The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-27 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

JUVENILE BURGLARS.—Three lads, the eldest of whom
was not above twelve years old, were sent to prison, on
Wednesday, for burglary—the elder for three months,
the second for two months, and the youngest, after a short
confinement will be handed over to his parents.
AN IMPOSSIBILITY.—A man was charged with violent
conduct, and with having used threatening language to a
policeman. He indignantly denied the charge, and, ad-
dressing Mr. Hugh Hornby, who occupied the bench, said,
" I am a special constable, sir, and it's impossible 1 could
commit a breach of the peace !"
MARINE STORE DEALERS.—On Wednesday a man
named Beaumont was sent to gaol for two months, for
stealing a quantity of lead from the Workhouse ; and a
marine-store dealer, named Robinson for one month,
for receiving the lead, knowing it to have been improperly
obtained, with an intimation that his license would be
withdrawn.

BAREFACED ATTEMPT.—A person who was fined by
Mr. Rathbone on Friday, for permitting his dog to be at
large, laid down the amount of the penalty and hastily
shuffled towards the door. He was, however, hailed most
vociferously by Boothby. the receiver of fines, who dis-
covered that half the amount, a half-crown, was base.
The person recalled expressed a well-feigned astonish-
ment at the half-crown being bad, and unwillingly sup-
plied its place with a good one.

STEALING PLUM PUDDING.—WiIIiam Lynch, a boy,
not previously known to the police, was charged with,
having stolen a piece of plum pudding from the shop of
an eating-housekeeper, named William Sutton, in what
street did not appear. Struck with the tempting display,
he had, it appeared, thrust his hand through a window
pane and stolen the pudding. Mr. Sutton stated that this
was the third time his window had been broken in a simi-
lar way, within the last two and three weeks. The boy's
fondness for an Englishman's favourite dish was rewarded
by a month's confinement in gaol.
A POLICE-OFFICER STABBED.—On Wednesday a sea-
faring man, named Thomas Fox, was charged at the Po-
lice-office with inflicting several wounds on Police-officer
294, by stabbing him with a clasp knife. On Wednesday
morning the officer was on duty near the Waterloo Dock,
when the prisoner, without any provocation, rushed upon
him, and stabbed him several times in the neck and face.
The prisoner was taken into custody. The officer was
conveyed to the Northern Hospital, where he received
every attention. The surgeon to the hospital described
one of the wounds as dangerous, the vessels of the neck
being separated. The prisoner, who said the officer first
struck him with a stick, was committed for trial at the
assizes.
SINGULAR CASE.—On Thursday a man, named Thos.
Carr, was charged with an assault upon Mary Ann Viner,
who keeps a grocer's shop in Brownlow.hill. The pasties,
it appeared, came from Manchester, and had been cohabit-
ing together for the last nine or ten months, but latterly
the defendant had behaved with cruelty to her, turning
her out, on one occasion, into the street. Mr. Parkin-
son stated that the defendant was a notorious thief. The
complainant admitted that they had both been tried at
Manchester, but she allowed herself to be charged inno-
cently, in order to save him from ten years' transporta-
tion ; she did not then know so much of his villany as she
had done subsequently. Mr. Rushton ordered the pri-
soner to pay a fine of £5 for the assault, or in default to
be imprisoned two months, also to find bail for his future
good behaviour, himself in £BO, and two sureties in .f. 40,
or be further imprisoned four mouths.

THE STEAMER NIAGARA.

TO ALEXANDER RYRIE, ESQ., .COMMANDER OF THE
BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN ROYAL MAIL
STEAM-PACKET COMPANY'S STEAM-SHIP "NIAGARA."

Sir,—We, the passengers on board the " Niagara," are
unwilling to separate from her and yourself on the termi-
nation of this, her first homeward voyage across the
Atlantic, without expressing our high admiration of this
magnificent ship, and our great satisfaction with the skill
and urbanity which hive characterised your conduct.
Since the " Niagara" left America she has experienced
but a few hours' fair wind, yet she accomplished the
voyage within the shortest period on record, having been
but ten days and a half from Boston to Liverpool.
We earnestly hope that the vast enterprise in which
your company are embarked may prosper, and be a source
of national advantage to the two great powers more im-
mediately connected in its prosperity, and of profit and
lasting credit to its spirited proprietors.
And now, with our best wishes for your health and hap-
piness, we have the honour to be, sir, your obedient ser-
vants, (Signed)
Malden, William Denny, Lieut. Col.
J. W. Tetley, J. R. Bulkley,
Richard Roy Elwes, Chas. Edmonstone,
Thomas Cannon, Ward Cheney,
Bryan Robinson, J. W. Clarke,
Wm. Dinneford, E. J. Xenfi,
Chas. N. Hubert, Frederico Badiali,
John Stalker, James T. Fisher,
Henry Adderley, Alexander Fielder,
Elijah Hughes, Frederick Cunningham,
Edward Cachard James R. Jennings,
M. Meyer, A. G. Sloo,
J. M. Walker, E. N. Dickenson,
Joshua Follansbee, A. M'Alpine,
Nathan Rambo, James M. Wray,
Samuel Gunn, R. Earle,
R. S. Lee, David Mason,
P. E. Praderes, T. Lockhart,
J. W. Fraser, F. W. Fredenthal,
Stephen Cave,

COURT OF CHANCERY,

LINCOLN'S-INN, JUNE 24.

