The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-11-03 00:00:00

GENERAL MISCELLANY

The potatoes in the township of Queenhead are not so
much a failure as was anticipated.—Leeds Mercury.
The thick coal colliers of Dudley have given notice for
a rise of is. per day, which will make six shillings per day.
The Bucks Quarter Sessions decided last week, by a
majority of one, not to call upon the chaplain of the
county gaol for the confession of Tawell.

Among the list of articles of merchandise imported
from Ireland during the past week, may be mentioned
1,509 pigs of lead, the production► of the sister isle.
All the crew, except one, of the steamer Loch Ryan.
which was recently wrecked, were saved by a brig which
took them from the ill-fated vessel.
A young gentleman in London received last week se-
rious injuries, while making some experiments on the
projectile power of gun cotton.
A servant girl, whilst cleaning an upper window from
tho outside, in 131ackfriar's•road, the other day, fell into
the street, and was taken up without hopes of recovery.
A PEER A PREACHER.—The Right. Hon. Lord Tevn-
ham preached in the long room of the Angel Inn,
Sherborne, on' Monday.

A SPORISWOMAN.—In a shooting party on the Blen-
heim domain, the Duchess of Martb3rough this week
brought down eight head of game with her own gun.
It has been resolved to appropriate the sum of £16,000
to the purpose of enlarging the Gloucester docks, in order
to meet the increasir, trade of the port.
At a wedding, which took place on Monday, at Snaith,
the bridal party and the guests arrived at the church on
sistem donkeys.
A few days since, at a meeting in Edinburgh, Dr. Chal-
mers announced that it was the last time that he should
address a popular assembly.
Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh, the oldest baronet in the
empire, expired on the 26th ult., at his scat, Up-park,
Sussex, at the age of 92.
On Monday, the omnibus which runs between Barnard
Castle and Darlington was upset. One passenger, Cuth-
bert Watson, Esq., sustained serious injury.
A few days since, a woman was poisoned at Bishop-
wearmouth, through taking a dose of tincture of opium
instead of tincture of rhubarb. The dose had been given
at a dru;gist's shop by a boy in mistake.
RussrAN BUTTER.—A vessel, just arrived in one of
the dock establishments from Russia' has brought, in ad-
dition to a cargo of t 4. and wood goods, thirty-nine casks
of butter, of Russian produce.
Last week a vesel arrived in London from Ghent with
200 orange trees in full leaf and vigour, and another from
France with 121 orange trees, and several cases of choice
flowers. •
UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE.—Fridav week's Gazette
contains only three bankrupts,—a builder, a currier, and
a publican ; and in Tuesday's Gazette there are four,
namely, two grocers, one hosier, and one victualler.
Mrs. Jane Thompson, wife of Mr. John Thompson,
ag nt of the Berwick Bank, was tried at the court of
quarter sessions, Berwick. on Monday and Tuesday last,
on a charge of robbing the bank in August last, and
acquitted .

The Daily News mentions a rumour that Mr. Peto, the
eminent contractor, will, at the ensuing general election,
offer himself as a candidate for the representation of
Norwich.

AWFULLY SUDDEN DEATH.—On Wednesday, Mr.W.
Lake, a highly-respectable City solicitor, whose offices
are at No. 18, Aldermanbury, left his residence at Cam-
berwell at the usual time, so as to reach his office by
half-past nine o'clock in the morning. About eleven
o'clock his son, Mr. John Lake, called at the office, and
was surprised at finding his father lying on the floor,
quite dead.
RESIGNATION OF A TOWN-CLERK.—At a meeting of
the Carlisle Council, on Tuesday week, Mr. Nanson, the
respected town-clerk, announced his intention to resign
the situation at the next quarterly meeting. So very
valuable have been the services of Mr. Nanson to the
corporation, that the mayor, on learning the announce-
ment of the resignation, declared that in losing Mr.
Nanson the corporation lost their right arm, so very effi-
ciently had he at all times acted in behalf of their interests
The recorder of Hull, Mr. T. Baines, Esq., a well-
known dissenter, in an address to the grand jury last
week, said, in alluding to the condition of the people,—
" The great thing which we should all uni e in seeking,
should he the giving of means to every person of learning
his duty to God and his duty to his fellow-creatures, and
the best way in which those duties can be performed ;
and also we should seek to impress upon their minds,
that their own interests will be promoted just in propor-
tion to their fulfilment of those duties.

