The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-11-23 00:00:00

Tea LATE FLOODS.-4 gentleman, residing at Thorne!.
near Wakefield, states that the inundation on his premises
was so extensive that, a few days since, he was considering
the propriety of building ,a small ark for the safety of him-
self and domestics.
ARRIVAL OF GOLD.—The Maitland, which sailed from
Sydney on the 26th of June, has arrived with 14,325
ounces of gold valued at about £57,000. The ship Eagle
arrived in London on Saturday from Port Philip in 76 days,
with 150,000 ounces of gold on board.
FRIGHTFUL DEATH.—A young man, in the employ of
a brewer at Radstock, having been entrusted to attend to
the fires under the brewing furnace, one night last week,
fell asleep on a platform level with the top of it ; and,
waking in a fright, staggered into the boiling liquid. He
died a few hours afterwards.
Tee LYING IN STATE.—The coroner's jury who sat
on the inquest upon the bodies of the two women who
were crushed to death, on Saturday week, at Chelsea
Hospital, have returned a verdict of accidental death,
accompanied by an expression of regret that better ar.
rangements were not adopted by the police authorities for
the public safety.

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—OR Friday afternoon
Mr. John Beach Dodd, the paymaster to the 50th Regi-
ment. expired at Fulwood Barracks, from the effects of
drinking a quantity of vitriol, which he had taken by mis-
take, supposing it to have been water. The jury returned
a verdict of " accidentally poisoned." The remains of
the deceased were interred on Wednesday afternoon, in
St. Paul's Churchyard, with military honours, in presence
of a large concourse of spectators.—Preston Pilot.
DARING ESCAPE OF A CONVICT.—John Barrow, a con-
vict under sentence of ten years' transportation, in Dart-
moor prison, succeeded in breaking out of his cell, and
effecting an entry into the room of Mr. C. Male, one of
the wardens of the prison, where he attired himself in a
full scat of that officer's wearing apparel, taking in addi-
tion a number of valuables belonging to him. He then
coolly walked out of the prison, the gatekeepers conceiving
it was Mr. Male, giving him ready egress, and he got clear
off with his booty.
BURNS' LETTERS.—At the recent sale of Mr. Tait's
library in Edinburgh, much interest was excited when the
volume of autograph letters from the poet Burns to the
late George Thomson, came to be submitted. This col-
lection, enriched as it was by some of Burns' finest criti-
cisms on our Scottish melodies, and by many of his noblest
lyrics, attracted the attention of all connoisseurs and
literary men. After a brisk competition, the volume was
knocked down to an English nobleman, at the sum of
£273 ; but it is understood that, in all probability, it will
remain in Scotland.

FATAL SHIPWRECK.—Some serious shipwrecks have
taken place in the Madras Roads during a heavy gale, with
terrific squalls, with which that coast was visited on the
Bth ultimo. In the early part of the gale the Successor,
Captain Henderson, belonging to Shields, parted both her
chains, and, notwithstanding that every possible effort
was made to get her clear of the land, she drove on shore,
became a total wreck, and 64 persons were drowned. The
Successor was bound for Rangoon. In the same gale the
schooners Struggle and Poppy, and several native vessels,
were driven on the beach, and became total wrecks.
THE CASE OF MISS CAMPBELL.—At the Middlesex
Sessions, on Tuesday, an application was rode, in refer-
ence to the case of Ann Campbell, charged with having
stolen some articles of jewellery, that the trial might be
postponed until the next session, in consequence of the
illness of the prosecutrix, Mrs. Phillips, who was at Exe-
ter, and, as appeared from an affidavit, was unable to
leave. A medical certificate to the effect was appended
to the affidavit. As Mrs. Phillips could not attend, the
bill could not be taken before the grand jury. There was
no opposition on the other side, and the accused could not
be prejudiced, as she was out on bail. The court was,
therefore, asked to enlarge the recognizances until the
next session. The application was granted.
RAGGED SeuooLs.—Some important decisions have
lately been come to by the Committee of Council on
Education, in reference to grants to Rsgged Schools.
Although not entitled to grants of money on the same
conditions required for regular district schools, other
forms of aid are offered. Boys having certificates of con-
tinued good character, and of aptitude to teach, may be
apprenticed to the master on the ordiaary terms. Besides
the usual grants for books and maps, money will be given
for hire of rooms or workshops to the amount of half the
rent, and for the purchase of tools and implements of
labour. In certain cases where master workmen are en-
gaged for the industrial training of the boys, an allowance
not exceeding 10s. a-year for each pupil will be made.

THE STAFFORDSHIRE MllRDER.—Justice has at length
succeeded, through the over-cunning of one of the mur-
derers, in arresting him, and affording a clue to his ac-
complices. An Irish vagabond, in his efforts to screen
himself and implicate the son of the deceased in the hor.
rible crime of parricide, has been the means of bringing
to light the truth as to the really guilty parties in the
murder of an aged couple. At the adjourned inquiry held
on Saturday, Henry Blackburn, the youngest son of the
couple who were so brutally murdered on the night of the
24th of October, was brought up for a further remand.
One of the witnesses, named Charles Moore, an Irish-
man, who was in the habit of occasionally working for
the old people, handed in, at the request of Mr. J. H.
Hatton, chief constable of Staffordshire, a written state-
trent of what he knew respecting the threats held out by
Henry Blackburn against his father. The handwriting
and spelling corresponded with letters received a few days
previously by Hatton, staring that the writer knew who
were the murderers. Mr. Hatton then charged him with
being the writer; and, after a little hesitation, he con-
fessed that he had sent them. On being left alone with
Inspector Anderson, that officer observing his excited
state of mind, suddenly asked him what time he left
home. He replied " One o'clock." Anderson then
charged him with the murder, when he confessed that

himself and four others committed the deed, or were ac•
cessaries to it. The inspector then informed the chief
constable and magistrates, who were in an adjoining
room, and the statement made by Moore was taken down
in writing and duly signed. The inquiry will be resumed
on Tuesday.— Wokerharnplon Herald.
—Mr. Mullen, a Romish priest, has
tistical account of the losses

DECAY OF PorERT

published the foil
which the Papal system has sustained in America:—
" The present population of the United States is about
25,000,000, and of these the Catholic Church claims only
1,980,000. From the year 1825 to 1844, 1,250 000 left
Ireland, one million of whom came to America ; the pro-
portion of Catholics among them may be very fairly esti-
mated at 800,000. Since that period to the present, the
numbers who emigrated here from Ireland. at the lowest
calculation, were 1,500,000; and taking the Catholics as
above, we will have, in nine years, 1,200,000. A large
number (say half-a-million) came from Germany, some
from Italy, France, Belgium, and other countries, during
the last ten years, half of whom were Catholics, say
250,000. Twelve years ago, America had a Catholic popu-
lation (according to Dr. England, Bishop of Charleston)
of 1,200,000. Calculating the increase of this numbor by
births, at the very small number of 500,000 and adding
for converts in the larger cities and towns, 20,000, we will
have the following total :
Catholic emigrants from the year] 825 to 1844 800,000
Catholic emigrants from 1844 to 1852 .... 1,200,000
Catholic emigrants from other countries .. 250,000
American Catholic population 12 years ago 1,200,000
Increase by births since ..
Number of converts

Number who ought to be Catholics
Number who are Catholics

3,970,000
1,980,000

Number lost to the Catholic Church.. 1,990.000
Say, in round numbers. 2 millions !"—Ameriean paper

HORTICULTURE.