Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 20th August 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 954, Untitled Article

Page 954
Page 6
6 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      marine . telegraph , and their lordships ordered further trial to be made at sea . Their lordships afterwards inspected the ships under construction , and went on board the magnificent steam screw frigate Ariadne , ¦ which stretches across the -whole length of the basin . They likewise went on board the Mating , which vessel , like the Ariadne , lias recently arrived at Woolwich , from Deptford to be fitted for service . Letters from Naples mention that , the English fleet , consisting of five liners , under Vice-admiral Fa-nsliaire , was about to leave for Palermo . Acts of

      mutiny had been committed by a number 01 the crew of the Maryborough , bearing the admiral ' s flag :, commanded by Lord Frederick II . Kerr , when solid shot were not merely rolled about the docks , but actually cast at one of the mates and some of the warrant officers . The admiral ordered them to put their grievances in writing , and we are informed that some complained of interrupted rest , others of unnecessary duty , and mostof refusal of leave . Some of the ringleaders have been put in irons and will probably be tried by court-martial .

      The following significant announcement appears in the Memorial de Lille : — " We learn from a good source that Lille is shortly to be selected as the seat of a great military command , to be held by a marshal of France . Marshal Niel is mentioned as the first to fill these high functions . " Some experiments have been made at Woolwich dockyard in order to test M . Ferdinand Salis ' s indestructible fire ,. ' and have been reported as most successful , and important to the naval service . The principal object of the invention is to enable the crew of a boat or vessel to obtain information as to the position of the fleet of an enemy during a period of warfare . The composition is encased in tin , which is provided with tubes , and the tin case is attached to a float of wood . Contact with

      ¦ water causes ignition , and a strong liglit proceeds from one of ^ the tubes . The apparatus ^ being attached to a boat or vessel by means of a rope , will enable those on board to see distinctly at a distance of half a mile . A correspondent of the Daily News says—" Lord Palnierstou ' s boast that an invader would have to meet 200 , 000 men must be a subject of amusement to French colonels , for they say that 60 , 000 trained men would sc on destroy a mob of disembodied militia and rifle corps . In the meantime broad hints are given us . Every Frenchman tells us that we are to be the next , and the best of the French fleet is being brought round to Cherbourg to be armed with the rifled cannon . We are talking about rifling our cannon ; the French have got hundreds ready .

      Untitled Article

      THE VOLUNTEERS . Siu J . T . Coleridge has published an energetic letter upon this subject , in which he asks : — " Supposing a war to break out , can any man suggest any other enterprise on the part of an enemy so probable as an attempt to invade England ? We are now an unarmed people , of all nations perhaps the least ready for effective service . Why should we not become familiar with the use of the rifle and . with the charge with the bayonet ? . , Ocneral Simcoe , in 1800 , by making the volunteers act with the line and the militia in mnrchos , encampments , and shatn fights , had prepared them for actual service .

      AH this , J . suppose , might without difficulty be practical now , A general order issued by General Simcoe , in 1800 , says , « The Major-General desires that the volunteer in the charge may be exercised to increase his-pace by degrees , so as to arrive with rapidity at the distance of 300 yards without any disorder , and in . perfect breath and readiness to grapple with any opponent . The closing with an enemy becomes the courage of the country , and is firmly supported by that aotivity in which the Englishman participates with the southern nations of Europe , arid the strength in which ho equals those of the north . A combination of those qualities and a due exercise therein must insure victory . '"

      by London alone , was 56 , 272 trained infantry and cavalry . " A Man in the Streets" writes to a contemporary , u I will venture to remind all parties interested in the matter of volunteer corps that speeches are hot practising grounds . Cheers are not rifles aud bullets . Uniforms are not expert sharpshooters . Members as fast as enrolled should procure their rifles and learn to use them , so that when their smart uniforms are sent home and worn they be not onlv riflemen in appearance but in reality . "

      The movement in the country is gathering strength in some parts , but in London and many other places wo hear too much of smart uniforms and but little of practice or drill . At Bristol 'and Cheltenham wo mark favourable exceptions to this charge ; At the former place , in addition to the corps furnished from the city residents , another has been formod of persons employed about tho cloaks . The members do not wear qny distinctive uniform , but being each provided with a rifle , their attontion is to bo directed towards completo efficiency in the use of that arm . At Cheltenham the dress coneiets of'grey blouse and cap to match . .

