The Press.
London, England, 1854-06-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

secretary to the society. Skinner had, however,
turned out a defaulter, and, though the indictment
presented against him at the Old Bailey for embez-
zlement had resulted in an acquittal, the association
brought an action, which was tried at the Court of
Common Pleas on Tuesday, against Mr. Lazarus for
the 63/ 10s. The payment of the whole amount
was satisfactorily proved, but, as some instalments
appeared to have been handed over to Skinner (who
was on terms of intimacy with the defendant) on
other days or under other circumstances than those
appointed in the by-rules of the society, the jury
found a verdict against him for the aggregate
amount—namely 1( /., which appeared to have been
thus irregularly paid.
A 1,0001. bank-post bill was missed by the cashier
of the Liverpool Bank from his desk, where it was
lying in the course of business, on Saturday, the
22nd of April last. Payment being stopped at the
Bank of England, the bill, on presentation at that
establishment, was traced into the possession of Mr.
E. Forster, a sharebroker, residing at Birkenhead.
It was then recollected that Mr. Forster was in the
bank on the day when the bill was lost., and standing
sufficiently near the cashier's desk to see the papers
lying thereon, and, in the frequent absence of that
functionary, to be able to appropriate anything from
it. Farther, it was shown that the 1,0001. hill in
question had been changed by Mr. Forster for notes,
through the agency of a friend to whom he applied,
on the Liverpool 'Change, in the course of the even-
ing of the 22nd of April; and when the police officers,
upon suspicion being directed towards him, visited
his residence in Birkenhead, they found notes and
cash to the amount of rather more than 1,0001.,
which Mr. Forster had made ineffectual efforts to
conceal. The case was investigated on Monday last
at the Liverpool Police Court, when, after a prolonged
examination, Mr. Forster was remanded for further
inquiry.

THE crew of the celebrated British ship Anna
M'Alister applied on Saturday to Mr. Yardley at the
Thames Police Court for relief :

Their vessel was lying in the harbour of Cronstadt when the
war broke out, and was specifically exempted from the facilities
for returning home offered by proclamation to all English ves-
sels. The crews were seized by order of the Czar, as a measure
of policy to keep them from exposing the state of the fortifica-
tions of Cronstadt, and were sent into the interior of the coun-
try. They had since reached Berlin, and been relieved by Lord
Bloomfield, and sent home .
The applicants, six manly-looking fellows, said that when they
were made prisoners by the Russian authorities, in spite of
their own proclamation at the commencement of the war, they
were transported into the interior of the country, and Captain
Evans, the master of the Anna M'Aliater, received from the
Russian authorities one silver ruble, value 3s. 2d., to meet their
travelling expenses and supply them with food on the road.
They reached Warsaw in a state of utter destitution, and suffer-
ing much from fatigue and want of food, and very fortunately hap-
pened to fall in with an Englishman, who presented Captain
Evans with 201. for the maintenance of himself and crew. From
Warsaw they were despatched to Mysolowitz, and thence to Ber-
lin by rail. On arriving at the Berlin railway station, the Prus-
sian authorities demanded the captain's passport, and he took
from his pocket the one delivered to him by the Russian officers
at Mysolowitz. and, with a recollection of the insults and tyranny
he had met with from the officers of the Czar, spat upon it, and
trampled it under foot. For this offence Captain Evans was
consigned by the Prussian officers to durance vile, but after a
few hours' Weal ceration he was released on the interference of
Lord Bloomfield, our ambassador at the Court of Berlin, who
provided them with the means of proceeding to Hamburg, where
they were shipped as distressed British subjects for London.
The seamen put in documents in proof of their statements, and
added that they were in want of food, and had eaten nothing that
day except the breakfast provided for them by the captain of the
ship which had brought them to London.
Mr. YARDLEY asked the seamen what they intended to do with
themselves ?

