The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-06 00:00:00

CUSTOMS.

It was stated a short time since that some important
alterations were about taking place in the landing de-
partment of this branch of the revenue ; and that in
!consequence of the pressure of business necessarily so
frequently occurring, owing to the prevalence of con-
; trary winds and sudden cltinge, and consequent in-
flux of shipping, an arrangurnentwasin progress for
forming a body of men from the inferior departments,.
into three or four- classes of " superintendent lockers,
who were to be avaAable at all times on such occa-
sions to assist in the latading, weighing, and housing
of the cargoes of vesseh, in order to prevent c: play
to merchants, and inconvenience to trade. The ON
rangement alluded to has within these few days come',
, into operation, an a lare bod of these inferior
officers have, with d the sanctig yon of the Treasury,' been
formed into a body for' the desired purpose, at
at an increase of salary beyond that which they
I received in their previous positions, varying from
101. to 401. per annum. This new arrangement
No been a most fortunate thing for a great .many of
these officers, who previously held offices .it little
mole than half the salary they will recelye in
their' new position, and performi
nt; a very in-
ferior (I,:scription of duty, and who have been p2.l'
! muted in ~,nisequence of their previous gooLi charac- '
ter and capacLfv, entitling them to the benefit of thee
new arrangemei:t. Several of them are officers
drafted from the n-1' ffereD t outports, being 'inferior
officers of the Customs, or Ye:onging to the Coast-
guard, the collectors and cottiptz'L llens at these places
having been directed some time age'
by the Commis-
sioners to recommend to their con_
sideration such
deserving and entitled, in personscons under their supervision as the might con-
siderlie-me° of :their
merits and good character, to the benefit of A cartie-
tion in the new appointments about to be ;submit, ted
to the Lords of the Treasury for their approt P.
or
these men the change is a great advantage, end all
important improvement in their condition. It is' not
intended, we believe, that this new description oe
landing-waiters should perform the whole of thet.
duties appertaining to that department, but only the
simple routine portion of them, leering the higher
and more important, as before, to officers of more
capacity and experience. Various other alterations
have recently been made in the department, and
several reductions in the number of officers in diffe-
rent branches have been effected, where it was prac-
ticable, in order to meet the increased expenditure
caused by this new arrangement, so that on the whole,
but a trifling additional expense will be thereby en-
tailed on the revenue.

EXECUTION of TWO MURDERERS.
AT LIVERPOOL.
KIR /MALE, SATURDAY, ONE O'CLOC . George
Evans and Thomas Stew, two young men just burst•
ing into manhood, the former being only twenty years
of age, and the latter twenty-one, have just termi-
nated their short earthly, though wicked, career by
an ignominious and forcible death upon the public
scaffold.

