Potter's Electric News

TEN BY. "WOBKING MEN'S CLVB.—Miss Smedley, anxious t. extend the usefulness of this Society, has paid for then the requisite annual subscription to the Working Men\ Club and Institute Union, of London, by which tht Tenby Club is entitled to receive a box containing thirty Volumes of books, that may be changed every three months, the loan of diagrams qnd maps to illustrate lectures, besides several other advantages. POLICE COURT.—MAY lst.-Before the Mayor.—Thomas Jones, mason, Cfiimney Park, was charged by Anna Watkins, wife of James Watkins, with using threatening language towsrdsher. He was bound over to keeptht- peace for three months, himself in £ 10, and pne surety in £ 5. May 13th,—Before the Mayor.— William Williams was brought up in custody and charged by Head Con- stable Thomas with being drunk in the public streets on the previous evening. Fined 5s, and 2s 6d costs. NARROW ESCAPE.-On the 6th, inst a break belonging to Mr Henry Birkin, fly proprietor, drawn by two horses, was proceeding down St Julian Street with a party of ladies, and when near Lexden Terrace from some cause the horses became restive, and dashed off with fearful speed down the street, which at this place is rather steep, until they came in contact with the extremity of the lew wall opposite St Julian Terrace, knocking down several feet of it. The force with which the vehicle came against the wall broke the traces, and to threw the horses forward some distance, but the break remained jammed fast. Several persons were imme diately on the spot, and the ladies were safely extricated from their perilous position unhurt. The horses were severely out in several places, and the carriage wall damaged very considerably, two of the springs being severely out in several places, and the carriage was damaged very considerably, two of the springs being broken. Had the break gone over the wall on to the Quay Hill, the result would have been lamentable. RAISING TUB 'BRITANNIA.'—Last week advantage was taken df the low tides and the fineness of the weather to make an attempt to raise the sloop 4 Britannia,' of Cardigan, which struck against the Sker Rock about three weeks ago, and went down almost immediately. The first attempt was made on Friday week, the weather being aJl that could be desired for the successful tarrying out of the undertaking, when, after tRey had got her weighed, the chains that were under her not being strong enough to bear the great strain upon them, parted, and the vessel went to the bottom again. Another attempt was made on the following day, which, we are glad to say, proved M far successful that they succeeded in taking her nearer the shore by over one hundred yards, and thbre is a possibility that they may now be enabled to get the cargo out of her, and move her further up the beach, so that they can repair the damages she has sustained (which are considerable), and then bring lier into the harbour.

PEMBROKE. THE REPRESENTATION OF PEMBROKE.—A correspon- dent informs us that Mr Jenkins, ship broker, of Lime Street, London, has been canvassing the borough on his own behalf, during the past week. Our informant also states that a committee has been in deliberation at Pembroke Dock, and that Mr Jenkins's card has been forwarded to a great number of the constituency.

BOROUGH PETTY SESSIONS. [Town Hall, Saturday, May 9th, before H P. Jones, Esq. Mayor, William Hulm, Esq, J. B. Bryant, Esq, F. L. Clark, Esq, D. A. Reid, Esq, S. W. Hustler, Eaq, and T. Mansel, Esq.] William Bowling, of Pembroke Dock, earthenware dealer, was charged by Superintendent Evans, with al- lowing obstructions on the footway, on the 15th of April last. Police Constable Stephens proved the charge. Fined 2s 6d and 68 costs. Paid. Mr Richard Llewhellin, of Nash, was charged by same with allowing his cart to be used without a name. The charge was proved by Police Constable EynoD. Fined 2s 6d and 7s 10s costs. Paid. Messrs Copeman and Lacy were charged by same with allowing obstructions on the footway on 28th ult. Fined 2s 6d and 78 costs. Paid. Joseph Davies, of East End, Pembroke, was charged by Robert Wrench, station master at Pembroke Station, on Pembroke and Tenby Railway, with tresspassing on the line near the tunnel, on Friday afternoon, and re- fusing to leave when requested. The charge was proved by George Beynon, a porter at Pembroke Dock Station. Fined 30s and 6s 6d costs. Committed in default for one month to the House of Correction. Thomas Fortune, of East End, Pembroke, was charged by Superintendent Evans, with riding on a cart with. out reins to all the horses on the 27th ult. Fined 2s 6d and 6s costs: committed in default for seven days. William Rossiter, of Cosheston, was charged by Eliza- beth Gould of Mead Lodge, with beating her with a whip. Mr W. 0 Hulm appeared for defendant, and after the evidence had been gone into at some length admitted the assault, and apologized. Fined 10s and 10s costs. Paid. Thomas Powell, of Cosheston, was charged by John Lewis, gamekeeper, at Bush, witlutrespass in search of game or rabbits on the 2nd inst, on the lands of Kings- wood farm. Mr Price, Haverfordwest, appeared for the defendant and admitted being there, but pleaded being there by consent of Mr Jermyn, his master, who is the tenant at Kingswood, under an agreement for the term of 21 years, and that the tenant had a perfect right to all the rabbits, also other game not mentioned in the agree- ment. The Bench consulted a few minutes, and dismissed the case. COUNTY CASE. [Same day at three p.m., before W. Hulm, Esq, J. B. Bryant, Esq, and T. Mansel, E:;q.] James Nicholas was charged by Richard Griffith Lewis, of Stephens Green, with deserting his service. Ordered to return to his service and pay costs.

