Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 22nd February 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 172, Untitled Article

Page 172
Page 8
8 of 24

On this page

  • Text (6)
  • 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

      POISONOUS BREAKFAST BEVERAGES . ( by a working man . ) Having seen some remarks on the adulteration of coffee in the Leader , I think a few words by one who has been behind the curtain may be of use . To begin with green tea , the system of facing , or getting up , as it is cftlled , is carried on to an extent that few people would beli « ve . Twelve or fourteen years ago the facing waschiefly done by the hand—in Manchester , at least—and the principal ingredient used was magnesia . This gave place to Prussian blue , indigo , and Dutch pink . Within

      the last few years various other deleterious articles have been brought into use , and the steam-engine is how made to do the work that was formerly done by hand . When black tea is so much damaged that it cannot be sold without disguise , they at once set to work and make it into green . No matter how rotten it is , it will be steamed and roasted up ; and if it will not take a curled leaf it is ground and made into small green tea . Plumbago , ivory black , French chalk , and other like substances are used to lay a foundation for the Prussian blue , &c . ; and the quantity of those powders used for that purpose is truly frightful .

      The system of mixing and repacking is also carried on to an enormotiB extent ; and great is the ingenuity often displayed in making the chests look original . The he ' w naila are often sprinkled with salt and water to make them look fusty . Ground coffee ( as most people are aware ) is quite as much adulterated as tea . I have seen remarks made about various kinds of grain being used , but the principal article is chicory , which is itself mixed with every substance that can assimilate with it . In Liverpool damaged sea bread is bought up for the purpose , and all kinds of spoiled grain . Bye is also used in large quantities ; and when chicory was dearer than it i 3 at present I have seen clay ( yes , common clay by the cart

      load ) used in Manchester for the purpose of reducing chicory to 36 s . per cwt . When heavy grain was used the packets looked so small for the money that another scheme was adopted . That was to roast and grind bran along with it ; and I have seen hundreds of tons roasted for that purpose . To give a rich blooming appearance to all this rubbish , oxide of iron is used in large quantities , and orange buds are ground along with it to give it a different flavour . If even no grain is used , Venetian red and orange buds are used for colouring chicory alone . At present something like calcined sugar is having a great run , and goes by the name of flningo . A . little of it is put along with the chicory ; but it can easily be detected by the naked eye , showing itself in bright glittering particles like glass .

      Cocoa also shares the same fate as tea and coffee . At the present time I know that in Lancashire soluble cocoa is made at prices which vary from 5 d . up to 2 s . the pound , from the same parcel of cocoa . To effect this flour , potatoes , farina , and other like substances are used ; also treacle , and here again oxide of iron is used to keep up the colour . The evil does not end here , for those shopkeepers who often get the blame for the practices 1 have alluded to , know nothing of them , the fault is with , the wholesale dealers ( or manufacturers , I may call them ) , and who often also carry on a retail business , but who take care to sell good articles themselves and serve other shops with goods which they will not sell . Thus they monopolize the ready-money trade to themselves , and get a name for fair dealing .

      We hear much talk at times about Banitary reform , but I think little good can be effected as long as the people ' s food is poisoned by such doings . I have no doubt whatever but every branch of the provision trade is subject to the same complaints . If servants would but make a more determined stand against those practices perhaps they would in some measure be put a atop to . But , I am sorry to say , they often do the reverse , for it is just in proportion to the amount of cunning displayed in keeping those things secret that they are

      counted good and faithful servants . Encouraged by this flattery , they often throw out fresh hinta for Home new invention , thus giving a stimulus to their employers , whilst perhaps at the same time their relations and friends may be suffering both in health and po « ket from the suggestions of those who ought to study the interests of the class to which they belong . Now , I have no objection to the tea dealers selling one or another of the various articles named , but what I want is that they will leave the mixing alone , and then people cua mix for themselves , and have no one to blame for it .

