GLEANINGS OF NEWS

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 114, 23 November 1858, Page 4

GLEANINGS OF NEWS

{From, late English Papers.) Improper modes of obtaining evidence are very generally scouted in this country. A case of the kind, however, was revealed at the Bodmtn Assizes. Francis Rashleigh was indicted for burglary. A House, left in charge of two girls, was robbed while the maidens were at a revel; suspicion fell on Rashleigh, and he was arrested. Thomas Martin, a constable, introduced himself in plain clothes, into Rashleigh's cell, and, by pretending to be a prisoner, obtained, according to his statement, a confession from Rashleigh of the mode in which he perpetrated the burglary. Baron Watson told the jury that must draw their own conclusion from the evidence of a man who placed himself in so degrading a position as to go to a prisoner under false pretences. Bad as the evidence was, it was badly used, and badly brought forward,'and kept back till the last moment. He should advise the jury to pause before they gave credit to such a person. The jury acquitted 'Rashleigh ; and Baron Watson commended Mr Constable Martin to the notice of the magistrates.— Spectator.

The extraordinary fact that potatoes have been selling in Ireland at 5d per stone for nearly a fortnight, and that they will probably come down to 3d or 4d; is looked upon by the Waterford Mail as equivalent to another social revolution in that country. Ireland will be enabled to save a considerable portion of the £3,500,000 a year which she has been paying for Indian corn and other cereals: she will also have more produce to export, and be able to employ a larger amount of labor on the land.— Leeds Mercury, August 10.

A meeting of the East India Company was held on August 11 to ascertain what the exact legal position'of that corporation is under the new act. The matter appears to be far from clear. Some rather obscure explanations were offered, but ultimately it was agreed to take the opinion of council, and appoint a sub-committee, in order to get a definition of the precise rights and liabilities of the Company. It will be proposed to the Court of Proprietors at the next meet-

ing to raise the annnuity recently granted to Sir John Lawrence to £2C>.<>o. :i; '■ ' ' , A new trade lias sprung tip at: /ijTprwieh' —the production of "egg flour,!'.for use at sea, &c. The patentee is a Mr. T'hurgar, of that city, and the egg flour consists^of the substance of the fresh egg, uncooked, and contains all its nutritious properties. The demand for this new food has increased; and it is stated that the Emigration Commissioners have ordered it to be adopted in the dietary of every emigrant ship. It; has also been ordered for the use of the array. Last year 800,000 eggs were imported from France and Ireland, and converted into this new food.

An extraordinary condemnation is recorded in the Stockholm journals. A tradesman of Gothemburg, in Sweden, took a quantity of peas to a regiment in garrison, in execution of a contract; a lieutenant not thinking them of good quality, refused them; an altercation ensued, and the tradesman, in a rage, struck the officer several blows; and for this he was tried and condemned to be beheaded.

Some curious experiments have lately been made, showing the effects of electricity on thin jets of water. If an electriser be held near a jet which forms a sheaf-like stream on passing through an "orifice, the dispersion ceases, and it becomes a single thread of water; but if the electriser be brought yet nearer, then the drops are reproduced, Again, hold an electrised stick of sealing-wax at the top of a small column of water, and the cylindrical form will be unbroken; but shift the electriser to the base, and the brush forms at once at the top of the jet.—-Mr. Faraday shows that if a ball be placed on a flat metallic plate connected with a Grove's battery, it (the ball) sends off a stream of sparks as soon as the current is established, and runs rapidly around the plate.

A young German named Louis Paulsen, 25 years of age, recently played at Chicago (Illinois) 10 games of chess simultaneously, without seeing the board, winning nine, the 10th being drawn. He was borne at Nassengrund, in Lippe Detmold, one of the small German Principalities bordering on Hesse-Cassel.:" Paulsen is described in one of the Chicago papers as tall and muscular. His face smooth, hair light and short, grey eyes, compact facial muscles, and a head of prodigious size. His head his said to be. the largest of any man in the country. He seem to perform his astonishing feats with great ease, never experiencing the least headache, and feeling quite clear throughout. He declares that he can play better blindfold than in the usual manner, and had he always his choice would never play otherwise. While playing he looks remarkably calm, and }*et, should a bystander feel his pulse, he would count as many as 110 and more. .

