The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-08-24 00:00:00

EDINBURGH AND DALKEITH RAILWAY:—It is worthy or
note, says the Edinburgh Advertiser, that, throughout the
whole of this controversy, only one journal hashed the hardi-
hood to avow itself the advocate of Sabbath desecration—to-
stand forth in defence of the practice of Sunday travelling ;
need we add, that the journal we allude to is the Scotsman.

Among the novelties at Bristol, during the last month, was
the publication of a medal to commemorate the holding of
the Methodist Conference in that city. It presents on the-
obverse, a well executed and expressive likeness of Mr. Wes-
ley, in the act of preaching; and, on the reverse. exhibits the
names of the President, Secretary, and Irish Representative's,
and the numbers in society, &e.

THE VICTORIA STEAM SHIP.—On Monday Mr. L. Jacobs,
the solicitor to the old Hull Steam Packet Company, applied
to Mr. Justice edale for a writ certiorari to remove the
"tiTtllr me vrctorif Queen's
Bench, on the ground that thedeodand (£1500) levied by the
coroner's jury on the engine and boiler of the vessel is exces-
sive. The writ was granted, and the whole case will be again
argued before the judges.

A list of petitions for private bills during the last session of
parliament, with the proceedings thereon, has just been pub--
lisned, from which it appears that the total number of peti-
tions for such bills was 232. Of these 155 passed tbroush
both houses and received the royal assent, including► 17 ilia-
wa y bills ; 34 for roads, bridges, and improvements; 4 for the:
establishment of public companies; 14 for naturalization
and 17 enclosure bills. •

NEW POOR Lew.—On Monday the people of Sowerby•
attempted to prevent their aged parents and relative from-
being removed from the workhouse of that town to the union.
workhouse of Halifax, and the police were obliged tube
called in from Halifax, to enable the poor law officers to
carry off the paupers. On the poor people leaving the town.
the scene was most heartrending, the air being filled with the
sobs of the aged and destitute parents, which were responded ,
to by their offspring, now from them many miles.—S4gield
Iris.

- . •
THE LATEST JOB.—The appointment of the son of Idr.
Spring Rice, a youth of three or four and twenty, to the ,
Commissionership of Excise, has excited very general dis—
gust. It is felt that an office of this• kind should .not ,have.
been bestowed on a young gentleman of whom nothing is
known but his parentage. When there are so many-old-
friends of the liberal cause, of proved aptitude fotbusineit,
neglected, it is most offensive to see an appointment suitable
for them misbestowed.--Examiner.

SERIOUS MISTAKE.—On Tuesday. last; a person named
John Brown, in the employ of R. Mellin, Esq.' of Wakefield,
actually drank a quantity of ammonia, which was standing
in a tin vessel, and which he took for water. The pool' fel-
low was so thirsty as not to find out his mistake until he had
taken a second draught. He then discovered his error, and
medical aid being soon procured, and_. proper -treatment
adopted, he is now in a fair way of recovery... It was at first
reported that some evil-disposed peonn had placed the liquor
there for a malicious purpose, but
.tipon inquiry it appeared
to have been entirely accidental.
. • • •
MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY AND LOSS OF 'SIXTEEN LIVES--;
On Tuesday se'nnight Mr: Wear. innkeeper, of Whitby,.
put two notes in a nest of drawers fixed to his ceiling. On
the Monday following, on going to:get out the money, he, to
his consternation, found the notes gone. Nu -reason. c 0414.,
be assigned for the mysterious disappearance of the money.
A person suggested that Wear should take up the Ilnor abii4e;
which he did, and found his notes placed amongst alitter,-on
which two rats had brought into the world- tiro families
amounting to sixteen in number, the whole of which were,
without any mercy, executed, together with their parents,'
upon the spot.

•
•NON-LIABILITY OF WINE MERCHANTS TO BILLET SOL*
nturts.—A question having arisen as to the liability of wine
merchants having soldiers billeted upon them a case was snit
for the opinion of the attorney-general, which has been pro-.
cured, and is as follows:—" 1 am strongly of opinion that
wine merchants are nut liable to have.soldiers billeted upon.).
them, notwithstanding any licence given to them for that pur-
pose; that they do not keep victualling houses, or inns, or ale
houses, and do not retail spirits, or wine, to be drunk in their
own houses, or places thereunto belonging. I think -their
houses are private houses, within the meaning'olthe act.
" Temple, Aug., 1838." (Signed) .1. CAMPBELL..

