Darlington & Richmond Herald. — 1874-06-20 (Darlington, Durham, England)

VIII., the fine for " lystening about anie man's wyudowes " was twelve pence. The inhabitants of Preston were of a liberal turn of mind with regard to entertainments, for in 1593, the mayor of the borough was allowed to expend forty shillings whenever he thought fit, " for the honour and worship of the town." .At Hartlepool, in the year 1599, the council of the town made the following singular regulation :—" That the spoutes of the church bee used in common in the tyme of rayne, and the water to be parted equallye betweene partie and pantie, only one spoute to be reserved for the mayor, upon payue for everie one soe violating this order iiijd." In 1600, it was ruled that any one calling a member of the Hartlepool council "a liar be fined 11s. 6d." but to say that one of the council was " false " caused the offender to be fined 6s. Bd. only. About the same date, at Preston, women were fined for " gossiping at the town wells on Sunday mornings." The authorities of the borough of Richmond, in 1596, ordered that "Any person making an affray shall be fined iijs. iiijd.; but if on a market-day, xvs. ; on a fairday vi.; and if any blood be drawn, vjs. viijd. extra." At Richmond, in 1574, the Corporation, ordering that "no one winnow any corn in the street unless they carry away the chaff," enacted that swine-troughs should not be set in the streets, and that "no man suffer any swyne to come into the market-place on fairdays, or any other market-days, upon payne of vid." At llartlepool in 1599, the council ordered that "whosoever he bee, of this towne yt keepeth anie mastyve dogg within this towne not mussled in the day, and in the house upon the nighte, shall pay for every such default iijs. iiijd ;" also "yt is ordeyned yt noe inhabitante of this towne shall keep mile geese or swyne within the precynctes of this towne, except upon their back-yard, upon paine to pay. for every° swyne which shall be taken abroad, xijd., and for every goose vjd." At Newcastle there was an official named "the hougher," whose duty it was to chase a, y pigs he saw in the streets, and sever the sinews of their hind legs, as a punishment to their owners for letting them stray! Hartlepool, in the olden time, was one of the places‘on the coast at which beacons were erected to give notice of the approach of the enemy's ships. A jocular story has come down that the authorities were very illiterate, and on receiving notice in writing from the Government, on the proclamation of peace, that the "beacon should no more be fired at Hartlepool," they read it that "bacon should no more be fried at Hartlepool." Without disputing the wisdom of the measure, they seized every frying-pan in the place in order to prevent any infraction of the rule! The coroner of Darlington Ward was formerly elected by the Bishop, and was sometimes bailiff and steward of Darlington also. There is a tale of felo•de-sEA connected with the coronership, early in the present century. One Webster, a disappointed lover, cast himself into the river Skerne, and was drowned. At the inquest, the jury were about to return a verdict of felo-de-se, when one solid yeoman, astonished at the deplorable ignorance of his compeers, exclaimed, "Nay, lads, nay, that wad nivver dee ; ivverybody knew that he threw hissel intit Skerae ; folks wad think us all fules !"  The two petitions in connection with the late election for Stroud will be heard before Baron Bramwell on July 2.  The Hospital Sunday collections in the metropolis are even smaller than last year, and do not at present amount to more than 15,000/.  A deputation of silk manufactuers waited on .the Home Secretary on Thursday to urge the reducing the age at which children should be admitted as full time workers from 13 to 12 on production of certificates of education. Mr Cross reminded them that it would be two years before the Act come into operation, and hesbelived a sufficient number of children would by that time be ready for enterhag the manu