THE NEWSPAPER. 



fwfdhu the liberal addition made by the Postmaster- 

 Jwnl *11 classes in the district-service complain of 

 ££* over-worked, and several of them are away from 

 SS?on the ground of illness. The deliveries from the 

 proVinces by mid-day mail also continue to increase, 

 ]Z the monev-order service has multiplied 25 times in 

 comparison w'ith what it was before the reduction of the 

 rite of poundage. The acceleration of the mail trains, 

 which came into operation on the Western line on 

 Wednesday last, the projected employment of the 

 Eastern Counties Railway for the conveyance of day 

 w* to Brentwood, Witham, Chelmsford, and Col- 

 cheater, and the opening of the Canterbury and Dover 

 lines throughout, will tend also to increase the duty, and 

 tdd materially to the accommodation of the public. 



Kew Asylum for Infant Orphans. — On Wednesday 

 evening a numerous meeting of ladies and gentlemen 

 was held in the Hall of Commerce, for the purpose of 

 forming a new Infant Orphan Asylum. Mr. Hindley, 

 M. P.. took the chair, and briefly stated that they had 

 met for the purpose of instituting an asylum which 

 ihould be free for all sectarianism, the asylum at Wan- 

 ttead b.ing no longer acceptable to the views of Dis- 

 senters, in consequence of the introduction of the Church 

 of England Catechism. The Rev. Dr. Reed then sub- 

 mitted a series of rules and regulations, establishing the 

 society, to be called "The Asylum for Infant Orphans," 

 the design being to board, clothe, nurse, and educate the 

 infant orphan under eight years of age, and until eligible 

 to enjoy the aid of those institutions which provide for 

 the fatherless aboze that age. Several other gentlemen 

 afterwards addressed the meeting, and in the course of 

 the discussion Dr. Reed stated that the only cause of 

 the present secession from the original asylum was the 

 introduction of the Church Catechism. A liberal sub- 

 scription was entered into at the close of the meeting. 



And- Com- Law League. — The Weekly Meeting of 

 the League took place on Wednesday evening at Covent 

 Garden Theatre. Mr. Bright, M. P., presided, in the 

 absence of the Chairman, Mr. Wilson, who was engaged 

 in the Lancashire Election. The meeting was addressed 

 by Mr. Bright, Mr. J. Wilson, Mr. Turner, a tenant- 

 farmer of Othery, in Somersetshire, and Mr. Burnett, 

 the dissenting minister of Carnberwell. 



Bank of England.— At an adjourned meeting of the 

 proprietors of Bank Stock on Monday, it was resolved, 

 with only three dissentients, to adopt the recommenda- 

 tion of the Court of Directors to accede to the proposal 

 of her Majesty's Government for the renewal of the 

 privileges of the Bank, provided the general regulations 

 referred to m the letters of the Chancellor of the Ex- 

 chequer, and proposed to Parliament, be adopted. 



Artuti .Benevolent Fund.— The annual dinner in sup- 

 port of this fund, for the relief of the widows and orphans 

 of deceased artists, took place on Saturday, at the Free- 

 masons Tavern. It was attended by upwards of 100 

 gentlemen, among whom were Lord Palmerston (who 



[1844. 



Lord Palmer- 



ad°^ Mr 'i ? u ickens '. Sir J- Easthope, and other gentlemen 

 addressed the meeting on behalf of the Society, and sub- 



•cnpt,ons were announced amounting to 550/. 



a nnhli, / the Lab °»™g Classes.— On Saturday 



Pu P rno' ?r nff WM hcld at Willis ' s Rooms f °r thi 

 of thJ VL - • ln , g a Societ y for ^Proving the condition 

 meeL ° rKin S passes. Lord Ashley presided, and the 



CoTqufo n ? S H addre ^ ed b * the Rev ' H. O'Neile, Mr. 

 W G u' i^r T ° Wn Minister > Mr ' R ' S[ ™*y> the 



" 0sWne ' Mr. Mines, M.P., Hon. W. Cowper, 



burv 'rpIIi ? r " L ' Horner » and the Bishop of Salis- 

 ^ortheimnri Were ado Pted, forming a "Society 



Masses - e P m K nt ° f the c ° nditioQ of the labouring 

 Ue dwelling nTu 8 e 0bjects of the improvement of 

 allotment svttlL h ?°° r ' the extension of the cottage 

 *nd the cnn^ ' • rmation of friendly loan societies, 

 *« eener,! T'i 10n ° f suca other matters as involved 

 classes. permanent welfare of the labouring 



ho ^brXn / ° W ^;"~ It is stated that in the gambling- 

 ^ere foand am lD u y the P olice last week, false dice 

 bra ss division* / . S amblin g implements seized. The 

 Stances so fn a roulett e-tabies were also, in most 

 France of tuJu» &S to P re sent an obstruction to the 

 table. bal1 at tQ e will of the manager of the 



^tween thM?**! f , ra/6ro «*— It is at length arranged 



ma a GibbsfH?*? sers of Mr - Rock and Mr - A,der " 

