252 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[Arrit 15, 
Lord Byron, as ‘the best informed and one of the ablest 
men he knew.” He was elected Warden in 1811, and suc- 
ceeded to the Mastership in 1820. A vacancy having 
thus occurred in the mastership, by the statutes of the 
College, the master must be elected on the Ist day of 
May next, and any candidate for this valuable appoint- 
ment must be of the name of Alleyn or Allen, and 
1 unmarried. 
| Explosion of the Waltham Powder Mills. — On 
Thursday afternoon an explosion, attended with fatal con- 
sequences, took place at Waltham Abbey in the gun- 
powder-mills belonging to Government. Four mills were 
destroyed, and seven of the workmen were killed. Five 
were carried over the river to a considerable distance, and 
fell lifeless in the marshes ; the other two were buried 
in the ruins. The shock was so severe that the windows 
of the church and numerous houses were shattered, and 
the report was distinctly heard in several parts of the 
Metropolis. 
Chartist Meeting.—A very crowded meeting of Chartists 
was held on Monday night, for the purpose of presenting 
an address to Mr. T. Duncombe, thanking him for calling 
the attention of the House of Commons to the conduct of 
Lord Abinger. Mr. Feargus O’Connor wasin the chair. A 
resolution having been passed expressive of regret that the 
House of Commons had refused an inquiry into the conduct 
the Governor of Greenwich Hospital, has consented to 
allow a number of veterans from that establishment to 
attend the ceremony of placing the statue of Lord Nelson 
upon the column in Trafalgar-square, ‘‘ because he is sure 
it will be as gratifying to the feelings of the men them- 
selves as interesting to the assembled spectators.” The 
Admiral also promises “ to furnish the committee with the 
number of the present inmates of the hospital who fought 
under the great naval hero, either in the glorious battle 
of Trafalgar or other of his naval victories, and whose 
present state of health will enable them to attend.” 
Colonial Society.—An adjourned general meeting of the 
Members of this Society was held on Wednesday, for the 
purpose of framing a memorial to the Secretary of State 
for the Colonies, urging the propriety of adopting imme- 
diate measures for the encouragement of systematic colo- 
nization. The Earl of Mountcashel took the chair, and 
opened the proceedings by adverting to the interest lately 
exhibited with reference to emigration and colonization, 
not only by the citizens of London and our large com- 
mercial communities, but within the last few days by Par- 
liament itself. It was, therefore, thought desirable, that 
the sense of a body so important as the Colonial Society, 
comprehending within it a large number of persons con- 
nected with our colonial possessions, should give some 
definite expression to their feelings. After a good deal of 
Ee 7 
of Lord Abinger at the late special it was re- 
solved that the thanks of the meeting be offered to those 
Members of the House of Commons who voted for Mr. Dun- 
combe’s motion of inquiry, and an address was presented 
to Mr. Duncombe expressive of their admiration of his 
conduct. Mr. Duncombe, in his reply, said that he had 
read the trial of Jones, a Chartist, who was tried at 
Leicester by Judge Gurney ; and whenever an opportunity 
offered itself, or a petition should come from Jones before 
the House of Commons, he should have no hesitation in 
stating to the House his opinion of the conduct of that judge. 
Anti-Corn-Law League.— The fifth meeting of the 
League took place in Drury Lane Theatre, on Wednesday. 
‘The house, as usual, was crowded in every part, and the 
attendance of ladies was greater than on any former 
occasion. Mr. Wilson presided, and the speakers of the 
evening were, Dr. Bowring, Mr. Elphinstone, M.P. for 
Lewes, the Rev. J. Burnet, of Camberwell, and Mr. Hey- 
worth, of Liverpool. 
Missionary Societies.—A meeting was held on Wednes- 
day, at Exeter Hall, of the friends of the Protestant 
missions, for the purpose of adopting measures said to be 
required by the recent aggression of the French on Tahiti, 
and for securing the general interest of British missions 
in the islands of the South Pacific. Mr. Hindley, M.P., 
presided. A series of resolutions was entered into con~ 
demning the conduct of the French Government, and 
calling upon all the Protestant churches in Europe and 
America to join in restoring to the Queen of Tahiti the 
independence of which she has been deprived. 
