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Leader (1850-1860), 9th July 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 658, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      WORKMEN AND WAGES . In the Manchester district the demand for an advance of wages has become general , and several mills are without hands . The fustian workers also ask an advance of 3 ' s . per week * . In this" district there are now five mills on strike , one firm ( that of Messrs . Pooley with 350 men ) having arranged to give an advance . The operatives on strike are 80 at the mill of Mr . George Clarke , 350 at Mr . S . Turnbull ' s , 200 at Messrs . Powny and Wood's , 93 at Messrs . Wood and Co . ' s , 120 at Messrs . Wood and Go . ' s ( throwing out of work

      180 others ) , 25 at Mr . W . P . Clarke ' s , and 62 at Mr . Daniel Clarke ' s mill . Some of the dyers have conceded the advance demanded by the operatives , but the following hands are still out : —109 at Messrs . Crabtree ' s , 100 at Mr . Brown's , 80 at Mr . Ramsay's , 150 at Mr . Andrew's , and 85 at Messrs . Newton and Son ' s . ( A \ nongst those who have given the advance are Messrs . Douglas , employing 150 dyers . ) The men claim an increase of 3 s . per week each , with a reduction in the length and weight of pieces , and refuse to dress or dye " double bankers . "

      In Stockport the enormous "turn out" continues . Some say that the masters are separately making concessions , but as yet there has been no sign of a general yielding . A few slig ht disturbances have taken place . The advance of Id . per yard demanded by the Kidderminster , the Bridgnorth , and the Stourport carpet weavers , is still refused . At Woodstock some farmlabourers discontented with their wages , having left their work before their term of service expired , they were compelled to return by the magistrate .

      The steady advance of the working men is indicated this week by general more than by particular facts . Firstrate artisans are much wanted in Birmingham . The scarcity is partly attributed to emigration . In Ireland farm-labourers are every day becoming scarce . Many have left the" country to settle permanently in England , where the demand for them is still great . Many of the Manchester millowners have granted their spinners the advance and reduction of time demanded . The Manchester police have obtained the demanded advance of 2 * . per week , but b y their impolitic delay in granting it the Watch Committee has lost some of their best men .

      In these improved perceptions of the working men , and in scattered notes of progress we have a few gratifying items of record . The Leeds coal-miners have petitioned Parliament to enforce on their masters proper precautions against accidents , and to organize some means of compensation for the widows and orphans of poor miners killed in the pit . The Literary Institution at Woburn ( aided by tho Duke of Bedford ) has got a new library , well fitted

      up , and contemplates a collection of models of machinery , and scientific apparatus . In Lambeth , large swimming baths have been opened : laundries and an infant school are attached . Tho savings of tho poor in the Marylobone savings banks have increased from 18 , 5642 . in ' 1848 , to 23 , 48 U in 1852 . A public park ut Hampstead Heath is among the menus proposed to give the working people of London a means of recreation .

      Iho Uoyal Association at Windsor , instituted for giving prizes to well-conducted working people , is respectable more on account of its connexion of classes , than any practical good it may effect . On Thursday tho prizes wore given . Tho following were tho prizes awarded : — CM ass 1 . To the labourer or artisan , or his wifo , who hns brought up u family in honest , sober , and industrious habits , and without parish relief , except in cases of sickness—Three persons received prizes of iU . each , and lour 21 . each . —Class 2 . To tho widow of n labourer

      or artisan who has brought up her family in honest , sober , and industrious habits , whether with or without parish relief—Three persons received ' , U . each , and two persons 21 . eiich . —Class 3 ( a ) . To families distinguished for cleanliness and tidiness in house and person—Eleven persons received 3 O . s \ ouch , and rioven persons 17 . each . —Class 3 ( b ) . To the best cultivators of gardons or allotments , being also persons of honest , sober , uihI good moral character -Seven persons received 3 O . v each , and seven persons il . each . ( Prizes for gardens and allotments are also included in somo of the other

      nuHyes . )—Class 4 . To well-conducted servants or labourers , nude or female , who have lived for the longest period of service in the same situation—Thirteen persons received ill . each , and nix persons 21 . each . — Clans 5 . To young persons , male or female , who huve kept their first place of service for tho longest period , not Iosh than three ) years—Three received 3 O . v . each , iHwl lour received 1 / . each . Tho Queen and Prince Albert , arc , Urn patrons of this society . In WiiHtininH tor many improvements in tho dwellings oi umj poor aro contemplated by tho now bill .

