The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-09-11 00:00:00

THE HARVEST

OswEsTrtv.—The late genial weather has enabled the far-
mers on the Welch frontier to make great progress. A' great
breadth 'of barley and oats -have 'been brotight under the
scythe, and has fallen heavily. In a few days, should it con-
tinue, Wheat will he 'early; and notwithstanding the many
speculative reports, every prospect is against that-approach
of famine. which these good Christians would have made us
believe was so near.

LEwEs.:—The land in our neighbourhood has been cleared
of wheat, oats; and barley, and the harvest may he said to be.
generally finished and the crops housed in excellent con-
dition. The green crops have not advanced much during the
past fine weather, but the showers of Thursday have refresh-
ed them. The second crop of clover was short, but it has
been stacked in a goad state.
NEWHAVEN, SEPT. 6—The harvest in this neighbourhood
is now nearly finished ; the last load of Mr. W. Elphick was
paraded thiou'gh the town,- with the horses gaily decorated
with flowers,. bells, &c., having a grotesque figure, with a
mask on its face and otherwise fancifully dressed, on the
back of each. The waggon was full of men and boys singing
the harvest home. We are glad to say it has been all got up
in capital order.
LYNN, SEPT. 6.—The late fine weather has occasioned the
harvest thereabonts to proceed most rapidly. In the upland
districts most of the whew is carried in very fine order, and
the harley.harvestis proceeding at a rapid rate. The barley
crop is better than it has been for many preceding years, and
the straw or stover, will make excellent strawyard provender
for the winter season. The cloVer and other artificial grasses
amongst the barley are very luxuriant, and what has already
been carried is in such fine order,' that the stover will be as
good as some middling hay. The Turnips are exceedingly
fine, but some fields begin to exhibit symptoms of want of
rain. Much new wheat was exhibited in our corn market, on
Tuesday, and many samples were in very good condition.
Such another week' as the last will effectually cheat the
speculators, .And''Set the wheat harvest free from all danger.
One-half of the crop, it is calculated, is safely housed, and a
week or ten days inure of the late brilliant weather will do
the same for the most backward part; of the kingdom. There-
fore, alter all the mut tours and melancholy anticipations with
which a tribe of interested croakers inundated the country,
the present 'harvest will, thanks to a bounteous Ptovidence,
turn out, upon the whole, to be one of the most abundant ever
known; for though there may have been partial failures of
the wheat crop in some few districts, those of barley, oats,
beans, peas, and potatoes are so large as to compensate in a
tenfold' degree lOr any partial deficiency in the first-named
art iele,--Stockpor t Advertiser.
The alarm which but recently existed throughout the king-
dom, on the prospect of a bad harvest, has now, by the blessing
of Divine Providence,' been in a great degree, if not alto-
gether, happily removed, by a _continuance of fine weather
for many days, which has no doubt already been'thelneans
of many thousands of acres being reaped, and saved in ex-
cellent condition. It will have the effect, too, we sincerely
hope, of frustrating the plots in which the schemers and job-
bers in corn speculations were emmerSed,- for repealing the
corn-laws, with the disgraceful intention of reaping to them=
selves a profitable harvest on the misery pf their fellow-cleats
ures.—North Devon. Advertiser.

In this neighbourhood (Devoe), we are happy to say,
great progress has been made, and the crops, generally, are
much better than was expected. From Southmolton we
have similar accounts. Iu the vizinity of Bideford, also, it
is expected the crops will be secured in fine condition, if we
have not, within ten days, a -return of wet weather. The
harvest in and around Dartmouth, and the river Dart, is most
housed, and in a few days the whole will be secured in as
good a state as could be wished for by any person; the crop
is also considered to be rather beyond an average. Ibid.
nom the very commencement of the harvest the work has
been going almost without the smallest interruption. In one
or two instances a moderate quantity of rain has fallen; and
it may have been necessary to exchange the reaping hook for
the scythe, and transfer the labourers front the wheat field to
the mowing of barley; in no other sense are we aware that
any time has been lost or any delay occasioned from any
cause whatever. Consequently the harvesting of wheat is
nearly concluded, and a tolerably accurate judgment may be
formed of the condition of the crop. In conformity with our
hitherto avowed opinion, we have the satisfaction of being
still more thoroughly convinced that in Norfolk wheat is not
a deficient crop. Those which have been complained of_ as
wanting plant are still defective, not only in bulk, but pro-
bably in the quality of the grain also; notwithstanding which,
those wheats which had a full plant, are so remarkably good,
that, taken as a whole, we believe the produce will.he found
nearly equal to that of the last two years. Throughout the
summer it has generally been believed that barley was much
the better crop of the two. Now it appears to be univer-
sally admi►ted that the fact is otherwise. Many of the
barleys (but more especially those grown upon wheat stub-
bles) are thin upon the lend, anti of very indifferent quality.
We know in some instances where the acreable produce of
wheat, in the present harvest has amounted to nearly six
quarters, and upon equally good land we have seen barley
that will not come up to five quarters per acre. It must be
admitted, on the other band however, that a large portion
of the barley crop of this year is of very superior quality and
a very ample produce; in short, that taken one with another,
there is no reason to complain of any, whether of wheat,
barley, oats, peas, or beans. The three very fine days at the
beginning of this week were most propitious for the iermina-
lion 01 the harvest; and the copious rain of Thursday last
has been most refreshing for the turnips and second crops of
clo v e r. Norfo/k Chionicle.
The weather contiuued most favourable in this part of the
world for the getting-in of the harvest up to last evenine.,
when we were visited by heavy showers of rain and a thun-
der storm. The atmosphere had previously been. Very op-
pressive, and some days this week have been the warmest of
the summer. Most of the wheats have been got in; but they
do not realise in quantity the general expectation, and the
anxiety of the farmers to avail themselves of the preiak
vourablestate of the markets has caused much to be offered
for sale which is yet damp. Buyers, howe7er, are 'ery shy,

