The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-24 00:00:00

"Do you know me ?"
the chance of an adventure

asked Popjoy, highly flattered with

"No," replied the domino; "and I know you are not
acquainted with me : that is the reason I have ventured to
address you. I love the unforseen, the impossible, and the
romantic. A masked ball is a place where we wish to remain
unknown."

Popjoy made up his mind that the lady by his side must be
a princess of the blood royal, or, at least, somebody of
eminence.

" I should faint," said the domino, " if I were to be recog-
nised, and go into hysterics if I were to find you out; so,
take care of your false nose, I beg of you."
" That is to say," said Popjoy, •• you have a sad opinion
of my real nose. 1 flatter myself that it is not so ugly as
my false one."
The domino sighed.
The domino and Popjoy danced all night together, and be-
came mutually charmed with each other.
" Do you wish to depart," said Popjoy, at length, as the
domino evinced some signs of weariness. "It is too soon
for that : now is the time to sup. Perhaps you will not ob-
ject to sacrifice a few oysters—a glass of wine ?"
" To refresh my dried up throat, I will take an oyster,
perhaps two, but not more."
Popjoy and the domino sat down to supper. The domino
eat an oyster—then another; by dint of persuasion, she
managed to swallow three—when, as if " appetite had grown
by what it fed on," three dozen, at least, found their way
down her ivory, swan-like throat; then followed a pasty, a
lobster salad, and the best portion of a dish of jelly. De-
cidedly, thought Popjoy, this must be a princess—no lady
of the common sort could possess such a royal appetite.
Popjoy kept on his false nose and his turban. The domino
would not remove her mask. Popjoy thought both might
now be laid aside. They had nearly finished a bottle of cham-
pagne, when four o'clock struck.
" I must really retire," said the domino

Permit to escort you," said Popjoy; " I beg you will."
Oh! I cannot, indeed. I live a long way from here—in
the Park.

Hold, thought Popjoy—my own place of residence—l may
be known. The champagne had made Popjoy reckless.
" That is the direction of my own house." _ _

When they had reached

The domino accepted his arm
a certain street, the dimino stopped
"I am now at home ;—permit me to thank you. I shall
never forget the pleasure of the past evening."
"We must not part yet," said Popjoy. " I must see you

safe."

They walked on a few paces—at No. 4 they stopped

" I am now at home."
" So am I."

" Oh, my goodness !" cried the domino ; " you are Mr.
Popjoy ! I know you now—oh, goodness !"
The mist from Popjoy's eyes began to clear away. He
suddenly recognised the voice, which so far had been well
disguised. It was that of his landlady's maid servant !
" Sir,', said the girl, solemnly, " you are a man of
honour—l beg you to be secret.
" And I—have I---zounds !—I shall remove to-morrow."
That ball and supper cost poor Popjoy nearly four pounds
ten.

A young man named Brook was twice fired at in the village
of Tuam, within four miles of Strekestown, on the night of
Wednesday last, and immediate death was the result.
LORD HUNTINGTOWER.--AD application was made be-
fore the Court of Review, on Wednesday, to annul the fiat
against this nobleman, as he was not a trader. The judge
rejected the application with costs.

THE WELSH COLLIERIES.—The summary conviction of
the men at Cardiff on Saturday appears to have had a bene-
ficial effect in Glamorganshire, many of the men having gone
to work without obstruction. In Monmouthshire, however,
things remain in nearly the same state. On Saturday a
large meeting was held near Blackwood, at which the men
came to the determination still to stand out. No breach of
the peace has, however, occurred.

SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.—The Jamaica papers last
received mention rather a cnrious circumstance, which hap-
pened to a gentleman of Kingston a few days since. He
coughed up a bone. nearly an inch long, which he had acci-
dentally swallowed while supping beef soup, upwards of two
years ago. Every effort was made at the time, both by the
medical faculty and the English metropolis, to relieve the
patient; but what was denied to science in this instance,
nature herself has now performed.
MONOMANIAC.—On Tuesday, at one of the London po-
lice-offices, Charles Howie, the journeyman shoemaker, who
is labouring under the delusion that some passage in Cham-
bers' Edinburgh Journal, reflecting upon his grandfather,
prevents the master shoemakers from giving him work, was
put to the bar. He said his object in wishing to see Mr.
Chambers was to chastise him for calling his grandfather an
idiot. Dr. M`Murdo gave a certificate of the prisoner's in-
sanity, and he was removed to a place of safety.
The Queen of the French has singestcd to 14 ladies, at the
head of whom are the royal princesses and the Countess of
Montalivet, the pleasing task of getting up a quantity of
works in embroidery of various sorts, to be sold for the bene-
fit of the sufferers of Guadaloupe. Those works, when
finished, are to be exposed in the gallery of the Palais Royal,
on the first floor, and will be afterwards sold. Ladies ap-
pointed by her Majesty will preside at the different stalls,
and the sale, it is supposed, will commence on the 18th of
next month.

