Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Week.
the preceding month , we find an increase of about 30 , 000 in the number of operatives on " full time , " and a decrease of 26 , 318 in the number who could not obtain work in the mills . The total number for December , under the head " out of work , " is 126 , 977 ; but it is explained that " a large number of these persons are earning considerable ., though irregular , wages from
outdoor ' and various casual occupations . " The average per centage of pauperism in December was 6-4 ; in the corresponding month of 1 SG 2 it exceeded 24 , or nearly one fourth of the sntire population of the distressed unions . Mr . Maclure stated that the expense of administering the large fund placed at the disposal of the Committee has been under one per cent , on the
receipts , or about £ 10 , 000 less thau the amount allowed for bankers' interest . Mr . Bright and Mr . Scholefield addressed their constituents on Wednesday evening , at Birmingham . The Town Hall , where the meeting was held , was densely crowded . Mr . Scholefield briefly spoke , expressing his desire that tbe country should be prepared for war in case a quarrel should
unfortunately arise . He reserved to himself the right of determining how he would vote should the question of the recognition of the South arise in Parliament . As to Reform , he advised that any measure which extended , the suffrage and amended the distribution of seats should be accepted . Mr . Bright was loudly cheered . He reviewed the proceedings of the
last session , and contended that it would have been wicked for us to have interfered in the Dano-German quarrel . He pointed out how the House of Commons , by its division on the vote of censure , had adopted the views which he and Mr . Cobden had long held . The hon . gentleman touched on several other topics . He was warmly cheered throughout his speech . Mr . Baxter , M . P ., delivered a lecture on Tuesday , in the Mechanics' Institution at Blairgowrie . It related almost
exclusively to the American civil war , and was , in fact , a history of that unhappy business . Mr . Baxter showed , first , that the South had no constitutional right to secede ; next , that slavery was the cause of their secession . The 3 had no constitutional grievance , but when they were beaten at the polls on a question into which slavery largely entered , thoy seceded . The hon . gentleman expressed a strong and confident hope that the
North would put down the rebellion . That consummation was most earnestly to be desired , not merely for the sake of America herself , but in the interests of civilisation . Mr . Tyrwbitt , the Marlborougb-street police magistrate , has given a definition of the term " stage-play , " which , if upheld on appeal , must put a stop to a class of "entertainments" which
are supplied by caterers for the amusement of the public in most of our large towns . He has decided in favour of the theatrical managers who prosecuted Mr . Strange , the proprietor of the " Royal A lhambra Palace , Leicester-square , " for having , without a proper licence , represented ballets on the stage . The defendant was ordered to pay a fine ; but
notice of appeal was at once given . At the Thames Policecourt on AVednesday Mr . AValter , the vestry clerk of St . Anne's , Limehouse , applied for a warrant against Edward Dadd Slullett , the rate-collector of the district , whose defalcations are said to amount to the sum of £ 2 , 000 . The magistrate declined to grant a warrant , on the ground that the police had
full power to act if called upon to do so . Mr . Commissioner Sanders gave judgment on Tuesday in the case of Mr . Harris , the official assignee at Nottingham , who was accused of having kept in hand certain sums belonging to the Court , and who was called upon , under one of the sections of the New Bankruptcy Act , to pay 20 per cent , on the amount so claimed . The Commissioner complained strongly of the conduct of the Chief Registrar , at whose instance the investigation was instituted , and
stated that , having gone carefully through the books , he must acquit Mr . Harris , and decline to make an order for the penalty of 20 per cent . The inquiry into the case of Timothy Daly was finished on Saturday . There were examined on that occasion the night wardsman ' s assistant , who attended Daly in the workhouse , the widow of the deceased man , and the medical
officer of the Strand Union , Dr . Goodfellow , also sent a letter which the Commissioner described to be very valuable , tending generally to exonerate the medical officer from the neglect alleged against him . The Commissioner stated that he would in due time make his report on the case to the Poor Law Board , and the inquiry terminated .