 trit * in thV Q , ^ uesti0Q of churchwarden shall be 



%ned acion f een S Bench uext term, by means of a 

 **W ? tre8 Pass. ' 3 



1 ^,aParli^ rW/ ^-"" 0nthe motion of Sir R. H. 

 ,Utts of mon P y / eturn has h een issued of the 



°f ^e»tmin^p/u e * J pended in the alterations and repairs 

 Pletion, ts .," " b f r ;^e, and the probable cost of com- 



*° n tf»f to the p« ! nc . 0nie arisin & from Property be- 

 ^ 0aw of e , D e en C H °. mm, " Ion - It appears that the total 

 5th April, 838 J r nV r n . m the 6 ^ April, 1810, to the 

 !f fded o n ;T 8 8 r 3, ° 97/ - 6s * 9 J* The total Amount 



w 8 ^l^anIth U .V°/, repairS £ 8tated ' since 1838 > 



u at 52,879/. It appears that the total 



income of the commissioners of the bridge is 

 7464/. lis. 8d. Upwards of 200,000/. have been ex- 

 pended for the repairs of the bridge since the year 1310, 

 including the estimate for works now required. 



Trafalgar Square.— The small portion of this prome- 

 nade laid down in cement was scarcely completed on the 

 admission of the public, and was consequently not set. 

 Much of it is therefore broken, the portion being that 

 placed between the bitumen, some of which is also 

 broken away. Sticks, stones, umbrellas, and in some 

 cases hammers, were employed by the public to test the 

 solidity of the works ; but all these attempts would pro- 

 bably have been successfully resisted had full time been 

 allowed for the cement and bitumen properly to harden. 

 The damage will be repaired by laying down blocks of the 

 like material sufficiently hardened at the manufactory of 

 the patentee, without allowing it to be subjected to the 

 ,l practical experimentalism" of the public. The basins 

 are again empty to fit on the jets, and although they were 

 filled with water little more than 24 hours, they dis- 

 played so large a quantity of rubbish, orange-peel, and 

 brickbats, that it has been necessary to station policemen 

 in the inclosure, lest the Square become the eye-sore of 

 the Metropolis. It is announced that the dinner to the 

 Greenwich pensioners will be given on Friday 24th inst. 

 Hampton Court. — On Monday Mr. Manning, the 

 coroner of the Queen's household, held an inquest at the 

 Palace, on the mutilated remains of the child, which 

 were recently found In a sewer belonging to the palace, 

 and upon which Mr. Wakley held an inquest on the 7th 

 inst. The unusual circumstance of two inquests being 

 held on the same remains, and the dispute between the 

 county and Crown coroners as to their relative jurisdic- 

 tions, has greatly increased the interest excited through- 

 out the neighbourhood by the discovery, and the inquest- 

 room was crowded by respectable persons. The evidence, 

 however, was to the same effect as that adduced before 

 Mr. Wakley, and the Jury returned a verdict of u Wil- 

 ful Murder against some person or persons unknown." 



Accidents and Inquests. — Admiral Sir J. Hawkins 

 Whitshed, Bart., now in his 84th year, was knocked down 

 and run over last week by a gentleman's cab, in Hanover- 

 square, and was very seriously injured Several fatal 



accidents occurred on the Thames last week. Among 

 them Mr. Archer Ryland, of the Registrar-General's 

 Office, son of Mr. Ryland, the barrister, was drowned, 

 by his boat striking Putney-bridge, while rowing against 

 another gentleman, from CheUea to Putney. On the 

 same day, Mr. Charles Wilson, clerk to Sir George 

 Stephen, was drowned, by rowing his boat against the 

 piles of Battersea-bridge. On Saturday, Mr. S. T. 

 Lebatt, partner in the firm of Castellani and Co., the 

 Belgian Consuls, in Copthall-court, was drowned, by 

 being thrown overboard from the Chameleon yacht, at 

 Blackwall, by the shock occasioned by her collision with 

 the Royal Adelaide, Leith steam-ship. 