The East London Association for Securing Public Decency and morality in the Thoroughfares, obtainM a considerable number of warrants for the apprehension of offenders, at the Thames Policecourt. Four notorious characters, Magaret James, Morris Sheetry, her brother, Elizabeth Martin, and Mary Martin, were committed for trial, charged with wholesale trafficing in vice and prostitution. They were the proprietors of upwards of 100 infamous houses. It appears also that on the previous day, a Mrs. James was bound over to keep the peace on a charge of being disorderly and assaulting a police constable named Kelly. The details related by Kelly were really appalling. The woman and her husband were the proprietors of twenty-five common brothels in the district, and they cbntained : 150 prostitutes. Robberies and outrages had been continually perpetrated in those dens of infamy. Many persons had been stabbed, others thrown from the windows and maimed for life, and there had been repeated convictions of the abandoned women, who paid high rents to James and his wife, ior robbing captains, mates, and seamen. There had been repeated, instances of suicide amongst the unfortunate women under the control of Mrs. James and her husband. Some had cut their throats, others had drowned themselves or put an end to their existence by taking poison. Kelly decribed a frightful scene of profligacy, indecency, and drunkenness in Glasshouse-street, in which Mrs. James, a fat, bloated, vulgar woman, and her lodgers, both English and Irish, took part. When Kelly " interfered, he was assailed with the most horrible and obscene language and threats, and in taking Mrs. James into custody was assaulted by her.

De la Rive, in a letter to Mr. Faraday, explains a method by which he produces an artificial aurora. Into a glass balloon, he introduces one.endof;a, bar of soft iron, fitted with the necessary connections; he exhausts the air, and sends in a very small quantity of vapour of alcohol, ether, or turpentine, and then making a communication with a Ruhmkorff 8 coil, he gets an aurora on and around the end of the rod, which throws off luminous corruscations and rotates quickly. The direction of the rotation may be changed at pleasure. But for surprising effects produced by electrical discharges in a vacuum, Mr. (-jfassiot's experiments, shown before the Roy^l Society, excel all others. He produces quivering bands of light of surpassing beauty; and to demonstrate what further can be accomplished, he ;is^ making glass tubes for the vacuums of dimensions far Exceeding any hitherto attempted for the same purpose: Out of all this it is thought we shall arrive at some positive conclusions concerning the phenomena of the aurora, besides other manifestations of electricity. Robert Knox, Esq., the late editor of the Morning ffemls\&s • been nominated secretary to the^nMxed^commission at the Cape. The, salary and emoluments are worth about £800 ijier-aiittura. I; Mr.F. W. Steven^ of the llbyalExchange, share dealer, has been Committed for trial on the charge of irregularly ing with money entrusted to his care for

investment, but bail has been taken for his" appearance. This case furnishes another illustration of the infatuation of the public in neglecting all warnings for their protection against such incidents. Not only was this person not a member of the Stock Exchange, but the committee of that establishment had publicly notified the fact, owing to his . having been previously implicated in questionable transactions. More than this* it was not in their power to do without subjecting themselves to the chance of having a criminal information- for libel moved against them, and nothing further should have been necessary to excite caution. Yet he appears to have found a, large number ' of clients willing to trust him unreservedly, until an alleged misappropriation of £4799 has at length interfered with his career.