      I have said servants should take ft different course , but they dare not . If their lips are not perfectly sealed to every move they would be at once discharged , and then they might make application for work in vain . The character given would be that he is not trustworthy , and the workhouae or the prison is the only place where ho would be able to get admittance .

      Untitled Article

      It A 11 , WAV ACCltDENl'fl . Ad the seven p . m . train from Rugby wa ^ on its way to Leicester , oh ( Sunday last , one 6 f the tubes of the engine

      hurst . William Wilkinson , the driver , having been before severely scalded from a similar accident , became alarmed , and made his escape from the foot plate over the coke to the back of the tender , when he fell between that and the adjoining carriages , and was killed . He has left a widow and six young children to lament his untimely end , but , fortunately for them , he had msure . d his life for £ 500 in the Railway Insurance Company s ofificc An ' alarming accident occurred oh the Birmingham and Derby branch of the Midland Railway , at an early hour on Tuesday morning . A goods train ivhlch left Birmingham at 1 a . m . came into collision with a wagofa Which had broken down at Water Orton station . Several wagons and trucks were thrown off the line , and the contents scattered on all sides , but no loss of life occurred . As the electric teleeranh had been rendered useless by

      the collision , much alarm was felt lest the North tram , due in Birmingham at 1-50 should arrive without warning A messenger was instantly sent forward to the Whitacre station , four miles and a half , who succeeded in warning the conductors so as to prevent any accident . A most extraordinary accident happened on the London and North-Western Railway , near Alderley , on Tuesday afternoon . When the Parliamentary tram , which leaves London at seven , had passed Alderley about half a mile ( fourteen miles from Manchester ) one half of the tire of one of the leading wheels flew off . The engine after losinc the wheel appears to have got off the line ;

      and to have proceeded so for a short distance ; it must then have fallen over on the offside , and been immediately brought to a stand by being firmly fixed in the ground . Chadwick , the driver , was thrown on the up side of the line , but the stoker fortunately remained on the engine . The carriages were smashed and heaped together in the most extraordinary manner , and the shrieks of the passengers were fearful . The mischief was discovered from the Alderley station immediately after its occurrence , and the station-master proceeded to the 6 pot with all the aid he could collect . As soon as men could be got to work , the passengers were extricated , fortunately all alive . Chadwick , the driver , was almost immediately found in the gutter or water-cour 3 e on the up side of the

      line , under the tank part of the tender . He lay across the gutter with his feet towards the line ; and although no part of the tender rested upon his body , a screw-jack lay upon his chest , and rendered fruitless all attempts to remove him . By dint of great exertions for about halfan-hour the tender was lifted , the screw-jack removed , and then the unfortunate man was taken out , quite dead . All the injured persons were taken on to Manchester , with the exception of a married lady , named Halse , who lay at the Queen ' s Hotel , Alderley , suffering from a spinal concussion . She was on her way from London to

      pay a visit to some friends in Salford . Mr . Allison , a medical gentleman residing at Bridlington , Yorkshire , went on to Manchester by the first train . He had sustained a fracture of the nose , a laceration of the forehead , and a severe contusion of boththighs . The guard of the train was severely bruised , and had his shoulder dislocated . The stoker was also much bruised in several parts of his body . The wonder is that no greater loss of life has been caused . The heap of ruins , consistiug of fragments of the engine , tender , and carriages , was about twenty feet high , the whole being forced together in a manner which shnwpd the terrific nature of the mischief . The engine

      was literally smashed into pieces , the boiler being the only part that at all retains its original shape or appearance . But the most extraordinary part of the affair was that one of the carriages , apparently that next the tender , was thrown completely over the tender and engine , and now lies on its side , some ten yards in advance , on the down line . In this carriage there were fortunately no passengers . Four or five carriages were completely destroyed .

