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Leader (1850-1860), 14th September 1850, Edition Town of 1, Page 582, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      in following the descendants of English partridges and pheasants in New Zealand . The colonists have even subscribed to take out cages full of linnets , robins , thrushes , and all the small birds , which , even at some expense to farming profits , must still repay their thefts by grateful reminiscences of the central country of universal England .

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      THE NOVA MOTIVE SYSTEM OF BAILWAY PBOPULSION . To the numerous objects exhibited at the Royal Polytechnic Institution for the instruction of the scientific student , as well as those for amusing and edifying the general public , there has been added a model of an entire new system for railway propulsion , which , according to the description of the inventor , has overcome all the objections to the old atmospheric system , possesses greater power and facilities than the locomotive , and at much The model train , which is on a scale of about one-fifth of the full size , is composed of six carriages in length , closely attached to each other . Under the axles of the carriages there is attached a metallic elastic flexible tube or air-tight cylinder , having a slit in the under side along its whole length , with a self-acting valve about two feet from each end . This tube or cylinder is called the

      traction pipe . Along the line of railway , in the centre between the rails , there are placed hollow pistons , with self-acting valves , and connected by hollow stems at their centre with a pipe laid along the whole extent of the line , which is in communication with the steam-engine pump of the institution , which produces a vacuum . The tractionpipe under the carriages being brought in connection with the vacuum while passing over the pistons , the air in the tube rushes to the vacuum , is exhausted by the stationary steam power , and by these simple but most effeetive and economical means , the train is propelled at a velocity corresponding to the size of the tube and vacuum maintained in the pipe . The engine-driver in charge of the Nova Motive tram

      will enjoy quite a sinecure in comparison with the present engine-drivers . He will occupy the first carriage of the train , have no water , fire , steam , or fuel to attend to , and be secured from the inclemency of the weather . By shifting his levers he will have a thorough control over the train to stop , slacken speed , or back it , as may be required , and in descending inclines can use the tube as an exhausting pump to strengthen the vacuum , and the power thus saved to be used as a reserve for ascending steep gradients , without any more expenditure than if the train had been travelling all the line on a level . Andwhat is of more importance , the whole propelling

      , power can be applied to stop the train without using any breaks on the wheels , which is now found along with the ponderous locomotive , to be one of the most powerful means for the destruction of the permanent way . In the present state of the railway world the great question for solution is , how they can be worked «« cheaper ? " " Lower your wages , " " reduce your salaries , " " run lighter trains , " " look after your locomotive expenditure , " is the cry at all the railway meetings ; and on this head we have been informed that the Nova

      Motive system offers great consolation . In a draft prospectus for the formation of a company to carry out this system , now before us , it is stated that , " the cost of haulage will be reduced to half its present amount on the present lines . " And , " in respect to new railroads constructed in accordance with the Nova Motive system , the deep cuttings , embankments , and tunnels , now required for the locomotive will be avoided , and a lighter , permanent way adopted , by which a saving of several thousand pounds per mile will be effected "— " as well as to increase the comfort and safety of the railway travelling public . "

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      WRECK OP AN EMIGRANT SHIP . A shocking shipwreck was reported at Lloyd ' s on Tuesday , the total loss of the ship Bridgetown , belonging to Liverpool , having on board 390 passengers , emigrants for America , whose escape , considering the fearful circumstances of the wreck , was most miraculous . The ship , which was nearly 1000 tons burden , sailed from Liverpool on the 4 th of July . She was bound to Quebec , and accomplished the passage across the Atlantic by the 3 rd of August . The succeeding night witnessed the destruction of the ship . They had sighted the Banks of Newfoundland , and were bearing to the southward , with light breezes and foagy weatherwhen about midnight

      , she went upon a rock at Clam Cove , between Cape Ballard and Cape llace . The violent force with which she struck instantly aroused the emigrants , who rushed upon deck in a state of great excitement , and the scene that ensued , when it was found that she was fast filling and must inevitably go down , was painful beyond description . The first object sought by the master was to run the ship towards the coast , which , though not seen , was supposed to be close at hand , and then getting out the boats , he fortunately succeeded in persuading his * ' living freight " to follow his instructions . The female emigrants were placed in the boats , and these having been safely put ashore , the boats returned , and

      eventually , after considerable exertion ; the whole of the re . xnainder were saved excepting three children , who were lost in the confusion , and were supposed to have perished in the shin , which shortly foundered in five fathoms of water , and was a total loss . The poor emigrants lost everything they possessed ; many reached the shore with nothing on their persons but their night-clothes . The distress of the unhappy creatures wus very great . There were several c . ibin passengers ; among them was an episcopal clergyman , who lost property to the amount of upwards of £ 1000 . Amidst their misfortunes , a gnng of desperate wreckers visited the spot , and carried oft' the little property that was cast up from the wreck and washed ashore ; everything , in fact , they laid their hands upon ,

      they decamped with . Captain Mills , the master , attributes the loss of the ship not only to the dense fog and darkness of the night , but in a great measure to the variableness and uncertainty of the currents , together with the force and strength with which they set in towards Cape Race . The vessel was but partially insured .