Street Sweeping.—On Monday an exhibition of the 
self-loading cart, or street-sweeping machine, which is 
now in daily operation in Regent-street, took place in the 
vicinity of Oxford-street, for the purpose of enabling the 
paving boards of various metropolitan parishes to judge 
of its practical operation and utility. The two machines 
were each drawn by two horses, and as they proceeded, 
the rotatory motion of the wheels acted upon a series of 
brooms, hung behind the cart by a light framework of 
iron, so that the brooms successively swept the surface of 
the ground, carrying the soil up an inclined plane, at the 
top of which it fell into the body of the cart, leaving 
behind a smooth and well-swept track. The machines 
roceeded through Vere-street, Henrietta-street, Maryle- 
one-lane, and over the wood pavement in Oxford-street, 
In traversing these streets, the machines had to pass over 
three different species of pavement, viz., the Macadamised, 
the stone, and the wooden pavement, where a sort of arti- 
ficial mud had been created by the recent watering of 
the streets. On reaching the wooden pavement, the 
machine swept an area of upwards of two thousand yards 
in the space of about fifteen minutes, leaving it in a state 
of perfect cleanliness. They performed the work of about 
eighty men in the space of three-quarters of an hour, and 
combined the threefold process of sweeping, loading, 
and carrying in one operation. During the day, the in- 
ventor explained, by means of a model, the mechanical 
action of the machine, and stated, that by an experiment 
recently made before Sir J. M‘Adam, the machine had 
proved its applicability for sweeping Macadamised roads, 
upon which it filled itself in the space of five minutes. 
} New Hospital.—A subscription is in progress for the 
establishment of a new Hospital for the Marylebone and 
Paddington districts. A meeting was held recently, Mr. 
B. B. Cabbellin the chair, at which it was resolved, “ That 
the north-western district of London having grown im- 
mensely in point of population and wealth, and remaining 
destitute of any adequate means of relief for its poorer 
inhabitants, when suffering from accident and disease, it 
becomes the duty of this wealthy and increasing district 
to provide against casualties and serious illness occurring 
among its poorer population ; and it is the opinion of this 
meeting that this desirable object can in no way be so 
effectually and permanently attained as by the f dati 
nm the merits of different plans which were 
proposed,‘it was resolved that the subject be referred to a 
committee, and that a memorial be presented to the Colo- 
nial Secretary, expressing,the hope of the Society that 
Government will take up the consideration of colonization 
as a question of vital importance to the country. 
The late Accident at Blackwall.—Since we noticed the 
fatal accident at Blackwall, to the brother of Mr. Ferrand, 
M.P. for Knaresborough, the river has been dragged ; and 
as a last expedient, cannon have been fired, and the diving 
apparatus has been used for the purpose of recovering the 
body ; but all attempts have been {ineffectual. It is now 
considered very doubtful whether the body will ever be 
found, as the tide was running ‘down at the time with 
great rapidity, andthe body was probably carried out to sea. 
Thames Tunnel.—The number of persons who passed 
through the Tunnel on Sunday was 22,215, and the place, 
in addition to this influx of visitors, presents a busy ap- 
pearance from the circumstance of stalls having been put 
up by various parties for the sale of fancy articles, not 
the least curious being the small ornaments made from 
the clay of the Tunnel itself. A large number of 
workmen, employed on either side of the river, avail 
themselves, morning and evening, of the shortened com- 
munication now established between the two shores. 
Inquests.—On Saturday an inquest was held on the 
body of the Earl of Hopetoun, who was found dead ina 
hackney cabrio!et, which he had hired to take him from 
the House of Lords, where he had been in attendance 
during the long debate on Lord Brougham’s motion, to 
Stevens’s Hotel, New Bond-street. The cabman deposed 
that at one o’clock on Saturday morning he was waiting 
in Palace-yard for a fare, when the deceased gentleman 
engaged his cab, which at this time was about 40 yards 
from the House of Lords. At the time when the de- 
ceased gentleman called the cab, he was walking with an 
umbrella in his hand, apparently quite well. Witness 
opened the door, and the gentleman got in, telling him to 
drive to Stevens’s Hotel. The gentleman spoke well, and 
in a firm tone. When witness got to the hotel he opened 
the cab-door without getting down from his box, Finding 
the gentleman did not get out, he dismounted, and looked 
into the cab, and saw the gentleman’s head leaning down 
on the right side. Thinking he was asleep, he pulled 
him twice to awaken him, but as he did not move he 
rang the bell of the hotel, which was answered by the 
porter. The porter got a light, and made another 
attempt to wake the gentleman, witness and the porter 
being still under the impression that deceased was asleep. 
