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Leader (1850-1860), 29th December 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1244

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      N . . — THE LEADER . * [ No . 301 , Saturday , 1244 ¦ ' ¦ — ! -

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      a therefore , in all probabilitty , an addition to oui 1 ^ o 3 r £ ^ rWo BK& -The chairma , of the new Metropolitan Board of Works was elected at a meeting last Saturday , when several candidates were proposed . The following is the original list : — " Mr . James Baker , Mr . G . B . Booth , C . E . ; Mr . G . H . Buckton , l&fc ^ illiam Burch , Mr . G . F . Carden , Sit C . De Crespigny , Bart , Mr . William Come , Mr . Deputy Harrison , Mr . T . Hawes , Mr . R . Jebb , Mr . W . J . Neale , Mr . G . Offor , Hon . JosceUne Percy , M . F ., Mr J . A . Roebuck , M . P ., Mr . Arthur Rose , Mr . Arthur Symonds , Mr . John Thwaites , Mr . Thomas Turner . " From this list , the names of Mr . Baker , Mr . Booth , Mr . Buckton , Mr . Burch , Sir C . De Crespigny , Mr . Neale , Mr . Offor , and Mr . Symonds , were afterwards expunged , for want of proposers , or on account of their proposers and seconders not being prepared to support them with their votes . Sir John Shelley was liberal in his offers of proposing and seconding , being ready in any case where the accommodation was wanted ; a course which was more than once objected to by Mr . Hows , as making a burlesque of the whole affair . Mr . Roebuck , in addressing the meeting , made a species of defence of himself for doing that which he had never done in his life before—solicitiug a paid office ; but he said he had been asked to corne forward , and added that he- regarded hia experience , first of the law and then of legislation ( more especially with reference to the Sebastopol Committee ) , as peculiarly fitting him for an office which would demand the reception and the nice balancing of apparently opposing facts and arguments . Upon the names being put to the vote , it was agreed that those having the smallest number of votes on each of the seven shows of hands which were to be taken should be struck out of the list . The final result was the election of Mr . Thwaites by thirty votes . In the same meeting , Sir John Shelley intimated his intention of l-esigning his seat as member of the board . He had felt bound , in consequence of certain circumstances which had transpired with reference to his election in the parish of St . James , to maintain the decision of the vestiy , which he believed to be legal and right ; but now he thought it better to tender his resignation , as the circumstances to which he had referred rendered the matter doubtful . The board , having determined to hold its first legal meeting on the 1 st of January , adjourned after a sitting of nearly five hours . Australia . —The Legislative Council has assented to acts granting duties of customs and altering the duties on colonial spirits . By the former , all goods imported for the use of her Majesty's service are to be exempt from duties and imposts of every description . The act to alter the duty on colonial spirits , enacts that , in lieu of the duties now payable upon spirits distilled in the colony , there shall be paid upon such spirits , -when made or distilled from Bugar which shall have paid Customs' duties , for every gallon , 6 s . 5 d . Upon such spirits , when made or distilled wholly , or in any proportion exceeding ten per cent , of the whole , from materials which are not subject to any duty of Customs , for every gallon , 7 s , —A great inorease of briskness is noticeable in the wool-market . Serfdom in Scotland . —The Duke of Argyllgenerally known as " the model Duke of Scotland" — has recently been guilty of a most outrageous piece of despotism over the poorer inhabitants of the island of Three . The Glasgow T-imes indignantly calls attention to this act of slave-driving , and quotes the following placard , posted on the church-doors of Three , as evidence of the truth of what it states : — "Notice is hereby given , that , after this date , no tenant paying under £ 30 of rent is to be allowed to UBe whisky , or any other spirits , at weddings , balls , funerals , or any other gatherings ; and all offenders against the terms of this notice will be dispossessed of their lands at the next term . By order . ( Signed ) Laohlan . Macquarie ( factor ' s clerk ) . —Island House , Nov . 16 , 1856 . " The darkest of the dark ages could hardly surpass the unblushing tyranny of this order . And the worst of it is , that it indicates a goneral condition of things in the island of Tirree , which is at onoe startling and humiliating . The islanders are evidently regarded in the light of mere goods and chattels . Serfdom in England . —Considerable indignation has been exoited in the North Riding of Yorkshire by the Duke of Northumberland having lately introduced very stringent articles of agreement for the cultivation of nig farms—articles which he requires his tenants ( who are mostly yearly tonoute ) to Bign , on pain of quitting their holdings . Thia proceeding has already led to the disoharge from bis farm of Mr . William Wotherell , of Kirkbridge , a leading agriculturist iu the north of England , who very recently received the Duke ' s own prize for the beat cultivated farm in the diatriot , the prize being accompanied by special commendation from the Duke . A meeting has been held at Riohmond , Yorkshire , for the purpose of denouncing , the Duke ' s return to " the principles of feudalism and erfdonou " Tn WmriKiUf Fibhxbies . —Tho pilehard fishery U ¦

