Star.
London, England, 1831-06-24 00:00:00

PANORAMA OF THE BRITISH

EMPIRE.

STAFFORDSHIRE MERCURY, hmE.lB.
On Wednesday the lit inst. as some labourers were get- 1
ting gravel out of the bed of the Jiver Dove, below the
l
bridge at Tutbury, they threw out along with it a few sil-
ver coins, which they picked up, and continued to pick up
others till they desisted working on Saturday, when about'
two hundred had been obtained, of the coinage chiefly of
Edward I. and Alexander 111. of Scotland. No particular
notice was taken of the affair. and the men commenced work
as usual on Monday ; butduting the day they found seve-
ral thousands of similar coins ; and on the afternoon of
Tuesday, the number became so great that the men devoted,
their attention wholly to the spot where most had been ob-
tained, and soon were joined by hundreds of both sexes and
all ages, eager to participate in the advantages of the re-
search. Wednesday proved the most productive ; and on
that day, about thirty yards below the bridge, near the Der•
byshire side of the river, and from two to four feet below the
surface, so plentiful was the store, that one shovel full of
gravel contained one hundred and fifty, and a common sized
riddle three hundred; two persons collected about five thou-
sand, and at least fifty thousand were found by the whole
party on that day—about three hundred persons being in the
water at one time, and many hundreds on the banks, as
spectators or purchasers. On Thursday a less number was
found, yet amply adequate to remunerate the parties for
their trouble. On Friday and on Saturday the search was
continued, and some men went up to their necks in the
water searching for the treasure , the number found on Sa.
turday night being about one hundred thousand ! On Mon-
day the river was again entered by about four hundred per-
sons, and some found fifty, others one hundred and fifty
coins each. On Tuesday many hundreds more of the coins
were found, and the search continues.

The coins are without dates, but the greatest numbers are'
of Edward I. of England, and Alexander 111. of Scotland.,
One was found of William 111. Possibly this is a mistake,
for we usually meet with William and Mary ; and if this
be carefully examined, it mas prove a Rufus. Two of Ro-
bert, two of Stephen, and one of Henry 111. with many
Scotch and Irish coins. The place of the Mint is on each ;
and London, Canterbury, York, Durham, Newcastle. Lin-1
coin, Exeter, Bristol, Ilury St. Edmond's, Dublin, Water.
ford, Cork, &c. are on the entire coins. The price at first
was six shillings the hundred, but has risen through all the
scale to 20s. or 4a. Gd. to ss. Bd. per ounce avoirdupoise.
A brass spur, and an embossed and engraved gold ring
were also discovered in the gravel.
The conjecture is, that the coin was bidden, not below the
bed of the river, as now found, but in the ground near the
banks, and that the river has encroached so much as to now
over the spot ; ur that its course has been for some purpose
diverted from what it was formerly. Probably the removal
of the upper layer of gravel might supply a further hoard.
Tux TURN-OUT Or Coweas.—The disputes between
the coal proprietors and the pitmen of the North of Staf-
fordshire are now nearly at an end ; a great proportion of
the latter having declared off the Uuion, and resumed work;
though there arc still some large concerns only partially
re-opened. There appears a little soreness on both sides,
but we hope this will soon be made to cease by the masters
and the men dealing fairly and honourably with each other.
The "turn-outs" from Lane. End assembled in great num.
hers on Wednesday, in the neighbourhood of Burslem, and
showed evident signs of a disposition to use violence towards
the men who were working at Mr. Williamson's pits, but
through the firmness of Hugh Booth, Esq., the magistrate,
who went amongst them, they were induced to disperse
without committing any act of violence.

On Fs iday, the 19th instant, Edmund Peel, Esq one of
the successtul candidates for representing the borough of
Newcastle-under-Lyme, gave a dinner at the Roe-Buck
Hotel, to Isis friends ; his health, at the time of the election,
having been in too precarious a state to bear this exertions of
such a festive scene.

