The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-10-02 00:00:00

LlVEiitiObt POLICE COURT.—YESTERDAY

. ,
-eaaretataNr.. Rtrfetifeene4
A " NATIVE') MURPHY !
The families of the alurithies are not Confined to mere frill
potatoes, for we have "natives " of that tribe in the "good
old ttevre."„ One of the " family"---certainly anything but a
"mealy" specin?eie of the confraternity of that useful esculent
---named James Murphy, selit eharged by 31r. Carr, the gover-
nor of the workhouse, for being' &mark and for having nearly
killed himself into the bargain. Poo;• alaerred to have
been smitten by the disease that has run into the faluity for so
many years, for he was as dilapidated a specimen of the " root"
as ever eye rested on. "First and foremost". it was ascer-
tained that Jem is a real live native of Liverpool. having first
opened his optics in that classic (that was) street called after
the county that boasts of lakes, namely, Cumberland. He was
Orieifialle a knocker about the docks, and from a statement
made by a Brldeetell keeper, he had received mere knocks
than all the rowdies that hale existed in Liverpool for the last
century ; in fact Vrilcen When forging the bolts of Jove, in
Etna's roaring gloat, never hanereeted the bars to such an
teiXteteentot astivithee,eforropreiul
other men's fists, and
poofitoeSemoleMieusesptihoyklzd been haneittered from
shipwright's "mauls." eeticaia notions we±e entertained
whether his body
had not been ossified into impenetrable granite or constipated
other materials of awpausna cishtethidnnatuoref d,oet6eihtibebthsneet: tsiteinseewthinangds
marble, for nothing else could have endured the " wolloppings"
he got for the last 25 years from all manner of created men.
The only visible effect, however, that it had produced
esdtohne Jem
was the eirtklng of his head between his twoshoulders,
latter being an aid/ or so higher than the apex of the cranium.
Where his eyes might h'at'e Peen placed originally, would
require two commissions 'of inquiry to' aseertain. At present
one of them appeared twisted round towards his gala and the
other was raised 'towards the centre of his forehead.. One
looking at his tout ensemble would do so more in sorrow than
in anger, thinking of the dangers he had past, and how he had
Managed to survive them. A constant drop, they say, will
Wear even ti stohe ; and stoney and irony as the frame and
constitution of lets Murphy midst leave been, the " drop" at
hia began' to realise the pteverb, end at lest he was obliged to
taike refuge the' legal vollintary prison, Yclep t the workhouse,
but that seems- a misnomer; for nobody Works there except
such as are past labour. licaveieta a a denier ressort,
resorted to Brownlow-hill, the ratepayers lareing been taxed
for his support. He stopped there for some time, arid then,
having gained his freedom by means of a magic bit of. paper
called a " discharge," he once more breathed the free air (barrin
the smoke nuisance), and this, along with an admixture of
certain fermented alcholie combustions, put Jem into a worse
state than the man who first planted a vineyard. In this state
he presented himself again at the gate of the asylum, but it
lat,'heg agatrist the rules to admit him in that state of obnubila-
tion, of coiVitte.he tag/ refitsed the entree. The alarm created
in the first year of paataia tee vex hardly equal to the
ruckshin caused by this native leitarphlY at file gete of the
house, and several policemen had to be called to' relttove
him. From that time up to the present day, Mr. alurphy
has fluctuated in his lodgings, which he has divided
between the workhouse and the bridewell, after the following
fashion of patronage : He would spend a month or less in the
house, then take his discharge, go out, get drunk, go back to
the house, kick up a " shindy," get charged on the police,
and get another month in Kirkdale, by order of a magistrate.
