The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-04-21 00:00:00

THE BITER BITTEN, Oy, THE FLITTER FLEECED.

Daniel Stubbs, who was making a moonlight flit on the night
of Sunday se'nnight, from Tunstall to Golden, while moving
a load of goods to the latter place, another fellow, as sly as
himself, thinking it a golden opportunity, entered the house
at Tunstall, by a false key, and cleared off a bed, bedstead,
bed-clothes, and furniture, and a suit of wearing apparel, to
the no small chagrin of the moonlight flitter.—Staffordshire
Gazette.
Mr. Topcliffe, of High Ellers, near Doncaster, has at pre-
sent in his possession a fine lamb, three weeks old, with five
legs, the fifth leg projecting from a support underneath the
left shoulder blade. In other respects the lamb is quite per-
fect, and is as active and healthy as any in the flock. The leg
projects from a second blade bone, and down to the knee is
formed of one bone ; below that part it is double, and at the
termination are two complete feet.—Leeds Intelligencer.
SINGULAR PRODUCE.—A few days ago, the occupier of a
house at Pudsey, near Leeds, was much surprised, on going
into the cellar, which is arched with stone, to find suspended
from the roof a great number of mushrooms, many of which
were five inches in diameter, and were of the finest flavour.
The present tenant has occupied the house upwards of twenty
years, and never saw anything of the kind before.
EXTRAORDINARY MATCH.—HORSE v. RAILROAD.-111r.
Burke, of trotting•celebrity, has matched himself to ride aid
drive the distance of the trainroad from Birmingham to Lon-
don (110 miles) in live hours, for £llO. The match to take
place on any road, chosen by Burke, between London and
Manchester. To come off within three months. The odds
are on " time."—Coventry Herald.
THE WIFE OF MANY HUSBANDS.—On Friday last died,
aged about 40, the wife of Mr. R. Mann, saddler and land-
lord of the Three Pigeons public-house, in Burford. She
married four husbands by the time she was 30 years old, and
has left behind her an excellent character for industry and all
the domestic virtues.—Oxford Journal.
IMPORTANT TO LANDLORDS.—By the Small Tenements
Bill, which passed last session of parliament, landlords of
houses under £2O a-year, after giving half a year's notice to
the tenant, and on his refusing to quit, giving the tenant
another notice of intention to apply to the magistrates for a
warrant to obtain possession, can obtain a warrant directed
to a peace officer, who is empowered thereby to give peaceable
possession in the middle of the day, and break open the door
if necessary.

REMARKABLE CASE IN THE HORSE.—There is now in
the possession of Mr. Fearn, surgeon, of Derby, an extra-
ordinary specimen of stony concretion taken after death from
the large intestine of a horse. It weighs eighteen pounds,
and has a circumference of two feet three inches; and, not-
withstanding its immense bulk, it does not appear to have
been evidenced by any symptoms during the animal's life.
It consists of a regular succession of laminae from its centre
to its circumference, like the layers of an onion, and appears
to have been slowly deposited by the secretion from the inner
lining of the bowel. Though examples of alvine concretions
of a much smaller size are not very uncommon, it is probable
that this specimen is as far as bulk is concerned, unique.—
Staffordshire Gazette
NEW STEAM VESSEL.—Experiments are in the course of
being tried with the model of a new form of steam vessels ;
and as far as they have yet gone, with every prospect of a
successful result. At present we can only state of this re-
markable invention, that there are no paddle-wheels, nor
external works of any kind. The whole machinery is in the
hold of the vessel, where a horizontal wheel is moved by the
power of steam, and, acting upon a current of water, ad-
mitted by the bow, and thrown off by the stern, propels the
mass at a rapid rate. By the very simple contrivance of
stopcocks, &c., on the apparatus, the steamer can be turned
on either course, retarded, stopped, or have her motion
reversed. This will be literally a revolution in the art of
steam navigation.—Literary Gazette.
PLURALITY OF WIVES.—One of the most impudent cases
of bigamy that ever disgraced this country has been disco-
vered during the past week. On Monday night an inspector
of police, from Manchester, called at our office, to inquire
into the residence of a family named Wiley, in this town,
and from him we learnt that a man of the same name, with
twenty aliases, who many years ago lived in Nottingham,
had been apprehended on charges of bigamy and felony.
His real name is George Wylie, but he has called himself
at different times George Whiley, George Webb, George
Wright, George Glover, George Wilson, and a dozen other
Georges. It appears that he has married no fewer than
seven wives, namely—first at Halifax, second at Cambridge,
third at Coventry, fourth at Portsmouth, fifth and sixth at
Norfolk, and seventh at 'Winchester. He has also robbed
almost every person who has employed him ; and having
obtained money under false pretences, the, police at Win-
chester were despatched after him. He had the unmatched
impudence to be then on the point of taking his eighth wife,
at Windsor, when his arrest and conveyance to Winchester
spoiled the notable match. Handbills had been issued seve-
ral years ago, offering a reward for his apprehension, and he
has been advertised in the Hue and Cry without effect, till
lately. He is a native of Nottingham, but it is twenty-seven
years since he resided here. He has been carrying on his
bigamy practices for upwards of twenty years, undetected,
but will at length meet with his reward. Two of his wives
have been found, and will appear against him.—Nottingham
Mercury.