The porter called his lordship’s servant, who came and 
felt the pulse of the deceased, and then found that his 
master was dead. Dr. Seymour deposed that Lord Hope- 
toun had repeatedly consulted him during the past year. 
He complained of symptoms which appeared to witness to 
denote disease of the heart, or the immediate great ves- 
sels, as their origin. Witness had communicated his 
alarm on the subject to several members of his lordship’s 
family. His lordship had recently improved in health, 
but, from the nature of his complaint, witness was by no 
means surprised to hear of the event which had so svd- 
denly occurred. There could be no doubt whatever of 
his lordship having died from the complaint under which 
he laboured. His lordship had told wituess that when- 
ever he made any considerable exertion he felt great pain 
about the region of the heart. The jury expressed their 
unanimous conviction as to the cause of Lord Hopetoun’s 
death, and concurred ina verdict of ‘‘ Died suddenly by 
the visitation of God.” 
Criminal Statistics of the Metropolitan Police.—The 
annual returns just published by the Commissioners of 
the Metropolitan Police, giving an account of the trades 
or occupations of the persons taken into custody during 
the year 1842, show the following results :—Out of the 
and maintenance of a Hospital, of a size adequate to the 
necessities of the district ; and that in order to render the 
proposed Hospital as efficient as possible, an Opthalmic 
and a Maternity Department be attached to it, in addition 
to the usual Medical and Surgical Departments of Hospi- 
tals.” A Committee was appointed to receive subscrip- 
ions, and from the list already published, there is reason 
to believe that the benevolent object of the meeting will 
Seon be carried into effect. 
The Nelson Monument.—Admiral Sir Robert Stopford, 
65,000 pers 45,000 of whom were males and 20,000 
of them females—there appear to have been taken into 
custody, 82 artists, 487 bakers, 128 brushmakers, 52 bar- 
men, 188 brassfounders, 12 brewers, 529 bricklayers, 43 
brokers, 240 bookbinders, 611 butchers, 11 buttonmakers, 
1,008 carpenters, 4 clergymen, 440 clerks, 1,068 coach 
and cabmen, 118 coachmakers, {98 corkcutters, 43 com- 
positors, 67 clockmakers, 98 curriers, 96 cutlers, 141 
carvers and gilders, 138 drapers, 229 dyers, 256 engineers, 
5 excisemen, 65 fishmongers, 506 French® polishers, 343 
gardeners, 100 glass-makers, 76 glovers, 111 goldbeaters, 
88 greengrocers, 111 grocers, 197 hairdressers, 303 hat- 
ters and trimmers, 1 interpreter, 65 ironmongers, 99 
jewellers, 15,454 labourers, 60 sawyers, 887 laundresses, 
77 masons, 158 medical men, 13 millers, 1,043 milliners, 
68 musicians, 10 opticians, 463 painters, 301 paper- 
makers and stainers, 18 pawnbrokers, 2 postmen, 312 
printers, 32 publicans, 6 reporters, 1,445 sailors, ,171 
sawyers, 125 saddlers, 871 male servantsiand 1,133 female 
servants, 1 sheriff's officer, 66 shopkeepers, 1,115 male 
and 309 female shoemakers, 822 smiths, 366 soldiers, 17 
surveyors, 296 sweeps, 1,290 male and 485 female tailors, 
317 tinkers and tinmen, 31 tobacconists, 48 toolmakers, 
50 turners, 152 watchmakers, 172 watermen, 424 male 
and 189 female weavers, 19 woolsorters, and 12,626 males 
and 15,968 females of no trade or occupation. As stated 
above, there were in the whole number of 65,000 persons, 
45,000 males and 20,000 females, the majority of the 
offences ranking principally under the heads of drunken- 
ness, larceny, asssault, and misdemeanour. Of the fore- 
going number, those under 10 years of age were, males, 
54, females, 16; under fifteen years of age, males, 1,316, 
females, 134; under twenty years of age, males, 4,310, 
females, 1,581; under twenty-five years, males, 4,638, 
females, 1,743 ; under thirty, males, 3,224, females, 1,148 ; 
under fifty, males, 1,919, females, 769 ; and under sixty, 
males, 823, females, 313. Of the 65,000 persons taken 
into custody, 13,000 of {the males, and 6,000 of the fe- 
males, could neither read nor write ; 26,000 of the males 
and 12,000 of the females could read or write but imper- 
fectly ; only 5,000 of the males and 987 of the females 
could read and write well, while but 516 of the males and 
145 of the females had received a superior education. 
