The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-02-08 00:00:00

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STRANGE -.—During the fierce gale on Wed-
nesday week, a woman named &-ewart, about 24 years of
atZer when walking in the Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, was
blown with great violence against a lamp-post, and
severely injured. She died on Sunday in the infirmary,
from the injuries she received.

ACCIDENT,

DEATH OF GREAT GRAND-CHILDREN OF BURNS.—We
find the following in the Dumfries Courier :—" Died,- at
sea, on board the ship Chance, from Liverpool to Port
Philip, on the ith September last, Arabella Ann ; on the
Bth September, Robert Burns ; on the 18th September,
Arthur Vincent, the only children of Mr. Berkeley W.
Hutchinson, surgeon, government medical officer of the
Chance, and great grand-children of Robert Burns." Mrs.
Hutchinson is the daughter of Major James Glencairn
Burns, and was educated in Dumfries under the care of
her grandmother, " Bonnie Jea.i."
OUR DEFENCES IN THE 'WEST.—There is not a single
soldier between Exeter and Plymouth. The French may
land whenever they please and burn Teignrnouth, (as they
did 160 years since,) Torquay, and the other seaports,
pillage all the coast for 20 miles inland, even to the capital
of the west of Exeter. There is only a 32-pounder gun
at Exmouth for the use of the Coast Guard, the only one
mounted between B. islol and Plymouth, a distance of
130 miles. The French may land and smoke their pipes
all the way4.‘o the Topsham and Exeter barracks without
opposition.—United Service Gazette.

SHREWSBURY AND BIR.MII'cGHAM RAILWAY
pecial meeting of this company on Mundt

—At the
last week).

the resolution in favour of the Great Western hills, now
before parliament, was lost, and an amendment in favour
of the North-Western proposals carried. Mr. Russell,
the chairman of the Great Western, has since addressed a
letter of remonstrance to the Hon. R. H. Ciive, chairman

of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Company, urging
that the course adopted is a most direct. breach of agree-
ment with the Great Western, and that, while parliament
are never likely, on grounds of public policy, to sanction
an alliance with the North-Western, there is every pro-
bability that the union with the Great Western would not
be opposed.

TRIAL. FOR MURDER.—At the Central Criminal Court,
on Thursday, John Parrott, 45, was indicted for the
wilful murder of his wife, Sarah Parrott. The prisoner
got his living by hawking meat about the streets : he and
his wife lodged in a garret at 6, Spicer-street, Spitalfields,
and they were in a most wretched state of poverty. The
deceased woman was in a very weak and emaciated state

of body, and nearly blind ; and the parties were continu-
ally quarrelling. On the evening of the 7th December,
the deceased and the prisoner were heard quarrelling, and
the prisoner told her that "he would do something for her
the next day." On the following morning a woman named
Merritt heard cries of " Murder," for nearly half an hour.
She was found dead in bed. The prisoner was found
guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to transportation
for life.

THE PHILISTINE OF THEOLOGY.—Dr. Cahill, who has
been engaged in a series of lectures on " the principal
dogmas of the Catholic faith," at " St. George's Cathe-
dral," having indulged in the true Goliath style—" i offer
a premium to the man that can meet me—l should like to
hear the man that would contradict me"—the Rev. R.
Maguire, of Trinity Church, Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn-
fields, has accepted his challenge. If the account given
of the lectures in the Tablet is to be depended upon, the
doctor must have undergone a great change—" for," says
that journal, " no word of offence to the creed of another
falls from his lips—no vulgar abuse dishonours his sacred
profession." " Error," we are told, " disappears before
him as the mower cuts down the thin grass, and the most
abstruse points of Catholic doctrine are made so clear, that
men smile at their former ignorance, in not seeing what
now appears clear as noon day."