This little game he has carried on for a period, that enabled
the police to say that Mr. Murphy had patronised them at least
a hundred times during his career. His last act was described by
Mr: Cart at follows On Saturday, the prisoner took his die:
ehirge ftent the h'dsiee, went out and got drunk, and, whilst
in that state, he retetited; got Wet the workhouse wall, and
nearly killed himself in this oaietatiou-in fact, ne man in
sobriety could have done what he did *Rhona hieing his life,
and it was a perfect miracle how he escaped. He (continued
Mr. Carr) is a most unfortunate man when drunk, but when
sober he is not a bad fellow. If he is let out now, he will
manage to get drunk again, and then come to the howe and
create a disturbance. As he is quite destitute, I will take him
into the house; but an officer should be sent with him, for he
could not trust himself. The prisoner tried, but failed, to
raise his head from between his shoulders, thanked Mr. Carr, and
ntede £1 rev that he'd never offend any more. Tke "native
altirpha )1 lens then escorted by an officer to his former
lodgings at BrewnloWaltill, Wheee he remains at present,
according to law.
(Before Messrs. Rurcuiso rind PEEL.)
VOLUNTEERS IN TROUBLE.
Two young men, named John Legerwood and Edward
M'Ewing, who were dressed in the uniform, belonging to
Colonel Brown's division, were brought up by Inspector
Blair, and police officer 630, on the following charge. Mr.
Bluck was for the prisoners. The officer said, at twelve on
Saturday night he heard there was a row in Netherfield-road,
and on going forward he found a pork butcher, named Maguire,
Who lrees there, and four volunteers in uniform, the prisoners
being two cif them, and a civilian. Maguire complained that
one of the men had as'saulte'd him ; but as he did not see the
assault, he said he could not interfere, but asked the man for
his name and address, which he rehired to give, and then the
officer said he would lock him up. A scuffle took place, and
the officer took the man into custody, and then the civilian,
who had a knife in his hand, cut the officer on the fingers ;
the prisoners rescued the other man and the civilian, who got
away,Thut the prisoners were captured. James Maguire, John
Leonard, and Thomas eorkhill, stated that they went into a
public house where the prisoners and others were, when the
velunteer party accused Maguire of having sold bad pies in
Foxastreet, but this he denied, as he never lived in Fox-
street. An altereation followed, and when the witnesses got
into the street, they veere assaulted by the volunteer party.
In' reply to Mr. Block, the witnesses would not swear that the
prisoners struck them at all. Mr. Block said the real facts of
the' case were these, the prisoners seeing a man With a knife,
apparently abbot to attack some one, they volunteered to
arrest him, and fo'r their kindness they got locked up 'them-
selves. He (Mr. Block) could call witnesses to prove these
facts. Mr. Peel Ido not think we shall trouble you. Mr.
Hutchinson: I think they are sufficientlyepunished for this
peccadillo. Let them be discharged. . .
HUSBAND AND WIFE.
•
John Mark, a shoemaker, living in Pellew-street, charged
his wife Catherine with attempting to kill him. Mr. Bluek
appeared for the prosecution, and detailed a variety of dream-
stances connected with disputes between the parties, which
arose out of the drunken habits of the prisoner. On Saturday
they had a quarrel, and the allegation of the husband was that
the prisoner knocked him down, and with is knife threatened
to stab him to the heart, and he felt she would have done so,
but he was rescued by two persons who entered the house at
the time. The husband and two witnesses were called to
prove these facts, and a third was called to corroborate the
statement, but he admitted that the prisoner acted in her own
defence, as the husband struck her with a stick twice and
knocked her down, and she only took up the knife to defend
herself. She was therefore discharged.
ECLIPSING THE MOON IN SUN-STREET.
'One of the clearest cases of robbery before the eyes that ever
came before a court was presented to their worships yesterday.
