The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-01-13 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE

WORKMEN'S TOOLS

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.
SIR,--T perceive that an appeal has been made to the pub.
Ik, in behalf of the Joiner's who have lost their tools, at the
late fire of Messrs. Foster and Stewart's premises. It has
often occurred to me as something strange that such houses
as Foster's, Hahne, and others, in a large way of business,
should not themselves insure a certain sum on their work.
men's tools. The tax would be a light one to such men ;
but even supposing that they charged each of their workmen
a few pence per week, the amount would not be felt by the
workmen. Suppose, for instance, that a joiner has thirty
men in his employ, and that the average value of each man's
tools is £4O, The total amount being twelve hundred pounds.
The cost of this insurance (I quote from M'Cullock) at 4s 6d
per cent would be £2 14 0
Duty a 4,35. per cent 1 16 0

£4 10 0

Now one penny per week contributed by each of the thirty
men would yield £6 10s. per annum, and surely no man
would object to pay a penny per week fot the security of his
stock in trade ; or taking the insurance at double the amount,
two pence per week 'would not be felt as a hardship by each
workman.

I throw out this suggestion for those whom it concerns ;
and I have no doubt that if Messrs. Holme, or Foster, were
to lead the way in the business, the example would speedily
be followed by others.

I am, Slr, &c.,
Woodside, January 10th, 1842. E. W,

ST. DAVID'S CHURCH, LIVERPOOL

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SIR,—A paragraph having appeared in your paper of yes-
terday, stating " that the Rev. R. Davies has not resigned
the incumbency of St. David's Church," in this town, the
obvious intention of which is to deter candidates from apply-
ing for the said church ; will you allow me to inform the
public, through the same channel, that the trustees of St.
David's Church have advertised for an incumbent, believing
the church to be vacant? and their reason for entertaining
such an opinion, and acting upon it, is the announcement
contained in the following letter from the Rev. Robt. Davies
to one of the trustees :

"My dear Sir,—l address you as treasurer of the trustees
of St. David's Church, Liverpool, to communicate to you,
officially, that the Lord Bishop of Chester has kindly ap-
pointed me one of the ministers of St. Paul's Church, in
this town.

" My intention is to continue unchanged the services of
St. David's Church unto the end of the present year. After
that time I will delay my being licensed to St. Paul's until
the trustees have satisfactorily determined on the choice of
my successor.

" I am, my dear sir,
" Yours, very faithfully,
" ROST. DAVIES

" 47, Pembroke-place, Liverpool,
28th November, 1842.
" Owen Williams, Esq."
Now, Mr. Editor, I beg to put it to you, and your readers
generally, if the trustees were not fully justified in inferring,
from the above letter, that St. David's Church was vacated
by the Rev. Robert Davies at the close of the last year, and
that it was their duty at once to take steps for electing and
naming a successor ?
I am, sir, &c., &c.,
J. RICHARDS,
Trustee and Secretary, pro tern.

January 11th, 1843

[Our " intention," in inserting the paragraph alluded to.
was anything but to " deter candidates from applying "
for St. David's Church; and had we been aware that Mr.
Davies had written any such letter as that contained in the
preceding communication, we certainly should not have
give►► publicity to such an erroneous statement as that
contained in our last publication.]

HONG KONG.—Friday night's Gazelle contains the order
in council, creating a court of justice, with criminal and
Admiralty jurisdiction, in the island of Hong Kong.
ODD FELLOWS !—Watches have long been imported in
China, and generally by the ton or half-ton ! The fancy of
the Chinese is to wear them in pairs, in accordance with a
pretty general prejudice in the East against an odd number.
Edinburgh Cabinet Library.

The antique and massive tower of Westzaan, at the Hague,
fell suddenly down on the Ist instant on an adjoining house,
and buried a whole family, consisting of father, mother, five
children, and a female servant in the ruins. The hospital
suffered much, and the Protestant church was injured, but
only in a slight degree. Workmen had been for some time
employed in repairing the tower, but the foundation was
much worn, and no doubt gave way in consequence of a very
violent gale of wind which raged during the whole of the
preceding night.

