The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-08-21 00:00:00

dividends, while it will strengthen the demand for
the interference of the legislature to protect the public
from the evils of a monopoly which was granted for
the public advantage.
While upon this subject, it may not be amiss to call
attention to the present value of railway propery,
which appears by the quoted market price of shares
to be considerably below its intrinsic worth as an
investment of capital. There is no doubt that much
of this distrust arises from the large amount of capital
which has been expended in law charges, in senseless
competition, and in the construction of unprofitable
branches to trunk lines. Something also of the
present depression is owing to the recent diminished
dividends ; but both causes have been allowed to have
too much weight in weakening public confidence. In
the first place, the experience which Directors have so
dearly bought should be allowed to have its influence
in consideration of the prospects of the future, as it
can hardly be supposed that the battle of the gauges
or any similar contest, involving great cost and little
or no return, will have again to be fought in the
present position of railway property. In the next
place, with regard to the dividends, t should be
remembered that those just declared :are from the
earnings of the first-half year, at afl times the least
productive, and the more so ,on this occasion,
which inanded the long frost :and severe weather,
when traffic was almost brought to a stand-still, and
expenses were very heavy, The next return will
comprise all the busy time of time summer and autumn,
When'every body is travelling, when fares are low,
and•excursion trains numerous. As we remarked
before, these will swell the receipts, and enable 'the
Directors at the next half=yearly meetings to resbore
'the dividends, and witiffhem the market value.otthe
'shares.

BANKRUPTCY COVET;lESTERDLY.—(BeforeComiissiOner
Perry.)—Re Crippin mid Foster, bankrupts, who were lately
the lessees of the Roydl Rock Ferry, came upfor their last
examination. No balance-sheet having been filed, the case
was adjourned until the }Oth of September.—Re John Fenton,
bankrupt, a surgeonin Great George-street, 'a plied for his
certificate. He obtained an immediate one, 'hut' of the second
class only.
TILE MEnsve I{C EL AND DINING-Roo! .—An.establi-l-
ment under this tie has been opened by Mr. William Frank-
lin, in Lancelot's-hey. From his general attention to business,
his great experience, and his liberality in providing for the
accommodation' of his guests, Mr. Franklin is entitled to a
large share of;public patronage. His'new premises are roomy,
clean and welb•ientilated, and from the central situation of the
house, it will afford convenient accoinmodation to a large por-
tion of the.cOmmercial classes.
OCULAR DEMONSTRATION T. OT''StrEEICIENT PO7?. LEGAL
Pnoop.--On Saturday, and again yesterday, a very singular
case occupied the attention Of Wm. Cropper, Esq. and
itardman:-Earle, Esq., the two bOrciugh magistrates presiding
at the Peiice-coUrt. The -circumstances, as elidited in the
examinations, are these. On *the evening of the 7th of July,
Mr. •James Ockleston, a young man in businessin this town,
was in the Argyle-ronnas; Newington, when alkitt took place
betweensome of the company. Fie interfera,*...ad attempted
to separate the combatants," When he received a, sudden and
severe blow on the noE. At the same time his watch and
a gold Albert chain Imre 'stolen from 'his arson. He in-
formed the police of the iohhery at the time, and also Jno.
