The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-04 00:00:00

MURDER AND. HIGHWAY ROBBERY

A most diabolical murder has been committed on a respec-
table man named John Coulton, of Haigh, near Wigan, an
underlooker at the collieries of the Earl of Balcarres. The
unfortunate victim resided at Red Rock-bridge, in Haigh. He
had been to Wigan, and was rather intoxicated, on Saturday
afternoon. At twelve o'clock at night he passed through the
toll-gate on his way home. The wife of the collector, after
she had let the deceased through the gate, retired up stairs
to bed, when she distinctly heard the firing of a pistol or gun,
but she took no further notice of it, as it is not unusual to
hear similar noises at all times of the night in that neighbour-
hood, in consequence of its contiguity to Haigh Foundry and
Brock Mill.

At about five o'clock in the morning, as a man was going
from Wigan in the direction of Standish, he discovered poor
Coulton lying on the right-hand side of the road, about 160
yards from the turnpike, and between it and the railway-
bridge. He was still bleeding from a wound under the ear,
and quite insensible. He had been shot, and some slugs were
extracted. He languished until Wednesday night, about 7
o'clock, when he died.

The horse on which poor. Coulton was riding at the time
he was shot, it is supposed, had galloped off in a fright when
it lost its master from its back, as it was found in Standish
on the morning of the murder. _ _

There can be no doubt but that the man was pulled from
his horse, robbed of his money and watch, and in order to
effect their purpose the midnight assassin shot at and other-
wise abused him. A reward of £2O was yesterday offered
for the apprehension and conviction of the guilty parties ;
but notwithstanding all the assistance of Mr. "Whittle, the
chief constable, and two of his officers, Heath and Smith,
who have been actively engaged in making enquiries, no one
has yet been taken into custody, although we anticipate from
the enterprising exertions of our police that the bloodthirsty
villains will be brought to justice.—Wigan Gazette.

GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY-.EXTRAORDI-
NARY DESPATCH.

•
On Wednesday last, on the occasion of the return of the
Queen Dowager from Lancaster, a special train was provided
for the conveyance of her Majesty and suite, from Lancaster
to Parkside, by the Lancaster and Preston and North Union
Railway Companies, and thence to Stafford (being the nearest
point to Alton Towers, the seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury,
which was her Majesty's destination), by the Grand Junction
Railway Company. The train, consisting of three railway
carriages, one of which had been handsomely fitted up by the
London and Birmingham Company for her Majesty's use,
and five private carriages on trucks, making eight in all.
Started from Lancaster at . loh. 12m., a.m.
Arrived at Preston Station
Stopped there
And on the Viaduct over the
6m.
Ribble Valley .

Time at Preston
Arrived at Parkside .
where it was attached to an engine of the Grand Junction
Railway.

The latter part of the journey, viz., from Newton Junction
to Stafford, a distance of fitly-four miles, was performed,
exclusive of a stoppage of five minutes, at Crewe, for water,
in one hour and thirty-one minutes, or at the rate of upwards
of thirty-five-and-a-half miles per hour. Her Majesty, on
her arrival at Stafford, personally expressed to Captain
Cleather, the manager of the Grand Junction Company, who
was in attendance, her satisfaction at the rapidity of the pas-
sage and the uncommon smoothness of the line. The
engine, the Vandal, on its return, brought back from
Birmingham a train occupied by the directors and chief
officers of the company, who had been inspecting the line,
and holding a board at Birmingham on that day. It left
Birmingham at 630 p.m., and arrived at Edgehill at 9 2 p.m.,
having made three stoppages of five, four, and three minutes :
thus running the distance in two hours and thirty-two
minutes, or at the rate of thirty-eight miles an hour, inclu-
ding stoppages, or forty-one miles an hour, exclusive of them.
This is believed to be the most remarkable performance, for
a continued distance of this extent, that has yet takeTspla
in this or on any other railway in the kingdom: This
en-
gine, in both its trips, was under the direction of Mr.
Buddicom, the superintendent of the locomotive department
of the company.