ESCAPE FROM A FILTHY DEATR.—AbOIIt eleven o'clock
on Monday night the inmates of the Blue Lion lodging-
housP, Field-lane, London, were greatly alarmed by dread-
ful groans proceeding from the lower part of the premises,
and on going into the privy they perceived a man's hands
and a portion of his head emerging above the soil. the other
parts of his body being completely immersed therein. They
immediately set about extricating the poor fellow, who ap-
peared almost exhausted, and in the course of a few seconds
he was partially got out when the unfortunate man was
doomed to a second immersion, the persons who had pulled
him up being unable to retain their hold. An alarm was
now given, and some policemen extricated the poor fellow
from his disagreeable position. He had fallen into the soil
whilst in a fit.

ELOPEMENT OF A YOUNG LADY FROM LIEGE, BELGIUM.
—On Wednesday. information was received at the several
metropolitan police-offices of the elopement of a young lady,
about 20 years of age, from the house of her parents, residing
at Liege, in Belgium. The gentleman with whom she quit-
ted her parental roof is a young man, about 25 years of age,
named Giles Hinton, Esq., M.A., of Worcester College,
Oxon, and formerly a resident at Gloucester or its neigh-
bourhood. It appears that the young lady left her father's
house on Friday last, about half-past eleven o'clock in the
forenoon, and it was soon afterwards ascertained that the
fugitives had taken their departure for England in the Ge-
neral Steam Navigation Company's vessel Sir Edward Banks,
which vessel arrived in the Thames on the following day
(Saturday) at two o'clock, but all trace of them since their
landing has been lost. The friends of the lady arrived in
London soon afterwards in pursuit ; and large placards, de-
scribing the personal appearance of Mr. Hinton, as also that
of the young lady, in a very minute style, were on Wednes-
day extensively posted about the metropolis, offering a re-
ward to any person who would discover their present abode,
and communications have been made to several old and ex-
perienced officers on the subject. The placards style the
affair " The abduction of a young English lady, a minor,
from the house of her parents."

TABLE or MORTALITY.—The following table, which
shows the proportion of deaths that occurred during the year
1842, in London, and in each of the under-mentioned manu-
facturing towns, will probably be interesting to our readers :
Deaths per ann.
Population by the in every 1,000 of
Towns. Census of 1841. the population.
London
Huddersfield
Halifax 99,175
Wigan
Stockport 85,672
Rochdale
Bradford . 132,164
Bury
Birmingham 131,187
Derby
Preston 77,189
Nottingham 53,080
Walsall .
Leeds 168,667
Salford . 70,228
Leicester 50,932
Coventry
Wolverhampton. 80,722
Manchester. 192,401
Liverpool. 223,054
1 Macclesfield 56,018

SUPPOSED MURDER AT READING.—Inch excitement
has been occasioned in Reading during the last few days by
the mysterious circumstances attending the death of an aged
man named Samuel Steers, who was found drowned in the
Kennett, with his legs tied, and one of his pockets turned
out, on Tuesday night. Deceased was a carpenter, and had
lived in Reading nearly the whole of his life, his sober and
industrious habits, as well as his general good character,
hating rendere€l him much respected. At about seven o'clock
on Tuesday evening he left home, previously telling his wife
he was going to Mr. Ings, a collector of pew rents, to pay
for the last quarter's sittings at Trinity Church, which
amounted to 10s. 6d., and of which he then had a bill in his
hands ; he added, that he should also call on one of the offi-
cers of a benefit club, of which he was the auditor, on his
way, but he should be back in time for supper. A few mi-
nutes past seven he called at the Globe Inn, Horn-street,
where the Club meetings were held, and after waiting about
ten minutes went out again, appearing in good spirits, as
usual. He was afterwards seen by a third party near Kates-
grove-lane, at the bottom of the street, going in the direction
of Mr. Ing's house. A few minutes after nine o'clock, how-
ever, the same evening, he was met in Mill-lane by a man
employed at the mill, who states that he was then going
towards How-street. From this time lie was never seen un-
til taken out of the water (at half-past nine), near Victoria-
wharf, about half-a-mile distant from the mill-stream, where
he was discovered by some bargemen in the employ of Messrs.
Drewe, floating in the water. On being taken out and ex-
amined by Mr. Honiton, superintendent of police, he had
nothing in his pockets, one of which had been turned inside
out, and his legs were tied tozether with a piece of car-twine.
There were no external marks of violence, except a slight
bruise under the left eye, a small cut under the chin, and two
slight grazes inside the upper and lower lips, occasioned (in
the opinion of the surgeon) by their being pressed against the
teeth. Early on Wednesday morning a labouring, man dis-
covered the hat and apron of deceased concealed in a..dung-
hill near the Jack of Newbury public-house, on the side of
the mill-stream. The apron and string were cut asunder,
and some blood stains were on the former. On the ground,
near the dunghill, some other spots of blood were touyd, and
also several screws and keys which had been in the old man's
Pocket, and some halfpence.—Globe.