The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-12-31 00:00:00

t DWI!

ht, of

@stir/10es the quantity of
11,202,375 tons per hour; and Dar
make 1,672,704,000 cubic feet per hour ; while another
thor, Picken, makes the quantity to be 113,510,000 gene

lculatea

or 18,524,000 cubic feet per minute
THE RECENT MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT Oisl THE
WESTERN RAILWAY.—The coroner's jury in this c
awarded the " deocland of £lOOO on the engine, tender, and
carriages, on the grounds that more watchmen should have
been employed to watch the cutting, and the danger of placing
the passengers next the engine, with a recommendation that
a portion of the spoil-bank be removed from the sides of the
road."

THE EXCHEQUER BILL FRAUD.—Amongst the victims of
this heartless robbery is a major in the army, who had nearly
£40,000 worth of the forged Exchequer-bills. Thus has a
. .

brave and veteran officer 'seen suddenly reduced from af

ence to poverty. No doubt an appeal will one of these days
appear in our journals in behalf of the destitute family of this
gallant but now pauperised man. This is not an isolated
case; others, equally heart-rending, are connected with that
diabolical fraud.

ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENON.—On Tuesday night, about
eight o'clock, a band of fire, apparently about a yard in
length, its sides having somewhat the appearance of a big-
bellied bottle, its mouth resembling a large trumpet, and its
top tapering towards a point was observed slowly, and in a
perpendicular direction, to descend almost immediately above
the Clyde, betwixt Hutchinson's-bridge and Peat-bog.
Having approached, as it seemed in the distance, to within a
few yards of the stream, it instantaneously burst asunder
like a huge firework, and almost instantaneously vanished.
Persons at a distance, ignorant of the cause, imagined than it
was a vivid flash of lightning, its reflection, on bursting,
having spread a luried glare over the prevailing wintry gloom.
—Glasgow paper.
MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—A woman, named Mary
Stewart or Pebbles, residing in the Wallace Fens. was found
lying lifeless in bed, betwixt her two children, on the morning
of Thursday week. It is thought that she died from utte►
starvation, her husband, James Pebbles, a labourer, having,
deserted her without making the smallest provision for her
or .her family. She had become sickly, and had received a
small sum for her support from the Kirk-Session ; but the
man returned, and the poor woman's pittance was withdrawn.
In this helpless condition, with increasing sickness, the cold-
hearted villain again abandoned her; and, after disposing of
the whole of her household effects, she had to have recourse
to the cold band of charity, which, in her distressed condi-
tion, she found it impossible to do.—Dundee Advertiser.