The seamen replied that they wished to reach Gloucester, in
the west of England, to which place they belonged.
Mr. YARDLEY said be had read of the detention of the Anna
M'Alister, with the effects of Sir Hamilton Seymour, our ambas-
sador, on board. He had read an account of the detention and
suffering of the seamen before him, and he thought this was a
case deserving of commiseration. The poor•box fund was low,
and he could not afford to give the sailors any money; but he
would lend them 11. each, to provide them with food, and to en-
able them to reach Gloucester, which they could do by rail
for 9s. each ; and he should expect them to return the money out
of the first wages they received.
The sailors thanked the magistrate, and promised to return the
SI. when they got a ship.
The chief usher then handed each man a sovereign,
and they departed much gratified.
ON BEHALF OF CERTAIN MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS
an injunction was on Monday obtained from the
Vice-Chancellor's Court in the name of Mr. M'Garel,
restraining Messrs. Baring Brothers and Co. from
parting with the proceeds of certain consignments of
dollars which had been made to them in any other
way than by paying or depositing them in the Bank
of England, in the joint names of the chairman of
the Committee of Mexican Bondholders and of
Colonel Facio, the agent of the Mexican Government
in London, for carrying out the arrangements which
were made some time since for paying off the debt.
The plaintiff, who is deputy-chairman of the com-
mittee, had instituted the suit on behalf of himself
and all other Mexican bondholders of 1851, claiming
to be entitled, under the terms made with the Mexi-
can Government, to have the proceeds in question,
representing upwards of 00,000 dollars, applied in pay •
ment of dividends which are now due. The suit arose
out of certain disputes which had occurred among dif-
ferent classes of holders of Mexican securities ; and the
sum in question comprised the balance of certain re-

SATURDAY,

mittances made to Messrs. Baring by the Mexican
Government on account of payments duo to cre.
ditors in England. Messrs. Baring were only nominal
defendants in the action, the real parties against
whom the injunction was granted being Santa Anne,
President of the Mexican Republic, and Messr:.
Jecker, Torre, and Co., his agents in this country.
THE LONG-DEBATED CAUSE OF LUMLEY V. GYE was
again argued before the Court of Queen's Bench cn
Monday last. Several counsel having repeated the
pleas and reinforced the arguments already presented
on either side, the judges (Mr. Justice Erle, MI.
Justice Crompton, and Lord Campbell) concurred n
the opinion that no sufficient cause had been shown
for disturbing the verdict already given for the de.
fendant. The rule nisi for a new trial was accord.
ingly discharged, and Mr. tile remains the success-
ful party from this protracted and costly series of
litigation.

THE LATE TENANT OF A COFFEE-HOUSE in Fleet,
street, No. 156, which was burnt down in February
last, was examined at the Guildhall on Wednesday,
suspected of having set the house on fire himself.
In January the prisoner, whose name is Hall, effected
a considerable insurance on his furniture, and the
fire occurred only a few weeks afterwards, under
most suspicious circumstances. Evidence having
been given as to some of the circumstances, the
defendant was remanded for further investigation.
Ma. WILLIAMS, while travelling on the Great
Western Railway, lost a portmanteau, as he alleged
through the negligence of the company's servants.
He brought an action to recover its value, and the
directors pleaded non-liability, and referred to a by-
law which set forth that the company were not be
responsible for luggage unless booked and paid for.
On the other side the clause in their act was cited
enacting that every passenger was to be allowed to
carry a certain amount of luggage, under prescribed
conditions as to weight and size, free of extra charge.
The lost portmanteau it was shown came within
these conditions, and the Court of Exchequer on
Wednesday gave judgment for the plaintiff, and
affirmed the liability of the company to make good
his loss.

AN ATTACHMENT was obtained on some early day
last week from the Court of Queen's Bench requiring
a Yorkshire schoolmaster named Coates to bring up
the body of one Alfred Vivion, a boy of only seven
years of age, whom he was said to have detained in
custody, in order that the child might be delivered to
its mother. No direct submission was paid to this
order from the court, but, some days after, the child
arrived in London, having been placed in the train
at Richmond, in Yorkshire. No person accompanied
him, but a ticket, of which the following was a tran-
script, was sewed to his collar :

" Alfred Vivion, 3, Mannor Cottages, Kenning Ovel. Under
spesial care of the guard."
- -

