The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-10-29 00:00:00

ton road, about a m

from the villa,

of Yoker, the two

xas aware,

brothers'attaeked I
one of them cut his cheek severely by a blow with a potatoe
beetle, and knocked him down. While on the ground he
was severely beaten by both assailants, and struck again on
the head with the beetle. Being a powerful man, however;
be managed to get to his feet, and having drawn a clasp-knife,
which he usually carried in his pocket, he stabbed James Ir-
vine, the elder brother, in the side, near the heart, and ren-
dered him incapable of offering further violence. He had
still the other brother to contend with, and in the scuffle cut
him in the arm, and inflicted other injuries of a serious na•
ture on his person. The assailants then fled, and bounding
through a hedge and into a field of potatoes, their progress
was stopped, James having fallen down in a dying state, and
the other suffering dreadfully from the effects of the wounds
which he had received. Threpenny had called out " murder"
when he was attacked, and his cries attracted a neighbouring
farmer of the name of Gray, and his wife, to the spot, and
the scene which was presented to them, on their arrival, was
certainly of the most painful description. James Irvine was
lying in the field dead, and his brother was evidently in a
dangerous state. Threpenny also suffered much from ex-
haustion and the effects of the blows he received : he was
removed to Gray's house. The wounded man, and the dead
body of his ill-fated brother, were taken in a cart to Ren-
frew. The sheriff of Itenfrewshite and procurator-fiscal ar-
rivtgi at Renfrew at a late hour on Saturday night, and pro-
ceetfed to make inquiry into the circumstances. Irvine re-
fused to make any statement till he found some relief from
the pain of his wounds. On the following morning Thre-
penny was brought over to Renfrew, and on Monday, we
understand, both survivors, with the body of the deceased,
were removed to Paisley. It is stated that at the outset of
the affray an attempt was made to rob Threpenny of his bun-
dle and watch. In the meantime, we cannot enter more
minutely into the circumstances.

LAUNCH OF THE "PRECURSOR" INDIAN

STEAM-SHIP

(From the Glasgow Herald of Friday.)

In our paper of the 28th of June last, we gave a minute
description of this magnificent steam-ship, then in the course
of building by Messrs. Hedderwick and Rankine, at Kelvin-
'laugh Dock, near this city, and we have now to record her
launch, which took place on Wednesday last, at four o'clock.
The day was -one continued rain and storm, and from this
cause the attendance of on-lookers was not a tithe of what it
would have been had there been sunshine instead of a deluge.
The Precursor was wedded to the waters in gallant style, and
was christened by Miss Napier, daughter of Robert Napier,
Esq., of the Vulcan Foundry, amid the cheering of those
assembled. From the vast friction attendant on the motion
of such an immense mass she " smoked," as carpenters term
it, considerably in her run, and the sudden introduction of
the Precursor into the Clyde raised fora time the water seve-
ral feet in height along the banks, resembling the sudden
♦isitation of a high spring tide. She is the largest steamer
ever built out of dock and launched from ways, the British
Queen, the President, &c., having been built in dock, and
simply floated out.

The following are the dimensions, weight, and tonnage of
this magnificent steamship, made up from data furnished
to us by the builders :

Feet In

Length over all, allowing 17 feet of pro-
jection to the cut-water
Length of keel and forerake for tonnage
Length from stem-head to taffrail
Extreme breadth on deck
Breadth over Paddle-boxes .
Breadth in midships, between paddles ....
Diameter of paddle-wheels ......
Depth of hold in midships
Quantity of timber and plank used in con-
struction of hull, English and African
oak, &c., in cubic feet

261 0
232 2
244 0
41 6
61 10
37 4
30 0
25 0

83,300