4'
JYa 8.
HALIFAX, JV. G FRIDAY, MAY 11, iss-i.
FOI J.
THE "FREE PRESS,"
2?i George Howard,
Is published everv Friday, at
THREE DOLLARS per year,
consisting of 52 numbers, and in the
same proportion for a shorter pe
riod. Subscribers at liberty to dis
continue at any time, on paying ar
rearages. Advertisements inserted at fifty
rents per square, or less, for the
Jirst insertion, and twenty-five cents
each continuance.
Letters addressed to the Editor
must be post fiftid.
DOMESTIC.
Small Pox. Drs. L. K.
Mitchell, and John Bell, the
physicians of the Small Pox
hospital, in Philadelphia, have
made a report to the managers
of the Alms House, in which
they state that the gradual dimi
nution of the number of persons
affected by this disease, induces
a hope that it will soon disap
pear. The whole number of pa
tients that have been confided
to their care, is 159, of whom
74 have died.
Of those who died, two had
previously been inoculated, and
two others had had the Small
1'ox in the natural way; but not
one had been vaccinated.
Of the whole number of pa
tients, 25 had been vaccinated,
5 inoculated, 4 had previously
had the Small Pox, the facts in
relation to 9 could not be ascer
tained, and 115 were "unnro-
tcctcd," a term by which the!
physicians intend to signify that '
they had not previously had the
Small Pox in the natural way,
nor nccn either inoculated or
vaccinated. Of those ''unpro
tected," 70 died.
In regard to color, the total
of whites was C3; of whom 44
were "unprotected," and 24
died. The total of blacks, was
S7; of whom 66 were "unpro
tected'' and 42 died. i
From this it appears, that, of
the whites unprotected, about
one-half died, while of the blacks
in similar circumstances, about
two-thirds died. Of the males,
the proportion of deaths in the
unprotected was nearly thrce
lilths of the females two-fifths.
Drs. Mitchell and Bell add,
"that, though the cases are
scarcely numerous enough, to
enable them to draw an infer
ence beyond the reach of cavil,
they arc justified by their expe
rience, in placing vaccination
before
inoculation and even a
previous attack of the Small
Pox, as guarding most ccrtainly
against the fatal termination,
though it may not guarantee as
well as cither of the two latter,
an exemption from the seconda
ry or mitigated form of the dis
ease." Aew- Orleans. It appears by
Kew-Orleans papers to the 13th
that the great Louisiana
i-ank had been incorporated,
and commissioners were ap
pointed to organize the institu
tion. A priee current of the
10th, states that the market had
been more brisk the past week,
and some of the best cotton was
sold a shade higher.
Mode-TslanTLx Conven
tion to form a Constitution for
he S ate of Rhode-Hand, will
held in the month of June
Gunpowder plot. A scheme
was fortunately discovered on
Friday night, 30th ult. which if
brought to maturity wTould have
destroyed a worthy individual;
and no clue probably left to as
certain the manner of his death.
Mr. Lyon was employed up the
Canal, in completing a contract
which he had made with the
James River Company. He
was sleeping in a small cabin,
and about three o'clock in the
night, he was roused by a ne
gro, who delivered him a small
box, saying it was from Mr. E.
a friend, who begged him to
take care of it till he came. As
soon as he had delivered the
box, the negro retired from the
cabin with great precipitation,
a circumstance which appeared
extraordinary and suspicious.
Mr. L. took the box in and pla
ced it under his bed. A singu
lar glimmering appeared in the
room, and it was traced to the
box. Upon examining it, it
was found with a covering; over
it; the box itself seemed "like a
window-glass box, with two
small holes bored in the side to
let in the air; two bits of candle
stuck in augur holes, bored at
the bottom, and a small keg of
gunpowder, containing 6 or S
lbs. The candles were burning
low, and in a few minutes it is
probable the explosion would
have blown Mr. Lyons to atoms.
Who could have contrived
this nefarious plot? Mr. L.'s
suspicions were directed by a
variety of circumstances against
a bricklayer, by the name of
Macon Green, who had been de
prived of the contract which
Mr. L. had obtained. On the
information of the latter, the
Mayor issued a warrant for the
apprehension of Green, who is
now in jail to answer to the
charge.
-Richmond Compiler.
Davit t Clinton. The re
moval of this gentleman from
the office of Canal Commission
er, by the late Legislature of
the State of New-York, an office
he is said to have held the last
14 years, without receiving any
compensation, has produced a
great excitement in that State.
