The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-19 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—Tin. 18.

CLERKENWELL.—Mrs. Mary Cumber, wife of a
man of independent means, residing at 34, Frederick-
street, Gray's-inn-road, was charged with assaulting
Frances Thomson, her servant.

The summons had been issued the day before at the
suggestion of Mr. Tubbs, the relievin, officer of the
Marylebone Union. On that occasion the girl ex'nibited
the state of her back from the injuries inflicted on her,
and it was so horrible that the magistrate shuddered,
and, without hearing any further statement, directed a
summons to be issued. When the case was called on,
Mr. Tubbs stated that the proceedings were instituted
by the Marylebone Board of Guardians, the complainant
having been placed from the workhouse as servant with
the accused. Mr. Tubbs put in a medical certificate to
the effect that the complainant's back and arms were co-
vered with weals and discokrations, probably caused by
a stick ; and added that the complainant had on Wed-
nesday sought refuge again in the workhouse, ax she
said, to avoid continued ili treatment.
The complainant, a diminutive, but otherwise healthy-
locking girl, on being sworn, said—l am 16 years old,
and for above two years have been servant to
Cumbet. Yesterday I was dusting the passage, when
she came to me, and said, " Look at the clock l" She
then called me into the back parlour and beat me with
a cane over the shoulders because I did not clean my-
self and get my work done by 2 o'clock to lay the din-
ner cloth. When she beat me, I had only my cotton
frock on, and an apron and collar; and after she beat
me, she told rae that if it was at 12 o'clock at night she
would strip me naked, and beat me until she could not
stand. She then went upstairs to dress, and I put my
bonnet on and went to the Marylebone Workhouse.
She might have struck me 40 times, but I cannot say,
because I was running about the parlour when she did
it. I was beaten in the morning before, and twice be-
fore that. Once because I used a house-cloth to wipe up
something, my mistress stripped me naked in my bed-
room, and beat me.

Cross-examined by Mr. Wakeling—My mistress's
daughter and another servant were present when she beat
me in the back parlour. I never complained to the work
house until yesterday. On one occasion my mistress did
eomplain to my sister of my pilfering, but that occurred
because I was sent for two pennyworth of carrots and
two pennyworth of turnips, and the greengrocer gave me
the change 4d. out of 6d. I did keep the 2d.; but when
I told my fellow-servant she told my mistress that I had
twopence out of the change, and my mistress said that
ought to be hers as I had taken it from the man wrongly.
At first I deniedit, but to save myself from a beating, I
confessed I did pilfer or steal the money. I have broken
things, but when I did so I paid for them at times.
Mr. Wakeling—Have your ever written or received
letters from your sister about your bad conduct.
Complainant—l have received letters from my sister.
Mr. Wakeling—Are these them (handing the com-
plainant some papers),?
Complainant—Yes ; these are mine.
Mr. Tyrwhitt—Really this is very paltry treatment of
a poor child, to take her letters, addressed to herself by
'her sister, to whom they are a great credit. I have
perused them, and I think it a most miserable proceed-
ing to open any person's box to take letters and make
them evidence for the defence, but after all there is no-
thing in them.
The cane (produced) was a rattan, about the thickness
of a man's little finger, and about a yard long ; and to
verify the excessive punishment inflicted the girl ex-
posed her back. Its appearance made every one in
court shudder.
A. more strict cross-examination showed that a most
extraordinary amount of work was desired of a mere
child, and because she did not do it she was badly
treated.

Mr. Wakeling, in admitting the assault, treated
the matter as a mere correction for insubordination ;
and the magistrate, deciding that the assault arose
out of a mere hasty display of temper, inflicted a fine
of 40s.

The money was immed;ately paid, and the defendant
departed.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET. —J ames _Henry Puttca.,
of Oakland Cottage, Brook-green, Hammersmith, was
brought before Mr. Hardwick, charged with embezzling
various sums of money, amounting to more than 4001.,
received on account of his employers, Messrs. Garrard
and James, solicitors, 13, Suffolk-street, Pall-mall.
Mr. Morgan, of the firm of Humphreys and Morgan,
appeared for the prisoner.
Mr. Stephen Garrard, of the firm of Garrard and
James, stated that the prisoner was in their employ as
ca9hier up to the previous night, when, in consequence
of circurnatanc es which took place in the office, he re-
quired defendant to hand him a particular account
of the rental of an estate, the rents of which were very
much in arrear, and told him that he should collect them
himself to-day. From the prisoner's manner at this an-
nouncement he (prosecutor) was induced to charge him
with having received the rents, and embezzled the money.
Prisoner at once admitted that he had done so, Prose-
cutor upon this desired him to make out an account of
all the money he had received and embezzled, as the
facts must come out on an investigation of the books,
and the communications of the various tenants. The
prisoner then proceeded, in prosecutor's presence, to
make out the particulars of the account which he now
held in his- hand, admitting monies received and em-
bezzled amounting to near 500/. Prosecutor was not
at present prepared to go further into the case, and
begged for a remand.
Prisoner was remanded for a week.

