Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-02-09 00:00:00

WIRRAL FARMERS' CLUB.

The nineteenth annual ploughing match, trial of
houghs, drainage, digging and fencing, in connexion with
this club, took place yesterday in a large field belonging
Ito Mr. John Walker, at Stourton ; and, compared with
previous years, this annual agricultural gathering was
one of the most successful which has yet taken place.
There were no less than thirty-seven competitors for the
prize for ploughing, and each one entitled himself, if not
to a prize, to be acknowledged as a first-rate ploughman,
and though the competitors for the fencing prize did not
gain all the honours whiCh could be desired, the fault
found was rather with the system than with the manner
in which they performed their work. The drainage was
really excellent, and the prize for this useful department
of agricultural labour, was carried off by the same
individual who was successful last year. It
was stipulated that the team should consist of
two horses abreast, and without a driver. The furrows
were to be cut 51 inches deep, and 8 inches wide; the
land to be ploughed at _the rate of 200 yards in five
hours. No person :was allowed to compete for a prize
unless he was bo?;ii :fide the servant of the person for
whom he ploughed, and had followed his horses since.
the Ist January, 1860. The judges commenced their
duty about two o'clock ; and after spending over two
hours in deciding upon the parties entitled to the prize,
they agreed upon the following list ; and it is satisfactory
•tci add, that after performing a very difficult task, their
decision was concurred in by almost every judge upon
the field. •
The following is the list of prizes ;7--
.PLOUGIIING.—CIass II: 1, Robert Didsbury; with
Mr. R. Barton, Caldy ' • 2, John Croft, with Mr, Thomas
Hart, Thornton ; 3, Charles Pridee, with Mr. John
Prince, Upton ; 4, William Williams, with Mr. Richd.
Jacksen, Noctorum. Class 111 (confined to young men
under 20 years of age) : 1, John Stanley, with Mr.
Joseph Stanley, Saughall Massey; 2, JOhn Huntingdon,
with Mr. Joseph Huntingdon, Poulton ; 3, James Wil-
liams, with Mr. Turner, Stourton.
DRAINING.-1, Samuel Hughes, Barnston; 2, George
Williams, Barnston; 3, George Shomes, Barnston.
FBNCING.-1; Richird Duncan, Neston ; 2; Joseph
Croft, Barnston.
ttp Johneltoscoe, Neston; 2, William Ains-
worth, Higher Bebingion.
PLouous.,--1, Alexander Scott, Stourton ; 2, John
Moreton, Upton.