The Batiersea Murder. — The prisoner Dalmas has 

 been examined several times since our last, at the Wands- 

 worth Police Court. There was, however, nothing new 

 in the evidence, most of it being merely repetitions of 

 what has already appeared in print. At its close the 

 prisoner said he should reserve his defence, and was com- 

 mitted to Newgate for trial. 



Case of Mary Furley. — In reply to an application 

 from Mr. Bright, M.P., in behalf of Mary Furley, Mr. 

 Phillips, Under Secretary for the Home Department, 

 informs that gentleman that Sir James Graham, M under 

 all the circumstances of the case, has felt warranted in 

 advising her Majesty to commute the prisoner's sentence 

 to seven years' transportation. " 



Mortality of the Metropolis. — The following is the 

 number of Deaths registered in the week ending Saturday, 

 May 4.— West Districts, 140 ; Northern, 145 ; Central, 

 176 ; Eastern, 198 ; Southern, 218 ; Total, 877. Weekly 

 average for the last five years, 94G. 





|9roinncial Nstos. 



Arundel. — On Saturday evening a Wheat-rick belong- 

 ing to the Duke of Norfolk, at Park-bottom, near the 

 dairy, was fired by an incendiary and entirely consumed, 

 but by the exertions of the fire brigade the adjoining 

 buildings were saved. This is the first incendiary fire 

 that has ever occurred on his Grace's estate, and great 

 exertions are making to discover the offender. 



Birmingham. — A meeting was held in this town on 

 Monday, the Mayor t in the chair, at which several reso- 

 lutions condemning the New Poor Law, and the proposed 

 interference of the Commissioners with local Acts under 

 which the parishioners have the management of their 

 own funds, were unanimously carried, together with a 

 petition to Parliament embodying the resolutions. Se- 

 veral gentlemen addressed the meeting against the New 

 Poor Law, among whom were Mr. Joseph Sturge, Mr. 

 Muntz, M.P., Mr. Scholefield, M.P., and Mr. Oastler. 



Bury St. Edmunds. — The outrages upon agricultural 

 property which commenced last winter in Bedfordshire, 

 Cambridgeshire, and Essex, have happily ceased, but in 

 Suffolk the incendiary continues to pursue his occupation 

 with impunity. In one division of the county there is 

 an organised rural police ; whilst in the other a well-ap- 

 pointed local constabulary force is maintained. The 

 Secretary of State, at the request of the magistracy, has 

 also sent down some experienced officers of the detective 

 police. The farmers, for the most part, employ nightly 

 watchmen upon their premises, at considerable expense, 

 yet, notwithstanding all these precautions, scarcely a night 

 passes without the recurrence of this outrage. In addi- 

 tion to the long catalogue already reported, no fewer than 

 12 fires have occurred within the space of as many days. 



The secrecy with which the crime is almost invariabLy 

 perpetrated is such as to baffle ordinary vigilance. It £» 

 a remarkable fact that in many instances fires break out 

 during the day, whilst the farmer and his servants are or* 

 the premises, and in such cases it has been found or* 

 examination that ignition has been caused by chemical 

 preparations, deposited in the stack or in the thatched 

 roof of the barn during the previous night, and such pre- 

 parations having the property of a fusee, will burn for 

 some hours before combustion takes place. This indicates 

 system, and is, perhaps, the most alarming character of 

 these atrocities. Among the most recent fires reported 

 to the magistrates are the barns, outbuildings, &c. on the 

 farm of Mr. R. Kent, of Rattesden Hall ; a farmhouse 

 and offices at Thurlow ; the entire homestead on the farm 

 of Mr. Corner, at Caddenham ; a wheatstack on the pre- 

 mises of Mr. Richardson, of Foulden ; the homestead of 

 Mr. Slywood, of Exning ; the premises of Mr. Rush- 

 brooke, of the Grange-farm, Chippenham ; the dwelling- 

 house, granaries, barns, and stables of Mr. Corsalls, of 

 Dimock's Court ; the barn.*, ike. of Mr. Blake, of Red- 

 grove ; the premises of Mr. Belts, at North Lopham; 

 the stacks of Mr. Bowtall, of Haddenham, and the hay- 

 stacks on the farm of Messrs. Folkcs, at Barton Mills.. 



Coventry. — Another murder has been committed in 

 this town on an old man named C'ewley, a weaver, in 

 the presence of several witnesses. The evidence at the 

 inquest clearly proved that the murderer was a man 



named Skelsey, who has consequently been committed 

 for trial on the capital charge. 