BAIL COURT.
El PARTE GREENWOOD.
Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, in moving for a rule in this
case to show cause why a writ of habeas corpus should
not issue, directed to Mr. Pindar, the keeper of a pri-
vate lauatic asylum, called "The Retreat," near Lan-
caster, to produce the body of Mr. Greenwood, stated
that Mr. Greenwood was a gentleman of large fortune,
residing at Todmorden, in Yorkshire ; that he was 65
years of age ; and that, up to the 2d of October last, no
doubt of his sanity had been entertained by any one of
his acquaintance. There were in support of the motion
the affidavits of 30 individuals, four of whom were me-
dical gentlemen. One of those four gentlemen had
attended Mr. Greenwood regularly for the last 20 years,
and the remaining three lived in his immediate neigh-
bourhood, and had been acquainted with him for a long
time. Each and all of them had declared upon
oath that there existed not the slightest reason to
suppose that Mr. Greenwood was insane. His own
medical attendant had stated that he had seen him upon
the day on which he had been placed in confinement ;
that he had often previously conversed with him ; that
he was acquainted with all his antecedents ; and that
the only evidence of any infirmity in his case was a
Blight decay of memory and an absence of
the activity
of earlier life. The gentlemen in question,
wiwteholhe ex-
ception of one, had gone to see Mr. Greenwood
his confinement at least once, while some of thetnsilaede
visited him three times. Those visits had been made
for the express purpose of testing the sanity of the
alleged lunatic ; every means had been resorted to by
those gentlemen in order to satisfy themselves upony
that point, and they had declared upon oath that
there existed no growled whatever for supposing Mr.
Greenwood to be insane, or t• justify his confine-
ment. They had gone even further, and had given it
as their opinion that confinement would be prejudi-
cial to his health, and would shorten hie existence. In
addition to the evidence of the members of the medical
Profession, there was that of Mr. Greenwood's servants,
ofgentlemen of prope.rfy. who lived close to his house,
and of clergymen
withthe
residing in his neighbourhood. All
exception of one, had known
him for the last t
those persons,
hirt
y or forty years, and had repeatedly
conversed with him up to the very last day of his con-
finement. Two of them had been with him upon the
morning of that day in the shop of bea hairdresser, to
which place he was in the habit of going to shaved.
He had upon that occasion exhibited his usual propriety
and regularity of demeanour, and had stated that his
cousin, J. Eastwood, was about to drive him to see
Stoueybnrst, an educational establishment in the vicinity.
He had appeared to be delighted at the prospect of the
drive ; but, instead of being driven in the direction
which he hadanticip whatever
he had been taken byla cousin, LAMBETH.— The chairman of the Board of Guar-
and,or
without any der hatever, or medical certificate,i i dians of the parish of St. Mary's, Newington, accornpa-
had been lodged in an asylum. He had been kept nied by one of the gurdians and Mr. Burgess, their clerk,
waited on the Hon. G. C. Norton, and having referred
in that asylum a day and a night, and upon the
following morning had been driven a distance of to a report which appeared in the daily papers of Mon-
twenty miles to Blackburn, where a certificate of his
day, wherein his worship was alleged to have commented
1
inanity had been obtained from medical men who had
never previously seen Mr. Greenwood. Upon the autbo- oi n era
ifisceev terms on the conduct of Herring, the relieving
.r of Newington parish, in his negligence of the poor,
rity of that certificate he had been conducted back to the ; he said that in consequence of these severe remarks the
asylum ; and all those steps had been taken, notwith- board had called on Mr. Herring to furnish them with
stanaiag that there were resident in Todmorden four hie written explanations. Mr. Herring then alleged in
medical men of eminence, who were well acquainted writing that the statements which appeared against him
with Mr. Greenwood, and to who it might be supposed were untrue, and he al so alleged that he had ofTered
his 'case might be most conveniently submitted. Some Couhoon, the person on whose case he (Mr. Norton) had
time alter the occurrence of those events a memorial had
commented, the workhouse, but sherefused to accept it.
been made to the visiting justices, requooting that the
MrNorton :here i

