The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-06 00:00:00

Disgraceful Scenes in a Church.

The St. Augustine petty session on Saturday was
occupied nearly two hours (says the Kentish
Gazette) in the investigation of two charges of
assault alleged to have been committed i❑ Seasalter
Church on Sunday, the 27th ult. In the first case
George Hayward, jun., ropemaker, was charged
with assaulting George How, grocer, and in the
second George How was charged with assaulting
Miss Fanny Hayward, sister of the defendant in the
first case. Mr. Allen Fielding appeared for the
defendant in the first case, and for the complainant
in the second. The assaults arose out of the dis-
puted right to certain seats in one of the pews in the
parish church of Seasalter. Mr. How deposed that
he went to church on Sunday morning, the 27th ult.,

but was prevented by the defendant George H ►y.-
ward from going into a pew in which he claimed
two seats. As he attempted to enter the pew, which
was then occupied by Hayward and two ladies, the

defendant pushed him back several times, and on
one occasion pushed him nearly do ?en. This con-
stituted the assault complained of. Mr. Fielding,
on behalf of the defendant, contended that Mr. How
had no right to the pew, the seats in which belonged
to the Hayward family, and that no assault had been
committed. The alleged pushing was denied, but
the defendant admitted that he prevented Mr. How
from entering the pew. Mr. Nichols, churchwarden,
was called, and deposed that two seats in the pew
in question had been alloted to Mr. How, and that
the remaining three only belonged to the Hayward
family. The magistrates held that an assault had
been committed, inasmuch as the defendant had,
by his own admission, prevented the com-
plainant going where he had a right to go. They
therefore fined the defendant Is. and 148. costs.
The case of the alleged assault by Mr. How on Miss
Hayward was then proceeded with. It appeared
that in the evening Mr. How, accompanied by his
wife, again attended church. On entering he found
the pew occupied by Mr. George Hayward, Miss
Fanny Hayward, the complainant, and two other
ladies. Mrs. How was permitted to go into the pew
and take the seat furthest from the door, but Mr.
Hayward prevented Mr. How from accompanying
her. Mr. How then went into an adjoining pew,
jumped over the partition to join his wife, and, as
was alleged, sat himself down on the knees of. the
complainant, who was next to his wife. He con-
tinued to sit on Miss Hayward's knees for five or
six minutes, though repeatedly requested by her to
get up. This constituted the alleged assault, and
the circumstance was distinctly sworn to by the
complainant and another young lady who was in
the pew at the time. The defendant denied sitting
down in Miss Hayward's lap. He said there was
plenty of room for six in the pew, and that he only
sat down between his wife and Miss Hayward. In
doing so he might, perhaps, have sat on Miss Hay-
ward's dress, but nothing more. The magistrates
deliberated a few moments, after which Mr. Delmar
said th©y were unanimously of opinion that an
assault had been committed. It was very ungallant
as well as very unseemly to sit down in a lady's lap,
at any rate without her consent, and the magistrates
would fine him 10s., and 12s costs. Mr. How
wished to say that the occurrence in the evening
would not have happened it it had not been for
what took place in the morning.

PRESERVATION OF CORN.—An experiment was
lately made in Paris for the preservation of corn
from fermentation and the attack of insects by enclosing it
in a metal vessel and exhausting the air. The experiment
was made in the presence of numerous persons, and is said
to have succeeded perfectly. Ten hectolitres of wheat were
placed in a metal vessel, and the air was exhausted. The
vessel was cpened after 15 days, and the weevils, which
were seen quite lively when the wheat was placed in the
vessel, heel quitted their cells and were dead. They were
warmed, but did not stir. Being placed on white paper,
they were crushed and reduced to powder without leaving
any stain on the paper. From various experiments made
on wheat under glass, it was found that the weevil retains
life longer than any other insect when deprived of air.