A rapidly-fulling barometer on Saturday , and the other usual indiciitions of a coming storm , were followed by telegraphic accounts of the raging of a destructive gale on Saturday , which probably extended over the whole of the country . The gale appears to have been also severely felt on , the French coast , aud its advent was predicted in the bulletins of the French
Observatory . In the metropolis , several persons were injured by the fall of a chimney in Shoe-lane upon a lodging-house ; and we learn from Liverpool that a blockade runner , the Lelia , belonging to that port , foundered on Satwv & ivy night off tl \ e Northwest Lightship . The number of drowned cannot be stated , but it is estimated at 44 . To this must be added seven lifeboat
men , who perished in attempting to rescue the crew and passengers of the ill-fated ship by the capsizing of the boat . Another life-boat was capsized , at Holyhead , on Saturday , and one of the crew , a man named Hughes , was drowned . The announcement of the melancholy wreck of the Racehorse is speedily followed by the intelligence that the Bombay , the flagship ou the South American station , is lost to the navy , with a large number of her crew . It seems that she was destroyed by
fire , at Monte A idoo , on the 14 th of December , but no details are given . The assistant surgeon and 93 of the crew were lost . The Bombay was a screw ship of 67 guns , and bore the flag of Admiral Elliot . The impudent scoundrel who , under the pretence that he was a detective from Carmarthen , " apprehended , " searched , and robbed Mr . Charles Aslnvorth at Shrewsbury , some time ago , was last week handed over to the
police at Liverpool by his own father . His real name is Ellis , and it is stated that at one time he was assistant magistrate's clerk at Holyhead . It is said that a fuw days ago , at Old Swan , near Liverpool , he attempted to repeat his Shrewsbury trick upon a farmer , but , finding that the police were not disposed to assist him iu the execution of his sham
warrant , he lost no time in getting away from the place . Ellis has been committed for trial . The prisoner acknowledged his guilt , and coolly expressed his amazement at the stupidity which the Shrewsbury police had exhibited in assisting him in perpetrating such a transparent fraud . A previous conviction was proved against him ; indeed , he had only just been released
from gaol when he committed this robbery . Joseph Wakefield Terry and Thomas Burch , the manager and secretary of the Unity Bank , have been finally committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court , on the charges made against them of leading the public to believe that the Bank was in a sound and flourishing condition when it was , in fact , insolvent . The
Lord Mayor admitted them to bail—themselves in £ 2 , 000 each , aud two sureties each in £ 1 , 000 respectively . Colonel Brockman , who , in conjunction with some other gentlemen , have taken up the cause of Mrs . M'Dermot , attended before Mr . Selfe on Tuesday , aud gave in writing his version of the character of the mother and her family and the conduct of the priests . As the matter is to come before some public tribunal * we need not enter into this correspondence farther than to note
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Week.
the preceding month , we find an increase of about 30 , 000 in the number of operatives on " full time , " and a decrease of 26 , 318 in the number who could not obtain work in the mills . The total number for December , under the head " out of work , " is 126 , 977 ; but it is explained that " a large number of these persons are earning considerable ., though irregular , wages from
outdoor ' and various casual occupations . " The average per centage of pauperism in December was 6-4 ; in the corresponding month of 1 SG 2 it exceeded 24 , or nearly one fourth of the sntire population of the distressed unions . Mr . Maclure stated that the expense of administering the large fund placed at the disposal of the Committee has been under one per cent , on the
receipts , or about £ 10 , 000 less thau the amount allowed for bankers' interest . Mr . Bright and Mr . Scholefield addressed their constituents on Wednesday evening , at Birmingham . The Town Hall , where the meeting was held , was densely crowded . Mr . Scholefield briefly spoke , expressing his desire that tbe country should be prepared for war in case a quarrel should
unfortunately arise . He reserved to himself the right of determining how he would vote should the question of the recognition of the South arise in Parliament . As to Reform , he advised that any measure which extended , the suffrage and amended the distribution of seats should be accepted . Mr . Bright was loudly cheered . He reviewed the proceedings of the
last session , and contended that it would have been wicked for us to have interfered in the Dano-German quarrel . He pointed out how the House of Commons , by its division on the vote of censure , had adopted the views which he and Mr . Cobden had long held . The hon . gentleman touched on several other topics . He was warmly cheered throughout his speech . Mr . Baxter , M . P ., delivered a lecture on Tuesday , in the Mechanics' Institution at Blairgowrie . It related almost
exclusively to the American civil war , and was , in fact , a history of that unhappy business . Mr . Baxter showed , first , that the South had no constitutional right to secede ; next , that slavery was the cause of their secession . The 3 had no constitutional grievance , but when they were beaten at the polls on a question into which slavery largely entered , thoy seceded . The hon . gentleman expressed a strong and confident hope that the