A patent has lately been granted to Mr. Witty, for an
improved steam engine, which has been his study for many
years, and which is considered by the patentee as the acme
of his mechanical inventions. We have no doubt that Mr.
Witty will extend his reputation as a man of scientific at-
tainments, by the introduction of this engine, a short de.
scription of which may not be uninteresting to our readers :
—lt has three workinwcylinders, one end of each being open
to the atmosphere. The cylinders are placed horizontally,
and the re-action of steam on the end of each being applied
parallel with the road, whether level or ascending propels
the carriage in any direction that it may be placed. In the
application of this patine engine to steam vessels its *dean-
tages are great, and must be obvious to every practical en.
&neer. The machinery is not half so complicated as the
present mode, nor the weight or cost of the engines one-third
of those now in use, which is a most important feature ; be.
sides the usual application of the power to the paddles
wheels, it le also used at the ends of the cylinders placed
horizontally, with the open ends pointing to the stern of the
verse): when the steam is admitted into the cylinders, it
presses powerfully on the end, and impels the piston that is
connected with the crank on which the paddle wheel is fixed,
turning it in the usual direction, while the pressure of the
steam on the end of the cylinder propels the vessel in the
most simple and powerful manner. In its application to lo:
comotive engines for rail roads,it will give the long required
effect of raising on inclined planes ; the resaetion forcing the
body In an ascending and parallel line with the carriages,
while a crank turns the hind wheels—this mode being quite
opposite to Mr. Gurney's plan. To steam coaches the dif-
ficulty of ascending hills will be overcome by this patent;
and no doubt steam carriages on the common road will very
soon be generally adopted.
STONE MARKET, TUESDAY, JUNE 14.—Wheat, 10s to
10. lid ; Oats, 4s 1041 to :is 4d ; Barley, to —; Beans,
7s 6d to fis.

DIED.—Mrs. Bonen, of Moss Hall, near Endon..—
Mrs. Massy, 70, of Newcastle.—At Burton-upon-Trent,
70, Joseph Pyeroft, Esq.—The Rev. William Driser,6ll, of
Albion-place, Shelton.

LEICESTER CHRONICE, JUNE 18.
we last week noticed the population of aU the parishes in
this town, eseept St. Margaret's, which is u follows :
Males, 11,753; females, 12,195—t0ta1, 23,954. The whole
population of the town is now 39, 304—between 3 and 4000
more than in 1821.

Roger Greisley, hart. having offered
himself as a candidate for the county of Derby, on the next
dissolution of Parliament, Sir George Crewe, bart. has also
publicly announced that he shall be a candidate for the same
county, at the same period. Both offer themselves on the
independent interest, in the expectation that four members,
will be returned for that county, instead of two, after the
reform bill shall have passed into a law.

FATAL TRUNDZIL SToax--At seven o'clock on Wed.
nesday evening, a thunder storm passed over Mansfield,l
and although of short duration, (not more than 20 minutes)
its effects were awful ; indeed it operated upon the whole
town similar to the shock of an earthquake A young wo-
man, 20 years old, daughter of William Lowe, framework.
knitter, in Bancroft.lane, working in an upper room, with
her father, in a frame, was killed on the spot; the father
was much injured by the lightning, and in his fright and
haste to get down stairs, hurt himself seriously. A poor I
girl, eight years old, daughter of Robert Slack, (who re.
sides next door to Lowe), was instantaneously killed ; the
father war in another room, the mother, who was nursing
an infant near the spot where the other unfortunate child was
stricken, had her shoes much scorched, but herself and the
infant escaped further injury. In the Lawn, not far distant
from Bancroft.lane, and in the same quarter of the town,
the electric fluid knocked down a poor woman named Beech,
who was setting a pantheon out at the door, and injured her
much, at the same time literally dashing the vessel to pieces.
Her husband, who is an invalid, happened to be down
stairs, or he must have fallen a victim to the destructive ele-
ment, as the bed on which he rests was set on fire, and
would have been completely consumed, had it not been for
the laudable promptness of some neighbours. Near this
situation, the dwelling of a Widow Rickards, (which was
closed) became a sacrifice, as the interior was comparatively
torn to pieces, and had the family been within, in all human
probability some of them would have lost their liver. A
person named Mayfield, had one of his shoes considerably ,
burned, and the foot hurt. More houses in that pert of the
town sustained trifling injury.
Statement of the cost price of the material that gas is
made of, by Mr. James Down. Cost price of the coal at
15s. per ton.
Two hundred weight of coals at ficl. put into the re. a. d.
tort, will produce 1,000 cubic feet of gas .. 1 I
Half a hundred weight of coals consumed in furnace 0 41
chime
... 0 011

1 11
... 1 6