seeneealies 
1843.] 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
917 
ied by three persons when such accommodation is re- 
quired, but generally only two sleep together; and never 
was such a thing known in St. Pancras Workhouse as 
four in a bed or any person sleeping on the floor.”” 
Middlesew Hospital.—On Thursday a general court of 
the governors of this hospital was held in the board-room 
of the institution, Mr. Fielder in the chair, for the pur- 
pose of electing an assistant-physician to the hospital, 
abouts. His Honour then referred to the manner in 
which the accounts of the bank were kept, from 
which it was impossible for any person of ordinary ac- 
quaintance with business to ascertain its actual state, 
and said it was clear to him that Mr. Phillips must have 
known the insolvent state of the bank when the new 
partnership was formed, and when Mr, Mitchell was in- 
duced to embark his money in the concern. Under all 
vacant by the resignation of Dr. Watson. di 
for the vacant office’were Dr. Seth Thompson and Dr, 
Woodfall. After a spirited contest, which lasted during 
the day, the numbers at the close of the poll were 
announced as follows:—For Dr. Thompson, 369 votes ; 
for Dr. Woodfall, 242 ; majority for Dr. Thompson, 127, 
Amongst the governors present were H.R.H. the Duke of 
Cambridge, the Duke of Sutherland, Lord Radstock, 
Lord Teignmouth, Lord Calthorpe, Sir Robert Inglis, Sir 
George Duckett, &c. 
Westminster Bridge.—On Saturday the carriage-road 
of Westminster-bridge was thrown open to the public. 
The improvement is considerable, the height of the centre 
having been materially reduced and rendering the accli- 
vity much less. The lowering of the carriage-way has 
left the foot-way considerably above, but in order to pro- 
tect the foot-passengers & number of strong posts have 
been erected, intersected by an iron bar, A thick coating 
of broken granite has been laid on the road-way. 
Mortality of the Metropolis.—The number of deaths 
registered in the week ending Saturday, Dec. 16, was as 
follows :—West Districts, 126; North Districts, 165 ; 
Central Districts, 205; East Districts, 235; South Dis- 
tricts, 236; Total, 967 (males, 491; females, 476). 
Weekly average for the last five years, 903 (461 males, 
442 females) ; and for the last five autumns, 908. 
JBrobinetal News. 
Incendiary Fires.—The following are a few of the more 
important fires reported in the local papers this week :— 
At Navenly on Friday on the farm of Mr. Clark Hales, 
wheatstacks containing 10 quarters and a stack containing 
30 quarters of barley destroyed.—At Eakring on the 12th 
in the stackyard of Mr. R. Storey, two stacks destroyed. 
—At Binbrook on the 16th on the farm of Mr. Johnson, 
a large barleystack destroyed.—At Corfe Castle on the 
farm of Mr. Waters of Rollington on Saturday a wheat 
rick containing 12 or 13 loads of sheaves destroyed.—At 
Speen, Berks, on the farm of Mr. Price on Tuesday night 
a pea-rick and on the following morning a hay-rick de- 
stroyed.—At Campion’s Farm, near Harlow, on Monday 
night an outbuilding and farming implements destroyed.— 
At Eaton Socon on the farm of Mr, Hall on the 16th 
nine large stacks and hovels, containing about 100 loads 
each, destroyed.—At Necton, Norfolk, on the 15th on 
the premises of a small occupier of but a few acres of 
land, the produce of three acres of wheat, two of barley 
and six of hay, destroyed.—At Repps near Acle, in the 
same county, on the farm of Mr. Moore, on Friday week, 
the premises fired and partially consumed.—At Wattisford, 
Suffolk, on Wednesday week, two stacks and outbuildings 
on the farm of Mr. Nunn, destroyed, andon Friday at 
Thurston, in the same county, the farm-buildings and a 
stackyard belonging to Mr. Jennings destroyed.—Near 
High Roothing Essex, on Friday last the outhouses on the 
farm of Mr. Speller, consisting of two bays of wheat, two 
of barley, a quantity of beans and other corn, all the 
farming implements on the premises, the brewhouse, 
wash-house and their contents, a sow and nine pigs, and 
100 head of poultry destroyed.—At Little Waltham on 
the farm of Mr. Bird, on Sunday afternoon, a barn con- 
taining only loose straw and sawn timber, a barleystack, 
the produce of 12 acres, a wheatstack the produce of eight 
acres, a haystack containing 10 loads, about 12 loads of 
tare hay and a waggon consumed.—At Morton’s-field, in 
Great Moor-lane, Stockport, on the 20th a haystack the 
property of Mr. Oldham destroyed.—At Pollicott, Bucks, 
on the 18th, on the farm of Mr. Malins, a hay-rick de- 
stroyed.—At Wigmore Hall near Luton, Beds, on the 
14th on the farm of Mr. Gutteridge, every barn, shed, 
stable and stye on the premises and some cattle destroyed. 