EXPENSIVE FUEL.—A few days ago a respectable mer-
chant residing in Woolwich had occasion to go into his kit-
chen, and at the time had a £2O Bank of England note in his
hand. His attention having been drawn to an object, be laid
down the bank note on the table in a crumpled state, and
having been suddenly called to the shop, left the kitchen
without taking it with him. On returning in two or three
minutes afterwards to the kitchen his astonishment may be
better conceived than described, when the servant told him
in answer to inquiries regarding the £2O note, that seeing
what was considered a useless piece of paper lying on the
table, it had been used in helping to kindle the fire, which
was slow in igniting at the time.. The loser of the note has
been to the Bank to ascertain if there was a probability of his
recovering its value, but this is not probable, as he has no
remnant to show that the lost note was actually destroyed, as
has been represented.

EGYPTIAN FLAX.—About two years ago we were shown
samples of Egyptian flax, by one of the most enterprising of
our local mill-spinners. who were then of opinion that the
attention of manufacturers required only to be directed to
that quarter—of old celebrated for its fine linen and flax—in
order to raise up a powerful rival to the Baltic grower, on
whom this country is at present almost exclusively dependent
for its supply. It would seem that this opinion is about to
be verified, for we learn from the Forfarshire papers, that a
few tons have been found fully stronger than the correspond-
ing quality of Baltic growth, but that the tow is of less value.
It is stated that the Egyptian cargo can be landed at Dundee

a few pounds cheaper thin the Baltic—a circumstance which,

in these times when cheapness of production is paramount,
will more than counterbalance any little deficiency in quality.
An entire cargo is said to have been made up for the Tay ;
and if the experiment prove equally satisfactory on a large
scale, there can be little doubt that toe article will soon form

an important branch of trade with Egypt—thereby rendering
us less dependent, on and bringing down the prices of, the
Baltic continent.—Fife Journal.
AMBASSADORS.—A man who receives £ll,OOO a year to
show hospitality and exhibit state, ought to do both ; but
there is another and a much more important point for the
nation to consider. Why should £ll,OOO a year be given to
any ambassador at Vienna, or at any other court of the earth?
Or what is the actual result but to furnish, in nine instances
out of ten, a splendid sinecure to some man of powerful
interest, without any, or but slight, reference to his faculties?
Or is there any necessity for endowing an embassy with an
enormous income of this order, to provide dinners and balls,
and a central spot for the crowd of loungers who visit their
residences, or to do actual mischief by alluring these absentees
from their own country ? We see no possible reason why the
whole ambassadorial establishment might not be cut down to
salaries of £1,500 a year. Thus, men of business would be
employed instead of the relatives of our cabinets. Dinner=
giving would not be an essential of diplomacy; the ambassa-
dor's house would not be a centre for all the ramblers and
triflers who preferred a silly and a lavish life abroad to doing
their duty at home; and a sum of much more than £lOO,OOO
a year would be saved to the country. Jonathan acts the
only rational part on the subject. He gives his ambassador
a sum on which a private gentleman can live—no more. He
has not the slightest sense of giving superb feasts, furnishing
huge palaces, supplying all the rambling Jonathans with balls
and suppers, or astonishing John Bull by the tinsel of his
appointments. Yet he is at least as well served as others.
His man is a man of business ; his embassy is no showy
sinecure; his ambassador is no showy sinecurist. The office
is an understood step to distinction at home, and the man
who exhibits ability here is sure of eminence on his return.
We have net found that the American diplomacy is consigned
to mean hands, or inefficient, or despised in any country.—
Blackwood's. Mayazine.

