The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-09-28 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

•
aimings towards it. But we lack one thing much. We
could do with less talk ; but we must have more personal
preparation. Our public men do not wrestle enough in
private for inward freedom. There is too little of the
secret battle against heart-tyranny in their midst. They
are too easily content with seeking freedom and reform
for the far away and the external : they want the wisdom
and the self-denial to begin at home.—Men like Taylor
meet us in every province and grade of society. They
often rush into the sphere of public life to escape the de-
mands of their own hearts at home. And they end in
deluding themselves by the lie, that they are bearing the
yoke of public service, and furthering the cause of human
happiness, when they are babbling about these things.
Woe for them, when society shall discover that every
sphere of duty is sacred in the eye of Heaven,lind open
only for those who have prepared themselves aright !--lt
is high time we were making this discovery. "Of the
sounding brass and tinkling cymbal" we have had more
than enough; of the men who go forth into the ministry
of public duty, without a call from above, we could want
a part ; yet we still tolerate on our platforms, and vex the
heavens by applauding, many who exercise a tyranny at
home which might make us weep, and yield to a bondage
within, which should make us blush. The simple patri-
otism which kindles her torch in the heart, and sheds her
first light over the family circle, and so outwards, is
hardly known in our land ; and in Heaven no other kind
is known.—The currents of some young heart, whose eye
is falling on these words, are setting lifewards ? The
young heart has fond dreams about social freedom—fond
hopes of its own fair future ? Do not cease to cherish
these. While the windows of Heaven are open, admit the
light. But one counsel in your ear, young friend. If
you would realise the dream of your youth—if you would
still tread onward, beneath azure skies, over a flowery,
fruitful earth—if you would be really great and useful to
your fellow men, take this counsel into your heart of
hearts, and -let your free spirit brood over it ; it comes to
you from the solemn pas 1; it is the key to your golden
future ; it is as high as heaven ; it is as deep as hell:—
THE WORK YOU WOULD DO FOR OTHERS, DO FIRST VOR
YOUR OWN HEART AND HOME.—Fraser's Magazine.

@entral AVsrellanp.

PAUPERISM IN MARYLEBONE.—At a meeting of the
guardians of the poor of this parish on Friday, Mr.Thorne
stated that the increase of paupers was so great that the
workhouse could not contain those who applied for relief.
There were already 2,067 inmates, besides 6,000 persons
who were receiving ont-noor relief.
Donald Maclean, Esq., formerly M.P. for Oxford, who
is at present at Naples, is about to be outlawed, by the
Court of Bankruptcy, in Pasinghall-street, for not appear-
ing to undergo an examination under the fiat. The bank-
rupt not having appeared on Wednesday last, on account
of alleged ill health, the court intimated that he should be
outlawed, in the usual form, on Tuesday next (to-day.)
RAI3Y CASTLE RED CURRANT. Very handsome
bunches of a large red currant, from Raby Castle, Dur-
ham, were seen in excellent condition on the Bth instant.
The racemes were nearly six inches in length ; the berries
large, of a darker colour than Wilmot's red, but not so
deep as the red Dutch. The pulp contains more mucilage
than is usual in red currants, and consequently the sharp-
ness of the flavour is not perceptible in the first instance.
In size it is equal to Knight's large red ' • but its principal
merit is its late ripening.— Gardener's Chronicle.
FACTORY GIRLS.—A committee at Leeds, formed for
the purpose of ameliorating the condition of the factory
girls, took, as a first step, a house in a healthful situation,
which they fitted up as a lodging-house, with good beds
and furniture. A respectable matron was engaged, and
lodging was offered to the factory girls at ls. per week.
The scheme has turned out a complete failure. The girls
continue in dirty, unhealthy lodgings, for which they pay
Is. 6d. and 2s. a week, rather than submit to the order
required of them in the committee's lodging-house.
