MOB MURDERS IN AMERICA.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 419, 20 April 1850, Page 3

MOB MURDERS IN AMERICA.

PmfcADELrfiiA, October 17, A sens of horror hat been enacted in this city that may fairly bs pronounced without parallel, as it was without provocation, in any of the recorded public outrages and mob-murders of modern tiunei. In the lower part of Philadelphia, bands of outlawi and ruffians have exiited for more than two yean, calling themselvt " killers," '* strangers," " skinners," &c. These titlei are of themselves sufficient to show the ferocious and criminal character of such associations, which are in fact, similar to the " Mohawks," who disgraced London in the day* of Queen Anne and the first George. The Philadelphia gangi, however, are more sanguinary that ever were the Mohawks, and accordingly people had frequently been set upon aud wounded, and one or two killed, in the open streets ; while near the Scuuylkill highway robberies aud river piracy have been committed with impunity in the open day, by brigands calling themselves the •« Schuylkill Rangerg." On Tuesday night last, about nine o'clock (night of the city and country election), a band of ruffians repaired to in hotel at the corner of Sixth and St. Mary streets, called the •• California Hou«e," where they sought a quarrel, broke the glasses in the bar, piled the furniture in the middle of the rooms, and then set it on fire, soon enveloping the entire building in flames. A ttory had been raised that a white woman and a coloured man had lived to* gether as man and wife ; but this was a mere pretaxt for communicating a riot, by inflaeming the public mind, and stimulating a mob to acfcs of tyranny and outrage. Muny coloured people, and those of the loweit classes, lire in St, Mary-street. These were ! obliged to fly, and in escaping from their houses, they | were fired upon and pelted with bricks— even women I and children. The fire companies of Philadelphia soon repaired to the scene of conflagration to extinguish the flames, when (incredible at it may appear) they were met with showers of bricks and volleys of musketry r,nd pistol balls ! Several were wounded or slain within a few minutes — the rioters loading again and again and firing as fast as they could. The police now arrived, but they were leceived with shot, and several were wounded. Neither the firemeu nor tlie policemen were armed, and therefore could not defend themselves neither could they return the fire ; — and they were compelled temporarily to retire, carrying the c"cad and wounded to the hospital, or to their homes of sorrow and of mourning. Meanwhile two houses adjoining the California became a prey to the flames ; and another hotel, the Montgomery House, was alio set on fire and destroyed. The firing continued, and men were carried off wounded. It was not until nearly two o'clock in the morning that the military could be collected, and on two or three companies of volunteers repairing to St. Mary-street, the cowaidly nnd ferocious assassins sneaked away. For this shocking riot there was not even the poor excuse of factionary, political, or religious feeling. It was no conflict between rich and poor, Roman Catholic and Protestant (as in 1844), no rival political parties. No, there was no actual cause, beyond the gratification of the most evil passions and a lust of blood. The whole must have been premeditated, as the mob were not only well armed, but well provided with ammunition— plenty of powder and ball. The active roiters were from 300 to 500 in number, aided and cheered on in their work of slaughti r by as many more. I can positively assert from personal observation, that the scene appeared more like murder for amusement — for the joy of the blood thirsty —than any political or civic riot. No principle whatever was contended for— no right or privilege had been denied or was sought. Then the fact of shooting firemen, who are citizens' and the sons of citizens, who volunteer a. dangerous duty without pay, fee, or reward of any kind ! Yet they were fired on, appaiently for the sport of a savage mob ! Such atrocities can hardely be believed to have taken place in a Cuustun city, and in this our boasted ninete'mh century. Yetuc'i thcyweie. Three re. spectable men were kilkd, thieeor more are expected to die, and about twenty seven were wounded in all. The eutire numbet of deaths will hardly bn known for at least a week. None of the rioters ware injured. As soon as the military wer on thegroind, the firemen returned and extinguished the conflagrations. About seven o'clock in the morning Ihe riot was resumed, and several shots were fired, two or three persons being wounded, but order was quickly restored, and several arrests were made. On l the following Friday, ' a carpenter's "shop in the vicinity was set on fire, and attempts were made to renew the riot by attacks on the coloured psople, but the ruffiins were overawed, and several of them 'captured,, The military have entamped in the disturbed district, and guarded it ever since. About twenty suspected persons have been arrested, a few only admitted to bail, of from 1000 dollars to 5000 dollars each. In the northern suburb, Kensington, a gang of out lawg has been formed, known at the Pirates. A few days since they nearly killed Alderman {Wilt in the street ; and they entered a house, in which they beat the owner nearly to death. Unless the laws be admiuiitered in these districts hereafter with sternness ,and justice, neither life nor property will be secure ; and it is notorious that of late many of the magistrates and constables have been so far intimidated, or have been so wilfully remiss, that misdemeanour and outrage there have long gone on " unwhipt ot justice."