The lambing season in Nottinghamshire is now nearly
brought to a close ; and we have great satisfaction in stating
that the mortality amongst the ewes has been considerably
below an average rate, whilst the crop of lambs has been un-
usually great. In some flocks we hear that nearly one third
more lambs have been yeaned this year than last, which was
not at all anticipated.

Soule very beautiful specimens of Russian velvet have just
arrived from St. Petersburg. They are sent over for no other
immediate purpose than that of showing the British public
the degree of excellence to which the Russians have attained
in the manufacture of this article, and judges of such matters
pronounce them to be unequalled. They are accompanied
by some samples of cotton shawls.—Post.

MIRACULOUS TENACITY OF LIFE IN AN INFANT.—We

have to relate the particulars of a circumstance, so singular
and so apparently incredible, that but for the most positive
and satisfactory proof of its truth, we should hesitate to

publish a narrative which cannot but be regarded as most
marvellous. Yesterday week, about noon, an infant son of
Mr. John Pomfret, farmer and cheesemonger, of Fishwick,
near this town, only one year and nine months old, strayed
from home, and the anxious parents thinking it might have

wandered into the town, had it warned by the bellitian, and
although every other means was taken during the night to
find the little innocent, all attempts were fruitless. On the
following morning, after a sleepless night, for
" A parent's woe is keener than the serpent's tooth,"
the disconsolate father disparingly searched some time in the
fields, near to his dwelling, and at length observed in a ditch,
at some distance, half immersed in mud and water, his long
lost child, full twenty hours after it was first missed. Its
head was reclined on its right hand, and wonderful to relate,
though only 21 months old, and though probably having.
been in the ditch all night, it still lived. When taken up, it
was fast asleep, and the lower extremities were paralized,
from the effects of long exposure to wet and cold. The
father lost no time in conveying the child home, to comfort
the remainder of the family, and to receive all the kind
efforts that were ready to be bestowed towards its restora-
tion. Shortly afterwards it asked for food, of which it
eagerly partook. It then began gradually to recover its
health and spirits, and we are glad to add, that it is now, to
all appearance, perfectly restored. To attempt to describe
the parents' emotions, on recovering their lost one, after its
being in such serious and protracted jeopardy, would be a
vain task. So singular and hair-breathed a preservation of
life has, we should think, seldom occurred.--:Preston Chro-
nicle.

MUSICAL FESTIVAL IN YoKK.—The citizens of York.
have long been looking for some official announcement of a
Festival, to be held in our venerable Minster in the next
Autumn ; and we regret to state that they have hitherto been
disappointed in their expectations. We believe, however,
that the subject has not been forgotten in an official quarter,
and that at no distant period we shall have the opportunity
of announcing the determination of the authorities on the
subject. We had been led to suppose that it was now too
late to make the necessary arrangements, but we are assured
that a vigilant committee, with the experience derived from
former festivals, would have ample time to do everything
requisite for arranging a festival on a scale equal, if not supe-
rior to any of its predecessors. We have it from good au-
thority that in the event of a festival being held in York
during the present year, it would be honoured by the pre-
sence of at least one distinguished and illustrious member of
the royal family. In addition to this circumstance, the facility
of travelling which now exists would bring an immense influx
of visitors to Old Ebor on so interesting an occasion, as an
uninterrupted communication by railway from London, Bir-
mingham, and many other important towns, will be completed
previous to September. These are powerful arguments in
favour of the undertaking being immediately commenced ;
and should the authorities concur in that opinion, we have
no doubt that a musical festival, on a scale commensurate
with the grandeur of our cathedral and the importance of the
county, will bring together such an array of the nobility and
gentry of the land as has not been witnessed iu any provincial
town during the present age.—l'orkshire Gazette.—[lt has
since been stated that her Majesty the Queen Dowager, their
Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the
Duchess of Kent, and Prince George of Cambridge, are ex-
pected to be present at the anticipated festival.]