THE NEWSPAPER PRESS.—The increase in the circula-
tion of London newspapers, since the reduction of the stamp
duty, has been annually 9,885,943, or 47 per cent. on the
previous circulation. The increase in the English provincials
has been 11,370,452, or 137 per cent.; Scotch, 1,320,006, •or
49 per cent.; and Irish, 364,452, or 7 per cent, on former
circulation.

THE MERCURY'S GRAMMAR,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

porary has

for a loi.

subject was sufficient to
What a pink of modesty !
These remarks have been induced, Sir, by noticing an at-
tack made by the Mercury, iri his last Friday's number, upon
a sentence extracted from your paper. Possibly it might be
as well for your contemporary to avoid breaches of grammar
himself, as to attempt to dust the breeches of other persons
for slight errors which he frequently commits. This I can
truly say—in no Liverpool paper do Iso commonly meet
with sentences inelegantly and incorrectly worded as in the
Mercury. I cannot help thinking that this should deter him
from assuming the office of public censor.
If you will allow me a small portion of your space occa-
sionally, I shall do myself the pleasure of placing upon record
a few of the Mercury's ornamental blunders. Perhaps this
-s a warning—" ver.bum sat sapienti."
I am, Sir your Servant,
A LOVER OF THE' ENGLlSHobedient LANGUAGE.
Liverpool, August Ist, 1840.

may serve

A contemporary re-printing the lines of Robert Story, the
Craven poet, entitled, " I'll suffer as becomes a man," has
made them read rather ludicrously, by a slight mistake, viz.,
" I'll supper as becomes a man." There are few poets who
can do this.

FINE OATS.—There was exhibited, on Saturday last, in
the Exchange Newsroom, a specimen of very fine oats grown
on Mr. Atherton's estate, at New Brighton. The specimen
speaks well for the soil in the vicinity of that delightful wa-
tering-place.

LA tszcH.—On Thursday, a Buenosayrian, a beautiful new
barque of 320 tons burden, was launched from the building..
yard of Mr. Joseph Steel, Baffin-street. The Buenosayrian
dashed into her native element in gallant style, amidst the
shouts of hundreds of delighted spectators.

DEATH IN THE BOROUGH GAOL.—On Friday an inquest
was held on the body of Thomas Mason. The deceased had
been sentenced in October last to twelve months' imprison-
ment. In the early part of the last month he complained of
being ill, and was put on the sick list, and continued to get
worse until the 30th ult., when he died. A verdict, in ac-
cordance with the evidence, was returned.
THEFT BY A CARTER.—John Taylor, a carter, was placed
before Mr. Rushton, on. Saturday, charged with having stolen
nine pounds of copper bolts, value nine shillings, the property
of Messrs. Roscoe, Grenfell, and Sons. The prisoner was
employed to carry a cask of copper bolts to the 3runswick
Dock. On his way, it appears, he opened the cask and took
out a dozen bolts. He was committed for trial.

THEFT FBOM AN EEPLOYER.—George Maxwell, a joiner,
was, on Saturday, placed before Mr. Rushton, charged with
having stolen two coach springs and some knives and forks
from his employer, Mr. John Andrews, coach proprietor,
Richmond-row. The prisoner had, it appeared, taken the
property from Mr.'Andrew's stables,. and had sold the coach-
springs to a marine store dealer. He was committed for
trial.

MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.—The exhibition closed at ten
o'clock on Saturday night. During the.six weeks and two
days that it has been open, (in all, 38 days,) nearly 100,000
persons have visited it, and the gross receipts are, we believe,
about £3,300. , After Mr. John Smith's lecture, on Satur-
day night, the president of the institution, John Leyland,
Esq., and the Mayor, Sir Joshua Walmsley, addressed a few
remarks to the auditory, and congratulated them on the suc-
cesssful conclusion of the exhibition.

THE RIVER DANE VIADUCT.—PVC are happy to say that
the contract for the' Viaduct over the River Dane, near
Holmes Chapel, has been let to Messrs. Holmes and Tom-
kinson, of Liverpool, the gentlemen who are erecting the
splendid viaduct over the valley and the River Mersey, in
this town. The contracts for the Dane is, we understand,
between £50,000 and £60,000, and is to be completed in 18
months.