CORN FROM PORTUGAL.—A vessel, named the Nornen,
belonging to Norway, has arrived from Lisbon, with a
cargo comprising 500 quarters of wheat, the produce of
Portugal, and imported in a Norwegian ship under cover
of the suspended navigation laws ; the Nymph, from
Oporto, has brought 757 bags of beans, as a portion of
her cargo ; and the Senhor dos Passos, of Portugal, from
St. Michael's, 75 quarters of beans and 100 quarters of
wheat. These arrivals of grain from Portugal are of
much interest, as the supplies of grain from that parti-
cular southern state of Europe have been exceedingly
trifling and rare during the recent influx of such produce.
RECOVERY OF ONE THOUSAND POUNDS' WORTH OF
BANKRUPT'S PROPERTY.—in March last a fiat in bank-
ruptcy was issued against David Edwin Columbine, soli-
citor to the defunct London and Exeter Railway Com-
pany, but an injunction obtained from the Lord Chan-
cellor prevented the ale of his property as belonging to
his wife. Last week, however, a quantity of jewellery
worth £5OO, which he had himself deposited with an inn-
keeper in London, was seized for the benefit of his cre-
ditors, and furniture and money to a like amount, which
the bankrupt had in France, has likewise been made le-
gally available for the same purpose.
Messrs. Jennens, Bettridge, and Sons have just com-
pleted a very magnificent order for the Pacha of Egypt,
for a series of trays and other articles of ornament in
papier mach. The trays are five in number ;• two are
larger than ordinary 100 tables, and the smaller three of
greater dimensions than the tea trays in use in this coun-
try. They are made thus large to suit the Oriental
fashion of sitting on the ground, so that after all, though
only trays in this country, they really serve as tables in
the east. No two are alike in pattern or in colour, and
in one we observed pieces of mother-of-pearl of larger
size than any we can remember to have seen before in
papier mache articles.
THE SWINTON MURDER.—Edwd. Garland, alias Shak-
speare, who stands charged with the murder of the old
man named Caleb Barker on the 4th inst., has attempted
to destroy himself. A few nights since the inspector had
occasion to go into his cell, when, on attempting to un-
lock the door, he discovered that it had been fastened on
the inside. It was instantly forced open, just in time to
prevent him from committing self-destruction. He had
torn a long strip from a woollen rug which covered his
bed, and, after fastening this round one of the bars over
the door, was in the act of securing a noose which he had
made round his neck, when he was frustrated.
EXTRAORDINARY INVESTIGATION IN THE DRAPERY
TRADE.—An investigation has lately taken place tending
to impugn the honesty of transactions in the drapery
trade. At a meeting lately of parties interested, sealed
packets of goods from many of the wholesale houses were
examined, and the result showed that there was much
reason for complaint. Among other instances, reels of
cotton thread, marked " warranted 100 yards," were
found to measure respectively 922, 89, 86k, and in some
cases even 25 per cent. less than the quantity indicated by
the stamp, while in no single instance did the measure-
ment reach the full standard. In tapes the deficiency was
found to be still more considerable. _ _ _

We find it stated in the Literary Gazelle that " Miss
Coutts has determined to prepare a domicile at Shepherd's
Bush, under judicious and merciful regulations, capable
of maintaining a considerable number of discharged fe-
male prisoners, who have been condemned for offences,
punished, and then thrown upon the world characterless,
tainted, abandoned, and helpless. To these the gates of
reformation will be opened. They will be instructed in
the consoling and upholding value of morals and religion.
They will be taught the means of industry, whereby they
can earn their bread. They will be rescued from the ne-
cessity of guilt ; and if not doomed to ruin by evil dispo-
sitions which cannot be changed, they will be restored,
repentant and virtuous members, to society, instead of
being outcasts and curses to that and to themselves."
THE SALE OF ARSENIC.—The Times of Saturday has a
long article on this subject. The following concluding
paragraph contains, however, the pith of the whole, and
contains a recommendation which is well worth attending
to :—" We might go on multiplying almost endlessly the
possible and almost probable instances in which the lives
of the innocent may be destroyed for want of a very easy
precaution in regulating the sale of arsenic. The adding
of a powerfully nauseous taste to the deceptive sweetness
and slight acid which are said to be its present charac-
teristics, or the introduction of a strong colouring pro-
perty, would not injure its efficacy for any proper use, and
would thoroughly deprive it of its power in the hands of
the secret assassin. We hope to see our advice taken
without delay, for of all the horrors with which our crim-
inal annals have been recently stained, none is so revolt-
ing or so frequent as the crime of murder in the domestic
circle by means of arsenic."
