The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-10-11 00:00:00

ENOR-afou§ Fisfr.—On Monday last some fishermen of
Newquay, observed something resembling a log of timber
floating on the water ; but on nearing it with their boat,
they discovered it to be a large Sun Fish. After a severe
struggle,. they succeeded in capturing it, and towed it ashore.
Its measurement was upwards of five feet in length, four
feet and a half in breadth, from one fin to the other, and one
foot in thickness.—Falmouth Express.
O'CONNELL'S RECEIFTS.—We wish that some person,
either in Ireland or England, qualified for the task, would
make out and publish a correct list of the sums obtained un-
der different pretences by the Popish agitator from his coun-
trymen, high and low, under pretence of serving them. The
total amount, if duly ascertained, would astonish even the
most bigotted and credulous, and would be foUnd to rival
many a splendid rent-roll.—Argus.
THE COMING OF AGE OF VISCOUNT CLIVE.—The cele-
bration of the natal day of the heir of the Powis family, in the
ensuing month, is to be of the most splendid description.
The whole of the poor of the town of Welshpool, with their
families, are to he feasted in the Town Hall. A new church
is to be erected by subscription, which is to have at least
300 free seats, to perpetuate the event. Several hundreds of
pounds have already been subscribed.
NEW LIGHT.—An interesting experiment was made at
Bordeaux a few days ago, in the presence of the mayor, on
the husks of grapes, when pressed, and the lees of wine, in
order to shew their use for the purpose of lighting. A pound
of the dried husks put into a red-hot retort gave in seven mi-
nutes two hundred litres of carhuretted hydrogen gas, free
from smell, and which burnt with an •intense light and free
,from smoke. A second experiment with the dried lees was
equally satisfactory.
THE OLD PASSAGE.—The late melancholy accident at
the Old Passage has induced an anxiety to remedy the incon-
venience and danger which have always been felt there. Mr.
Greaves, the engineer, has surveyed the spot, and has given
it a his opinion that a floating bridge could be constructed
for from X 75,000 to £BO,OOO, a sum, we should think, of
'trifling importance, when we consider the number of lives
annually put in jeopardy.—Herefoi'd Times.
ORIGIN OF THE WORD TExAs.-7—lt has exceedingly puz-
zled many persons to determine the real meaning of the word
Texas. It originated in a couplet used by the earlier emi-
grants to that " land of promise?"
When every other land rejects us,
This is the soil that freely takes us.
The word Texas is a corruption_of the phrase used in the last
line.—Cin. Rep.
The following detachments have embarked from Gravesend,
for, India, during the preceding month :-3d Sept. three
officers, 189 rank and file, eight women, and nine children,
in the Exmouth for Calcutta ; I Ith Sept., four officers, 223
rank and.tile, six women, and five children, in the Thomas
Grenville, for Madras.; 12th Sept., three officers, 223 rank
And file, and one woman in the Mountstuart Elphinstone,
for Bengal ; .17th Sept., one officer, 69 rank and file, and
three women, in the Marion, for Madras , 26th Sept., four
officers, 208 rank and file, two women, and one child, in the
Magistrate, for Bombay ; 28th Sept., three officers, 86 rank
and file, four women, and five children, in the Walmer
Castle, for Bengal.—United Service Gazette.
A BLACK BOREALIS.—The Fall River Patriot of the 12th
ult. has the following account of a singular phenomenon :
" Night before last the heavens presented a very unusual ap-
pearance. It was a clear star-light, when a black column
began to ascend in the south-west and north-east, directly
opposite to each other. The one in the south was first sup-
posed to be a column of smoke, but it soon began to branch
off, and the streamers shot off, and varied their position in
the usual way, only they were black, and so dense as to ob-
scure the stars over which they passed. They stretched
away from the opposite columns, so that, about ten o'clock
in the evening, they met in the east. We never before have
seen or heard of a black aurora borealis
SUDDEN ILLNESS OF MR. C. KEAN IN NEW Yoßx.—By
a Ltter received in town yesterday, it appears that Mr.