      Untitled Article

      LILLIPUTIANS IN LONDON . The Aztec children are rare curiosities of the human race . They have been exhibited in private to scientific parties during the week . They are two—a boy and a girl . In the boy , the lower part of the face much projects ; the lips are disproportionately thick , and the nose a good Jewish aquiline . The eyes are dark and humid , affectionate in expression , and having a lively animal intelligence in every glance . The complexion is a rich dark olive , and the hair black and falling in long curls . The height is about three feet ; the form is slight and supple ; the arms and hands feeble and helpless-looking * The girl has nearly the same characteristics , but is slighter and smaller . On the whole , their appearance and actions are far from unpleasing ; they run about the room with liveliness , and examine every new object with a passing curiosity . They cannot speak any language of their own , and only repeat a few words ; but they easily understand routine questions . What they are is obscure ; but an account is put forth , more than probable . They are said to be some of the descendants of the Aztecs—the race driven from Mexico by Cortes . Among that race there was a peculiar hereditary priesthood , and in course of time the exclusive intermarriage of the sacerdotal families caused the degeneracy of the race . But the popular veneration exalted the race from priests to idols , and in the present country of the Aztecs these little beings are set cross-legged on altars , and worshipped . A rather marvellous story is told of the capture of these

      now exhibited : — " In 1848 , Mr . Huertis , of Baltimore , and Mr . Hammond , of Canada , attempted to explore Central America . They had read Stevens ' s account , in his Central America , of a conversation between himself and a priest residing at Santa Cruz del Quiche , relative to an unexplored city on the other side of the Great . 'Sierra range , the glittering domes and minarets of which the priest averred having seen from the summit of the Sierra . The people , manners , and customs of this city were supposed to be precisely the same as in the days of Montezuma . Messrs . Huertis and Hammond arrived at Belize in the" autumn of 1848 , and , turning south-west , arrived at Coban on Christmasdav- They were there joined by Pedro Velasquez of San Salvador , a Spaniard . From Coban they proceeded in search of the mysterious city . From . Velasquez alone is

      any account of their travels to bo obtained . Huertis and Hammond have never returned to tell their tale . According to the statement of Velasquez , on the 19 th of May they reached tho summit of the Sierra , at an altitude of 9500 feet , in lat . 15 ° 48 ' N ., and beheld in the distance the domes and minarets of a large city , apparently of an Egyptian character , and about 25 leagues from Ocosingo , in the same latitude , and in the direct course of the Itiver Lugartos . This city they eventually reached . Velasquez describes it to bo of vast proportions , with heavy walls and battlements , full of temples , gigantic statues , and pagan paraphernalia ; the people having Peruvian manners combined with Assyrian magnificence , and bound to remain within the walls , seeking no intercourse with tho world around . The name of tho city is Ixirnaya . Tho travellers were informed that whito men had previously entered it , but that no whito man had over returned . Hammond

      and Huertis were both slain—tho former in entering tho city , tho latter in endeavouring to mako his eseapo . Velasquez , being moro wary , lulled his captors into security , and not only escaped himself , but brought with him two children belonging to tho priests—tho two now in England . "

      Untitled Article

      MR . HANNAY'S LECTURES . Mn . Hannay delivered tho fourth of his " Locturos on Satire and Satirists" on Tuesday , tho subject being Swift , Pope , and Churchill . Possibly the popularity of the subject may account for the increased audience . Sir David Lindsay , Erasmus , and tho groat Monsieur Boilonu , are comparatively unfamiliar , and most people are moro fond of amusement than instruction . Mr . Hannuy annonnccd himself as tho champion of Swift—his view being antagonistic to that of Mr . Thackeray , and indeed of most commentators , including Jellroy—particularly Jeffrey . Great

      allowances were to be made for Swift— -ho was tn n great measure tho sport of circumstances . / He was a curious contradiction—the noblest intellect indulging in tho most trivial buffoonery—the most wretched of mankind , who could yet cry Vivo la hagalcllo I—bis fame and worship , his madness and despondency—his constitution of ; i , Hercules incessantly tortured by disease Ho was virtually at the head of Ins party , but received very small wages . To tho lecturer , tho effect of looking at tho given cause , period is like n Saturnulian

      feast , where the slaves have the good things and their masters wait upon them . Swift , durin g his llarloy and Bolingbroko days held , probably , the most potont position that a writer over' held in this country . Mediating in their ( juarrels he helped to govern England . I Farley and Bolingbroko had their rewards , and Addison wais made Secretary of Stale . Why then should Swift be stigmatised as " burglar , " for seeking practical recognition of his greater genius P In hin little deanery , he was like the giant under Etna ; when lie moved himself ho sot going u volcano of ttro niid mud .