and those that can possibly wait do so. With duty on foreign
wheat at 2s. Bd. per quarter, high prices cannot long be main
tained, spite of the efforts of the capitalists.—Brighton
Gua7diatt.

Since our last we have had exceedingly favourable weather
for harvest operations, and a great quantity has been cut and
housed.— Ten Towns' Messenger.
The weather on Tuesday, and the whole of yesterday, was
as inauspicious for the crops as it could possibly be—the rain
having fallen heavily, and almost without intermission, ac-
companied with a void wind from the eastward. Elsewhere
we have inserted some notices of harvest operations through-
out the country. In this neighbourhood, however, they are
completely suspended, in consequence of the rains which-con-
tinue up to the hour of going to press. 'We perceive from the
Edinburgh .papets of this morning, that the weather- in that-
neighbourhood is equally unpropitious.—Glavow Courier.
Within these last 10 dais an immense breadth of wheat
has been carried, and we think it would have been as well for
those who were_ in such haste on the 25th had they allowed it
to stand out another day*or two; we fear they will find it out
when it is taken into the barn. There still exists a diversity
of opinion in different counties as regards the wheat crops.
We can only again repeat, that our epinion as regards this
county is unaltered, and, as we have stated before, it requires
minute examination to find the number of capsules that are
altogether void of corn. The evil will not be felt till it is
thrashed and ready for market, and though we are unwilling
to look on the dark side of the question, we fear the average
will be a very short one. The barleys are very heavy in the
swarth and look bulky and well; and although the rain has
discoloured them, still it has improved them for malting, and
we have no doubt but the crop will be above an average one.
Oats are exceedingly good; some few samples have already
made their appearance in the market, and we have seen them
sold at from 28s. to 30s..per quarter. Those who were wise
enough to reap their oats have found the great profit and ad-
vantages of I his- showery season.—Northampton Herald.
A considerable: quantity of grain has. been well got-in in
this neighbourhoOd during the week; - crops very abundant.
As a proof of a very abundant harvest, we have now at our
office fur 'inspection fen stems of wheat springing from one
root, the produce of a single grain of corn. The ears'are full
groWn and well 'corned. It was taken from the farm of Mr.
Wallis, of Staplefork.and is of the variety of wheat called the
" Golden drop."—NottinOarn Journal.
The weather during the week has been generally fine, and
great progress has been made in the oat harvest. The sickle
has nut been so active with the wheat.—Wakefield Journal.

TRAGICAL EVENT.
FIVE CHILDREN AND THEIR 31JTHER KILLED BY POISON

WILFULLY ADMINISTERED .BY THE MOTHER.

(From the Preston Chi onicle.)

