The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-13 00:00:00

THAMES,

MALICIOUS DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.—George Knight,
a boy about lo years of age, was charged with unlawfully
and maliciously breaking and throwing down a certain part
of a certain fenoo, to wit, a wooden fence, the property of
Mr William Henry Bradshaw, a farmer and grazier, in the
Isle of Dogs, Millwall, Poplar.
Mr Charles Young, solicitor, conducted the prosecution
for Mr Bradshaw, who is the ownor of the grazing land in
the Isle of Dogs. One of his fields was enclosed with a
wooden fence 6 feet high. A portion of this had been de-
stroyed by wanton and mischievous boys, and the materials
cast into bonfires near the land. Mr Bradshaw, for the
protection of his property, was compelled to prosecute, and
would proceed against every one destroying the fence or
any part of it.

Mr Bradshaw said 90 feet of his fence had been destroyed,
and the damage he estimated at £5. It was effected by
mischievous and wicked boys, of whom an example ought
to be made.

A woman named Owens and a boy named Brown gave
evidence against the defendant, who is the son of a labourer
dwelling at No 2, Lead-street, Ferry-street, Millwall, They
saw the boy Knight pull down a piece of the fence on the
morning of the 10th of November last, at 7 o'clock in the
morning. The boy took away two pieces of board, part of
the fence.

Mr Joseph Smith, solicitor, who defended Knight, said
the witnesses were mistaken, and set up an alibi. He called
the parents and the brother of the defendant, and other
witnesses, one of them said he never lost sight of the boy
for a moment all day, from the time he got out of bed in
the morning until he wont to bed again at night.
The Magistrate was of opinion the alibi was very unsa•
tistactory, and that the witness, who swore he never missed
sight of the boy for a moment all day had committed a
great mistake. Ile had no doubt defendant was one of the
boys who had, in the language of the summons been. wil-
fully and maliciously destroying Mr Bradshaw's property.
The defendant was a mischievous and wrong-headed boy.
He fined the defendant 20s and 2s costs, and also to pay 2d,
the value of the wood ho took away, or be committed to the
House of Correction for 21 days.
The money was paid.

Mme. Drouyn de Lhuys has addressed a letter to
Mrs Dayton expressing the profound sentiments of regret
which the death of the late Minister of the United States
has left in the hearts of all who knew him. She declares
how much she herself has been affected by the lamentable
loss, and how sincerely she sympathises with the widow
under her sad bereavement.

Great excitement was caused the day before yes-
terday in the Rue Gregoire de Tours, Paris, by a
young man who ran along the street scattering gold coins
from a small wooden bowl which he carried in his hand, at
the same time crying out, "Here is money for those who
want it I" People at first thought he was mad, but cries of
"Stop thief I" being heard in the distance he was arrested
by two sergeants-de-vill. It was soon ascertained that he
had broken, with a blow of his fist, the plate-glass window
of M, Gourdault, money-changer, Carrefour de l'Odeon,
and stolen a bowl containing about 200 napoleons. The
thief, who was ascertained to be Jules B--, a workman,
nineteen years of age, was taken to the Prefecture of Police.
Bit GUTHRIE AND " THe LARGE WHITE BOAR."
—AMUSING SCENE.—On Saturday, between 12 and
1 o'clock, a crowd of people assembled in Hunter-square, at-
tracted by the following advertisement which appeared that
mornin The Largo White Boar.—The white boar will
be exhibited at Hunter-square, on Saturday, at one p.m.,
when the public will be able to judge of the animal, and
form a correct opinion of the trial when Dr Guthrie made
such rash and gratuitous statements regarding the character
and disposition of his peaceable pig.—L. Dodds.— Greenbank,
Deo. R, 1864." The advertisswv.4 v.ppoarimr.to_hava a bona
,ide character, Lilo crowd, unsuspicious of a hoax.waited
tiently for some minutes after the appointed hour in expecta-
tion of the promised appearance of " the peaceable pig."
The scene was of the most amusing description, jokes and
jibes being freely interchanged among the crowd as to their
danger from the " foaming tusks" of the " savage animal "
should it actually be brought upon the scene. Just as the
patience of the crowd was about exhausted, their curiosity
was revived by the entrance of a cart into the square, in
which an old man was snugly seated amidst a large quantity
of loose straw. A rush was at once made by the crowd
upon the cart, under the idea that " the large white boar "
might be amongst the straw; but alas, they were doomed
to disappointment, and much merriment ensued, partly at
their own expense, and partly at the puzzled and bewildered
gaze of the occupant of the cart, and who thus so suddenly
and unexpectedly became the centre of attraction. The
crowd then quietly dispersed, apparently more amused than
displeased at the hoax of which they had been made the
subject.—Scalsman.