      With respect to Stella , our information is so vague that no opinion can well be formed . Whether married or not , it is certain that Swift ' s love was the . pride and glory of her life . For Vanessa , she flung herself at him like a moth at a lamp . It would be unfair to blame the lamp fdr its brilliancy ? Of Pope , " The Camellia nursed for lamplight grace , " as Allingham calls him , Mr . Hannay said : His nature was , like his person , small and weak . He was quite as capable as his friend Swift of small passions and

      vices . As friends make presents of jam , turkeys , and oysters , these potentates exchanged little pots of gall as friendly gifts . Pope ' Sporas is the prince of satires —that is , of personal satires . The Atticus is more subtle , and is higher art . Pope loses by being compared to Swift . Humour was not his prominent feature—a man who was never known to laugh cannot be said to be humorous ; but he had a lynx-like eye for the ridiculous . Pope was cramped by his high notions . Shakspeare relished clowns and clodhopperi ; while Pope ' s taste was shocked by them .

      Churchill ' s career was " brief , but brilliant . " He blazed , " the comet of a season . " But a great name never dies out ; and at present he resembles the " V . R . " and other letters the day after an illumination . He may be pictured as a boy—a Tom Jones with a dash of Dryden in him . Then his early and imprudent marriage—his honeymoon rising above the horizon of the Fleet prison walls . Placed in holy orders by his friends , he did not disgrace his calling , but quitted it . He studied the actors and satirised them . He had

      found his element , and meeting with great success , was able to pay in full , those creditors who had been content with five shillings in the pound . He joined the class which holds that good-fellowship and humbughating are preferable to respectable moralities- ^—the class that ifc rebellious' and radical in opinion— -highflown in liberality and the generous qualities—and does not go home till morning . He wrote satire for satire ' s sake , although he satirised nothing that he did iiot hate . A manly , vigorous intellect , that set about his work with the zeal of an honest , affectionate , and loving soul .

      Untitled Article

      ONE MORE " UNFORTUNATE . " The story of Jane Papson is but one out of many unexposed . She lived at Folkestone with her parents . A man named Metcalf became acquainted with her some time ago ; but lately he deserted her and her child . Sho took a poor lodging for 2 s . a-week , and was remarked by her landlady as " a very respectable young woman , who conducted herself with great propriety . " Metcalf refused to support her , and she and the child were sorely pinched . Sho took a meaner lodging for Is . 6 d . a-week . For five weeks sho lived on nothing but bread and water , and was indebted to tho charity of her landlady for some food . She told the landlady that sho would be happy if the father of the child would but pay her rent ; but oven that small pittance ho refused . On Wednesday last sho was crying in the afternoon , and afterwards sat down and wrote this letter to

      Motcalf : — " 15 , ] STew-atreot , Cloth-fair , Smithfleld . " J . Motcalf , —By the time you receive this I hope to ho no moro . It is you who brought me to this , you bad , wicked man . I know that I was greatly in fault in giving way to you , and bitterly have I reason to repent it , which I do from tho bottom of my heart . But had you never promised things which you did it would never have happened : and as soon as you saw how things turned , because I would not leave my dear baby at somo workhouse door to tho morcy of tho world , you thought propor to leave us to starve and dio ! Oh , you bad , bad man ! hanging is too good for you ; repent ! ropont ! boforo it is too late . I will Bay no moro , for to-night I hope , please tho Lord , to bo in heaven , anil my baby as well . Oh , may our blood rest on your head , for it was you that was tho causo of it . But my kind lovo , for as I hopo forgivonoss , so I forgive you .

      —Farewell ; oh , farewell ! Jann Pai'Bon . " Sho thon wrote to her parents : —¦ " Dearest Father and Mothor , —By tho time you recoivo this I hopo to bo no more . I little thought when I wroto last to you that I should over como to want a bit of bread , but such is tho easo , and I can bear it no longor- Dear mother , if my baby should bo spared , oh do you take him and bring him up , and novor hit or scold him . 11 is name i « Thomas . Tamos Metcalf . It was his father that ; has brought rno to this ; but I will Hay no more—my timo is short , and I wish to dio in peace with you all . My kindest love to all . Farowoll !—farewell ! " Jl . ' o was born on , tho 27 th of April , 1853 . Oh , do be kind t (> him if ho should live afl . or mo . " Her liiHt letter was to her cousin , a young woman living at Findiloy : — , . , ' ,

      My dear Cousin , —By tho timo you rocoivo this I hopo to be no more , for I can boar my miHory ho longor . I thought—oh that 1 had never seen that wicked man Motcalf , for to bring me to such an untimely end . I shall never seo you again in this world , but I hopo to do so in a brighter and a bettor one . I shall take my baby with me . " Oivo my kind lovo to your dear brothor , and bid him farewell for me ; we have boon liko brothers and ( ristora in Huh world , and oh , may wo bo so in tho next ! " My icindoHt lovo to ' you all . Farewell !—oh , farowoll I —my doaront cousin , farowoll ! Janio 1 ' ai'SON . " Sue thon wont out and throw horoolf with hor baby into

      Untitled Article

      658 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 9, 1853, page 658, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1994/page/10/