PEMBROKE-DOCS. Coy CERT.—The concert forthe benefit of Mr Radmore, leader of the Pembroke Dock Choral Class, came off on Tuesday evening last, in the Tabernacle Concert Hall. The attendance was very good, about 400; and the splendid choir, consisting of 52 picked musicians, ac- quitted themselves in their usual style, and those who attended came away well satisfied. LAUNCH.—On Thursday evening the 8th inst, the clipper schooner Margaret Hobley,' was launched from the building yard of Mr James Warlow, of this place. This very handsome vessel has been purchased by Thomas Hobley, Esq, of Carnarvon. Her dimensions are as follows, viz:—Length extreme 86'6 feet; Breadth extreme 22'2 feet; Depth extreme 1135 feet; register tonnage by the N. N. 124 50-100; burthen about 500 tons. The vessel was christened by Miss Jesse De- vonald, and was knocked off the blocks abuut seven p.m., amidsts the loud cheers of numerous spectators.

CORRESPONDENCE. We do not consider ourselves responsiblefor the opinions and sentiments of our Correspondents SiR.—I have no wish to be severe upon Mr Robertfon. 81R,-I have no wish to be severe upon Mr but 1 cannot permit him to shuffle out of the question in the way he has attempted to do in his last letter. I have prosecuted him at the bar of public opiuion, and having convicted him of equivocation on the clearest possible evidence, I ask for his committal to Coventry, and that he be deprived of all communication with conscientious men until he expresses contrition and promises batter behaviour in the future. Dropping all metaphor, my charge was that he assailed the Member for Haver- fordwest in his speech at the Pembroke and Tenbv Railway meeting, and 1 think I distinctly proved this charge by producing his own free contession, which is to be found in his own correspondence. Mr llobei tson does not withdraw his confession; he relies upon a method of reasoning which is peculiar to himself. The mau who strikes the first blow is not, according to Mr Robertson, the assailant: it is the man that returns it who is to be accounted the aggressor, because having been struck, he—to use Mr Robertson's own words—' had no occasion to notice it,' although the striker freely admits that the tdow was intentionally given. If Mr Robertson acted on this principle I should be disposed to believe that it was honestly advocated, and attribute it to a species of mental delusion but 1 am sorry, for the sake of Mr Robertson's consistency, to remark that Lis theory with regard to this particular point, like his zeal in the in- terests uf Milford Haven, is not borne out by his practice. I do not think Mr Robertson, in his capacity as a magis- trate, would venture to put it in practice m any court otTaw over which he presided, and that he would send assaulted parties away with a reprimand, on the ground that they bad no occasion to notice 'their assailants. Mr Robertson, although he put in a plea of guilty, now with a strange contempt for the judgment of your readers, wishes them to believe that the members ot parliament who were censured at the Railway meeting were the representatives of the several speakers. This is an appeal to the imagination—a sorry attempt at a quibble, the result of afterthought, which only exposes Mr Robertson to ridicule. Mr Robertson, who was his own reporter at that meeting, acknowledges that he used the wurds our members,' and as they were addressed to an audience which was for the most part composed of gentlemen from every constituency in the county, there can not be the slightest doubt in the mind of any unprejudiced per- l son that the members condemned were the representa- tives of the local constituencies. The facts are all in print, and I think your readers can form their own opinion upon them without any assistance either from myself or Mr Robertson. The origin of the whole affair is briefly this :—Mr Robertson attended the meeting professionally his special business was to bark' a little on bia account, and for the benefit of all whom it may concern;' and bark he did, with the full knowledge that his sneers, well or ill founded, would fall pleasantly on the ears of perhaps more than one among the audience. I make no insinuation as to who paid the expenses of the trip, because if I did 1 should only be serving him with some of the sauce with which he has bespattered the reputation of the surveyors and officials of the Board of Ordnance. There is only one other matter to which I think there is any occasion for me to refer, and that has reference to the ludicrous attempts made by Mr Robertson and some of his friends, in the special organ of his patron, to dis- cover my identity. In his mania for personalities, he loses sight of the great