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778 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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CURIOSITIES OF JUSTICE. A koad runs alon...
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C 11 I M ina L U K C O It 1) . Miovki, E...
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THE WORKING CLASSES. TnE Kidderminster c...
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MISCELLANEOUS. Qitnion Victoria has been...
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Minifltors dino to day, on whitebait, at...
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.
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Transcript
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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.
Marriages, Young And Old. Statistics Of ...
by degrees and beautifully less" are the chances of marriage for a lady as she passes thirty . But for the encouragement of that section of the sex—a small , very small section , of course—we may note , that 2318 women past thirty became brides , in . 1851 > that 1453 of the same successful class were over thirty-five , that . 814 were over forty , that 437 were over forty-five , that 219 were over fifty , that 89 were over fifty-five , that 22 ( " few , but fearless" ) were over sixty , that the successful ladies over sixty-five actually numbered . 70 , ( showing that as age advances so does tact and courage , ) that 5 heroine brides conquered the slight difficulty of being over seventy , and that 3 old women , ( for even politeness allows us the adjective , in this case , ) whose ages were over seventy-five , became brides at that age .
The statistics of the cradle show that 314 , 968 males , and 300 , 897 females were born in England , in the year 1851 . The continual majority , however , of males in the population , indicates that the deaths among male children are greater , in proportion , to the deaths among females . The quarter ending June shows a superiority in births to any other quarter of the year—the least prolific being the quarter ending September * The deaths were 9000 less than in the June quarter . The number of illegitimate children was 42 , 000 , about onefifteenth of the whole .
Death took away 200 , 454 men , and 195 , 720 women the quarter ending March being the most deadly , and the quarter ending September being the most favourable to life .
778 The Leader. [Saturday,
778 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
Curiosities Of Justice. A Koad Runs Alon...
CURIOSITIES OF JUSTICE . A koad runs along 1 the boundaries of Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire . A carter was upset on this road and killed , the accident being- caused by a heap of stones left b y a colliery agent . The inquest on tlie body was held by a Gloucester coroner at a little inn on the Monmouthshire side of the road , and a verdict of manslaughter was found against the ajjent . He was arrested and imprisoned without bail . But the inquisition was quashed in the Queen ' s Bench on the ground of . being held at the wrong- " side of the road , and the coroner ( in a Subsequent action ) . has been compelled to pay 25 ? . damages , and the costs of all the law proceedings .
Our jury system was criticised by Judge Coleridge at Gloucester , lie blamed the country gentlemen for not coming forward to serve on special juries . There is no excuse , as they are paid a guinea for every cause . " I am satisfied , " said his lordship , " that it would be of immense advantage to the community if the gentry would do their fair part in the administration of justice , by serving on the Crown side as well as on the civil . To improve the composition of the jury panels is one thing 1 essential to the
improvement of the administration of justice . If we had a few of the special jury class upon the common juries , it would be a great improvement , and wo should also get through the business in half the time ; for in place of long and laborious summings up , as at present , we should bo able to state the case in a few words , and not go through the evidence in detail . And this I may also say , that a county gentleman who may wish to qualify to act as a magistrate would learn more of the common law by serving one week on the Crown jury than by a whole year ' s roading 1 of Jilackstone , or any other text-book . "
A Gloucester man , who took a house near the railway station , soon got for a neighbour a rising smith of most uncommon industry . Tho smith set up a steam-engine , and laboured in his vocation night , and day , keeping up an astounding clatter , to tho annoyance of Mr . Brown . Evon Sunday was not kept cniiet in this unceasing smithy : tho scroam of the engine being added to the other sounds nnd noises . But tho counsel for tho dofenco laughed at tho idea of annoyance . After Sydney Smith ho compared the engine-whistle to tho scream of an attorney when first tho devil catches hold of him ; and dwelt , with force on tho laudable industry of tho energetic smith . Tho above remarks on juries aro pointed by tho concluding
proceedings in this case . The jury deliberated , and then turning round , tho foreman said , in a timid voice , " Wo find for tho plaint iff . " Associate : " What damages do you find , gentlemen ? " Tho Foreman : " damages . " Tiio Judge eaid they must find soino damages , though they were not asked for substantial damages , nnd that a shilling 1 would do . They at once agreed to the shilling damages . Tho Judge refused to certify for costs , and thus each party will bo left to pay his own costs . A gentleman thrown from a coach heavily laden , and thereby permanently injured in the arm , lias obtained . 100 / . damages against tho conch proprietor , on the grounds that tho coach was overladen , although n number of witnesses proved that tho conch wan duly examined , nnd that overy care wan taken to provont accident .
At Manchester the railway authorities loft , the nula bo " « loppy" at aj ) Iaco whore fish is'daily unloaded , that ono of tho' trains lhoved on with unusual rapidity , and crushed a poor man to death . The silly jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death , " recommending that tho rails should be kept ; in bettor order , ho us to prevent tho occurrence of similar accidents in future . " The next " curiosity" in verdicts will be on a proved pickpocket—Accidental Larceny' recommending that the prisoner should keep his hands in hotter order , ho as to prevent tho occurrence of similar accidenth in future . "
C 11 I M Ina L U K C O It 1) . Miovki, E...