FOUNDERING OF THE FLOATING LIGHT. A
fearful loss, there is every reason to believe,lhas occurred in
the St. ,George's Channel by the foundering of the ship
Floating Light, bound from Bombay for Liverpool,
,with a
cargo valued at upwards of £200,000. The Floating Light
was a large Quebec built ship, of 1,400 tons, and belonged
to. Messrs Kennedy, of Liverpool. She sailed from Bombay
on the 26th of August, with a crew amounting to between
30 and 40. Her cargo comprised 6,300 bales of cotton, ave-
raging in value about £3O a bale, 673 bales of jute, 28 tons
of cocoanut fibre (rope), and 90 tons of linseed. She was
due, but no apprehensions for her safety were entertained
until Thursday last , when a seaman's chest was washed
ashore on the Pembroke coast, together with several bales
of cotton and other wreckage. The box was found to con,.
tain papera showing that it belonged to a seaman named
Davis, as a merchant's discharge ticket bearing that name
and other papers were discovered among the contents. The
fact of cotton being cast up led to the conclusion that a cot-
ton laden ship had been lost. On searching the list of home-
ward bound vessels from Bombay to Liverpool, and refer-
ring to the nature of their cargoes and the time of sailing,
the owners of the Floating Light were communicated with,
and it was ascertained there was a sailor named Davis on
board that ship, and that the marks or brands on the bales
of cotton washed ashore corresponded with those mentioned
in the ship's manifest which had been sent to England as
having been shipped in the Floating Light at Bombay.
The result of this was that the premium immediately went
up on the ship, but afterwards she was refused altogether,
from the fact that a circular carved piece of wood, which
had been bolted to a ship's quarter or under her stern, about
Bft long end 7in broad, with sunken carved gilded letters on
it " Floating Ligh," the t only missing, had been picked up
off the same district of coast. This at once led to the belief
that the ill-fated ship had either foundered or been wrecked
in the Channel during the recent heavy weather, the sup-
position being further confirmed by the finding of more
cotton. Nothing has been hoard of the crew, and the worst
fears are entertained as to their fate. As may be imagined,
the loss has created considerable excitement among the
various meacantile establishments interested. Capt. Trus-
cott has left Liverpool in a steamer to search along the whole
coast, in the hope of finding something more of the ship and
cargo. Sho was insured in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
A FRENCH MASTER AND HIS PUPILS.—I was in
French for part of the time under old Pellichet (I
forget if so his name was spelt), and his eyes were not very
good. I know not why, but all his pupils always came with
a resolution to do nothing and to tease him. " Keys" to
lessons were brought in, from which everybody but myself
copied what they chose to do, and at other times threw pel-
lets of chewed paper from their pens over the edge of the
table at their master. I never joined them in this, for Pelli-
chet was a kind soul, till one fatal day two good-humoured
boys on either side of me asked me to try one shot only
with my more elastic pen, as it had not been used in
that sort of work, at Pellichet. Alas, I complied, and shot
so well that the missile hit the Frenchman on the cheek, be-
side his nose, with a sharp smack that resounded all over
the study, and made him jump a foot or two from his stool.
Oh, what a hit he gave his desk with one furious hand while
with the other he rang the bell for the orderly sergeant,
When the official came in he reported the whole study for
insubordination, concluding thus, " All the boys vote vun,"
and then turning to me he said, "You, gentilhomme—you
born of noble parents, you do no such thing, you good boy ;
I sal ponish all bete you," and he forbad the sergeant to put
me down on the list for punishment, Never shall I forget
my remorse- At once addressing my companions on either
side, I said I would not let the whole study be punished for
what I had really done, and was about to give myself up,
when they said, "Don't be such a d—d fool ; wz.., shan't bet
much, and we don't care ;" and they held me down upon
butmy evers t 00. a f t
el r neverdi
dall s hIo pa
per ato
atone poor f
oorl dm
yP ef
al lui cl
fault
ea t
n dagain,gain
his approbation.—My Life and Recollections, by the Hon.
Grantley F. Berkeley.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S-INN■ROAD.--
The number of patients relieved at, this hospital during the
week ending Dec, 10 wee 2,932, of which 1,011 were new
oases.

Commodore Nutt and Miss Minnie Warren.

