Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1842-01-06
PUBLISHED WEEKLY.
NUMBER "a.
FROM the Ecr Tovk com,aereial xdrertsser.
DISTRESS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

The last %ccoun from the other Size
Of the Atlantic show the existence of great
distress among the lahoring and poorer
classes in Great Britain. A correspond.
ent Of The London Globe describes the
state of Nottingham
" Hundreds are starving on straw beds,
without food, fire, or covering and these
are people who would work Il they could
get il. Each day. parties of mon, with
starvation in their looks and dressed IN
abs lutte rags, have been ParadIng the
town in professions of two, three, and icur
hundred, carrying q board, on which IS
printed in large letters distressed ana
out Of work. Other parties, to the nun.
Der Of thirty or forty. drag carts loaded
with sand through the streets, and beg from
door to door. The relief list at the Union
Workhouse contains 5000 recipients.
The house itself has 900 inmates crammcd
within lis wills. y Besides those
receiving parish relief, upwards of 1000
are starving. Distress and gaunt misery
haunt the whole town. Trade is dead /,
not a single master employs full hands,"
Meetings to devise measures of relief
are going on,
The Blackburn Gazette thus speaks Of
the condition OF the poor in that section OF
the country /:
The situation OF the poor in Blackburn
and neighborhood is at present truly dc,
plorable. Even when in full work, the
condition of the hand loom weaver is such
as TO excite commisseration ; but, al the
present moment, when wages are unusual.
" low, labor scarce or unaitainable, and
the season most inclement, their snfferInRs
appear to have reached the last stage Of
human endurance.
A London paper says that the deb,ors'
prisons in Newcastle, Durham, Lancaster.
&C., are all crowded to excess, from tho
commercial failures which have taken
place within the last year. Another Lon
don journal tells Us that on the 26,h ult.,
there were ia persons confined for debt.
in FIVE metropolitan prisons!
SCoTL ,Np.-The ironmongers OF Scot
land have resolved to blow out for six
months on%e-fourth OF their furnaces. This
is a resolution OF dire necessity on tina
part ofthe masters, and will o. course be-
felt with great severity by the numerous
body OF operatives in connexion with this
branch cf industry in the West of Scot
land Again, the early severity of the
winter throws completely idle, consldera-
bly, before the usual period, that indus.
trious body the masons, and other out
door workers in with them.
The city missionaries, secretaries oil tho
different charity societies, aud ~clergymen
in populous districts Of tho suburbs, are
all soliciting aid Of every description, 10
relieve the distress they daily como In
with.
The Calico printing business is IN the
hopeless state and we are certain
we do no exaggerate when we say thai
in the West Of Scotland one half Of tho
workers arc idle, and that the same num-
Der Of masters would be bankrupt had
they not capital to fall back upon. As
to the weaving population, they have for
so long been reduced to a state of misery.
and we have so frequently had occasion
to state the helpless state they have come
TO, that we do not feel inclined to say
more about them. The distress is now
a general direction, and it IS to
this fact that VIC wish particularly 10 dis
rect attention. The small dealers in
many of the manufacturing districts now
find their capital represented by debts
owing by idle operatives, who are utterly
unable to pay, and in these circumstances
to realize money or shut up shop is in
either case hopeless they must " hold
or" till money and credit are gone, and
then their next step ls-ruln. How long
this state of matters will continue, is now
the question asked by every one.-Glas.
gop ChYon.
The only exception we find noticed 10
the general distress of the manufacturing
districts is the following from Birming,
ham
Things are looking up with US 10 some
degree, and a much better winter may bs
expected for our industrious artisans than
could have been anticipated some time
ago. Our hopes, repeatedly expressed
OF the effect of Mr.. McLeod's acquittal,
have not been without their realization.
Some Of our manufacturers are now re-
ceiving large orders from the United
States, which orders were suspended
while the misunderstanding between the
two countries was pending. and issued al.
ter the trial was over, The calamitous
FIRE at the Tower, too, though . national
loss, will prove a temporary beneht 70
this town, as well as on essential bene-
&, Ia the united services the 100, 900 or
200. 600 aiBt muskets destroyed beng a.
bout 10 be replaced BY percussion ones.