The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-29 00:00:00

'ER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY

action in the fares upon this lin

ly increased

On Christmas Day the

were upwards of 1800, and on Saturday last more than 1000.
There is every prospect of the line becoming one of the most
Prosperous in the kingdom.

REMARKABLE INSTANCE Or LONGEVITY.—The late Ann
Jones, who resided in the cellar of No. 3 house, Lower
Mann-street, Toxteth-park, attained the age of one hundred
years and upwards, and her death was duly registered on the
17th of November, 1840, by the registrar of the district.
BOROUGH GAOL.—Friday, being Christmas day, the
mayor,. T. Bolton, Esq., presented to each debtor two lbs.
beef, two lbs. bread, two lbs. potatoes, and one quart of ale.
The prisoners on the criminal side of the gaol, also partook
of a portion of the mayor's bounty, in a plentiful supply of
beef, bread and potatoes.

BRANDY AND SALT.—There appears to be great dissension
as to the efficacy of this medicine ; some contending that it
is mere quackery—others that it is a universal panacea. Two
cases of its efficacy have, however, come to our knowledge
this week. The• one is of a man who had had a large wen
upon his head tor several years, which he rubbed with the
mixture until this awkward appendage had entirely disap-
peared. In the other. case it was applied for ear-ache by a
man who had been almost deaf for many years—the result of
a stroke of lightning. The mixture cured the ear-ache ; but
its efficacy went further. In a short time after its applica-
tion the patient felt a loud crack within the ear, which he
describes as being like the report of a pistol, immediately
after which he could hear almost as plainly as ever be could.
Previous to the brandy and salt being applied, he was so deaf
as to be unable to hear the low octave of a fife, even when he
was himself playing it; he can now hear the ticking of the
clock, the rustling of the leaves, &c. These are facts.—
Halifax Guardian.

EMBEZZLEMENT.—Sarah Mowbray was charged, before
Mr. Rushton, on Saturday, with having embezzled the sum
of £2 10s., the property of her master, Mr. Arthur Law-
rence, a firework manufacturer. In the moi.th (.t October
last Mr. Lawrence sent the prisoner, who wa, then in his
service, to the house of a Mrs. Birchall, with a parcel of fire-
works, for which she was dalforiied to receive the sum of
£2 10. She obtained the money and absconded. Mr. Law-
rence discovered her, on Saturday morning, at the Low-hill
Workhouse. He caused her to be apprehended. On her
way to Bridewell, she said to the constable, that she had
been residing with a woman in the Park, who, when all the
money was expended, turned her out, after which she sought
refuge in the Workhouse. She was committed for trial.
A DOUBLE DECEPTION.—George Burns, a mean-looking
man, was placed before Mr. Rushton, on Saturday, charged
with having robbed Mr. John Riddlesworth, of Wigan, of
his watch. It appeared, that, on Friday night last, Mr
Riddlesworth and some friends engaged
which was Robert -Hughes, to convey them
Mr. Riddlesworth was slightly intoxicated.
got on the box, the parties who had engaged the c,
him to be a friend to the driver, while he satified the latter
that he was a friend of Mr. Riddlesworth, whom he had very
officially assisted into the car, and whom he, with equal assi-
duity, helped out again. When the party had entered the
house in King-street, Mr. Riddlesworth missed his watch.
On inquiry, the false representation of the prisoner was dis-
covered, and he was given into the custody of police-officer
Harrison, who put him inside the car and took him to Bride-
well. Having secured him, the officer sought under the seat,
where he found the watch concealed amongst some hay. The
prisoner denied the charge, and was committed for trial.
STRANGE ANIMAL.—At a recent meeting of the Zoolo-
gical Society, the secretary read a communication made to
Lord Francis Egerton, by one of the agents on the Duke of
Sutherland's estate, respecting an animal said to have been
repeatedly seen in Loch Assynt. In the autumn of 1837, it
was observed by two young men, Kenneth M'Leod and
Donald M`Kay, who were fishing in the loch. It appeared
close to the end of their fishing-rods, and is described by
them as having large eyes, and it opened its mouth so wide
that " they could see down to its very heart." The colour
was grey, the hair like bristles, the tusks large, the ears
hanging down like those of a sheep-dog, the shape of the
head altogether was like a bull-dog, but broader. It was
seen again soon afterwards on a small island, in the loch, and
is described as about the size of a stirk, but broader in the
back, about three feet high, with four legs, like those of a
pig, but stouter. The description given by other persons of
it correspond generally with the above. It was seen five
times in three years—the last time in 1839.