The levees of these two diminutive specimens of hu-
man nature commenced yesterday at the St. James's
Hall, and were very fully attended both afternoon and
evening. The Commodore, George Washington Morrison
Nutt, who was " best man" on the occasion of General Tom
Thumb's marriage, is stated to be in his 20th year, is 29
inches high, and weighs 241b5., whilst the protty litte lady,
Miss Minuio Warren, the bridesmaid at the saris interest
leg wedding, is but 24 inches in height, 18 years of age, and
191bs. in weight. The Commodore is a smart,
little fellow, and does a variety of things with the greatest
neatness; and, as en actor, gives abundant proof that he
is not without intellect. He appeared last night in a variety
of well dressed characters, such, for instance, as a Yankee
sailor, a rollicking Irishman, and a stump orator. He
sings a song, dances a sailor's hornpipe, and
beats the side drum with extraordinary vigour,
whilst Miss Minnie simply shows the effect of elegant cos-
tume upon her tiny figure. The two sing a duet, and then
they promenade amongst the audience, disposing of their
caries, which seemed to be in extraordinary demand. With
two such intelligent little people it is surprising something
of a dramatic dialogue is not attempted, especially as they
have now a very excellent stage, and every convenience
for such an entertainment. It would please amazingly—of
that we have no doubt, and would prevent the many breaks
that now take place during their clever performance. How-
ever, the entertainment as now given is highly amusing,
and no doubt it will be very successful. The whole of the
audience have an opportunity of bidding the Commodore
and, we believe, his intended bride, adieu, and then the
happy pair drive off to their hotel in their splendid minia-
ture carriage, drawn by four of the smallest ponies in the
world. The entertainment, which commences at 8 o'clock
in the evening, dots not extend much over an hour, and
thus Professor Anderson is greatly benefited, for nearly the
whole of the audience proceeded to the Great Hall, and
there finished up the evening with a visit to the World of
Magic.

Highland and Agricultural Society's Show

at Inverness in 1865.

A publio meeting of those interested in the proposed show
to be held by the Highland and Agricultural Society of
Scotland at Inverness in August of next year, took place in
the Union Hotel there on Friday, There wire present—
Lord Lovat, Lord Saltoun, Mr Merry of Belladrum, M,P.,
Cluny Macpherson of Cluny, Major Cumming Bruce, M.P.,
Major Fraser Tytler of Aldourie, Mr T. Davidson of Tul-
loch, Major Wardlaw of Belmaduthy, Mr J. M. Grant of
Glenmoriston, Mr F. Walker of Foyers, Mr /E. B. Mac-
leod of Cadboll, Col. Inglis of Kingsmills, Mr D. Forbes,
Straton Lodge; Mr Arthur Forbes of Culloden, Mr K.
Anderson of Lochdhu, Mr .4E. Mackintosh of Balnespick,
Mr J. Hall Maxwell, secretary of the Highland and Agri-
cultural Society of Scotland ; Mr Peter. factor for Lord
Lovat; Mr Gunn, factor for Seaforth ; Mr Stables, factor
for the Ear! Cawdor, &c. Letters of apology for being un-
able to attend were received from several gentlemen—
among others, Sir K, Mackenzie, Bart., and Sir A. P. G.
Cumming of Altyre.
Lord LOYAT having been moved to the chair, called on

Mr HALL MAXWELL, secretary of the Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland, who said he had very
great pleasure in reporting that since the last meeting, hold
in September, an excellent arrangement had been made
with referent to the she for the showyard, all previous
difficulty in regard to which had been entirely removed by
the liberal manner in which the magistrates of Inverness
had granted the free use of a field, admirably suited for
the purposes of the show, on the farm at Seafield, adjoining
the town. The access from the town was not good, but the
railway company had obviated the difficulty by very readily
agreeing to put up a temporary station with sidings at Mill-
burn, where all the stock and implements intended for the
show, as well as to the public) coming to visit it, would be
taken off, and got to the showyard by the Longman-road.
At the last meeting here a resolution was passed declaring
that the subscriptions from the district should not be less
than in 1855; and he was glad tc state that, so far as the
receipts had come in, there was a perfect certainty that this
resolution would be effectively carried out. (Applause.)
They had experienced great advantage in having Major
Wardlaw as honorary seeretary in this quarter, and an effi-
cient stiff of gentlemen in every district of the northern
counties, to co-operate with in carrying through the pre-
liminary arrangements. On the 30th April next the
converters of the different counties would be requested to
see a certain number of these gentlemen appointed as s‘ sub-
committee to complete the work. The joint committee re-
ferred to would be appointed from the counties of Inverness,
Elgin, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, and
Nairn.

