ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 712, 29 May 1852, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The conductors of some of the London omnibuses have introduced the use of the daily papers. A good-sized bracket is placed against the top end of the vehicle, on which these papers are placed, and a request is printed underneath that all passengers using the journals will, when done with them, replace them in the bracket, and also deposit Id. for the reading in a small box affixed above. Extraordinary Murder. — Bel per, Sunday Evening. — It is our painful duty to record one of the most cold-blooded and daring murders that have ever taken place in the county of Derby. The scene of the foul deed is Belper, about eight miles from Derby, and near the extensive cotton manufactories of the Messrs. Strutt. The facts of the case are as follows : — It appears that a mart named Anthony Turner, who resides atLane-end, about half a mile from Belper, has been for some years in the habit of collecting rents for a widow lady named Barnes, who lives with a relative named Bannister, a clergyman of the Chui eh of England, at Field House, Belper. Turner having been a defaulter to a considerable amount, Mrs. Barnes sent him a note *to say that he would not be allowed to collect any more rents, and that he was to consider himself discharged from his situation. On Saturday evening last he went to a provifcion shop, kept by Mr. Husland, and borrowed a large carving knife, used for cutting bacon. After they gave it to him he said he was going to kill Mrs. Barnes with it, for not letting him collect the rents. This was about eight o'clock in the evening, and it appeared that he went direct from Mr. Husland's shop to Field House, deceased's residence, and asked to see Mrs. Barnes. The servant went up stairs, and told Mrs. Barnes that Turner wished to speak to her, but she refused to grant him an interview. The servant returned with a message to that effect. Turner said he would not go away without seeing her, and entered the house, pushing the girl on one side and rushed up stairs. The servant girl was very much alarmed, and ran to fetch the Rev. J. Bannister; who was in the adjoining house. Mr. Bannister immediately ran into the house, and on proceeding up stairs met Turner coming down with a jarge knife in his hand, which was covered -with blood. Turner niade a blow at MrUannister with the knife, and after a struggle between them Turner was precipitated to the bottom of the stairs. Mr. Bannister then went into the unfortunate lady's room, and found her laying on the ground with her head literally severed from her body ! One of her thumbs was also cut off, as if in struggling to prevent the murderous knife from lacerating her throat. Medical aid was immediately in attendance, but life was quite extinct. Af.er the foul deed had been perpetrated, Turner, after passing Mr. Bannister on the stairs, as alluded to above, on leaving the house met the servant girl coming in, and made an attempt to strike her with the knife, but she turned her head on cne side, and evaded the blow. The murderer then ran off at the top of his speed, and has not since been heard of. ' He is a married man and has one child, is a tailor by trade, and was formerly a local preacher among the Wesleyan Methodists. His age is about 45 years; he stands about 5 feet 8 inches; has. very small black, eyes, and bad on at the time oft the! murder* a. pair of drab trousers and black coat. The most extraordinary part of this awful tragedy is the great ease with which the murderer made his 1 escape, as it was only about half-past 8 o'clock

in the evening, and numbers of people were stirring about the neighbourhood. The electric telegraph was immediately set to work at the Belper station, and the news conveyed in a few minutes to Derby, Nottingham, and other midland counties. In Belper the greatest excitement prevailed on the awful tragedy becoming known, and a. mob of some hundreds soon collected round the deceased lady's residence. Mr. W. Wragg, superintendent-constable of Belper, and formerly one of the detective officers of the Derby police, was unable to render any assistance in finding the murderer, in consequence of having received severe injuries in attempting to prevent the fight a few days ago between the pugilists Paddock and Paulson. It appears thnt Turner cohabite^ with a woman in Derby, and this afternoon Sergeants Hardy and Fern proceeded to the house of the woman, but could find no trace of the murderer having been there. The deceased, Mrs. Barnes, was about sixty years of age, of rery eccentric habits, and" the owner of considerable property in Belper and Derby. The inquest will commence to-morrow (Monday), before Mr. Henry Mosley, coroner for this district.