TRIBUTE OF RESPECT.—The proprietors of the Globe.
and Traveller newspaper have unanimously voted a
handsome piece of plate to Thomas Chapman, Esq., as a
tribute of respect to that gentleman on his retirement
from its successful direction as managing proprietor for a
period of twenty years. Mr. Chapman has been con-
nected as a proprietor with the metropolitan journals
during the last fifty-two years ; and may be termed the
father of the London press, having attained, with good
health and spirits, the age of 83, on the 12th of last month.
SISTERS OF MERCY.—A community of the Sisters of
Mercy has been recently established in Bristol, in a large
and commodious house. The Sisters of Penance of St.
Dominic, whose labours embrace the whole works of
mercy, corporal and spiritual, are about to be established
in another portion of that city. At Penryn, near Fal-
mouth, a community of the Sisters of Notre Dame has
been introduced from Belgium with two establishments,
the one for the education of the poor, the other as a pen-
sion for the more wealthy class; the establishment for the
poor already educates, and instructs in various branches
of trade, upwards of eighty poor girls.
THE BRISTOL DOCKS.—Very warm opposition seems
to have been raised at Bristol against making a free port
there. A meeting of the " Free Port Association" will
be held to-morrow (Wednesday) when the proposition
will be discussed. A Mr, Visger seems the leader of the
oppositionists. "On that day's deliberation" says the
Bristol Mirror, " in our view, will depend whether the
Free-Port Association intends to do anything or not, and,
for our parts, we await with anxiety the result. It has
been a point urged by us from the first—time, time, time,
—is the great consideration, and unless this preliminary
step be taken, nothing can be done for the next three
years. Will such ruinous delay be allowed ?"
DEATH OF MR. TERNAN, THE ACTOR.—This gentle-
man, so well known in the theatrical world, expired on
the ith instant, after an illness of many months, at the
age of forty-two years. He engaged in the management
of the Newcastle and Sheffield theatres, with most disas-
trous results; the savings of his early efforts were lost,
energies were crushed by the unexpected termination of
the managerial speculation, and despondency took pos-
session of his mind, and entirely prevented him from the
exercise of his profession till his decease, which took
place at the house of his brother at Gravesend. By his
union with Mrs. Ternan, three children are left. Mrs.

Ternan (formerly Miss Jarman) is herself a member of
the Surrey company, where she is the chief actress with
Mr. Macready. _ _ _ _

At the Central Criminal Court, London, on Tuesday, a
bootmaker, named Poyster, was convicted of obtaining
from Mary Woodhouse, of Nottingham, the sum of £2O,
under false pretences. it appeared that the complainant
entertained an idea that she was entitled to some pro-
perty as the descendant of a gentleman named Stokes,
and the prisoner was introduced to her as a person likely
to assist her in the recovery of it, and he had, it appeared,
by artful representations that he was in communication
with a barrister, and that the property would all be
recovered, induced the prosecutrix not only to give him
all the money she could raise by other means, but actu-
ally to sell the little annuity which was her sole depen-
dence, and she was in consequence reduced almost to a
state of destitution.

yv
PROGRESS OF PoPvnv.—During the last fortnight,
the Rev. Father Gaudentius has administered the re-
spective services at the Catholic Chapel, Selby, connected
with the spiritual retreat. These services have been
crowded to excess. Indeed, many hundreds were unable
to obtain admission. At seven o'clock each morning,
mass was offered ; in the evenings, sermons were extem-
poraneously delivered. The solemn benediction of the
blessed sacrament, amid the blaze of upwards of 130 wax
lights from the altar, intermingled with flowers of every
hue, concluded the service. Beyond these services, the
whole of his time was constantly employed in giving in-
struction to many converts. On Sunday evening, the
11th, no less than six of these made a public profession of
the faith they had embraced. The applicants have been
so numerous, that the Rev. Gentleman has been obliged
to prolong his stay until the evening of Sunday next,
when it is expected a much larger number of converts
will make a similar public manifestation.—York paper.
NEW MODE OF PROPULSION.—A new mode of pro-
pelling vessels has been tried with great satisfaction at
Boulogne. It has long been considered a matter of im-
possibility that the principle of the paddle-wheel could be
rendered of any useful effect when totally submerged. the
present invention has demonstrated to a certainty that such
a disadvantage can be overcome. The principle is based
en the well-known properties of the: parabola, as respects
light, and the same properties are proved to be true as re-
spects hydrostatics. The blades are sections of a parabo.

loid, and are so constructed as to impinge on the concave
surface, whereby the water is grasped and compressed to
the centre of the axis, and thrown off in a direct line with
the plane of the vessel's course, thereby rendering the
propulsion superior in efficiency to the common paddle-
wheel, being uniform and continuous without drawback in
respect of back-water. Another advantage exists in the
area of surface as compared with the screw, as less than
one-half of parabolic area will work more efficiently with
the same power. _

THE CABINET.—The Standard of Friday night says,
—As we have already said, Lord J. Russell and Lord
John Cottenham, on Wednesday, urged earnestly the
constitutional necessity for an early session, (before
Christmas) not only to obtain an act of indemnity for
Lord Besborough's extension of the Labour hate Act,
but also to obtain a parliamentary sanction for the reduc-
tion of the 4s. duty on imported grain. On Wednesday,
however, the council broke up without coming to any de-
finite resolution. At the meeting of the ministers yes-
terday the subject was resumed ; and on this latter occa-
sion, the opponents of an early session had the advan-
tage of Mr. B incroft's arrival from the United States with
intelligence that the supply of grain collected in the Ame-
rican ports for exportation is so ample as to render it ex-
tremely improbable that the necessity for a reduction of
the duty ; thus removing a principal motive for an early
session, and relieving the premier from the obligation to
take another step in what lie is said to call " the adminis-
tration of a despotism."—[The Times of Saturday dissi-
pates every speculation on this subject. Parliament will
not meet until the 12th of January, and the ports are not
to be opened.]
UNIFORM RECEIPT STAMP TAX.—A gentleman in
London has been impressing upon the Government,
through the newspapers and by means of a pamphlet, that
an uniform rate of one penny stamp tax upon all receipts
and bankers' checks, in lieu of the present rates, would
increase the revenue and put an end to much heart-
burning. The general evasion of the duty on receipts
which prevails at the present time is the great motive for
the proposed alteration, and some facts of past years are
adduced to show that a larger revenue would be the pro-
bable result of a more moderate tax. In the year 1783,
when the rates were 2d. for £2 and under £2O, and 4d.
for all higher sums, the produce estimated by the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer was £250,000 per annum. In
1823, when the rates were nearly the same as now, the
gross produce of the tax was—from Great Britain,
£194,534, less by expenses of management, £8791 ; and
in 1843, it was only 1:187,508, less by expenses of manage-
ment; £12,753. It is evident that the value of this
branch of revenue has diminished rather than progressed
with the increase of population, and hence the projector
of the new scheme would try the effect of a lower rate.
THE OVERLAND ROUTE.—The Morning Herald says
that they have succeeded in showing " the superiority of
the route through France, as the following statement will
prove :—Mr. Waghorn left Alexandria at 12 20 p.m. on
the 20th instant. The Herald dispatches left Alexandria
a quarter of an hour later—viz., at 12 35 p.m. on the
same day. The Ariel, a new and splendid vessel belong-
ing to the Oriental Company, bearing our dispatches,
arrived at Marseilles at 5 50 p.m. on the 26th instant,
having had very bad weather to encounter. The follow-
ing account of the voyage has been sent to us ;—` The
Ariel had gales of wind to encounter all the voyage right
ahead, except during part of the 23d. This vessel, under
the most favourable circumstances, can make the voyage,
from port to port, in five days, and, upon the average, in
five and a half days.' It will be observed that in this
instance, owing to the bad weather she encountered, she
took six days and five hours; and in consequence of the
inundations prevailing in France. our courier took half a
day longer than usual to perform the distance from Mar-
seilles. Yet, notwithstanding these great disadvantages,
the journey from Alexandria to London was performed in
nine days and a half, and under favourable circumstances
can always be performed in eight days.
SINGULAR FACT—A. LESSON FOR GORMANDISERS...6-
On Friday morning a kingfisher was found dead on the
banks of the pool of Alleusmore, near this city, with a
perch about two inches and a half long in its throat.
The bird had attempted to swallow the fish whole, but
the dorsal fin of the latter appears to have alike prevented
descent or return ; fixed, consequently, in the gullet, the
victim caused the death of its beautiful but voracious de-
stroyer by suffocation. The plumage of the kingfisher
is furnished with a sort of metallic surface resplendent
with the most brilliant hues—hence the action of water
produces little effect upon it, and the manner in which
the bird will dart beneath the surface of a river or a
stream and seize its prey transversely, is remarkable.
Returned to its position on a tree or bank, it commences
the destruction of the captive. Without losing its hold,
it passes the fish between its mandibles until it has fairly
grasped it by the tail, and then ends the struggles of the
prey by beating its head against the place where it sits.
The bird next reverses the position, and if it has no young
to which to bear off the prize, swallows its prey head fore-
most. This appears to have been the coutse in the pre.
sent instance, but the repast being too bountiful, proved
fatal.--Hereford Journal.