THE COAL TRADE.—PnIcEs'.—A meeting of owners
and representatives of collieries vending coals at the ports
of Tyne, Hartley, Blyth, Wear, Seaham, Hartlepool, and
Stockton, was held at the Assembly Rooms on Thursday.
The business was conducted with closed doors ; but we
learn from a circular which has fallen into our hands, that
the meeting considered " That the very inadequate remu-
neration generally derived from capital invested in the
collieries of this district, during the last two and a half
years, has tended to discourage the power of production ;"
and this.opinion, coupled with the fact "that the demand
for their staple commodity is increasing," led to the con-
clusion "that an advance of 2s. per chaldron should be
made." It was resolved that the prices of London and
coast coals be assimilated, and the prices be—Best coals,
265. 6d. per chaldron ; second class; 245. 6d. ditto ; other
prices to be in proportion. The measure is restricted to
54 cwt. per chaldron.—Newcastle Advertiser.
SINGULAR CASE OF POISONING.—CAUTION TO GAR-
DENERS.—On Saturday, as some little boys were playing
in the vacant ground opposite to the Jarratt-street Rooms,
they found a large plant of the Atropa Belladonna, or
Deadly Nightshade, which had been pulled up by the roots
by some person, and incautiously thrown there. The shin-
ing blackberries of this poisonous plant, which are sweet
and pleasant to the taste, tempted one of the boys, a
grandson of Mr. Ayre, Mason-street, to eat of them. A
few hours afterwards he was seized with vertigo, delirium,
and strong convulsions, nor was the cause of the boy's suf-
ferings known to the parents, until Mr. Munroe, surgeon,
who was in attendance, pronounced him to be poisoned by
some irritant-narcotic poison. The usual remedies in such
, cases were applied, happily with success ; though the de-
lirium lasted some days. We understand he is now in a
fair way of recovery, though bad not timely medical aid
been resorted to the case might have proved fatal. Would
it not be better for gardeners to burn, and not throw aside
all poisonous plants of this class, to prevent such dange-
rous occurrences.—Hull Advertiser.
HORRIBLE TREATMENT OF A WIFE BY HER HUSBAND.
—On Thursday a most revolting case of cruelty and bar-
barity, on the part of a husband towards his wife, was dis-
covered by Mr. George Campbell, one of the sub-inspect-
ors of the poor of Glasgow. From information which Mr.
Campbell received, he went to the house of a man named
Geo. Fay, in South St. Mungo-street, and on examining
the premises, he discovered Fay's wife in a water-closet,
where, according to her statement, she had been kept by
her husband ever since May last. The dimensions of the
closet were only 3 feet 10 inches by 2 feet 11 inches, and
the height 10 feet. The poor creature was in a most
wretched condition, being literally covered with filth and
vermin, with scarcely an article of clothing on her person,
and in a half famished state. The inhuman monster was
given into the custody of the police, as well as a girl named
Margaret Hume, the servant, and two lodgers named
Alexander Hume and Alexander Holland, who are charged
with,being accomplices in the offence. Every care and
attention was paid to the unfortunate woman by Mr.
Campbell, and it is expected she will shortly recover from
the effects of her long and close confinement.—Glasyou,
Mail.
