The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-03 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

DREADFUL THUNDER STORM.—On Saturday last,
about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, the town of
liaslingden was visited by a severe thunder storm. The
rain came down in torrents and flooded several he uses.
A cow was killed at Hartley House Farm, in the Grane.
It appears that Kenyon, the farmer, apprehensive that
the storm would be a severe one, fetched his cows up
from the fields and secured them in the shippon. This
had been done only a short time NN hen the electric fluid
struck the barn. It entered through the roof— went
through the hayrrow, which it set on fire, and killed one
of the cows in the shippon.
ATTEMPT TO BLOW" UP A HOUSE AT SHEFFIELD.—
On Weduesday morning, about half-pest two o'clock, a
man named Joseph Almond, a penknife grinder, residing
in Sidney-street, was awoke from his sleep by the breaking
of a window in the bedroom underneath that in which he
was sleeping. fie directly jumped out of bed, and ran to
the room where he heard the noise. He there found a
ginger beer bottle, commonly called a pop-bottle, with a
burning fuse inserted in the cork. Tins he succeeded in
putting out without any injury—and, en going to the
window, saw three men in the street below. He forthwith
sallied into the street, and collared one of the three ; upon
which the other men attacked him, and rescued their com-
panion. The three then ran away, and, as no other as-
sistance was at hand, succeeded in making their escape.
One of them, in the course of the morning, was captured
by the police. On exarni nation of the 'bottle, it was
found to be filled with gunpowder. It is said that Al-
mond, who is a hard-working man, was in distressed cir-
cumstanees, and had left the union to which he belonged,
that he might be enabled to obtain a living, uncontrolled
by union regulations. In the course of the day, the police
succeeded in capturing another of the suspected parties.—
Sheffield Iris.
BRUTAL TREATMENT OF Two HORSES.—On Tues-
day William Squire, Brigg, Lincolnshire, and Robert
Cross appeared before the magistrates, to answer the
complaint of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, which charged them with wantonly and cruelly
ill-treating a horse. The case arose out of a match.
David Tong stated, that on the 17th instant, he made a
match with Squire to run a horse 40 miles against one of
his for £5, pay or play, both horses to be ridden by riders
of equal weight. The match came off on the 19th. The
defendant Cross rode Squires's horse. Witness lost the
match, and paid the £5 to Squire, whose horse was most
cruelly used. The witness admitted, in cross-examina-
tion, that his horse was lame and out of condition ; that
he had given 50s. for it, and that it was 20 years old.
.William Kennington stated, that he saw the horses start.
Squire's horse was ridden by Cross. Saw Cross return.
The horse was dead beaten, and was dragged along by a
boy with Cross on his back. Cross was fined .-£5 25.,
penalty and costs. Squire was dismissed for want of
evidence, but the magistrates made some severe observa-
tions on his cruel conduct. William Kirby, the rider of
the other horse, was convicted, and fined 225. for ill-
treating the horse. The penalty was reduced in his case,
as it contained many mitigatory circumstances. The
penalties were paid.
POPERY.—The Roman Catholic Cathedral at Notting-
ham, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was publicly consecrated
on Tuesday. The church is the largest vet completed in
this country since the Reformation. The building is of
the early English style, and is, professedly, a perfect re-
turn to the ancient arrangements of a Christian Temple.
There are no galleries. The windows consist entirely of
stained glass, which imparts a great degree of richness and
solemnity to the whole interior. In the centre light of
the west windows• are painted the arms of the Earl of
Shrewsbury (a contributor of £lO,OOO to the building) ;
and in the windows of the aisles are the armoreal bearings
of Drs.Walsh and Wiseman, the Romanist Bishops of the
midland district. The eight principal lights bear the
following inscription :—" Good Christian people, of your
charity pray for the good estate of John, Earl of Shrews-
bury, the chief benefactor of the building of this church,
dedicated in honour of St. Barnabas." The high altar is
especially splendid, and consists of a single slab of stone,
supported by eight shafts of Petworth marble. Ott the
south side of the choir is the chapel of the " Blessed Sa
crament," and this is the most splendid part of the build-
ing, the adornment being very profuse. There is another
chapel in the crypt, under the choir, in honour of St.
Peter, as the foundation or rock of the church ; this will
be used in masses for the dead. The pavement of the
choir and chapels is composed of incrusted tiles of various
devices and colours.

SIGNAL REPUDIATION OF LEAGUE PRINCIPLES.--
On Thursday and Friday last Mr. Falvey, from Manches-
ter, one of the paid lecturers of the League, who had by
some means found his way to Blackburn, at the Theatre,
to a dingy gathering, delivered a couple of discourses on
the lovely effect that would follow the abolition of the
Corn Laws. At the termination of the first night's ad-
dress, an operative, taking the lecturer at his word, pro-
posed to discuss the question fairly next night. After
some demur, the lecturer, who did not seem to have ex-
pected such a challenge, agreed to do so; and it was ar-
ranged that the discussion should be confined to a decla-
ration of the lecturer's, that " a repeal of the Corn-laws
did not mean low wages."—On Friday night there was a
full attendance; the Anti-Corn-law man having had the
first fling, a Mr. C. West (a Chartist, we believe) had the
second, and to work the,' went. The result, however, is
all that our readers will care to know. The lecturer
moved a resolution condemnatory of the Corn-laws, and
proposing that they should be immediately repealed.
This was met by an amendment from the opposing party
to a contrary effect ; and on a show of hands the amend-
ment was carried by a large majority ! so that with a care-
fully prepared discourse, delivered by one of the most able
lecturers the League have in their employ, and addressed
to an audience of their own choosing, the effect has been
a most signal defeat. Can there be a more convincing
proof that the League humbug has had its day ?—Black-
burn Standard.