Bath.—Mr. Roebuck, M.P. for this city, has published 
a letter denying the truth of the rumour of his having 
been appointed to an Indian judgeship. Mr. Roebuck 
ays :—‘* It may possibly save the expectants of a vacancy 
in the representation of Bath some trouble for me to 
state, emphatically, that I never, either from the present 
or any preceding administration, solicited for myself any 
place; and that no place, eitherin or out of England, will 
be sought by me, or accepted if offered, from or by those 
now in power.” 
Birmingham.—On Thursday week Mr. Commissioner 
Balguy delivered his judgment, on the application of Mr. 
Phillips, one of the partners in the Leicester Bank, for 
his certificate. His Honour said, that when the bank- 
rupt last came before him, on the 21st November, with 
Messrs. Mitchell and Clarke, he held the opinion which 
he still entertained, that he was not entitled to his certifi- 
cate ; but for his own sake, and that of the individual 
now before him, he felt it right, before he delivered his 
judgment, to consider most fully, maturely, and. deliber- 
ately all the facts of the case. The Chief Commissioner 
went over, at considerable length and with great minute- 
ness the facts connected with the bankrupt’s share in the 
history of the bank, and the circumstances under which 
he had seceded from Mansfield and Co.’s bank and esta- 
blished the Leicestershire Company. On reviewing these 
proceedings, he found that, with a nominal capital of 
20,0002. only, Mr. Phillips permitted five parties— 
speculators and adventurers many of them—to get into 
4 
these painful as it was to him to perform 
the duty—for he could perfectly well estimate the feelings 
of Mr. Phillips, who from the sphere of life in which he 
moved must be keenly alive to the impression made on 
his character—painful as it was, he felt bound to come to 
the determination of refusing his certificate. 
Bristol.— The underwriters at Lloyd’s through the 
directors of the Great Western Steam Ship Company 
have presented Captain Hosken, of the Great Western, 
distance, not only from the riding, but from my native 
country; but go where I would I still found myself within 
reach of Yorkshiremen. I remember I had scarcely 
landed in the New World when, having to ascertain the 
nearest way to the house which I wished to reach, I 
asked the first person I met with to show me the path 
when pointing in a particular direction, he said ‘ You will 
find that the gainest way.’ I said, ‘I am sure that is 
not an American word,’ and a good honest Yorkshireman 
he turned out to be. Again when I was travelling that 
region of the country that is called the Prairies, which 
are vast tracts of rich grass land, generally in an unre- 
claimed state, but fitted from their natural fertility for 
the production of crops of every description, I came to a 
town round which all the farms seemed to me to be in a 
particularly promising and favourable condition. I in- 
quired about the circumstances of the neighbourhood, 
and I was told that about that place—the town of Jack. 
with the’sum of 100/., in testimony of their high opinion 
of his nautical skill in having full plished 
64 passages to and from America. 
Bury.—‘‘ We mentioned,” says the Bury Post, “afew 
weeks ago the extraordinary visitation of rats in this 
neighbourhood. On the farm of Mr. Harlock, of this 
city, no fewer than 4,736 were destroyed by two men, 
with six ferrets and three dogs, between the 4th Novem- 
ber and the 8th December. Mr. Harlock estimates his 
loss this year from the rats, on his growing crops of wheat 
alone (about three hundred acres) at upwards of 200/. 