ROMANTIC STORY.—A seaman belonging to the north
of Scotland, eleven or twelve years ago sailed from Liver-
pool in a British vessel, which he left in the West Indies,
and entered on board a foreign ship. Thereafter he was
entirely lost sight of, and though many vague rumours
reached his friends, nothing satisfactory could be ascer-
tained concerning his fate. All doubts, however, have
now been dissipated by the unexpected appearance of the
long lost one, in propria persona, and his long absence is
sufficiently accounted for by the following story, which
comes to us in an authenticated shape :—When he dis-
appeared he had entered the American brig Endeavour,
which was dismasted in the Gulf of Mexico by one of
the hurricanes so common in those seas, and the vessel
soon after filling with water, the crew were left entirely
without provisions of any sort. For forty days they
floated about, supporting life and appeasing the demands
of appetite by the horrible expedient of cutting up and
eating the bodies of their dead companions, till, in the case
of his companions, exhausted nature gave way, and out of
a crew of twenty, he alone survived. He was taken off
in a state_ of insensibility and carried away by a poor
Indian fisherman, in whose cabin he lived for three
months, slowly regaining strength. On his recovery he
joined a party of seven British sailors, who were ship-
wrecked on the coast, resolving to travel to the nearest
seaport (in Texas) of which they knew. On the route,
however, they were attacked and captured by a company
of Indians, by whom they were stripped and compelled to
undergo incredible privations. Under this treatment
four of their number sank in less than eight months ; and
after witnessing the death by torture of two more, this
individual, after a lapse of ten years, found means to
escape, and has again appeared in this. country. The
same man was formerly a prisoner for a considerable
time among the cannibals of New Zealand, and also came
through many hardships and adventured in the Peruizian.
War of independence.—Scotstnaq,

NEW METHOD OF RAISING MONEY.—During the past
week a man has been travelling the streets of this town
with a vehicle resembling a teazle cart, upon which are
fixed a number of wooden horses, and behind them seats
for girls. The steeds are let to little boys at one half-
penny each, and the sittings for a like sum. When a full
complement of youthful passengers is obtained, the con-
ductor takes his place in front of the cart, and a real
horse sets off with the whole cargo at a brisk walk. The
novelty of the thing excites the attention of all the women
in the neighbourhood.—Leeds Intelligencer.
DISTRESSING AND FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Monday
forenoon a melancholy accident occurred in Stafford-street,
Wolverhampton, to Joseph Cox, a key-maker, about 37
years of age. It appears that a gun had been taken to
Cox to repair, with a request that he would put a nipple
upon it, as one of the nipples was broken. On Monday
he commenced repairing the gun, and in order to extract
the broken nipple, which had been rusted, it was necessary
to put the barrel of the gun in the fire. Thinking that
the barrel might be loaded, he directed his wife and
another woman, who were then present in his workshop,
to move out of the way ; but in turning towards them to
give them this direction, he accidentally moved his body
opposite to and facing the muzzle of the gun, at which
moment, the barrel being heated, the gun exploded, and
the discharge entered his abdomen, inflicting a wound of
which he died on Tuesday.

THE LATE FIRE AT NBEDINGWORTH.—The calamity
which visited Needingworth, near St. Ives, on Thursday
week,.and by which nearly half the village was destroyed,
has produced the greatest sympathy throughout the
county. It was clearly proved that a female lunatic had
originated the fire. She threw a quantity of red-hot
ashes close to some straw which was piled outside the
wall of the cottage. It instantly ignited, and the blazes
fired the roof, and the fire spread with awful rapidity.
By the official lists of the losses made up by the several
insurance agents, it appears that there are about ninety
dwellings consumed, the residences of eighty-seven fami-
lies, upwards of fifty farm buildings, such as barns, gra-
narieS, &c., and nearly one hundred stacks of grain and
other produce. tut a small •portion of this property is
insured. Amongst the offices which have suffered are
the following : Suffolk, £lO,OOO ; Norwich Union,
£5,000; Phoenix, £5,000; and a similar amount in one
or two others. A public meeting has been held to adopt
prompt means to alleviate the sufferings of the many fa-
milies rendered hnuseless by this calamity.
THE COMPLAINTS OF TRADE AT NEWCASTLE.—The
Marquis of Londonderry, who works extensive collieries
in Northumberland, has addressed a letter to the Times,.
in which he denies that there is any just ground for the
complaints made of the state of commercial affairs in the
neighbourhood of Newcastle. His Lordship says in the
course of his letter, "In my judgment the coal trade was
never in a more healthy state; we reap not the same high
prices, but those who have large coal-fields, great esta-
blishments, and capital embarked in the trade (which is
now happily free of regulation of vend), meet with fair re-
munerations and are content ; and these proprietors ought
not to be run down or plunged into the mass of those who
(from causes unnecessary to explain) have thought fit to
join in this strange and most extraordinary appeal to the
Government of the day." Though his Lordship has not
felt the pressure of the times personally, it exists never-
theless, and we are much mistaken if the noble marquis
does not foresee that that pressure if allowed to continue
must bring about something approaching to a monopoly
of the coal trade to his own fingers.