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      A FRAUDULENT CLERK . A Mr . Frederick Oliver Bawlinson , confidential clerk in the employ of Messrs . Daunt and Co ., merchants , Liverpool , who had absconded , taking with him a large sum of money , has been apprehended through an ingenious device of the head of the Manchester Detective Police ( Mr . Beswick ) , at Birmingham . Bawlinson had been traced to Manchester , but there lost sight of . The case was consequently placed in Mr . Beswick s hands , who , learning that the gentleman had paid his addresses to a lady in the neighbourhood , visited her with a view to making enquiries concerning Rawlinson ' s present concealment . She refused for a long time to make anv disclosure , but at length said he had gone to

      London , and had attempted to persuade her to accompany him . A watch was placed upon the house where the lady resides , and as a letter was delivered to her next morning , the police officer on watch ( Inspector Neaves ) having reason to believe it might be from Bawlinson , directly it was placed in her hands demanded to see it . It was yielded up , and was m the following words : — " Birmingham , Friday Afternoon . My dear Margaret , —I arrived here this morning about ten o ' clock quite hearty and well . I have been

      wishing all day you had been with me , as I was quite by myself and completely lost . Perhaps you will come by the quarter-past ten train to-morrow , and I shall meet you at the station on arrival here . Should , however , we miss each other , which is not at all likely , then take a cab , and tell the man to drive direct to the King Edwardparade , Birmingham ( do not forget ) , and remain till I come , as I have been stopping there since I have been here . Do not , dear Margaret , forget the caution I gave you upon leaving Manchester , not to tell anybody where vou are going , or where I am at present . If you cannot

      come by the train in the morning , then you must not fail at night . In both cases I shall be at the station . I trust you will make this out though I write in a great hurry . "Will you be good enough to post the enclosed , and oblige ? Now , farewell , until I have the pleasure of seeing you safe . —Yours , ever faithfully and affectionately , Frederick . Miss , , Salford . " The result

      was that the unfortunate lover , when the train reached Birmingham , instead of clasping his " dear Margaret ' in his arms , was astounded to find himself in the hands of a police-officer , at whose elbow was Mr . Daunt , one of his late employers . Money was found upon him to the amount of £ 212 8 s ., and other sums which he had recently spent and otherwise disposed of , to the amount of nearly £ 60 were recovered , making , it is expected , all he had taken .

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      CRUEL TREATMENT OF A PAUPER LUNATIC . An inquest was held at the Elephant and Castle , St . Pancras-road , on Monday , on the body of Louisa Gray , aged 65 , whose death , it was alleged , had been caused by the cruel treatment she had received whilst in a state of lunacy in St . Pancras Workhouse . The affair had created so much excitement in the neighbourhood that the present enquiry was deemed necessary . Upon notice being received by the coroner , a . post-mortem examination of the body was ordered to be made . Mr . Erichsen , Professor of Surgery in the University College , stated that he had made a post-mortem examination of the deceased , who

      was a pauper lunatic in the workhouse , and who died on the 31 st ultimo . He found the greater part of the back , legs , and arms , covered with wounds . On the lower part of the back were very extensive wounds , caused by the deceased being confined for several months to her bed . He had made a very minute examination of the lungs and organs of the body , and found them perfectly healthy . The head was also in a healthy state . There was considerable sloughing from some of the back wounds , which caused great irritation ; he was of opinion that the bruises found upon the body were not the cause of the death , but that death had been caused by violent

      excitement of the nervous system . The daughter inlaw of the deceased , Mrs . Brown , said that , during her visits to her mother , she had complained of having been repeatedly beaten by the nurse , and that when they removed her to a refractory ward the men had kicked her violently on the back and on other parts of her body . She also said that she had been several times struck by Ann Bryant , another pauper lunatic , with a thick stick , on her U-gs , arms , and body . It appeared from the evidence of Mr . Robinson , the surgeon to the workhouse , that there were only three nurses to twenty-five or thirty insane persons , and that when any of the patients became refractory , they had to obtain such assistance as they could . He had frequently urged upon the board of guardians some alteration in this respect . The jury returned the following special verdict :

      " That the deceased died from exhaustion , produced from bedwouuds ; but the jury cannot separate without expressing their opinion that the treatment uf Louisa Gray has been moat improper whilst in the insane ward ; that she has been violently assaulted by the nurse , and also by some of the insane patients ; and the jury recommend the board of guardians to furnish more cilieient nurses , and a separate ward for the refractory portion of the insane patients ; and they also recommend that water-beds should be provided for patients having bud-wounds . " The Coroner recommended that the nurse should be prosecuted for the assault before a police magistrate .

