The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-03-05 00:00:00

INQUESTS HELD I3EFOIE THE COUNTY

CORONER.

FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Thursday last an inquest was
held before Mr. H eyes, at the Red Lion, Golborne, on
view of the body of Peter Critchley, a man employed on
the North Union Railway. It appears from the evidence,
that on Tuesday last, Mr. Pearson's train, of which the
deceased was breaksman, was returning from Preston,
and another engine, called the Ace of Trumps, overtook
them and helped them up Coppell incline ; after they had
passed the incline, and were going down another incline,
the engineer of the Ace of Trumps threw off his steam,
and slackened his pace; and immediately after he per-
ceived something lifting up his engine. On turning round
he saw deceased lying on the road with his head badly
hurt, and one foot cut very nearly off, and the other much
bruised and broken ; he was taken home to Golborne,
where he died the following morning. The deceased was
on the last waggon of his train, and the shock of the wag-
gon, when it was drawn by his own engine, instead of
being pushed forward by the other engii,e, must have
thrown him off, and the wheels of the laSt train passed
over him. Verdict—" Accidental death."
On Saturday, an inquest was held at Toxteth-park, on
view of the body of Thomas Crossley. The deceased was
coachman to John Fletcher, Esq., Toxteth-park, and was
36 years of age. On Thursday morning last, the deceased's
wife went into the stable to call him to his breakfast, and
not finding him there she went into the saddle room,
where she saw his feet hanging down the stairs, which led
into a loft above. She gave an alarm, and deceased was
cut down, but he was quite dead ; he had left the house
only about ten minutes before he VC'':3 fond. On the
night before, deceased appeared very low spirited, he had
beer, in a low way before after having tal,:ca drink, as had
been the vse on this occasion, but his wife never suspected
that there was any danger of his destroying himself. A
verdict of temporary insanity was returned.
On the same day, at West Derby, on view of the body
of William Matthews ; the deceased was about 3 years
ofege, and on Thursday last, a woman, living next door
to the deceased's parents, heard screams several times
repeated, and on going into the house found his clothes
in flames ; she and another woman extinguished the
flames, and tore the clothes from his back ; he was warm-
ing his pinafore by the fire, when the wind drafted it to the
fire, and it caught. The deceased was attended by Mr.
Leather, the surgeon, hut he died the following night.
Verdict—" Accidental death."

On the same day, at Burtonwood, on view of the body
of Thomas Pownall ; the deceased was about 37 years of
age, and was a collier, in the employ of Messrs. Johnson
and Co., at Parr. On Thursday morning, one of the
drawers in the same pit heard some coals fall ; he then
listened, and heard the deceased making a gurgling noise,
and on approaching, found that a large quantity of the
roof had fallen on him ; they got deceased from under in
about three or four minutes, he sobbed about five minutes
and then died. His head was crushed almost to pieces,
and one of his legs were broken. Verdict—" Accidental
death." The deceased was a steady man, and has left a
widow and ten children.

HEAD-CONSTABLE OP THE LIVERPOOL POLICE.—
We are gratified to announce that Captain Miller, the
Superintendent of Police of this city, has been elected
Head-constable and Superintendent of the Fire Police in
Liverpool. When we mention that there were upwards
of fifty candidates for the office, the honour conferred
upon Mr. Miller, almost unanimously, must be highly
gratifying to him, as it is to all his friends. It is much to
be regretted, however, were it not for his own sake, th'it
we should thus lose the services of such a valuable public
officer, whose place it may be so difficult to fill up ; in-
deed, it cannot be filled by one more anxious and success-
ful in the execntion of his duty than Captain Miller. The
whole of the press and the public bear testimony to his
character, and the courteous and gentlemanly manner in
which he always conducted himself; while at the same
time the efficiency of the police force under his command
was maintained by decision and strict impartiality to all
its members. We cannot help congratulating the Watch
Committee of Liverpool on their discrimination in this
matter. These gentlemen, in our opinion, have exercised
a sound discretion and a wise determination in making
the choice which they have done. As our contemporary
the Argus says, " Captain Miller enters upon his new
appointment with our best wishes for his welfare. On
the Superintendent tendering his resignation, the Board,
on the motion of the Lord Provost, seconded by Bailie
Anderson, unanimously agreed to record their high sense
of Mr. Miller's services during the time be bad held the
situation he now relinquishes—their thanks for these
services, and their best wishes for his future success in
life.—Glasgow Constitutional (Conservative Paper.)

DREADFUL SHIPWRECKS.—The Dutch f East India-
man Nicherie was totally lost off the Scilly Islands,
amongst some sunken rocks, on the 23d ult. Eight of
the crew were soon lost amidst portions of the wreck,
and the remaining eleven commenced constructing a raft
out of the fragments, in the hope thatthey might reach the
island. They had nearly completed it when it got entangled
with pieces of the wreck and it was speedily destroyed,
and nine more of the poor fellows perished. The only
two men that were saved secured themselves on one of
the broken pieces of the raft, and they ultimately floated
to the beach. Of the vessel and her valuable cargo, which
was estimated to have been worth at least £15,000, not a
particle has been saved; Nine of the bodies of the un-
fortunate crew have been picked up, and have since
been decently intored. The spot where the ill-fated ship
was lost is close to that wher the Thames steamer
and two other vessels foundered three yaars ago.
On Wednesday last the City of Carlisle steamer was
completely lost on the coast of Linconlnshire, during a
storm of snow so dense that the course could not be no-
ticed. The crew were all saved by taking to the boat
shortly beforethe vessel went down. She traded between
Goole and Honfleur, and her cargo was of a miscellaneous
character.

The Paris police, a few days back, made a seizure of
one hundred pipes of adulterated wine in one of the first
houses in the trade.
THE PASTURAGE OF BEES.—Some counties abound in
honey more than others. The three counties, Lanark
Ayr, and Middlesex, in which we have lived, are " flow-
ing with honey." Other counties may be compared with
these. Bees will thrive where most of the following
plants are found :—Sallows, gooseberries, plums, apples,
pears, planes, limes, furze, broom, field mustard (sinapis
arvensis), common bird's-foot trefoil (lotus corniculatus),
greater bird's-foot trefoil (lotus major), beans, Dutch
(white) clover, ling (calluna vulgaris), and devil's-bit
(scabiosa succisa). There are many more honey-
producing plants; but they are either not native, or not
allowed to flower extensively, in the counties which are
mentioned above. If honey-plants do toot grow in the
immediate vicinity of an apiary, the bees therein kill not
—cannot, wither kitich honey ; for they lia;e not only a
greater dn..;.auce to fly, but are sometimes on their journey
overtaken and destroyed by sudden showers.