      • now drawing to a close . At New-quay , on the Cornish coast , the boats have been taking from 500 i to 2 , 000 fine herrings each during the past week , I which have sold at 2 s . 6 d . and 3 s . per hundred of i six score . At Love , the herring fishery during the last three weeks has been very successful . Upwards of 100 , 000 have been taken , a larger number than has been known for forty years . They have been sold at 2 s . and 2 s . 6 d . per hundred . At St . Ive ' s , the driftboats have captured from . 500 to 27 , 000 per boat per night , which have been disposed of at 2 s . per hundred of . six score . There have also been large catches on the Devonshire coast . The Pope and the Ibish Priests . —According to the competent authority of the Nation , the perilous principle ( as it is called ) which the Ossory ( Bishop Walsh ) discipline had introduced , and against which the late Mr . Lucas had vainly contended , has completely gained the mastery in the court of Rome . This information has reached to such a state now that the disheartened organ of the malcontents can no longer hesitate to declare that a positive prohibition of Monsignor Barnabo forbids nine or ten of the best (?) priests of Meath from attending political meetings in Dublin . Dr . Cullen is , of course , the party suspected of this overt act of treachery , and by the introduction of the sharp end of the wedge the ¦ Nation recognises the initiative of a principle which destroys Dublin as the political capital , which it always has been to the popular party since the Catholics first began to agitate . —Times . Division op the Diocese op Durham . —The Ecclesiastical Commissioners , it is said , have reported in favour of a division of the extensive diocese of Durham , but have left for further consideration whether the new see shall be established at Newcastle or Hexham . Loss op Life in the Medway . — Lieutenant McDonald , Lieutenant Eden , Lieutenant Battine , and his brother , of the Engineer barracks at Brompton , Chatham , went out rowing in the course of the week before last , and it is supposed , from the fact of the boat having been found driven on the bank of the Marshland , near Kit ' s Hole , and from the gentlemen having been since missed , that they have perished . They were last seen alive at an inn , wtich they left a little before six o ' clock in the evening , saying they would row back to the barracks , though requested by the landlady to return by the omnibus . The Stockton Poisoning Case . — Mr . Jackson , one of the physicians attending on the late Mrs . Wooler , conceiving that suspicion might attach to him in consequence of the observation imputed to Baron Martin at the close of his summing up , has written to that Judge , advancing several arguments to prove that he could not accidentally have poisoned the deceased lady , and praying for some explanation of the remark said to have been made from the judicial neat . To this request , Baron Martin , thinking that the case is one in which he ought to depart from the rule of silence usually observed by judges , has replied by a letter , in which he writes : — " The substance of what I mean to say , and believe did say , was thisthat , in a case of presumptive evidence imputingthe guilt of murder , the law required the presumptions to be the plain and natural consequences following from the facts proved , and that it was not to be made out by fancy or surmise or suspicion , but by facts that amounted to proof ; that I had endeavoured in my own mind to arrive at some conclusion on the subject , and that it appeared to me there was no proof against any one ; but that if I were to indulge in mere surmise and fancy , not the prisoner , but some other person , would first ocour to my mind . If the entire of what I said upon thia subject had been reported , I cannot but think it would have been obvious to any one that I did express what I intended to express , viz ., no imputation of guilt upon any one , but a strong illustration of the extreme danger of convicting Mr . Wooler upon any fancy or surmise from tho facts and circumstances proved , by suggesting , that a fancy or surmise , more plausible than could be entertained against Mr . Wooler , though equally insufficient to bring home guilt or the suspicion of it , might be directed against another . " It is difficult to see how this explanation differs , except in a more diffusive mode of statement from tho obaorvation originally reported , which the Judge now sayn he did not utter , " nor anything tantamount to it . " Besides , how can a surmise of guilt , directed against a specific person , be said to be insufficient to bring home a suspicion of guilt ? What is the distinction between a " surmise " and a " suspicion" t Mr . Bates . —The jurymon who tried Struhan , Paul , and Bates , have addressed a petition to the Queen , praying for the liberation of the last-named prisoner , on the ground that , had the facts stated in his recent petition been known to them on the trial , they should have acquitted him . Grkat Beacon Firh on Malvern Hills . —It ia intended to light up a monster fire on the summit of the " Worcestershire Beacon / ' the highest point of the Malvern range of hills , on or about the 1 Oth of January next ; the object being twofold—viz ., the ie ) 0 k , of ie la is it t- » r d n 0 is p h i- j . y n i- e il e y- e h . t e s- 1 - r r t 1 I t 3 3 - j i , l , . l i > i i ' i i