question which he says called forth his advocacy, and Milford Haven and all its glories are instantly forgotten. I remark upon his intemper- ance of language and the recklessness with which he assails public men in every department. He makes no attempt to justify his language we have a grand parade of assertions, unsupported by fact, but seasoned with vituperative extracts. He is riled,' and like a pet child who cannot have his own way, he violates the rules of propriety. He is the possessor of a huge scrap-book, composed of articles abusive of the living and the dead, and rumaging in this magazine of thunderbolts, he finds an extract from a strong article probably written by a man of like passions with himself. His last letter, taken as a whole, is a unique specimen of the reasoning and language which irate ladies of a particular age are prone to indulge in, and for aught I know to the contrary might be the essence of suggestions made by a deputation of fishwomen from Laneum Pool. Itis Langutn' to the rescue. Iam believed'to hot 'I)aid political agent,' and Mr Robertson solemnly adopts this exprespion of belief as orthodox and forthwith introduces it into his letter, and by the aid of his own inventive powers, supplies the addition that I am chairman' in futuro of the Conservative Committee.' I need not tell YOD, Mr Editor, that I am neither the one nor the other; and Mr Robertson might, with equal truth, have called me the pompous proprietor of a few coasting craft magnified, by hyperbole, into a shipowner, or a retired billiard marker who has tumbled to the surface with a strange revolution of fortune. I am, yours truly, A FISHGTTARDIAN.

THE FATAL ACCIDENT TO AN UNDER- GRADUATE. A coroner's inquest on the body of Mr James Watson Barne, commoner of Exeter College, whose melancholy death was announced in our last, was held on Friday afternoon at Exeter Col- lege, by Mr F. Symonds, one of the University coroners. Mr A. M. Gordon, commoner of Exeter College, after being warned by the coroner that what he said in evidence might be used against him, was examined He said he went out on Thursday with deceased at a quarter-past two o'clock to the Isis, and proceeded up the Cherwell in a punt as far as the New Bridge, near which they anchored for some time. At about a quarter-past four they turnbd round. He was punting, and gave deceased p t, 11 his poat, containing a pistol, to hold. Deceased asked him where the bullets were, and he told him they were in one of the pockets of his coat. After that they changed places, deceased taking the punt pole, and he sitting down. He did not see if de- ceased had taken one of the bullets out, as his back was turned towards him. He had fired the pistol off before they started back. They had been playing in the boat. He pointed the pistol towards deceased, thinking it was not loaded and it went off. Deceased said the bullet had entered, and he afterwards laid down in the boat, and he (witness) called out to some men on the shore to come to them. He had been accustomed to use a pistol of the kind. After he had struck deceased he threw the pistol away in the river. He could not tell from the appearance of the pistol that it had been loaded. The pistol did not go off from .the jerk of the boat, but he might have pulled the trigger. He had had no dispute with the deceased. The last time he fired the pistol he put it down in the boat. He did not think the deceased had fired the pistol at all. He was certain he did not load it after shooting it off the last time. He had been firing at birds. They had been throwing things at one another just before the accident, and he thought they were talking at the time it occurred. Mr Reginald Black Roche, Queen's College, said r, be. was with some friends in a punt on the Cherwell, about 100 yards above Magdalen Bridge, on the C, 11 afternoon of the accident, when he heard the re- port of a pistol and a cry afterwards. He thought nothing of it at first, but Mr Gordon called to him for his assistance and he jumped on s.hore and was requested by Gordon to fetch a doctor as soon as possible. He fetched Dr Giles. He assisted to carry deceased into Magdalen College. It was 11 Z, about a quarter-past four. Deceased did not say anything to him, but ejaculated My God,' and once or twice said, 11 shall die.' Deceased did not say how the accident happened. He did not see the pistol, but if it was one like that produced he could only say it was a very dangerous article, as there was no guard to the trigger. Dr. Richard Giles said he found Mr Barne lying on his back at the bottom of a punt. Deceased's shirt had been undone, and there was a mark of blood, and a dark wound about the cartilage of the seventh