The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-28 00:00:00

GLOUCESTERSIII_RE M. P'S ON

NATIONAL DEFEN.YE.

The Hon. W. BATHURST, in responding to the
toast of the health of his brother, Earl Bathurst,
expressed his belief that the Emperor of the
French was amicably disposed towards England,
and that we were perfectly free from any chance of
an invasion. At the same time, he said it was in-
cumbent upon us to keep ourselves in a safe position
of self-defence against any possible attack, and not
to depend upon the forbearance or help of any na-
tion, but to depend alone on our own strength.
He rejoiced, therefore, to see the spirit which was
developed in the establishment of rifle corps
throughout the country. They ,might arm them-
selves without alarming the world.

FOWLER'S STEAM PLOUGH.
Mr. E. HOLLAND, M.P., being called upon to
respond to the toast of " Success to the Gloucester-
shire Agricultural Society," confined himself en-
tirely to agricultural subjects. He recommended

the general abolition of hcrings at mops or statutes,
and gave some interesting details of the working
of Fowler's steam plough, which he had himself
used do his Worcestershire farm with a great sav-
ing in cost and an improved result on the work
done. He said he had ploughed 272 acres with
the steam plough, at an average of four acres per
day, making 68 days in all. He estimated the cost
of these four acres per day as follows :

s. d.
Half a ton of coal, at 12s. per ton . 6 0
Oil
Horse and water cart 3 0
Boy to attend the same
Man, working the gear 3 0
Four men, at 2s. 6d. each lO 0

£1 4 0
If, however, he hid had his own instead of Mr.
Fowler's tackle, he could have saved himself the
work of two men by substituting boys instead, at
a saving of 2s. 3d. per acre. Mr. Fowler also
put a charge of ls. 6d. per acre for wear and
tear of his machinery, and that, added to the
£1 4s as above, made it £1 103 per day for the four
acres, or a daily cost of 7s. 6d. per acre. Then,
again, they must look at the depth which steam
ploughing attained, and the saving of horses and
horse keep. It would, ho supposed, have taken
four horses to each plough to have ploughed the
four acres, and he thought an acre per day would
not have been done by four horses. He calculated
the cost then would have been per acre, or £4
for the four acres, so that it would at once by seen
that a difference existed of £2los. as between steam
and horse ploughing in the four acres alone. The
eost of his new machinery altogether, from begin-
ning to end, was something like £BOO. He had re-
duced this, hov, ever, by selling off £3OO worth of
horses and a small engine, thus leaving him for the
establishment of the steam plough a capital of £5OO.
Upon this sum he charged himself 20 per cent., or
£lOO per year. His breakages daring the time
had come to a little less than £5O, and this, added
tothe per centage, made a sum of £l5O to be placed
against the steam engine. Then the saving of £2
108. in fOur acres per day in favour of steam as
against horses, for 68 days, was £l7O, to which
must be added £240 for the keep of eight only in-
stead of the number formerly required, making it
£4lO. If from this amount was deducted the £l5O
for interest and breakages it was apparent that an
annual balance of £260 existed in favour of steam
over horse ploughing. But besides this the work
was very much better done; the ground was
ploughed deeper and cleaner, and the soil was not
trampled by horses, which was a great consi3era-
tion on stiff clay soils.
Numerous other speeches, chiefly of a practical
character, followed.

THE ACCIDENTAL POISONING AT
C_LI"TERD UR Y.

An important inquiry took place on Friday last
at Canterbury, before the magistrates, which re-
sulted in the committal of a young chemist in that
city, named Reeve, on a charge of manslaughter.
Since the close of the magisterial investigation
into this unfortunate affair many fresh facts con-
nected with it have come to light ; and we regret to
say that it has assumed a magnitule which seems
likely to rival, if not excel, the recent case of whole-
sale poisoning by " daft." This morning, tne coro-
ner for East Kent, Mr. T. 'F. Delasaux, was waited
upon by the widow of a man named James Coppins,
who stated that having heard of the symptoms of
the deceased Cole, she feared her husband had
met his death by the same means. He had been
taken ill, she said, rather more than a week ago,
and a black draught was sent for from Mr. Reeve's
shop. A bottle, labelled " The aperient draught,"
and purporting to be the mixture usually known as
the black draught, was obtained and administered