The Stereoscope. — Professor Wheatstone has distinguished himself by his investigations connected with the phenomena of Light and Vision. He published some years since, in the * Philosophical transactions,' a -paper .on the phenomena of single vision by a pair of eyes ; and devised an instrument called the stereoI bcope, from stereos, solid, and scopeo, I see, by which was iraita'ed what appear to be the conditions observed in the arrangement of the eyes. He showed, that if two drawings of the same object were so placed that their reflected images fell at the same time upon either eye, a single image was produced in its three dimensions — of length, breadth, and thickness. The drawings of any object intended for stereoscope experiment are taken at a small angular difference, corresponding as nearly as possible with the difference between the angles of vision of the' right and left eye. These are placed so that the image of each picture is received upon mirrors, fixed to each other, inclined to themselves at an angle of 45 degrees. By this disposition the reflected coincident images are seen in the mirrors by Ihe two eyes placed before them at the, angle of reflectiqn. By this means a solid image is produced, realizing in a very remarkable manner the conditions of any solid in very high or entire relief.- — Literary Gazette.

A Dark Ruse. — There is in a certain western country, and on the estate of a nobleman, a cave in the side of a hill which is very beautiful ; it is coated with stalactites of arragonite, and, as that mineral is not common, those who visited the cave frequently broke off some of the most ornamental crystals, and carried them away as valuable trophies. The noble lord to whom the cave belonged, in orUer to prevent this, built a wall before the entrance, and had a door made with a lock to keep out depredators. An old servant who lived about a mile off Had charge of the key, and those who wished to see the wonders of the cavern were obliged to have recourse to this man who thus made a kind of benefit of it. He provided flint and steel, tinder, candles, and .all other requisites for exploring, charging for them and his own trouble according to a tariff rather higher, perhaps, than would have been sanctioned by free trade. It happened once that a party of gentlemen, men of rank, learning, and fortune, started on an expedition to explore this cave, and, if possible, to obtain, in despite of the dragon, a few crystals of arragonite. They went to the grasping old janitor, and he, with his usual load, and more than his usual politeness, accompanied them. As the party proceeded their talk was of geology and chemistry and all the cognate sciences. " See," said un M.D., as he stooped down by the side of a brook, " here is native sulphur, let us see if it is pure enough to. burn. Lend me your flint and steel, my ' good man, and the tinder box." The materials were produced, but in striking a light the box was precipitated into the brook ! The ill-humour of the door-keeper burst forth at once : " Now I must go back and get some fresh tinder ; we are close to the cave, and I have two miles to walk." "No, no," said the doctor; "I have tinder with me," and producing some German tinder, he restored good humour by igniting it by means of a brass cylinder and piston, which acted by by the sudden compression of air. When they were fairly within the cave it was found that the German tinder would not act, the doctor having cunningly wetted the piece- which he produced for the purpose. " You really must go back to your cottage and get some tinder, but' we will take care to remunerate you for your trouble.'" Thus encouraged, the usher of the crystal chamber departed to his dwelling. As soon as his back was turned dry tinder was found, the piston acted well, the candles were lighted, hammers were brought out, and as many stalactites as could be conveniently disposed of found their way into the pockets of the party. One waited outside as a scout. As soon as the old man was seen approaching the wax candles were again pocketed, the, hammers followed their example, with the piston, and all the gentlemen united in objurgating the guide on account of the time he had taken to go so short a distance. When his candles were lighted by his tinder and matches, the ravages became evident, but as he imagined the whole party to have been in the dark, whereas he was the only person in that predicament, he accused some unknown thieves of having obtained entrance by means of a false key, and reported to his lordship accordingly. Lord and servant are now with their forefathers, butXdo not feel at liberty to give names. — The Shores and Islands of the Mediterranean.

The New Order of Architecture. — The Tumble Down. — The fall of the houses at Kensington has come as if for a fatal proof that our allusion to the fallacious style of building in London was not unwarranted. „ The veidict of the inquest has cast censure on the speculator for supplying bad material, and on the architect for permitting the .structure to proceed ; but it would be a mistake to visit indignation and perhaps pecuniary loss on these, gentlemen, and not, to bear in mind that the accident properly belongs to a system, in which many others are equally culpable. We know that the construction of houses, particularly in the suburbs, is often the grossest of delusions. Houses of a kind suited to persona of moderate