Charles Kean, after having performed four nights with the
most triumphant success at the National Theatre, had been
seized with sudden and rather alarming illness, which had
created a strong sensation in the theatrical circles, and com-
pelled the manager, Mr. Wallack, to fall back upon Robert
melo-drama, and light farce. Mr. Kean had, it
seems, felt indisposed after landing, and proceeded to the
Falls, where he recovered rapidly, and on returning pro-
ceeded to fulfil his engagement. Towards the close of his
fourth performance, however, symptoms of languor were
strongly betrayed, which so increased as to compel him to
withdraw from the stage, though it was not considered by his
medical advisers that he was in any immediate danger
Observer

Tun PRESIDENT STEAM-SHlP.—This noble vessel, build-
.ng at Limehouse for the British and American Steam Navi-
gation Company, is nearly finished, and will be launched in
the course of the ensuing month. She is a much larger
vessel than the British Queen, as will be observed by the di-
mensions, which are as follow :—Extreme length from stem
to tafl'erel (including the figure-head,) 267 feet ; extreme
breadth of her deck, 41 feet ; including paddle-boxes, 67
feet ; depth in the hold, 31 feet 6 inches ; and her tonnage
about 2,500 tons. Her engines will consist of two, each of
250 horse potver. Her upper or main deck is constructed in
a different manner from that of the, British Queen, being si-
milar to adonble-banked frigate, and not " flushed," as is
nautically termed. Her paddle-wheels are to be ninety feet
in circninference.
TnooPS. IN Irti...slsn.--The troops at present quartered
in Ireland are, .2 regiments of cavalry, 9 regiments of infantry,
and 28 cleP6ts. The cavalry force usually consisted of six
,reghnents, whose stations .were—two in Dublin, one in Ca-
hir, one at Dundalk, one at ,Longford,- and one at New-
bridge. So much fin-stile present, simulated tranquillity •in
lrelend, When the time arrives, when " those rascals, Wel-
lington and. Peel shall return to office (we quote the language
of a Rornau Catholic priest:of considerable influence), we are
to be treated to such an upset as we have never before seen
in our lives ;" and we shall, find (says Mr. Sheil) not only
the whole of the force which it has been the practice to sta-
tion in Ireland necessary, but from 30,000 to 40,000 more
troops ! Are not the authorities withdrawing the troops from
Ireland in soiugwhat too wholesale a manner?—United Ser-
vice .Gazette,-. •
Aoss: or ECONOMY. —A person -of large property, but
paraStnunions.habits, residing in a town. not 50 miles-from
thie.eity, wishing to:have a tombstone erected after his own
death in-the -chnrohdibuti utljoiiiiug hie Iwubc, L w actually
Itikga,AWO tOttlbaintiVa: from out of that plate, the proprietors
of which have leftsthe neighbourhood, and having effaced
'thelinseriptionsi bartered one away to the sculptor as the
•price.of carving a laudatory epitaph on himself upon the
other.— Worcester Chronicle.
RACE BETWEEN A DEER AND A STEAM-ENGINE.—.
While the• ears were coming down on Wednesday, a fine
buck made his appearance on the track, and had a trial of
.speed with the locomotive. He kept the track for two miles,
'when he was finally run off, or he would have been run over.
.The•sight must have been deeply exciting and highly inter-
esting, as the line of road is perfectly straight, every inch of
the contest was witnessed by the passengers.—Washington,
'N. U., Gazette.
The Queen Dowager, we understand, has deferred for the
ptessent her visit to the Duke of, Devonshire, at his princely
mahsion et Chatsworth, in consequence of the advanced
Istate'Of the season, and as being incompatible with her pre-
vious.engagements. The Queen Dowager intends to visit
Lord Denbigh, in Warwickshire, Lord Howe, in Leicester-
shife, and efterwards the Duke of Rutland, at Belvoir Cas-
tle, and return from thence to the Lodge, in Bushy Park.
IMPROVEMENT IN THE DAGUERREOTYPE. Amongst
the numerous improvements proposed in the daguerreotype
is the following, by M. Jobard, of Brussels, for taking por-
traits a Fheliographe --" Paint in dead white the face of
the.patient; powder his hair, and fix the back of his head
between two or three planks solidly attached to the back of
an arm-chair, and wound up with screws ! The colour of
the flesh, not reflecting sufficiently the rays of light, would
require a powerful. sun, whereas a whitened face will be
reproduced as well as plaster figures by diffused light."
'Tim YANKEE IN MONMOUTHSHIRE. -- A gentleman,
whose openly avowed principles of tee-totalism made his
habits of sobriety never once doubted, walking out one day,
was observed to stagger, as if tipsy. Annoyed with himself,
and totally unable to account for the circumstance, he
returned home, when, on enquiry, he found that the servant,
-in cleaning his boots that morning, had maliciously mixed
with his blacking a quantity of good old porter, which tho-
roughly intoxicated thern.-21ferlin.