Other farmers are sufferers to a proportionate extent ; in- 
deed, the increase of these vermin this year is universally 
observed, the land in many places being completely under- 
mined by them.” 
Cambridge.—At Earl Hardwicke’s annual rent audit 
held last week in this town, his Lordship is reported to 
have made the following declaration :—After! alluding 
to the late incendiary fires, he urged upon the farmers the 
advantages of adopting an improved system of cultivation, 
by which they might grow a double quantity of corn. He 
then observed that there had lately been a great deal of 
agitation on the subject of the corn-laws. For himself, 
he in common with Sir R. Peel and the Duke of Buck- 
ingham was opposed to free trade, but he thought that 
ultimately free-trade principles must prevail. But he 
conceived the result would not be so disastrous as had 
been anticipated. 
Carmarthen.—Considerable excitement has been caused 
in this county by the discovery of the body of Mr. Tho- 
mas of Pantycerrig, in the river Brechfaedd near Brechfa. 
It appears that some time since Mr. Thomas gave inform- 
ation against some neighbouring farmers’ sons for a riot 
and assault upon him while under the guise of Rebeccaites. 
On that occasion he attended Carmarthen in order to give 
his evidence, and on his return home he found it in a 
blaze. On Tuesday week Mr. Thomas’s corpse was found 
in the Brechfaedd, which is a small stream having a rocky 
bed. From the previous occurrences that had taken place 
suspicion was excited that foul play had been used, and 
that he came to his death by unfair means. It was proved 
however that near the spot where he was found the trunk 
of an Ash-tree is thrown across the stream at a height of 
about seven feet from its bed. Across this Mr. Thomas 
debt to the concern to the amount of 300,000/., or there- 
must have passed, and he might have fallen from it as he 
had been walking over a muddy soil, and the tree was a 
round one and extremely difficult to walk upon. The 
Jury under these circumstances returned a verdict of 
Found Dead.—The Rev. Mr. James, a magistrate who 
has taken an active part in the committal of the Rebecca 
rioters, was fired at on Monday week while in his dress. 
ing-room preparing to go to bed. Two shots were fired 
at him, one a ball penetrated his right arm and passed 
through the muscular part between the elbow and shoulder 
and was found in the room. The other charge was small 
shot which took effect upon the shutters only, and at the 
same instant a third charge of small shot was fired into 
the front bedroom where Mrs. James was, providentially 
without doing any other injury than smashing the glass, 
Chatham.—The following is the finding and sentence of 
the Court-Martial on the charges brought against Captain 
Clendon of unlawfully receiving money of a recruit while 
stationed at Chelmsford :—‘‘ The Court after maturely 
deliberating on the evidence against Captain Clendon, 
are of opinion that he is not guilty of ungentlemanly or 
unofficer-like conduct, tending to bring the corps to which 
he belongs into disrepute, or of receiving the money with 
wilful intent, but having received it from an error in judg. 
ment and without due consideration, sentence him to be 
reprimanded.” 
Farnborough.—On Friday an inquest was held at 
Keston, near this town, on the body of Miss Charlotte 
1 f 
lony almost entirely of Yorkshir 
planted themselves ; and hence if was glad oa 
assure you, to infer the flourishing state of the crops and 
farming in the neighbourhood. I had the pleasure of 
paying a visit to one of the most eminent statesmen in 
America at his country residence. I mean Mr. Cla: 
and he praised to me the fidelity and long ahd abi 
ey of his feels servant, who turned out to be a 
rk hi if i 
remind you that I have been in Ireland Pilea 
The only lesson I wish she had inculcated on 
her master, who is a supporter of the American tariff js 
that she had made him a better friend to free trade all 
orld. (The meeting here rose and cheered 
most enthusiastically for some time.) I will only trouble 
you with one more of my Yorkshire-American associations, 
which is this,—I found several old Yorkshiremen in the: 
great city of New York, who from old recollections were 
kind enough to entertain me ata public dinner, and } 
there was told that the state of New York goes. by the 
name of the Empire State of the Unicn ; and all the 
Y a poor woman of th 
parish of North Tamerton, supposed not to be in a Soa 
state of mind, deliberately walked into the Tamer, and 
loaves into the water on such an occasi ’ 
spate spigbped the body was found. niga tere ee 
adopted, after riding three miles or more for si 
loaves, which were thrown into the Se doit 
down the stream for some distance, until by a circlin, 
eddy they were gathered to one place, where they se 
mained. It was then concluded the body was under, or 
at the bottom; the spot was dragged, and it was found 
Leicester—The following paragraph appears in the 
Leicester Chronicle under the head of * Mormonism :”__ 
A correspondent informs us that this strange sect has 
obtained a footing in this town, and meets on Sundays 
and Tuesdays, near St. Nicholas’s Church, when me 
initiated members speak in the “ unknown tongues,’” 
After one has thus spoken, another brother interprets the 
mysterious language. Upwards of one hundred persons 
are said to have already joined the ‘latter day saints.’” 