means are run up for sale at prices temptingly low; the profit of the speculator ,being derived, not from a true economy in the construction of his merchandise, but from an actual withholding of the thing which he professes to sell. You shall fiiJtL ' cottages ' near town, charmingly neat and 'tasty,' 'replete with every convenience,' a rose-bush or two sprouting in the newly raked little front garden, stained glass in the first stair landing, visible from the front door, and all to be had for 'only' some very ' low figure.' A thrifty clerk or an intelligent workman buys a cottage — to have a roof of his own over his head, and save houserent ; but a short residence soon discloses the state of his purchase. The fires dry the building, and summer aids the work, and drying, the walls begin to shrink from each other. The first rain has already divided the paper into dreary festoons from the plaster. • The rotting wood of the kitchen floor discloses the fact that there is no foundation beneath, but only the aboriginal mud. We have heard of cases in which the appearance of a drain was only a pretence on the surface, no drain being really beneath. This kind of bargain is palmed off upon the unwary by favour of the modern rage for 'cheapness,' which demoralizes both'vendor and purchaser, renders each callous to the claims of the other, and strikes each with a stupid blindness to his owninterests in the long run. It is aided by that joint effect of .stolid utilitarian morals and driving trade which has almost universally deprived workmen and dealers of pride in the sterling quality and woi'kmanlike thoroughness of their work. The peculiarity of the Kensington disclosure is, that it relates to a style of building which we had supposed to be above suspicions of this sort. We knew that parapets to look ' tasty ' and 'classical,' to make hut look ' mansionlike,' were ' run up with compo,' and many a fortress on this sea girt isle can hardly withstand the rude artillery of the breeze ; but we did not know that the same kind of trimmings were to be paralleled in the handsome ultraI West-end squares beyond Tyburnia and Belgravia. We knew that tenants sometimes wink at counterfeits, — that in a celebrated place not one hundred miles from Kensington, for instance, there are mansions with coach house and stable, and room above for the coachman, simulated in a mere front wall, the doors leading into space behind ! but we did not know that the very house itself was to be a simulacrum. We knew that road stuff was put into 'cement,' but we did not know that persons of substance were to be enticed by that contrivance intomansions of no substance. We knew that architects would run up " cottages of an aristocratic pattern" for clerks and skilled workmen; we knew that plans and designs for a gin palace of truly classic grandeur might be obtained for £40 from an artist who ingeniously rang the changes on one set of calculations and one idea ; but we did not know that your ultraBelgravian ntansions for super-genteel tradespeople, your " almost country houses," were to be designed, estimated, and superintended m the making at the 'low figure' of £15 a piece. The architect pleaded that he had not sufficient control over the works ; the speculator seems to have set him at nought — or jperhaps we should say, seems to have set him at £15. The architect remonstrated against the materials, but the read stuff was sent in spite of his teeth. The district surveyor, who declares that he has no power to check such practices, noticed that the speculators had not competent men to superintend the works — cheap men, perhaps. Cheap designs, cheap materials, cheap workmen — and a cheap accident ; it killed one man, and something-short-of killed six ; but they were only workmen, not tenants. — Spectator. ,

A First Kiss. — In the University of Upsala, in Sweden, lived a young student, a lonely youth, with a great love for studies, but without means of pursuing them. He was poor and without connexions; still he studied on, living in great poverty, but keeping up a cheerful heart, and trying not to look at the future, which looked so grimly at him. His good humour and good qualities made him beloved by his young comrades. Once he was standing with some of them iv the great square of iipsala, prating away an hour of leisure, when the attention of the young men became arrested by a young and elegant lady, who, at the side of an elderly one, walked slowly over the place. It was the daughter of the Governor of Upland, residing in the city, and the lady with her was her governess. She was generally known for her beauty and for her goodness, and gentleness ot character, and was looked upon with great admiration by the students. As the young men now stood silently gazing at her, as she passed on like a vision, one of them exclaimed — • Well, it would be worth something to have s kiss fiom such a mouth!' Tbe poor young student, the hero of our story, who was looking intently at that pure and angelic face, exclaimed, as if by inspiration — .'Well, I think I could have it.' *. What !' cried his friends in a chorus, 'are you crazy? Do you know her?' &c. 'Not at oil, 1 he answered, 'but I think she would kiss me, just now, if I asked her.' 'What! m v this place, betore all our ejes?' 'In this place, before your eyes.' 'Freely J* 'Freely.' 'Well, if she will give you a! kiss in that manner, I will give you a thousand dollars!, 'Audi!' 'Andl!' 'And I!' cried three or four. others, for it so happened that several rich young men were in the group, and bets ran high on so improbable an event ; and the challenge was made and accepted in less time than we take to relate i r . Our hero — my authority tells not whether he was handsome or plain ; I have my peculiar reasons for beliving he was plain, but singularly good-looking at the same time — our hero walked off to meet the young lady. He bowed to her and said — 'My lady (mm fraulceu), my fortune it in your hands.' She looked at him will) astonishment, but arrested .her. steps. He proceeded to stale his name and condition, his aspirations, and related simply and truly what had just passed between him and his companions. The young lady listened attentively, and when he had ceased to speak, she said, blushing, but with great sweetness — ' If by so little a thing so much good could be effected it would be very foolish in me to refuse your request,' and she kissed tbe young man publicly in in the open square. Next day the young man was sent for by the governor. He wanted- to see the young man who had dared to ask a kiss of his dau^bici in 11-ai way, and whom she bad

