The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-12-10 00:00:00

that death had resulted not from refusal to take food, but
from excitement and utter prostration of the system.
Mrs. Waters is doing well.

ANOTHER BURGLARY IN SURREY_ .
burglary, accompanied with violence, took
day evening at the house of a Mr. Marshall, residing on
Frenchaw-common, near Farnham. About eight o'clock
Mr. Marshall, who lives with his sister alone. wasarnoapil

—Another daring
Ace on Satur-

by a long itabint /16103 nom thfibt. on oFiiini -iff;-aa;
he found a group of seven men standing round it, and as soon
as he presented himself one of their number inquired the
road to Guilford. Mr. 11farshall was in the act of stepping
out to direct them when he was suddenly knocked down,
as is supposed, by a life-preserver. The men immediately
entered the house, when they were at once encountered
by Miss Marshall, who, with great presence of mind,
rushed upstairs to procure a gun which her brother always
kept loaded, callingoutat thesame time, " I'llfireat them."
The villains caught her upon the staircase, and presenting
pistols at her, dragged her to the front door, where they
pointed out her brother lying in an insensible state on the
ground, and cautioned her to be quiet. They then ran-
sacked the house of everything of a valuable character it
contained, taking off, amongst other property, a number
of old guineas. Before leaving they abused MISS Marshall
in good set terms for not having more property in the
house. Mr. Marshall remained in an insensible state for
nearly two hours.

A ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.—A short time since,
while Mr. J. Bruce, agent to the Sunderland Water Com-
pany, was collecting the water rents from the poor inhabi-
tants at the east end of the town, he accidentally fell in
with a poor old widow, between sixty and seventy years
of age, who has followed the profession of a midwife,
amongst the poorer part of the population, for several
years. The old lady spoke in a strong Scottish dialect,
and, entering into conversation with her, he found her to
belong to a part of Scotland with which he was well ac-
quainted, and that she was a member of a highly respect-
able family in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, which she
had left about ferty years ago. He then informed her, to
her great surprise, that a rich relation had left her the
sum of £5OO about twenty years ago, and that her family.
for a long time, believing her to be dead, had often tried
to obtain her share of the cash, but without success. The
old lady was perfectly astonished on hearing the good
news, and she immediately offered to Mr. Bruce £lOO if
he could get her the rest of the cash, but the offer was
honourably refused by that gentleman, who said he would
do all in his power to assist the old lady, and only charge
the expenses. He accordingly wrote to the Procurator
Fiscal of Glasgow, and received an answer that the £5OO
was still lying unclaimed. Mr. Bruce, accompanied by
the old lady, proceeded to Glasgow, and having proved
her claim before the proper authorities, she received a
portion of the money. As soon as the legal formalities are
gone through, the fortunate old lady (who has again re-
turned to Sunderland) will receive the whole of the £5OO.