HIGGINSON V. SHAND.

This was a renewed motion for an injunction to restrain
the Royal Bank of Liverpool from proceeding to make
the plaintiff a bankrupt. It appeared from the bill and
answer that the plaintiff had been a guarantee to the
bank in question to cover two bills of £30.000 each, ad-
vanced to the firm of Barton, Irlam, and Higginson, the
extensive merchants at Liverpool ; and also to protect
further advances. Messrs. Barton and Co. became bank-
rupts, and the bank then looked to the plaintiff as surety
for the firm, and proceeded under the act of parliament
sth and 6th Victoria, chap. 122, to made him a bankrupt.
Higginson then filed this bill to restrain the defendants
from so doing, alleging that the bank bad forfeited the
guarantee by not performing certain conditions they were
bound to do, and also by having omitted to realise the
value of several ships belonging to the firm. The motion
was argued before his lordship last term.
The Lord Chancellor this morning gave judgmerlt, and
said that all the allegations set up in the bill were fully
met by counter allegations in the answer. His lordship
then went through the passages in the bill and answer,
and observed that the guarantee was given not only to
cover the two bills of £30,000 each, but also all further
advances to be made by the bank to the firm. Under
these circumstances the motion for an injunction must be
refused with costs.

WOODSIDE FERRY.—We believe that it is the inten-
tion of the Woodside Commissioners to issue halfpenny
ferry tickets, which will be purchasable by the public in any
quantities of not less than six. It is said that the contracts
will remain as a present. This further decrease in the
ferry charge will, no doubt, have the effect of increasing
the number of passengers ; but we doubt if the money re-
ceived will equal that obtained on the rates hitherto
charged.
DEATH OF A Bur WHILE BATHING.-011 Friday
evening, Michael Bellinger, a boy aged 14, who resided
with his parents in Whittle-court, Shaw's-brow, and
some other boys went to a pit near the Zoological
Gardens, and stripped to bathe. One of them got into
the water before deceased, and shortly after heard a shout
that a boy was drowning. The other lad attempted to
get him out as quickly as possible, but before he could do
so deceased was drowned.

SUICIDE UNDER INSANITY.—On Wednesday, a man,
named Benjamin Huddard, was taken, in a precarious
state, to the Northern Hospital. He appeared to be in a
state of insanity, and remained delirious for some days.
On Friday night, at eleven o'clock, he was put to bed in
a ward where there were other patients, and he was not
observed by any of those present until between two and
three o'clock, when he was found suspended by a silk
handkerchief from the head of one of the posts of the bed.
POVERTY AND RUIN.—Our police court is the daily
scene of the truth of the axiom that poverty is the parent
of crime, and perhaps this connection is most evident in
the cases which occur about the docks and warehouses,
where thefts of the most petty description are committed
by women and children, apparently with the notion of
appeasing the impatient calls of hanger. On Friday, an
Irish woman named Catherine Macdonald, was brought
before Mr. Rushton, charged with having stolen a small
quantity of cotton from a lorry, as it was being loaded.
The policeman who took her into custody stated that on
making his appearance no less than seventeen women ran
off. The magistrates dismissed her, with a caution.
Several Irish girls were brought up, on similar charges.
An alphabetical list of 451 ships, giving the old and
new tonnage, has been exhibited la the-Liverpool Under-
writers' Room. The result gives the amount of old ton-
nage as 192,951, against 226,360 tons new, showing an
increase of 33,409 tons, or more than 17 per cent. addi-
tional dock and light dues, that the British shipowners
have been subjected to since the alteration of the law in
1836. It has always been understood that the late Mr.
Charles Wood, of Greenock, and Mr. E. F. Young, were
the chief advocates for the introduction of this mischievous
measure, likely to become more onerous if ministers suc-
ceed in carrying the proposed Light Bill and Merchant.:
Seamen's Fund Bill, which exact a levy of ls. per ton for
lights, and ls. per ton for the Seamen's Fund.