consented lo kiis so. He received him with a severe and scrutinizing brow :" but, after an hour's conversation, was so pleased with him, that he invite i him to dine at his table daring the course of his studies in' Upsala. Our young man novr pursued his studies in a manner, which, soon made him regarded as the roost promising scholar at the university. Three^ years had not passed since the day of the first kiss, when the young mati was allowed to give a second one »<» the lovely daughter of ihe Governor, as his betrothed bride. He became, later, one of the greatest scholars in Sweden, as much respected /or his learning as for his character. His works will endure for ever among the works of science ; | and from his happy union sprung a family well ! known in Sweden in the present day, and whose wealth of fortune, and high position in society, are regarded as small things, compared with its wealth and goodness of love. — Frederika Bremer.

Adventurfs of a " Hoosier." — A specimen of the genus "hoos'ei" was found by Caplain -, of the steamer •, in the engineroom' of his boat, while lying at Louisville, one fine morning in June, The Captain inquired what he was doing there? "Have you seen Captain Perry?" was the interrogative response. " Dou't know him ; anJ can't tell what that has to do with your being in the engine-room," replied the Captain angrily. VHold on, that's juse what I was getting at. You see, Captain Perry asked me to take a drink, and so I did ; I knew that I wanted to drink, or I ahould'nt have beeit so very dry. So Capiaiu Perry and I went to the La'!. Captain Perry was putting in some a xtras or> one toe, I sung out, 'Go it, Captain Perry, if you bust your oiler. With that a man steps up to me ; says lie, 'See here, stranger, you mast leav .' Says I, ' what must I leave fur? 1 Says he, 'You're making too much noise.' Says I, ' I've been in bigger crowds than this, and made more noise, and did'nt leave nuther.' With that be tuck me by the nape of the neck and the seat of the breeches — and I left. As I was shoven down the street I met a lady — • I knew she was a lady by a remark she made. Says she, ' young man, I reckon you'll go home with me.' Politeness would'ut let me refuse, and so I went. I'd been in the house but a minute, when I heard considerable of a knocking at the doo . I know'd the chip wanted to get in, whoever he wai, or he would'nt have kept up such a tremendous racket. _ By and by says a voice, ' 'If you don'l open, I'll bust in tl<e door.' And so he did. I put on a hold face, and says I, 'Stranger, does this woman belong to you?' Say 3 he, 'She does.' 'Then, 1 says I, 'She's a lady, I think, from all that I have seen of her. 1 With that he came at me with a pistol in one hand and a bo wie- knife in the other, and, being a little pressed for room, I jumped through the window, leaving the bigger portion of my coat-tail. As I was streaking it down town, wuh the fragments fluttering to the breez j , I met a friend. I knew he was a friend, by a reimrk he made. Says he, 'Go it, bobtail, he's gainin' on you.' Aud that's the way I happened in your engine-room. I'm a good swimmer, Captain, but do excuse me, if you please, from taking the water. — Louisville Journal. 11 How do you account for the fact that we military men invariably contrive to ingratiate ourselves with the fair ccx ?" enquired a young officer of his comrade. " Oh, 1 suppose ir is because you meet with uniform success," was the reply. The Worst of British Bloomerisai. — We dv not feel <nuch alarmed by the probability that Britannia will leave off her petticoats ; but the news fiora Caffre-land makes us seriously apprehensive that she may give up her Caj.e. — Punch.