TAE REAL SEA SERPENT.—On the night of Saturday
week, when the tide was high and a gale blowing, there
was cast ashore at Torduff Point, parish of Graitney, a
large tree, which was at the time mistaken for some mon-
ster of the deep, and may have led some who saw it in
some distant latitudes to believe that it was in verity the
mysterious sea serpent himself. The tree is 38 feet in
length,and at its thickest part 6 feet in circumference, and
is estimated to weigh about five tons. The huge roots
are still attached to the trunk, and from one end to the
other the tree was covered with sea-weed from one to two
feet long, while adhering to the end of each strip is a
shellfish. The seaweed was thrown round the tree, as it
rose and fell with the waves, like a flowing mane ; the
shells made a rattling noise against each other; and, as
the roots now sank under water, now rose above the
waves, there is little wonder that the vegetable was taken
for some huge production of the animal kingdom,—
Dumfries Courier.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—On Tuesday morning, as the
fast up goods train was approaching the Clay Cross Station,
on the North Midland line, it ran into the break of another
goods train which was being shunted into a siding to make
way for the fast goods train. Both trains were smashed
to pieces, but fortunately no one was hurt.—On the same
day, an accident, attended with very serious consequences,
occurred on the Midland Railway, a little to the north of
Leicester. It appears that as a ballast train was standing
at the ballast hole, a goods train coming up on the same
line of rails ran into that which was stationary. The
fireman of the goods train was very severely hurt, and
much injury was done to the goods. So severe was the
collision that both lines of rail were completely shut up
for several hours.—On the same day, an accident occurred
on the South-Eastern Railway. The 12.30 p.m. train for
Ramsgate !eft London at its proper time, but when within
two miles of the Penshurst Station the whole of the train,
except the engine, ran off the rails. Twelve passengers
received cuts and bruises, but none of a serious nature.
By means of the electric telegraph assistance was quickly
procured, and the passengers, with the exception of one,
who was conveyed to Tunbridge, were transferred to
other carriages, and the train proceeded to Ramsgate.
SHOCKING BRUTALITY. —At the petty sessions at
Devizes a man named John Webb, residing at Market
Lavington, was charged by Mr. Stratton, of Gore Farm,
with cruelly ill-using his four children, the eldest of whom
is only eleven years of age. It appeared that the poor
children had recently lost their mother, and since her
death they had been entirely at the mercy of a drunken
father. An intelligent, pretty looking girl, about eight
years of age, in a very timid manner made the following
statement to the magistrate :—She said that her father
night after night had come home drunk, taken her out of
her bed, beaten her, and thrown her across the room.
Mr. Stratton stated that on the night of the 29th of
December last, about seven o'clock, as he was returning
through Market Lavington, he heard fearful screams pro-
ceeding from a house. " Don Tee, father, don't'ee,
father : oh, don't'ee, father," screamed a child in the
most piteous voice. He drew up his horse and looked
through the window, when he saw the defendant punching
the head of a little girl with his fist. He made some in-
quiries, and was informed that this was a matter of almost
daily occurrence, and that the four children were con-
stantly subjected to this creel treatment. The screams of
the child, he said, were of the most heart-rending descrip-
tion, and when he went to the place next day the neigh-
bours flocked around him and begged him to take the case
up. The defendant was in an independent position, being
in the receipt every week of an income of 30s. Several
witnesses gave evidence of the brutal treatment the chil-
dren had received. Their grandmother said she had seen
the bedclothes on which they had lain saturated with
blood, which had been drawn from them by their unna-
tural parent. The magistrates required the defendant
to find two sureties of £lOO each, in addition to his own
surety of £2OO, to keep the peace towards his children
and every one else: As the sureties were not forthcoming
he was committed in default. While in prison his income
will be applied to the maintenance of the children.
BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.—The case Good-
win v. Pegge, was tried at the court of Queen's Bench, on
Wednesday. The defendant pleaded that since the mak-
ing of the alleged promise the plaintiff had conducted
herself lewdly with nine persons, whom he named, and
with divers others to the defendant unknown. It ap-
peared that the plaintiff was one of 13 children. Her
father was a brewer, at Battle, in Sussex, and also the
keeper of a beer-shop there. The defendant Edward
Morrison Pegge, was an auctioneer, formerly residing at
Battle, but now at Hastings. The plaintiff and her
sisters were milliners at Battle. Her acquaintance with
the defendant commenced in the year 1847, and continued
for several years, during the course of which time she had
had two children, one of whom had died, and the other
had been supported by the defendant. The defendant all
along professed the greatest attachment to her, and pro-
mised to marry her. On one occasion he presented her
with a wedding-ring, which she worn upon her finger.
Several letters were read from the defendant to the imam-
tiff, in which he professed the greatest affection for her,
but instead of marrying her, as he had promised, he had
broken off the connexion, and united himself in marriage
to another person. Tile plaintiff's sister was called, and
proved the main points of the case. In cross-examina-
tion, she was asked several questions as to the correct-
ness of her own conduct in respect of chastity, which she
declined to answer, alleging, as a reason for her refusal,
that she was not bound to answer such questions. The
father was called, and stated that the defendant had been
in the habit of visiting his daughter as her suitor; and
the plaintiff's brother-in-law proved that the defendant
was now married. The defence was, as alleged in the
defendant's plea, that the plaintiff had conducted herself
in a lewd manner with a great number of persons, who
were named. Several witnesses were called in support of
this defence. They spoke to the fact that the milliner's
shop at Battle was resorted to at various times by young
men, who smoked cigars and drank brandy and water
there. They did not, however, give very distinct evidence
as to the unchaste conduct which was attributed to the
plaintiff. The jury gave a verdict for the
ipm,oelnAra,icntiotlisfft.:_hee
damages £5O.
HOLLOWAY'S PILLS, A CERTAIN CURE FOR
or the
HEADACHES, AND WEAR
llunnegusr balree
frdiseasesequen
loss of strength, a dloss of energy. To counteract
disordered state of the stomvh, which causes loss of ap-
petite,symp sit is only necessary to take a
tiayffeecntgineACtel4DedEhabcaAysrfinET:t htteSenTl:i
rilnigol I y s inestimable Pills, which will be
ftehwe deos iesoe
the means of puriking the blood, thereby giving a healthy
action to the *al functions. Their effect on the system
is such asiMperceptibly to restore the soundest health
and strength even to the most weakened constitutions.
BLAIR'S GOUT AND RHEUMATIC PlLLS.—Extract of a
letter, written by John Molard Wheeler, Esq., Collector
of Customs, Jamaica, having been handed by his brother,
at Swindon, to Mr. Prout, for publicatiarrl---" I know
you have never had occasion to take Ws Pills, but let
me emphatically tell you, in mere any friend who may
suffer from gout, rheumatic go umhago, sciatica, rheu-
matism, or any branch of at widely-allied family, to
recommend their using ern. In this country they are
of wonderful efficacy • of only am I Personally aware of
their powers, but see my friends and acquaintances re-
ceiving unfailin enefit from their use. I would nut be
without the on any account. If taken in the early stage
of diseas ey dissipate it altogether: if in a later, they
allevia pain, and effect a much speedier cure than by any
other means within my knowledge." Sold by Thomas
Prout, 229, Strand, London ; and by all respectable Me.
dicine Vendors throughout the United Kingdom. Mc*
22. 9d. per box.