to the deceased, an old man. Very soon after taking
it he was seized in precisely the same way as Cole;
he became insensible, breathed hard, and turned
black in the face. A medical man was sent for, and
one came in the course of an 'lour or two, but the poor
old man had died without recovering for a moment
his consciousness. Hz" was buried last Sunday, and
nothing more would have been thought of his case but
for the publicity given to the death of Cole. The co-
roner directed that another witness should come and
speak to the same facts before he could feel justified
in ordering the exhumation of the body. A neigh-
bour of the deceased accordingly came and made a
statement to the effect of the one given above. He
also said that he had known the deceased some
years, and that he was not subject to fits. Under
these circumstances the coroner considered that he
had no alternative but to issue an order for the ex-
humation of the body of the deceased. This has
been done; and a post mortem examination, and
probably an analysis of the contents of the stomach,
will be made. The coroner has had a jury sum-
moned, and the inquest will take place on Monday
afternoon or evening. The greatest excitement
has been occasioned in Canterbury by this
dreadful occurrence, especially as there is
but too much reason to fear that we
have not got to the end of it. It is stated
on good authority that a woman is now lying dead
at Harbledown, near the city, whose death cannot
be accounted for on natural causes ; and it is under-
stood, on the highest authority, that more bodies
will have to be exhumed. The public have been
startled to find that but for a circumstance almost
accidental the unfortunate persons whose death is
now the subject of so much inquiry would have
gone to their graves and no suspicion been excited
but that their end was natural, for it is certain that
had not the accused by his conduct and voluntary
statements set the inquiry afoot, it never would
have taken place. In many cases where the pri-
soner's black draughts were swallowed they pro.
duced great pain and vomiting, which lasted many
hours; but the poison having been thus thrown of
the stomach death did not follow.

MR. FREDERICK DOUGLASS.—Mr. Frederick
Douglass, of Rochester, passed through Toronto yesterday,
on his way to Quebec, from which place he sails for Eng-
land on Saturday, in the Nova Scotian. He has been en.
gaged to go to England for some time, and his present visit,
therefore, is not the result of the late llarper's Ferry ir-
sui rection. It is a fact, however, that United Stator
officials visited Rochester for the purpose of arresting him,
and it is, perhaps, just as well that he will be absent for
time.— Tiron to Globe.

CRYSTAL PALACE. HALF-A-CROWN DAY.--.
SATURDAY, Nov. 26.—Admissions en payment, 231;
ditto, by season tickets, 796; total visitors, 1,087.

CIRENCESTER, FRIDAY.
The annual meeting of the Gloucestershire Agri-
cultural Society was held yesterday, and after a
capital exhibition of stock in Earl Bathurst's fine
park, which adjoins the town, and prizes having
been awarded to successful competitors in various
departments of agriculture, a party of about eighty
gentlemen sat down to dinner, under the presi-
dency of Sir C. W. Codrington, M.P. There were
also present the Hon. A. Bathurst, M.P., Colonel
Kingscote, M.P., the Hon. %V. Bathurst, and Mr.
Holland, M.P.
In reply to the toast of " The Bishop and Clergy,
of the Diocese,"
The Rev. T. FOWELI„ vicar of Cirencester, al-
luded to the movement for abolishink mops and
statutes, and said it was beneath the dignity of
men or women that they should be, exposed in
the public market-place, strung together like rows
of onions, or to be tickled under the ribs like cows
at a fair. He also recommended an improveMent
in the cottage accomoda.tion for labourers and their
families.
Sir C. W. CODRINGTON, M.P., in proposing the
toast of " The Army and Navy," referred to the
talk about invasion, and said he had sufficient con-
fidence in our navy to believe that if the attempt
was made they would give a good account of the
invaders, or at any rate that they would give the
enemy such a check as wonld afford to us on land

time enough to concentrate our army where its
services wore required. It was said the French'
had a burning desire to avenge Waterloo, and he
thought if they made the attempt, they would
get twice as good a " licking" as they did then.
(Cheers.)
Colonel KINGSCOTE, M.P., responding on behalf
of the army, expressed his belief that the French
had no intention to attempt the invasion of Eng-
land ; but if the attempt Should ever be made he
was certain of this thing, that they would find the
British army and navy as efficient and, at least, as
powerful as ever. The new militia force, too, would
be found efficacious, and we had, besides, rifle
volunteer corps rising up in every direction around
us. The rising of the British nation would on such
attempt' be general; every man would be found
with arms in his hands, and not a foe would be left
alive.