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    32 THE LEADER. ¦ _ ¦ ___ [No^lijB ^ Satu...

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    A NOBLE ACT OF DARING. Mn. John La.no co...

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    NAVAL AND MILITARY. Tub Arctic.—Some fis...

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    Jus* Jjsvauidkb. Rufjgian. —An Instance ...

    tute persons in future from inhaMting so wretched a MmAPrROPBiATi oK of Funds by a County Magistrate . William Hollis , Esq ., who has been for many years ajustice of the peace , was summoned a few days ago before the Chepstow magistrates for misapplying the funds of the Shirenewton United Friendly Society , of which he was trustee , until lately removed from office . Upon the information toeing formally read over , Mr . Hollis pleaded guilty to the charge contained in it , and he was ordered by the magistrates to refund the amount , 56 / . 5 s . 4 d ., together with a penalty of 10 ? ., and 88 . 6 d . costs , and , in default of payment , to be committed to the House of Correction at Usk , and there be kept to hard labour for six weeks .

    Extraordinary JIurdkr . —A murder has been committed at Merthyr under the roof of the coroner , Air . Overton . The name of the deceased is Gwenlliam Lewis , and circumstances point strongly to her husband , John Lewis , as being the assassin . He has been arrested , and awaits the result of an inquest on the body of the murdered woman . Lewis and his wife resided at a house in Merthyr in which BIr . Overton , the coroner , had Ms offices . The occupancy of the premises by the Lewises was a permissive one , arising out of the circumstance of the deceased acting as housekeeper to Mr . Morgan , a solicitor , who also had offices on the premises . On -the day of the murder , Mr . Morgan left his house at about three in tie afternoon , and did not return till about eleven

    at night . On entering the house , he was called down stairs by Lewis , and found that Mrs . Lewis was murdered . The husband's face was scratched , and his prevaricating answers throw considerable suspicion on him . Mortality ox Board a Mebchant Vessel . —Captain Seymour , the master of the ship Duke of Portland , appeared before Mr . Selfe , at the Thames police-office , to answer a demand made upon him by a seaman , named Smith , -who claimed a balance of 40 Z . for his services on a voyage from Hong Kong to Santa Cruz , the Havannah and London . The man had , it appeared , shipped for 51 . per month , the payment of which the captain had resisted to the amount of twenty dollars , in consequence of Smith having , by hi 3 own indiscretions , contracted a

    disease -which incapacitated him from doing aiiy -work during a considerable part of his voyage . Had there been proper medicines on board , the seaman might have recovered from his illness , and he had applied at the Havannah three times for his discharge , but was refused . Captain Seymour , in reply to this , said the yellow fever was raging at the Havannah when his ship was there , and it would have been certain death to the complainant if he bad sent him on shore . It afterwards appeared that the sickness and mortality on board the Duke of Portland were very great , as not less than one hundred and thirty-two Chinese had died either from yellow

    fever or exhaustion on the passage from Hong Kong to Havannah , and as many as two hundred had been ill at the same time . Many more of them died after their arrival at Cufca- The Spanish agents at the latter place carried on a most disgraceful slave traffic , by hiring Chinese from their own country to work in Cuba . As regarded Smith ' s case , Mr . Selfe said he could not allow him any wages for the time he was off duty , because he had contracted a disease at Hong Kong six weeks after lie had joined the ship , and he should only allow one-half the deductions which the captain sought to make while the man was able to do some duties . He made an oKler for

    the payment of 22 ? ., which was immediately paid . Attempted Suicides by Women . —A girl , named Hariictte Jilkcs , about seventeen years old , was charged at tlie Worship-street police-court with attempting to commit suicide . The case exhibited one . of those reckless acts that girls of the prisoner ' s ago occasionally commit , with or without an adequate reason , and was only worth notice on account of the praiseworthy conduct of a policeman , who rescued her . The man was on duty in the Kingsland-road , about one o'clock in the middle of the day , when he heard the voice of a woman exclaim , "I can bear this no longer ;^ ' and immediately afterwards sho leapt from the edge of a stone wharf into the Regent ' s Canal , at a point where the water is nine

    feet in depth . She sank at first , but speedily rose to the surface , and the policeman pulled off his outer coat , and plunged into the canal after her . She immediately clutched violently hold of the constable , who could swim only ycry little ; nevertheless , at the imminent hazard of fcoth his own life and the young woman ' s , he forcibly pushed her from him , and , notwithstanding he * despcrato efforts to lay hold of him again , managed to struggle with her to the bank of the canal , where tlicy were dragged out by some peoplo who had by this time collected there . The girl was immediately taken to the

