement of receipts and .eipendi-
tare, which showed that, including a balance brought
forward irom the previous. year, of £731 3s. • 10d., the
receipts amounted. to £1,112 12s. 2d. The expenses
left a balance in favour of the institution of £403 ls.
11d. A sum of £4OO had been •invested in.
government securities, -making the amount of funded.
property £2,750. The- report concluded with an el -
quent appeal to. the commercial travellers as a body to
contribute more liberally to the finads of the institution.
The report was adopted and carried unanimously. A
motion, of which notice .had been given at.the meeting
held on the' 27th June' last; by lir. Cherer, for the'
alteration- of rule 16, having reference to-the-election
of the board of management,-,not having been seconded,
fell to the ground. , Another motion of Mr. Storey's,
to the effect that no widow should b,e eligible to sny
annuity until she Flaould have reached 50 years of age,
was seconded by Mn Angell ;' and on this a long dis-
cus4ionensiied, during whieh it was moved as an amend-
ment to make the age 40; and that amendment having
been -.seconded, it was then moved that the prescribed
age; be 45, unless the widow were afflicted WithparalysiS,.
blindness, or,: insanity, thereby incapacitating such
widow from the power of supporting herself. It was
argued, by some of the. speakers that the'eiisting rule
should be left untouched, at least for some future court,
and that the effect of making the minimum age 40 or
45,. would- be thavmato„ y):o07bo, or, lifiv iil
gcommercialesubscribed,
travellers on
the ,roan would not
they :would, ivithdraw their support to the institution,
It was further uro°ed that whereas a member was
eligible only to the benefits of the society, at the age of
55, ,widows under the existing regulations might be
admitted at the age of -20. A. shoiv of hands was taken
ultimately, in.the-midst of some confusion as to amen&
ments made upon amendments, &c., on the, motion that
40 be the age for the -admission of widows, unless
afflicted with total blindness, paralysis, insanity, or any
other calamity which shoUld permanently incapacitate
them from gaining a livelihood (these words being added
to rule 42), -when there . appeared—kir the resolution,
18 ; against it, 15. The chairman declared. the motion
to be -carried by a majority of 18 to 15. The above de-
Crease is subject to confirmation at a future. Court. The
election of the ,board Of management folletied ; after
which the ballot was proceeded with-for the election of
two candidates.. ,

THE LATE BARON PLATT, AND CHRISTMAS IN, THE
QUEEN'S PRlSON.—Notwithstanding the decease of the
late Baron 'Platt, a gentleman attended last Thursday at
the Queen's Prison, and distributed to the poorer class
of prisoners 7s. each. - An annual gift of a considerable
amount was for a great number of years given by the late
baron's father to the "prisoners on the countr and others
confined in the Queen's- prison. On his. decease it fell
into abeyance, until a representation was made to the
late baron, who (finding his father- had really made
the annual donation) very generously continued
the same up to the time of his decease. Some
apprehension was felt when intelligence of his death Was
received as to whether any more payments would be
made ; but all doubt was removed, however, on Thurs-
day last, .by the arrival of the money. It is not gene-
rally known whether his lordship has, by will, or other-
wise, ordered the donation to be continued after this
year. The annual gift was originally 21s. each to a
limited number of prisoners, but it has since been re-
duced to 75., in order that a greater number may par-
take of the bounty. The poor prisoners have also, in
addition, received other donations, • amounting to 4s. 6d.
in money, and joints of meat weighing from 101bs. to
18Ibs in weight.
ALLEGED MURDER NEARINOTTINGHAM.—A shocking
affair took place on Monday evening, at New Lenton, a
village about one milofrom•Nottingham. About eleven
o'clock on the evening in question, 'two brothers, named
Herbert and Alfred Slack, were proceeding across the
park which leads from Nottingham to Lenton, when they
overtook two other persons, named George Clark, and
William Weston, who were going in the same direction.