      Notwithstanding what has boon done nt present , it will bo long 1 at tho present rate of proceedings , before the vohmtcorfl m , ustor in forco . Lord I ' ahncr-Bton . speaks of ninety companies enrolled throughout tho country , which , at tho outside would give 10 , 000 m « n . Compare thlB to the public spirit of the yoar 1803 , when tho effective volunteer force furnishod

      Untitled Article

      Tub Great Eastern . — Our realtor * arc probably aware that Mr . Lover , M . P . offered to charter tno Groat Eastern for her first voyage to Amoncn , irona a safe port in Great Britain or lrolnml , mid to pay 20 , 000 / . to the company for tho trip . Immediately after this offer was made , Mr . Lover paid a visit to Ireland , having , us wo are given to understand , rocoivod an assuranco from the chairman otwio Groat Eastern Company < that nothing could bo dpno with the vessel , without given him an opportunity of negotiating for her charter . On his return he mis made another tender , oflorlng to coal tho » " > p , »» veil as to pay down 20 , 000 / . cusli on tho agreement being slgnod . The Company , by accoiitlng inn offer , would bo relieved from till oxponsos ot commission 1 they havo no troublo in caso of a i > roftKdown of the machinery , and bo in a position to clonr a handsome net profit without risk .

      Untitled Article

      nuisance to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood and measures are to be taken to have the evil abated A burglary "was committed on the premises of Messrs . Groer and Sons , Newgate-street , -when a large quantity of cultery was carried off . Subsequently upwards of 200 packets of the stolen property was discovered by the j > 9 liee , in the house of a man named Richard Tucker , a type-founder . Tucker was brought before Mr . Tyrwhitt at Clerkenwcll yesterday , but denied all knowledge of the matter . He was remanded for a week .

      At the assizes at Bristol this week , great inconvenience has been occasioned by the-absence-of counsel who have undertaken the conduct of cases . On Tuesday , Mr . Montague Smith not having arrived to take charge of a case in wliich he was specially retained , the solicitor , one Mr . . Skynner , of London , craved the judge ' s permission to conduct the case liimself , observing that like permission had been granted by Mr . Justice Cronipton , at Wells . The Judge ( Mr . Baron Bramwcli ) said , I certainly to do There len

      shall not admit you so . are pty of gentlemen here . I should be taking \ tpon myself the office of a legislator if I perniitteil . it . —Mr . Skynner : Mj r Lord , I retained my leading counsel three months ago , and it was only this morning that I discovered that I should not have his services . —The Judge : You must take somebody else , then . I shall not allow yoii ' -tb-conduct the case when the bar is perfectly competent . —Mr . Skynner : My Lord , my briefs are very long . — --The Judge : I appreciate thedifficulties -of-. your situation , but I shall adopt my

      LAW , POLICE , AKD CASUALTIES . The trial of Dr . Smethurst for the murder of Isabella Bankes has occupied the Central Criminal Court throughout this week . The prisoner is charged with administering to her constantly small doses either of arsenic or antimony , or some other irritant poison . He was a married man ; but he had gone through the ceremony of marriage with the deceased shortly before her death , and he had induced her to make a will in his favour , under which he would have come into possession of about l , 800 Z . Mr . Serjeant Ballantine opened the case for the prosecution on Monday . On Tuesday the witnesses examined ¦ were Dr . Julius , the medical man who attended the

      deceased lady till her death ; Dr . Bird , his partner ; Dr . Wilks , of Guy ' s ; Dr . Tbdd , of King ' s College Hospital , and one or two other medical men of repute . The gist of the evidence was , that in the opinion of the witnesses Miss Bankes died of small doses of irritant poison , incessantly administered . Dr . Julius deposed that no poisons were contained in any of the medicines dispensed from his establishment for deceased during her illness . The evidence for the prosecution was continued the next day , when- £ -r . Taylor was' examined at great length , lie ascribed the death of Miss Bankes to the administration of some mortal poison ,-and-lie . -gave the jury to understand that the poison was either arsenic Or antimony ,

      or both . But the remarkable feature about his evidence was his acknowledgment that he . and Dr . Odling had been guilty of a mistake in affirming that they had found arsenic in the contents of a bottle marked No . 21 , which had been handed over to them for analysis . This was one of-the bottles found in the prisoner ' s room , and which contained chlorate of potass , the ingredient which , as assumed , was employed by Smethurst to prevent the discovery of arsenic after it had been administered . It seems that Dr . Taylor , in this instance , used a test which was itself arsenical , and upon making the discovery that he had committed a mistake , which was done after he had sworn that arsenic was found in the bottle , he communicated this circumstance to the