Coal at Wkstkrn P^ur. — Mr. G. H. Wathen, t mining engineer, hai receully (on behalf vre believe of an Engll«h Company) been surveying the coait from Western Port to Cape Liptrap, for the purpose of discovering coal available for working. Mr. Wathen iv his report, says :— <■ The coal measures commence with a well defined boundary about a quarter of a mile north of, or wkuin Griffith's Point, opposite Cape Woolomai, in Phillip Island, at the eastern entrance to Western Port Griffith's Point ii a bold headland, presenting cliffs nearly a hundred feet high next the sea, and forming the termination of a range of wooded hills which run inland nearly east and west. The coal measures are immediately contageous to the lavas, but whether they run beneith them can only be determined by boring or sinking. The workings, cairied on some yean a«;o, under the authority of Air. Cole, were on the shores of the bay, between East H,eud and the mouth of the River Bats: at a spot whuie a portion o>' point of the coal measure protrudes into the mass of the eruptive rocks ; the former having bceu much j broken and distributed by the latter. In such a place no extended bed of coal could have been expected, nor was men found. From Griffith's Point the cliffs towards Bass' Straits present a continuous section of the coal measures for a length of eight or ten mile* to

the River Bourne, known locally as the First River. Here the cliffs are succeeded by a range of sandy bummocks ; but the coal measure* probably extend beneath the surface, as they appear six mile* further along tha coast at Cape Patterson, where a natural section is displayed both in the low buffs and en the beacb, It is 'at this ipot that the coal itself rises to the surface* Within half a mile of the Cape three seams crop out upon the beach, and are visible at low tide. Being half-immer-ed in sand and water, their exact Muck* ness cannot be readily determined, but; the following 1 may be taken as an approximation to the truth. ••thickness" and "dip." lit or West Seam Coni 1 ft. 8 in. 25 drj*. west 2nd or Middle Seam 3 ft. 4 in. 20 " 3rd or Gait Seam 1 ft. 8 in. 29 " cast. Continuing along the coast, the coal measures ore again displayed in the section between Cape Patterson ond Andersons Inlet, both in the clift and on the beach. Opposite the entrance of the Inlet, the c'iffi are succeeded by a low landy flat, forming the entranre to the valley drained by the Screw Creek, which runs into the Inlet near its entrance ; but, after crosoiug the Creek, the coal measures again crop out to the surface on the beach, nnd rise into low bluffs. They appear to continue along the northern shore of Andersons Inlet to the River Tarwin, which is probably not far from their termination in this direction ; for a few miles beyond, at Cape Lip trap, we fiud together witli large masses of intrusive greenstone, the underlying formations of mountain limestone aud clayslate, the latter probably lying immediately upon the gruni.te ; wh'ch Wilson's Promontoiy rises through tha superior strata into a bold and lofty mounluin range, forming the most southerly point of the Australian Continent. —Melbourne Daily News.

Lord Clarbndon and this Orangemen.— Ona of the metropolitan orguns of Oraugeism (the Dublin Herald ) puts forward the following remarkable statement, at the same time intimating that a chapter of similar rerelations will be brought to light after the mee'ing of the " Grand Lodge" oa the 20th instant :— " The fact that the Government has last year effected an Orange armament— nay, the very details connected wih that measure, are no fully known to »o many thousands of men now in Dublin, that we cannot forbear admiring Lord Clarendon's hardihood in risking his character for truth Upon its denial. The Orangemen assembled regularly for drill in the bouse, No. 27, William-street, ai alio in Whitefriars' Hall. They were there drilled by a non-commnsioned officer and two privates of the Ist Royals, and by a soldier of the 55th Foot, Colonel Phayre generally attending. It was arranged that they were to receive a password to ensure their recognition by the military on duty, and that the signal for ' turning out' was to be communicated hy the bell of St. Anne's Church tolling three distinct strokes— which signal was to be repeated there upon from the other parish steeples throughout the cit\. A book was regularly kept, containing the names and addresses of the Orangemen so organised, and an oath was administered to each on receiving his arms and accoutrements. But this book has been, as Colonel Phayre in his circular declares, abstracted, and ii now nowhere to be found 1"

Rise of the Pictorial Press.— At the annual dinner of the Artists' Amicable Society, on Wednesday, M. Lamlells sketched in an interesting manner the rise of the pictorial pren. He rejoiced in being; able to bear testimony to the success of tbe union which hat of late years subsisted between the pen and tbe pencil. There were three flourishing works in existence that phced the utility of the combination, if he might be allowed the term, beyond a doubt. The success of the Pickwick Papers^ which gave birth to one style of illustration, was in the first instance duo more to the artist's pencil than the author's p»n. It was not generally known that poor Seymour coucoived tbe characters of Pickwick and Sam Weller before even, a line of the work was written, and it was ever to be regretted that the success which attended the conception resulted in the death of the aulior. Then, again, there was the immortal Punch, which owed its popularity to artists ; for sereral months after be wag brought out he was a loosing concern, but a happy idea of Harry Matthew, of bringing out an illustrated Punch's Almanac, profusely illustrated, placing Punch in a position which he has never receded from. Tbe last itusance of the succei of the union was tbe Illustrated News. We remember the day thut also was a loosing affair, but it was suggested to the proprietors, on the occasion of the Queen's first visit to Scotland, that they should tend artists to follow her as the daily papers did reporter!. They adopled the suggestion, and the success of it could be seen in the immense number of papers sold during the recent visit of Her Majesty to Ireland. The fact was, the system of illustrating newspapers, and such like publications was a* yet only in its infancy. As the public taste increased illustrated works would multiply, and it was, therefore, for the interest of both high and low art to encourage aud promote such periodicals.