Happily, for the stale of morals in this country, and the
sober and social lone which, in a national sense,- characterises
its community, it seldom falls to the lot of a public journalist
to lay-before his readers- the, details of so heart-rending and
horrifying.a tragedy, as that which it is this week our me-
lancholy duty to communicate the particulars. •
The scene Of the shocking occurrence to which we refer, is
a small hamlet called Fairhurst, in the township of Goosnargh;
between eight and nine miles front this town, and about six
Miles from Garstang. -• Edward Sanderson, his wife, and their
five children, resided at Fairhurst, in which place Sanderson
has lately been occupied a day labourer. On Thursday
morning last, Sanderson went to his work, but was not ex-
pected home to dinner;- he left his wife and five children in
their usual state of health, and did not observe anything par-
ticular in the demeanour of the latter. About half-past
twelve o'clock at noon of the same day, (Thursday,) Mr.
John Brewer. of Little Inglewhite,, was passing Sanderson's
house, when he was calied in by Mrs. Sanderson, who stated
to him, that they (meaning herself and children) had eaten
some pudding to dinner, and she was afraid there was some-
thing in it which had poisoned them. She also requested
him to go for a surgeon. Mr. Brewer, .at this time, saw the
children, and they, as well as their mother, appeared to be
sick, and the younger children were vomiting.
A medical man, resident in the neighbourhood, was in at-
tendance before one o'clock, and he found both the mother
and children in so dangerous a state, that he was induced to
send for Messrs. Smith and Clarkson, surgeons, of Garstang,
both of which gentlemen tendered their assistance with all
possible promptitude. The unhappy husband, whose feelings
on the occasion it would be must difficult adequately to con-
ceive, much less to describe, was sent for !one from his
work, wither he arrived about half past two o'clock. He
found his wretched wife and expiring offspring surrounded
by the surgeons and a number of neighbours, and was ad
dressed by the wife in the most affecting manner, and in
terms of nervous feeling and earnestness, with regard to the
awful situation of herself and her dying children. Soon
after the arrival of the surgeons from Garstang, a small por-
tion of the pudding, which remained from the dinner, was
given to a duck, which almost instantly died. The medical
gentlemen, by the use of emetics, and other means, excited
themselves in every possible way during the afternoon, to
mitigate the sufferings., and if possible,. preserve the lives of
the ill-fated family, but melancholy to relate, their efforts
were utterly fruitless and unavailing.
The names of the children were, Eleanor, 12 years of age,
Daniel James, 9, 'Margaret, 6, Robert, 4, and William, 2
years of age. - Previous to the shocking affair of which we
write, they were all promising children, and in the enjoy-
ment of good health. About five o'clock, Robert. the
youngest boy but one,•after enduring the most acute suffering,
died ; a very short time afterwards, William also expired in
great agony. At this period, we understand from an intelli-
gent inforniant,' who was present during nearly the whole of
the time the dreadful (llama was in progress, that the scene
wes at once awful and harrowing. The groans and sobs of
the .thiee-SurviVidg• children,—the ghastly, terrified, and
• death-stricken appearance of the dying mother, —the despair
• and alternately wild and subdued distraction of the afflicted
father,—theTfelesi reinaiitS of the two poor is Unts who,
a-few hoarsbefore, were "all gay with life,"—and the signifi-
cant and horror-excited silence of the sneca or , r sented,
in their united influence' upon- the mind, t: e t of that
appalling thrill and heavy emotion which we !nay sometimes
see portrayed in the pages of romance, but w hick are rarely
used-as the representatives of icality.
''The next-two children, Daniel James, and Margaret, lan-
guishr.A ip,great stgony for about an hour longer, whets they
a;so died suitultaileonsly. Not a long ptrioa had elapsed
after•the'portals of, life. were closed upon the ten last named
oni.s.t et the dire-fated family,
breathed tier last.. -Long before her 'dissolution, it nact
come quite plain that the iron hand of death was fast enclo-
sing withiryits'graSp, the mother of the five murdered inno-
cents. • Before her death, this unhappy woman sent for the
Rev. Mr. gradwell, the catholic priest of Claughton Hall
chapel; and the Rev. Thomas Benn, incumbent of White-
chapel, Goosnargh, was also in attendance. To Mr. Benn,
she
..stated, that in consequence of her being in debt " her
neighbours had turned their backs on her, and that she had
therefore put some arsenic into the pudding to poison herself
and children." She also made some communications to the
Rev. Mr. Gradwell, but we have not heard to what effect.
The poor creature died in excruciating torture, between nine
and ten O'clock, - She was thirty-two years of age. An in-
quest will be held on the bodies this day, (Saturday,) before
R. Palmer, Esq., when, should any additional circumstances
transpire, we shall take care to communicate them.
. This dreadful catastrophe has, as may be well supposed,
created the strongest degree of consternation and excitement
in the locality where it occurred. Post mortem examinations
of one or more of the bodies will be instituted this morning
(Saturday), and the remaining portion of the pudding ana-
lyzed. We understand that, a short time ago, Sanderson
kept a small shop, which was principally managed by his
wife. They were not successful in business, and were obliged
to discontinue the shop, having incurred debts to the amount
of about £4O, which they-were unable to discharge. This, it
appears, preyed upon the mind of the deceased woman, and
she has frequently of late been heard to express the most
melancholy forebodings. Her general conduct recently has
also been such as to excite the remarks of her neighbours,
and to leave no doubt as to the derangement of her intellect.
It may be known to many of our readers, that 72 years
ago a tragedy, in character not very dissimilar to the above
was enacted at Farington, near this town, by a man named
William Whittle, who murdered his wife and two children,
ender the most demoniacal circumstances. The murderer
was executed at Lancaster, on the 4th of April, 1766, and
subsequently suspended on a gibbet, near to the place where
the murder was committed.