THE DINNER
took place at Mr. Oxon's, Georgellotel, Higher Bebing-
ton, at five o'clock. Mr. James Russell, of Brinstage,
presided; the vice-chair being occupied by Mr. Turner.
An excellent repast was provided, and every seat at
the table was filled. After full justice had been
done to the praiseworthy efforts of the worthy host the
cloth was removed, the usual loyal and patriotic toasts
were given, and
The CHAIRMAN then gave "The Magistrates of the
County." The office of magistrate was, he said, a very
important one, and there were many in the hundred who
filled the office jn an honourable manner ; and it became
them at all times to exßress their gratitude to them.
There was a little circunistance connected 'with the
magistracy that he never could understand, and that was
the principle upon which they granted licenses. He
argued that the number of 'public-houses was now too
great, that the . magistrates by increasing the number
was increasing the temptation ; and, he thought, the
mllgistrates were, in some degree, responsible for the
cruise which was Collimated: There were many of the
magistrates, however, in the hundred who were entitled
to weir respect, and he, therefore, called upon those
present to drink to them.
The toast having been responded to, -
The CHAIRMAN called upon the company to drink to
tile Judges of the day. (Applause.) Of their character
he should not say much, because it was an awkward
thing to say anything in the presence of gentlemen, un-
less it was to find fault. Those gentlemen had come a
great distance,. and had done their work in a way, of
m
which any.soety might be proud. (Hear, hear.) He
thought it became them to dolionour to whom-honour
was due, and he called upon them to drink the toast
with three times three, 'which they did. •
Mr. CHRISTOPHER RICHMOND, of Thornton, on behalf
of Mr. Beecroft, of Tipton, near Chester, Mr. Bird, of
Aintree, and himself, responded to the toast. He ex-
pressed the pleasure he had felt incoming among them,
and the willingness with which he should always. come
among Cheshire gentlemen. As regarded their duties,
they had indeed a very difficult task to perform. (Hear,
hear.) Their ploughmen beat those -of Lancashire by
odds, - and he thought their ploughmakers must be
better. The Lancashire people had no ploughmakers
that could.. make the same stamp of ploughs as in Che-
shire and the Cheshire horses did a greater amount of
work, and with greater ease, than theirs. (Applause.)
With respect to the 'first and second prize, they had no
difficulty ; but in deciding the third and fourth, they
found very great difficulty. As regarded the teams-
men, he admired them very much, and the horses were
beautiful, large, and good• but with respect to their
hedging and ditching, -he did not approve of any part of
it. (Applause.) •It was very good to a certain extent,
but there was a way that would surpass it ; and if they
could only persuade their liberal landlords to lend them a
helping hand, fill up the ditches, eradicate the fences,
and plant some new thorns, it would be a great deal
better. (Applause,) He thought this would be more
economical to "landlord and tenant. The" drains Were
beautiful—nothing could equal the cutting of the drains.
There was no man in his part who could do it ; and-'as
to cutting to the depth which one man had, gone to,
they would laugh at the ideas He concluded by
thanking them for the liberal manner in which they had
received the toast.
•Mr. BEECROFT added that there had been so much
equality. both in the ploughs and ploughmen, that they
could scarcely arrive at a decision. (Hear, hear.) There
were some points which he did not agree with. The
men were, no doubt, good ploughmen ; but he did not
like the finishing, and objected to the butts not being
ploughed alike. He did not approve of the digging ;
the draining was very good;' he had, never seen, any
better, and with regard to the . fencing he was of the
same opinion as Mr. Richmond._ He suggested that the
competition should be opped to the whole country, and
he had no doubt they might get a lesson which would
be useful-to them. (Hear, hear.)
-The CHAIRMAN, having stated that it was his inten-
tiOn to propose at the next meeting that the competition
should be thrown open to all England, said he now
came to what might be called the toast of the evening,
and would ask them to drink " Success to the Wirral
Fanners' Club." That might seem drinking to them-
selVes, but it was only drinking to the success of agri-
culture in the hundred of Wirral. Nit before he would
make any remarks with regard to the toast, he would
rdention the deep regret they felt at the loss the society
had 'sustained since their last meeting—(hear, hear,)--
a doss which the society. could never make up, because
they had lost a thorough country gentleman, and he
:would say, with all due respect to those whom he had
left, that he doubted very much whether he had left his
equal as a good old country gentleman in the hundred
of Wirral. (Hear, hear.) They deplored the loss of
their late chairman. They must still go fOiward and
Meet the difficulties with which they had to contend, in
that manly spirit which became them. (Hear, hear.)
He- hoped as agriculturists, that they were not'
satisfied with what they had done; they had much yet
to gain, and he hoped they, would feel that there was
great room for, improvement in the hundred of Wirral,
and in feeling so they had not their own self-interest in
view only. He believed there was, yet fifty per cent. to
attain is the improvement of the land in the district;
and he believed every member of the society had a duty
to perform, not only, for his-own interest, but that by
his influence Ike might lead others to adopt those im-
provements is agriculture which were progressing in
every direction. -With these improvement:he did not
think they, should, fulfil their sittingduty'duty' by
should therefore be up and doing, in order to improve
their land, which they could do rather by uniting than
depending upon individual exertions. If the hundred
of Wirral had been noted for its neglected state of agri-
culture, he hoped, they would try to bring it up to the
mark, so that it might become as noted for its culti-
vation. (Applause.)
The toast was drank with enthusiasm; and the re-
mainder of the toasts having been disposed of, the
comply' dispersed. -

It appears from a notice published by Baron Culoz,
Commandant of Mantua, on the SOth ultimo, that the
ladies of that • town have bit on a singular mode of
manifesting their political opinions against Austria—viz.,
by discarding crinoline. Ladies favourable to the
Austrian Government continue to wear it, and are,
in consequence, hooted by the populace in the streets,
or somehow disturbed in their devotion at church. It
is to put an end to such persecution that Baron Culoz
has issued a notice, threatening the inhabitants with the
severest measures in caseof any repetition of such hostile
manifestations.

LIVERPOOL POLICE COURT.-YESTERDAY.