The prisoners were both confined since their con-
demnation in one cell, but on Monday last they were
separated, a measure which turned out, apparently,
for the benefit of both • and from that period Evans
was continually engaged in reading the Bible, singing
hymns, or listening to the religious instructions of the
indefatigable chaplain. Some of his friends, up to
Thursday evening last, had visited him, and his
father, whom he had requested to see, sent a letter,'
declining tbe interview in consequence of his being:
in a very poor state of health, and anxious to avoid so.
agitating a scene.
From the moment of his condemnation, Steyr
acknowledged the justice of his sentence. On Wed—
nesday one of the culprit's brothers and one of his
sisters, with his brother's wife, paid him a visit ; and ,
on Friday, his stepfather and several of his friends,
took an eternal farewell of their unhappy relative.
Both the prisoners made a voluntary confession
their guilt to the reverend chaplain several days before.
their execution, and on Friday afternoon each ?site-,
rated a declaration of its truth. That of Evans Ivas
very short. He said he had had a quarrel with Mrs-
Millen, the day before the murder, about six shillings.
which he owed her. He had written to his father
for some money, and his letter had not been answered,
and Mrs. Millen taunted him with it. But it was not
that which made him kill her; something came across
his mind, and he killed her with several blows of the
life preserver. He denied having taken a ring from
her finger, as was stated by some of the witnesses :
the ring was in a drawer with tbe other trinkets.
Stew, on the other hand, has given a more circum-
stantial account, of which the following is a copy :
" I, Thomas Stew, voluntarily make this state-
ment to Mr. Appleton, the chaplain :—I courted
Alice Nolan for a little more than four months.
She was as decent a young woman as asiv one would
wish to keep company with, and I thought we should
have lived comfortably together. About a month
_
before her death I made her a promise to snarrY her
in five weeks (the wedding-day was to have ,been tb e
Sunday after the day on which she died); Isi.a`. cowl Arl
not keep my word in consequence of getting im`o lsaci
company and spending all that I had. As, there. tore,
we could not live together on earth, I thought we
might be happy together in heaven. .1 borrowed
razor, as appeared on my trial, to take her life aria'
my own. With this razor in my pocket i took her
on her way home, as I bad been in the habit of doing,
and when we reached a bank, the name of which I
forget, very near to her house, we stood to talk toge-
ther, as we had usually done before. She Asked me
if I was going to do what I had promised (oamely,
to marry her)? I answered, No I cannot, for I
have been drinking very hard; I have left Stephen
Bill's through drinking on Saturdays, and not
looking after my horses on Sundays ; but I got al!:
other place on Wednesday last; ba it does not stiO
me so well as Stephen's place, for it will
not be so constant an employ. She
Well, then, you: must do as well as you CM: I
then said, lam very badly vexed that I should have
left the last place, and that I cannot put things for-
ward as I could wish to do.' She said, ' Give me a
kiss, and I put my arm round her neck gild gave her
one. She said, Shall we meet again at Sally's on
Monday night?' meaning Mrs. Shepherd's. Isaia,
still with my arm round her neck, 'No, I ,hope we
shall:meet in heaven next.' Then I drew the re"„j
across her throat, upon which she exclaimed,, vu,
my love, Tom Then I left her, and walked a, t. my
usual pace across a corner of the bank, along Ged,rtie-
street and down Brewery-street, and so along'l.t!ie
several streets to Mrs. Shepherd's. Down a
entry, about half a yard from the door, I went dol
on my knees, and I said, ' I hope her is in heaven, az
that I shall soon meet her there.' I then drew th,
razor across my throat, after which I got up and fell
against the door, which flew open, and I fell down
into the house. Somebody picked me up, but I
could not tell who, and put me in a chair, in which I
sat with the blood pouring from my neck. I re-
member no more until I saw my two brothers stand-
ing over my bed in the Manchester Infirmary."
During the whole of Friday night both prisoners
were engaged in prayer and religious devotion. ,To-
wards morning, however, both the prisoners lay dcrsvn
for a couple of hours, and slept soundly. At sev.tn
o'clock, at their own request, they attended the usui id
morning service in the chapel. After partaking of
slight breakfast, they repaired at eleven o'clock to the
chapel, where the sacrament was administered to
them. They joined in that holy ordinance apparently
with the devout feeling of sincere repentance. The
procession left the chapel precisely at twelve o'clock.
The chaplain, in his surplice, walked in front, relvi.
ing the funeral service followed by the Governor.
Next came Stew, walking with a firm step, but with
his face hid in a handkerchief. Evans followed,
walking erect, his eyes closed, and apparently
engaged in prayer • he appeared to be not
in the least discomposed. Never, perhaps, did a per-
son so situated display such firmness. alley ascended
the stairs leading to the press-room in the same com-
posed and firm manner, and took their seats in view
of the scaffold. The process of pinioning having
been performed with great dexterity by the execu-
tioner, he led Evans to the scaffold, where, after the
rope was adjusted, Stew was afterwards led. Not
dropdu, t
ly andf at.
the least symptom of agitation was displayed by
Evans. Stew was somewhat affected. The chaplain
wcfol
hul followed wo•ne
wasdo
ft
abtehs
he coufrultpnr iye
funeral
tohs
e:ttvhhioecue
chathffseotol
made,th4tvicallogns-:-
gleci convulsively for some time.
Stew ceased to
exist instantaneously. The wound in his neck burst
open, and the blood trickled down upon his shirt.
Blood also burst from the nose of Evans, and stained
the cap which was drawn over his face.

•
PROJECTED NEW DOCK AT BIRKENIIEAD.—It is
in contemplation to turn Tranmere Pool into a floatiag
dock, and, ;we understand, (application will be made to
Parliament in the next session for powers. From the
Parliamentary plan of the proposed docks, it appears
that their position will be between the two slips of
Birkenhead and Tranmere, a site which is covered with
water every tide, just the same as Wallasey Pool. It
is intended here to construct—suppose the Act should
be obtained—one wet dock, the area of which will be
eleven acres and 1,980 yards, and also a graving dock,
at the point nearest the Chester Old-road. The quay
to the northward of Tranmere slip will be 100 feet
wide; and the dock will be entered by gates of 70 feet
width. The land belongs partly to Mr. Chamberlayne,
of Chester; and partly to the corporation of Liverpool;
but it is understood that the Admiralty have refused to
give any sanction to the undertaking. The Dock Com•
mitten of Liverpool have agreed to petition,. so as to
give them a standing to be heard when the case is under
Parliamentary investigation.—Liverpool Mercury.
The Earl of Jersey, Lord Forester, Sir R. Sutton,
and a select party, have been enjoying the sports of the
field with the Duke of Rutland, at his Grace's sporting
box, Stanton Wndehouse.
STOURBRIDGE.—A meeting of the coal misters of
the district was held at the Talbot Hotel on Friday last,
when an advance in the price of coal was agreed upon...—
Ten Towns' Messenger.