5 FEBRUARY 1848, Page 4

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The address of Mr. J. W. Dod to the electors of North Shropshire has made its appearance, dated from Cloverly Hall. It is not striking: the writer promises support for measures tending to avert or mitigate the evils he apprehends from Free-trade measures; he will oppose further endow- ments to Roman Catholics, and the admission of Jews to Parliament.

Anti-Defence meetings have been held here and there. On Thursday sennight, a numerous assemblage took place in the Friends' meeting-house at Sheffield; and on the following day Mr. Singe and others in Birming- ham assembled to petition Parliament. The speakers, as usual, dwelt on the unchristian nature and expensiveness of war.

The accounts from Manchester describe a marked improvement in some branches of the cotton-trade, more particularly in articles for shipment to India. The spinners who went out on strike at Chorley have resumed work at the reduced rate of 10 per cent; which they had originally re- fused. At Rochdale, some small ware weavers have turned out against a similar reduction. At Warrington, mills which had stopped have partially resumed operations.

Large numbers of the colliers in the Dudley district returned to work last week at the reduced wages; the men trusting to the masters for a re- sumption of the higher rate when the state of the iron-trade will allow of it. It is remarked as a gratifying fact, that few acts of violence have oc- curred during the suspension of labour, though the people have suffered great privations.

The friends and members of the Lincoln and Lincolnshire Mechanics Institution had a soirde in the Lincoln Assembly-rooms, on Thursday sennight. Under the superintendence of several ladies, the rooms had been tastefully decorated with flowers, evergreens, and flags. After tea, Lord Monson took the chair, supported by a number of ladies and gentle- men, including the Reverend E. R. Larken, the Reverend James Aspinall, Mr. P. J. Bailey author of Festus, and Mr. Spencer Hall. The speeches, particularly those of the chairman and the reverend gentlemen named, were remarkable for warmth of feeling and the refined expression of good fel- lowship.

The Magistrates of Ashton have committed James and Benjamin Hazen for trial on the charge of murdering their uncle.

Suspicion having arisen that the death of Howells, a farmer of Llanellan in ilonmouthshine had been caused by poison, his body was exhumed eight weeks after burial, and an inquest was held. The evidence adduced was to this effect. The man died suddenly, after eating of an apple-dumpling, upon which his wife had patted rqilirard sugar. An improper intimacy existed between the woman and James Price, a labourer who lived in the house. A chemical examination detected arsenic m the body; and it was proved that the woman had bought some arsenic. The verdict of the Jury was " Wilful murder " against Mary Howells and James Price.

One of those "infernal machines" for which Sheffield has a bad notoriety prZs exploded there last week. The machine consisted of " an iron tube of great thickness, and plugged at each end with lead, while a kind of touch-hole was left in the middle of the barrel for the insertion of the patent fuse." This tube was thrust under the warehouse of Mr. Marples, a joiners-tool-maker: fortunately its explosion only forced down a door. The motive for the outrage is not known' An express-train on the Great Western Railway has been imperilled by the breaking of the tire belongingto one of the wheels of a second-class carriage. The passengers first heard a noise, and then smoke and fire were observed; the pas- sengers and the guard attempted to attract the attention of the" travelling ponce" but in vain; and the train proceeded onward many miles till it stopped at a sta- tion. "On examination of the wheel, it was found that the tire was broken and a part of it was missing: fortunately, the break which the carriage-guard had applied was a most powerful one, and held the other portion of the tire on to the wheel; else the consequences to the passengers in the body of the carriage over the wheel might have been most disastrous.

The adjourned inquest on Marklaad the engine-driver was resumed at Woking on Tuesday. The Coroner announced that Sir George Grey had informed him that he could not interfere to obtain the attendance of Fleming and Jones. Wil- liam Hudd said he was one of the breaksmen in the luggage-train, but there was no break to the carriage in which he rode: some luggage-trains had two breaks, but this had not. The witness made a strange revelation—" The -guards of the luggage-trains generally rode in close tracks, which were entered by a folding- door in the centre. If they wished to apply the break, the guards had to get out of the track and walk along a narrow ledge, not more than two and a half inches in width, to the buffer, on which they stood while doing so." When asked if he was not terrified while thus engaged, he answered—" We have n't time to think of danger, Sir • I must, however, confess that I have thought it dangerous." It was announced on behalf of the Railway Company, that since the accident a change had been made, and now the breaks could be applied from the inside of the carriages. Brownsmith, the guard of the passenger-train, stated positively that he had fog-signals on the night of the accident; but as there was then by the rules a discretion as to their use, he had not applied them to the rails' as he thought it unnecessary.. It was explained that new rules had been issued,order- ing the use of the fog-signals on all occasions. The inquest was again adjourned, to the 15th instant.

Jones and Fleming were reexamined at Lambeth Police-office on Wednesday. Mr. Gooch, superintendent of the locomotive department, detailed experiments which he had made to prove that had the men been at their posts and on the look-out on the night of the collision they could easily have avoided it. The accused were committed for trial on a charge of manslaughter.

A girl has lost her life at Winlaton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, from inhaling chloroform. An inquest was held on Saturday and Tuesday. Hannah Greener was fifteen years old; she suffered much in her feet, and about four months since a nail was extracted at the Newcastle Infirmary: on that occasion, ether was used to produce insensibility. It afterwards became n to take off the nail of a great-toe; which operation was performed by Mr. bieggison and Mr. Lloyd, at the girl's residence, on Friday sennight. On this occasion the patient inhaled chloroform, from a cloth; not much was used; she became insensible, and the nail was taken off, but not without the patient's struggling. After this the face grew pallid, and other alarming symptoms appeared: water was dashed in her face, brandy administered, and an attempt was made to bleed her: but she was dead. A post mortem examination showed congestion of the lungs, produced, as all the medical witnesses admitted, by the chloroform; but two physicians from Newcastle declared that the operators were not to blame: some peculiarity in the organization of the patient had rendered that deadly which in other cases would have been innocuous. Dr. Glover, who has written on the subject, said that he had from the first considered chloroform to be more dangerous than ether: the effect of it must depend much on the constitution; and other cases have occurred where its administration has produced serious consequences. The Jury found this verdict—" We are unanimously of opinion that the deceased, Hannah Greener, died from congestion of the lungs, from the effect of chloroform; and that no blame can be attached to Mr. Meggison, surgeon, or to his assistant, Mr. Lloyd."

A fortnight since, part of a large mill at Dukinfield was destroyed by fire; and on Sunday morning a new fire broke out in the part still standing, doing damage to the extent of 2,0001. It is suspected that these fires have been wilful.