The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-18 00:00:00

POLICE COURT -SATURDAY,

(BEFORE MR. T. BOLTON.)
The magistrates' court was vacant on Saturday for nearly an

hour after the usual time, for attendance of a justice of the
peace ! Mr. Lloyd, one of the ushers, was, as usual, seen for
nearly sixty minutes, "ballooning" about 'Change, trying where
he could light on a magistrate. At last Mr. T. Bolton, who
certainly wcrks " treble tides" in the magisterial chair, was
informed of the vacuum, and ho at once filled it, although not
his turn to do so.

SHOP-LIFTING.—Joseph Braithwaite was charged with
having stolen 30 yards of check from the shop door of Mr. G.
T. Stewart, draper, of Ranelagh-street. The prisoner ran off
with the property, but was secured with it in his possession.
He was sent for trial.

BREAKING INTO THE EARL OF BALCARRES' YARD.—Jas.
Morris was charged with breaking into the coal yard of the
Earl of Balcarres, in Stone-street. At half past eight o'clock
on Friday, two policemen heard something that attracted their
attention, and on proceeding to the yard they found two per-
sons had broken into it, and also into the office, which they
entered through a window. The prisoner was one of the
persons, and he was arrested, the other got away. The thieves
had not time to take anything Leal the office. The prisoner
was sent to jail for three months.

CHARGE AGAINST a MARINE STORE DEAttrt.—Bernard
Carney, marine store dealer, of Tichfield-street, who had
been remanded on a charge of having copper, lead, &c., for
which he could not properly account, was brought up. Mr.
Muck appeared for the prisoner The evidence was the same
as that on the previous day. Mr. Bluck contended that there
was no evidence whatever against his client. There was no
one claiming the property, nor was it proved to have been
stolen. It was such as would be found in any marine store.
His client was a respectable man, and not likely to commit
himself. Mr. Bolton said he was not at all satisfied with the
account, and he would therefore fine the prisoner £5, or in
default of payment two months' imprisonment. His worship
also directed the prisoner's license to be reported against.
EXTRAORDINARY AFFAIR AIIODT A WATCH.—Detective
officer Laycock brought up a person, described as Miss
Woods, residing in Jervis street, Copperas-hill, on a warrant,
charging her with having illegally pledged a gold watch and
chain, value £4O, the property of a respect,ble looking person
named Isaac (or Henry) Griffith, described by himself as an
enLincer, residing in Jervis-street, opposite the house of the
prisoner. Mr. Godfrey appeared for the complainant, and Mr.
lton for the prisoner. Mr. Godfrey, in opening the case,
said that the prisotier and the complainant were acquainted,
and the latter visited at the hdrise of Miss Woods. On tha