MILITARY EiECUTION:—Two young Spaniards, members
of one of the first families in Madrid, were recently executed
at Montevideo for murder. The motive to the murder was
of the most trivial character, but the atrocious circumstances
which attended its commission put it altogether out of the
power of the judge to interfere with the course of the law.
It appeared that in the course of a political discussion Fran-
cisco Jaramile Etchenique and Fernando Fernandez, the two
culprits, had taken great offence at the remarks of Nicolas
Garcia, who had been most strenuous in combating their
opinions. The accordingly waylaid him, and when he came
out of the house they, without the slightest further provoca-
tion, attacked and murdered him. They then proceeded to
cut off his head, and bury his mutilated body in a neigh-
bouring field. After the prisoners had been tried, convicted.
ar.d condemned to suffer death for their diabolical crime, great
efforts were made by their friends to obtain a commutation of
the sentence, but in vain, and when the day was fixed for the
execution it was stated that some of their countrymen had
resolved to prevent their lives from being taken, even by force
of arms. A strong body of troops was accordingly ordered
out—but no such attempt was made. When the mournful
procession reached the market-place, Jaramile begged an
orange and a cigar, which were both given to him, and he
nodded coolly to those of his friends whom he recognized in
the crowd. On their arrival at the scaffold, Fernandez was
so weak that he could scarcely stand, even with support.
Jaramile was, however, much more firm. He would not
listen to the priests, and held up his head with an air of
assumed indifference, while he played with the partly smoked
but now extinguished cigar. While on the scaffold he once
called out to the Spaniards present to rescue him. They
were then fastened each to a low bench by the negroes in
attendance ; but they, for some time, obstinately refused to
allow their eyes to be bandaged. At length, all being ready,
they received two successive discharges of musketry of five or
six pieces each, and died after much struggling, showing re-
markable tenacity to life. The execution was a frightful
butchery, and an evidence of the necessity of some more cer-
tain and speedy mode of taking the lives of offenders against
the laws.

REBECCA. AND HER DAUGHTERS.—The state of society
in W,tles may surprise some of our English readers, especi-
ally when we acquaint them with the fact that there has been
for some months past in the neighbourhood of St Clears a
mob of lawless depredators amounting to about 600, who
assemble nightly for the purpose of destroying the turnpike
gates on the various lines of road in the neighbourhood of
St. Clears. These ruffians are headed by a very tall man,
dressed in disguise as a female, who goes by the name of
Rebecca ; and as many of his associates are likewise dressed
as females, the whole gang have been christened as Rebecca
and her daughters. These men are nearly all of them well
mounted, and are the terror of the neighbouring country.
The Pwlltrap gate has been destroyed a great number of
times, and as frequently replaced by the trustees of the road ;
but immediately after its re-erection the fellows have invaria-
ably assembled in greater force than before, and riding up to
the gate, the following interesting colloquy has taken place.
—The leader of the mob addressing the others in Welsh,
says, " My children, this gate bas no business here, has it ?!'
To which her children reply that it has not; the mother
again asks what is to be done with it? when the children
reply that it should be levelled with the ground. They then
immediately break it down and disperse it in different di-
aections. This system has continued for a length of time :
and although a reward of £5O has been offered—.£3o by the
county magistrates, and £2O by the trust, not one of the of
feuders has been discovered. About one hundred constables
have been sworn in, and three policemen from London are
down there; but all precautions are ineffectual, for so sure
as the constables show the least dimunition of the vigiladce,
Rebecca and her daughters appear, and level the gates. A
very short time ago the policemen were after a fellow whom
they suspected to belong to the gang, and whilst at a pub
lic-
house baiting their horses, Rebecca and her dangh ters _
th
sud-
denly appeared in sight, and the affrighted offi
rechearsofnowe
law were obliged to fly for their lives. The gates
sincebeen re-erected, rieGctthe andult.,
h unto
tfhrees fresh
rageintizoaftiviolenceof
h the
adse
still continues, and it is feared will break out with
mfargeissh.
violence if the constabulary force be removed.
tracesh athetoodfei
ibe emote:
uponty he v
salamisdepredators
still
a daytt e
nazawm,kbl.....-4,anat the Town-