      Untitled Article

      BU 11 GLA . UIES * Several daring burglaries have taken place during the last eight or ten days . The residence of Mr . Fredericks , of Albetnarle-street , Piccadilly , was entered last week and plundered of silks and satins , value £ 120 , a quantity of silver plate , value upwards of £ 200 , and cash and securities amounting to £ 99 l ) s . The house 37 , Beaumontatreet , Marylebone , was ako entered last week , and plundered of £ 50 in Bank of England notes , several sovereigns , and £ 100 worth of jewellery . The mansion of the Honourable Miss Ward , at lleden , near Ilolderness , York , was broken into , and the whole of the costly ; family plate , value £ 600 , carried off . It is stated that the

      residence of T . Sutton , Esq ., Ilellmorton , Warwick , was broken into by armed ruiiianB , who made their way into the room where Mr . and Mrs Sutton were in bed , whom they fastened together , plundering the place of a quantity of money , and a variety of miscellaneous property . The house of Mr . Buteman , of Kiiitf John's-court , Shoreditch , was entered by two burglars on Saturday morning , who had packed up a quantity of plate , jewellery , and other valuables , but were disturbed by his return between one and two o ' clock in the morning He was knocked down by one of the ruflians , and the other snapped a pistol ut him , which Unshed in the pan . They then made their escape , but left their plunder In-hind .

      The house of Mr . Tucker , tin ; verger of St . George's Chapel , Windsor ( Jostle , who resides at No . 1 , Clurcnccroiid , was broken into by two limn on Wednesday morning , who firut ransacked the lower rooms of the house and then proceeded np-stairs with lighted candles to the sleeping apartments of Mr . Tucker and an elderly lady , named VVhiltuker . Mrs . Whittakcr wan awoke by the light and noise , and uttered an exclamation , upon which one of the rufllaun ntrtick her on the head with an iron instrument , inflicting two severe wounds , and with Another blow broke her arm , which slui held up to protect herself . Mr . Tucker , on hearing Mrs . Whittaker ' B screams , jumped out of bed and ran to her assistance , hut wan knocked down several timea and received four severe wounds on th « h « ad . Mm . vVuittaket '«

      screams alarmed the villains , and they made off before the police arrived . Mr . Tucker is upwards of ninety years of age , and both he and Mrs . Whittaker are in a most dangerous state .

      Untitled Article

      MISCELLANEOUS . The Queen and Prince Albert , with the Prince and Princess Royal , and the Princess Alice , visited the Boo * lottiisal-fcardehs , in the Regent's-park , on Saturday Oft Monday they vi ' sited Kew-gaMens , and oh Tuesday fo r £ noon tfiey paid a visit to the Crystal Palace , where they remained an hour . During their visit the building was subjected to a trial of the strength of its galleries . 1 hree hundred workmen were crowded on a given spot , aafl > by tramping and jumping , tested severely the strength of the edifice . A body of sappers and miners was next marched along the gallery , and that experiment was C ( 1 At a chap ter of " The Most Noble Order of the Garter , " held on Wednesday afternoon , at Buokifttffcra Patafe , over which the Qiieeh presided m the fuU h « ut of the order , the Marquis of Normanby having beeri elected a Knight of the Order : — " The Marquis knelt near the Queen , and Garter King of Aritta , on his knee , presenting the paten h * r Majesty , assisted bt his Roval Highness Prince Albert and his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge , the two senior Knights Companions preterit , buckled the garter on his lordship ' s left leg , the Chancellor pro ^ nouncina the usual adrnonition .

      .... " Garter King of Arms next presented in like manner thfc ribbon and George to the Queen , and her Majesty , assisted bV Prince Albert and the Duke of Cambridge , put the ribbon over his lordship ' s left shoulder , the Chancellor pronouncing the admonition . The Marquis kissed her Majesty ' s hand , and having 1 received the congratulations of each of the Knights Companions , retired . " The Counteps de Neuilly and the Duke dhd Duchess de Nemours visited her Majesty and Prince Albert at Buckingham Palace on Saturday , and afterwards wen t with Prince Albert to the Exhibition for the Industry of all Nations , in Hyde-park , The party were conducted through the building , and afterwards returned to Buckingham Palace ; they also paid a visit to the Duchess of Kent , at Clarence-house , St . James ' s , and in th £ afternoon returned to Claremoht .