The inquiry into the state of mind of Sir H. Meux terminated on the 17th of June. The jury were all agreed that Sir Henry., is of unsound mind: but they could not agree as to the period when he became so.Mr. Commissioner Barlow sent them"back; he could not receive such a verdict. They: returned, however, in the same state': of [> dubitation, and then the Commissioner, that more time might not be wasted, consented J to receive their verdict. He expressed his opinion that tjie whole matter would Haver' to be investigated over again. ; A most important collection of. black, letter editions of the Holy ; Scriptures, .) liturgies, and early theological literature,forming a portion of the valuable library • of an eminent Irish dignitary of the ■church,: was brought to the hammer by Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson a few days ago,; and produced very high prices. The great; attractioivof the sale was a copy of the first; -Latin Bible, supposed to have been printed at Mentis between the years 1450 and 1454, and executed to resemble a' manuscript, for which the typographer, no doubt, intended to sell each copy. This marvellous specimen of early printings was purchased by Mr. Quaritch, of Castle- : street, for the enormous sum j€595, being1; £400 more than this identical copy sold for. at the sale of his Royal Highness the late; Duke of .Sussex. - :■ : ■

A few days ago an investigation took' place before the Hartlepool magistrates concerning the detention and treatment of two lunatics, Martin and Ellen Wilkinson^ who had been kept in a private dwellinghouse in Southgate-sjreet; for more than 20 years. The persons c|arged in the iqfprr' matiph were Stephen and Ellen Wilkinson,' the brother and sister of the lunatics, V.P*®; information was laid at the instance n P.f, the; Lunacy Commissioners, under whose:notice, the matter Tiad been brought. The male lunatic had been placed in an asylum about; 25 years ago, but refused to take food from his attendants, and was taken home, where1 he had been since kept. The apartments' :in which the lunatics were kept were very small, and filthy and dark, and Martin was covered with rags. His hair and beardV were of great length, and his legs contracted backwards, so that he .was unable to walk. Tfie female was in a similar condition. As the , evidence tended [to show that 7no positive ill-treatment had been exercised towards them, bujt that they had been sufficiently fed, the solicitor for the commissioners did not press for penalties. The bench, ordered the removal of the lunatics to Bath-lane Asylum, Newcastle-on-Tyne. . , ' A wealthy Venetian, a native of TJdine, isjust dead, and has left the large sum of 600,000 francs (£24,000) in trust to Count" Cavour, to be by him,. applied to public, instruction in Piedmont. This is a remafkable bequest, showing the strong feeling of affection, hope, and confidence cherishep by some Italians towards Piedmont, which which they look (to as destined to be the main instrument in the future liberation of: vitaly. ; J ..:-■"l" : ; ■;; :"; - r -^;:;- ■::^;'

Bag Fair in London. —Such adventurous traveller as may wish to examine this large colony of an ancient and unchanged people,' would do well to turn into Hounds&tch from Bishopsgate-street, and then to the left along Cutler-street, and he will soon reach a large market, in which many of the most substantial dealers, male and female, have stalls and other accommodation. It is not a very easy matter, however, to reach this centre, for at certain times the approaches are densely crowded by Jew dealing with Jew, and the " tug of war," in the shape of loud words and energetic action, is startling: The contents of bags are turned out, and one piece of costume, after due eloquence has been used on each side, is exchanged for another, boots and shoes for hats, or coats for trousers. . In advancing to the, central mart, the visitor will pass, as well as he can, through the crowd, without meeting with much notice, for all are too busy with their own pursuits. He will be surprised at the spirit of trading which is shown on all sides of him: an old hat is disputed about as if it were a matter of life and death. -In,the interior of the market a stranger attracts immediate attention; and, if well dressed, has numerous communications made to him; the seemingly in want of a coat is, however, the most attractive, and those who have experienced the rush of touters and porters at some foreign, steamboat station may form some idea of the manner in . which his attention is divided by the numerous offers. A man must either have an empty purse or great firmness to avoid making a purchase. The immense quantities of goods We, suitable for markets at home and abroad suggest that in London there is a greatness even in the scale of old clothes. The busiest time ■is in the afternoon, from two to, five 6'olqck. Fast this exchange Petticoat-lane stretches in a long line, and this is generally thronged with dealers, some of whom carry «>n their business in shops,'while in front of them, others pitch their goods oh the" grouhd.-7-The Builder. , A Dangerous Skip. — ln wn»t ihip hat the greatest number of men been wrecked? Courtship. ■■ >. > ,