ECLIPSES OF THE SUN AND MOON.—In the year 1840
there will be two eclipses of the sun and two of the moon—
all invisible in this country. The eclipses of the sun are on
the 4th of March and 27th of August. The first is annular,
. and visible to the whole of Asia ; the second is total, and is
visible to part of Africa and the Indian Ocean. Those of
the moon occur on the 17th of February and the 13th of
August. They' are both partial—the Magnitude of the first
being 362 on the southern limb, and the second 607 on the
northern limb', the diameter of the moon being reckoned
equal to I.
M. Garnerin, according to the Paris papers, is constructing
a balloon at the Ecole Militaire, which he hopes to direct
through the air as he pleases. On each side of the car he has
adapted four ;Tidies, resembling the wings of a windmill,
which he pills: in motion by the means of a secret internal
mechanism. "The resistance of the air to every palette that
strikes it is reflected upon the balloon and carries it forward,
just like the flying bird or swimming fish. M. Garnerin, it
is added, has already made some experiments which have
proved perfectly successful.
A Cherbourg paper mentions a curious irregularity in the
tide which occurred there a fortnight ago. The tide in the
bay of La Hogue had fallen 300 yards, when the wind, sud-
denly shifting from east to south-east, blew a perfect hurri-
cane. The ebb was immediately checked, and the waves
rolled violently back to the shore, reaching a height•not even
attained by the tides of the equinox. The water then flowed
back tnlow-water mark, but shortly after the same pheno-
menon was repeated. The water ultimately returned to its
ordinary state of ebb., while the-gale subsided.—Galignani.
A TRANSPARENT WATCH.—A watch has been presented
to the Academy of Science at Paris, principally formed of
rock crystals - The internal works are visible ; the two-
teethed wheels which 'carry the hands are rock crystal; the
other wheels• are metal; tb prevent accidents from the break-
ing of theFaprings. • All the screws are fixed in crystal, and
all the axies.ttira on rubies. • The escapement is of sapphire,
the balance-wheel of rock crystal; and its springs of gold.
The regularity of this Svateh as a time-keeper is attributed
by•the maker to the feeble expansion of the rock crystal on
the balance-wheel.
Died, at New Orleans, U.S. on the 22d of August last, of
yellow fever, Baron 'Hackett, of Hackett's Town, a native of
Holland, whose ancestors emigrated from Ireland. He was
an aide-de-camp to the Prince of Orange and served with
distinction in the French army, particularly at the battle of
Waterloo and at the seige of Antwerp. The barony of
Hackett's Tpwn was originally.one of the Irish peerage's that
have become dormant, and the dignity devolves upon the
cousin-german of the late baron—Mr. Hackett, the Ameri-
can comedian, at present in London.

METEMPSYCHOSIS.—Of all .the birds in the air and the
fishes in the sea, the transformation of Spring Rice into an
eagle is the most extraordinary. When Rogers, the worthy
banker, heard it, such,was his incredulity that he burst into
a hOrse-laugh, exclaiming, " Very like a whale !" The true
doctrine of the metempsychosis, however, is, that human
souls, upon. leaving their, bodies, become the souls of such
kind of brutes as they most resemble in their manners ; and,
upon thi's principles, surely the late Chancellor of the Ex-
cheiiner should have been " Earl Vulture, Viscount Cochon."
--Argu.s.

THE REWARD OF COURAGE.—During the late storm, a
• French vessel. was wrecked in the dead of the night in Wey-
mouth Bay., A coast guardman, named John Mantle,
thinking he saw human beings moving on the deck, jumped
into the raging sea, and swam to her, On getting on board,
he found two boys and the, captain, 'who had broken his leg
on her deck. .Mantle, took the boys safely to shore, and,
then returning to the wreck with 'a rope which was made fast
to the shore, he slung the captain in a running tackle, and he
was safely lauded.. .The -gallant fellow then groped in the
cabins to find if any living being renaained, and afterwards
jumped into the sea, and swam to the shore in safety. On
Monday, Mantle, attended at the Town Hall, Weymouth,
'when the mayor . delivered to him the silver medal and five
`pounds from the Royal Humane Society ; a like sum of
'money and the bronze . medal, from Lloyd's; a beautiful
watch,.with a suitable inscription, from the inhabitants of
Weymouth.; £2O by vote of the Lords of the Treasury •, and
_,XS-from the Shipwreck-Association. Mantle, whose officers
have promoted him for his courage, was informed that 'the
.French government was ,about' to reward him with a gold
medal, &c. In returning thanks for the various rewards
given to him, this brave man with great modesty assured the.
gentlemen that the result of his endeavour was his richest re.
ward.--Doreet Chronicle.