The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-03-19 00:00:00

SNOW IN SCOTLAND.—The severe weather of the last
fortnight has been attended with a very heavy fall of snow
in Scotland. Nearly all the roads have been impassable
from snow in the Highlands ; and in Ayrshire and other
parts of the west, the coaches have several times been
forced to turn back. James Cooper, the well-known dri-
ver of the Glasgow and Carlisle mail, died at Glasgow last
week, in consequence of the exhaustion produced by his
exertions to bring along the mail from Carlisle. He suc-
ceeded in reaching Glasgow, after having been exposed for
17 hours beyond his usual time to bitter cold and great
fatigue, but died an hour or two after he reached that city.
REMARKABLE TROUT.--The largest fish Of Oct above
dascription taken from the Thames for some yearS past,
was capeured by a gentleman on Friday last, whilst cast-
ing his line upon the waters of Hampton. Thin prodigi-
ous fish measured 2 feet 6 inches in length, and weighed
131 b. 2oz. The successful party submitted their prize to
Mr. Groves, fishmonger at Charing-cross, for public in-
spection. with the artificial fly with which it was hooked
infixed in the creature's mouth, cut off the lice for that
Purpose. The class of fly it wgs captured with was that
denominated by angler's the red poAraer." Had the
above fish been in full season, it is consideald by piscato-
rial judges that it would have reached the enormous
weight of 151 b.
THE COLLIERS IN THE POTTERY DISTRICT.—It is ex-
pected that a considerable number of colliers will strike,
or in other words, cease from work after this day (Satur-
day), in accordance to notice previously given to their re-
spective employers. The strike is under the direction of
the National Union of Colliers, from whose fund, it is
said, the turn-outs expect to be supported whilst they are
out of work. The demand of the collier is, that the daily
hours t;f labour be reduced from 10, 11, or 12, hours, to
8, and the da;'s wages be 3s. in order, as it is affirmed,
that there may not be so many men unemployed. The
masters generally, we are told are determined to resist
this demand. A large meeting of colliers at which about
1,500 persons were present, was held in the field of Tuns-
tall, on. Thursday afternoon, it was also stated by one
of the speakers, that the consolidated union now consisted
of 100,000 members ; and that in the district of North
Staffordshire there were 4,000 persons belonging to it.
There are Military stationed in the district, and pthers at
Shropshire Advertiser.
ADULTEItATION OF TOBACCO.—The excise authorities,
under the in:tree:Rate direction of the hon. chairman, Mr.
Wood, have recently been very active in putting down
the adulteration of tobacco by special inspections, and
prompt prosecution and conviction when the frauds have
been detected. The following cases have been brought
before the local judicial authorities, within the last few
weeks, and the parties have been fined in the sums named
—viz., Mr. Tickle, of Bolton, £150; Mr. Laffer, of Liver-
pool. £3OO ; Messrs. Nichols and Gough of Chester, £300;
Messrs. Wood and Son, of Doncaster £150; Messrs.
Garton, of Lincoln, £2so'; Messrs. Gamble, of Gains-
borough, £6OO. The case at Gainsborough, last referred
to, occupied the magistrates the whole of Thursday and
Friday last . and was conducted by Dr. Bateman, of Lon-
don, for the excise; and Mr. Cartwright, of Bawtry, for
the defence. One of the witnesses for the Crown was
Professor Graham, of the London University, was proof
of the analysis of the adulterated tobacco was complete
and conclusive.
HURRICANE AT GLASGOW AND THE NEIGHBOUR-
HOOD.—GIasgow and the neighbouring country were
visited with a hurricane on Saturday morning week. It
began about seven o'clock, was at its height about nine,
had moderated at eleven, and with occasional gusts gra-
dually subsided : at five in the afternoon the weather was
beautifully clear and serene. During the height of the
storm persons were raised from the ground and violently
thrown down ; chimney pots were strewn about in all di-
rections ; the roof of a house in the suburb of Tradeston
was blown off; the roof of a church in Duke-street (Mr.
Graham's) was forced in ; and the shipping suffered much
damage. At Paisley, a tall chimney at the shawl manu-
factory of Messrs. Robert M'Arthur and Co., 130 feet
high, was broken in half, carrying away in its fall a build-
ing three stories high, and another one story high. Two
children in the highest story were thrown out unhurt;
three persons saved themselves by clinging to a part of the
wall that remained standing; but one woman was hurt
and another was killed. The storm was also felt in
Edinburgh, but less severely.
SEIZURE UNDER THE INCOME TAX.—The firm of
Messrs. Fielden Brothers having returned their profits as
nil for the years 1839, 1840, and 1841, during which years,
instead of making anything, they suffered severe losses,
having been surcharged to the amount of £350, being
7d. in the pound, on an imaginary income of £12,000 per
annum. Messrs. Fielden having sworn to the correctness
of their return, and refused to pay, their warehouse in
Peel-street, Manchester, was seized by the Government.
The sale took place on Monday last. Forty-one bales of
goods were sold, at rates a little below the market prices,
and realized £407 13s. 5d.; and this being sufficient to
cover the demand and costs, the sale was closed.—On the
same day there was a sale at Rochdale of 3cwt. 2qrs.
201bs. of wool, belonging to Messrs. Rouse and Son, seiz-
ed for the sum of £l2, which those Gentlemen refused to
pay, on the ground that they had made their return at
Bradford, where their chief establishment is, and paid the
tax there for the Rochdale branch. This auctioneer was
asked to give a guarantee for the articles as stolen goods.