A singular occurrence took place in the church of Brom-
yard during the morning service on Christmas day, in con-
sequence of a lad, about 14 years of age, having inconsider-
ately placed in his waistcoat pocket a quantity of lucifer
matches with phosphorus, which by casual friction became
ignited. The congregation were suddenly alarmed at seeing
a dense smoke issuing from the pew in which the family were
sitting, and for several minutes much confusion prevailed.
Of necessity the service was suspended, whilst the vicar and
many of the parishioners were endeavouring to prevent the
congregation from rushing out of their seats, wader the ap-
prehension that the building was on fire ; and by these means
and by the exertions of those immediately on the spot, the
alarm subsided with comparatively slight personal injury to
any one. The fright and confusion however tended to un-
settle the feelings of the whole congregation, and the effluvia
from the phosphorus continued to affect many of them during
the continuance of divine service.— Worcester Journal.
SLAUGHTER-HOUSE MASTERS.—By the term "slaughter-
house masters," I mean a race of mean, selfish, but rich
men, who have usurped the place of our " old English mer-
chants," who collect every branch of trade into one focus,
who have immense wealth, and are ever on the look out, in
every market, for " cheap goods," i. e. for poor manufactu-
rers, who are in difficulties. From these men they purchase
(or in more proper terms, they rob and steal, by taking ad-
vantage of their distress) large quantities of goods at thirty,
forty, or fifty per cent. below " cost prices." These goods
are then re-sold by them, at a profit, but still under the price
which they cost the manufacturer. The fair trader is then
shown these " cheap" articles, by his own customers, who
have purchased them of the slaughter-house men, and, though
he is not himself a needy man, he is, of course, obliged to
lower the price of his own goods, and when he returns home,
he is forced to reduce the wages to his work-people, or he
must give up manufacturing.—Oastler's Fleet Papers.
At the farm- steading of Mr. Douglas, of Kirkaldy, a hen
lately took up her abode with a young pig, and laid an egg
every morning, which grumphy as regularly made his break-
fast of. The hen, after sitting the usual period, walked out
with the pig (she having, as she seemed to assume, hatched
him). and she now goes about, cluck, clucking, with her four-
footed brood, and feeds him in the usual way hen does her
chickens. He lies at night with his head under her wing
(being two or three times as big as herself), and if any person
attempts to touch him, she flies at them furiously. Some-
times, when going about the doors,v:ith him, he takes it in
his head to have a dance, when she seems a little astonished,
and runs backwards and forwards after him, trying to check
his daffin' ; but in vain until it suits himself. He proves a
most unruly and ungrateful fellow ; for, notwithstanding all
her care and attention, he goes off and leaves her sometimes,
at which she appears to be very uneasy. She feeds out of the
same trough with him, and when she gets a particularly good
piece, she ticks, ticks, until he comes and takes it from her.
—Scotch Paper.
.A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD DEBTS.'}.-7-TO judge by the
accounts received from the model republic, the Mississippi
bonds would seem to offer a strong inducement to capitalists
to invest in them. It appears that the state of Mississippi
" resists the payment of the 5,000,000 of dollars instate
bonds, delivered to the Mississippi Union Bank, and nego-
tiated by that institution." The governor of the state, who
rejoices in the name of M`Nutt, and who, it is said by the
Richmond Inquirer, in which his letter is published, " truly
understands the feelings and opinions of the people of Mis-
sissippi,"—is of opinion that the bonds will not be paid, and
thus expresses that opinion. " I firmly believe that POOR-
FIFTHS of the people of this state PREFER GOING TO WAR
TO PAYING THE BONDS.. There can be little doubt *of
this,—for where is there to be found so ready a soldier as be
who has nothing to lose and all to gain ? The people of Mis-
sissippi seem to belong to that category of persons of whom
the renowned Caleb Baldwin of pugilistic memory was the
head, as we find it recorded in heroic verse—
" And for settling of balances, all I know is
'Tis the way Caleb Baldwin prefers settling hi

. -
This is unquestionably a very satisfactory mode of settling
the question,—but we may be permitted to ask,with whom
are the belligerent Mississippians going to war? Is it Kil-
kenny-cat fashion, amongst themselves, or do they propose
to disturb the harmony of the United states ?--11forning
Herald.
DARING BURGLARY.—The house of Robert Hughes,_ a

small farmer living at a place called Glascoed fach, on the
borders of this county, about four miles from Oswestry, but
in the parish of Llansilin, Denbighshire, was entered by a
band of ruffians about two o'clock in the morning of Friday
last. The burglars must evidently have been acquainted with
particulars as to the circumstances of Hughes and his family,
for the first thing they enquired after was " the money for
the cow," he having sold one at the last fair held in this
town. Being a careful man he had deposited the proceeds in
a bank, and of which they were disappointed. It appears
there were four of them in the gang, two of which entered
the house, the others remaining outside. With these two
the poor fellow and his wife had a severe encounter, and
whom it would appear they successfully resisted. The ruf-
fians were disguised, and armed with strong crowbars, one
of great length, and similar to those used in the limestone
quarries of the adjoining neighbourhood. Hughes was most
dreadfully abused about the head, and, from the nature of
the wounds, being inflicted by such murderous weapons, must
have had a miraculous escape. His aged wife did her utmost to
assist him, and in return received some very serious con-
tusions from blows, kicks, &c. Finding themselves nearly
worsted they made a signal for another of the party to come
to their assistance, and the poor helpless man and his wife
were overcome. The villains had their faces blacked, and
were otherwise disguised, one of them having his shirt over
what other garments he may have worn at the time. Disap-
pointed, no doubt, at not finding the money poor Hughes
had received for his cow, they dealt out their murderous
vengeance with a heavy hand, and he survives only by a
miracle. His courageous partner fared no better than him-
self, both, when first seen in the morning, presenting fright-
ful spectacles. The robbers took away with them wearing
apparel, eight pennyworth of copper, a few pounds of butter,
some bacon and salted pork, and other trifling articles. A
pretty accurate description of the burglars is given ; and,
although on Tuesday morning no tidings had been received
of their being taken, strong hopes are entertained of a clue
to their detection. In addition to Hughes and his wife,
there was a young girl in the house, who fortunately escaped
the notice of the robbers. Having had their wounds dressed
and promptly attended to by Mr. E. D. Bennion, surgeon,
Hughes and his wife are likely to get the better of the dread-
ful outrage ; yet, from the last accounts we have received,
the woman is in a very languishing condition. A reward has
been offered for the discovery and apprehension of the
parties, and the most praiseworthy exertions were being
made by the surrounding neighbourhood to bring them to
justice. The crow-bars are supposed to have been stolen
from the Treflach lime-stone quarries.—Salopian Journal.