rib, about two inches from the chest bone. Deceased was in a state of collapse, being pulse- less. He but moved his legs and drew them up as if in pain. There was no hoemorrhage. He did not think the ball had passed out. He felt at the hack for it. He was shown a small conical ball similar to that now produced. Deceased was car- ried immediately to the rooms at Magdalen Col- lege and died in a few minutes. He had heard him say I must die,' or I shall die.' It was his opinion that deceased died from the effects of the bullet wound. He thought the bullet must have taken an upward direction. The Coroner addressed the jury on the evidence adduced, and the latter, after a short consultation, found the following verdict:— 'That the death of the deceased, James Watson Barne, was the result of a wound from the acci- dental discharge of a pistol adding the following remonstrance We wish to express our strong disapproval of the prevailing indiscriminate use of saloon pistols by the undergraduate members of the university, and desire to call the attention oi l the authorities of the university and the colleges to this dangerous practice.' z;1 The following statement was then put in by the Rev H. Barne, deceased's guardian :—' The Rev H. Barne, vicar of Farringdon, and uncle of the deceased, desires to express to the coroner and the jury his entire conviction as to the purely acci- dental character of the manner in which deceased had lost his life; and amid the deep grief of him- .self and his family, his true sympathy with Mr Gordon under the very distressing circumstance ot this most sad catastrophe.' w

HAVERFORDWEST MARKET. Saturday, May 16, 1868. tieef, 6d to 8d Mutton, 7d to S6d; Lamb, 7d to 9d; Veal 5d to 7d, Pork 6d to 7d; Butter, Os.1 Ici to Is Od; Epgs, 20 for 1 s Fowls, 3s 6d to 4s 6d per couple; Ducks, 3s 6d to 5s Od ditto; Geese, Os Od to Os Od, Turkeys, Os :d to Os Od each; Cheese, 3d to Sd per lb; Bacon Pigs, Os Od to 0s d per score; Potatoes 16 lbs for Is. New potatoes, M. and (id, per lb.

DISAPPEARANCES. Chambers's Journal, amongst other remarkable instances of Disappearance, narrates the following, the truth of which is vouched for, the names of course being fictitious At Llanelly, in South Wales, a man of property and respectable position, though not a gentleman, who had married and become the father of two chil- dren, left his home suddenly without being observed b) any of his neighbours, and all the inquiries made by his wife and his relatives proved unavailing. The Welsh are an affectionate and upon the whole romantic people; but the deserted wife was not romantic, so, after waiting a certain number of years, in expectation of her husband's return, she listened to the wooing of another man, and married again. There was no poetry in her composition, neither was she, like Tennyson's Mrs Arden, driven to take this step by the fear of poverty for herself or her chil- dren. The truth was the buxom Welshwoman wanted a husband, and took one, having waited long enough, as she thought, for her first lord and master to come back, if he meant to come back at all. But though the wife thus gave proof of her want of faith in the husband of her youth, or else really believed him to be dead, the lost man had a sister much younger than himself, who, instead of sharing the wife's despair, regarded her second marriace as an act of vice, and always looked forward confidently to her brother's return. When he had been absent about eight years, however, a circumstance occurred which staggered even her confidence. A man in sailor's garb called upon her, and related that he had brought a message from her dead brother-for that he was dead he made no doubt at all. The ship in which they had been together in the Pacific went to pieces on a coral reef, and all hands, he said, perished except himself. His life was saved by the accidental passage of a whaler, the crew of which, discerning a man upon the reef, lowered a boat and took him on board. During the five years which had elapsed since that event, he had been a wanderer in America and elsewhere and in obedience to the locomotive instinct, he soon resumed the habits of his former life, and disappeared from Llanelly. This story soothed the wife's conscience and somewhat softened the asperity with which the female critics of the town spoke of her second nuptials. Years again rolled on, and the missing John Williams was not only given up as a lost man, but almost forgotten. All who are familiar with the habits of the Welsh people kiiow that in small towns and country villages they are in the habit, when they go out, of leaving their doors on the latch, locks and keys being thought almost super- fluous, One fine day, towards the