The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-10 00:00:00

MISCE LLANEOUS.

ALL FOR LOVE AND A LITTLE FOR COMPASSTON.—
Yesterday se'nnight an alarm spread through the town
that a man had been killed in an Irish row at the end of
the Northgate ; and the alarm was confirmed by a man
being taken to the lock-up who had inflicted the blow.
It turned out, however, that the man was only " kilt ;"
but as be met with very considerable compassion he
" shammed Abraham" for a considerable time. Police-
man Rawson at last, however, brought him to life again
by the threat to give him a taste of his shillelagh, on
which the dying man got up and walked home. He had
however, got a shocking cut on the head, sufficient no
doubt to kill anybody but an Irishman. He refused to
appear against the man who had inflicted it, very saga-
ciously and no doubt veraciously observing that " if he
bad got licked he must have done something to deserve
it."—Halifax Guardian.

PASSENGERS ON AILWAYS.—An article appearsin the
last number of the Westminster Review on railway admi-
nistration, advocating the principle that passengers may
be carried at infinitely less sums than they now pay, and
that very low fares will prove in the end the best source
of profit to the proprietors. From the evidence given by
Mr. Hudson before the Railway Committee the writer
draws the statement, that on the North and York Mid-
land Railways coals are carried at the rate of three far-
things per ton per mile, and that that price is a remunera-
tive one. Estimating that 13 passengers would go to a
ton, he finds that a regulation load of passengers on the
London and Birmingham Railway, that is, three tons and
a half, or 46 passengers, who standing up would only oc-
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not liable to be lost or stolen, be charged higher than
goods? This is, of course, going to a violent extreme ;
but it is a useful line of argument as showing that the
fares are capable of being very considerably reduced,
leaving a profit which would very much increase from the
additional numbers conveyed.

CHINESE IDEAS Of FUTURE PUNISHMENTS.—In a
recess, probably fifteen feet square, were placed the figures
representing the judge or king, the assistant demons, the
witnesses and prisoners, each as large as life, and clothed
in the garb they are supposed to wear. Each seems eager
to surpass the other in ferocity, and the perfect hideous-
ness of their countenances one would suppose alone suf-
ficient to prevent crime altogether. Behind a large table,
carrying a most magisterial tied ferocious air, is seen
seated the king of the particular hell over which it is his
duty to preside, his brow contracted, his eyes rolling and
starting from their sockets, his lips conveying the idea of
unbending firmness, and his whole demeanour just such
as one would suppose a gentleman of his character to as-
sume. Immediately in front of the table, pinioned and
on his knees, is a most wo-begone personage, the unfor-
tunate culprit, who is waiting to receive his doom, while
on either side stand several hideous-looking figures, their
eyes glaring fiercely on their victim, and while some sus-
tain a heavy chain which is attached to his body, others
are busily employed in preparing, or making use of, vari-
ous instruments of torture. In advance of the entire con-
clave, placed over a hissing and turbulent fire, is seen the
final receptacle for the unfortunate sinner, a large pot
filled with boiling oil, having its edges "garnished" with
demons of frightful forms and looks, who are amusing
themselves with spears in preventing the escape from the
pot of sundry other victims, who are receiving their al-
lowance of the punishment that the hard-hearted King of
Terrors has already meted out to them. At length the
sentence is pronounced, and as the prisoner is raised upon
the ends of various sharp-pointed instruments, and cast
into the boiling liquid, the roar of the demons, mingled
with the crackling of the flames, drown at once all cries
for mercy, and afford the spectator a good idea of the
puni,hrnents in store in the Hell of the Boiling Cauldron.
—Chinese Olio.

THE LAW OF COURTSHIP.—An American paper gives
the following account of a trial for breach of promise of
marriage, in which the judge laid down a new doctrine,
which we should not be sorry to see adopted !—" A case
was recently tried in Rutland, Vermont, North America,
in which a Miss Munson recovered 1425 dollars of a Mr.
Hastings, for a breach of a marriage contract. The cu-
riosity of the thing is this—the Vermont judge charged the
jury that no explicit promise was necessary to bind the
parties to a marriage contract, but that long-continued at-
tentions or intimacy with a female was as good evidence of
intended matrimony as a special contract. The principle of
the ease undoubtedly is, that if Hastings did not promise
he ought to have done so—the law holds him responsible
for the non-performance of his duty. A most excellent
decision—a most righteous judge, compared wiih whom
Daniel would appear but a common squire ! We have no
idea of young fellows dangling about after girls for a year
or two, and then going off leaving their sweethearts half
courted ; we hate this everlasting nibble and never a bite,
this beating the bush and never starting the game—
it is one of the crying sins of the age. There is not
one girl in twenty can tell whether she is courted or
not. No wonder that when Betty Simper's cousin
asked if Billy Doubtful courted her, she replied, I don't
know exactly—he's a sorter courtin' and a sorter not
courtin'.' We have no doubt that this Hastings is one of
these ' sorter not courtin' fellows, and most heartily do
we rejoice that the judge has brought hire to book with a
1425 dollars verdict. The judge says that long continued
attentions c r intimacy is just as good as a regular promise.
Now, we do not know what would pass for intimacy accord-
in, to the laws of Vermont, but supposing attentions to
consist of visiting a girl twice a week, and estimating the
time wasted by ;Miss Munson at each visit .to be worth a
dollar (which is too cheap), Mr. Hastings has been mak-

ing a fool of himself 14 years and some odd weeks.
This decision makes a new era in the law of love, and,
we make no doubt, will tend to :the promotion of ma-
trimony and morality."
DREADFUL INUNDATION, STOCKPORT.—A heavy
storm set in in this neighbourhood on Friday, accompa-
nied with an immense quantity of rain. Tee principal
damage occurred at Hazel-grove, about three miles from
the town, where was a large reservoir of water, at one
end of which, ten feet from it, was a wall, about as many
feet high and nearly forty yards long. A stream com-
municating with the reservoir became prodigiously
swollen, and there being not sufficient outlet for the
water, it overflowed and pressed against the wall, flowing
in large quantities round its ends. Some men passing by
observed that the water was flowing over the top, and
a man who stood near apprehending danger called out to
a number of young women that they had better remain
a short time, and then attempt to pass it: A
number of them, however, persevered, and crept under the
wall for shelter, whe❑ at the moment the force of the
water swept the wall from its foundation for the length
of about thirty yards, carrying a great number of the
unfortunate people away with the current, many of
whom were buried under the ruins of the wall. Thir-
teen were very severely injured, and six of them are dead.
At Worth Clough the Macclesfield canal overflowed its
banks filling some of the coal pits, putting out the engine
fires, and setting several carts and horses afloat. At
Hope-green, on the Macclesfield-road, a wall, running
parallel with a brook which skirts the road, was at one
point forced down by the water. The " Express" Pot-
tery coach was passing at the moment, and was near beir,g
upset by the rush of water. All the coaches on that line
of road were delayed many hours beyond their usual time
in consequence of the flood. At Danbrople a bridge was
washed down as a horse and cart were going over it, and
the horse drowned. [Our Manchester correspondent's
subsequent letter gives the following additional circum-
stances :---`" At the end of the village runs a small rivulet
or brook, which, in ordinary times, appears a very insig-
nificant stream : it rose, however, with rapidity, and over-
flowed its hanks in alldirections,flooding the adjoiningfields,
inundating many of the cottages contiguous to it. About
half a mile down the brook stands a very fine cotton fac-
tory, belonging to Mr. Cooper, known as " Wellington
Mills." The flood rose so rapidly that, almost without
previous notice, the yard of the mill presented the appear-
ance of a large reservoir ; the fires were extinguished, and
the machinery stopped. Some labourers, who were at
work in the yard, became surrounded with water, and
were only saved from drowning by the other hands, who
had gained an elevated position, throwing ropes to them,
which they tied round their bodies, and were then drawn
through the water, which at that period was seven or
eight feet deep in the mill-yard."]