AWFUL ACCIDENT.—On the morning of Monday last a.
man named Kennedy, in the employment of Mr. CaSey,
soda-water manufacturer, was killed, by the bursting of the -
cylinder (technically called the ball) of the machine: • The . :
unfortunate man was stooping over it at the moment of the
explosion, and was stricken by the portion: propelled' on';the, •
shoulder and head. The arm was fractured, and.his brainsliterally dashed out. The explosion must have been owing
to an excess of carbonic gas in the cylinder, althoUgh it 'Waif '•
proven at the inquest that it had been more highly charged . •
with gas on the previous Saturday. A verdict of accidental
death was returned. The deceased was a married man, and
has left six children.—Droyheda Journal,
•
MIDLAND COUNTIES' RAILWAY.—The neighbourhood of •
Spondon, near Derby, has presented a busy scene for the
last week. A diversion of the canal had to be made by the
railway company, which could not be effected without stop,
ping the navigation, for which there was a penalty of £2 per, ,
hour. The contractor (Mr. Mackenzie) taking advaUtage.of
a stoppage of the canal, mustered his forces from the other.
parts of the contract, and has succeeded in executing the.di;,
version while the repairs of the canal were going on, to the -
astonishment of the natives. Between 200 and 300- men •
were employed in a very small space, and, when all busily at
work, presented a very animated spectacle. To induce the
men to persevere and work an extra number of hours, Mr.
Mackenzie supplied them daily with a substantial dinner of
beef and ale, (in addition to their wages,) which-was served
out and eaten on the works.—liailway

SAVING BANKS,—An account of the number of depositors,
and of the sums peposited, in savings'-banks, diVided into
classes at the close of the last quatter of each of the yeatt-
from 1830 to 1837, both inclusive, has just been
The details are extracted from official returns. They show'
the increase or decrease in each of the above years, to whiCh-
is subjoined a statement of the securities or stocks in which_
such deposits were invested at the end of the last quarter of
each year. From this it appears that the number of dePovi="' -
tors during the foregoing series of years has increased from,
421,129 to 624,560; that the deposits have increased in gross
amount to £4,768,955. This document further supplies the
number of persons to whom dividends are payable out of the
before-named securities on the 19th of October, '1837, and
sth of January, 1838. From this it appears that' there were
86,927 not exceeding £5; 25,983 not exceeding £100;' and
1,363 not exceeding £2OO.

•
A SUTHERLANDSHIRE PATRIARCH.-Mr. Donald 114.`Kay
of Crombach expired at Brawlbin, on the 4th instant, in this
country, at the patriarchal age of 108. The deceased served
in the Reay militia so far back as the year 1745, the memora-
ble one of the rebellion, and was one of those engaged in the
capture of the money which had been forwarded from the-
continent for the use of the unfortunate Prince Charles.
Stuart. The old man had a store of anecdotes relative to the..
history of the eventful period alluded to, as also of wally, re-
markable individuals who then figured in the scene of action...
M'Kay was the intimate friend of the celebrated Rub. Donn,
the bard of Lord Reay's country, whose poetical, efft.isions.
were held by him in much estimation, and some of whOse....
favourite songs he was in the habit of chaunting until tsitbin.
a few days of his death. He was a man of exceedingly sober
habits, having been rarely or ever known to indulge in.ardent
spirits. During the latter part of his life he was employed in.
selling cattle and horses, and visited the Beauty market. for •
this purpose so late as the year 1832.—John o'Groati.Tinirnal.

. -
FEMALE HEROISM.—On Sunday, whilst Mr. Mumford, of
Woodford Hall, near Bvefield, and his family and servatiti
were gone to church, leaving Eliza Whitmell and three chit.-
dren under nine years of age in care of the house, two men,
habited as gipsies, demanded admittance, which being refused,
they tried to batter in the door. Eliza, from the- first-floor
window, desired them to be gone, as either they or she should
die rather than they should rob the house. The fellows, dis=
regarding her threat, battered at the door in.the expectation
of beating it in when the girl went up stairs, rind, taking her
master's gun, tired it at them, which she did four. times,. Mr.
Mumfot d's eldest daughter, a child of nine years old, supply;
ing her with powder and shot to enable her to reload the piece.
The thieves finding the girl determined, two-of thetribeing.-....
slightly wounded by the shot, decamped without gaining an
entrance. The depositions of the servant and child true
taken on Monday, and pursuit after the thieves wdsiet on
foot.—Northampton Herald.
ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS.—A letter frony.Nanles, •
dated August 6, gives an account of an eruption of MoUnt
Vesuvius, which took place on Wednesday; the. ht r;rAti-i
gust, the same day on which, the Queen of Naples was deli-
vered of a prince; a coincidence which the Neapolitans con..
sidered as a curious one. On Wednesday, at Inel4l4y, there
were three streams of lava over the old pathway rip the cone. -
On Thursday also, at mid-day, a fresh flow of lava took itince
over the same ground. On Thursday night (says the writer
of the letter),l went up alone, by a road of my own exploring..
It was the finest night of the three, viz., Wednesday, Thurs..
day, and Friday; and the: stones were more celestially in;
dined than I have ever seen them, excepting. on the Ist. of
April, 1835. There was an electric .fire flying between the
two mouths (situated very close to each other, and near the
centre of the interior of the great cone,) and the roaring was
louder than I ever heard it. On Saturday it began- to,decrease,
and yesterday the lava no longer flowed from above. .• T.n-day
there is not much smoke from the mouths. As if to give me
the lie, the mountain, on my looking up from my paper, has
just Made a fine heave. It was but a slight fit ;• it is over
again now • but perhaps to-night there will be a relapse.
Etna has also been in full activity for some time past; and
Stromboli, which is always smoking, has shown- more fire
than usual. .