CL' DAY MA.CPHERSON then moved that Lord Lovat be
nominated as chairman of the joint district committees in-
tended to be formed in April next.
The motion was unanimously agreed to; and
Lord LOVAT3 in thanking the gentlemen present for the
honour of being appointed to this post, said he would do all
in his power to carry on the business of the committees.
Mr HALL MAXWELL then went over the premium list in
detail, several gentlemen making suggestions, some of which
‘IIIIIV. atinpftaA,

Mr FRASER, Balloch, secretary of the Inverness Far-
mers' Society, intimated tho intention of the society to hold
their flower show at the time of the Highland and Agri.
cultural Society's Exhibition.
Mr MAXWELL said they should be glad to give the Far-
mers' Society the necessary accommodation on their ground,
(Hear, hear.)

Lord SALTOUN then moved a vote of thanks to the
chairman, which was unanimously responded to.
The meeting then separated.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.—Mr J. STRIDE'S GENE•
FlT.—The obliging superintendent of the box
department of Drury-lane Theatre takes his benefit to-
morrow evening, Mr Stride is remarkable for his attention
to the comforts of the patrons of the theatre, and therefore
we have no doubt he will receive that whioh he most justly
deserves, a bumper, because there is scarcely a visitor to the
boxes but who is not under some obligation to every active
and polite official.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.—A fire of a: very serious
character happened this morning• between one and
two o'clock in the premises of Mr Jones, fancy collar manu-
facturer, No. 17, Wood-street, Clerkenwell. The fire could
not be extinguished until the workshops on the upper part
of the building were destroyed, the roof burned, and the
stock in trade destroyed,

FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Saturday fore-
noon a most melancholy accident occurred near
Falatone station on the Border Union Railway, which re-
sulted in the instantaneous death of the driver and stoker
of the train to which the accident happened. The follow■
ing are the particulars of the accident, so far as we have
been able to learn:—The morning through goods train from
Newcastle to Edinburgh, consisting of an engine, 22 loaded
trucks, and a guard's van, was approeching Palatine about
17 miles from Riccarton. between 11 and 12 o'clock on
Saturday, at the rate of about four miles an hour. when
one of the sets of wheels went on to the rails leading
to a coal siding, and the other set remained on the main
line. After running for a very short distance the engine
started entirely off the rails, and almost immediately sank
in the ground. The impetus of the heavy waggons behind
forced the tender right on to the top of the engine, and the
consequence was that Peter Young the driver, and Wm.
Morris, the stoker, were crushed to death instantaneously.
Robert Aitchison, the guard of the train, escaped unhurt.
As soon as the accident took place information was tele-
graphed to Hexham, from which terminus an engine was
immediately despatched. When the Hexham engine
reached the scene of the accident a chain was attached be-
tween it and the tender above the other engine, and
the tender was dragged on to the side of the line. Then the
sad results of the catastrophe became painfully apparent.
Young, the driver, was found standing with the steam
handle in his hand, and this position wag the only clue to
his identification, as his head had been literally smashed
flat by the fall of the tender upon it. The body of the
stoker was found lying against the fire-box, and it presented
a most melancholy and fearful spectacle, one of the sides of
the face having been almost entirely burnt off. Besides the
information sent to Hexham, a telegram was despatched
to the headquarters at Edinburgh, whence a special train
was immediately despatched with some of the officials,
besides a body of workmen from St. Margaret's, who
took with them a crane to lift the engine. As soon as
this train reached the spot the crane was put in requisi-
tion, and the engine and tender were lifted and conveyed to
Riccarton. Peter Young, the driver, who was 38 years of
age, and resided at Restalrig, where he has left a widow and
three children to lament his untimely end. He had been
about 15 years in the company's service, and bore an excel-
lent character. William Morrie, the stoker, was formerly
a driver on the Perth and Inverness Railway. He entered
the service of the North British Company about six weeks
ago, and he was acting as stoker till he had acquired a suffi-
cient knowledge of the lino to enable him to take the post of
driver. Ile also was married, and has left a widow and two
or three children in Inverness,—Scotsman.