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE.—George Hacket, a noto-
rious burglar, has just escaped from Pentonville prison,
under very extraordinary circumstances. By some un-
explained means he managed to obtain possession of part
of the blade of a knife, and with this and other appliances
he, a few weeks ago, contrived to cut through three mas-
sive iron bars which secured the window' of his cell, and
it is presumed that he was on the eve of preparing to
escape when his position was detected. He was at once
removed to another part of the gaol, which proving to
him impregnable, he proceeded to devise other means of
accomplishing his object. At length he selected the
chapel as the most favourable place to carry out his de-
sign, and no doubt he had of late, during divine service,
been experimentalising as to his chance of success. The
chapel is situated on the top or central portion of the
prison, and the interior is so constructed that the convicts
cannot see each other. The seats are on raised galleries,
and partitions divide them, the clergyman and the prison
officers being the only persons who have the full view of
them. On Sunday evening week Hacket attended ser-
vice in the chapel, commencing at half-past six and con-
cluding at eight. Service being concluded, the usual
mustering of the convicts took place, when it was found
that Hacket was missing. Search was made, and on
examining the walls of the prison it was ascertained that
he had escaped, and got clear off. At first it was a mat-
ter of great surprise how he could have got out of the
chapel unobserved, having been distinctly seen to his seat,
and it was only by finding the sheets of his bed, a rope,
and his clothing on the parapet wall, that his mode of
escape was detected. It appears that by some means he
managed to wrench off the spring of the door of his cell
to form a crowbar. He concealed about him a weight,
and the sheets and rope of his bed, which he must have
wrapped round his body under his clothes. As soon as
he was conducted to his seat, he must have slipped down
off his seat on to the flooring, and by the jemmy and
weight forced out the boarding. Having got under the
gallery, he met a serious obstacle in the shape of a zinc
ventilator, but this, armed with his crowbar, soon gave
way, thus enabling him to descend to a small closet be-
neath. A window with trifling protection afforded him
access to the parapet wall some few feet below. Gaining
it, he proceeded along to one of the main walls, fifty or
sixty feet long, communicating with the governor's house,
on the north side of the prison: Reaching the end, he
by some stratagem got on to the roof of the house, a
height of more than six feet from the wall. Having ob-
tained this point, all obstacles were epparently at an end
to him. He divested himself of the prison clothing, save
his trousers and blue shirt, and left them, with the crow.
bar, rope, sheets, &c., on the roof, and by sliding down
one of the gable end walls, got clear out of the prison.
The following letter was received the day after the escape
by the governor of the prison :—" Monday, Dec. 2, 1850.
George Hacket presents his compliments to the governor
of the Model Prison, Pentonville, and begs to apprise
him of his happy escape from gaol. He was in excellent
spirits, and could assure the governor that it would be
useless for his men to pursue him ; that he was quite safe,
and in a few days intended to proceed to the continent to
recruit his health."

•n• • 11/ V• ticpcliU
Whilst thus we fix our earliest hope
We cannot, will not, have the Pope.

VARII

F.TIES

—One trains the mind, and ti

e other minds

)ADS AND THINGS.--" And where's the harm in the
Cardinal of Westrhinster ? What danger in mere
without authority ?" asks Miss Pussykitten of Mr.
; and Mr. Punch replies, " All the harm, and all
iger, Madam. Words, especially words from the

atiean, are t

AN APPLE

Lod of preser
y them in a

entlemen-I

AT ANY SE

apples is to
until they

sliers to t
A SON. —T
peel, cut,

lings."—Punch.
'he American me-
in quarters, and
, hard. The fruit

arequite

oecomes nt ror use by having boiling water poured over
it. The water it has soaked in is an excellent substitute
for fresh juice.

THE FEROCITY OF ALLIGATORS.—Of their ravenous
and ferocious disposition there can be little doubt, and

stories illustrative of it are not uncommon.
lates,
.that a man who had conducted a hors,

• -
Bontius re-
to drink was

fiercely attackec

by an enormous one, and if the latter

i,. not, suouenty sprung away, both man and horse would
have been in danger of their lives. Acosta records the
bravery of an Indian father, whose little son had been
seized by an alligator that plunged with his prey into the
depths of the river. The father, a strong and skilful
swimmer, armed with a short sword, leaped in after the

reptile, dived under it, and by a succession of vigorous
stabs in the belly compelled the monster to make for the
bank, where it deposited the child half_dr.d Mr W._

rerton is nor rue only rider who has bestridden one of
these river Bucephali. Re mounted an alligator. Adan-
son witnessed and shared in an engaffempnt with

• • lULI UAW
crocodile. The negroes, it appears, in the neighbourhood
of the river Senegal boldly attack these monsters ; and on
one occasion a negro discovered a crocodile seven feet
long asleep, among some bushes at the foot of a tree near
the banks of the river. The negro stealthily crept up,
and inflicted a deep wound on the side of the reptile's
neck. The crocodile with one sweep of his tail knocked
the negro off his legs ; but he rose instantly, and slipped
a rope over the crocodie's muzzle, while one of his com-
panions secured the formidable tail. Then Adanson
leaped on the crocodile's back, and kept it down while
the negro drew out the knife which he had left sticking
in the wound, and cut off his antagonist's head. Another
author mentions one of the garrison of Fort St. Louis
who used frequently to amuse himself with these duels,
and always with success; till at last he was so terribly
wounded in one of those combats, that he must have
been killed outright if some of his comrades had not come
to the rescue.—Fraser.