Out of the 4,431 persons, male and female, committed 
for trial during the year, against two males only was sen- 
tence of death pronounced and carried into execution ; 26 
males and 1 female were transported for life; and 512 
males and 234 females acquitted. The total number of 
murders during the same period amounted to 25, of which 
18 were committed by males and 7 by females. There 
were 26 cases of shooting at, stabbing, and administering 
poison; 15 cases of concealment of birth, 13 of man- 
slaughter, one of treason, 22 of rape, 28 of bigamy, 5,193 
of assaults, 220 of burglary, 48 of robbery, 10,000 of lar- 
ceny, 639 of forgery, 119 of suicide, 48 of the latter being 
of males, and 71 females. It appears, from a compara- 
tive statement of the returns for 1841 and 1842, that the 
number of persons taken into custody during the former 
period amounted to 68,961, and during the latter to 
65,704; the number of persons discharged in 1841 was 
36,708 ; and in 1842, 33,609; the number of persons com- 
mitted for trial during 1841 was 4018, and in 1842, 
4,651 ; the number of persons convicted and sentenced in 
1841, was 3,020, and in 1842, 3,316; the number ‘of 
acquittals in 1841 amounted to 618, and in 1842 to 746.. 
Woolwich.—A. large mortar, cast at the foundry of 
Messrs. Walker and Co., for Mehemet Ali, and weighing 
13 tons, was proved last week at the butt in the Royal 
Arsenal. The diameter of the bore of this mortar is 20 
inches, and the charge of powder was 80 lbs. weight. The 
ball fired on this occusion weighed 1,010 lbs., and required 
a number of men, with a powerful pinion lever, to move 
itinto the mortar. On being fired the ball entered the 
butt, throwing the earth to a great height, and the piece of 
ordnance itself, notwithstanding its immense weight, 
recoiled about from 18 to 20 feet. On examining the 
mortar after it was fired, it appeared quite perfect. 
Mortality of the Metropolis—The following is the 
number of deaths registered in the week ending Satur- 
day, April 1 :—West districts, 143 ; North districts, 168; 
Central districts, 209; East districts, 194; South dis- 
tricts, 232. Total, 946, (461 males, 485 females.) 
Weekly average for the last five years, 903, (males 461, 
females 442,) and for the last five winters, 1004, 
Provincial Netvs. 
Incendiary Fires.—An incendiary fire occurred on 
Saturday last, the 8th inst., at Hartest, Suffolk, on the 
property of Mr. G. W. Poley, which destroyed two barns, 
outhouses, and several dwelling-houses, The Suffolk 
Fire Office, the overseers of Hartest, and the local 
Association for Prosecuting Felons, have offered a reward 
of 1002. for the discovery and apprehension of the in- 
cendiary. 
Aylesbury.—On Saturday last a meeting of the electors, 
freeholders, and inhabi of Bucking! hire, convened 
by the high sheriff, was held in the County-hall, ‘ for the 
purpose of considering the distressed state of the agricul- 
tural and labouring classes, occasioned by the new tariff, 
and of obtaining for them that redress which justice de- 
mands and the present condition of the country renders 
indispensably necessary.’’ The meeting was attended by 
Earl Stanhope, Lord Nugent, Sir J. Dashwood King, Sir 
Hargy Verney, and a numerous body of leading farmers. 
The resolution proposed by Earl Stanhope, was “‘ that the 
agricultural, the manufacturing, and the other industrious 
classes of the United Kingdom, do not receive that pro- 
tection of their industry to which they are entitled ; that 
they have already been grievously injured by the effects of 
the new Corn-law and of the new tariff, and have a right 
to demand from Parliament that they shall be fully and 
effectually protected in the home market from the compe- 
tition of foreigners, who, being far less burdened with 
taxes, are able to undersell them.’? An amendment was 
proposed by Lord Nugent, and another by Sir Harry 
Verney,. but they were negatived, and Lord Stanhope § 
resolution carried. It was then resolved that a petiuon 
be presented to both Houses of Parliament, embodying 
the terms of the resolution. Lord Nugent then addressed 
the meeting, and said that looking to the circumstance 0 
Lord Stanhope’s motion being carried by a comparatively 
