Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-26 00:00:00

THE POPE'S EYE.

Some people, even amongst the most devout, have- a de-
cided objection to the idea (of the Pope's crowning of the
Emperor Napoleon), upon tee plea of his holiness being the
victim of a most severe and incurable affliction—one before
which gout, palsy,. rheum, and sciatica are as nought ; an
affiiction which, not confined to the sufferer himself, spreads
its dire influence over all who approach—a disease which
affects all on whom the sufferer looks; in a word, his
holiness is believed to be the most powerful jettat 're in all
Italy 1 So enrooted is this idea amongst the population of
Rome, that you will see the lower order of the people, while•
throwing themselves on their knees to beg his blessing, ex-
tend the forefinger of the right hand to divert the " evil
eye" which he is believed to possess, and which, if not
annihilated in this manner, will bring disease, despair,
and death to those on whom he gazes. The most extraor-
dinary thing of all is the fact that, while this jetratore is
dreaded and abhorred as the most cruel gift the Fates can
bestow, yet the belief in its existence takes nothing from
the holiness of the Pope Pius, nor from the reverence with
which his subjects regard them. As proof, however, of the
extent to which the superstition is carried in the Papal
States, we may quote the circumstance of the railway to
Frascati, which occurred not very long ago. In his eager-
ness to render himself useful to the undertaking, his
Holiness had proposed attending the opening of the
railway in person, and, by making the festival a national
holiday, to assist in making the affair as popular as possible.
The foreign contractors. in their ignorance of the prejudice
against the luck of his Holiness, were rejoiced at this
courtesy, and in their delight spread the news far and
near, distributing handbills all over the city, and despatch-
ing messengers to Ate towns and villagt s in the neigebour-
hood. To their great astonishment, however, the news was
received with anything but pleasure; the propositions for
making all things agreeable, the promises held out, were
met with so mournful a silen e, thee they could not forbear
expressing their surprise, when one of the officials, under
the strictest promise of secrecy, and displaying his drawer
full of unsold tickets issued for the occasion, and, unsought
by any, was fain to confess the truth. "Have the Pope to
bless the undertaking, and you will never have one single
traveller by your railway," said he to the astounded

Englishman, who had displayed the greatest delight at the
Pope's urbanity, Goad gracious ! and pray wuy ?" said
he, aghast. " Because his Holiness, whom Heaven bless,
is the most terrible jettatore in all Italy, and your train will
be sure to smish before it reaches Frascati !" In spite of
the laughter and derison which the announcement occa-
sioned amongst the Englishmen, the proof of the real
existence of the idea was but too evident in the empty
till of the company's bureau; so means were to be devised
in order to break the horrible spell which his Holiness was
unconsciously about to throw over the undertaking. One
of the Cardinals was consulted. His eminence undertook,

by dint of sacrafice and real sympathy, for none mourned
the existence of the deAdly gift more than he—to prevent
the consequences which else must fall upon the hapless
company. What his Eminence did must ever remain a
secret; he perhaps was fortunate enough to procure an
" evil eye" of greater power even than the Pops's, but it is
certain that, within a day or two of the ceremony, it was
announced that the Pope was suffering from indisposition,
supposed to be occasioned by an indigestion of pasteechi.
Presently it was understood that the, said indisposition
would prevent him from opening the railway. The rush
for tickets became tremendous; and when the day arrived,
and it became certain that Cardinal , the arch.
enemy of jettatori, who can cure the bite of a mad dog by
a glance, and the sting of a vipar by a passe of his left
hand, was to take his Holiness's place, not a ticket was to
be had for love or money. Many and many a laugh have
the jolly contractors enjoyed over their wine at remem-
brance of the"utter bewilderment in which, they had
remained when viewing the indifference with which their
grand treat was regarded by the population of Rome, and
many a wink was passed from one to the other when allud-
ing to the timely help of Cardinal ---, the indigestion
of pasteechi, and the quantities of warm ptisane and com-
forting cordial his Holiness had been compelled to swallow
while the ceremony was going forward.—Paris Correspon-
dent of the Court Journal.