THE PERILS OF A TAILOR.-At an early hour on the
morning of Tuesday the 7th current, white it blew a. seliVe
gale from the west, the people on board the Nit hsdale'steahili•
described a small boat buffeting the billows to the windward.'
of Blackcoomb, and many miles distant from land. • At this
time the steamer might be two miles off; but Captain von,
nine bore up immediately, got to the windward of the-tiny:
craft, stopped the engines; and laid to. As the boat-neared- •
the steamer, it was observed that one solitary individual was •
on board; and after repeated directions to keep the prow of
his craft to the Nithsdale, he was able to seize a rope frosw
the paddle-box, and was thus rescued, it may be said; from,.
certain death, in a gale in which well-appointed vessels were
not free from danger. The boat was also' taken ow bowed
after its late occupant; and as soon as the poor fellow, had •
been warmed by a cordial, he gave the following-account of
himself, and of his perilous.trip. His natLe is Richard Crane,
aged between 25 and 30; and he follows the occupation of a
tailor, in Kettle Market, Douglas, Isle of Man. On the pte-
ceding.day he set out on foot, in company with two other
men, from Mona's capital, fur Laxey fair, which• was held at
a few miles distance; and in the evening the party purposed
returning home by coasting it in a lugger called the Crown.
With this intention the three to whom we have alluded, and
who were now accompanied by a man in a state of •intoxica-
tion, took a small boat to lift the anchor of the lugger, and
bring her to shore for the master. While thus employed,
however, the drunken man seized the helm of the Crown,
and' placed her in such a dangerous position that . the tailor, ,
becoming alarmed, sprung into the small boat he had recently
left; and as the painter, or rope which extended between the
vessels, got parted, he was drifted out to sea in a dark
stormy night. His presence of mind fortunately forsook biiny:,6
not, and he made the most vigorous efforts to keep his small
bark before the wind: although he had a pair of oars, he,el
could only use one of them; for the brine boarded him .so;' '5
copiously that he was occasionally covered .to the knees, and.'sl
had to employ one hand in baling with his hat, and scullirool
the boat with the other. Still he had small expectations thata4
he should ever be rescued alive, and he had lashed himself to
the prow of the boat, in the hope his body might receive '4'.
decent burial, in the event of the boat being, drifted on shore..
Previous to the Nithsdale doing him such essential service,
the solitary boatman had been tantalized by the view of a
steamer and two sail vessels at a short' distdnce ; and though
he hoisted his handkerchief aloft on the spare oar, they saw
or heeded him not. The poor tailor was thankful indeed for
his rescue, and had struggled manfully for it, for his hands
were entirely blistered from the use of the oar. While bear-
ing down on the Nithsdale, Crane reports that he was appalled
by the figure of a dead man, which was swept past him on
the crest of a wave, and who wore a glazed hat attached to
his head by a strap beneath the'chin—in all likelihood sore
luckless mariner who had previously perished. The humanity
of the captain, crew, and passengers of the Nithsdale •is
deserving of the most special commendation; for the tailor
owes to them not only his life, but a handsome suns which
was raised by subscription to carry him back to-Mona. •139
the Nithsdale he was taken to Liverpool free of expense,
and, when once there, will readily find his way back to his
native country, where he has an aged mother wholly de-
pendent on him for the means of support, and other relatives,
who by this time may have given him up for lost. On Wed
nesday the tailor paid a visit to Dumfries, and, in detailing ~
his hair breadth 'scape, said that the last hint his mother gav6
him before going to Laxev was, " that those who went to a,)
fair without an errand, generally found one' before they gt.:;4l.
back."—Duntiries Courier. * •