JAMES COCKBURN BELANY.—This unhappy man,
unhappy, whether innocent or guilty, left London on the
morning of the 23d instant, (the day following his trial
and acquittal.) and passed through Gateshead, in the
evening, on his way to North Sunderland. His return
home, as well as thatof some of the witnesses who appeared
in his favour on the trial, (according to a letter dated the
28th instant, giving an account of his arrival,) has been the
reverse of welcome. One party, (Mr. Hall,) it is said,
was stoned from the village half-way down to the Sea-
houses, where he resides ; and. on Wednesday, an effigy
was elevated on a pole, and after being paraded for some
time round the neighbourhood, it was set fire to in the
presence, and amidst the shoutings, of some hundreds of
the population, in front of Belany's house, on the road to
Bamburgh. It was afterwarda thrown, half consumed,
into a park, or gar ten, adjoining his residence, and the
people concluded their " labour of love" with a tremen-
dous hurrah. A letter which appeared in The Times
newspaper, of Saturday last, signed G.S., strongly con-
demnatory of the jury who tried and acquitted Belany,
has also been reprinted, at Alnwick, and extensively cir-
culated. The excitement in the locality of North Sunder-
land, where Belany and his unfortunate and much re-
spected wife were so well known, and where her friends
mostly reside, is described by a correspondent as being
still very great.—Gateshead Observer.—A correspondent
of the Globe, who signs himself "A Northumbrian,"
states that, "within one hour from the time Belany quit-
ted the dock, at the Old Bailey, he proposed to a gentle-
man from the north to accompany him to a wine-mer-
chant's, in Regent-street, to select a dozen of champagne
to regale his friends on his arrival at North Sunderland,
for which place he, ,proposed starting, the same evening
by the mail train.'

FEARFUL MISCHIEF.—Another of those terrific explo-
sions which have of late disgraced the locality of Sheffield
took place on Sunday night last, at the colliery known by
the name of the Deep Pit, and in the occupation of the
Sheffield Coal Company. This pit is situated about two
miles from the town, on the right side of the road to
Eckington, and is one from which the colliers turned out
a few months since. A number of the old hands intended
to go to work again at this pit, and it appears that a num-
ber of others were determined to prevent it. It is sup-
posed, therefore, that to carry this determination into
effect, the destruction of the boiler and steam engine was
accordingly resolved on. The pit was guarded by an old
watchman, named William Prince, who, on the night of
the explosion, evidently thought that the better part of
valour was discretion ; for on seeing some men pass the
hut in which he was watching, about a quarter before
eleven o'clock on Sunday night, he remained perfectly
quiet till the explosion was over, and the incendiaries had
decamped. The explosion was heard many miles off, in
the direction of Eckington, the wind at the time being in
the west. On this occasion the chief movers in the act
have been caught in their own trap, for not being aware
that the embers under the boiler were then smouldering,
they introduced the cask of gunpowder, and by some
means it ignited while they were close to the door of the
flue. The effect on one misguided man, named Boden, is
terrific. He reached the door of his sister, who keeps the
Norfolk Arms at the Manor, about twelve o'clock, and who,
but from his voice and dress, would not have known him.
.His face and hands presented a spectacle truly pitiable to
behold. The face was like one large black cinder—the
hair entirely singed from off the head—and the eyes,
though not lost, fearfully swollen and burnt round the lids.
Both hands were in a similar state, and the left side was
also much injured.
GENERAL Tore THUMB'S CARRIAGE.—" This little
hero (says the Standard) is now in possession of the
outward and visible sign of a gentleman—he keeps his
carriage. An ingenious artificer has devoted his energies
to the task of building it ; and his genius has enabled
him to produce a beautiful model suitable to the dimen-
sions of the general, complete in all its parts—even to
springs, window blinds, and folding steps—and quite
available for the purposes of locomotion. It is a chariot
about three feet and a half in height ; the body is of in-
tense blue, and the mouldings are of silver; the wheels

are elegantly picked out with white; the hammercloth is
of rich crimson, embroidered fancifully, containing also
the general's arms—a mixture of the heraldic symbols of
England and America,—with the business-like recom-
_

mendation, ' Go a-head,' flourishing unde;nCaih,hiifie
form of a motto. We are informed, that a pair of ponies
of matchless size are in training for this pretty little ve-
hicle, and that two small boys have been obtained to fill
the arduous situations of coachman and footman." The
Morning Chronicle tells us, in its notices of the perfor-
mances at Astley's (whether it is another version of this
story, or refers to a distinct thing, we cannot tell), that
a minature horse was exhibited in the circus. This
wonderful little animal, which is called Tom Thumb, is
well made, and something like a Shetland pony, though
not so shaggy ; he stands only twenty-five inches high,
and weighs but 731 b, was presented to Mr. Batty by the
celebrated equestrian Mr. Wells, and has not his equal
in the three kingdoms. Tom Thumb (the original) will
appear in the circus at Astley's, we arc told, during the
week, in a minature carriage, which has been built for
him by Mr. Beaton, of Soho Square, and which will be
drawn by this little horse. Man, carriage, and horse,
will all then be in proportion; and such another equipage
is only to be found, probably, in the description of
fairies."