The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-11 00:00:00

POISONING AT DEVONPORT,

A great deal of illness and one death have resulted in
Davenport from partaking of food containing some poi-
sonous ingredients, most probably arse;;;;;; A. Womasi
named Page, who had. peen washing at the Duke of Corn,
wall peblje; house, Cornwall street, Devonport, had some
.;;ices of pudding given to her by the landlady. She took
them home, and her husband, ate a part of one: In about
half an hour he became sick, and remained so all-night:
Next morning the ;tertian Wasted the rest of the pudding
gave small portions of it to her three Children, and ate
some herself. They all became ill shortly. after, and one
of the children, a little bey five year? old died the same
evening. About a week before this, it seems, the family
living at the public house had all been taken ill shortly
after a dinner of which puddings, similar to those of which
pieces had been giien td the washeriVoman, formed a part:
At an inquest which was held npon-the body of the little boy,
Air. Thomas Crosing, surgeon, was examined, and described
the appearance of the deceased when he saw him, after
he had died. From the appearances of the body he formed
the opinion that seine p swerful irritant had entered the
stomach. He had, with the assistance of Mr: James Ry lee
of Morice town, chemist, analysed a portion of the
contents of the stomach, lied was of opinion that the child
had died from the effects of the poison, and as he believed
from arsenic. He had every reason to believe that the
stomach contained arsenic in considerable quantity. It
would be sore satisfactory, and would 'enable him to form
a more positive opinion as to the precise nature of the
poison, whether ars!.nic or otherwise, c'uld he have the
opportunity of submitting the contents of the stomach and
intestines to further chemical examination. The inquest
was adjourned until Monday, when Messrs. Crossing, Read,
Slogget, and Mr. Ryder, chemist, were examined, and
stated that in the pudding, and in the body of this deceased,
they had detected a large quantity of arsenic. The inquest
was then again adjourned until Tuesday, when Mr. Laity,
surgeon, and a number of other witnesses, gave evidence in
corroboration of the facts addticed on the previous examina-
tions. The invest was then further adjourned until
Monday, the 20th inst., to allow time for farther enquiry.

The Limerick Corporation have eesolved to apply to the
Governm.int for a portion of the trophies of war captured
at SThastop )1, in order to ornament the ancient towers or
some other public building within the walls of the " city of
the violated treaty."

THE CAB DRIVERS or PARlS.—Recompenses, by way of
encouragement, have just been awarded by the prefect of
police to twenty three cab drivers for their honesty in
delivering up articles left •by passengers in their vehicles
During the last year, the gold, silver, bank notes, and
securities payable to bearer, deposited by the-drivers with
the commissaries of police, amounted to. 262,206 fr., inde-
pendently of a great number of articles of jewellery, and
other things of more nr less value. Certificates of honesty
have also been given to forty one other drivers, and the
names of the whole have been posted up at all the stations
for public carriag, s.
NEW CODE OP MARINE SIGNALS.—The committee
appointed by the Board of Trade to enquire into the
subject of a code,of signals to be used at sea have reported
the result of that enquiry. The existing codes are all
based on the numeral system, which is objected to as
insufficient. Oaly one other method was known to the
committee for obtaining the object in view. It was that
of taking a number of signs (ore flags), and by their
transposition Effecting a certain number of permutations,
each different combination of two or more of the signs
so taken forming a signal distinct in itsell, and having a
particular signification. A table is subj Ailed, showing
the number of distinct signals which ten or more flags are
capable by permutation, and forming in hoists of two
to four signs at a time in one place. It shows that 18
flags will be requisite to give the number of signals
necessary—i e. 70,000, with power of extension to
78,642, each signal consisting of a minimum hoist of four
flags. In conformity with the resolutions of the
committee a signal book his been prepared, and accom-
panies the present report.
AN EXECUTION IN PARIS.—A man named Richetix,
who was recently condemned to death by the Court of
Assizes of the Seine for the murder, followed by robbery,
of two women, one at Corbeil in 1851, and the other
recently, in the Rue de Charenton, underwent the sentence
of the law on Monday morning, at eight o'clock, on the
Place de la Roquette. A great crowd had assembled, and
a large force of military and police was stationed round
the place to preserve order. The prisoner, who was
perfectly resigned to his fate, acted throughout with the
greatest firmness. He attended the chapel, and conversed
fir some time with the chaplain. Rieheux, who had
crimes of which he was suspected, expressed his readi-
ness at the last moment to submit to any interrogatory.
He was subjec ed to a short examination by the com-
missary of police, and replied to the questions wi b
the greatest clearness. When the executioners had
completed the " toilette" and were binding his arms
behind his back, he said that they were giving
themselves unnecessary trouble, as he would rather
fly to meet death than try to avoid it. He desired that
the few clothes which he had left should be given' to
some poor prisoners. He ascended the scaffold with
firmness, and in a moment all was over.
A NEW YORK ADVERTISEMENT. "Lost between
Eighth street, and the Jersey City Ferry, a valuable set
of charms, belonging to a lady, and much valued as a
gift," with the usual, &ea about a reward to any one
who will restore these lost charms. Alas, poor lady ! no
amount of reward will ever bring them back. Lost
charms are lost fer ever; much valued as they un-
doubtedly were, thdy are valueleis' now. A gift, were
they ? Yes, true, the gift of nature, if they were charms
of a beautiful face or perfect form. If they were charms
of a sweet temper and agreeable manners, they were
charms of a cultivated mind—charms that may be worn
where nature has denied the boon to face and form.
Perhaps they were only the charms of dress, charms that
are often lost in these days in our uncharming muddy'
streets. But these are charms that any milliner and
dressmaker can restore. The charms were a gift. Ah !
that implies that they were purchaseable charms, not
those that come without money and without price, like
the charms of woman's worth,—of beauty of body and
mind. Charms that money can buy, what are they ?
Pshaw. Here, as we read a little further on in this
singular advertisement of lost charms, the story is told.
Nothing but tinsel; so are half the charms that ladies
treasure most highly ; gilt, brass imitations of ponies° ipt
quadrupeds, fish, f ,wls, and creeping things, and things
mechanical that could only creep, not go; all clanglieg
to a watch chain, and called "charms." These are the
charms that are lost. Let them go, and cultivate a kind
that will last for ever.—New York Tribune.