Shortly afterwards Herbert Slack commenced annoying
Weston, and then assaulted him. The affair between them,
however, was made up on Slack promising to give him a
half-sovereign. About ten minutes afterwards the whole
of the men arrived at Lenten. The two brothers then
whispered to each other, and the younger Slack went.
to his brother's house, a short distance off, and
in a few minutes returned with a dagger stick. Clark,
not liking to see his comrade unfairly used, interfered.
in his behalf, when the elder. Slack immediately seized
the dagger, and saying, " Now, I'll pay you,' • stabbed
Clark in the neck. The weapon severed the windpipe
and entered the body five or six inches. The unfortu-
nate man exclaimed, " Prif done," fell to the ground,
and almost instantaneously expired. Information was
given to the police, and the two Slacks were taken into
custody. The murdered man is said to have been very
harmless and inoffensive, and Was. very seldom known
to quarrel. He was a tanner in the employ of Messrs.
Bailey and Shaw, and was universally esteemed for the
propriety of his conduct. -He has left a wife and four
children to lament his untimely end. The elder prisoner
states that he did noftell his brother to fetch the dagger,
but a half-sovereign to recompense Weston, and that
while the scuffle was going on between himself and
Weston, Clark ran on to the: dagger and killed himself.
Towii AND COUNTRY.—True health consists in the
harmonious performance of all the functions of life, and
harmony in this respect is secured and promoted by
adapting the several organs and systems of the body as
much as possible 'to the external conditions upon which
their just exercise depends. Thus the lungs need, suf-
ficiently pure air the stomach good food, and the brain
and nervous system require that every influence which
affects the consciousness should be grateful. Ido not
here state the whole case,. but only what the occasion
would appear to demand. Now, if there be defect or
vice in any of the conditions just adverted to, the result,
proximate or remote; must 'always be some injury to
the health. The effect, from littleness of the cause,
may scarcely be perceptible, but undoubtedly. a
prejudicial result of some kind or degree must always
ensue from deviations from the strict laws of health.
To apply this doctrine. Certain constitutions require in
an especial manner that the inspired air should be pure,
in ord.er that the. health be sustained in fair ordinary
measure; in such instances, a country' residence will
generally. be found the best. This is .most frequently
the ease in scrofulous habits of body, particularly if the
temperament be phlegmatic. Young children almost
always flourish more in the country than in towns,
especially in summer. It must yet be noted that, in
winter, and in very exposed situations, there is greater
liability to inflammatory disease, and more virulence
upon its occurrence. These countervailing. circum-
stances, however, may very well he obviated by
corresponding watchfulness and oare. Now, on the
other hand, there are persons so constituted that
health depends .much more upon moral and social
-influences than upon , any extraordinary . advantages
affecting the respiration._ - Such individuals will often
enjoy much better health in the town or the immediate
suburbs, than in the country ; always supposing that
some fair judgment has been exercised in the choice- of a
dwelling-house. Where the mind is active and the dis-
position social, the, dull and tame tranquillity, of a
country life, and its comparative loneliness, sperate
prejudicially upon the brain ,and nervous system,
through the mind, ,and thus the health becomes
deteriorated at its source—in the, very springs of life.
It is under. circumstances of this kind. that the
invigorating effects of a temporary London life are
often seen if dissipation and excess do not antagonise
them. To hard-working persons whose days are
actively engaged in the commerce and busy pursuits
of a town, the comparative calm and .repose of even-
ings in the country are obviously. beneficial.. Yet,
where the permanent residence is , the wives and
the grown-up daughters but too often suffer from want
of due activity in the brain and nervous, system, pro-
ductive of hysteria, low spirits, and other such Dais-
' chiefs. There is in these, eases, a constant but unsatis-
fied craving for some sort of change, unrelieved lay
those little gatherings which, in the ,present -scattered
state of our more opulent classes, have become imprac.:
ticable, and which, under other circumstances, were 'the
more recreative, Fobably, because without formality
. and largely improvised,. 1
,omen in this state of things,
i living n the country, do not enjoy. that succession of
• varied and agreeable impressions upon the mind which
L is so essential to harmonious action of the organism-7
• the necessary condition of true health.:—:.Dr.-.lsroble on
Fallacies concerning thq, Production of Epidesaic Diseases,