Uses of Coloured Glasses to Assist the View in Fogs.— The following curious observation it maJe by M. Luvini, of Turin, in a letter to the editor of L'lnstitut, at Paris. If it be verified, it may prove to be of importance to geodetical operations as well as in observations vt sea ;—"; — " When there is & fog between two corresponding stations, so that the one station ctn with difficulty be seen from the other, if the observer pastes a coloured glass between his eye ami the eye-piece of his telescope, the effect of tbe fog is very sensibly diminished— so that frequently the signals from the other station can be veiy plainly perceived, when without the coloured glass the station itself could not be seen, The different colours do not all produce thij effect in the same degree. The red seems the most proper for the experiment. Thoss who have good sight prefer the dark red— those who shortsighted like light red belter. The explanation of this effect seems to depend upon the fact that the white colour of the fog strikes too powerfully upon the organ of sis;ht— -especially if the glass have a somewhat large field. On the contrary, by placing a coloured glass between the eye of the observer and the c.ve-glasa of the instrument, tbe intensity of the light is much diminished by the interception of a part of the rays ; the observer's eje is less wearied, suffers less, and consequeotly distinguishes better the outlines ot the object observed.— Mechanic? Mayazins»

A Litbjiary Fraud of the Seventeenth Cevtury.—We mentioned last week that the Venerable Edward Cliurton, Archdeacon of Cleveland, has just published an account of a singulary literary fraud practised on the memory of Bishop Jeremy Taylor, by attributing to his authorship the well-known work entitled " Contemplations on the state of Man." We now add a fuller account of the subject. The *' Con* temp lotions" were first published in 1634, about ■evenreeu years alter the death of Taylor, with a i'tate-. merit signed by Robert Hairis (a pen on who h?-s lett no other mcinorul of hituscH), t<> the effect that Bishop Taylor had " left;tbese holy contetnplutiom in the hiiiids of a worthy friend of bit, with a full purpose to hay« prioted them had he liyed," but without own.

naming the " worthy friend" to whom they were en-tru^tt-d. On this warrantry thr work has been hitherto held to be Taylors ; and, although excellent in itfirlf, the fraud no doubt wns a gp.inful one, as the Contemplations under Taylors name became exceed, ingly popular, and ten edition* were printed and told in the half century following its first appearance. About ten years ago Archdeacon Churton became doubtful of iti authenticity, but proof of the fraud has only just been obtained by a discotery of the original in the worki of Juan Eustbin Nieremberg, one of the most eminent writers of the Chuich of Spain, in the reign of Philip IV. The treatise usually attributed to tlie D author; '» Holy Living and Dying,'' made its first appearance in an English dress, without name of place or publisher, under the title of " A Treatise of the Difference between the Temporal and Eternal. Composed in Spanish by Eusebius Nieremberg, S.J. Translated into English by Sir Vivian Mullineux, Kt., and since revised according to the 10th and last Spanish Edition." lt From this translation.' 1 says Archdeacon Churton, "wai manufactured the tieatise entitled, ' Bishop Taylors Contemplations on the State of Man,' much after the fashion in which an ingeniously idle schoolboy may steal his theme from Addison or Johnson, taking care not to follow the original author through many page* consecutively, nor commence with hit commencement ; but patching the work together, not without many turnings and dodgings, and with a few sentences and paragraphs which are cot to be found in Nieremberg, and a few of the prayers at the endi of the chapters." The Archdeacon points out the pages and books of the original work and of Mullineux's translation, from which each chapter of the fraud it made up ; and then proceeds to show how bungling and clumsy a forgery it is, words obvioutly contrary to the sense frequently being substituted for the proper ones through sheer carelessness ; and, in many cases, the sense is obscured by injudicious omissions. "It mult strike us," layi the Archdeacon, " as remarkable (hat a clumsy forgery such as this should have imposed on so many generations of the Engliih clergy and people. But the book having passed, as far as appears, unquestioned at its first appearance, and Spanish divinity having few English readers, nnd Sir Y. Molyneux's translation of the genuine work having probably become scarce before the other appeared, detection was not easy. Because, although it is the cloth of freize to the cloth of p old, the Spaniard ii a writer who bears a roarse kind of resemblance to Taylor.