STATE OF THE Tnpres.—A report has been published
on the state of the river Thames from Putn..v to
Rotherhithe, made to the First Commissioner of Works
by Commander Borstal, R.N., dated the 27th of January
last. The. first charge to which it refers is the great
alteration in the low water surface of the river above
London bridge ; this is attributed to the removal of the
old structure in 1832, which in a great measure acted'as a
dam to the river, and obstructed the free action ofl the
stream. The present low water surface at springs compared
with that of 1823 is higher at all the bridges, attaining at
some to a difference of three and a half feet and tour feet.
In 1856, the time of MO water at Battersea -bridge was
twenty eight mtnatest• later then at Landon D nag, and
the surface, at, nearly the same level ; whilst in 1823 the
time was thirty eight minutes later, and the surface five
inches lower. The bad of the river has considerably
deepened since 1823, the great change being at West-
minster and Blackfriars bridges, a strong disposition to
the same being also manifested at Southwark. Tha report
states :--'t The bed of the river in 1823 ,at Westminster
bridge, and one-eighth mile below it, was 18 feet 6 inches
below Trinity datum. Had London bridge been then
removed, the river would have been nearly dry there at
low water, with a fall of 11 feet in the intermediate space
of two mites ; and, considering the great depth of water
there was between- Lambeth Palace and the Penitentiary,
viz., 29 feet below datuin,it is not unreasonable to suppose
that the scour would be very gnat as soon as vent was
given to the river stream by. the removal of Old London bridge
and the shoal below it, as also by the Combined action of
river steamers and dredging."
GREENWICH BETTER THAN WITH ITS FAlR.—About
month since the Commissioners of Polio ordered
,sum-
monses to issue against the owners of land upon which the
usual Easter and Whitsun fairs have been held in the town
to show their right to hold such fairs. These proceedings
were taken in consequence of numerously signed petitions
on the part of the inhabitants, praying for th suppreisiod
of the fair on the ground of immoralities practised. Two
out of the three owners of the land agreed to discontinue
the letting for the purpose named, but the third refused to
do so, and on Mr..Traill, the police magistrate, declaring
the fair illegal, recognisances were entered into for the
owner in question to appear in the Court of Queen's Bench
to answer any information the Attorney General might
exhibit against him. At the commencement of the present
week preparations were made for holding the ' fair on
Monday next and two successive days, pending the decision
of the Court of Queen's Bench, but the police authorities
have since received information from the owner, withdraw-
ing from the recognisances entered into, and agreeing to
abide by the magistrates decision. The whole of the fair
-ground is now perfectly cleared, and for the first time
within the memory of those who have made it a point to
visit Greenwich at Easter, there will be no fair. Lord
Aberdeen, as ranger of Greenwich park, has given orders
for its being kept open until dusk, and notwithstanding
the suppression of the fair, holiday visitors will meet with
much greater attractions than formerly in the park and on
Blackheath.