Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-27 00:00:00

BOILER EXPLO3ION AND-L 033 OF LIFE.

A. dreadful accident, involving loss of: life under- circutn-
stancvi of the most painful nature, took place on Monday
evenb g at the"works of Messrs. R'ibert Laidlaw & Sons,
ironfounders and eigineers, situa'ed in East Milton-street,
Port Duada4. Shortly b fora. five-o'clock a large steara-
boiler on the premises bu, st with terrific violence at both
nthi; carrying deatructi4n end death in each dirc-ion.
Tne walla of the engine house were blown down, and
three men employed -in the- works, so - sErionely
that one of thern:—the engMeman, an
elderly man, named John Irvine, died some howls
afterwards, and other two labourers, respectively
named William Burns and Hugh Monaghan, are still in a
precarious state. Adjoining the iv) k 4, and immediately
behind the engine house, is a two-storey tenement. Oa
;he ground floor of this balding, close to the works
resided a family, consisting of the lrtsband and wife, with
two children, boys, whose respective ages were four years,
and eighteen months. Oct the explosion taking place, the
boiler was lifted from its position and driven . with such
force -against the wall of the dwelling-house that a great
part of it was demolished, and Mrs. Scott, who. with her
two children, were in apartnierts •in the house, Was
literally blown through a partition and into the adjoining
. house. The two children suffered such injuries from the
explosion that they died i i about two hours after the.
accident.. The whole of the injured partieJ, with the
exception of Mrs. Scott, who was kille l on the spot, were
removed to the Royal Infl-mary. In the meantime. the
works will be closed, and the usual examination made by
the authorities.—North Brdish,Daily -Mail.

POST OFFICE ROB3ERY.

ARREST OF THE NORTHAXP FON POST MASTER.

On Tuesday morn'r g, Mi'. Becher, the No 4bampton.
pose-master, was arraiLed on a eh irge of stealing., a half-
Sovereign front a lever. Complaints have been made for
some time about letters th it were posted in Northampton,
containing money, not reaching their destination and at-
last it was determined if possible, td see where .tite fault
lay. A. gentleman named Mole, c3neected with-the London
plst.office, p ‘sted a letter at Oundte, Northamptonshire,
containing a half-sovereign whic4 hal been mark-ed in the
presence of witnesses Tee letter was sent to the postmaster
at Northa npton, with a request that he would forward it to a
lady at Macclesfield. In the meantime, the mail pad
had orders that as soca as the big containing thi
letters way delivered to him on Tuesday morning, he was
to open it and see if it contained this letter. Ace n.diug
to instructions, the losg.was opened, bit this particular
letter was missing. Mr. M,le . then went to the post-
office, and asked Mr.. Butcher if he had. seen a letter
addressed as above, • and the postmaster said be: had not.
Mr. Mole cent inquired who was in the post:-office on
Monday evening, andliie. Butcher said t ha, he was; but there
were ,•thers with him also during a part of -the time. Mr.
Mde then asked the post,naster if he hid any objection
to be searched Mr. Butcher'eaid "No ; "and on turning
out his pockets the half sovereign which had been pre-
viously marked was discovered, tad identified by Mr.
Mole. Mr. Butcher was then given into custody, an&
taken before the maglstretee, when; after a preliminary
examination, he was reminded until Tuesday next. The
arrest cf Mr. Butcher, on the above serious charge, has
created intense excitement hare, as he was a. man highly
respected, and by his assidei.y and strict attenti in to
business, f eoln a ,humble le, ter-o,rrier, had • attained the
proud position of postmaster.

POWER,. OF :ARREST BY: IT3TO.lt;•' HOUSE
OF Fie ERS..