THE STANDISH-HALL ROBBERY.—The whole of the pro-
perty stolen at the late robbery of Standish-hall has at length
been found. The plate was all broken up, and no doubt in-
tended for sale, only the conviction and punishment of Edge,
who it will be recollected was tried at the last Kirkdale ses-
sions and got two years imprisonment, seems to have oper-
ated as an intimidation to the other parties concerned.—
Wigan Gazette.

REVIVAL IN THE EXPORT OF MANUFACTURED GOODS
TO THE UNITED STATES.—The quantity of manufactured
goods exported to the United States Was remarkably small
during the first six months of the present year. Within the
last few weeks, however, the quantity has increased, atA now
there is a fair export to the States. The President, steam-
ship, although she charged five guineas per ton, got not less
than 1300 packages of manufactured goods on freight. The
packet-ships as well as the transient vessels also get a fair
share of goods. We trust, therefore, that we may hail the
present revival of export as a symptom of returning confi-
dence in the United States' market, and that the consumption
of British goods by our transatlantic brethren will speedily
become as extensive as it was before the season of distress.—

ROBBERY FROM THE PERSON IN ISLINGTON MARKET.—
Ann Newman and Ann Roberts, two meanly attired women,
were, on Saturday, placed at the bar of the Police-court,
charged with having stolen a gold watch and appendages from
Miss Mary Rlgg. Miss Rigg stated, that she was standing
at a stall in Islington Market purchasing some peaS. She
felt a great pressure upon her from three or four women,
whom she believed to be pushing forward to inspect the com-
modities offered for sale. Suddenly there was a slight bustle,
and a lady asked her if she had lost anything. As her purse
was in her hand she was about to reply in the negative, but
feeling at her side for her watch she found that it had been
cut away. She made known her loss, and a man who stood
near pointed to the two prisoners, saying, that he bad seen
the woman in the shawl (Newman) hand something to the
woman in the brown cloak (Reynolds). A gentleman who
was at hand called a policeman, who took the prisoners to
the Market-office. On the way thither, the overlooker of
the market and another person saw Reynolds drop the watch
from under her cloak. Both prisoners were committed for
trial.

FORTUNE TELLING.—An old woman, named Catharine
Duffy, and a little girl, were on Friday placed at the bar of
the Police-court, on a charge of stealing a purse, containing
3s. 6d. The complainant, a rather elderly female, said she
had gone with the person who was beside her (another el-
derly lady), to have their fortunes told, for which, it appear-
ed, they were to pay the sum of threepence each. While in
the house her purse was stolen, and, as she believed, was
taken from her by the little girl. It was afterwards, on a
disturbance being made, delivered to her by the elder pri-
soner. A very old withered beldame appeared in court—the
grandmother of the child. This person had been the original
fortune-teller of the establishment, but, as Mr. Rushton
afterwards remarked, had " resigned" in behalf of the other.
Mr. R. expressed his surprise that persons, such as the com-
plainant, had not more sense than to go to such places to
have their fortunes told by parties who could not tell their
own. He read that part of the act of parliament against for-
tune-telling, by palmistry or other device, and sentenced the
elder prisoner to three months' imprisonment. The child
was discharged.

MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE.—At the Police-court, on
Friday, Mr. Strettan, a respectable-looking gentleman, was
placed at the bar, under the following circumstances :—Mr.
Balfour, of the coroner's office, stated that, on the evening
of Thursday, he had heard that a woman named Gray, who
resided in Henry Edmund-street, had died, after taking some
medicine received from those who attended her from the
North Dispensary. As it appeared there was something
wrong, the prisoner was taken into custody. A bottle con-
taining a solution was produced in court, which the prisoner,-
who appeared to be much distressed, immediately acknow-
ledged to be that which he dispensed. It appeared, by the
further evidence, that the deceased person had procured a
note for the dispensary, and that Mr. Dean, one of the sur-
geons, had made out a prescription for her, with an order to
procure the medicine from the apothecary's shop of the esta-
blishment. A little girl was sent for it, and, by some mis-
take, a solution was given, which was of a poisonous nature.
The directions were that three table-spoonsful should be
taken every two hours ; and a professional gentleman stated
that in his opinion one large table-spoonful would produce
death. The liquid was, as we heard it, " tincture of monks-
hood." Mr. Rushton stated that, 'as the prisoner had ac-
knowledged dispensing the drug, and as an inquest would be
held on the body on Saturday, it was his duty to remand
him. He then instructed Mr. Parkinson, keeper of bride-
well, to attend to any order that he might receive for the
prisoner to appear at the inquest. '
DEATH OF LADY Rossmorm—This noble lady expired
suddenly on Tuesday afternoon, at Wilton House, Chelten-
ham, where she had only arrived on the previous day, accom-
panied by Lord ltossmore, from Dublin. Her ladyship was
Lady Augusta Charteris, fourth daughter of Francis, late
Lord Elcho, and was married on the 3d of June, 1819, to the
present Lord Rossmore, by whom she had no issue.
SINGULAR ENTRY OF THE JUDGES INTO BEDFORD.—
These assizes commenced on Saturday. In the afternoon,
the high sheriff, W. F. Brown, Esq., proceeded in an elegant
little carriage, drawn by four ponies, guided by two little
postilions in striped jackets, along the Bronham road to the
Biddenharn turn, where he met the judges, the Hon. Sir E.
H. Alderson and the Hon. Sir -John Patteson, who were
handed into the sheriff's carriage. Here a difficulty arose—
the carriage was so small that it would only contain two
persons, and the sheriff had only expected one judge
to open
the commission. However, as the inside was full of
ofn f judges,
the high sheriff took his seat on the box by the si
on one
of the footmen ! and the other John Smank
behind. In
rodeergravity), (t 11e
springs (for there was no dickey or footboard)
this singular style, to the glee of all persons assembled
their
judges themselves being 'unable to i
the procession was ordered o
snap
pt aw osinno)
traert
of
two
ttohr osett ;rort;alnapedsl tebhaeetahrelrosg
mo-
ment the trumpet blew, up reared
javelin men on their backs,
and down rolled one of the armed official,
and bailiffs' horses, ls from his lofty seat.
Away scampered the sheriff's officers
as if the hounds were in full cry; and some who were taken
a little by surprise were obliged to spur their steeds to keep
up in the line of procession at
to
all.lt is not evetrhyislicvaesrey;
attached stable horse that feelsspurs. So in
some of the nags danced, reared, and kicked, until those who
happened to be near had great difficulty in avoidirig a kick
from the horse, as well as a prick from the javelin. Upon
the whole, it was one of the most singular judicial proces-
sions ever witnessed, and it appeared very like a second edi-
tion of the Queen's visit to the city. We hardly know which
showed the greatest skill, the London citizens, or the Bed-
ford javelin men ; certainly the latter did " witch the world
with feats of noble horsemanship." However, at last the
judges arrived in the town, and opened the commission at
the County-Hall, after which they were conducted to their
lodgings.—Hertford Reformer.
FORBIDDING OF THE BANNS IN HIGH LIFE.—The ro-
mantic attachment of an elderly lady of high rank to a very
distinguished artist has long been the subject of conversa-
tion among the haute class. Recent circumstances having
enabled the lady to follow the bent of her inclination, we un-
derstand a marriage with the artist was not only in contem-
plation, but actually all but solemnised, when it became ac-
cidentally known to the numerous relatives of the two noble
houses to whom the lady is immediately related—a confer-
ence took place, and such formidable reasons were urged
against the proposed union, backed by a declaration of future
estrangement from the family if the event took place, that
the lady was very reluctantly compelled to relinquish her de-
sign. The effect upon the artist was a very severe shock, fol-
lowed by an alarming inisposition that has placed him in im-
minent danger.—Argus.