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Leader (1850-1860), 12th May 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 441

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      name of Iiverani . It does not appear that he had any very certain \ means of subsistence by bis labour . He had | an introduction to a master shoemaker in Paris , named Mallet , who agreed to give him work . After a sojourn of some months in Paris , he suddenly started for London , where he says he stayed nearly three months . What was his motive for leaving France ? He has not stated any ; but it may be affirmed with certainty that it was not for want of work that he went to another country , since he never turned to good account the work that was offered him in Paris . However this may be , he arrived in London in the month of December , 1854 , and there all at once he found means to earn 50 s . a week ( that is to say , nearly 65 fr . ) . Such is

      his declaration ; but he says he cannot possibly tell who it was that employed him at these wages , nor the address of his employer , nor even in what part of the town he lived . Pianori then , according to his own statement , earned 65 fr . a week , and he further says that he put by , out of that sum , as much as 30 fr . a week . Now , since he passed three months in London , he may , if he speaks the truth , have saved as much as 300 francs . This is impossible , or at least improbable . No journeyman shoemaker can earn so much in London , and save so much after paying all expenses . Suddenly , instead of

      keeping a place where he was so exceedingly well off , he left London on March 26 , and returned to Paris . What has he been doing since that period ? M . Mallet had turned him away because he did not work well . M . Michelet , at whose house he lodged , No . 40 , Boulevard Pigale , declares that since Pianori ' s return from England he did not work at all , and appeared to be ruminating on some project which absorbed his mind entirely . It may therefore be stated , that in reality Pianori is only nominally a workman , and that it is not from his labour that this man has for a very long time past derived the means of subsistence . "

      The following questions were put by the President : — " After your crime information was sought about you at the Roman Legation , and it was ascertained that your name is not Antonio Liverani , as appeared in your passport , but Giovanni Pianori . The following is the information communicated in the two despatches we have received ; the first is dated May 1 , and the Charge ' d'Affaires of France at Rome says , — ' Pianori , known by the name of Brizi Guellino , aged 32 years , married , and the father of two children , was arrested for having committed a political assassination . He escaped from the prison of Servia . He fought in 1849 against the French army . He escaped to Genoa ; he afterwards returned to his country , and committed other crimes . ' Are you the person described in that note ?"— "M y name is Giovanni Pianori . Brizi Guellino is an additional name

      —fupre-nom . " Have you borne that name ?"— " Yes , sir . " * ' Then it is to you the description applies . Here now is the information contained in the second despatch of the 6 th of May : — ' Positive Information . —Pianori , condemned for 12 years to the galleys for assassination . ' "" That is not true . " " You deny the fact ; very well . Here is the rest' Accused of two acts of incendiarism in February , 1849 . ' Is that true ?"— " No , sir . I only remained six months in prison . " * ' For what cause ?"— " For having taken part in some affairs . " " The despatch adds—' Escaped from the prison of Servia on the 30 th of April , 1852 ; noted as a terrible assassin . ' " —" That is not true . "

      The prisoner furthermore denied having been connected with any of the refugees in London , and said it was only on the same day that the thought of the assassination occurred to him . His reason for the act he stated to be the French expedition to Home , which had brought him and his family to misery . He fully confessed the crime ; and the defence was therefore nothing more than an appeal to mercy on the ground of his frank confession and his illguided political sentiments . The jury , however , returned a verdict of "Guilty , " by a majority .

      Pianori exhibited great composure from first to last . With respect to the death of a parricide , it may be stated that , by the 13 th Article of the Penal Code , " the parricide shall be led to tlio pluco of execution in a eliirt , barefoot , and hie head covered with a black veil ; that ho shall be exposed on the scaffold whilst a public officer reads to the people the son--tenco of condemnation , and that ho shall be immediately put to death . " It is rumoured that the prisoner declared that , though ho did not deny the crime , he would not commit it if it was to be done again ,

      Untitled Article

      EARTHQUAKE AT BKOUSSA . The correspondent of tho Times gives the following interesting account of tho late earthquake at Broussa ;—" Thero ia no mistake this timo about tho destruction of Brousso- Tho shock winch took placet on tho evening of tho 11 th has levelled to tho ground tho greater part of tho ancient city , and destroyed some of tho finoat monuments of Roman , Byzantine , and Mussulman art of which thla country cau boust , Sinco { ha firpt afcock on ( ho 28 th

      of February , the population had taken precautions m case of a recurrence of the calamity ; and it is to these that the small number of casualties is due . Every one who had an open space before his house pitched a tent , where the family passed most of its time , and very often remained during the night . The upper stories of the houses were abandoned , and the household lived in the hall with open doors , so as to be ready for immediate flight whenever the subterraneous roar of the earthquake should make itself heard , and the trembling of the