PERIL OF A SAILOR'S LIFE.—NEW YORK, NOV.
30.—The Tommie Hussey sailed from Troon about the Ist
of September for Portland, United States, and was run
down in lat 49 N, 19 W, by a ship, supposed American.
Two boats were got out, and both were swamped, and the
third, containing the stewardess, mate, and four men, also
capsized, when the woman and mate wore drowned ; the
rest righted, but on the fourth da3 afterwards all died except
one, who was picked up by a French ship and taken to St.
Malo.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]--Holloway's Ointment and Pills.—
Ali persons afflicted with bad legs, sores, ulcers, and skin
diseases, who from want of means or other reasons cannot
avail themselves of surgical treatment, may release them-
selves of their complaints by using Holloway's purifying,
soothing, and healing remedies. In every outward ailment
this wonderful ointment brings about the most beneficial
results by checking inflammation, cleansing ulcerations,
and restoring soundness. Internal pains, rheumatic and
gouty tortures, enlarged joints, scrofulous swellings and
contracted sinews may be overcome by diligently rubbing
this cooling unguent into the skin. In all maladies of un-
usual severity or excessive duration the pills should be taken
internally, to root out the last seeds of the disorder, and to
hasten on the desired cure.

Royal Geographical Society.

-

Yesterday evening an ordinary meeting of this
society was held in Burlington House—Sir Roderick
Murchison, the president, in the chair. Before the
commencement of the regular business Sir Roderick
Murchison directed attention to a magnificent
volume on the table, which had been presented to
the society by the Emperor of Brezit, who had
1);:eti elected n au hunorny fellow, and he
called on Mr Fletcher, through whose instrumen-
tality the work had been brought, to give norm ex-
planation respecting it.

Mr Fletcher stated that the work, which had
been published under the auspices of the Emperor
of Brazil, gave a description, with numerous maps,
of the river San Francisco, in South America. The
river is 1,200 miles long, but for 400 miles near
the sea it is not navigable. For 800 miles, how-
ever, it is navigable for large vessels, and it is in-
tended to construct a road to tap the upper waters
of the liver, which will open the communication
with an extensive and richly fertile region, where
cotton is cultivated by free labour, and may be ob-
tained in abundance. He eulogised in high terms
the present Emperor, who possesses an extensive
knowledge of science and literature, and takes so
lively an interest in geographical and scientific pur-
suits that he attends twice every month the meet-
ings of the Institute at Rio Janeiro, and sits at the
right hand of the president. He concluded by say-
ing that the Emperor of Brazil is "every inch a
king, and that there are six feet four inches of him."
The first paper read, a communication from Mr.
Cameron, describing two small islands in the Malay
Archipelago, called Kalatowa and Paloweh. The
first he represented to be a low, fiat, but luxuriant
island, about five miles long and three broad, with-
out any inhabitants and totally destitute of water.
The other island is smaller and more hilly, and there
be found about 5,000 occupants, but not a drop of
water; the inhabitants, he said, use for drink the
milk of cocoa•nuts and the juice of the green fruit
of a palm-tree; the peculiarity of which is, that in
the morning, when fresh, the juice is tasteless, at
noon it becomes rather stimulant, and in the even-
ing it is intoxicating. He described the conduct of
the natives during the day to vary with the quality
of their drink, and that in the evening they are
nearly all intoxicated. Ho only remained, a day
and night on the island, and was glad to escape in
hie boats uninjured.
In the discussion which took place on the paper
Mr. Crawfurd threw doubt on the accuracy of the
statements. Ho contended that it was impossible
for 5,000 people to live on an island without
water, and that it was ridiculous to suppose they
could supply themselves with drink from cocoa-
nuts and palm trees. The very name of the letter
island contradicted the assertion, for in the Malay
language " Paloweh" signifies water island. Mr
Wallace also said that his experience of the India
Archipelago taught him that water is to be found
o❑ all the islands. He mentioned as a curious fact
that, on small low coral islands not more than four
feet above the level of the sea, water is found on
digging into the rock below the sea level, which
fact, he thought, tended to confirm the opinion en-
tertained by some scientific men, that by filtration
through the coral rock the salt water may become
fresh.

Two papers were then read relating to explora-
tions on Middle Island, New Zealand, one commu-
nicated by Dr Hector, the other by Mr Walker.
Dr Hector undertook an expedition in the spring
and summer of last year, in a small schooner, to
the w Est of Otago, and discovered a river that de.
bouches near Milford Bay. He ascended it for
about two miles, and came to a lake from which the
river flowed. He traced also another river that
entered the lake. Dr Hector described the rugged
physical geography of the southwest coast of New
Zealand, and ventured o❑ some geological specu-
lations, in which he expressed the opinion that the
precipitous rocky gorges indicate that the mono-.
tains were formerly much higher, though many of
them are now covered with perpetual snow. Mr
Walker's paper gave an account of a pedestrian
expedition across the island from east to west, in
the northern and more rocky district. After a brief
discussion, in which the president and other gen-
tlemen noticed the importance of the discovery of
the river by Dr Hector, the meeting adjourned.