In various places public meet
ings have been held, to express
their disapprobation of the pro
ceeding. The Albany Daily
Advertiser gives the following
account of the transaction :
There were until lately six
Canal Commissioners. A bill
passed the Senate reducing the
number to three. About the
time Mr. Holly resigned. on ac
count of his defalcation, this bill
was taken up in the Assembly,
and the reduction agreed to,
with some division againstfrauds
and defalcation, on the part of
the acting Canal Commissioners.
The amendments to the bill
were not agreed to by the Se
nate, and owing to the want of
time the bill was laid over, but
both houses had as to the num
ber of the Commissioners, redu
ced them to three, and thereby
legislated Mr. Clinton and Mr.
Van Rensselaer out of office.
Finding that the bill could not
pass, but apprehensive of post
poning both removals at the
same time, Mr. Clinton wasse-l
lected as the ohject of peculiar
malignity, and he was accord
ingly removed. I
New- York Canals. Wc havei
prepared the following abstract
from the Annual Report of the!
New-York Canal Commission
ers, recently published. Both
canals produced a toll of $140,
000, the last year, and it is
calculated they will produce
S250,000 the present year.
The Erie Canal was navigated
the last season from Albany to
Brockport, 20 miles West of
Genessee river; a distance of 2S0
miles. From Brockport to Buf
falo, 76 miles, the canal is not
yet finished, but arrangements
have been made for its final
completion in May, 1S25. The
excavation through the moun
tain ridjje atLockport, 65 miles
west of Genessee river, is an
immense work. 197,000 cubic
yards of rock have been already
excavated, at an expense of $ 1:25
to $1:75 per cubic yard, and
162,000 yards remain to be cut.
Two harbors arc to be con
structed at the western termina
tion of the canal one in the
iVinnnrrt rivor nf Ulanl- T?l-
and the other at the mouth of
Buffalo creek, near the village
of Buffalo.
The Eric Canal is carried
thro' several valleys by means of
embankments of earth, and a
cross many streams by stone
aqueducts. The great embank
ment across the Irondequot val
ley, a few miles east of Genessee
river, is 72 feet in height, and
that across the Sandy Creek
valley, west of that river, is ele
vated 76 feet. The great aque
duct across the Genessee at Ro
chester is S02 feet in length,
and 9 of the arches have a span
of 50 feet each. The stones
which compose this immense
structure were nrnr.iiiwl livblict-i
ing and splitting from a quarry
the top of which was from 6 to
14 feet below the surface of the
ground. The quantity of lime
used was about 50,000 bushels, i
Bel ow Schenectady, arc twostu-i
pendous aqueducts across the
Mohawk, whose agregate length
is 1892 feet. Between Sche
nectady and Albany, the canal
in some places occupies the bed;
oi me river, and is overhung
with lofty precipices; at others,
it is forced through hills and
spurs of rock more than 30 feet,
in height, and in its course ra
vines are filled up to the depth
of 40 feet.
The Champlain Canal, which
unites the Hudson to Lake
Champlain, was in operation
the latter part of 1823, through
the whole line, and more than a
hundred boats were in use.
The whole amount of monies
received by the Commissioners
since 1&7, is $7,516,667. It
is probable the whole expense
of both canals will not be less
than nine millions or dol
lars. Hamp. Ga.
Affecting. Mrs. Hannah
Stone, of Alexandria. D. C. cnm.
mitted suicide, on the evening of
the 30th ult. bydrowning herself.
It is supposed, in consequence
of the excessive ill treatment
from one, of whom, by the ties
of both God and man,she should
have received any thin"- else,
this interesting female has been
driven to this awful crime, leav
ing behind her a family of small
children, one of whom is but
three months old.
Murder.-On ihe llth ult
Ahel French, of Fitchburg,
Mass. was committed to prison
in Worcester, charged with the
murder t)f Abel French, o&.
The circumstances are as fol
lows: It seems that Abel French
(the person committed) and his
wife had not, for several years
past, lived happily together;
that they had sometime since
separated, when his wife went
to keep house tor Abel trench,
2d, (who was cousin to her hus
hand,) his wife, also, having left
him in consequence f disagree
ment. For some time past
French's jealousy of his wife
had become strongly excited, in
consequence of which he went
to the house of his cousin on the
evening preceding the murder,
where he made some discove
ries which confirmed his suspi
cions. The next night he again
went to the house, armed with
a knife, and by some means got
in and found his wife and cousin
asleep together. He immedi
ately attempted to cut his wife's
throat, but struck so high that
her jaw bone took the blow and
probably saved her life. He
then stabbed her two or three
times, but his cousin having in
the mean time been roused, sei
zed him, and prevented him
from completing his murderous
purpose on his wife. A strug
gle now ensued, in which the
elder French succeeded in stab
bing the younger so fatally, that
he fell and immediately expi
red. His wife, though badly
wounded, is expected to recover.
