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PETERSBURG AND VICINITY. County's of Priseners from Jail-Marder Trial. "Oorrespondencoofthe Richmond Dispatch.] PETERSBURG, April 15, 1885. A letter received here from a prominentand well-informed"citizen of Southampton county states that the recent bank failures in Nortolk and Portsmouth have more completely demoralized the people of that section than anything that has happened since the war. The losses in Southampton county alone by deposits in the Exchange National Bank and that of Bain & Brother are estimated at more than $200,000. In many instances these losses fall hard. The earnings of a lifetime of many a toiling man and woman were deposited in these banks, and poverty and suffering are entailed where before there were plenty and comfort. There are living near Jerusalem an aged couple who, after years of labor and toil, saved of their earnings a few hundred dollars, which they deposited with Bain & Brother. It is believed they will have to be aided by the charity of neighbors and friends. In a similar situation is placed a widow lady of the town, who deposited all she hadenough to maintain her through lifein the Exchange Bank. There are many cases of this kind, but the general suffering, says the writer, is more to be deplored since the people are without the means to assist each other. All through that section of the country the merchants have established a strictly cash system, and the farmers, being short of provisions and money, are troubled to know how they shall make a crop this year. They cannot do so without aid, but where the help is to come from they cannot see. Since the recent failures lands have depreciated in value. There are few purchasers, and when a sale is made it is at a sacrifice. THE FRANKLIN BANK'S CONDITION. Relative to the suspension of the Bank of Franklin, at Franklin, in Southampton county, the writer says: " The suspension would not have OCcurred had not the depositors become alarmed at the news wired from Norfolk of the failures there. Before the Board of Directors could meet and take action the depositors living in Franklin rushed to the bank, drew their money. and entirely drained it of funds. Since that time, however, there has been a meeting of the stockholders and Board of Directors, the result of whose conference is that the indebtedness of the bank is only $29,000, every dollar of which will be paid, and that then there will be a surplus of $5,000 left to the bank. It is believed that it will soon resume business." ESCAPE OF PRISONERS FROM JAIL. Three prisoners-two charged with house-breaking and one with rapebroke from the jail of Southampton county a day or two ago and made good their escape. At thenext term of the Circuit Court of the county the case of Salathiel Lewis, held for murder, will be called for a new trial, granted by the Supreme Court. It is reported upon authority that the defence will be conducted by Messrs. Causey, Wise, and Godwin. The trial will doubtless be a very interesting and exciting one. The murdered man was named Newsom, a prominent colored Republican politician, and the affair caused so much excitement at the time that the vote of the county was influenced by it. There is also a very important will case to be tried, and a large docket to be disposed of. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. Colonel James D. Brady, congressman from this district, lost an interesting daughter, aged seven years, yesterday. Her remains were taken to Portsmouth to-day for interment. Dr. William P. Sebrell, who died a day or two ago at Boykin's, in Southampton county, of congestion of the liver, was a graduate of Richmond Medical College, was a member of the Board of Supervisors of the county, a successful practitioner, and a valued citizen. He was thirty-three years old, and leaves a widow and several children. He was a bright Mason, and was buried to-day with all the honors of that order. Mr. John D. Keiley, father of Hon. A. M. Keiley, of your city, whose health has been feeble for many months, left this afternoon for Norfolk, where he will enter the Vincent de Paul Hospital. Mr. Keiley has been for years the president of the Petersburg Relief Society, and the good he has done in relieving the sufferings of our poor cannot be calculated. Thousands of our people will ever cherish his name. A nine-year-old son of Mr. B. F. Butts, residing on Halifax street, while playing last evening fell and broke an arm. It is understood that our people, headed by the Chamber of Commerce, will protest against the removal of the internal-revenue office to Richmond. It will be claimed that Petersburg is the largest tobacco export city in the country; that of the 390 distilleries in operation in the district 350 are located in the counties south of the James river, and that two thirds of the population of the district are embraced in the section south of the James. It is reported that the removal of the office would make a difference of about $17,000 per annum in the salaries now paid here.