      prisoner . Mr . Serjeant Parry , in his speech for the defence , did not . fail to take advantage of this discrepancy . He submitted that this was nothing but a case of suspicion , aud he remarked that the broad , patent * and unmistakable fact was that neither antimony nor arsenic had been traced to the possession of the prisoner , and few indeed were tho traces of such poisons in the body of the deceased . The first witness he called ( Dr . ltichardson ) maintained that the symptoms under which Miss Bankes laboured were hot reconcilable with slow arsenical poison . This witness stated tlic result of certain experiments he had mado with poisons on dogs . The impression seemed to be , however , that from the mode of carrying out those experiments they had not much bearing on tho present case .

      On Thursday the evidence for the defence was concluded . This was entirely medical , and a num ? ber of doctors and surgeons camo forward to depose that all the symptoms sworn to as haying been shown by tho deceased Miss Bankes might have been the result of pregnancy , and of certain diseases under which it was proved she laboured . Mr . Rogers , of Grosvonor-place School , said that several of tho symptoms distinctive of slow- arsenical poisoning were absent in the case of MisB Bankes \ this opinion was also given by Dr . Tylcv » Smith , Other medical men examined agreed in opinion that death Avas caused by dysentery . Mr . Sergeant Ballantino having replied upon the case , tho Lord Chief Baron went on with the summing up , which

      was not concluded until yostorday . On Thursday Joseph Castle , a maltster , of Warol Hertfordshire , was committed fox trial at Luton , for tho murder of his wife , a young woman 21 yoars oi ago . The prisoner , it sooms , had llvod unhappily with his wife , who left her homo and proceedouHo tho residence of a relative . Sho was traced by tho prisoner , who exacted from her a promise to accompany him back to their house . She loft Teuton for tho purpose , and a few hours afterwards was found with her throat out and her body frightfully mutl-Jated . Sho expired a fow minutes after sho was discovered . On Tuesday Mr . Yardloy was ongagod for a considerable time In disposing of adjourned summonses against persons having manufactories on Bow common , Thoso "vvorlcs wore provod to bo a grlovous

      own course . On the same day a juror said he could not take the path , because he was a Christian . The following spirited dialogue ensued . —The Judge : The great majority of the world are clearly of a different opinion . You say you think you can ' t take the oath ; therefore you can't do it . What'do yow propose to do ?¦ —The Juror : The words of Scripture are very explicit . —The Judge .: I am- not going to argue it ; What do you wish to do ; will you affirm ?—The Juror : I can't take upon me the office of a juryman . I am a Christian , raid ,, the The

      Lord having pardoned my ' sins ,- Judge : Why can't you take the oath ?•— The Juror : According to the doctrine of grace , — —The Judge : " . grace ? I don't think that is tenable . What has gr ace to do with earthly matters ? Do you say that the A'crdict has been predestined ?—The Jwror : "We are not to resist evil ( 5 th Matthew ) ; we arc to suffer . —The Judge : You suffer the evil the law puts , upon you . It is downright nonsense . The best thing I can say is , that such a man is not fit to sit on a jury . Get out of the box , but don't leave the court , because you are not to make a holyday by

      your nonsense . On Saturday morning a ship lying in the Wear , at Sunderland , -was reduced almost to a wreck by an explosion of gas . The vessel was loaded with coal ready for sea , and the cargo had evidently generated a largo quantity of hydrogen gas , which . became ignited by a light inadvertently brought into the cabin . A number of persons are also seriously injured by the accident . . A little girl , named Hodman , only eleven years of age , residing at Islington , committed suicide on Tuesda }* , by throwing herself into the canal . Considerable alarm has been caused in a Jittlo village of South Wales by the poisoning of thirty individuals at a harvest supper , It is hoped , however , that no lives will be sacrificed . How the poison got mixed with the food is unknown , but it is believed to have been contained in a certain pudding

      that formed part of tho feast . A melancholy necidont occurred on Wednesday afternoon near Putney Bridge , by which three persons wero drowned . A young m / in , acconipnnieil oy a young woman and a little girl—sistert ? --vere enjoying a sail on tho river , when their small boat was upsat , and tho whole throe drowned . On tho samo day as the train from Thames Haven station to London was nouring Tilbury , the engine mid several carriages ran off the lint , severely injuring a number of tho passengers .

      Untitled Article

      954 THE LEADER . [ No ,, 49 fl- Aug . 20 , 1859 .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 20, 1859, page 954, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2308/page/6/