DARING AND EXTENSIVE BURGLARY.—One Of the most

daring outrages ever perpetrated in this country, and more
like those which were wont to be committed in Ireland, or
by the bandits of Italy or Spain, took place on the night of
the 22d instant, at South Wraxhall, near Bath, when five

armed burglars broke into the house of John Awdry, Esq.,
between the hours of eleven and twelve. They had effected
an entrance by the parlour window, having forced the shutter
and broken a pane of glass. Miss Awdry had retired to her
room, where she remained for some time ; whilst there she
heard a noise in the rooms below, of which she (supposing
it was caused by the servants remaining up to iron) did not
take much notice ; but the disturbance continuing, she rose
from her seat to proceed down stairs to reprove them for
making the noise. As she turned towards the door, some
one at the outside gave a knock; she immediately opened it,
and to her great surprise she found three men and a boy upon
the landing. Two fellows were left below as out-door and
in-door watch. With remarkable self-possession Miss Awdry
inquired " What do yo want ?" to which one of the men re-
plied, at the same time menacing her with a pistol, "We want
all we can get, and if you make any noise we will give you the
contents of this." The father of the young lady is an aged
and infirm gentleman; and Miss A.wdry fearful of the conse-
quences that might result to him, where he to be disturbed
by any sudden alarm, submitted to the indignities offered by
these ferocious wretches, without a murmur, under a pledge
from them that they would not disturb her father. In the
first place, they asked her how many there were in the house,
and being told only herself, two servants, and her father, they
compelled Miss Awdry to precede them to the servants'
room ; this done, the girls were awoke and threatened in a
similar manner as their mistress. In this room the thieves
broke open a box, from which they stole a silver thimble and
a shilling belonging to one of the servants. They then (com-
pelling Miss Awdry to accompany them to point out the pro-
perty) visited every room, ransacked every drawer, closet, and
cupboard, selecting everything which they considered worthy
of their notice. In one cupboard they found some brandy
and salt, which they drank very speedily, but which they af-
terwards found to be more troublesome than was anticipated.
After taking possession of gold and silver plate, and other ar-
ticles, to the number of 222, they sat themselves down in one
of the rooms, and with the most perfect nonchalance ordered
Miss Awdry to bring them money and wine, at the same time
again showing the pistol ; the sideboard was at once unlocked,
and two decanters of wine placed upon the table, accom-

panied by £l5. This money did not satisfy the wretches,
and they demanded more. Miss Awdry remarked that she
had no more, when they threatened that they " would go up
to the old man ;" and that if she resisted they would shoot
her. "Do as you please with me, but don't go near my fa-
ther," was the answer of the affectionate daughter ; and she
went to her father's room to look for more money. She re-
turned with £l5 more, but that did not satisfy the villains,
who swore that they must have some more "to drink her
health with." Finding that remonstrance would be in vain,
Miss Awdry went a second time to her father's room, and
took from his pocket one sovereign and some silver, which
she gave to them ; after which they wished her good morn-
ing, and left the house with their valuable booty. ' Most of
the plate stolen is marked with a lion's head in a Ducal Co-
ronet. The daring character of the outrage has greatly
alarmed all the neighbourhood about Bradford, more espe-
cially those inhabiting solitary houses, whose inmates dread a
similar midnight visit from a gang whose numbers are suffi-
cient to overpower a whole family. £25 is offered as a re.
ward for the detection of the villains, who are thought to be
London thieves, and it is to be hoped that the county of
Wilts will see the propriety of raising the reward to £lOO.
The police of this and all the adjoining counties
.are duly ap-
prised of these circumstances, and we sincerely wish that the
villains may speedily be captured.— Worcester Journal.