(Before Mr. RAFFLES

DinNIL AND DISORDERLY.—Lawrence Flood, a
publican in Parliament-street, was charged with being
drunk and disorderly, and assaulting police-officer
Massinger (665) in Rathbone-street. The officer stated
that he met the_defendent about half-past ten on Tues-
day.night. in the street in question, when he accused him
ofinterfering with a customer, who was coming out of
his shop with a bottle of rum. The officer told him he
must be mistaken, as he had never done anything of the
kind. Flood immediately began to abuse him, using
the most filthy and obscene language. The officer en-
deavoured to quiet him, by threatening to summon him
for his miseonduct, but he still went on in the same
manner. Ile (the defendant) collared him, when he
kicked and otherwise abused him. Flood, when asked
what he had to say, excused .his conduct on the plea
"that he was a little fresh." The magistrate—Well,
you must pay for being fresh, 40s. and costs, or in de-
fault go to prison for two months.
• •

CHARGE OF ASSAULTING A WIFE. - Christopher
Biggaley, an elderly. man, was brought up on remand,
charged with assaulting his wife. The prosecutrix,
who was unable to attend court when her husband was
brought up on the first occasion, appeared with band-
ages across her forehead. She said she was unwilling
to press the charge against the prisoner, as she had a
family of five children, and she dia not know how she
would support them. She confessed too, that the
assault was not altogether unprovoked, as she had
thrown water, about him. A surgeon stated that the
woman was at one time in great danger as the skull
was fractured. A police officer said no one had seen the
assault, but he had heard that the prisoner had knocked
the prosecutrix down and then kicked her. The magis-
trate, addressing the prisoner, said it was very kind of
his wife to refuse to press the charge against him, and
he did not know if he was altogether right in discharg-
ing him, considering the serious nature of the injuries.
lie must enter into his o wn-recognisances in the sum.of
£do,• to keep the peace for twelve months.

OBTAINING CLOTHES ON FALSE PRETENCES.
William Murray, a seaman, was brought up on remand,
charged with obtaining a suit of clothes and 12s. in
money front Mr. Lazarus, outfitter, Paradise-street, on
credit of a Mr. Smith, boarding-house keeper, No. 10,
Seel-street. Mr. Bluck appeared for the prisoner.
Messrs. Lazarus and Smith appeared, and repeated the
evidence they gave on Wednesday last, viz , that the
prisoner came from Smith's house, and represented to
Lazarus that Smith had sent him to get a suit of
clothes,, with which ha was supplied, besides 12s. in
money. Smith denied giving the prisoner any authority
to use his name. He •was committed for trial.
STREET ROBBERY.—A tall, powerful young fellow,
named Michael Barnes, -was brought up on remand,
charged with aiding • and abetting a woman who has
not been found, in robbing a Mr. Howard, of his
purse containing Bs., and his ' scarf pin. Mr.
Bluck appeared for the prisoner. The prosecutor
stated that as he was going home on the night of
the Ist inst., he was accosfbd by a female in Newing-
ton. They went into a passage together, when he felt her
drawing her hand out of his pocket. He seized her by
the wrist, and threatened to give her in charge.' She
called out loudly, and immediately after he was seized
by the prisoner, who held him while the female escaped.
He called an officer to his assistance, who took the pri-
soner into eustoly. On returning to the • passage with
the policeman, by the aid of light, he found his purse
and scarf-pin lying on the ground. The prisoner was
committed for trial to the assizes.
(Before Messrs. RAFFLES and HOUGHTON.)
•