The only bidder was a bailiff and a gentleman in the em-
ploy of Messrs. Rouse, to whom the wool was knocked
down at 13d. per lb.
MURDER OF THE CHIEF OFFICER OF POLICE AT
BRIGHTON.—On Thursday last Brighton was thrown
into a state of great excitement, at a late hour, by a report
that Mr. Solomon, chief officer of police, had received a
blow with a poker from a prisoner, who had been brought
to the office on a charge of felony. On inquiry we learned
that the report was too true. Solomon was stunned by
the blow. He lingered in a state of insensibility during
the night, and at a quarter past ten o'clock on the follow-
ing morning he died. Solomon had filled the situation of
chief officer of the Brighton police, which is under the
control of local commissioners, for twelve years, during
which time he has been frequently complimented by the
judges and others for the active and intelligent manlier in
which he has discharged his duties. He was of the Jew-
ish persuasion, and has left a wife and a family of eleven
children. The prisoner has been committed for trial for
the murder. He had contracted habits of dissipation, and
had been reduced to the necessity of obtaining a pittance
at Tunbridge-wells by selling soft water, which is scarce
at some parts of the Wells. He states that he had been
in Brighton for some months, and although he is unknown
to the police, he is able to address all whom he has seen
by name. He states that he bore no enmity to the de-
ceased, and that his only object in striking the blow was
to commit an offence which would cause him to suffer
death.
STRANGE IMPOSTURE.—There lives in a secluded part
of the village of Tetenhall, just behind Miss Hincke's
mansion, a small but honest farmer, who has jogged some
70 years through life, and is precisely the last person to
whom any romance was likely to occur; but three weeks
since a middle-aged woman, entered his abode, and asked,
" Did he originally come from Nant-y-Glo ?" The
question was answered in the affirmative; she was the
herald of great tidings. An uncle had just arrived from
India, aged 101 years, and had deputed her to search out
his relations. There awaited £15,000, for the happily
discovered nephew, and a handsome sum for each of his ,
sons and their sons. Prudence took wings and fled ;in
vain more cautious neighbours suggested doubts. and the
policeman wished to put his finger in the pie, The wel-
come stranger was feasted for a fortnight, and newly clad.
(the stupid railway people having lost her trunk), the ad-
joining banker was seriously asked what " use" he would
give " for two or three thousand," and many future plans
were resolved to wondering friends. And at length the
time arrived for the family to proceed to Nant-y-Glo,
and on Wednesday last they departed themselves (father,
sons and daughter), on the Stau coach, from this town for
that purpose. Alas ! that such happy visions should be
doomed to disappointment ; but on arriving at the inn
yard at Shrewsbury, the impostor suddenly disappeared,
leaving the farmer and his family to trudge home again to
the continued care of cows and swine. It is not either, it
seems the first time that the artful siren has practised a
similar trick, and found persons credulous enough to be
so duped.-13 olverharnpton Chronicle.

ATROCIOUS CASE.—At the Aylesbury assizes, on
Wednesday last, three men named Terry, and three
others, Hale, Spratley, and Adams, were tried before
Lord Abinger,—H ale for felonously assaulting a married
female, named Anne Pepper, and the others for aiding
and abetting him in the offence. Many of the facts are
unfit for publication, and are omitted in this condensed
account of a transaction perhaps unparalleled in atrocity.
The prosecutrix and her husband picked up a precarious
subsistance by travelling from place to place, attending
fairs, &c., with small articles on sale. The prisoners
were all agricultural labourers, residing in Tingewick,
near the town of Buckingham, and all very young. with
the exception of one, aged 38. It appeared that the sth
of August last was the annual fair of that village, which
the prisoners attended, and joined the dance on the green.
They afterwards went (at six o'clock in the evening) to
the White Hart public-house, and sat drinking for some
hours. In the course of the evening, the prosecutrix and
her husband, with one Raymond and his wife, and a man
named Noble, came to the inn and asked for beds, but all
the beds being eagaged there, as well as at all the other
public-houses, they all left and went to a cow hovel to
sleep on some hay. In the course of two hours they
were disturbed by the entrance of three or four men, who
enquired for " the women." Pepper told them there
were none but his wife and the other man's, and one of
them replied " Women we came for, and women we'll
have," and they all rushed upon the party. Pepper and
Raymond each took his wife in his arms to protect them,
and after a struggle the assailants left the place. In ten
minutes after six men entered, and at once rushed to
where the travellers were standing, and commenced a
fierce attack upon them. Pepper again caught up his
wife and attempted to escape with her, but was felled by
a blow on the head. and she was taken from him. Mean-
time, Raymond and the other two got away. The pri-
soners carried the prosecutrix away, across several fields,
and threw her down in a place where some pigs were
sleeping. One of the party immediately perpetrated what
was formerly a capital offence, and his crime was repeated
by the other five in succession. Hale then raised the
prosecutrix, and finding sha could hardly stand, observed,
"The poor devil is well nigh done up," and let her fall.
Her husband at this juncture came up, and the ruffians
made off. Raymond brought a constable and other
parties to the spot, but they had then gone. Pepper
took his wife on his back to the White Hart, when she
was put to bed and surgically attended, when it was
found that two of her teeth were broken in the struggle,
and that she had been subjected to the grossest insults
and illusage. One of the prisoners ran off into Warwick-
shire, and was not heard of for some weeks. Three of
them enlisted in the 28th regiment, and were ordered to
India, but were traced to Woolwich, and apprehended
before they embarked. The prisoners were all identified,
and the jury found them ll guilty. His lordship., in an
impressive address, sentenced them to be transported
each for the term of his natural life.