Lyme Reijis. — A disastrous fire broke out in this town 

 on Saturday, the 11th, by which the principal hotel, five 

 other inns, the Custom House, Reading Rooms, and 

 nearly 40 other houses were destroyed. It broke out 

 about 9 a.m. on the premises of a baker in Coombe- 

 street ; and the wind being fresh, the engines were 

 unable to check the flames. The damage done is io 

 mense, but most of the houses were insured. 



Osford. — A Congregation was held in the University 

 on Wednesday, at which the Vice Chancellor put his 

 absolute veto on Mr. Macmullen*s degree, on the ground 

 that he had not performed the Exercises appointed by 

 the Regius Professor. 



Ware. — The Anti-Tractarian schism which has so 

 long disturbed this town, has at length assumed the 

 character of dissent. The incumbent having demurred 

 to the resolution of his parishioners, the churchwardens 

 have been empowered to proceed against him in the 

 Ecclesiastical Court •, and, in order to mark more dis- 

 tinctly their secession from the Church, the Town-hall 

 has been fitted up as a temporary place of worship. The 

 officiating minister is Dr. Robert Alder, a member of 

 the Wesleyan connexion, who officiates without stipend. 

 The Town-hall was opened for the first time on Sunday, 

 the 5th inst., on which occasion a large number of per- 

 sons attended. The service is in all respects conform- 

 able to the usages of the Established Church. 



Whitehaven. — The Carlisle Journal states that a 

 married woman, residing in Distington, near this town, 

 previous to last week, suffered severely for some month* 

 past from a pain in the stomach, and every means 

 adopted for its removal proved of no avail. On Wednes- 

 day last however during a fit of coughing, she ejected 

 from her stomach a living reptile, about 12 inches in 

 length, resembling the water-asp, and has ever since 

 been comparatively free from the pain she had hitherto 

 endured. It is conjectured that the reptile had been 

 swallowed in water when very small. 



Windsor. — Another attempt to destroy the plantar 

 tions of firs and young oaks in the Great Park at Wind- 

 sor, was made last week, but was fortunately discovered 

 in time to prevent the extensive destruction which other- 

 wise must have ensued. The heath, close to the Clockr 

 case, in the Great Park, and but a short distance from 

 the Fishing Temple, at Virginia-water, was discovered by 

 her Majesty's head game-keeper to be on fire, the wind 

 at the time blowing from the north-east Mr. Maslin* 

 surveyor of Woods and Forests, who was near the spot, 

 instantly summoned all the assistant-keepers, who, aided 

 by several other persons, succeeded in subduing the 

 flames, and preventing their extending beyond 30 or 40 

 yards from the vicinity where they first ignited. Had 

 not the discovery taken place at so early a period, and 

 before the flames had attained any great ascendancy, the 

 whole of the plantations in this part of the Great Park, 

 extending over nearly 150 acres, and also a great quan- 

 tity of the game and pheasants' eggs in the preserves, 

 must have been destroyed. We regret to state that no 

 traces of the offenders (who are no doubt part of the 

 same gang who fired upwards of 703 acres of Prince 

 Albert's plantations in the neighbourhood of Bagshot a 

 fortnight ago) have yet been discovered. 



Railways. — The following are the returns for the past 

 we ek : — Birmingham and Derby, 1343/. ; Birmingham 

 and Gloucester, 2059/. ; Eastern Counties, 42/2/. ; Edin- 

 burgh and Glasgow, 2170/.; Great Western, 16,235/.; 

 Grand Junction, 9019/.; Glasgow, Paisley, and Ayr, 

 1305/.; Great North of England, 1551/.; London and 

 Birmingham, 17,991/.; South-Western, 6461/.; Black- 

 wall, 977/. ; Greenwich, 866/. ; Brighton, 3547/. 

 Croydon, 449/. ; Liverpool and Manchester, 4473/., 

 Manchester, Leeds, and Hull, associated, 5866/. ; Mid- 

 land Counties, 2613/. ; Manchester and Birminghac, 

 3749/. ; North Midland, 4406/. ; Newcastle and Cart«s*> 

 1349/. ; South-Eastern and Dover, 3846/. ; Shefieldau 

 Manchester, 620/. ; York and North Midland, W6t. _ 

 emulation of the example so successfully set by ™"« 

 politan railways for country traffic in the Mf"™™' 

 days, cheap railway trips to the metropolis have be n a 

 no unced from Leeds, Derby, and Nottingham, dm ing* 



