The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-07-22 00:00:00

How TO PUT OUT VESUVIUS.—It is asserted that there
is a project in contemplation to extinguish the fires of Ve-
suvius ! It is understood that the bottom of the grand
crater is several thousand feet below the level of the sea.
The plan, therefore, is to dig a large trench or canal from
the sea to the crater, the expense of which will not exleed
2,000,000 dollars, and thus extinguish the fires which have
been burning for thousands of years. It is said that the
fine lands thus to be reclaimed will more than ten times
pay the expense of executing the grand design.
DUMBNESS PRODUCED BY A THUNDER STORM.—On
the Ist of July, during the thunderstorm, a man named
Raeburn, residing in the Croft, Paisley, was struck dumb.
Raeburn, it appears, was standing near a window when
one of the flashes of lightning, more vivid than usual,had
such an effect on his organ of speech that he could not
articulate a syllable. The advice of several medical men
was oJtained, but all to no purpose ; and, what was
strangest of all, no hurt or defect whatever could be ob-
served. Next day, Raeburn was advised to try what gal-
vanism could effect in his case ; and after the application
for a few minutes of the battery to his neck, he was able
to articulate one or two syllables : his joy at this, it may
be imagined, was very great ; and we are happy to say,
that after six applications from the galvanic apparatus, his
speech has all but recovered its former fluency. Raeburn
is about twenty-three years of age ; and all that he felt at
the time he was struck dumb was a kind of giddy feeling
for about a minute.—Glasgow Saturday Post.
THREE SUICIDES AT BRIGHTON.—A respectable widow
at Brighton committed suicide on Saturday by cutting her
throat. Her husband, who died five years ago, left her in
comfortable circumstances ; her children were all remark-
ably steady and well-conducted. No cause whatever
could be surmised for so dreadful an act. On Monday
James Wadey, aged 55, drowned himself, because his
elder brother, who was 73, bad married a girl of 18, and
had thus extinguished his hopes of succeeding to a trifling
property. The third suicide was Thomas Whitwell, a
stranger from Shoreham, who lodged on Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday nights at a beer-shop in Gloucester-lane,
Brighton, and on Monday evening was found hanging in
an outhouse, quite dead. The evidence at the inquest
showed no other cause for his evident insanity than the
eating of opium. In his hat was a Prayer-book, on a
blank page of which was written—" Whoever finds my
body, I will thank them to convey this book to Jane Nye,
23, Marine-parade, Brighton. Give her my dying love."
Jane Nye was a servant girl, whom he had known four
months.

THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN YACHT PETERHOFF.—It may
perhaps be recollected that this vessel, which was expressly
built in London last year for the Emperor of Russia, was
wrecked and supposed to have been totally lost on the
rocks of the desert island of Oessel, while on her voyage
outward to St. Petersburgh in October last ; that attempts
were made to get her off by her captain and crew, and
afterwards by the officers of the Russian government,
without success. She was then abandoned and given over
to the insurers, who paid £15,000 to the Russian govern-
ment as the price of her insurance. Hopes were still en-
tertained that she might be saved. Accordingly Captain
Fell was sent to endeavour to save her ; and his efforts
and energies have been rewarded by complete success.
The vessel was lifted off from the rocks and sunk in deep
water, to preserve her from the action of the waves ; and
there she lay in a sandy bay immersed in water, and frozen
in all the winter. On the return of spring she was raised,
and conveyed by captain Fell to Riga, where she under-
went a partial repair ; and early in this month she left
Riga, by means of steam and :sails ; reached Elsinore in
forty hours on the 7th instant; aad Hamburgh on the
9th, between which places she encountered a heavy eale
of wind, and made her passage by steam to Blackwell, a
distance of near 500 miles, in 36 hours. She is now safely
moored in the East India Docks.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. —The
show, held this year by the kind permission of her Majesty
in the Home Park, immediately under the north front of
Windsor Castle, was inaugurated on Monday by a visit
from the Queen and Prince, who were conducted by the
Duke of Richmond (President of the Society), and Messrs.