The arbitrary power of arrest even: ley the Customs •
Consolidation Act to Cll3wm,h4usa 01E0,614 is at last
working out its own abriition by exhibiting its injustice.
According to rep srts which have boon ,pahlishoi in our
columns during the present week, it appears there are or
were at Southampton andeßei-tolaloassupowards of twenty
persons undergoing imprisonm,nt far crimes of which.
they might bs innocent. Any onaunaaquaiutel with the-
Customs consolidation Act will ensurpeesed to learn that
that statute not only empowers a.eatom house offieer to
arrest every one, caotain, crew, and, pasiengere, found on
board a ship in whichesontranandrataiebes —stun as tobacco,
for instance —are concealed,. -but imposes a heavy penalty
woe each, without trial, judge,- on jury. Further than
this, the same statute and the. general Customs orders
encourage a Custom-house atm:Al make as many arrests
as he .caa, by making the emoluments of his office to a
great extent depend upon the-number of the penalties he
secures. Let our readers judge, for themselves. 13y the
236th and the.2Bl.st sections of the statute referred to it is
enacted, " that. every person who shall bs found or
discovered to have been on, board any ship or boat liable
to forfeiture shall forfeit 4100 ; shall be detained a
prisoner until brought before a megi.trate ; and on proof
of—not his participation in or knowledge of the smuggling,
but—hie presence on board the whip, shall be subject to
the alternative, at the- dieeretion of the magistrate, of
fordewiih paying the £lOO penalty, or- being sent to
p ison frr not less thee-, six or nine menthe.'.' • The 255th
and 2e3aih sections theo provide that thee Commissioners
, of Customs may give, to- the Caetoin houi.e:officer rewards
up to £2O for each person fined or arre,al,e3,• in additi-,n to
.such reward as the Coentnissioters mey see fit out of the
penalties recovered'' Upon the suppesition, we must
presume, that :hese inducements arceiusuffiAent to procure
, the requsite number of arreste, a., general o der, which
was passed in.Fehreery, 1831, is still retained, by which
it is decreed-, "that where partieeare sumtnerily prosecuted
before a maeixtrsee, the Collectors and Contrejlers of
Cnstoms may pay the officers by whom she parties were
detained oae third of the penalty recovored" With such
a law in force, and such inducements to the agent's of the
law to esrry it out, can it be a matter of surprise that the
arrest of the innocent and the guilty are somewhat
indiscriminate? such a law should never have beet:
passed, and, now that its injustice is so aqnrent, should
at once be repealed. If the Cie:toms Consolidation Act
be not amenied in this respect, it will be in the power of
any Custom-house officer- to, damege the. character of the
port at which he is staioned to an alei,ost irretrievable,
extent, nine° ell shipe, and especially iore.:g•l ones, will be
incline I to give a wide berth to a pl'oe in which the
alternative of penehy or imprisonment weer be so easily
incurred. FrGin
It petition we published on Monday it
would appear thee the leadieg inhabiianti of: Southampton
are sensible RJr trot only of the injustice of this law of arrest,
but of its jej-,
inhabitants et Bristol, and of all Other, pc its in which these
trione effect upon their ineerests. The
arbitrary proceedings have been reeorted to, will do well
'to imitate the example vet by Southampton, and then,
possibly, we shall cease to hear• of the whle of the officers
and crew—as in she case of the Sopi-tie—and of the
boatswain and the boatswain's mate, as in the case of the
Barcelene—b-ing fined VW each, or impisonment for
six months, for the congevencei of an act of which,
probably, none of them wore iu any way cognisant.—
Ehilopieg Gazette.

IFeolun-TAX Sclutouiza.—A Leeds correspondent of t
Times says that he recently bought some income-'ax
scht dotes as waste paper :--" Tee 130 I stcared comprise
some of the principal professions and firms in the important
ward in which my business is located, many of whom are
my personal friends. Tee 41b.. include the following sum-
mary, viz.:—Two clergymen (one of whom is a distin-
visited leader in the Oxford school, and a chaplain to her
.jesty), five surgeons and M.D.'s, seven solicitors and The King of the Belgians, who is travelling incog,
barristers, five booksellers, six druggists, six corn factors, under the title of the Gaunt d'Ardennes, will be absent
eleven merchants, two carriers, five wine naerchan,s, four from Belgium for about three weeks. His Majesty arrived
tea dealers, including an alderman of the city of I..tidon, at Bann on the evening of Saturday, and was tronvdiately
who is at the head of one of the firms, together with visited by the Prince of Wales. The King, on the follow—
numerous private gentlemen kW nrit'da43 "*Adesl"4:‘ log day, was to proceed up the Rhine in a steamer.

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