Two LIVES LOST.—A fatal occurrence happened on
Tuesday morning in the river Medway, whereby two lives
were lost, by the capsize of a peter-boat, in Salt-pan
Reach, half-way between Chatham and Sheerness. The
peter-boat was observed by the crew of the yacht Defiance,
Master Thomas Thompson, running down with all sail
set, and observing a squall approaching, the yacht was
hove to, the crew immediately reefed the sails, and in a
moment they lost sight of the peter-boat. They directly
made to the spot, when they came in contact with some
boards and baskets, which left no doubt in their minds
that the peter-boat with the crew had sunk. It is now
ascertained that the peter-boat belonged to Edward
Cooper, fisherman and dredgerman, of Strood, and that
he and his son were on board at the time the boat went
down. They left home at 5 o'clock in the morning for
the purpose of dredging for oysters, under the employ of
the Queenborough Oyster Company. It is supposed that
the father and son were at the time below at their break-
fast, and did not observe the squall approaching. Neither
the boat nor the bodies have yet been found.
EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE CRICKET.—The adjourned
inquest was resumed on Wednesday.. The first witness
called was Edw. Portwine, writer on engineering, who said,
that on viewing the boat, and finding they were working
the engines at a pressure of 36, he told: the engineer that
it was dangerous to work boilers of that description at such
a pressure.—Thomas Lloyd, Admiralty, Somerset-house,
Chief Engineer, and inspector of machinery of the Navy,
said he examined the machinery of the Cricket on Mon-
day, the 6th of September. So far as he saw, the mate-
rials and workmanship of the engines were good. He gave
a very minute description of the boilers, with plans before
and after the accident. He was of opinion that the valves
must have been closed, either by accident or design, at
the time of the explosion; or else open only to a very
small extent, and that was the cause of the accident.—
Thomas Clarke, the engineer, then volunteered his evi-
dence, and denied that he had given instructions for tying
down the valves.. The inquiry, terminated on Friday,
when the jury found a verdict of manslaughter against
Henry R. Heasman, the engineer of the steamboat. They
added, that they considered Thomas Clark (who, it was
alleged, tied down the valves) highly culpable, and unfit
to hold the situation of engineer ; and that Mr. Smith's
conduct was shamefully neglectful, in not properly inves-
tigating the complaint against Clark.
UNCLAIMED LETTERS.—A bulky return moved for in
the last Parliament shews that there were lying in the Ge-
neral Post-office at the date of the return (a few months
since) 4,201 letters containing coin, bank-notes, bills of
exchange, and other property ; the coin amounting to
£3lO 9s. 7d., the bank-notes to £lOlO, and the bills of
exchange to £40,410. The catalogue of the " other pro-
perty" contains some sufficiently amusing items, from
gold rings and silver spoons down to love-locks and pawn-
tickets. We notice amongst other items, shaving papers,
ribands, waistcoats and shirts, artificial flowers, soda
towders, razors, books, fish-hooks, fiddle-strings, a will,
snuff-boxes, galvanic rings, medicines, bradawls, mats,
scissors, nightcaps, a soldier's discharge, protests. peti-
tions, Greek MSS., punch, hair, pill-boxes, &c. Imme-
diate steps are taken to return dead letters containing pro-
perty as soon as found to the writers, by enclosing them
to the local postmasters, or by sending notices to the wri-
ters. When all inquiry is. found unavailing, the letters
are kept three years, to give time for application for them,
after which period the property (if money) is paid into the
Exchequer. Other property is sold, and the proceeds paid
into the Exchequer. The number of letters containing
money-orders lying in the General Post-office, London,
amounted (at the date of the return) to 346, and the value
to £407 12s. 80..