Barker and Gibbs (the stewards of the yard) over the
show. The royal party inspected the stock, turning to
the right from the entrance of the south side of the yard,
and taking the different classes in their order, and gave a
minute attention to each. They more than once turned
hack to examine particular animals; and, on one occasion,
as a monster porker rose from his recumbent position,
the Queen's attention was caught at once : " she bounded
forward to examine him, and laughed heartily at his extra-
ordinary obesity." When the royal party returned to
the castle, the people formed in a line and welcomed her
Majesty with every demonstration of cordiality and
respect. The Queen, who looked in excellent health
and spirits, showed great animation, "laughing and chat-
ting with those around her." A characteristic anecdote
of royal kindness is related :—" The condescension of her
Majesty as she went through the showyard greatly won
upon the hearts of the poor fellows who are in attendance
upon the animals, who are loud in her praise. One in-
stance of her attention to their feelings may be mentioned,
as it has evidently made a great impression upon the men
in the showyard. On Sunday afternoon, as the band was
playing in front of the Castle, the shepherds, herdsmen,
and others in care of the stock, strolled up to the Castle
gates, and attempted to enter, but as they were arrayed
in their smockfrocks, and evidently belonged to a class
not usually seen about the Castle, they were refused ad-
mission by the soldiers on guard. The circumstance
becoming known to Mr. Stokes, one of the stewards of
the show, who happened at the time to be in the Castle,
through whom her Me iesty was made aware of the circum-
stance, when she instantly gave orders that they should
be admitted up to the Castle, a privilege of which the rustics
at once availed themselves. In the course of their pro-
ceeding through the showyard the Duke of Richmond
thanked the Queen in their name for the:erivilege she bad
accorded them." The show of cattle, &c., numbering
1,200 entries, is said to be superior to any former exhibi-
tion in the three departments of cattle, sheep, pigs, and
in the class of horses only yields to that which was held
some three years ago at York. On Wednesday, (the
third day of the meeting,) an immense concourse of
people, native and foreign, flocked to the show. On no
former occasion has anything like it been seen. All the
principal prizes were in a permanent state of siege, and it
was only after much pushing and squeezing that even a
glimpse of them could be obtained. The day had been
fixed upon as that for the grand pavilion dinner, and at
three o'clock it was curious to observe how those who had
provided themselves with tickets emerged from the show-
yard and gradually took up fieir places at the entertain-
ment. In the short space of an hour about 2,000 guests
had assembled, who waited anxiously for the arrival of
the more distinguished personages. At last they came,
headed by his Royal Highness Prince Albert, when cheers
arose from hundreds of powerful lungs, and hands were
clapped with a vehemence and force quite astounding.
At length the great assembly settled down to the business
of eating and drinking, and for a time nothing could be
heard but the clatter of plates, the grinding sound of
knives and forks and the mastication of jaws, carried on
with the energy of rustic appetites. His Grace the Duke
of Richmond presided, and in the absence of Earl Ducie,
who was kept away by indisposition, Lord Portman acted
as Vice-President. The Prince, who was received with
unanimous enthusiasm.said—" My Lord Duke—My lords
and gentlemen,— I am very sensible of the honour which
you have done me in proposing my health, and I can as-
sure you, gentlemen, that the kind way in which you have
responded to the toast will never be forgotten by me.
Some years have already elapsed since I last dined with
you in this migratory prvilion ; and I am glad you should
have pitched it this day under the walls of Windsor Castle,
and that I should myself have an opportunity of bidding
you a hearty welcome to the Home-park. Your encamp-
ment singularly contrasts with that which the barons of
England, the feudal lords of the land, with their retainers,
erected round Windsor Castle, on a similar mead, though
not exactly in the same locality. They came then clad in
steel, with lance and war-horse. You appear in a more
peaceful attire, and the animals you bring with you to the
meeting are the tokens of your successful cultivation of
the arts of peace. King John came trembling amongst
his subjects unwillingly compelled to sign that great char-
ter which has ever since been your birthright. (Great
cheerine.) Your sovereign came confiding among her
loyal and loving people ; she came to admire the results
of their industry, and to encourage them to persevere in
their exertions ; and the gratification which the Queen has
felt at the sight of your splendid collection must, I am
sure, be participated in by all who examine it. I am doubly
pleased at this success, not only because it is witnessed by
the many visitors from foreign lands now within our
shores, whom every Englishman must wish to inspire with
respect for British agriculture, but because I feel, to a
certain degree, personally responsible for having deprived
you of one, generally most interesting feature of your
show-1 mean the field fruits, and the agricultural ma-
chines and implements. Though separated from your
collection, they are seen to great advantage in another
royal park ; and you will have been glad to hear that what-
ever the difficulty may be in deciding upon the superiority
of the works of industry and art sent to the Crystal Palace
by the different nations of the earth, the British agricul-
tural implements are acknowledged to stand there almost
without a rival. Let me now use the privilege which your
president has allowed me to enjoy, in proposing to you as
a toast, ' Prosperity to the Royal Agricultural Society.'
To its exhibitions, the means of comparison which they
have afforded, and the emulation they have stimulated,
we owe to a great extent the progress which British agri-
culture has made of late. To this society belongs the
honour to have been one of the first to appreciate the value
of such exhibitions, and to have, from the beginning,
liberally and fearlessly admitted ali competitors without
restriction. I drink Prosperity to the Royal Agricultural
Society.' " His Royal Highness resumed his seat
amidst loud applause. The " Health of the Foreign
Ministers" was responded to by M. Van de Weyer,
the Belgian Minister, who proposed the " Health of the
Duke of Richmond." The convivial proceedings also
elicited speeches also from Mr. Lawrence,
.the Ameri-
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Charles Lowndes, of Rice-house, Club Moor, Liverpool,
a four years and one month old short-horned bull, bred
by himself; Mr. Charles Towneley, of Townley-park,
near Burnley, Lancaster, a two years and ten months old
short-horned bull, bred by Mr. Richard Eastwood, of
Swinshow, near Burnley ; also a one year and nine
months old short-horned bull, bred by himself, and a two
years and four months old pure short-horn in-calf heifer,
bred by Sir Charles Tempest, Bart., of Broughton-hall,
near Yorkshire. Mr. Towneley also received the first
and second prizes of £2O and £l5 respectively for the best
in-calf heifers not exceeding three years old. In class
one of pigs, for " boars of a large kind," the first prize of
£l5 was obtained by Mr. R. Broadhurst Hill, of Bache-
' hall, near Chester, for a large boar, three years eleven
months old, bred by Mr. A. R. Wilson, of Abbey.