SOUTHWARK. —John Willzants, a fashionably
dressed young fellow, was brought before Mr.A'Beckett
charged with attempting to pick the pockets of two
females at the doors of the Surrey Theatre.
William Coombs, an ex-policeman, and well-known to
the London thieves as the " Surrey Wolf," stated that
he was at the boa-entrance of the Surrey Theatre last
night, about half-past eleven o'clock, when the audience
were about to leave. Ho saw the prisoner pushing
among the crowd, and suspecting him, watched his
actions, and saw him go up to two ladies, and feel about
their dresses. He called the atfliction of Mr. Phillips,
one of the check-takers, to his actions, and finding he
still pushed among the females, he gave him into custody
to Watt:l:lough, 105 L.
Mr. A.:l3:ekkeettttiNDVh. at did you give hint in charge for
Coombe—For attempting to pick pockets.
Mr.
you see
Coombs—No, sir
pocket l
Mr.oo in.A.b' Be
se—ckletattn—W4heants
iaorneery
:I him touch anybody's
but I saw I,* labout L''
_Mil .00 Le
dresses of two ladies.
ofurolCm the police.
Mr. A'Beckett—What is your business then at the
thecaotorem?bes—l go there to help Peckham, the officer of
the theatre.
AB
eat
Teeckett—Are you paid by any one to do that?
Coombes—Yes, I am paid by Mr. Shepherd, and I
look after the thieves.
Mr. A'Beckett—l dare say your looks are enough to
fright 3n them away. However, your evidence is
not enough to convict him before a jury, therefore I
must discharge him.

case Herring the officer had not mentioned a single word t
of his having done so at the time, for had he done so
his (Mr. Norton's) interference would have been at an
end. The fact was that a number of poor persons (he
understood as many as 27) belonging to the parish of
Newington, had been in attendance at this court to ap- ;
ply for relief, and many of them having complained of
being in a starving state, he had relieved them with
half-a-crown a-pieoe, and directed the officer to request
Mr. Herring to attend to their cases. Finding on the
next day that this had not been done, and that a proper
representation had not been made to the guardians as
to the state of same of the persons, he sent for Mr. Her-
ring, and expressed to that officer what his feelings were,
but if these expressions acted improperly to his prejudice
he was sorry for it.
Mr. Burgess said that one of the great evils which the
board of guardians and the officers of the, parish had to
deal with was that of this court being made a court of
appeal for imaginary grievances, or the manner in which
they are to discharge their duties.
Mr. Norton replied that the court was not one of ap-
peal, and Mr. Burgess was very much mistaken in saying
so. The court, however, was an open one, and it was
the duty of a magistrate—at least he (Mr. Norton)
should always feel it to be his duty—to hear the com-
plaints of all persons requesting his advice, were they
paupers or others. At the same time he wished to state
that there was no person less willing to interfere with
the duties of the guardians or the parish officers so long
as those very onerous duties were discharged in a
humane and proper spirit ; but finding so overwhelming
a number as twenty-seven persons on the same day
coming to complain of the same parish, he confessed that
he felt it his province to interfere.

Mr. Burgess, the chairman, and the other members of
the . board of guardians, said they had frequent op-
portunities of observing the conduct of their relieving
officer, Mr. Herring, and never had occasion to find
fault with it.

Mr. Norton replied that he had every reason to sup.
pose from many communications which had reached him,
that the board of guardians were too much disposed to
place implicit reliance on the representations of Mr..
Herring, while it was quite clear that in the most re—
markable case relied on his representations were nol,,
correct, for had the family of the person before the board
been visited by him or his deputy, Mr. Herring would
have found three or four children in a state of nakedness,
and without a bit of fire. He (Mr. Norton) always he -
lieved the guardians of Newington parish to be most
humane and desirous to do anything in their power -to
alleviate the sufferings of the poor, but he did not thin k
those necessary inquiries as to the state of the poor wr.as
made by their officers.
Mr. Burgess here read the resolution of the beard .of
guardians, acquitting Herring of all blame, and requests d
that he might leave a copy, but
Mr. Norton objected to the document on the ground
that it impugned the accuracy of the report of the pro-
; ceedings before him, which he declared to be perfe,zti'y
correct.—Mr. Burgess then retired.