Widnes Examiner. — 1883-01-06 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

THE VICAR'S RATE AT COVENTRY.—The amount paid into the bank in connection with the Mayor's voluntary fund for the extinction of the Trinity vicar's rate now amounts to 1;4,043 7s. dd. including a cheque for £250 given anonymously through the editor of one of the local newspapers. The bodies of John White, warehouseman, London, and Mr. James Smith, of Bo'ness, were washed ashore on Wednesday evening, at Crombie Point, near Dunfermline. They went out in a skiff in the morning with the intention of crossing to the south side of the Forth, and the cause of the accident is not known. _ _  At two mass meetings of colliers held on Thursday, at Rowley and Cradley, it was reported that at two of the largest collieries in the district the employers :were increasing the number of working hours, and also stopping the perquisites of dinner ale and fire coal. It was resolved to strike until the employers agreed to the eight .hours' system. At the Liverpool Police Court, on Thursday, John and Mary Latnbert, husband and 'wife, were committed to the assizes on the charge of the manslaughter of Bernard M`Guinness. In the course of a quarrel the prisoners, it is alleged, knocked M'Cruinness down, and both of them kicked him so savagely in the stomach that he died soon afterwards.  At the Kilrush Quarter Sessions, on Wednesday, County Judge Kelly, referring to some evidence given in a civil bill case, said he would not sit there and tolerate obstruction of such kind as had been offered. He would not be browbeaten and dogged like the Government at the hands of Parnell, Sexton, Healy, and Co. His Worship's observation created considerable sensation.  During divine service in Auchnacloy Church on Sunday, the heating stoves which consume coke having been worn through, allowed an esca'pe of carbonic acid into the building causing several of the congregation to faint. Immediately after the benediction both the officiating. clergymen, Rev. T. G. Stokes and Rev: W. Earl, were seriously afllcted, the latter gentleman being rendered unconscious for a short ann. _ _  On Thursday another alarming accident occurred on the Cabandar and Oban railway. While a goods train from Oban to Stirling was running through the dangerous pass of Glenagree between Killen and Lockearnhead, it came into collision with a mass of earth which had slipped from the mountain side. Nine waggons were thrown from the metals, the line was completely blocked, and much damage was done No one was injured. The Recorder of Birmingham, Mr. J. Stratford Dugdale, Q.C., in charging the Grand Jury at Birmingham, on Thursday, strongly advised all persons in business to carefully study the Married Women's Property Act, which came into force this week. Disputes would certainly arise as to whether contracts were made with husbands or wives, and there would be considerable work for the lawyers.  A shocking murder took place, on Thursday morning, at Kearsley Moor, near Bolton. A butler, named Abraham Thomas, in the service of Captain Ansdell, of Kearsley Cottage, has been on unfriendly terms with Mrs. Leigh, the housekeeper, for some time. On Thursday morning a report of firearms was heard, and Thomas was seen coming from the direction of the photographic studio at the back of the house with a fowling-piece in his hand. The servant, on proceeding to the studio, found Mrs. Leigh on the floor with an ugly wound in the neck, and she expired immediately. The gun had been loaded with buckshot. No one had heard the two quarrelling, and the cause of the crime is a mystery. Thomas was arrested in the house, making no attempt to escipe. He is 30 years of age, and his victim was nearly 40. _ _  On Thursday morning a couple presented themselves at the Parish Churcb, Urmston, to be united in the holy bonds of matrimony, but the bridegroom found, to his annoyance, that he had forgotten the marriage licence. On the previous evening he had been staying at one of the city hotels, and when changing his trousers on Thursday morning he neglected to transfer the necessary order from one pocket to another. There was nothing left for him but to take the first train to town in order to obtain the missing document. In the meantime the bride and her friends had to take shelter for a couple of hours at a house adjoining the church, and the carriage and pair had to perambulate the village. Ultimately the pair were made man and wife. The affair caused much amusement in' the place.