North would put down the rebellion . That consummation was most earnestly to be desired , not merely for the sake of America herself , but in the interests of civilisation . Mr . Tyrwbitt , the Marlborougb-street police magistrate , has given a definition of the term " stage-play , " which , if upheld on appeal , must put a stop to a class of "entertainments" which
are supplied by caterers for the amusement of the public in most of our large towns . He has decided in favour of the theatrical managers who prosecuted Mr . Strange , the proprietor of the " Royal A lhambra Palace , Leicester-square , " for having , without a proper licence , represented ballets on the stage . The defendant was ordered to pay a fine ; but
notice of appeal was at once given . At the Thames Policecourt on AVednesday Mr . AValter , the vestry clerk of St . Anne's , Limehouse , applied for a warrant against Edward Dadd Slullett , the rate-collector of the district , whose defalcations are said to amount to the sum of £ 2 , 000 . The magistrate declined to grant a warrant , on the ground that the police had
full power to act if called upon to do so . Mr . Commissioner Sanders gave judgment on Tuesday in the case of Mr . Harris , the official assignee at Nottingham , who was accused of having kept in hand certain sums belonging to the Court , and who was called upon , under one of the sections of the New Bankruptcy Act , to pay 20 per cent , on the amount so claimed . The Commissioner complained strongly of the conduct of the Chief Registrar , at whose instance the investigation was instituted , and
stated that , having gone carefully through the books , he must acquit Mr . Harris , and decline to make an order for the penalty of 20 per cent . The inquiry into the case of Timothy Daly was finished on Saturday . There were examined on that occasion the night wardsman ' s assistant , who attended Daly in the workhouse , the widow of the deceased man , and the medical
officer of the Strand Union , Dr . Goodfellow , also sent a letter which the Commissioner described to be very valuable , tending generally to exonerate the medical officer from the neglect alleged against him . The Commissioner stated that he would in due time make his report on the case to the Poor Law Board , and the inquiry terminated .
A rapidly-fulling barometer on Saturday , and the other usual indiciitions of a coming storm , were followed by telegraphic accounts of the raging of a destructive gale on Saturday , which probably extended over the whole of the country . The gale appears to have been also severely felt on , the French coast , aud its advent was predicted in the bulletins of the French
Observatory . In the metropolis , several persons were injured by the fall of a chimney in Shoe-lane upon a lodging-house ; and we learn from Liverpool that a blockade runner , the Lelia , belonging to that port , foundered on Satwv & ivy night off tl \ e Northwest Lightship . The number of drowned cannot be stated , but it is estimated at 44 . To this must be added seven lifeboat
men , who perished in attempting to rescue the crew and passengers of the ill-fated ship by the capsizing of the boat . Another life-boat was capsized , at Holyhead , on Saturday , and one of the crew , a man named Hughes , was drowned . The announcement of the melancholy wreck of the Racehorse is speedily followed by the intelligence that the Bombay , the flagship ou the South American station , is lost to the navy , with a large number of her crew . It seems that she was destroyed by
fire , at Monte A idoo , on the 14 th of December , but no details are given . The assistant surgeon and 93 of the crew were lost . The Bombay was a screw ship of 67 guns , and bore the flag of Admiral Elliot . The impudent scoundrel who , under the pretence that he was a detective from Carmarthen , " apprehended , " searched , and robbed Mr . Charles Aslnvorth at Shrewsbury , some time ago , was last week handed over to the
police at Liverpool by his own father . His real name is Ellis , and it is stated that at one time he was assistant magistrate's clerk at Holyhead . It is said that a fuw days ago , at Old Swan , near Liverpool , he attempted to repeat his Shrewsbury trick upon a farmer , but , finding that the police were not disposed to assist him iu the execution of his sham
warrant , he lost no time in getting away from the place . Ellis has been committed for trial . The prisoner acknowledged his guilt , and coolly expressed his amazement at the stupidity which the Shrewsbury police had exhibited in assisting him in perpetrating such a transparent fraud . A previous conviction was proved against him ; indeed , he had only just been released
from gaol when he committed this robbery . Joseph Wakefield Terry and Thomas Burch , the manager and secretary of the Unity Bank , have been finally committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court , on the charges made against them of leading the public to believe that the Bank was in a sound and flourishing condition when it was , in fact , insolvent . The
Lord Mayor admitted them to bail—themselves in £ 2 , 000 each , aud two sureties each in £ 1 , 000 respectively . Colonel Brockman , who , in conjunction with some other gentlemen , have taken up the cause of Mrs . M'Dermot , attended before Mr . Selfe on Tuesday , aud gave in writing his version of the character of the mother and her family and the conduct of the priests . As the matter is to come before some public tribunal * we need not enter into this correspondence farther than to note