BIRKENHEAD DOCK COMPLETION BILLS.—The Select
Committee of the Commons met on Tuesday, for the
purpose, first of proceeding with the Transfer of Powers
Bill, and secondly with the bill taking powers to impose
additional rates.—Mr. Webster, for the promoters, said
the main question was upon the clauses, and not upon the
preamble ; and when the Committee arrived at that stage,
Mr. Pemberton, as representing the Crown, might state
his objections and the nature of the words he wished to
be inserted to protect the Crown. It was proposed to
strike out the power intended to be given to the Crown
to appoint a chairman, and the provision consequent
thereon, because the Crown was not now to find the
money to complete the works ; and, instead, management
clauses were introduced, by which there would be thir-
teen trustees under the bill. of whom the bondholders
would appoint seven, the Birkenhead Commissioners four,
and the Wallasey ommissioners two. The bill, in its
present shape, was promoted conjointly by the Commis-
sioners of Birkenhead and the bondholders. Among
other provisions, there was a clause introduced to em-
power the bondholders to raise a sum of £50,000, as pre-
ferential bonds, for the purpose of penning up the water
so as to make the pool available. In the proposals made
by the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Works
saw no security for the construction of the outer works,
which it appeared might be abandoned ; and the latter
body, as at present advised, therefore refused to sanction
them.--Mr. Pemberton said the completion of the outer
works had all along been the first object of the Woods
and Forests and the Dock Commissioners; but the bill,
as now altered, was nothing less than a bill for the aban-
donment of those outer works. The money authorised
to be raised for their completion was proposed, by a ma-
nuscript clause, to be made available for deepening the
pool, which was no part of the outer works. It was fur-
ther proposed that the interest of her Majesty, in right of
her Crown, should not be represented in the newly-con-
structed trust. The consent of the Crown, therefore,
would not be given to the bill as altered. Mr. Baron
Goldsmidt, on the part of the bondholders, did not object
to the Crown being represented. The discussion was
concluded by Mr. Laird consenting to an adjournment to
Monday.—The Committee then proceeded with the
Rating Bill, and after arguments pro and con., by Mr.
Webster for the promoters, and Mr. Lloyd for the Rail-
way Company, the Committee decided that they were of
opinion that " the preamble of the Rating Bill is not
proved."

THE ACCIDENT AT THE ZOOLOGICAL. GARDENS.—The
inquest on the body of Richard Howard, the keeper who
was killed by the elephant, took place on Tuesday. Mr.
Liversedge said :—I reside about three miles from Stock-
port. On Saturday morning last, my wife and myself
were at the Zoological Gardens. On going into the
house where the elephant was kept I saw the deceased in
the den with the elephant. He was cleaning it out with
a besom. When he had swept one side of the den he
told the elephant to move. It walked away. When he
had swept a little more of the den he called upon the ele-
phant to move a second time. He then struck it with the
tail of the broom and ran away. The elephant followed
him, and caught him, and jammed him against the side of
the den, and he fell down. I ran to the door and gave the
alarm. Several parties came, and I then left the house.
After the deceased fell down, the elephant appeared quite
tractable. He was perfectly quiet before he was struck.
The deceased only struck him once, but it was a very sharp
blow on the trunk. I did not see the elephant place his
foot on the deceased after the latter had fallen on the
floor of the den.—Another keeper stated that Howard
had beat the elephant the night before very severely, and
latterly had been in the habit of doing so.—The Coroner,
in summing up the case to the jury, said—Gentlemen,
there can be no doubt whatever that the deceased has
been killed by receiving a stroke from the tusks or the
foot of the elephant, thereby causing injuries, and, almost
immediately after, death. This cannot he called an acci-
dent, because it was evidently done on purpose—if I may
so express myself—by an animal who, though not having
reason, yet bad instinct ; and instinct, we all know, is
nearly allied to reason. Therefore, you must find that
the keeper received certain injuries that produced his
death. Gentlemen, the more I think of this case the more
regret I feel—and regret that I cannot hut express--that
so noble and so fine an animal should have been killed in
the way this elephant has been. lam quite sure that the
act was done with the best and kindest intentions upon
the part of Mr. John Atkins, who has just been examined,
and also on the part of his mother. I regret as much as
any man that the lives of two men have been sacrificed :
but when they themselves have provoked the elephant
to do this, I think I will have a majority of the public of
Liverpool with me when I repeat, that it was a great pity
the animal should have been destroyed if he could have
been preserved with safety to the public, and I think he
could.—The jury, after a brief deliberation, returned the
following verdict :—" We are of opinion that the deceased
came by his death in consequence of having beaten the
elephant unmercifully, thereby causing the animal, in his
fury, to kill him."

THE BEBINGTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY,
AND FLOWER SHOW AT ROCK FERRY.

The exhibitions of this society continue annually to
excite increased interest, both from the variety and
beauty of the productions brought up, and the high
respectability of the parties who attend,—including most
of the distinguished families of the Wirral peninsula and
many from the side of the Alersey. On this occasion it
was difficult' to decide whether the fair ladies in attend-
ance did not eclipse in-bloom and loveliness the treasures
of Flora that were displayed arouud them. The tent
(though considered large some years ago) was much too
circumscribed for the accommodation of the company,
and we shall look for enlargement for the next show.
The day was warm and splendid, and the steamboats con-
veying many of the parties to the spot were gaily decora-
ted with flags, as were others conveying myriads to the
Eastham Regatta—the whole giving our river a beautiful
and interesting appearance.
The principal features in the exhibition were the orchi-
claceous plants, of which there were some very fine speci-
mens ; a large collection of rare Coniferw, from Mr.
Skirving ; the roses, the fuchsias, and the pelargoniums.
The stove and greenhouse plants were nothing remarkable
as collections, but some individual specimens were very
fine. The miscellaneous collections shown by the nur-
serymen were remarkably good, and were both larger and
more numerous than before at any of our exhibitions.
We have but room to give the names of the parties to
whom first prizes were awarded in the several depart-
ments :