    workhouso , but a whole week elapsed before she was sufficiently recovered from the effects of her immersion to be able to appear in court . It then came out in evidence that the- accused had formed an attachment to a young man whoso family had aaid something aliout tho girl which had affected her character , and had therefore led to tho commission of tho crime with which she was chargod , but -which sho now- appeared very sorry , for , and promised never to attempt a second time . Ultimately , tho young woman was given up to her frionda , who said that they would look after her . Tho magifltrato warmly praised tho

    courage and intrepidity of the officer , who had so nearly lost his life in saving that of the girl , and handed him a sovereign from a member of the Athenaum Club , using the initials " P . H . E ., " the gentleman expressing himself in terms of admiration of the constable's conduct . — Another young woman , named Julia Manning , was charged , at the Lambeth police-court , likewise with an attempt upon her own life , by throwing herself from Ilungerford Suspension Bridge into the river . Like the girl in the preceding case , she was prevented from carrying out her intention by a police constable , who happened to be on duty on the spot at the time . According to the statement of the accused , a young Scotchman , who had been paying court to her ( though she was

    married ) , had gone to Edinburgh , at which she had become so distressed that she had taken to drinking , and had committed such excesses that she scarcely knew what she was about . She therefore hoped that Mr . Norton would discharge her . When , however , she was brought up on remand the following day , her mother stated to the magistrate that her daughter was married , but had been separated from her husband on account of ill-usage . Mr . Norton thought that the prisoner's attachment to the Scotchman looked very-strange ; however , as she expressed great regret at what she had done , and promised not to attempt to commit suicide a second time , he consented to discbarge her . —A third case of attempted suicide by a woman came before the Thames magistrates ; lout in this case

    the accused , a careworn looking woman , named Martha Duke , was also charged with administering poison to her son , a child five years old . When brought to the London Hospital , she told Mr . Burch , the resident medical officer , that she was in much distress of mind and great destitution when she took the poison and administered it to her little boy . She also said that she went down to Yorkshire a few weeks since to bury her father , and while she was away her husband committed suicide . Since that melancholy event , she had attempted to obtain a living by needlework . Owing to the miserable remuneration given to her for needlework , and to mental depression and physical destitution , she had no means to support herself and child , and she could find no other refuge than suicide . Sue was remanded .

    Forgeries r _ N Connexion with Public Securities continue to transpire . A member of the Stock Exchange has absconded , against whom a warrant has been issued for forging a power of attorney for the sale of 50 OJ . Consols , and it has been ascertained that he has obtained an advance of 2000 / . from a person with whom he had dealings upon forged certificates of four hundred shares of the Peel River Company . They are said , however , to have been so imperfectly executed that they ought not to have deceived any one . The seal of the Company was wanted , and the name of the pretended holder was fictitious . They were , therefore , detected immediately on presentation . The company were previously about to call in all their certificates for the purpose of issuing new ones under the Limited Liability Act , and in consequence of this event they have advertized their intention to take that step immediatelv . —Times City Article .

    Her Majesty ' s Gkacious Pardon . —The Rev . John Davis , the Ordinary of Newgate , has just furnished us with particulars of the sad history of a certain John Markham , who , when walking in Oxford-street , was mistaken for James Anderson , the man who is now under examination at the Mansion-house upon the charge of having defrauded the City banks . Markham and Attwell ' s brother were tried together for forgery . Markham was convicted and sentenced to four years of penal servitude , -while his companion was acquitted . It was a case of mistaken identity—the lawyers and police had got hold of the wrong man . The poor creature was obliged to sell every little article of furniture he

    possessed in the world to provide for his unsuccessful defence . His wife was reduced to the' deepest distress , and the maa himself suffered actual imprisonment for six months . "When the matter came to be looked into , the detectives found that they really had made a mistake , and that John Markham was not James Anderson . Tho result we give in Mr . Davis's own words : — "By the exertions of the late Under Sheriff Rose , whom I gladly assisted , such evidence was placed before the Secretary of State that , after its careful examination by tho detective police , the unhappy John Markham was , with Mr . Mullen's consent , on the part of the bankers of London , purdoned by Sir George Grey , and liberated . " —Times .

    32 The Leader. ¦ _ ¦ ___ [No^Lijb ^ Satu...

    32 THE LEADER . ¦ _ ¦ ___ [ No ^ lijB ^ Satubbay ,.

    A Noble Act Of Daring. Mn. John La.No Co...