      celebration of the introduction of gas into Malvern , and to test the distance at which the reflection of a large fire on so great an elevation ( 1 , 444 feet above the sea ) would be visible . The beacon fire is fa be forty feet in diameter at the base , and as high as may be conveniently carried , being kept together by poplar poles and bound round with chains . Mr . Edwin Lees , the naturalist , with the view of furthering the object in hand in a scientific way , has pointed out some of the best places for observation in different parts of the kingdom , and he suggests that , if distant observers are on the look-out , " some interesting points may turn up , and some facts as to very far mountains made out which at present are involved in obscurity . " He proposes that a flight of signal rockets should announce the lighting of the fire , and that a deputation might reply with other rockets—say from the Brecon beacons or the Long Mountain in Montgomeryshire , though perhaps the fire itself , on a calm night , might be seen from Cader-Idris or Snowdon . Mr . Lees indicates the following elevated spots ( within the horizon , from the top of the Malverns ) as advantageous for observation on the night of the lighting of the beacon fire : —Burdon-hill , Leicestershire ( about sixty miles as the . crow flies ) ; Edge-hill , near Kineton , Warwickshire ; hills near Banbury , Oxfordshire ; the whole range of the Cotswold , from Broadway , Worcestershire , to Stroud , in Gloucestershire , including Clewe , Cloud , and Lechsimpton hills , Robinshood-hill , near Gloucester , &c . ; White Horse-hill , Berkshire , seen over the Cotswold ( another step takes to hill near London ); Alfred ' s Tower , at Stourhead , Wilts _ Mendip-hiils , Somerset , thirty miles below Bristol ;* heights in Glamorganshire ; Sugar Loaf and Skerrid Vawr , near Abergavenny ; the Kymin , near Monmouth ; Great Doward , Monmouthshire ; the Blorenge and Talgarth Beacon , and part of the Black Forest , Breconshire ; the Black Mountains , stretching from Lantony to Hay ; Blackbury-hill , Lady-left , and Dynevor , Herefordshire ; Radnor Forest , Radnorshire ; Moel-y-Golfa , near Welchpool , Montgomery shire ; hills in Shropshire , Clie-hills , near Ludlow ; Caer Caradoc , the Long Mynd , and the Wrekin ; and Cannock Chace , Enville , Dudley-castle , and Rowlie basaltic hills , in Staffordshire . The Civil Service Superannuation Fund . —A correspondent of the Times writes as follows : — " If I mistake not , about the year 1802 or 1803 , the then Prime Minister appropriated a fund which had accumulated for the payment of the pensions of the retired servants of the Crown to other purposes , and from that time until 1823 these pensions were paid out of the consolidated fund . About the latter period , an act was passed , in order that all the civil servants of the Crown should provide , by means of apercentage on their salaries , a fund for the payment of their respective pensions or ' retired allowance . ' This percentage was , I believe , two and a half per cent , per annum upon all salaries under £ 100 per annum , and five percent , upon all that were above that amount . From that time I believe this percentage has always been paid or deducted from the salaries to the present . About six or seven years since , it was found , not only that a sufiicient fund for the purpose was raised , but that a million and a-half beyond the required amount had accumulated . This surplus at the present time has increased to nearly or quite £ 2 , 000 , 000 sterling . Without inquiring into the justice of the act of Parliament to which I have alluded , have we not a perfect right now to inquire what has become of this enormous accumulated ' excess fund / which I conceive , under the circumstances , to be private property , although in tho hands of the Crown ?" Wiltshire Reformatory Institution . —Activs steps are being taken to establish a reformatory school for this county . The result of tho meeting hold some time since at Devizes , under the presidency of the Marquis of Lausdowne , has been that the sum of £ 1 , 000 has been subscribed , and very great interest has been evinced in the matter by most of the leading persons of the county . ' A site for the proposed builo > ing has been selected , which is within an hour » journey of Salisbury , Bradford , Trowbridgo , Chippen . ham , Melksham , Devizes , Westbury , and Warmmstor . Human Wild Beasts . —Two men belonging to the town of Acoringtou , near Preston , recently wont to a common , stripped themselves stark naked , ana commenced wrestling . For rather more than an hour , they continued worrying each other like wild animals , and at the end of that time gave in , neither boiu £ vanquished . On the body of ono , the torn flesh hung from his bones , says a local paper , like moat from butchers' hooks ; and tho blood poured down » streams . A large crowd kopt urging on the combatants , who wrestled for a wagor . . . . Health of London . —It was shown in tho iawt report that London had suffered nn increase of nun * tatity , the effect of cold weather . In the week tna * ended laat Saturday , though the rigour of the woatUoi was not mitigated , but augmented , tho number J ™ deaths registered was not quite equal to that o * *»" preceding week , the numbers in the two periods naving been 1 , 271 and 1 , 257 . It is agreeable to expo-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 29, 1855, page 1244, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2121/page/8/