DEFICIENT WEIGHTS AND AIEA.SITKES.--A. number of
persons, comprising provision-dealers, coal-dealers, but-
chers, and puolicans, appeared on summons before Mr. T.
Bolton and Mr. J. R. Jeffery, borough magistrates, for
having in their possession and use deficient weights and
measures. They all carried on business in the poorer
quarters of the town. A fine varying
,from is to 2s 6d,
with costs, was imposed in nearly every case.
ELECTION OF DOCK AUDITORS.—The annual election of
Dock Auditors took place yesterday, at the Town Hall.
The following gentlemen were elected—Messrs. John Gor-
don, Henry Dawson, James Brebuer, David Rae, J. A.
Black, George Kendall, C. T. Bowring, and James
Williams. After their election, these gentlemen appointed
Mr. Gordon their chairman, Mr. Dawson their vice-chair-
man, and Mr. H. B. Horaby a. special auditor to assist
them.

STEAM TO PORTLAND.—We read in the- Canadian News,
Messrs. Wier, Cochrane, and Co., of Liverpool, the origi-
nators of the North Atlantic Steam Navigation Company,
are making arrangements for establishing a weekly line
from Liverpool to Portland, via Newfoundland. We
believe the Legislature of this colony is willing to grant
a liberal subsidy. There is also a probability that an
eminent London shipowner will place his fine fleet of
screw-steamers on a now line between. London or Liverpool
and Quebec in the summer, and Portland in the winter.
BIRKENHEAD MODEL YACHT CLUB—SECOND SAILING
MATCH OF THE SEASON.—These, matches will come ,iff to-
. morrow (Saturday), 27th instant, on which occasion one
of the Woodside Ferry stearn,rB will accomp my the
yachts sailing in the matches. The steamer will leave
the Landing-stage, Prince's Pier, at one o'clock, p.m.,
and the Woodside Pier at half-past one. The starting-
point will be north of the Woodside Pier, and the prome-
nade at Woodside Ferry presents one of the best views on
the river fez seeing the start, race, and final close of the
same.

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF STEAM
BOILER EXPLOSIONS.—The monthly meeting_ of the com-
mittee of management of this association was hold, on
Tuesday, at the office of the secretary, Mr. Henry Whit-
worth, 13, Corporation-street, Manches tar when the
chief inspector, Mr.R. B. Longridge, presented his monthly
report, from which we have the following extracts :
During the present month, 276 visits have been made to
members of the association ; 717 boilers inspected (89 ):
these internally), and 84 engines indicated ; 43 visits, t
103 boilers inspected by Mr. R. B. Ungridge. The rincipal
defects which have been observed in these boilers are as ,
follow :—1 boiler dangerous frena over-pressure, 2 ditto
injury resulting from deficiency of water ; 7 boilers injured
from the same cause, but not to a dangerous extent; 11
boilers defective from corrosion or fracture of plates ; 2
boilers from over-heating of plates over fire ; 3 safety valves
out of order ; 2 water-guages out of order; 3 pressure
guages incorrect.

- -
A MANUFACTBRER ROBBED OF £l2O IN LUBIN —Mr.
Thomas Raistrick, cloth manufacturer, Idle, near Bradford,
came to Leeds on Tuesday evening, on business. He called
at the Midland Hotel, immediately adjacent to the station,
to see a gentleman with whom he had an appointment.
He met his friend, and they adjourned into the taproom,
and proceeded to the despatch of business. Raistrick had
occasion to use his pocket-book for the payment of a small
account, but when he had done with it be placed it in his
coat pocket. He was next engaged in examining several
samples of goods, and while Go occupied a man came from
the opposite side of the room, and, under pretence of also
inspecting the samples, sat down by the side of Raistrick.
No suspicion was excited at the time, and when the
stranger had gratified his curiosity, he rose to move to his
own side of the room. Just then, either by accident or
design, he tipped Raistrick's hat over his eyes, and then
sharply and suddenly left the room. Raistrick soon
discovered his loss. The contents of the pocket-book were
a check for £lOO on Gurney St Co., and four £6 notes.
The thief endeavoured unsuccessfully to change two of the
£5 notes the same evening, at a public house. The police
are on track.