A CROCODILE STORY.—We had some talk the other
day with one of the very few survivors of the expedition
under Sir Ralph Abercromby, who has lived to obtain the
Egyptian medal fifty years after it was earned. What a
mockery to wait until there were not, perhaps, ten alive
in the country. and then award them medals ! However,
to our story. When the brigade under Sir David Baird
was marching up the eastern bank of the Nile, towards
Cairo, a number of stragglers fell behind, unable from
fatigue to keep up with the main bogy. A rear-guard was
consequently detached to protect the stragglers and keep
them together. One of them, a Highlander, however,
became so exhausted that his comrades were obliged to
leave him to his fate. He had not been alone long when
he saw a large crocodile waddling towards him, with a
very portentous aspect. Poor Donald eyed the monster
as it approached him with feelings of _intense alarm ; and
although almost unable to walk, he mustered up his little
remaining strength and awaited the onslaught of the
enemy. As the unwieldy brute was slewing himself
round to seize him Donald dexterously got astride on its
back, and kept his seat. He at once drew his bayonet
(for he had parted with his musket), and every time the
animal turned round its head to bite him he pricked it
severely behind its fore leg, or wherever he could make
the steel penetrate. How long the contest lasted Donald
could not well tell, but he thought it an age. When the
rearguard reached head-quarters the general, on being
informed that Donald had been left behind, immediately
despatched a corporal's guard to bring him in. On
coming up to Donald, there he was still astride of his
Bucephalus, which was by this time nearly exhausted
with the wounds inflicted by the bayonet. The musket
soon accomplished what the bayonet .had begun, and
Donald was brought into camp little the worse for his ex-
traordinary encounter, and was ever after known in the
regiment as the Crocodile Dragoon.—North British

RISE AND FALL OF HORTICULTURAL ENTHUSIASM.—
Mrs. Dingley, on her part, consoled herself, and indulged
her pride of housekeeping, by raising—thanks to Tisdal,
and several large treatises on gardening—excellent tender
vegetables, and asparagus unequalled in size and flavour;
that was her triumph. While S.vift was at Moor Park,
with Sir William Temple, he had learned from William
TII to cut them in the Dutch fashion, and had communi-
cated the royal receipt to Mrs. Dingley. Tisdal had no
prejudices in the matter of horticulture, and cut the
asparagus like a Dutchman. Moreover, Swift had told
Mrs. Dingley that the King ate the white part of the
asparagus as well as the head : and from that time forth,
Mrs. Dingley never saw asparagus at table without re-
peating the anecdote, and urging her guests to follow the
august example. Tisdal had an excellent set of teeth,
and accordingly ate the whites of the asparagus. But
Swift, in his partiality for Stella, would not allow that
the vegetable department was better conducted thin the
poultry-yard ; he took delight in tormenting Dinglibus,
and denying all her successes. The asparagus, he said,
was stringy ; the green peas too old ; the French beans
tasted like tares; the artichokes were overgrown thistles;
in short, nothing escaped his censure. Mrs. Dingley was
used to Swift's sarcasms, and a few jokes more or less
would not have discouraged her, had she been really fond
of gardening ; but the fact was, that she was bored by all
things, and in all places. She had been pleased by the
notion of living in the country only because she was
tired of the town. She eagerly seized the first pretext for
disgust; and as even the least ingenious persons are
never at a loss how to gloss over their faults, she one fine
morning found out the walls round her garden, and de-
clared that such a place did not deserve to be called the
country. From that moment the good doctor's servitude
was at an end. The garden was left to a hired labourer
for two days in the month, and to Providence for the
other 28 ; and the flowers got no more water, except what
fell from heaven. Great indeed was the change in Ding-
ley's kingdom. The strawberries ran over the gravel-
walks like mad ; the humble parsley shot up to the
height of a couple of feet, and gave itself the airs of a
shrub ; the very asparagus—the royal asparagus—filled
with guilty emulation, pointed towards the sky with their
scarlet tops. Encouraged by the disorder, thistles, net-
tles, in short a whole host of parasites, took up their
quarters in the beds. The rakes and spades were covered
with rust—all was anarchy. The evil example of the
poultry-yard had spread to the kitchen-garden ; the
vegetables grew old and tough, and, like the fowls, were
left to die a natural death. Luckily, Trim was a market
town, and the cook well knew how to console herself.—
Lady Duff Gordon's Stella and Venessa.