4 APRIL 1846, Page 7

Zbz frobinces.

The Queen has contributed 1001. in aid of the Woolsorter's fund at Brad- ford, for the purchase of a public pleasure-ground and the erection of baths.

Mr. H. Rich, a Liberal and Free-trader, is a candidate for Richmond, in the room of the late Mr. Ridley Colborne.

The South-eastern Railway requires for its Margate branch about twelve acres of land at Margate, belonging to Messrs. Hatfield: the owners demanded 18,0231. for it; the Company offered 6,0001. The case was judicially settled on Saturday by a Jury at Margate, in a court held by Mr. Bodkin as assessor of the Cinque Ports: after a long inquiry, a verdict was given for 5,2651.

The mail-train from Leeds to Derby narrowly escaped a smash on Monday morning. On passing the Eckington station at a flying speed, the axle of a car- riage attached to a luggage-train, which had been "shunted" off the line to make way for the mail-tram, happened suddenly to break, and the body of the car- riage fell upon the first carnage in the mail as it passed: the velocity with which the mail was going prevented the weight of the carnage from having any impression upon the train so as to throw it off the line; but as it passed, all the handles on the doors, the steps, and all projections, were cut completely off, and the instant

the train lied passed the carnage fell drectly upon the line on which the mail had travelled. Had the axle broken half a minute sooner, most fatal consequences must have ensued.

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Mr Thomas Hussey, a celebrated sporting character, well known to all who hunt-with the Royal pack, while hunting witty the Queen's hounds a few days since, had a very narrow escape in the vicinity of Wycombe. He charged a high fence, winch his horse took in beautiful style: on the other side was a chalk-pit, upwards of twenty feet deep: to the surprise of every one in the field, both Mr. Hussey'and his horse escaped unhurt. A slight projection from the side of the pit, against which the nag first struck, slightly broke the force of the fall.

A young man was killed by lightning last week, at Wadley, in Suffolk. He with six others sought shelter from a storm under a hedge; a flash of lightning smocked down several of the youths, and the deceased died in a- few minutes.

A boy was struck dead by lightning last week at Borrowby, in Yorkshire, while sitting by the kitchen-fire of a farm-house. The end of the house was knocked down by the same stroke.

A man employed in an iron-foundry at Kingswinford has met with a horrible death. For the sake of the warmth, he laid himself down in a kind of oven called a core-stove, used for casting and drying iron articles: whilst lying asleep, some molten metal flowed into the stove; and when taken out he was dead.

• Three sailors belonging to an Austrian ship bound from Newcastle to Venice, having been sent ashore at Falmouth the other day, for water, picked some plants in a marsh, with which they made a salad. One of the roots was water-hemlock, and all the men were poisoned; two were recovered by medical aid, but the third died.

. On Thursday, as a man-was looking round one of his master's stacks, pitched ail a field by the side of the Eau Brink Cut at St. Mary's, he found a number of packages, which on examination were found to be unmanufactured tobacco. In- formation forwarded to the Customhouse here, and officers were sent to seize 11,. There were sixty-three packages, and they weighed together we believe about A ton and a half. It appears that, a fortnight since, a hole had been cut in the -stack; and this was resorted to by the smugglers for the security of their contra- bend goods, over which they threw straw, &c., to screen them from the eye. On Friday, another waggon-load, of about a ton and a half more, was brought to the Customhouse. This is smuggling with a vengeance.—Lynn Advertiser.

The Leeds Intelliyencer mentions a strange robbery. " On Monday the founda- tion-stone of a new Independent chapel was laid at Rawdon, with the usual for- malities. Daring the ceremony, a bottle containing the several coins of the realm, alist of the subscribers to the fund, and a copy of several of the local newspapers, were deposited in a recess in the foundation-stone, and covered with a plate of brass, firmly soldered down to the stone. On the arrival of the workmen next morning, it was discovered that the brass plate had been removed, and the valu- able contents abstracted, leaving only the papers and things of little value. Some of the workmen had been upon the watch till three o'clock in the morning, after which hour the robbery must have been committed."

