The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-07-17 00:00:00

QUARTER SESSIONS.

interest which occupied the court on that
The business or these Sessions closed on Friday. The
• CHARGE OF ASSAULT.
doanylyncitassetboeffoalnloywing:—

, Mr. Jonathan Spinks, of the Black Bull Hotel, mar-
ket,l-jav
fausislatiolftinbgoilaiumgal%n_antearmuedpoßn rhinitndi,e,arbiay
Brindle, said that; on the
wwi
na,sp
a indicted
te a-ktf
jloear m e s
The prosecutor, 261 h of
thereby scaldinhgehi:,eittanidndtooitnhge liiliomusgereoafttbhoedfilleyfeinnjduanryt.and
January last,
thro
called for a glass of whiskey, and whets he was served with
"
it he said to the defendant," how do you do? can you play
at dice to-day?" The defendant asked, Did von ever see
me play at dice?" and Brindle said he had, on which Spinks
called him a liar, and on the assertion being repeated, he
added that Brindle was a " G—d d---_d liar." The
r. t
thenDuring.weu the touti and the prosecutor seated himself in the
batime lie was sitting there, the defendant
went backwards and forwards, and at length he took a riker
and knocked off the lid of a kettle, and then taking the kettle
in his hand, he poured its contents upon the prosecutor's leg.
The prosecutor became frantic with pain, but he was never-
theless forcibly thrust out of the house by the defendant, who
jumped upon his hat, which fell off in the struggle.
lii cross-examination, the prosecutot said it was about
half-past one o'clock in the day when the assault was com-
mitted; that he was perfectly sober, having only drank one
glass of ale before the glass of whiskey which he called for
at the house of the defendant. The ale he drank at the
house of a person named Thornton, whom he had not asked
to accompany him to Spinks's, nor had Thornton refuted to
accompany him, refusing to be seen in the streets with a
drunken man.

A surgeon was called to prove that the prosecutor came to
his surgery on the day mentioned with scalded legs; and that
he was under medical treatment several weeks.
In cross-examination, he said he apprebended.that morti-
fication would supervene, owing to the state of .the prosecu-
tor's hod:yt he having been much addicted to .hiszlipsln :
,
contraniction to the prosecutor, and never was case so
cOntradicted,
Mr...and Mrs. Thornton were calledi and proved that the
prosecutor was at their house, as be had stated, about twelve
o'clock on the day in question, but instead of bp„in:A iober,
as be had sworn, they said .b.e prosercaur 'non' \lt y nearly
Ilfrlto'Clkr.tte...Yt-iit their house, and, but for her saving
him, he would have done so. It was not true, as he had
stated, that he had only a glass of ale there, for he drank two
glasses of Whiskey, and no ale at all; and Mr. Thornton
stated that the prosecutor did ask him to accompany him to
Spinks's, but he refused, not wishing to be seen with a man
in such a state of drunkenness.

Mr: Hill, a coach-proprietor, and another witness, named
Roberts, who were m Mr. Spinks's house at the time of the
accident, proved that the prosecutor was very drunk and
noisy, and*that he was crossing in front of the tire from one
seat to another and fell in the attempt, striking the kettle
with his arm as he was falling, and knocked it upon hiriaself,
Mr. Spinks at the time being in another part of the house.
They also stated that it was not true that the prosecutor
was immediately thrust out of the house without sympathy
or assistance, for that Miss and Mr. Spinks took off the
prosecutor's shoes and stockings to examine the scalded
parts, which did not then appear much injured; end the pro-
secutor, too, was allowed to remain, disturbintt the Company,
until they complained of his conduct, and th !n he was de-
sired to go away, and ultimately put out, but with no more
force or violence than was necessary. The prosecutor was
flatly contradicted on many other points by the witness Ro-
berts; other witnesses would have been called but the court
did not deem it necessary; and it is scarcely necessary to
add that the jury acquitted the defendant.
Mr. Venahles, the barrister, conducted the case, and Mr.
Murphy and Mr. Preston defended it. As the case proceeded,
so disgusted was the prosecutor's counsel with the false
charges made against the defendant, that he would frequently
have thrown up his brief, but was prevented by the attorney
fur the prosecution, Mr. Jones.