22nd of December, Griffith was at the house, and on taking
out his watch to ascertain the hour, the prisoner took it from
him and kept it. Ho did not demand it at that time, but in
a day or two after he went and demanded the watch, when she
told him it was pledged for £2 155., and that she would not
give it up until she got that sum from him. He refused, and
remonstrated with her for having pledged the watch, as it,
along with the chain, was worth about £4O. He asked her
for the ticket, and she said it was lost ; ho tried several times
to get the ticket, but could not succeed, and at. last he had her
arrested, and on that occasion she declared the ticket was lost,
and that if he let her go she would make as
affidavit of the fact, and give it to him. On this
he agreed to give her a pound, and withdraw the charge, and
she was then liberated. She, however, still refused ; and
after trying to recover his valuable property in various ways,
he was obliged to give her into custody the previous night,
when she attempted to swallow the ticket of the watch, but
the constable Laycock succeeded in getting it out of her
mouth. These were the short facts of the case, which he
(Mr. Godfrey) would prove, and he would then ask the bench
to deal with the prisoner according to the act of parliament.
Isaac (or Henry) Griffith was then sworn, and fully corrobo-
rated the statement of his advocate in every particular, and
added the following facts :—When I went first to look after
my watch, she said she had pledged it; and when I remon-
strated with her on her conduct, she got quite " hoity toity
about it, and said she sent it to Ireland for a change of air,
as there was a benevolent relation (an "uncle") of hers in
that country, who would take care of the "darling " for a
long time. (This statement produced much laughter.)
He went on to remonstrate with her, when she
delivered herself of the following speech :—" Mr. Henry
or Isaac, or whatever your name, Griffith may be, said she,
(laughter) I suppose you think you are a very great man ;
now (says she) I am acquainted with very great men—mind
that Mr. Griffith, and do you know eays she) the Earl of
Derby, Mr. Griffith ? say she, Mr. Griffith, if you were the
Earl of Derby, I would do the very same to you, for
he it known to you, Mr. Griffith, that I never met a man yet
that I would not do the same to as I have done to you. I
have done so to the greatest men in the land, and I always
got what I wanted, and do you, Mr. Griffith, think you are a
bet`er man than the Earl of Derby ? If you do, your are
miserably mistaken. To give me what I want as well as other
great men have done—act a real gentleman, and I will restore
you your watch (During the above recital, the crowded
court was convulsed with laughter.) Mr. Godfrey : Go on
and tell all out like a gentleman. Mr. Griffith went on to
sly that she said to me that I had lodged with her for three or
four weeks—that was a tarnation lie. (Loud laughter.) 1
never did anything of the kind, because I lodged opposite with
my mother—this is the old lady, (pointing to an aged and
highly respectable looking female who sat at the
other end of the court) Mr. Godfrey : What was
the value of your watch ? Witness : I gave £36 for it without
the chain. Mr. Godfrey : And the chain is solid gold ?
Witness :It is, sir. Mr. Godfrey : And that's your charge
against this woman, Miss Woods? Witness ;It is, sir. Mr.
Chilton cross-examined the witness, and put his first question
as follows :—You have sworn that you are an engineer. Now,
I ask you on your oath, are you not a simple gasfitter ? The
witness, in a voice that might have been heard on the flags of
'Change, cried out lam an engineer. Mr. Chilton, in loud
voice, repeated the question, and tie witness, in a tone treble
as loud as before, replied he was an engineer. Mr. Chilton :
Well, Mr. Engineer, are you not employed by the gas com-
pany, as a easfitter ? The witness, in a louder voice than
before, replied, lam an engineer. Mr. Chilton: Did you not
board and lodge in the house of Miss Woods for fifteen
months? Witness: No, nor for fifteen hours. Mr. Chilton:
Did you not tell her to pledge the watch, and pay herself what
you owed her? Witness : No, I never owed her anything.
Mr. Chilton : Did you not, in the presence of the police
constable, offer her a pound to compromise the affair, if she
gave you up the ticket of the watch ? Yes, but she would not
dive it up. An assistant in the pawnshop of Mr.
Hutchinson, Copperas-hill, stated that the prisoner
pledged the watch with him, about a week
before the 3lst of December last for £1 15s, and on the 31st
of the same month she came again, and got lOs more, with a
new ticket, on the watch. It was a valuable watch, worth at
least £l7 or £lB. Detective officer Laycock said when he
arrested the prisoner the previous night, she put the ticket of
the watch into her mouth, and attempted to destroy it. For
the defence, Mr. Chilton alleged that the complainant owed his
client £5, and that lie gave her the watch to pledge to pay
herself, and in order to establish this view of the case, ho
called a pretty young girl named Ellen Barclay, who gave an
amusing and graphic description of " life in Jervis-street."
She caused a continuous round of laughter by recounting the
adventures of Mr. Griffith, and wound up by telling an inter-
esting anecdote of a proposal which he made to her to go to
America with him, where he would sell her for 20,000 dolts.
(This created loud and long continued laughter, which was
much increased by the witness adding very simply that she did
not relish the bargain.) In reply to Mr. Wybergh, the com-
plainant said he dined at the house of Miss Woods on
Christmas day, out of compliment to her, because she was an
opposite neighbour, and that was after the watch was taken.
Ho also dined there the Sunday after on humble cabbage and
bacon—(laughter)—people might laugh at it, but cabbage and
bacon did not constitute a bad dinner by any manner of means.
(Renewed laughter.) Mr. Godfrey : Did you pay for your
dinner? Witness : I paid for all I 'sad to eat in the house,
and I found it a very expensive sort of boarding house, I
assure you. I paid Ids. for one dinner, and 7s. 61. for ano-
ther. Mr. Wyhergh : Was that for the cabbage and bacon ?
(Laughter.) Witness :No that was for a dinner on the Wed-
mesday previous to the cabbage and bacon. (Renewed laughter.)
I paid for the drink also, and for one sleep I had there.
(Roars of laughter.) Mr. Godfrey proceeded to cross-examine
Miss Barclay at some length and she swore that Mr. Griffith
lodged and boarded in the house for a long time. This was
denied ny Griffith in a loud and energetic voice. After much
hilarity, Mr. Clinto said his client did not show any criminal
intention, for she knew the value of the watch, and could have
raised much more money on it, whereas she only borrowed as
much as would pay herself. Mr. Bolton said he had no doubt
that the watch was pledged by Miss Woods, and that she had
acted illegally in doing so. Tho complainant had, however,
acted in such an'extraordinary manner, and had compromised
the illegal act by offering her £1 for the ticket, that he (his
worship) would not now punish her. He wouldmake a n
order, therefore, for the restoration of the watch, on payment
of the sum lent on it, and he would discharge the
prisoner.
The parties left the court, scolding each other violently, amidst.
a storm of laughter.

(BEFORE MR. MANSFIELD.)

ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL BLINDNESS.—A cabman, who
gave the name of Thomas Mulrea, was charged with being
drunk, and not able to take care of his horse and vehicle in
the street the previous night. The police-constable who had
charge of the prisoner, said his attention was attracted to the
gyrations made by the quadruped in the street. There ap-
peared to be an abandonment 'of all mathematical principles,
inasmuch as the horse eschewed going from one point to
another in a direct lire, but seemed as if pursuing the figure
of an S, thinking perhaps it was an Irish goppel, such as at
one time jaunted Lady Morgan ; he had the curiosity to FOG
what it was all about; when he discovered the aforesaid
Thomas Mulrea sitting on the box, in a state that would have
done credit to one of the mysterious things called " seven
sleepers." lle stopped the animal and attempted to awaken
the prisoner, but he found it would have taken the report of
a Sebastopol mortar to effect that object. lie had recourse to
many ingenious devices in order to make him " cry sleep no
more," but all to no purpose—ti -e thing was simply impossible
so be gave it up as a bad job, and took all to the station-house.
Mr. Mansfield fined the defendant ss.