      furniture denote the approaching destruction . The previous warning , and the fact that the fall of buildings does not take place until the end , and sometimes not till after the cessation , of the vibration , is the reason that out of a population of 70 , 000 souls not more than 100 have been killed or wounded by a catastrophe which has made half of them houseless and destitute . On the lGth , the full extent of the calamity was known at Constantinople . The great shock of the 11 th was only the first of a series almost innumerable . At least forty

      vibrations were felt during the first night , and not a day has passed since without three or four of more or less severity . Many of these have been attended with the l ' all of edifices which had been previously shaken , and the chief danger now to be apprehended is , that the shattered walls which line the narrow streets will occasionally be thrown down on the ' inhabitants , even ¦ without a recurrence of the motion . The unhappy population is flying in all directions from the doomed city . On the 17 th , the Porte , at the request of Lord Stratford , sent a steamer to Guemlik to bring away the fugitives , who were thronging the little port -without food or the means of transport . Mr . Whittall , a merchant of this place , also determined to go with a steamer belonging to le it would

      him , and bring to Constantinopas many as hold . Availing myself of this opportunity , I started for Guemlik the day before yesterday , to judge for myself of the extent of the calamity . On arriving at the summit of the line of hills which overlooks the glorious plain of Broussa , we could judge of the force of the convulsion . From that point , there was not a bridge , a wall , or a house , which had not more or less suffered . The road Avas thronged with fugitives—veiled Turkish women , carrying with them all their goods on the back of a miserable horse , to obtain -which they had probably ' parted with a number of necessaries . The very poor , mostly Armenians and Jews , were on foot , bending under the weight of counterpanes and kettles , and

      dragging after them their -weeping- and footsore children , who would be a couple of days in making the weary journey of twenty miles throug h the bush and quagmire before they arrived at Guemlik .. The most fortunate were the peasantry , who lived at a distance from the narrow lanes and crumbling mosques . Most of these had their cottages destroyed ; but they had quietly erected rude tents among the mulberry trees , and were living as happily as if nothing had occurred . On approaching the city , the results of the convulsion were visible on every side . The village of Tchefiplik was in ruins , the houses seeming as if they had been crushed in by the fall of some enormous weight on their roofs . At last Broussa was plainly visible , its snowy mosques and sides of

      dark red houses standing out against the green Olympus , which towered up above with its crown of snow . Perhaps no more romantic spot can be found in the world than this , which has been the site of an imperial city for more than two thousand years . The rapid torrent which passes through the midst of the city and across the p lain is crossed by massive stone bridges , two of which date from Roman times . The most solid of these structures , a work of the early Caesars , is now shattered and impassable . Huge masses of masonry have been hurled gdown into the stream beneath , and the solid arch is cleft in two . The greatest antiquarian loss which the place has suffered , is , however , in the demolition of the great mosque , formerly edifice erected shortl

      the Convent of the Virgin , nu y after the ago of Justinian , and second to St . Sophia alone for vastness and beauty . Tho lofty dome ia crushed ; the mosaic work , fresh and beautiful as if not ten years old , is scattered over the pavement ; tho minarets—of course a Mussulman addition—arc broken short off at a third of their height from tho ground ; and the structure , which lately was filled with worshippers , is now' deserted by all but tho Turkish guard -which is placed at the gate to prevent tho depredations which often follow a general calamity . The tomb of Sultan Orchan , son of Othman , is also crushed . Whole quarters of tho town arc levelled with tho ground , not a houso remaining . Amid tho ruins miserable women may bo seen together tending their wounded relations , who

      lie under tho sheltor of a bit of carpet fastened to unco upright potats , or of a few boards placed ahmtingly against some tottering wall . Tho Jews have sufi ' ercd greatly . Tho citadel stands on tho slope of tho hill ; beneath and around it cluster tho dwellings of thin peaceful and sufloring race . At tho moment of tho ' shock masses of wall wore hurled down upon tho » innH tenements below , and ovon portions of tho solid rock cmno rolling down tho mountain-aido like avalanches , and criiHhcd everything in their way . Tho Jowh , with their lofty hoad-dio . SHOs , wore to bo soon sitting ninid thuir fallen wallfl , destitute and desolate . Mot even at ouch a moment doon companion mibduo tho dark aversion which Hopnraton thid unhappy raco from tho people among whom it lives . Who will caro for a Jew ? The

      great want is of food ; many of the ovens are destroyed , and bread is hi consequence dear . The number <> f persons thrown out of work by the event is , of cour ^ ej very large ; but , happily , none of the silk factories liave been injured ; and in a few weeks , should no repetition of the shocks occur , the fugitives will take courage and venture back , work will be resumed , the city will once more rise from its foundations , and nothing but the ruins ' ¦ of a few vast edifices which the present age cannot restore will bear witness of the most fearful catastrophe which has befallen an Eastern city for many hundred years . "