C 11 I M ina L U K C O It 1 ) . Miovki , Ehohikrh , a Spaniard , has murdored a boy gamekeeper near Jlnlliold . Tho murderer was Hecured by a dog , who held him fast until tho other gamekeeper came up . Iho Spaniard ia between thirty and forty yearn of flge . nnd
is a native of Aragon . He has been a " tramp" for some Doctor John Stokes , a physician , formerly of Dublin , and late of Herne Bay , got into pecuniary difficulties . He took tea with some friends at the Temple , and while doing so , took from his pocket a phial , and while conversing with them , mixed it with a glass of sherry . He leaned back and died . He had swallowed poison . William Dean returned " home" on Sunday evening ; his wife and daughter being in the house . He asked for his dinner , but as it was not supplied to him . immediately , he seized the poker , and demolished the various articles in the place . He then attacked Ms wife , and using the poker ,
beat her most unmercifully , by -which she was injured on her back , ribs , and arms . Her daughte r came to her assistance , when Dean made a desperate attack upon her also , and jammed her violently between the street-door and side-post , by which her arm was severely bruised . He was repeating his violence , when their cries of " murder , " & c ., brought some neighbours and the police to their assistance , who took Dean to the station-house and locked him up . The wife was dangerously injured by the blows ; she was not able to walk ; her whole body was discoloured , and her eyes blackened . Dean has been in the habit of thus using his wife . He got a month ' s imprisonment some time ago for a similar assault . He has now been sentenced to three
months in gaol . One of the worst cases of this kind is recorded in Thursday ' s daily papers . John Welch , an Irish labourer , was charged with having beaten his wife . The wife was brought into court and placed on a chair in the witness ^ box . A more horrible sight it was impossible to conceive than the woman presented , her face having been beaten and kicked into one mass of wounds and bruises . She said , speaking with great difficulty : " The prisoner is my husband . I have been married six years , and have three children , one a baby . About three o ' clock to day I " went out to sell some fruit in the street , to get food for my familv . When I came in my husband was in the parlour . He asked me where I had been . I said I had been getting some fruit to sell to a customer . He said quietly , ' Come in . ' I went into the room , when he locked the door , and without saying another word he knocked me down by a blow on the eye . While I was down he kicked me with , his nailed shoes all
over my body and face . He then twisted his hand in my hair , and hammered my head against the floor . I cried for mercy . I had my baby in my arms . I said , ' Show mercy to my poor baby . ' He said he -would show no mercy to me nor to my baby ; he had only one life to lose ; he had got six months before for me , and he would now have my life before he left the place . I put the baby down , fearing what might happen . My husband laid hold of a pail of water , and threw the water over me . He then seized an iron crow-bar , and beat me all round my body . I caught up the baby , and managed to get out of the room .
He ran after me and threw a second pail of water over me , and then he rushed at me and knocked mo down . A man came by at that moment and knocked my husband down . My husband got up , ran into the room , and locked the door . " The landlady of the house said that the prisoner was constantly in tho habit of beating his wife . The prisoner did not allow the wife anything for her support , but made her work like a horse to get money to keep herself and children . The wife said , it was true that she received nothing out of her husband's wages . The same remedy as in the former conviction of the same man was again adopted : ho has been sent to gaol " for six months . "
The Working Classes. Tne Kidderminster C...
THE WORKING CLASSES . TnE Kidderminster carpet weavers are still " out ;" but new mechanical inventions are coming to tho aid of the masters . A new carpet factory at Bromsgrove is also announced as a rival to Kidderminster , and available channel for new capital . Tho strike of tho Manchester dyers , dressers , and finishers has checked the production of corduroys , fustians , he . The pitmen of JVorthicmberla ? id and T ) urham demand higher wages and proper inspection of the pits . ( Lord Pahnerston had intended to legislate on the latter grievance , but " the lato period of tho session" frustrated his good intentions . ) Tho smiths in Devonport dockyard complain with justice of a new arrangement . They aro paid by piece-work , but their remuneration is not allowed to extend above a certain standard , although it ia reduced below tho standard whenever their work is small . Tho workers in tho London building trado demand ( id . a day in addition to their present rate of Bs . The dock labourer's strike has ended without any advantage to tho men , their riotous conduct deserving tho failure . Tho city police demand higher pay , and their request is under consideration . Tho Paisley pattern drawers and print cutters inako demands that appear unreasonable . They wish to limit the apprentices , and to insist on getting in tho alack Reason an equal flhnro of work with that given to journeymen . Tho Edinburgh cabmen ask 13 . v . and 15 * . ji week instead of 10 . v . and 13 . v . Wo have but ono " success" to record this week . Tho Leeds joiners have been partly successful in getting an additional hour of Unsure on Saturday .