The following is an extract from the confession made by
Whittle preceding his execution, and will doubtless be read
with interest by many who may have heard of, or remember,
die bloods transaction :

" I was most unfortunately prompted by the devil to com-
mit the most barbarous murder that ever vile wretch was
guilty of, to a loving and industrious wife, and my two harm-
less infants. First, by knocking out the brains of my wife
with an axe (who had run out of doors. in her shift, suspecting
I Lteoded her an injury, as I proposed getting into bed to
her with a knife in my hand), and afterwards cutting off her
head with the same instrument. Then I proceeded imme-
diately to my two children (mire about three years old, and
the other about nine days only), where I found them fast
asleep in bed. I first laid one with its neck on the bedstock.
where I chopped ff its head, and then executed the other in
like manner. Afterwards, still more bloodthirsty, I went
and ripped up my wife's belly, took out her heart, and nearly
cut off one arm. Tnen I returned to fulfil my villainy in as
wicked a degree as the devil only could invent. I then pro-
ceeded and opened the bellies of my two harmless infants,
and took out their hearts, &c. The next thing the devil
prompted me to do, was, to endeavour to conceal the murder:
upon which I took out a window, and ran to the constable,
and acquainted him that some rogues had broken into my
house, and had murdered my wife and children. The con-
stable immediately suspected me, and seeing souse blood on
my shirt sleeve and hand, which I endeavoured to wash clean,
but could not, he said, " Thou rogue, is it not thyself that
has conimitted the murder?" Upon which I pulled out my
knife, and• intended also to have killed him, had not be called
for assistance. I then ran up the lane, and coming to the
town's stocks, sat myself down upon them till the constable
and his assistants came up and seized me' when I was not
many minutes before I confessed the fact, fur which I justly
win to suffer an ignominious death in this world."
He. was taken limn the Castle to the place of execution
about eleven o'clock, where he prayed very earnestly for
some time. Being turned ofl, and having hung the usual
time, he was-cut down, and his body was, at the request of
the grand jury, ordered to be hung in chains near the place
he committed the horrid-murder, and instructions were sent
by the under-sheriff to Jeoffry Sudell, of Preston, to prepare
the gibbet accordingly, viz., nine yards high by two yards.

EXPORTATION of MACHINERY.—There are now in Not-
tingham and its vicinity, no less than nine parties from
Calais, Lisle, and St: Quentin, who are purchasing, or con-
tracting for machinery to export to France; amongst the
number are Pearson (the patentee of the circular spot,)
Robert• King, and Kitchen. It appearS that not the least a:-
tention is paid to this subject either on the Kent or Essex
coasts; these parties openly state, that they can export
bobbin-net or other machinery with the utmost facility.
Some of them have been down to Manchester, and they
openly declare in all public companies that the French have
'determined to have the trade from England. These parties,
in most instances, give £lO more for a bobbin-net machine
than the current Nottingham price. It appears from the
assertion of one of these parties, that the smiths in Lisle are
building stocking frames upon the English principle, with
slaies, sole bar trucks, caster backs, and hanging bits; if so,
the subject will prove of greater consequence than the making
of Saxony hose, of which Mr. Porter, of the board of trade,
tells such a lamentable story, for the purpose of obtaining a
repeal of the corn laws.—Nuttinyham Journal.
THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.—The labourers have
now completed the greater part of the gravel packing which
it has been found necessary to compress under the rails, in
consequence of the sinking of the earthen embankment. It
is said, that the earth gave way chiefly on account of the
hurried manner in which it was heaped up, in order that the
line might he opened on the day for which the company bad
pledged themselves to the public. The earth wal remain be-
tween the rails as hitherto. The gravelled stiliport under the
rails will be about one foot in depth. This work, when
finished, will cost the company about £5OO a-mile, and will
have extended fifteen miles. Several thousand men have
been employed upon it already. nearly two months, and at
first they were obliged to work night an(.l day, including even
Sunday; but this emergency did not hold long. A great
part of the workmen are alreadydischarged. The passage
of the. trains has nut been at any time suspended on account
of this mishap; for, during the interval between the removal
of the earth and the substitution of the gravel, the rails have
been supported by blocks within a few feet of each other.
The gravel used is of the largest kind. The displaced earth
is first thrown upon' the banks, and afterwards removed in
the night. , The demand for labourers upon the metropolitan
.ends.of the Great Western and Grand Junction Railways is
Mitch cliiiiirifslied;, atilt' numbers of disappointed candidates
for work are now returning to their former
London paper,'