They “‘ take the sacrament ’’? in common with other sects 
panes iby on hands, and believe the Book of Mormon 
to be equal in importance to the Mosai iti 
ne ee osaic Writings, or the 
Liverpool.— A most destructive fire broke out on 
Wednesday morning on the premises of Messrs. Brancker 
and Co., in Matthew-street, which comprise one of the 
most extensive sugar-refining establishments in the king- 
dom. The fire broke out in the warehouse department. 
and rapidly extended, so that in a few hours the whole 
was enveloped in flames. In the falling of one of the 
warehouses, a number of workmen who were employed 
in trying to save the property were buried in the ruins, 
and seriously injured. It is impossible at present to esti. 
mate the amount of damage, but it is said that there was 
not less than 50,0002. or 60,0002. worth of sugar on the 
premises.—On Wednesday afternoon a large East India- 
man, called the Meg of Meldon, which only arrived from 
Calcutta a few days since with a cargo of saltpetre, hemp 
&c., took fire in the Waterloo-dock, and was scuttled a 
order to prevent further mischief. ‘The damage is esti. 
mated at 10,0002. 
Ahonen 
Chapman, the daughter of Mr. Chapman, scl °. 
that place, who was found in one of the ponds at the 
source of the R bourne, on Kest Lege: 
father of the young lady said, that he believed it had been 
purely her own act during a fit of temporary derangement 
brought on by witchcraft. He could not account for her 
state of mind. Had often spoken to her, but she was 
always silent. Since her death he had been told by the 
family that about 15 months ago she went with a party to 
Greenwich, and was induced against her will to have her 
fortune told, and that the witch told her “she would not 
die a natural death.’ The jury returned a verdict that 
deceased committed suicide during a fit of temporary 
insanity. 
Huddersfield.—After the close of the distribution of 
the prizes to the successful students of the Huddersfield 
College last week, a banquet was given to Lord Morpeth, 
in the College Hall, which was fitted up for the occasion. 
In acknowledging the toast of his health, Lord Morpeth 
said :—“ Since the period when we last met together I 
have been, as you are probably aware, at a considerable 
-—It is stated that Lord Francis Egerton 
has purchased the Old Quay Company’s extensive carry- 
ing concern between Manchester and Runcorn and Liver- 
pool, with all their warehouse, as well as their entire other 
property in those places, for 400,0007. The Old Quay 
Company’s property was held by a small proprietary in 
about 500 shares, so that his Lordship, if the gross sum 
above named be a correct one, has paid 800/. per share, 
or more than double the sum quoted of late in the best 
authenticated Share Lists. Lord F. Egerton will thus 
have the entire control of the water conveyance between 
Manchester and Liverpool, and even in the most popu- 
lous parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 
Newcastle.—The local papers state that an ingenious 
plan has been suggested of crossing the Tyne by passing 
through a tunnel under the river, on the principle of the 
centrifugal railway. The carriages would descend by their 
own gravity into the tunnel from one side, and rise up on 
the other by the momentum acquired in the descent. It 
is proposed to construct the tunnel of metallic tubing, 
and lay it, just within the bed of the river, so as not to 
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