Facts showing general prosperity continuo to turn up . Tho poor-rate for Birmingham for tho current Mielinoluias half year will bo fiOOO / . less than it was lust year . Tho Leeds Co-oporativo Flour Society is doing a business of 50 , 000 / . yearly , mid making 2000 / . profit ; . The improvement of trade in the north of Ireland in very roinurkublo , even when compared with English progress , Tho demand for linons is erood ,
and the supply steady , both masters and men working well together . A new cotton mill will soon be at work in Belfast , but the present local demand for yarns would absorb the produce of half-a-dozen cotton mills . Domestic servants—a class of , our working people — :-are generally estimated as incompetent . A lady writing inthe Times makes a suggestion towards " a reform . She advises that the workhouses should become training schools for domestic servants , where each might be taught a branch of duty . "At present a young girl goes from a slatternly mother to act as
helper or nurse in the house of a small fanner or tradesman , and after a year or two goes to a tradesman or farmer of higher degree . She then hires herself as servant to a gentleman ' s family in the capacity she thinks herself most fitted for . Now comes the tug of war—she has not been brought up as housemaid , laundress , cook , or anything , but she has a little smattering of all—always in her work because she has no method , wasteful because she has not been early taught the admirable economy of nature , where not an atom is lost , disrespectful through ignorance , dishonest
in principle . We print the following explanation of a very important wages movement among the London compositors :- — On the 1 st of October last , the whole of tho ^ hands then engaged on the Sun w discharged , after having ^ received the legal fortnight ' s notice , in order to have th eir places supplied by men who undertook to work on . an entirely new system in the London daily paper trade . There was no complaint made by the employer with respect to the old hands , his reason for dismissing them , according to his own account , being simply that he might get Ms work done at a cheaper rate ; and > as the terms he had to offer
were at variance with the recognised mode of payment , he had not thought it worth while to come to any arrangement with his old hands before engaging new ones . He did , indeed , inquire whether the men then engaged belonged to the London Society of Compositors ; and , on being told that they did , expressed his intention of getting persons who were non-society men . The London Society , being naturally desirous of doing all inats power to preserve a scale of payment which has been mutually acted upon by employer and employed for the last forty years ,
immediately issued addresses to the trades and the public of the metropolis , stating the facts of the case , and requesting their assistance to induce a return to the old system . The means suggested for bringing about thia object were , the systematic discouragement of the circulation of the Sun , and a resolution not to deal with any establishment in which the Sun was taken in . The appeals made by tho compositors to the public , backed by the energetic co-operation of some of tho principal trades of the metropolis , have been so far successful , that a reduction of between 800 and 1000 has been effected in the
circulation of the paper . Tho above is a short summary of this strike—a strike , if so it can bo called , not of the journeymen , but of tho employer . And now , Sir , perhaps you will allow me a few words of explanation as to what constitutes the difference between the fair rate of payment and the " new system" thus introduced . Under the old plan , ( that is , the mode pursued at all tho fair daily paper offices in London , ) a fixed amount of labour was given for a fixed sum of money , and any quantity dono over that amount was paid for extra . By tho " new system" introduced by those who supplanted their fellow workmen , no definite quantity of work is dono for a week ' s wages , but each
individual docs as much as his ability will allow him to produce Tho natural consequence of such a mode of working as this , is , of course , to confine tho chance of obtaining employment to the younger and quicker hands in tho business ; for , as it is to tho interest of tho employer to got as much work out of each man as possible , ho would most assuredly only engago those who were ablo to do a largo quantity . Instead of , aa now , every man being upon an equality , according to his mental and physical ability , tho aged and less efficient would bo punished with loss of work for an infirmity over which they have no
control-But this portion of the " now system , " there is some consolation in thinking , will no doubt bo made tho moans of punishing those who have introduced it , for they may rest assured , that as soon as their omployor finds that they ore , through ago or any othor cause , unable to porform what ho may conceive to be an adoquato quantity of work , they will bo unhesitatingly discharged to . make room for thoBo who can . That ho will have no compunction for them on tho scoro of tho number of yoars they may havo worked , for him , is proved by tho fact , that some of tho compositors lately dismissed had boon thirty A ears in tho office .
Miscellaneous. Qitnion Victoria Has Been...
MISCELLANEOUS . Qitnion Victoria has been active among her soldiers and sailors . On Saturday hIio wont to the camp with Prince Albert ; and on Thursday she wns present ' at tho grand naval display nt Spithend . On Monday sho hold a Court , and received tho Duchess of Lcuchtouberg , and gavo audiences to Lord Aberdeen , Lord Granville , and Sir Jumcs Graham .
Minifltors Dino To Day, On Whitebait, At...
Minifltors dino to day , on whitebait , at tho Trafalgar , Greenwich . The Opposition oppose bribery ! Mr . Walpolo ' s Bill to consolidate and amend Iho laws relating to bribery , corrupt treating , and intimidation at elections , baa boon printed-It is proposed that it shall como into operation on tho let of November . Boeidos tho name of Mr . Walpolo , tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 13, 1853, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13081853/page/10/
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