Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-11 00:00:00

THE IRON AND COAL TRADES.

The iron trade of the districts of South Staffordshire and East
Worcestersh re continues in a very depressed condition The leading
houses of the trace of Fast Worcestershire since the meeting of ire
various members in this tawn, on Wednesday, have determined
upon giving their workmen notce of a reduction of wages. On
Saturday the determination became general, and the various firms in
both districts on that evening, simultaneous y gave fourteen days'
notice to the fo lowing workmen for a reduction : —Furnaeemen, 20
percent; mechanics generally, 20 per cent; blast en ginemen, 15
percent; thin miners, coal and stone, 61 per day; boatloaders and
labourers, 20 per cent. Between thirty and forty furnaces have been
blown out, and this number will be increased during the we k. The
consumption of pig iron has fallen off very much, and prices have
declined greatly since quarter-day. We have heard of one eminent
firm purchasing 3,010 tons of pigs at £3 per ton, which were quoted
a few weeks before the panic at The coal trade is brisk, and the
price fully maintained, namely—best 12s, common Ins, lum .s 83 6d,
and fine slack 33 per ton at the wharfs. It has been decided not to
interfere with the wages of thick coal colliers at present, on account
of the demand for coal. The serious depreciation in the price of pig
iron, and the want of confidence, have seriously reduced the opera-
ti ns of the mills, forges, and furnaces in the district and have been
the cause of interfering with the wages of thin coal miners, stone
getters, and others. It is hoped that the various workmen will se •
the necessity of conforming to the reductions that have been forced
upon the masters by circumstances which they deplore, and over
which they have no control. Ironstone has a downward tendency,
and it is rather difficult to effect sales.— Wolterhlinton Chronicle.

THE BArtosir OF BEREELRY.—We understand that Sir
Maurice Berkeley proposes at once to pres-nt a petition to
her Majesty, claiming the barony of Berkeley as a barony
by tenure. The late Lord Fitz`lardiege presented a
similar petition previously to his having been created a
peer by letters patent, a circumstance which prevented at
the time the necessity for any judical decision by a corn•
mittee of privilege of the House of Lords upon his
lordship's claim as a baron by tenure.—Manchester Guar-
dian.

PARTIES IN FRANCE.—The Paris press comprises :—l.
The journals which are neither for the empire nor for
liberty. 2 The journals which are for liberty without the
empire. 3. Tee journals which are for the empire without
liberty. 4. The journals which are for liberty under the
empire. Neither the empire nor liberty means either the
restoration of the Count de Chambord, or the return to
France of the Count de Paris, or the triumph of the fusion.
Liberty without the empire means a new revolution
leading once again to a new dictatorship. The empire
without liberty is the ideal of the journals which have
brought us into existence, just as light is a contrast to
darkness, Liberty under the empire is what we wish for,
and what all friends of reform and all enemies of revolution
should wish for with us. The empire and liberty may be
as easily reconciled with each other as " the empire and
peace." If the empire is a glorious peace, why should it
not be fruitful liberty ? What is necessary to make liberty
faithful? That power should he virile. By the common
consent of all, friends and enemies, the existing power in
France unites all the coniitions of virility and strength ;
the empire which is peace may therefore be also liberty,—
Ceurrier de Paris.
INCENDIARY FIRE NEAR BARNSLEY —A little before
seven o'clock on Friday evening last, ow? of eight stacks, in
the farmyard of Mr. William Gray, an extensive farmer,
residing at Holyland Nether, was discovered to be on fire,
and under circumstances which leave little doubt that it
was the work of au incendiary. The family were all
engaged in the house when an alarm was given by a man
passing, that one of the stacks was burning. An alarm
was raised, and the whole of the village turned out, and
did everything that was possible to subdue the flames ; the
engines from Earl Fitzwilliam's, "Wentworth House, and
one from Barnsley, were also quickly on the ground, and
there being a good supply of water, they played most
effectually on the burning stack. At the same time,
attention was directed to the other stacks, which was quite
close to the burning one, and by means of wet carpets and
blankets, and the engines 'aing kept playing upon them
they were saved. The stack appears to have been set on
fire at the bottom, and to have gradually burnt upwards.
The wheat destroyed is estimated at from 60 to 70 loads,
a circumstance more attributable to the fact of the wind
being south, for had it blown in a contrary direction, the
destruction of property must have been great, as, besides
the eight stacks, the barns and outbuildings were close at
hand. One of the firemen with the Wentworth engine,
named Falld;ng, met with an accident. While exerting
himself, one end of the burning stack fell upon him, and
jammed him against the barn, and before he could be
extricated he was a good deal burned about the legs. The
fire was completely extinguished by midnight. We under-
stand that Mr. Gray is insured in the Yorkshire office.

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