close of sum- mer, when Mrs Williams, now Mrs Williams no longer, bad gone forth with her husband and two children (she had none by her second marriage) to enjoy a walk in the neighbouring fields, John suddenly made his avatar at Llanelly, and, going straight to his own house, lifted the latch, bung his hat on a peg in the passage, and then, finding no one at home, went and sat on a window-seat, whence he could command a view down the street, to watch for his wife. After a short time, he saw her and his two children coming towards the house in familiar conversation with a man, whom, how- ever, he had known from a boy. He sprang from his seat, and ran to the door to meet them. A ro- mance-writer might make something of the situa- tion, and I leave it to the romance-writer. When Mrs Williams saw her first husband emerging from the door, she forgot her second, and. bound- ing forward, threw herself, with a burst of tearSt into his arms, while honest Griffiths looked au in astonishment and wonder. The circumstances of their position were soon explained, and the question now was, who should have the wife ? The matter was settled in this way: the men stood on either side of the woman, and it was agreed that to whomsoever she should turn and give her hand, be should remain master of the situation. She decided in favour of Williams—the old love, though eclipsed for a while, remaining still the stronger in her heart. This appears to be the story upon which Mr Tennyson has based his political legend of Enoch Arden. t, PAPAL GENERAL COUNCIL -The Pope according to a letter from Rome, in the Journal de Paris, had resolved to announce by a canonical bull, to be issued on the 27th June (His Holiness's birthday), the convocation of the next General Council for the 8th December, 1868. Formerly 12 months' intimation was given, but the improved means of communication and travelling have allowed the Holy Father to abridge the period of notice. DEATHS AT SEA,-Statistics have lately been compiled on this subject by the Registrar-General of Seamen and Shipping, which form a continuation of a return moved for in the i'louse of Commons by Mr Graves last year. These statistics show that, during the year 1867, 5,283 deaths are recorded as haviDg occurred among the crews of British ships at sea, 2,370 of which were due to disease, 1,808 were caused by wrecks, and 1,105 by accidental drowning. The deaths from diseases of all kinds are less than those of the previous year, but the total number caused by wrecks indicates a considerable increase. No classification of disease at present exists for the guidance of ship captains in specifying causes of death, so that these tables are next to useless as inw dicating those maladies most fatal to sailors.at sea. Yellow fever is said to have caused death in 341 cases, cholera in 212, and scurvy in 52 instances, but fevers are classed in so nondescript and irregular manner that no reliable deductions can be drawn therefrom. No less than 154 deaths are recorded as having occurred from unknown causes, and this score might be practically increased by the total want of classification of those maladies which are assigned as distinct causes of death. The 10th clause of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1867, which permits the medical examination of seamen at the request of the owner, is at present a dead letter, though it is a well known fact that many sailors sign articles and pr°* ceed to sea totally unfit for manual labour on board ship. If a simple classification of diseases were ap- pended to the official logbook, and instructions for application included in the Ship Captain's MedicM Guide, now authorised by the Board of Trade, the statistics above quoted could not only be utilized,as valuable records of mortality at sea, but would assist in very great degree to show the importance of ping sound and healthy crews for long voyages. attention whatever is at present paid to this matter* for the Board of Trade have appointed more than 0 inspectors at various ports of the United Kingd° whose duties are nil, and the Local Marine B°arC, appear to ignore the subject altogether, tw0r°n-g having made the necessary appointments.. therefore of special import to obtain, as far as is P° sible, correct returns of deaths that occur at sea, these returns will form a direct basis of calcnlatL°fnfor to the number of healthy men shippel and un"ieS duty, and as to the amount of preventible casua^:pg that occur on account of a want of efficient wor* hands. „ ,— ILLIA9 Printed and Published by the at their LLEWELUN and THOMAS WHICH MI DAVIES, at Office in High-street," in tht- Parbb of ^&int in the Couuty of the Town or Haverfordwest. Wednesday, May 20, 1868.