CLAUS FOR SEAMAN'S WAGES.—William L. Coe, a
seaman, summoned Captain Graves, of the, ship Chiloe,
for a balance of wages amounting to £l2 15s. 6d. Mr.
Campbell appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Cobb
conducted the case for the defendant. Mr. Campbell said
that the complainant shipped at Caldero, in Cbtli, on the
20th of August, as able seaman, at £4 10s. a month, and
was discharged on the 29th of January last. Ari. account
was rendered, in which the balance due him was shown
to be £l2 15s. 6d. When signing the release in pre-
sence of the shipping master, at the ' Sailors' Home,
there were several alterations made in the -account.
These were the introduction of the words ordinary sea-
man, at the rate .of £3 per month. and other deduc-
tions, which reduced the amount to £2 Ils. Upon this
statement of facts he (Mr. Campbell) would refer to. the
171st section of the Merchants' Shipping Act, which
provides, that every, master of a vessel shall, not less
than 24 hours, before paying off any seaman, deliver to
him an account of his wages and all deductions ; and
no deduction from the wages of any seaman shal be
allowed unless it be included in the account so delivered.
On these grounds he submitted the captain had no right
to make such alterations. The complainant made a
similar statement to that of Mr. Campbell, "in reference
to the alterations made in the account, and brought for-
ward a boarding-house keeper to support his statement,
but this person could neither read nor write,
and the magistrate, consequently, considered • that
there could be no doubt. no alterations had taken
place. Mr. Cobb said, that this question being
settled, all that remained to settle was the question
whether -complainant was worth £4 10s: or only £3,
a month. Captain Graves was called, and stated that
he ,discovered, shortly, after going out to sea, that the
complainant was incapable of performing. an able sea-
man's duty, and was never put to it. He never, read
the log to him, nor threatened to disrate him, as such
threats often produced disturbance on board a vessel.
If he had known the man's capabilities before going to
sea he would not have shipped him. The chief mate
was called, and gave similar' testimony. The magis-
trates decided there was no claim for the larger amount ;
that the sum due to complainant was £2 Hs.

LIVERPOOL COUNTY COURT-YEsTERDAY.

(Betbre J. K. BLAIR, Esq., Judge.)

INSOLVENCY CASES.—The court was exclusively oc-
cupied yesterday in disposing of insolvency cases.. The •
foll Owing cases were heard :—Charles Baetens2 a Ger-.
man, late of Greenheys; Manchester, a musician, who
was supported by Mr. Grocott, was discharged forthwith.
—Alexander Macdonald, of Cottenham-street, Kensing-
ton, Liverpool, a schoolmaster, who was supported by
Mr. Roby, had his final order granted.—The case of
John Rourke, of lligh:street, Everton, a book-keeper,
was adjourned to the 7th of March, in order to afford
time for the payment of instalments due.—Edward Dyas,.
of Thomas's-terrace, Portland-place, Everton, a beer- ,
seller, passed his first examination, and the final order
was appointed for the 7th of March: opposition open.—
James B. Comyns, of Washington-street, Liverpool, an
agent for a Steam-Packet Co., who was supported by'
Mr. Anderson, and opposed by Mr. lime, had his final
order appointed for the, 7th of March.—Wilfred Mooney,
of Tetlow-street, Kirkdale, shipwrights' solicitor,:ap-
peared in person,
.and his' final order was fixed for the
7th of. March.—John Boulton
,Prioi, of Luther-street,'
Everton, a pilot, who was supported by Mr.`Henry,,
passed his first exatnination. The final order was ap-
pointed for the 7th of March : opposition open.

PROPOSED MEMORIAL OP THE GREAT EXHIBITIOH.--.
There is reason to believe the long-talked-of memorial
of the Great Exhibition of 1851 will now Speedily be
raised. At a recent meeting of the geneial committee
—Alderman Challis in the chair—a report was read
containing an account of all that had been done in the
matter. It appeared' frOm this that negotiations were
on foot for erecting a monument on the land belonging
to the commissioners for the Great Exhibition, which
has been given up to the Horticultural Society.
RUSHOLME, WITHINGTON, BURNAOE, AND DIDSBURY
RIPLES.—The first company of this corps is now nearly
complete, and consists of nearly eighty men. A second
company is about to be formed, the promoter being Mr.
T. C. Ogden: It is hoped that 300 men may 'ultimately
be raised, so as to entitle the corps to a major com-
mandant and adjutant. The corps has obtained the use
of a rifle practice ground at rallowfield, at which place
the head quarters have been'fixed.
EXCITEMENT IN THE WINE AND SPIRIT TRADE.—
Both in Edinburgh and Leith the distillers and wine
and spirit merchants are in great perplexity. They
fear the new budget will affect them in a material man-
ner. Report says that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
is to add 2s. per gallon of duty on whiskey ; and, there-
fore, enormous quantities of spirits have been taken
from bond. One, firm, it is said, has paid no less than
£14,000 of duty within the past few days. The con-
templated reduction of the duty on wine and brandy
has greatly alarmed the dealers in such liquors, and
some of those who have large duty-paid stocks in hand
intend to send to Rotterdam and elsewhere brandy and
wine, with the view of procuring. from the government
a drawback of dull, as is usual in the case of expor-
tation.—Scotsmen: