The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-12-19 00:00:00

CHESHIRE AND WALES.

CHESHIRE MlLlTlA.—Commission signed by the Lord-
Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Chester. 2nd Regi-
ment of Royal Cheshire Militia. Henry Brougham Loch,
gent., to be Captain.
TROTTING MATCH.—On Tuesday, a trotting. match,
which excited considerable interest in the neighbour-
hood of Egremont and Seacombe, took place on the road
from the Dock Cottages to Birkenhead. The match was
for £5O a-side, the contending ponies belonging to Mr.
Wm.Roebuek, Egremont, and Mr. S. Llewelyn, Seacombe.
The match was won by Mr. Llewelyn's " Cobnut," beat-
ing Mr. Roebuck's "Black Bess" by 50 yards.
NEW Lames AT CLAUGHTON. The inhabitants of
Claughton and its neighbourhood will be pleased to learn
that, through the instrumentality of Mr. Henry Curry,
the lighting and watch committee have consented to
place a lamp at the corner of Slaty-lane and Claughton,
thereby giving increased security to that hitherto danger-
ous locality. Within the last few days, more than one
person has been stopped by footpads.
A COUNTY TOWN WITHOUT A CIIIIRCII.— From the
North Wales Chronicle we learn with sorrow that Car-
narvon, the largest port, and second largest town in
North Wales, is literally destitute of a church. It
and would
appear that an old patched-up garrison chapel a
school-room is all the accommodation provided for church-
people ! We trust that the' rich Welshmen throughout
the kingdom may speedily combine to wipe away so foul a
digrace, and help the inhabitants to raise a church worthy
the sacred worship of Jehovah, and the dignity of a
county town.
CAPTURE OF HIGHWAYMAN.—A daring scoundrel
was captured on Tuesday last, at about half-past twelve
o'clock, at Childer Thornton,'near Eastham.• Two men
'named Johnson and Dooley, who live in Birkenhead,
get a living by the purchase and sale of pigs, were met on
the road near Bromborough, and stopped by the ruffian,
who made the usual demand of money, or threatened im-
Imediately to destroy the lives of both, at the same time
presenting a loaded pistol, already capped, at the head of
Dooley. At this juncture, a man on horseback fortunately
came up, when the robber made a precipitate retreat,
hotly pursued by the three, who were now joined by the
constable of the village, Joseph Walker. The constable
succeeded ultimately in securing the ruffian, when he
found on his person a considerable quantity of powder and
shot, beSides a formidable knife, some ten inches long,
which the villain threatened to use on the body of the
officer. He was brought up at the Birkenhead Police-
court on Wednesday, when he gave the name of Edward
M`Ewen. He was committed for trial at the assizes.
Walker's conduct in the highwayman's apprehension has
been highly commended.
A SAUSAGE FACTORY.—A few days since the police
discovered the carcase of a horse in the back yard of Mr.
Macanally, pie and sausage establishment, in Park-street,
Birkenhead. The circumstance was immediately commu-
nicated to Mr. Burgess, inspector of nuisances, who visited
the premises, and found that the flesh had in the mean-
time 'been stripped off, and nothing but the bones re-
mained. He proceeded to examine the house, and found
a large quantity of hot meat pies, sausages, and black
'puddings, which were understood to be for the Liverpool
market. In _consequence of a very offensive smell, the
inspector went down into the cellar kitchen, and, to his
surprise, found that it had been converted into a pig-stye,
in which there was a fine pig. He also found the carcase
of an old goat 'in a pan, with salt on it, and from in-
quiries he found that the goat had died the day previous
in a brickfield near to the house. Mr. Sothern, superin-
tendent of the market, seized the carcase of the goat, it
'being unsound and unfit for human food. The horse died
'in a brickfield a day or two previous to the officer finding
it on the premises. It is only about a fortnight since
Macanally opened the shop. Mr. Burgess has taken pro-
teedings against him.
BRUTAL TREATMENT OF A CHILD BY ITS STEP-
MOTHER.—On Friday, Mrs. Jane Walker, Egerton-street,
Birkenhead, appeared before the Birkenhead police court,
in answer to a charge of cruelty towards Catharine
Walker, her -step-daughter, a child between nine and ten
years of age. From the evidence of several witnesses, it
appeared that the defendant had been in the habit of
striking, severely beating, and otherwise ill-treating the
child; and also, on the authority of the medical practition-
ers, it was proved that the child had been neglected as to
cleanliness, and food and clothing; and was suffering
from ulcers on its arm, throat, and foot, which might
have been occasioned by the ill-treatment referred to,
and which had not been properly attended to. From the
latter testimony, it also appeared, that the child, being of
scrofulous and delicate habit of body, required more care
than usual, and far more than it had received. Mrs.
Walker, in defence, denied all the statements which had
been made by the various witnesses ; but did not call any
evidence to support lier denial of the charges. Mr.
Jackson, one of the mTgistrates, said the bench felt satis-
fied that the parties who had brought this matter before
the court had done so from a creditable motive. Most of
the witnesses who had come forward were married per-
sons, and many of them had, no doubt, families, and, as
parents, were naturally disgusted with the treatment to
which they saw this poor child had been subjected. The
defendant, in taking the father of this child as her hus-
band, took him with all his incumbrances, and it was her
duty to protect the child, not to ill-use it. If a man had
been brought before them for such ill-usage of a female,
he would have been severely punished under the present
law, and the bench did not see why they should allow the
defendant to go unpunished, when she had been guilty
of such cruelty towards a little child, not ten years of age.
They were satisfied that a gross assault had been com-
mitted, and be was not sure that they should be doing
their duty if they did not send her for trial before another
tribunal. However, they would fine her £6, the full
penalty which the court could inflict.
NEW THEORIES OF THE UNIVERSE. Dr. Bedford, of
New Brighton, has published a paper (which he prepared
for reading before the British Association, but which was
declined by the Secretary of the Local Committee, Dr. In-
man,) bearing the above title, and embAying new and
peculiar views as to the formation of the heavenly bodies.
The author's theory will be best explained by the following
extract from the pamphlet :—" I consider that the centri-
fugal force of the sun, when that body was in a more igne-
ous liquid state, caused the matter to continue to accumu-
late at its equator, until, finally, its excess was thrown off
as described •, and, as we have seen in the case of ' Halley's
comet," until its centrifugal and translatory forces were
balanced, still preserving its excess of equatorial diameter
over its polar diameter, which figure I believe, is generally
attributed to the cause assigned. The most remote
primary planet, I consider, was first projected, when the
projectile force of the sun was greatest,—the lighter
matter, or that of the least specific gravity, as a rule, being
thrown off first, and each in succession inwards to Mercury,
which is composed of matter of the greatest density. In
like manner as were the primary planets ejected from the
equator of the sun, so, I believe, were the satellites pro-
jected from the equator of their primaries. And, in refer-
ence to the satellities of Saturn, I have the fullest convic-
tion that, hereafter, it will be discovered that one or more
of these satellites will be found to have a tertiary, or, more
properly, a quarternary planet revolving around them.
My reason for this supposition is, that, the less the specific
gravity of the planet, the greater the number of satellites,
as a rule. And the matter of which Saturn, rings, and
satellites are composed being so exceedingl threwflid, when
projected from the sup, its ceptrifu,s-al force off for