The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-08-18 00:00:00

STEALING BANK-NOTES.

At the latter end of last month, a parcel, containing
Bank-notes to the amount of between 5000/. and 60001.,
the property of Messrs. Paget and Kirby, bankers, in Lei-
cester, was stolen from the Leicester coach. A gentleman,
the friend of the bankers, who was going to Leicester, of-
fered to take charge of the bank-notes, in order that no
accident might happen to them. Ile accordingly placed
them in his portmanteau, which was stowed away in the
usual place in the coach. Before, however, the coach
reached its destination, it was discovered that the port-
manteau and other property had been stolen. The. thieves
could not have suspected such e prize as the portmanteau
contained ; but finding that they had pounced upon what
they thought they might turn to their advantage, and
aware of the spot in which they might final purchasers,
they hastened up to town, and offered the notes for
sale. They found it, however, not so easy a mat-
ter to get rid of their spoil upon the expected terms.
The activity of the Committee for the Protection of
Bankers from forgery and robbery, for uhich Commit-
tee Mr. Gates is the agent., has ioterferptl greatly with
the facilities of disposing of ittch plutider. The bank-
notes, upon being taken to the neighbourhood of Pen-
tonville, where there used to be a ready sale, could find.
not a single purchaser, and the thieves were obliged to re-
sort to the old plan of n:gotiation. They offered, through
their agent, whom custom has permitted to go with impu-
nity in such cases, to deliver up the it swag" upon lower
terms than bad been received by the regular mail coach
robbers. The proposition was rejected, and an assurance
was given upon the part of the bankers, that no compro-
mise should take place, under any circumstances whatever,
but that the thieves should, if possible, be brought to jus-
tice. The notes were again produced in the " swag mar-
ket," but fetched not a bidder ; so much terror has the
new Committee infused into dealers in this description of
merchandise. The thieves again made application for a
compromise, and offeretl the whole for a sum ihtinitely be-
low their former offer ; but the Committee, determined to
adhere to the principle of rejecting all terms with rogues,
would not consent to give a farthing for the 6,000/. They
have requested that the holders of any of the notes of
Messrs. l'aget and Kirby, not being part of the stolen
notes, of which the particulars have been given in hand-
bills, will present the same without delay for payment,
either at their bank at Leicester, or to Sir Richard Cur
Glyn, Bart. and Co., London.

OYSTT7II CAVSE.—A speculation which had for its object
the naturalization of the oysters of Cancale, in the Medi-
terranean, was some time since entered into by M. Bouffey,
a merchant of Marseilles. Nothing was neglected to secure
the success of this undertaking. Three hundred thousand
oysters were purchased by direction of the agent; they
were put on board the ship St.. Van Baptiste. in order that
they might be transported to Marseilles. The most care-
ful and minute precautions were taken, according to cus-
tom, to pryvent the shells from crushing each other. The
packing was made in boxes which admitted the sea-water
from time to time, to keep them fresh. The administra-
tire authorities encouraged the auempt. A fare-en-nter
was set apart to receive the ocean colony, and much
speculation ensued on the probable effect which it'
would produce on the civilization of the country. After
a quick passage, when the port of Marseilles was almost
in sight, a gal of wind drove the vessel over to the coast
of Africa, where the hot breezes prevail, and Death ex-
tended his ravages among the testaccous race. In the
mean time the speculator riad insured his cargo for 13,300
francs, at a premium of a quarter per cent. for the arrival
of the oysters in a good state of preservation. Being com-
pelled to pay for the bad success and the funeral expenses,
the underwriters, after informations taken respecting the
circumstances, entered an action against the speculator for
the recovery of the amount paid by them. He, before he
entered upon his own defence, commenced a prosecution
against his opponents for defamation, in having attempted
to tarnish the glory of his enterprise, by accusing him of
fraud, robbery, and concealment. Eventually tha Tribu-
nal of Commerce of Marseilles condemned the under-
writers to pay the sum insured, deducting at the same time
thirty-two
,per cent. for discount. The cause was carried
by appeal before the Court of Aix, but after a long and
patient hearing the Court confirmed the decision of the in-
terior tribunal.—Freneh Paper,

On Monday afternoon a sensation of horror pervaded the
whole town of Congleton, when it was known that an
ancient couple—Joseph Dale and his wife, who resided
in a yard behind Lawton-street, in that town—had been
literally burnt to cinders : lie was aged 69 years, his wife
76. Soon after four o'clock in the afternoon, the cottage
of Joseph Dale was discovered to be on fire, when John
Stanton, a man in the employ of Mr. Sutton, ironmonger,
went to the scene of conflagration ; he called to the in-
mates, but received no answer ; his father had previously
heard Mrs. Dale ejaculate—" 01), Lord ! oh, Lord !"
Stanton forced his way into the house, when the first
object which was presented to his view was the female
sufferer on the staircase ; he immediately laid hold of her
hand and arm, to drag her out of the house, when the flesh
parted from the hone, and she was a corpse. His father then
threw water upon her, whilst he went into the High-street
and rang the fire bell. Hefore the engines arrived he had
returned, and having procured a ladder, had ascended to a
cock-loft over the house. The engines arrived and played,
whereby the fire was somewhat abated, and he was thus
enabled to discover the mutilated remains of the old man.
The skeleton was quite doubled up, and no trace of the
human features was discovered. All that could be collected
of the remains of the defunct was placed in a sheet, and
with the corpse of his w,fe, conveyed to the son's house ad-
jacent. The lire, it is supposed, was occasioned by the old
man going into the cock-loft with a lighted candle, and as
there was a quantity of &het rushes there, they ignited,
and thus occasioned the calamity. On Tuesday, an in-
quest was held, when a verdict was returned of " Acci-
(lanai Death."—Maceledield Herold.