      Untitled Article

      OUR CIVILISATION . Genteel Smugglers . — At the Thames Police-office , on Monday , Jean Baptiste Vandenhaegen , a Belgian gentleman , and his daughter , an elegantly-dressed young lady , were committed to prison for six months for having smuggled a large quantity of Brussels lace into this country . By this act , they incurred a penalty of 100 ? . each ; and in default of payment were locked up , both sobbing loudly as they were removed . Murder and Suicide . —On Saturday , a poor woman ,

      the wife of a tailor , in the neighbourhood of Old bt . Pancras-road , drowned her infant child , and afterwards herself , in the water-butt . She had long been at variance with her mother ; and on the morning of the tragedy she observed to her husband that the child looked as though it would die . She also made some observation about " the curse of her mother having followed her , " and that " it must come . " There is no doubt that under the influence of these feelings she committed the acts .

      Cruelty to a Child . —Elizabeth Lambert , the vife of a carrier at Kingsland , was charged at Worship-street , on Tuesday , with ill-using a little boy about two years old , who had been placed under her care by the parish . She had nearly starved the poor creature , and had been in the habit of beating it and throwing it about for some time . At length , a lady living in the neighbourhood , who had been disturbed by the child ' s screams , interfered , procured the assistance of a policeman , and caused the woman Lambert to be taken into custody . The policeman said the child appeared dull and heavy and half stunned for a time , and was shockingly emaciated ; but brightened up a little after he went in . The parents of the child , it appears , have deserted it ; but the relieving officer of the parish said it should be taken back again to the workhouse in company with another child of whom the prisoner had the care . The woman was remanded for a week . A Rail-way Police Sergeant on the Great Northern Railway has been committed for trial for stealing a portmanteau and its contents . It appeared that , owing to the instrumentality of the prisoner , several officers of the company have been lately charged with theft and Lave lost their situations .

      Untitled Article

      HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK . ( From the Registrar-General ' s Weekly Return . ' ) The present return discovers an increase in the deaths of the week that ended last Saturday on those of the two previous weeks . Having been in these weeks 1087 and 1132 , they rose last week to 1185 , of which 597 were deaths of males , and 588 of females . In the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1845-54 , tho average number of deaths was 990 , which , if raised for increase of population by a tenth part for tho purpose of comparison , becomes 1089 . It appears that nearly 100 deaths occurred last week more than the ordinary rate of mortality would have produced .

      The deaths of last week were returned from the five great divisions of London in the following numbers : 192 from tho West Districts , 245 from tho North , 169 from tho Central , 258 from the East , and 321 from the Southern Districts . In the last division , the population and area are considerably greater than in any other , and its contribution to the total mortality is also the greatest . Though the population of tho West Districts is rather less than that of the Central , tho deaths in the former were more by 23 than in the latter ; and while tho East Division is " rather less populous than the North , tho deaths exceeded those of the latter by 1 < 3 . Tho corrected averages of deaths for tho -week aro as follow :

      —In tho West Division , ICC ; North , 213 ; Central , 184 ; East , 229 ; South , 298 . Hence it appears that the mortality was above tho average in « H except tiio Central Division . Of 38 deaths from scarlatina , lour occurred in Woolwich , and three in Phimstowl . * » vo deaths from fever are returned by tho Registrar ot Christohurch , Southward Bronchitis and pneumonia wore fatal in 188 enso * . which « ro assigned in equal proportions to tho two dirioasos . . Last week , the birth- of H 4 f , boys and 7 , 9 giris , in all 1024 children , wcro roistered »» J' »»« ° n- , ln Ul ° c «« Lp ™ Illntf \ vo « , kH of tho year ., 1 B 45-M , the average number was 1507-¦*¦

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      11 U 1 AARJVA IT «••* " * " " C O N TI N E N T A L NO T 12 S . ItlCSKJNATION OK W . IHtOUVN 1 > K I-IIUYB . Tin' chiof foreign event of tho week in tho resignation of the French Minister for Foreign AllairH , which waa first known in London on Monday . The cause of tfn » event

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      • £ .. - ¦ . -, ¦ - . •' ¦ • ¦• •¦ ¦¦ ¦ .. ••¦ : ¦ ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ - ¦ '• ¦ ¦ ¦ • x -... ¦ -.. . ¦ . . . . . ¦ . - , ¦ . - . , ¦ ; ¦ . ¦ ¦ •; . ; . . ¦ . ¦ ¦• .. ¦; . - ¦ ¦ - .. . ¦; ., . ; . ¦ '¦' . '¦ '"¦ ' t ' ' ¦ ' ' ' ' . . ' ¦ ' ' ¦'¦ .. ' ¦ / May 12 , 1855 . ] THE XEADEB , 4 dA

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 12, 1855, page 441, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2090/page/9/