The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-20 00:00:00

THAMES.

CHARGE OF BIGANEY.—George Rabert Murrell, a mean-
looking man, aged 33 years, and described as a ropemaker,
of Angel-place, High-street, Bow, was charged with
bigamy, intermarrying with Laura Lomas, of No. 13,
Buross-street, Commercial-road.

The came failed, for the same reason that many cases of
bigamy have failed, the absence of proof of the first mar •
riage. The first wife, who in many cases of bigamy is
the only person who can prove her marriage, is not per-
mitted to give evidence against her husband. This state
of the law has given rise to innumerable hardships and
cases of injustice. It was not long since that a
man named Ducker, who had discaried his first
wife and married a second, was charged with
bigamy in this court. His first wife was the only person
living who could prove the marriage with her husband,
and she was not allowed to give evidence. Her husband
was discharged, and left the court with his second wife,
who knew he was a married man, and had a wife living
when she was united to him in church, and had been living
with him some time. She has been since living with Ducker,
and the real Mrs Ducker has since summoned her husband
for refusing to maintain her, and has been allowed a weekly
stipend. Similar cases could be multiplied.
Laura Lomas, his second wife, was sworn, and was be-
ginning to relate the particulars of her marriage to th
prisoner, when Mr Partridge said the first thing to be done
was to prove the first marriage, and that the first wife was
living when the prisoner contracted the second marriage.
A police constable who had charge of the case said he
had the certificates of registry of both marriages to produce.
Mr Partridge said that would not do. The first marriage
must be proved by legal evidence.
' •

The police constable said the first wife was in attendance.
Mr Partridge—She cannot Le examined. The prisoner
must be discharged, tut he can be taken into custody again
if you can obtain further evidence.

The second wife, a most respectable young woman, said
she would pursue the case and obtain satisfactory evidence
of the first marriage.

MISSING SHIP.—The Harriet Hamble, from
Sunderland for Kurraehee, sailed from the Downs on tho
20th of November, 1863, and has not since been heard of,

A NLw RAILWAY CARRIAGE.—The necessity of
devising means for preventing the perpetration of
crimes in railway carriages has turned the attention of in-
ventors to the subject, and the following contrivance has
been proposed by aM. Leprovost. His railway carriage is
made of sheet iron, and does not greatly differ in appearance
from the common one. It is a first class c .rriage containing
24 places, or 8 for each compartment. Within, a longitudi
nal passage establishes communication between the com-
partments, azd extends along whole train from carriage
to carriage. Tho partitions of each compartment, rising
to the roof, prevent the inconvenience of draughts from the
other compartments, and the partitions which form the
passage protect the traveller from those which might
come from the windows of the same ;compartment. From
this it appears that travellers in the same compartment are
only visible to the official that walks up and down in the
passage. According to this description, the first-class car-
riage must, in our opinion, bear a striking resemblance to
a prison van, and indeed we incline to believe that all this
ingenuity is utterly thrown away, seeing .that the problem
has long been solved in America, and better still in
Switzerland, by doing away with compartments alto-
gether, and establishing a free communication with the
adjoining carriages of the train; a plan which is onl} ob-
jected to by fastidious and shortsighted exclusiveness. In
Switzerland nothing can be more convenient than a railway
carriage, to which the traveller gains access by ascending
a few steps, leading to a sort of platform or balcony for
smokers. Here a door opens into the interior, fitted up
like a saloon, with a table in the middle, and seats all
round ; the passengers, instead of being cramped by
sitting for hours in the same posture, can walk about,
or write, or play at chess or whist if they please
The seats are made to turn so as to face opposite points of
the compass, and everything is arranged on the most com-
fortable plan, with the only exception that the traveller de-
sirous of solitude is not alone; a questionable comfort
which, as we but too well know, is fraught with danger.
SUEGERY.—The Abeille Medicale publishes 13
curious case of a fracture treated with iodine by
Dr. Fouchard, of Pont St.-Mayence. About a year ago a
carman, aged 66, and enjoying a good constitution, fell
from his cart, one of the wheels of which went over
his left leg and fractured it. Upon examination it was
found that on the inner side of the leg there was a flesh-
wound which had bled profusely; the fracture was oblique,
and at about one-third of the height of the log from the
sole of the foot. The limb was successfully set, and the
flesh wounl soon got well. No swelling nor inflam-
matory reaction ensued, and everything went on
promising, when about 50 days after the accider.
the bandages being taken off, Dr. Fouchard dis-
covered that the fragments of the tibia had not grown to-
gether again, although those of the fibula had. The ban-
dage was put on again, but a month later matters had not
changed, and no callus had been formed between the
fragments. Dr Fouchard, suspecting this might be owing
to the interposition of a little unabsorbed blood which
might in the end cause the formation of a false joint, re-
solved to have recourse to an injection of tincture of
iodine. Having placed the limb on a roll of flannel so as to
prevent the heel from resting on the bed, he inserted a
tracer into the leg at the point where the fracture was,
keeping the fragments of the tibia apart by a very slight
pressure on the foot, and then injected the liquid twice, the
patient declaring that he could not bear the operation
any longer. After this operation the bandage was re-
placed, and after the lapse of about two months
he had the satisfaction of perceiving that callus had
been secreted, and that there was no mobility perceptible.
The bandage was applied again notwithstanding, and the
patient, though still not perfectly himself again, is now able
to walk about with but little inconvenience.
The 'titian Gazette announces the arrest of four
of the ruffians who attacked the Swiss mail
between 13ellinzona and Montcceneri on the 13th. They
had six watches concealed about their persons, one of
them being exactly like those worn by mail-conductors in
Switzerland. Ono of the prisoners had only been 20 days
at liberty, having just completed a long term of punishment
in the galleys. The police are on the track of the other
accomplices.

The steam frigate Labrador, Captain Borgnes des
Borden, employed in conveying infantry and cavalry between
Algiers and Oran, was assailed in its last passage by a vio-
lent tempest from the north-east. After having received
considerable damage to her masts and lost 16 horses, she
at last found a refuge in a port on the Spanish coast.

Marshal Forey arrived at Nancy a few days back
and was warmly welcomed. The military autho-
rities, headed by General Count d'Alton, received the Mar-
shal at the railway station, and proceeded mith him on
horseback to his hotel, the streets being thronged with
people and the houses decked out with flags. In front of
the Hotel do Lorraine was a large escutcheon bearing the
names of the victories gained by the Marshal in Mexico.
Cries of " Vive l'Empereur 1" " Vivo le Marechal Furey 1"
were to be heard on all sides. The troops of the garrison
were drawn up on the Place Stanislaus, and paid the usual
military honours as the cortege passed. Immediately after
his arrival at the Hotel the Marshal appeared on the bal-
cony, when a fresh outburst of acclamation took place. A
reception of the civil authorities afterwards took place.
The Italian Naval Journal announces that, from
motives of economy, the experimental squadron
will be reduced to a single division, composed of
the ironclad frigates Re d'ltalia, San Martino,
Castelfidardo, and the Maria Pis, or the Principe
Carignano. Rear-Admiral Vacca will remain in
command, having his flag on board the Re d'ltalia.
The frigates Garibaldi, Italia, Duca di Genova,
Carlo Alberto, and Maria Adelaide ; the corvette
Terrible ; the steam advice boat Messagiero ; and
the transport Rosolino Pilo, will be laid up in ordi-
nary. The corvettes Euridice and Valorosa are to
proceed on an experimental cruizo in the Mediter'
ranean,