The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-01-04 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

THE MANCHESTER EXAMINER, TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1848.  produced by human agency,—the gradual silting up of a lake, the extension of a river delta, the transition of a low forest tract to a swamp—there is a change produced in the relative level of land and sea; if the bed of an ocean is rising, a low tract just above the sea level sinking, or such like change going on, then, indeed, the effect produced became of vital and direct importance. The remainder of the lecture was devoted to an explanation of the laws governing the distribution and the quantity of moisture; the fall of rain, and the special and local laws of its distribution.  some pebbles at her window; she let me in, and I went to bed directly. I generally leave my.coat and waistcoat down stairs on Saturday night, as she takes care of them; I left her in the kitchen, and don't know whether she took them; if she saw them there, she would, which would account for the girl's not seeing them. I went to bed, and saw nothing more till I saw Mr. Cooper (the constable) bring deceased away from the place. That is all I can answer for the deceased from seeing him alive to his death." During the coroner's summing up, the prisoner occassionally interposed remarks, the matter of which, at his request, was added to She preceding declaration; in one instance, pointing out an apparent discrepancy in the evidence of one of the constables. His demeanour in the jury-room was quiet and becoming;  his anxiety and depre;sicin on the concluding day of die inquiry evidently increased, and a sense of his fearful position seemed to overpower him when the coroner, in beginning his address to the jury, bespoke their most careful attention to the mass of evidence he was about to read, inasmuch as they must be aware that the charge involved was one which might affect the life of the prisoner. In the course of his summing up, the coroner alluded to the footmarks, to which much attention had been directed. That kind of evidence, he observed, was considered as of the weakest class; and, as an illustration of its uncertainty, he added that several of the jury, during the imp-dry, had tried their own footmarks, and found that they could seldom be sure of two impressions being alike. It was, however, important in this case, so far as giving proof that the murderer had returned towards Kirton; and on measuring the strides, they appeared to be the same in going and coming. It would be well if this fearful tragedy might be the means of exciting attention to the moral and spiritual condition of the district. Among the causes of its low state, some complain of the multitude of paupers who are thrust upon the town of Kirton by the neighbouring parishes; the teetotallers point to the 16 public-houses and beer-shops—certainly a large allowance; and they might include the establishment of Mrs. Sarah Barker, from whom it was extracted at the inquest that card playing was done at her rooms at 21. each per evening. Those who make light of public reading rooms and mechanics' institutions might, one would think, at least prefer them to such places as these.