Joseph Bates, the ave2l:lnewe detective. A. few days ago
Bates told him he -thought be knew who had his chain, and:
pointed out the names of seine parties who had been brought
'before the Police-court. On Friday evening Mr. Ockleston
met-one of these partieS in Lime-street,•wearing openly What
:ha 'relieved to be his 'Chain. The ',person in question -is
well-dressed young -man, who is well :known to the police;
having been in custody on'auspicion ence -cr twice, and who
goes by the name 'of Wrn:"Stanley. Mr. ,Ockleston at .ones
"gave Stanley int€'they custody of a pdliee4officer, and charged
Thins with the robbery. He told the Officer that his chain had
a particular mark near 'ore end, which had been caused by a
-fracture. He took the chain into a chop close by for the pur-
:pose of exarailingit, and at first pronounced it not to be.his,
but on looking again,' lie found what beileposed to be thematic
near the other end;the 'Chain, as Inc ?supposed, having ',been
',turned since he had lost it. Stanley 'was accordingly -taken
to bridewell. 'On Saturday, Mr. Kane, of Dale-street, said
'that he had sdld'the prosecutor a ciiiiinsactly like that found
en the prisoner, hut.fie •could not 's'wear-that it was the same
one. The plisoner,in,hisdefence,said-that the chain 'in ques-
tion had been in his possession long'•before the alleged rob-
'bery took place, and. that he had bought it at Hull. A wit-
mess whom he,called; however; Saiitl,that he had told her'that
be got it at Scarborough. Yesterdayhocalled Mr. Reshton,as-
-sistant to MT. Meadows, pawnbroker, For.tenoy-street, whosaid
that, on the 'Nth ;December, a young man, whom he could 'not
-swear to, pledged a watch, with a chain attached, similar to
she one in dispute; fer 20s. ; that .on ,the same day it was se-
deemed, and re-pledgeZ for 405., by the prisoner ; and-that en
'the sth of January it was again redeemed, and re-pledged for
-50 s. Upon this 'evidence the magistrates decided that ,the
prosecutor lasti 'not• sufficiently made out the identity•of .the
watch, and ordered the prisoner to be discharged. ,'His
attorney then applied 'for the watch and chain taken from him
to be restored-; :but-the magistrates would make no order, in
-the matter, merely directing the ,officer to give up the artioles
Superintendent Clc&gh, whom thevieft to decide upon
`,:knotty point (4‘ownerfilip.

WIIA.T Tun PoI.iCteHAVE TO &TRIER IN THE 33KRCU-
7atoN OF TITETE, DLL.—On Saturday, about midnight, a
~raffianly-looking,fellow, who gave therame of William Brt
ley, created a (disturbance in Preecot-street with sm unfor-
-tunate female, and was so abusive thatrthe inhabitants called
:for a policeman 'to remove him. Cdfieer•66o, who was on duty
go home, :hut he only became
near the spot, ordered kim to
mare abusive than ~before, and the .officer then attempted to
take him into custody. Bartley, seeing that the officer was
rialone, commenced e.‘most brutal attaek on him, knocked
him down, kicked him several times, andthen made off. He
avas pursued through several streets,.andat last taken intocus-
lcuslY. Yesterday he was brought before Mr. 3lansfieldat the Po- ,
liee-esurt,when he pleaded that he wasdrank, and did not know,
what be was doing.--41.r. Mansfield; Drunkenness is no .ax-
.cuse ,for these disgracefulassaults upon the
ace;poli it is rather
,an aggravation of theoffence. You must,pay Penalty of £5
and. costs, or go to gaol 'for three months.—The prisoner was
removed in custody. The following was a-very similar case :
Poliee-oonstable 403, Thomas Boyd, of the fire brigade, who
Appeared in plain ,clothes, with his head:bound up, said that
Le was _en duty in Roseiball a little after-twelve o'clock on
Sunday night, when he was called upon to take a man into
custody,- for abusing a, winuas in Grosvenor-Street. He appre-
hended the assailant, and was taking hira along, when two
men rushed out of an entry, and by a simultaneous attack
knocked 'him down. One of them kicked,hisn in his left
arm, and the other did the same to his side. The man he
had Lad'in custody then seized his (the officer's) baton the
handle of which was projecting from his pocket, and inflicted
a severe _blow on the front of the forehead, izhich fractured
his skull, and left him bleeding on the ground. Fortunately
at this junetzre officer 141 came up, and proteeted him from
further violence. Having.obtained assistance
‘1.41 took the
two men, whoru.shed out of the entry, into custody, but the
other one escaped. The wounded officer was taken to the
Rose-hill Dispensary, where his rounds'were dressed; but he
bad been unable to resume his 'duty. The two men who had
been arrested were in the dock. They were brothers, named
respectively Johnand William Joyce, of remarkably repulsive
~appearance. To,a,very stout built frame and short - " bull"
peek were .added features of a, dtridedly Calmna: . caste,
,namely, great breadth across the upper part of the jaws, with
pAffed up cheeks, lurking eyes, and a sullen ferocious expres-
sion impressed over the whole countenance. Mr. Mansfield
said. to them :—You are a couple of dastardly ruffians, and you
must go to gaol for three months, or pay a penalty of E,51,ncl
costs ; and yon deserve more.—Murmurs a approval through-
out the court appeared togreet this decision.