river of

The prisoner

ROBBERY BY A DISSOLUTE FEMALE.—Catharine Mitchell
was, on Saturday last placed before Mr. Rushton, charged
with having robbed Richard Pritchard of his watch. It ap-
peared, that, about nineo'clock on Thursday night, the com-
plainant was turning into Vauxhall-road when the prisoner
accosted him. lie entered into conversation with her, and
proceeded with her as far as Banastre-street, when, accord-
ing to his account, he refused to go any further; however, he
subsequently suffered her to lead him by the arm into a long,
dark entry, iniNorthampton-street. There she snatched his
watch from his fob and ran off with it. He immediately
went and gave information to police-officer Garvey. Garvey
went in search of the prisoner, whom he met in Marybone.
She accosted him, saying, " I have been at Bighain's to pledge
a watch and they have stopped it : if you will go with me
there and say that all is right, you shall have one half." He
took her into custody and conducted her to Pritchard, who
said she was the woman that had robbed him. They next
proceeded to Bigham's, where the watch was found. The
prisoner, in her defence, said, the complainant, having no
money, had given her the watch to pledge. She was com-
mitted for trial.

RINGING THE CHANGES WITH A VENGEANCE.
Tuesday last, an occurrence of an extraordinary nature tame
to the knowledge of the inhabitants of Whiddon, near Rain-
hill. In the course of the day a plain-looking woman, with
a child in her arms, walked into the " Hanging Birch," a
small beer-shop at Whiddon, and called for a glass of ale.
This request was addressed to the female who kept the
house, who, at the time, was busily employed in preparing a
batch of bread for the oven. She immediately abandoned
her then occupation to wait upon her customer, and went
down stairs to draw the beer, leaving her own infant in the
cradle fast asleep. On her return from the cellar, the land-
lady's surprise may be conceived at finding her customer
hid vanished, without waiting for the liquor she had been
put to the trouble of drawing. The abrupt departure of her
guest caused no suspicion at the moment of anything being
wrong, as everything, on her return' from below stairs, ap-
peared just as she had left them. In a little while, however,
a discovery took place which nearly deprived the poor woman
of her reason, and might have led to consequences not easily
foreseen. The child in the cradle having become restless,
and notifying by loud screams that the attention of a parent
would be desirable, the mother stooped to take it in her
arms, when—who can describe the state of her feelings?—
he found the infant quite black in the face'.' Thinking it
was labouring under strong convulsions, she posted off for
medical assistance in a state of mind bordering on distrac-
tion. The medical man, on being consulted, declared that
nothing on earth was the matter with the child, it being as
healthy a babe as had lately come under his inspection ; and
as for the darkness of its face, it was produced by natural
causes, the fact being that the child was born black, for no
other reason than because its progenitor must have been of
the same colour. The truth of the matter instantly flashed
across t'ie mind of the unhappy woman, and the conclusion
was that her own " sweet babe" had been carried off by the
stranger woman, who had subStituted this precious picca-
ninny of ebony hue—a black child, on the principle that
" exchange is no robbery." The hue and cry was instantly
raised, but without leading to the discovery of the perpetra-
tor of this wanton and cruel outrage. It is thought that a
sense of shame, induced by an illicit communion of the fe-
male with a man of colour, must have been the cause of her
practising this " ingenious device." The young " darky,"
who was of the genuine " double smut," and would rival in
lustre Morison's famous Japan, was immediately packed off
to the workhouse, where we believe the " nigger' still re-
mains, with but slender hopes of paternity. Be not incre-
dulous, gentle reader ! the foregoing is neither more or less
than a plain statement of facts.—Chroniele.

The opening of the entire line of railway from Camp-hill
station, Birmingham, to Gloucester, took place on Thursday
morning last; the trains have traversed the lines without the
slightest accident, and with as few de4ys as could have been
expected, those stopping at the first-class stations having
performed the total distance in two hours and a half. The
whole routes from the rising port of Gloucester, the key of
South Wales, and from Cheltenham, are now open by un-
interrupted es of railway to Derbyshire, Staffordshire,
Lancashire, and Yorkshire.—Aris's Birmtngliara Gazette.