Cecily Ackroyd, a repulsive-looking female, was charged by a
respectable-looking man, named William Bearsworth, under
the following "bare-faced" circumstances :—He said he was
in Sun-street, the previous evening, and had his fine concave
"specks" on his nose, gazing at the moon, when the prisoner
came up and asked him for a contribution of sixpence; but
not being in a benevolent humour he refused to comply. She,
however, persevered and caught hold of him by the tail of his
coat, and pulled with such energy that he imagined she would
extract that portion of the garment ; and then he concluded
it would be better to comply with the sixpenny request, and
he did so. He imagined that he was then free, and was about
walking on; but the prisoner, not being so easily got rid of,
declined to part from such good company, unless he gave her
2s. 6d. (Laughter.) This he positively declined to do, and
after some time she said, "Well, as you won't give me the
half-crown, I will have your spectacles," at the same time
snatching the concaves and darting aw ty with them, leaving
him hardly able to see his way after her. She was pursued,
captured, .and the glasses recovered. The prisoner to Id a rig-
marole story. at the end of which she was sent for trial at the
sessions.
SERIOUS CHARGE ABOUT A BILL OF EXCHANGE.
John Constantine, a pe:son well known about town, was
brought up by detective officer Patrick, on a charge of having
issued a Bill of Exchange for £25 knowing it to be forged.
The prisoner is a tall stout man, with grey hair and hardly
any whiskers, and was described as an auctioneer and house
agent, at 7, Pembroke Gardens. Mr. Kehoe stated that the
charge against the prisoner was for uttering a 3,111 of Exchange
which he knew to be a forgery for £25, and thereby defraud-.
ing Mr. John Orr Bradburn, a provision merchant, Dale-street.
The bill parported to be drawn by Mary Anne Pigott, of 70,
Upper Pitt-street, on and accepted by Jane Jenkins, 178,
Waiertree-road, and encicirsed by the drawer to Eliza Curry,
2, Stafford-street, then by the prisoner and John Cook to Mr.
Bradburn who cashed it. Officer Patrick said on the 21st of
September he got a warrant for the arrest of the prison,r, and
called several times at his house, but was told he was in the
country. He met him that morning in Dale-street, and told
him the charge, when he said he got the bill from Mrs. Curry,
and that Mr. Cook, a beerhouse keeper in Vernon-street, took
him to Sir. Bradburn who cashed the bill, and Cook had a por-
tion of the money. Mr. Black said, as Mr. Cook's name had
been mentioned, he appeared for him and denied the state-
ment. Tars. Pigott was examined and denied that she drew
the bill ; never gave any one authority to draw it for her ; never
saw the prisoner but once, and knew nothing about him. Mrs.
Jane Jenkins, of 178, Wavertree-road, stated the acceptance
on the bill was not hers ; she never gave anyone authority to
sign it for her. John Cook, beer-h use keeper, Vernon-street.
said the prisoner asked him to cash the bill, but he realised.
He introduced him to Mr. Bradburn, who cashed the bill,
witness putting his name on it as a witness. He denied having
got any money out of the bin except 10s that prisoner owed
him. Mr. Bradburn was examined, and stated that he cashed
the bill on the strength of Mr. Cook's credit, but he did not
then mind that Mr. Cook endorsed it as a witness only. The
prisoner, in reply to the charge, said he got the bill from Mrs.
Curry. He wasaremanded for the present.
STEALING COAL.
airaßluck appeared on behalf of air. henry Johnston, coal
merchant, Leeds-street, to prosecute three men who were in
his employment, for stealing a large quantity of coal. One of
the men *as . a confidential person in the employment, and
from the evidence of Wilson, Scaife, and Eaton, detective
police, it appeared that all the prisoners entered into a con-
spiracy, and took large quantities of coal out of the yard, and
sold it at low rates. The prisoners were sent for trial.
TOO FAST DRIVING.
A respectable looking young man, named John Stewart
Earle, who said his father lived at Rock Cottages, Isle of Man,
was charged for having stolen a horse and trap, the property
of Mr. T. Lloyd, Newington. Mr. Black defended. It
appeared that on the 13th September, the prisoner went to
Mr. Lloyd's, hired a horse and trap, went out with some other
persons, got drunk, sold the whole for O. and lost the money.
Mr. Block asked for a remand, as he stated the prisoner's
father would arrange the matter. The prisoner was remanded