    A NOBLE ACT OF DARING . Mn . John La . no contributes to the Tiviesjthe annexed thrilling and aliccting incident of the great storm which has just passed round our coasts : — "On Monday , the 5 th instant , nt 3 a . m ., an American ship , tho Northern Belle , of 1100 tons , bound from Now York to London , with a general cargo , came to > an anchor off Kingagatc , and distant from the shore about three quarters of a mile "At 8 a . m ., it was feared that the ship would part from her anchors and come on shore , and a message was despatched to Broadstairs to that effect . ThoBroadatairs boatmen , who aTa renowned for their alacrity , immediately harnessed themselves to the truck on which

    the lifeboat—the Mary White—is always ready , and proceeded to drag it from Broadstairs to Kingsgate , a distance of two miles , over a heavy and hiljly country . .... "At 11 . 30 A . m ., the multitude assembled were destined to witness a very painful sight . A Margate lugger , called the Victory , was hovering about the ship in the hope of rendering her some assistance , when a huge sea struck her and she suddenly disappeared from our sight . She and her crew ( from twelve to fifteen in number ) went down , and were no more seen . Another lugger , the Ocean , of Margate , had at 6 A . M . put fiv « hands on board the Northern Belle . . . . .

    " Between 10 and 11 p . m ., the ship parted with her anchors and drove upon the rocks . At this hour , it would have been utterly impossible to launch the lifeboat , for the hail , sleet , and snow prevented the men from seeing any object whatever ; and the spot whence it would be necessary to put off waa distant more than half a mile . "When day broke , at between 6 and 7 o'clock this morning ( Tuesday ) , an awful sight was revealed to those on the cliffs and on the beach . With the naked eye we could discern twenty-three men lashed to the rigging of the only mast left standing . What these poor creatures must have suffered during : the night the reader will readily imagine .

    11 half-past seven a . m ., the lifeboat , the Mary "White , was manned . . . . . . . T « n brave men pulled through a boiling surf and raging sea , which several times hid them from our sight , and filled us with alarm for their safety . When seven out of the twenty-three men upon the wreck had been got into the lifeboat , it was found necessary to cut her adrift and disentangle hex from the ship . With these seven men the boat , returned to the shore amid the cheers of the many persona assembled on the beach . A second lifeboat , which had also been wheeled from Broadstairs , to be ready in the event of the first lifeboat being lost , was now launched , and went off to the wreck . She succeeded in bringing away fourteen . The two remaining were the captain and the pilot , who had been taken in at Dover . The former declared that he would

    rather die than leave his vessel , and the latter expressed a . desire to remain and perish in the old man's company . " After ah hour and a half had elapsed , the lifeboat for the third time left the shore in order to persuade these two men to save their lives . After much difficulty , the crew of the boat succeeded in inducing them to come off the rigging and go to the land . To describe the scene on the beach when it was known that all hands had been saved is beyond my power . A more affecting scene was seldom witnessed . There were tears of gratitude shed by the Americans , teara of joy and of pride by tlie Broadttairs boatmen . Benumbed as the shipwrecked men were , they could scarcel y partake of tie refreshment which was provided for them in the little warm parlour of ' The Captain Digby , * the solitary inn which stands upon the cliff at Kingsgate .

    * There is a little episode connected with the saving of these men ' s lives which I am tempted to chronicle : —At 3 o'clock p . m . this day ( Tuesday ) , the Mary White was dragged upon her truck by three horses into Broad , stairs . In the boat sat her gallant crew . Tied to an . American oar was the American standard , which was so recently hoisted as a signal of distress . The tattered flog fluttered over the broken bows of the Mary White . It was thus that the boat passed through the streets of Broadstairs , amidst the joyous shouts of the inhabitants of the town . "

    Naval And Military. Tub Arctic.—Some Fis...

    NAVAL AND MILITARY . Tub Arctic . —Some fishermen engaged on the western edge * of the Grand Bank , about fifty miles from land , have hooked a wreck , -which is supposed to be the American mail steamer Arctic , which sank in 1864 . Shipwrecks —The New York and Liverpool pacfeetship New York went ashore on the night of the 19 th ult ., two miles from Basnegat inlet . Next morning ( say the accounts from America ) , the second mate and bis men succeeded in landing with a rope in one of the ship's boats ; the passengers wore afterwards landed in safety . Tho captain ( M'Kinnon ) was brutally ill-used and seriously injured by seven of his crow , while endeavouring to suppress insubordination . He snapped a pistol at one man ; it missed fire , and ho was knocked down , and but for the mate , who stood over him , would

    have been murdered . The mate also waa In great danger , but one of the mutineers took his part . Next day , the man was killed by hie comrades . For four days and nights , tho emigrants , three hundred in number , remained without shelter or food of any kind on the bleak const . In tho same gale , the brig Taaso , of St . John's , Newfoundland , was wrecked . Four of her crew and two men who had gone off from tlie beach wore drowned attempting to got nshorc . The brig E . D ., bound from Pernambuco to Liverpool , was wrecked on tho 81 st of October . Some of the crow were drowned , but others escaped to an island , where they endured dreadful agony for some days , and were at length rescued by the barque Melbourne . —The ship Clima , of London , « truck ; on one of tho Thousand Islands atj the entrance of the Javft Straits on the 30 th of Juno , and went down . The crew were 8 ftv « d . '

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 10, 1857, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10011857/page/8/