WHOLESALE F114.11D UPON PAWNBUOKB4B.—WiIIiam ROE-
%lick, a tall, dark-complexioned man, having the appearance of
a mechanic dressed in holiday attire, was charged with defraud-
ing several pawnbrokers of this town by pledguag watch chains
as silver which were really not _so Before the case came on,
Mr. Bluck, the-attorney, said he had been retained to defend
the prisoner, and he heldan order for a guinea, tie fee, which
he desired might be paid out ,of £7 which was found
upon the prisoner when apprehended. The bench
granted the application, and Mr. ,I3luck pocketed his fee
The first witness, James RawsthorneAssistant to Mr. Worth-.
ington, Oklhall-street, said that the prisoner pledged,a chain
on the 16th of July, which he represented to be re-
ceiving 10s, upon it. He pledged another similar chain on
the 4th inst, upon which he received an advance. The chain
was subjected to a chemical test, which it at first stood, but
on trying another part they discovered it to be German silver,
electro-plated. The prisoner came again on "Saturday, and
offered two more chains of the same sort, upon which he ob-
tained 20s. Mr. Wybergh (to •witness) : Did you think they
were silver ?—Witness: No, not that time.—Mr. Wybergh :
There's an end to the case, then.—Mr. Washington explained
that lie had instructed his assistant to be cautious when the
man came again, in order that he might entrap him.—An
assistant of Mr. Parley, London-road, said that the prisoner
came to their place on the 16th of June, with a silver watch
and chain, upon which he wished to raise .300., saying that be
required money to enable him to go to Nottingham. He
lent him 245.; .and on Saturday morning the prisoner brought
two more chains, which he represented to be silver, saying that
one of them was the one he had pledged and redeemed before.
Witness found he never had redeemed the chain, and he then
applied the test, and found the chains were spurious metal,
which had been rubbed in grease to take off the appearance of
the newness. An assistant from Messrs. Critchley and Eus-
tance said that the prisoner wished to pledge a watch there
on Saturday morning, and failing to procure the amount he
wanted, he then produced two similar chains to the others,
upon which he obtained 15s. Mr. Bluck, is defending the
prisoner, said, "If an attorney was -to be done," there would
be no commiseration for him ; it would be said, "Oh ! it
served him perfectly right, Now, I think, if a pawnbroker
is done,' it serves him right," (Laughter.) Mr. Bluck then
urged that his client had not represented the chains to be `stery
ling silver.' lie had merely said 'silver,' and they were sit-
ver,--German silver,plated over, It was probable, too, that
he might himself have been "done"—led into purchasing them
under the belief the. they really were silver,
t knoweT.lnpwaechtfaoetwr
gKmoenhodore
I fools, (Laughter.) I a
ring
e
applied for a remand. Mr liitnt: Ido
remand could do, as it would only b • f °rw"
always thought the pawnbrokers were
lever fellows, but I shall think they know nothi of their
L- 'nese after this. Do you think, sir (to the bench there is
busk '4 against the prisoner ? Magistrate : You see he made
worduse silver in order to obtain more money.
coat-th: • •
There is quite .. sufficient
aingoairronswt cient evidence to remand the case until to:
ercKehoe : There are 14 or 15 more Ames
ssPire.cl-1.:. Charles Batten, secretary to the Pawn-
brokers' Association, sa_ ;(1 that the chains would have to be
sentato Chester, to be as -Government ed at the office there,
deduntil Friday,
longer remand would b:
annecessary, The case was then
remanded
y.