The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-19 00:00:00

GUILDHALL.

THE SERIOUS CHARGE AGAINST A CITY CONTRACTOR.
—iTtr. Frederick Collingwood, butcher, of Islington, ap-
peared to-day by adjournment to answer the charge of
sending unwholesome meat to Ncwgate prison. The
defendant has the contract for supplying the city prisons
with meat, and the charge against him was for cutting
holes in some beef, into which was inserted three pieces
of mutton, two of which stank, and the other had mag-
gots in it.

Mr. C. Pearson, city solicitor, appeared for the prose-
cution, and Mr. Parry for the defendant.
Mr. Pearson said the case was adjourned on the for-
mer occasion to enable the defendant to show the act
was done without his knowledge or consent.

Mr. Parry said this was more a matter of character
with the defendant than any fear of the result of the
investigation. The trumpery amount of meat inserted
—l4oz. in 291 b.—was so small as to show that it cou d
not have been done for a matter of gain. On the for-
mer occasion it had been sought to infer that the de-
fendant was losing money by the contract, and that that
was his motive for sending in the meat in the state
complained of. Such, however, was not the fact, for
Mr. Cullingwood, by his means and his arrangements,
was enabled to perform his contract at a profit. He
could gain nothing by sending in this meat to cause a
breach of the contract, for by it he was subjected to a
penalty of 2001. liquidated damages.
George Everett deposed that he saw the meat in
question cut up. There was nothing wrong about it
when it left the shop. He took it to the prison, lie
also took 7 lbs. of beef to the prison before 12 o'clock
that day for the meat complained of. . . _

Cross-examined—No person could have iaserted the
bad meat between the time he left his master's shop and
arrived at the prison. Defenda,,t was not in the shop
when the meat was cut up, but he was when it left.
By Sir J. Duke —The meat was cut up early in the
morning, and from that time before it left various per
sons had access to the meat. _

Alfred Simeon cut up and bound the meat. He knew
nothing of the 14 oz. of bad mutton.
By Mr. Pearson—Defendant was present when the
meat was sent out.

By Sir James Duke—Five or six persons bad access
to the meat in the morning, and there was ample oppor-
tunity for a person to have inserted the bad meat with-
out having been seen.
Mr. Parry proposed to call witnesses to character.
Sir J. Duke said there could be no doubt about the
respectability of the defendant.
Mr. Lll2ft,, retired builder, and Mr, M. NV. Ash, gave
the defendant an excellent character for the rectitude
of his conduct, and the superior quality of the meat he
sold.

yv
Mr. Pearson said he made the defendany answerable
for the acts of his servants, and his knowledge or not of
the insertion of the bad meat was a question for a jury
to decide. It was not a question of respectability, for if
that was the case, he (Mr. Pearson) should have been
happy to have borne his testimony to that fact. Had
the defendant not been a man of respectability his con-
tract would not have been accepted. The gain,
ou one occasion, such as this, was but trifling,
but, if continued, day after day, would make a
considerable difference at the ad of the year
in favour of the defendant. Mr. Pearson made some
further remarks, in the course of which he urged the
presiding magistrate was bound to send the case to a
jury for them to judge of the defendant's intentions.
Mr. Pocklington, inspector of the markets, in answer
to Sir J. Duke, said he had never before had occasion
to complain of the quality of the meat cut by the
defendant.

Mr. Burton, of Whitecross-street prison, said be bad
only had once to complain of the defendant for sending
German mutton for English mutton.
Captain Wright, of Solloway Prison, said I<e bad
never had reason to complain of the meat sent to the
prison.
Sir J. Duke said, on looking at the whole of the evi-
dence, he was of opinion the defendant had no intention
to defraud. The meat might possibly have been malici-
ously inserted by some person to injure the defendant,
and that it was not done by the latter with a view oi
gaining an extra benefit out of his contract. He did not
consider himself justified in sending a respectable citizen
for trial without strong grounds of guilt, which in this
case were wanting, and therefore he dismissed the coat.
plaint.
The announcement was received with applause by a
crowded court.

The Municipal Council of Boulogne having voted a
sum of 500 f. as remuneration to the soldiers of the se-
cond division of the Ist corps of the army of the north
for the road which they have executed on the heights,
the men have given the money to be divided among the
poor of Boulogne.
IRON THEATRES.--Mr. Richard Turner, of Dublin,
has lately contracted to fit up a wrought-iron roof and
all the upper machinery of a large theatre at Buenos
Ayres, the cost of which will be upwards of 4,000/.
MUTINY.—BRISTOL (PILL), Oct. 18.—The Morning
Star, for Melbourne, put back here to-day, the crew hav-
ing mutinied. They have been taken to Bristol by
order of a magistrate.
The ceremony of the presentation of the Lord Mayor
elect to the Lorl Chancellor, for the approval of her
Majesty, will take place on Friday, the 2d of November,
at the residence of the Lord Chancellor, in Upper
Brook-street, Grosvenor-square.
UNITED STATES SQUADRON OF RELIEF.---By the
Stella, Martyr), arrived at Plymouth from Labrador, we
learn that on the 27th of September, in lat. 54.30 N.,
long. 53.20 W., she spoke the American barque Reliet;
in company with the steam brig Arctic, returning from
the Arctic Sea to New York, after an unsuccpsful
ocarch for Sir Johu Franklin7all well.