      Untitled Article

      committed a most brutal and cowardly assault upon the wife and infant child of the younger prisoner . The complainant , Anne Barrett , a delicate-looking young woman , whose face and person exhibited traces of severe illusage , stated that , in consequence of the violent temper and irregular habits of her husband , they had lived together on very unhappy terms . After a long-continued course of ill-treatment he ultimately turned her and the child out of doors . They were reduced to such extreme distress and privation that she went on Friday to his father ' s house in the hope of inducing him to contribute

      MURDERS AND MURDEROUS ASSAULTS . Two powerful-looking fellows , named John and James Barrett , father and son , were brought up at Worship-Btrect Police-office , on Saturday , charged , with having

      something towards their maintenance . Having made knowu the object of her visit , her father-in-law struck her a violent blow on the face , which felled her to the ground , her husband then rushed out of an inner room , and , after repeatedly kicking her and her child , deliberately placed his feet upon her and commenced trampling upon her body . The prisoners affirmed that the woman had been the first offender , and that they had used no more force in turning her out than was necessary . They were each fined £ 5 , or , in default of payment , to be committed for two months to the House of Correction .

      At Harrow petty sessions on Saturday , Benjamin Dorville , charged with , the murder of his wife , by wounding her with a scythe , was committed to take his trial at the Central Criminal Court . On being asked what he had to say for himself , he said—" All I can say is this : I was the worse for liquor and my wife was quarrelling with me , which caused me to strike her , not recollecting I had the scythe in my hand . I had no interest in killing her . " Robert Hayes , George Stevens , and Harriett Stevens were committed to Newgate on Monday , for the manslaughter of George Fox , a respectable tradesman in Westminster . Fox was going home on Tuesday evening week , when a little girl , a daughter of Stevens , happened

      to bowl her hoop against him , which he took . This led to a quarrel with Stevens , and while they were fighting , Mrs . Stevens rushed out of a beershop and struck Fox . He , in his defence , gave her a severe blow on the face , which caused blood to flow . This rendered her furious , she instantly seized him by the hair of the head and dragged him across the road . Stevens , Hayes , and two other men then all began to abuse Fox , who fell down . While he was on the ground , Mrs . Stevens dashed his head several times against the ground , she also held his head while Hayes struck him under the ear . At last he became insensible , and was taken to St . George ' s Hospital , bleeding from the ears and mouth . He died on Friday morning from the injuries received . named Jonah

      A small farmer and wool-comber , Hamsworth , residing at Ovenden , in the West Riding , who had long been annoyed by the damage done to his fences and crops , ran after some lads whom he saw in his field , one night last week , and having overtaken a little boy , about seven years old , kicked him so severely that he died a few minutes after . The man has been committed to York Castle on a charge of manslaughter . The Reverend R . Atthill , curate of Trinity Church , Hull , was conversing with a friend , in the market-place , on Friday week , when a man , respectably dressed , came up , and , holding a pistol within two or three inches of Mr . Atthill ' s head , pulled the triger . Fortunately , although the cap exploded , the pistol itself hung fire ; upon which the fellow walked unconcernedly away , saying , ' It doesn ' t signify , we shall meet again . " At

      first the reverend gentleman thought a rather extraordinary joke had been played upon him ; but , recovering from his surprise , he followed the man , who was then taken into custody . Upon examination the pistol was found to be loaded with ball and a proper charge of powder , and a powder-flask and another bullet were discovered upon his person . Had the pistol not providentially been prevented from going off Mr . Atthill must have been killed on the spot , so close was the weapon held to his head . The prisoner was taken immediately before the magistrates , who were sitting at the time of the occurrence , and by them he was committed to York for trial at the next assizes . His name is Edward Kelass , and , from statements made before the court , he appears to be insane , and to be suffering under a religious monomania . He assigned no motive for the

      outrage . A coroner ' s jury at Mallow , in the county of Cork , has returned a verdict of manslaughter against Captain Henry Kendal Bushe , of the 59 th Regiment , for having caused the death of a child named John Deuchy , between six and seven years of age , by striking it vtolently on the head with a whip . The offence committed by the child was his having struck a dog belonging to the captain with a little whip which he had in his hand , while walking out with a female servant . _

      The inhabitants of New-alley , White-street , Borough , were alarmed on the morning of Wednesday week by the noise of quarrelling in the house of a man named Collins . Cries of murder having been heard , several women entered the room , when thev found Mra . Collins , who was within a month of her confinement , lying on the floor , with her husband stooping over her and tearing her dress . She was placed on the bed where she died within half an hour . Her husband admitted that he had beaten her , saying , " I did not strike her to hurt her , but I have done it , and I must suffer for it . It appeared from the evidence of a daughter of Collins , that her mother had been drinking , that she had come home quite tipsy at half-past two in the morning . Collins has been committed to take his trial for manslaughter , at the next sessions of the Central Criminal Court .

      Sarah Chesham , of Clavering , the alleged poisoner , was brought up at Newport Gaol on Tuesday before Mr . Birch Wolfe , one of the county magistrates , for reexacnination , on the charge of having destroyed her husband , Richard Chesham , by administering aisenic to him . The proceedings lasted nearly five hours , and twelve or fourteen persons were examined . A mass of circumstantial evidence was adduced as to procuring poison aud

      Untitled Article

      582 Cf » * % t * ii 9 t , [ Satokbav ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 14, 1850, page 582, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1853/page/6/