COMPARATIVE PROSPERITY OF MIDLAND TOWNS.—
Whilst Nottingham and Leicester (the latter more espe-
cially) are overburthened with pauperism, in the borough
of Derby there is not a single able-bodied pauper on the
parish books'. In Leicester, the occupier of a house, the
rental of which is £2O a year, has to pay £2 12s. 3d. per
quarter poor-rates ; the poor-rates in Nottingham are
nearly as heavy ; but at Derby the occupier of a £2O
house has to pay only ss. 4d. per quarter, and sometimes
the levies are only made twice a year ! In Leicester,
twenty-three thousand of a population of sixty thousand
are said to be paupers—more than one-third ! In Not-
tingham, although not so high, the proportion is very
great : in Derby it is very small indeed. The cause of
this, says the Nottingham Review, is easily accounted for ;
Leicester manufactures nothing but hosiery—Nottingham
little besides hosiery and lace, but in Derby the occupa-
tions of the people are various, the railway and railway
works employing nearly 2,000 families. Leicester has
1,200 houses and shops to let ; Nottingham has a con-
siderable number, but in Derby there is not a shop to be
obtained. Thus a considerable portion of the prosperity
of Derby and the adversity of Nottingham is attributable
to certain gentlemen of the latter town, who forbade the
Midland Company constructing their central station
within the borough,'lest it might cause a slight competi-
tion in the supply of coal to the inhabitants. ""'
MURDER BY A GENTLEMAN OF PROPERTY.—On
Tuesday information was received by Mr. William Baker,
deputy-coroner for the eastern division, of the county of
Middlesex, of the death of a man named Lewis Mugford,
occasioned by a wound on the jugular vein, inflicted by
his master, Mr. Thomas Mackintosh Davidson, a gentle-
man of property, residing at Clay-hill, Tottenham. The
circumstances have excited a painful sensation in the
neighbourhood. It appeared that Mr. Davidson, who
was formerly a member of the bar, and was entitled to a
large property which was in. chancery, had been for many
years past suffering under mental derangement. He had
resided about- eleven years at "Clay-hill, Tottenhain, which
was in the occupation of a gentleman of the name of
Holmes, and was under the care of the unfortunate man,
Lewis Mugford. On Friday afternoon two female servants
and Mugford, between one and two o'clock, were at din-
ner in the kitchen, when Mr. Davidson entered, and took
a knife away. He was immediately followed by Mugford,,
who came up with him in another room. Almost imme.
diately a scuffle was heard, upon which Mrs. Holmes,
who was in the parlour, proceeded to the room, where she
saw Mugford struck in the throat by Mr. Davidson, with
the knife. Mugford, upon receiving the wound, rushed
into the kitchen, and through the yard (the blood flowing
in a stream from his throat) into the road, where he fell
down and died hr a few minutes. Mr. Davidson. remains
in surveillance at his own residence. The sergeants sub-
sequently found that the unhappy maniac, who is totally
unconscious of 'the act he has committed, had replaced
the knife on the table from whence he had taken.it. For
several previous years Mr. Davidson never showed any
signs of an intention to do mischief, and was allowed
the liberty of the grounds, being only watched by the
domestics.-
RicE,--Every family ought immediately to he in pos-
session of a penny pamphlet, advertised in our paper..to-
day, showing the various uses and easy preparation of rice
as a nutritious article of daily food, and proving it to be
cheaper than any other.
The never-failing effects of Blair 's Gout and Rheumatic
Pills in curing every description of gout and rheumatism,
have secured to them a celebrity unequalled by any medi-
cine of past or present times. They not only give relief
in a few hours, where the patient has been driven nearly
to madness by the excruciating tortures of this disease,
but restore to perfect health in an inconceivably short
space of time. They are equally speedy and Certain in
rheumatism, either chronic or acute, lumbugo, sciatica.
pains in the head or face, and indeed for every rheumatic
or gouty affection in fact, such has been the rapidity,
perfect ease, and complete safety of this medicine, that it
has astonished all who have taken it ; and there is scarcely
a city, town, or village in the kingdom but contains many
grateful evidences of its benign influence. Sold by all
medicine vendors. Price 2s. 9d. per box. Observe the
name " Thomas Prout, 229, Strand, London," on the
government stamp.