ST. SWITIIIN'S DAY.—The watery saint sustained his
character on Sunday, a smart shower having fallen between
twelve and one o'clock. The remainder of the day was
beautifully fine. The satirical Churchill mentions the fol-
lowing superstitious notions concerning rain on this day :
" July, to whom, the dog star in her train, -
St. James gives eysters, and St. Swithin
Brand, in his " Popular Antiquities," says, " I have beard
these lines unon St. Swithiu's day:
" Si. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain
Fcr forty days it will remain :
St. SWithin's day, if thou be fair, .. .'7
For rutty days 'twill rain na mair."
MOST WANTON OUTRAGE NEAR ST. HELEN'S.-OXI Mon-
day last, a young man, named Reece Rigby, went to the en-
gine-house at one of the collieries of Thomas Caldwell, Esq.,
called Burton-head Colliery, between one and two o'clock,
and in the most.wanton manner produced the death of two
persons, and injured a third. It appears that the engineer,
a person named Hilton, had left the spot to fetch a wisket of
coals to feed the furnace, when Rigby, ip,reply to the Banks-
man, who told him not to touch the engine, said he could
work it as well as the engineer. The banksman lighted his
pipe and went away; Rigby remained behind, and immedi-
ately turned on the steam in its full power. The engine, of
course, began at a rapid rate, and drew up a basket in which
four Itersons had placed themselves, for the purpose of being
brought to the surface. - The engineer was called on to stop
the engine. but, before he could do so, the basket was carried
at a fearful speed over the head-peering, and three of the four
were precipitated with violence to the ground. One, a mar-
ried man, named Robert Refiley, who has left a pregnant
wife, was killed on the spot; another had his arm broken ;
and the third fortunately escaped unhurt. 4 boy, about ten
years of age, name Idenry 2t•dt.tainson,- howevnr„inet with a
dreadful death. On perceiving the danger, he attempted to
leap from the basket, and fell down the pit, a depth of neatly
one hundred yards, and was dashed to pieces. The poor boys
head was severed in two, and his brains snAt.r..,l about, and
every bone was broken. The body was brought up in a sheet,
dreadfully mangled, and his brains in a basin. Rigby, against
whom a warrant was out for a robbery, immediately ab-
sconded, and has not vet been apprehended. . On. Tuesday
last, an Inquest was held by John Heyes, Esq., and areapec.-
table jury, on the bodies, and a verdict of Tithnilatighter"
was returned against both the engineer (Hilton) andltighy.
The former was committed for trial at the next Liverpool
Assizes, and the coroner issued his warrant_ for the .ap4ireben-
sion of the latter:-- Wigan.Gazette.
RIOT AT ST. HELENS.—ATTACK ON THE P 110TESTANTs.
Thursday being the anniversary of the battle of .tl4Povue,
the Protestant Association assembled to cOminern4it; it.
About noon they marched in procession, preceded brailiand
and flags, consisting of the Union Jack, &c., the party wear-
jog blue and white sashes. On reaching a part of the town
inbabited by a great body of the lower class of Irish, a signal
was given by a gang at a corner of one of the. streets in
Greenbank, and immediately the attack commenced by a
volley of stones being thrown at the Protestants.,..T.4le.latter
made no resistance, but were proceeding along, ,when one of
their body, an old man, named Peter Finney, a. warin,Pro-
testant, residing at Whiston, near Prescot, was. knOcked
down with a brickbat. This so exasperated the Protestants,
that they turned on Urn. opponents, and although few in
number compared with the latter, proved the stionger,partv.
A general row was the consequence; the Daniel O'Connell,
and another beet-shop kept by a woman nained. O'Brien,
were completely gutted, as well as about half a dozen cot-
tages near, occupied by the Irish who had cotnirreid the
attack. Two females were injured in the affray, Mrs. O'Brien
and Mrs. Jennings. These belonged to the assailantC A
young female, appearentiv in delicate health, went to her
door to witness the row, when' she was assailed by two sir three
blood-thirsty villains, whocalled out "that's an:Orangenian ;
d—n her, kill her;" and certainly were veryneenautting
their threats into execn:ion, for one of them threw a stone
which laid open her forehead. The constables were soon
actively engaged in endeavouring to put down t di.stiiif.?:ince,
and after capturing ten men, the most active in it, alit! two
females, they succeeded for a time at least. It wat rizpectecl
that the attack on the Protestants-would- be renewtat last
night, but we hope it was not. A considerable :amount of
(imago was done, the cottages inhabited -by,the uSsailants
having scarcely a whole pane of glass left, an entire window
frame or any furniture that was not damaged,— Wiy,„,,G,„:.
W A LEING MATCH ON BOONLEY COM.MON 0E4250 MiLEs.
—flupedestrian, copleted
w a
AioY' the m
weeks,lio att the rate of due mile, and
lk i
. Mondayg 25 inl afternoon,
es in
a quarter for every successive hour. He appeared .gt-tatly
fatigued, and seemed much swoln, particularly abonttbelegs
aad feet, for want of proper rest. The matc.h:we
n Bromley Gammon, and Molloy was prObilated from
tperformed
• any beverage stronger than tee, br coffee, which was
strictly adhere'! Le.rge qms of sneney were depending
on the result,

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