At Warwick Assizes, last week, an action for libel was brought by Mr. Sibley,

coach-proprietor at Leamington, against the Sunday Times. That journal had designated the conduct of Sibley towards some people whom he had agreed to convey to and from a steeple-cha as an instance of " coaching rascality," " a gross case of cheating," and so on; Sibley having, returned to Leammgton before the proper time, leaving those who had paid their fare to get back how they Could, while he filled his vehicle with new customers. For Mr. Sibley it was shown, that he stopped for the passengers as long as he had agreed to do, but they remained to see some extra sport. Verdict for the plaintiff—damages 501.

At the same Assizes, Elisha George Blayney was tried for being accessory after the fact to the robbery of a hundred ten-pound notes from the Leamington branch -of the Warwick and Leamington Bank. This robbery was committed in January 1844, and a brother of the accused is in custody for it. The chief evidence was that of a man named Archer, to whom the prisoner had applied with a view of putting the notes in circulation: they were sold for 1501. to Myers, a Jew. The prisoner was found guilty.

George William Jennings and Joseph Myers were then tried fir receiving the antes knowing them to have been stolen. Jennings was found guilty, while Myers was acquitted.

On Tuesday, James Reed was tried for the murder of Thomas Tranter, an old farmer Berkeswell, in November last. The circumstances which excited sus- picion against the prisoner were mentioned at the time. The evidence against Reed was entirely circumstantial, and apparently very strong; but he was acquitted.

At Bodmin Assizes, on Saturday, Mary Pearce, a widow, was tried for embezzling ld., the property of her Majesty the Queen. The evidence proved these facts. Mrs. Pearce- is the daughter of Mrs. Watts, the Postmistress at Stratton; the old tidy is bedridden, and accused acted for her. The Post-office authorities sus- pected that there was something amiss, and sent two clerks privately from London to watch. They used means to check the conduct of Mrs Pearce, and discovered that she had taken postage-stamps off letters which passed through her hands' and-these stamps she had placed on letters for which people paid her postage. She was found guilty, and sentenced to seven years' transportation.

Bethael Hutchings, lately Postmaster at Bude, was tried for a similar offence, and convicted.

At Norwich Assizes, yesterday. week, Samuel Yarham was tried for the murder of Mrs. Candler, at Yarmouth, in November 1844. Three men were tried last year for this crime; when Yarham appeared as i witness, and pretended that he had surprised the accused robbing the premises after they had killed the woman: he was disbelieved, and the men were acquitted. Yarham himself was arrested some time since, in Gloucestershire, in consequence of a Mrs. Dick, a woman living at Yarmouth, having divulged that he had confessed to her after the trial that he was the murderer. The general tendency of the evidence now adduced was to implicate the prisoner; but the ease turned upon the credibility of Mrs. Dick. The only point for the defence was the improbability of the woman's evi-

dence, and the strange manner in which she had kept it secret for a long time. After deliberating for a quarter of an hour, the Jury returned a verdict of " Guilty," and Yarham was sentenced to die.

At Liverpool Assizes, on Monday and Tuesday, Currie, a weaver, was tried for the murder of a young girl who worked under him, by drowning her in a canal at Manchester. The evidence, both direct and circumstantial, was very strong; two fellow prisoners of the accused repeated conversations which he had had with them on the subject, implying that he was guilty; indeed, he told one of them, that he, a married man, had seduced the girl, and that "he put her away to cover his shame." Nevertheless, the Jury returned a verdict of acquittal.

On delivering the charge to the Grand Jary at the late Assizes, Sir William. Wightman justly complimented the county and town of Carmarthen on the light- ness of the calendar, and said it formed an honourable exception to the other counties he had visited on this circuit. That remark will still more justly apply when the result of the cases tried is known: only one prisoner was convicted, and his sentence was a fortnight's imprisonment.—Carmarthen Journal.

Hubbard, the man recently convicted at Leicester of the murder of his wife, was hanged on Wednesday. Since his condemnation he had greatly misbehaved himself, and he died impenitent.

In September 1842, Mr. Mobbs, a farmer of North Aston' was murdered while returning home at night; and the perpetrators could not at that time be traced. Skerry, a travelling tinker, a prisoner in Banbury Gaol, has confessed that he and two other men, Sherriff and Biddle, murdered the farmer. The men thus accused have been arrested