The Navy.Ueut. W. A.
W eavcr has been suspended, by
order of the Navy Department,
in consequence of the questions
which have arrisen as to the cor
rectness of his conduct, in the
case between himself and the
owners of the ship America; a
formal investigation will be in
stituted on the return of the
Franklin to the United States.
The proceedings of the Court
Martial, lately held at Norfolk,
for the trial of Lieut. Beverly
Kennon, are to undergo an in
vestigation in Congress.
Great Fires. A dreadful
fire broke out at New-Castle,
Delaware, on the 26th ult. by
which 25 houses were destroy
ed. Loss estimated at $100,000.
Twenty-three families are said
to have been deprived, by this
distressing calamity, of every
thing that was esssential to do
mestic comfort. A committee
have been appointed to solicit
assistance and receive donations
for the relief of the sufferers.
St. Johns, New-Brunswick,
was visited with a destructive
fire early in April; 40 buildings
were destroy ed loss $200,000.
From Mexico. Mr. James
Crawford, who was shot by a
party of robbers, while travel
ling from Mexico to Vera Cruz,
in March last, was a respectable
and much esteemed citizen of
Philadelphia. About 5 months
since, Mr. Crawford and Mr.
Andrews, (assistant Cashier of
the United States' Bank,) were
despatched by the Bank to Mex
ico; for the purpose of effecting
some important negociations.
On their return from thecitvof
Mexico to Alvarado, as consi-
dcrable. danger was annrehended I
from an attack by robbers on
it - ?x ,,..'
me supposiuon oi their having
a large amount in specie, they
were furnished with a strong es
cort of 25 men, well armed, un
der the direction of Capt. Mur
ray, of the British navy. On
uving at ruebla, they were
deprived of this escort by the
public authority, and an inferior
guard of 12 iVnwM
ly armed, Was substituted. A
short distance from Puebla,
most of this guard deserted
them and they were soon after
attacked by 25 banditti. Mr.
rawioru was shot through the
lungs, four of the nartv mA
cd, and a courier who had join
ed them at the moment with
despatches for Capt. Murray
was killed. Capt. Murray and
Mr. Andrews appear to have
escaped unhurt. The banditti
made prisoners of the party,
robbed them of every thing, and
being joined by those of the
guard who had deserted, delibe
rated whether to put them to
death; but, through the interces
sion of two or three who had
some remains of humanity, they
vyere, after some hours deten
tion and cruel treatment, set
free. Mr. Crawford expired in
the arms of Mr. Andrews, three
hours after receiving the fatal
wound.
Accident. The stcamhoat
Eagle, Capt. Weems, on her
first trip this season from Anna
polis to Baltimore, on the 17th
ult. when entering the mouth of
the river burst her boiler, by
which one of the passengers,
name unknown, a soldier recent
ly discharged from Fort Severn,
was killed, and four others much
scalded! among the latter was
Henry M. Murray, Esq. of Bal
timore, (since dead.) The whole
crew of the Eagle, including
Capt. Weems, are more or less
injured. Three of the passen
gers fortunately escaped unhurt.
The explosion set the Eagle on
fire, but by the exertions and
presence of mind of those on
board it was happily extinguish
ed. The son of Capt. Weems,
a youth of 12 r 13 years, was
littcrallyblowa through the sky
light from the cabin, and yet
without any very serious in
jury. Insanity and Murder. A
white man, who had been em
ployed for some time in thft
cooperage of Messrs. Kenny &.
Bell, at New-Orleans, was on
the 6th ult at mid-day, seized
with a sudden fit of madness,
and furiously attacked several
persons in the Fauxbourg, St.
Mary, and in Canal street, with
a large Spanish knife, and with
other weapons, several of whom
he wounded. Turning into
Chartres street, he entered thr
barber shop of Mr. Moss, seized
a razor, ana grasDinsr a fine.
sprightly boy, who was alone in
the shop at the moment, man
gled him in so horrid a manner,
that his life was entirely des
paired of. The madman him
self was severely bruised and
wounded by the citizens who
rushed in, before he would re
lease his victim, or cease inflict
ing fresh wounds. He was ta
ken and committed for trial.
-v M nit fVl T :. 1 t
was tried at Florence, Alabama,for
place the 19th March, 5c acquitted.