AN EXCELLENT
.PROPOSITION.-Mr. Baker, of Nassau
Cottage, near Leeds, whose literary and other labours in be-
half of agricultural interest are so well known, has just pub-
lished a brief address " to the landed interest in general of
Great Britain and Ireland, on their escape from a repeal or
the destruction of the present corn-laws," in which he makes
a proposal to his brother farmers which we should be glad to
see an immediate response, for the sake of all the parties
concerned. He calls upon them to show their sense of the
advantage achieved, not by the usual modes of exultation,
but by returning good for evil. The manufacturers of all
classes, he observes, are suffering severely from various
causes, but more particularly from want of confidence which
the agitation of the corn-law question has occasioned allover
the kingdom, and the drain of gold to the continent in con-
sequence of two deficient harvests. " Show (says Mr. Baker)
the manufacturers and merchants, at once, that you are not

that small and significant part of the populationwhich they
have supposed you to be, and let them know, by feeling the
effect of your sympathy and custom, that it is to the home
trade they must look for support. The purpose of this ad-
dress is to implore every one of you, who can afford it, to
go to your tailors and order a complete suit of new clothes.
This simultaneous act of kindness, if cordially responded to,
will be powerfully felt, not by the manufacturers only, but in
every part of the realm ; the agriculturist will not merely get
a better price for his wool, but a re-establishment of that
general confidence, which is the life and soul of commerce,
will return, for want of which every merchantknows we have
been long suffering. The clothiers of Yorkshire will be glad
to sell their present stock of cloth at cost price, or 20 per
cent. below the usual rate. But let not a pecuniary advan-
tage be the only motive ; let relieving a fellow-countryman
in distress be your chief incentive. Prove to the trading part
of the community that you are ' powerful to save,' and they
will then know that you are powerful to destroy." Mr.
Baker also calls upon the nobility, and the other rich and
great landowners, to reinember that they cannot be held as
exempt from this contribution, but tells them that they should
do their part both as respects themselves, personally, and
their families ; and he also appeals to the ladies, who are
ever alive to kind and liberal actions. "They know how
much good has been done by an order to use British manu-
factured dresses at Court far a single birth-day ; and if they
knew how many hearts would be cheered by these humble
recommendations of mine being fully carried out, they would,
lam sure,be,most active in promoting their success." Mr.
Baker very apPropriritely calls up6n the editors Of newspapers
to bestow a little ink in commendation of a proposal fraught
with blessings to thousands. We therefore cheerfully com-
ply ; and shame, say we, upon all who refuse. We agree
with him that the plan is a capital one for putting down anti-
corn-law agitations.—Leeds Intelligencer.
CARTER'S REAL COMBAT WITII THE TIGER.—The
Audience asserts that Mr. Carter, the rival of Van Amburgh,
has nearly fallen a victim to his adventurous profession :
" On arriving a short time since at Cahors' " says this paper,
" application was made to the authorities for license to ex-
hibit in an amphitheatre erected for the purpose. The ma-
gistrates, that they might the better judge of the risks to
which the public would be liable, desired that a rehearsal of
the performance should take place in their presence. This
previous representation was fixed for the 3d inst., and the
piece was The Lion of the Desert. A. select company was
assembled to witness it ; the piece began, and Carter was
lying on the stage in a feigned sleep, when the redoubtable
young tiger was, as usual, let in. He closed with a spring,
and a tremendous conflict ensued, but, this time, instead of
being simulated, it became a real one. In two minutes the
stage was flowing with blood, and terrific sounds were uttered
by both the man and the animal, which were re-echoed by
cries of terror from the audience. Carter was, in fact, seized
by the throat and dreadfully torn. For a time the tiger
appeared to be beaten off, but, returning to the attack, made
another attempt to gripe his adversary by the shoulder, and
in all probability would have devoured him, had not Carter,
with admirable courage, contrived to drag himself to the
side scene, and reach a hammer which lay there, and with
which he beat the tiger till he lay senseless at his feet. Mr.
Carter, who places great value upon the tiger, has hopes that
he may be recovered. His own wounds, particularly those
in the throat, are very severe, but are not considered to be
dangerous."

PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON.—The case of Thomas
Bradley, of Deighton, which was noticed several weeks ago
in this paper, still continues to attract much attention. We
have received the following particulars from an individual
who has been to the place and made inquiry into the cir-
cumstance, and also respecting the previous habits of the
sleeper. Thomas Bradley is the son of John and Martha
Bradley, of Deighton, near Huddersfield. He was born on
the 4th of November, 1817, and was consequently 22 years
of age last birth-day. He stood five feet ten inches high,
weighed about eleven stone, and was particularly straight
and well made. From his birth till he was fifteen years of
age he was not subject to any serious disease, and none of
the family were ever subject to fits. When in his 16th year
he fell into a sleep which continued nine weeks. In the same
year he again relapsed into a sleep which continued without
intermission forty weeks. During this long period he was
greatly emaciated, and a considerable length of time elapsed
before he was able to stand alone ; he, however, gradually
recovered, regained his strength, and continued in good
health up to the latter end of August of last year, when he
became more than usually drowsy, with loss of appetite.
On Friday the 30th of that month, whilst at his tea in the
afternoon, he again sunk into sleep, in which he has ever
since remained, being a period of thirty-two weeks last Fri-
day. His parents, acting under the instructions of Mr.
Lockwood, of Kirkheaton, and of Mr. Jones, of Brighouse,
the surgeons who have attended him, have been enabled to
keep him in a better condition than on the previous occa-
sion. His position in bed is altered three times a day, the
linen is repeatedly changed, and nourishment regularly ad-
ministered. The nourishment he receives consists chiefly of
beef tea, given in minute portions, which, on reaching the
top of the gullet is swallowed by a convulsive effort. By
this means he receives sufficient sustenance for the state he
is in. His parents manifest much uneasiness in consequence
of a paragraph having appeared in the Leeds Intelligencer
some few -weeks back, insinuating that the case of Hannah
Moor was still fresh in the remembrance of the public, and
that this was not unlikely to be an imposition of a similar
character ; they are therefore desirous that the case should
be fully investigated by the faculty, or by a committee of
gentlemen, for whose comfort they would make every possi-
ble accommodation. In reference to the aforesaid paragraph,
Mr. Lockwood sent a letter to the editor, in which, after
giving the particulars of the case, he says, " I assure you
that there can be no deception either on the part of the pa-
tient or his parents." Our informant concludes by saying
that, so far as be was able to judge of the case there is
nothing of deception about it, but he considers it to be one
which affords ample scope for investigation. Reports were
in circulation that Thomas Bradley was a young man of dis-
solute habits, and addicted to dog fighting and gaming. Our
informant states that he made particular inquiry respecting
this charge, and from the testimony of several neighbours,
he believes it to be without foundation, and the character of
the parents is such as to place them above the suspicion of
aiding an imposition.—Bradford Observer.

JAMES MACPHERSON.—The poetical schoolmaster o
Badenoch became a Napolemi among authors, overturning
old dynasties, and erecting in their stead the rude produce
of moor and mountain, glen, and stream. Fragments of
Celtic song, which had cheered the firesides of cottars in
their lonely huts, when winter nights were long and dark,
were suddenly elevated into a rivalship with Homer and
Shakspere. A thousand pens were at work enditing disser-
tations and criticisms : even Johnson was moved to leave
Bolt Court, and forego the Mitre Tavern and the club, to
travel to the Hebrides—in quest of Ossian, and in search of
trees ! Abroad, the poems were translated into various
languages, and found admirers among all classes. James
Macpherson's fortune was made ; he rose like an aeronaut.
He got public appointments, sat in parliament, served the
Nabob of Arcot, and, in so doing, served himself. Finally,
after attaining honour and riches, he retired to his native
mountains, built a splendid mansion, (designed by the Adel-
phi Adams) among the scenes where, in lowly life, he first
felt the aspirations of genius, and laboured to improve the
condition of his countrymen, the broken and dispersed Gael.
We were once ferried over the Spey by an old grey-headed
Celt—a capital head for Caravaggio—who had, forty years
before, done the same duty for Macpherson, on his return to
Scotland. The poet was a great man from London and the
court, bedizened with rings, gold seals, and furs ; but he
looked with a moistened eye on the turf school-house in
which he had once taught Gaelic, and on the hills on which
he had run barefoot ; they were then his own property, pur-
chased with his own proper moneys ; and he told the ferry-
man, with strong emotion, and no doubt with Highland
pride, that he would make every poor Highlander on his
estate a comfortable and a happy man ! We have always
thought more of Macpherson since.—Fraser's Magazine.