      Untitled Article

      The Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress entertained a large party of their private friends at dinner at the Man 6 ioh-house , on Monday , and in the evening the Lady Mayoress gave her soiree dansante to a hundred additional visitors . At the meeting of the Society of Antiquaries , last week , Sir Robert Inglis announced the intended retirement of Mr . Hallam from the office of vice-president , which he haa filled during the last thirty or forty years . The loss of his only son is the cause of his resignation . George Thomson , the correspondent of Burns , expired at his residence in Leith Links , on Tuesday , at the ad ^ vanced age of ninety-two . Mr . Thomson's early connection with the poet Burns is universally known , and his Collection of Scottish Songs , for which many of Burns ' finest pieces were originally written , has been before the public for more than half a century .

      The Bombay newspapers received this week give ah account of Sir Charles Napier ' s progress towards that place , where he was daily expected . He had been everywhere enthusiastically received . At Hyderabad the Belochee chiefs assembled from all parts of the province to do him honour . He Was similarly received at Kurrachee , and a parting entertainment was to be given to him by the community of Bombay . Mr . Itobert Stephenson , the eminent engineer , has left Alexandria for Malta , with a party of friends , in his yacht Titania . After having travelled from Cairo to Alexandria by land , in order to survey the country , he is very decided in his opinion of the expediency and great advantages of a railroad between the two towns . The French papers say that Cbunt d'Orsay is appointed Minister to the Court of Hanover , and that the Duke de Guiche ia to be First Secretary of Embassy in London .

      When Mr . and Mrs . Heald ( Lola Montes ) took up their residence some months ago in the Cite Beaujon , they commissioned M . Jacqunnd to paint their portrait * on the same canvas , and it was determined that Mr . Heald should be represented at full length , in his uniform as an officer of the guards , offering to his bride , seated oh a sofa , a present of jewellery . Just as the painting was terminated , M . Jacquand , learning that Mr . Heald had left for England , brought an action against him before the civil tribunal for the prioe of the picture . Mr . Heald objected to the price ( 10 , 0 O 0 f . ) as excessive , and th-j tribunal directed M . Ingres to examine the painting , and to say what it really was worth . M . Ingres reported that l 0 , 000 f . was a fair price . Last Saturday the matter came before the tribunal for n final decision . M .

      Jacquand atill demanded lO . OOOf . ; but the tribunal , after hearing M . Blanchet , fixed the price at HOOOf ., and condemned Mr . Heald to puy that sum . The costs were ordered to be divided between the parties . The Roman correspondent of the Daily News says : — " With respect to the English CatholicH at present in Rome , who are likely to run after such ceremonies , novelty is no doubt a great stimulus , especially when the Pope himself officiates . The principal English Catholics , not habitually resident , but only patfahig the winter h ^ re ,

      are Lord and Lady Feilding , Lord and Lady Cainpuoh , Lord Gormuuston with hifl two married sons , Mr . Prrston and Mr . Thomas Trenton ; Mr . Howivhl of the Life Guards , of the Duke of Norfolk's family ; the Honourable Alfred Htourton , Mr . and Mrs . 11 . Pctre , Mr . Clifford , eldest hoii of Lord Clifford , and his lady , Lord Petre s daughter . Archbishop Huglics's mixed congregation m the church of Saint Andrea delle Fnitte , increases in number on each succeeding Sunday , as many Protestants ate induced by curiosity to listen to his singular a » guments . Dr . Ilughea ' s topic the day before ye /* ° ' ^ ( Feb . 2 ) was tho unity 6 f the church , in support of wbi <«

      Untitled Article

      172 MM a , ta *«* . [ Satoud ^

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 22, 1851, page 172, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1871/page/8/