The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-12 00:00:00

THE MILLION ROBBERY,

The approver Agar has made some further extra.
ordinary disclosures in connection with the frauds upon
the South Eastern Railway since the committal of the
prisoners charged with this robbery. It had been
suspected that Pierce, and probably Tesfef and Burgess,:
were concerned in the abstraction of a sum 0: money,.
amounting to nearly £BOO, which was stolen Iron:, an
iron safe in the basement story of the station seine time
previously to the bullion robbery, and after dtie
consideration it was resolved to question Agar on this
point, with. a View of diseoverince whether he could throw
any light upon the transaction. Upon being interrogated,
Agar at once " made a clean breast of it," and declared
that to himself and Pierce belonged all the guilt of this
robbery, which was effected by means of duplicate keys,
obtained by Pierce, exactly as in the case of the gold
dust robbery. The anteceden's of Pierce, in con-
nection with the South Eastern Railway Company,
show that he has been steeped in crime for years
past. He first came into the service of the cent
pany as a ticket printer, about eight years ago. The
press then, and now, in use on all the principal railways
is a patent machine, consequently the ticket cards are of
one description--unifortn in size and alike in typogra-
phical appearance; so that if the ticket printer is a
rogue, and in league with. similar characters on any
other railway, no difficulty can arise in supplying- any
number of spurious tickets of any required class. Some
time previously to Mr. Finnigan resigning the office of
superintendent of the South Eastern Railway,. he had a
clerk of the name of Peirce. in his office, and on a
particular morning this gentleman received a letter
addressed to " Mr. William Pieree," which he opened,
believing it to be intended for himself. On perusing it
be discovered it to have been written by a person in the
employ of the London and North Western Railway
Company, at Euston Station, requesting Pierce,
the ticket printer of the South Eastern Com-
pany, to print a certain number of first class
tickets for particular stations on the London
and North Western Railway, and, to have them
ready at a certain place on a day named. Mr. Pierce
handed the letter to Mr. Finnigan, who at once detected
the guilty complicity of the company's printer, and
promising the messenger that the request contained in
the note should be attended to, he at once drove to
Euston Station, and explained what had happened to
Captain Haigh. After due consideration, there being
reason to fear that the messenger was sensible of having
committed an error in the delivery of the note intrusted
to him, before he left Mr. Finnigan it was agreed that
the immediate dismissal of the writer of the letter, and
Pierce, the ticket printer; Ras the only plan to be
adopted, and this was done, the next day ; and thus
terminated the official connection of Pierce with the
south Eastern Company. Mr. Finnigan, while in the
service of the company, invariably hims If arranged the
guards' duty, and under the plan he adopted, of never
allowing a guard to work the same train for more ,than
four weeks in succession, the great loss which the
company have now to suffer would have been altogether
avoided. The introduction of a new system in the office
of the superintendent, after its active management had
passed out of Mr. Finnigan's haaids, had the effect of
transferring this duty to Tester, one of the persons
charged with being concerned in the, robbery, and he
availed himself of his privilege to keep Burgess on the
mail train during the two morchs of April and May,
while the bullion robbery was in contemplation—a course
which could not have happened under the former
arrangement of Mr. Finnigan. Burgess having been
guard of the mail during April, would not, according to
the usual rota, have had the same duty to perform until
the month of September ; and as Agar was apprehended
for forgery in August, the,probability is that the whole
scheme of the robbery would have failed.

VACANCIES, APPOINTMENTS, AND PROMOTIONS IN THE
CIVIL SERVICF. —The Foreign Department : The office of
secretary of Embassy at Constantinople has become vacant
by the promotion of Lord Napier • the Consulship at
Banakock, Siam, has became vacant by the death of Mr. C.
B. Hillier: The Board of Trade : Mr. J. H. Blain, col-
lector of customs at Rochester; has been appoirred receiver
of wrecks. Audit office : Mr. Charles J. Sadler has been
appointed a clerk in the Audit office. .Cnstotets e-Mr. B.
Baker has been appointed a clerk for general bnsirtess at
Liverprail ; Mr; Samuel J. Knapman has been appointed a
searcher at Exeter ; Mr, Michael Coudon has been appointed
a Clerk at Dublin.—avil Service Gazette.
'SHIP IN DISTRESS.—Sam after seven o'clock on Friday
evening minute gens of heavy calibre were distinctly beard
ashore at Portsehoath, and after about ten had bean fired
•Mr. Richards, pilot, proceeded to the dockyard and reported
the circumstance, which was the first intimation of distress
conveyed there. The firing continued about half an hour,
.and the admiral ordered the Comet and Echo steam tugs
'and the• Sprightly steam•tender to go out and search for the
ship in distress. At nine o'clock Commander Maitland,
commanding the Southsea coast peril station, sent in an
official letter to the port admiral reporting, the guns, and
stating that the flash and scrind proceeded app irently
from the east end of the Isle of Wight. A large number of
riggers and labourers were called intq the dockyard after
nine o'clock, to be in readiness to net when the next report
should be brought in. The night was an awful one, the
rain descending heavily, and the wind being fresh. The
steam tugs got the vessel off the Dean sand, and towed her
to the Motherbank. She is the Sabrina, from London, for
Melbourne, calling at. Southampton for. emigrants.
SWINDLING.-7About a month ago (says the Stamford
Mercury), a person in a hunting garb,.neade his appearance
in the corn market of Stemford, and ,purchased corn in
considerable quantities, having offered ls. a quarter more
than other buyers. On the following market day he
again attended, then neatly dressed as a man of
busines-, and made several additional purchases. 'He
also made the acquaintance of a neighbouring agri-
culturist, and attending with him at a silversmith's
in the town, obtained a gold wattle and other
articles of the value of £3O, promising to pay for them
when some other goods which he wanted, but which the
tradesman had not got in stock, were procured. The watch
was said to be purchased for the agriculturist's daughter,
but the corn buyer said he would wear it fora few, days to
ascertain if it kept time correctly. Neither the gentleman,
the watch, nor the money for the corn (which was sent to
Leicester, and sold there), has been seen since, and the re-
sult is said to be, that a loss of about £1,600 has been sus-
tained among several Rutland farmers.
NARROW ESCAPE OP SIR JOSEPH PAxToN.—About eleven
o'clock on Thursday night, Sir Joseph Paxton was
returning to Sydenham from London in a carriage drawn
by two horses, and on arriving near the Crystal Palace one
of the horses, a bunter, which bad only recently been put
in harness, took fright. , Both horses then started off at a
furious rate, the driver being thrown from his box, and the
wheels of th,e ,carriage passing over both his legs, •causing
very considerable injury.. The horses-then c litjuued their
course, and ran against a gas cobimn, weiele was knocked
down. At this point of their career, •.'•it Jus'epli fortuicittly
• succ-eded, owing to a momentary stoppage, in stepping frow
the carriage uninjured, and had no sooner done so than the
horses again started off, nearly knocking down two police-
men of the R division, who were proceeding to render
-assistance. Having run with great violence against tome
iron railings at the top of Sydenham hill, completely
smashing them, as also the carriage, the horses, which were
much injured, were taken charge of ,by the police, and
removed to the Crystal Palace stables. The.unfortunate
coachman was at once provided with every medical atten-
tion. .