The child arrived hungry, and crying fearfully, at
the Great Northern Railway station, at ten o'clock at
night, when he was turned adrift, and left to find his
way home. Application was made on Monday to the
court upon an affidavit setting forth the above par-
ticulars, and alleging that the schoolmaster had
disobeyed the injunction, and should be visited forth-
with with the punishment due for a contempt of
court. Mr. Justice Erle, however, thought that the
transmission of the child to town was quasi obedience
of the injunction, although the details might fairly
be mentioned whenever the rule nisi came to be ar-
gued and adjudicated.
Two ATTORNEYS' CLERKS, Howe and Ricards, were
examined at Bow-street on Monday, (charged with
having conspired to obtain the discharge of Mary Ann
Blandford from the House of Detention] by,false re-
presentations. Mrs. Blandford, it appeared, had been
imprisoned on a charge of such nature that the com-
mitting magistrate refused to accept bail for her ap-
pearance on the day of trial; but she was set at
liberty, on application to ajudge at chambers,through
the agency of the present defendants, who, it was
alleged, had produced in support of the application
a variety of supposititious documents, purporting to be
the signatures of sureties, the consentof the solicitors
to the prosecution, dm. When the trial came on it
was found that Mary Ann Blandford was missing, to
the surprise of the prosecutors, who had never been
informed that any steps were being taken for her li-
beration on bail. These circumstances having been
investigated, the two clerks were remanded, but al-
lowed their liberty on finding sureties for their al-
pearance hereafter.

attibents anb Offences.

A SERIOUS EXPLOSION OF STEAM COAL occurred on
board a French vessel, the Bienfaisant, lying in
Swansea harbour, taking in a cargo of coals. About
100 tons, fresh cut from the pit, had been put on
board, and the mate had been advised, on account of
the newness of the coal, to keep the hatches open
for a time, so as to allow the discharged gas to escape.
lie, however, omitted to observe this precaution, and
fastened down the hatchway, The consequence was

V"

I

JUNE 10, 1854.

thation explosion soon afterwards took place, blowing
up the deck, and severely burning two and slightly in
luring a third seaman employed on board.
Ma. Wuzzat TOWN, of Sandwich, was fined 100/.
before the magistrates in petty sessions, on the 29th
ult., for letting a horse without a licence. Mitigated
to 251., and 41. 3s. 10d. costs, on immediate payment.
A FRIGHTFUL MURDER was committed on Wednes-
day at No. 2, Mead's-place, Newington-causeway.
The victim was a widow named Murray, the
occupier of the house, which she let in lodgings, and
the murderer is an advertising agent, Henry
Summers, who lived in her house. The other inmates
were alarmed by a scuffle and cries on the morning
in question, and found the poor woman lying in the
passage and Summers leaving the spot with a clasp-
knife in his hand. The woman still breathed, but
died in a short time afterwards. Her body was then
discovered to have been terribly cut in many places.
The murderer was arrested and examined that same
day at Southwark Police Court, and remanded. It
appeared that within the last two or three months he
bad become possessed of a large sum of money
through the death of a relative, and since then had
carried on a very dissipated life, being continually in-
toxicated, and in a state of great excitement, so much
so that his conduct had been remarked by several
individuals who encountered him.
A FIRE, which resulted fatally to a young woman,
named Sarah Green, occurred at Messrs. Moses,'
chinadealers, 134, Lower Marsh, Lambeth. The fire
occurred in an upper room, in which the young
woman and a child were living, and it is believed
that a spark from the fire ignited her dress. She was
discovered with her clothes in flames. The firemen
cut them from her body, but she was so frightfully
burned that she expired shortly after removal to Guy's
Hospital. The child had a narrow escape.
SEVERAL DESTRUCTIVE FIRES have happened
during the week. On Monday night one broke out
in Gresham-street at a stationer's shop, and before
it was quelled inflicted serious damage to several ad-
jacent tenements in Gresham -street and Alderman-
bury.
Some extensive warehouses filled with most
valuable commodities were exposed to extreme
danger, and saved at much hazard and difficulty by
the firemen. On the same day a cork-manufactory
belonging to Messrs. Shabar, in Ratcliff-highway,
took fire and was extensively burnt. On Tuesday a
mill at Barcomb, near Lewes, belonging to Mr.
Billiter, used for grinding flour and expressing
linseed oil, was nearly consumed by fire, together with
a large stock of oil, the whole damage being estimated
at 8,0001. While the fire was raging a quantity of oil
escaped into the river Ouse, whose waters were
covered with flames for a considerable distance. That
day an alarming fire occurred at the pauper lunatic
asylum at Colney-hatch. The conflagration was
stopped in time, resulting only in the destruction of a
wooden " drying-house." Fortunately the inmates
were kept quiet during the agitating interval before
the flames could be repressed.
THE number of British ships wrecked in the month
of May amounted to 101. The record for April con-
tained a list of 99 ships, making a total of 200 losses in
the two months.