The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-01 00:00:00

IN RE WHEATLEY.

The bankrupt, a livery stable-ko:per, at Kennington-
cross, applied' for his certificate. His debts were 1,4404 ;
r.ss2ts,realizi7d, about 3001. There was no opposition,
and

His Honour granted a certificate of the second class.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-DOUSE.—In the course of an inves!iga-
tion by the Lord Mayor into the clreurnatances of the
desertion of foreign seamen, to correct which evils new
Act of Parliament has just come into operation, his lord-
ship said—The desertion of foreign seamen in the port
of London. particularly amongst Prussian vessels, is very
great, and I aro given to understand that is attributable

in a great measure to the tricks played off by those
fellows cal!ed " crimps," against whom it ii certainly
necessary that some enactment should be made. _

Mr. Coleman, of the offiee of the Itegistrar-General
of Seamen,•who was in court, said—The system pursued
by a few of the keepers of lodging-houses for seamen,
is this :—Upon the arrival of a foreign vessel a close
watuh is kept by the crimp or his touters, who do ell
they can to induce the seamen to desert, under pro-
mises of bettor wages and treatment in British ships, and
assist them to remove their clothes, ißio., to their own
houses. In the yard of one of these houses I knew of a
place which was fitted up for the reception of the foreign
seamen, in such e manner as to escape the notice of
those who were not more than ordinary observers. In
these dens were the deserters concealed until the vessels
they belonged to sailed, unless, in the meentime, a re-
ward was offered, which wag generally the. case, as the
laws of foreien catintries hold the m asters of merchant
ships under a heavy bond to return the seamen they
engaged to their native country. The reward is (flies
Cloth in restoring a deserter to his vessel, through the
instrumentality of the very parties who prevailed upon
him to desert, and who, completely in the style and
fashion of dog-stealers, wait upon the captains who
have sustained the loss, and promise their good offices
sui,e, tieing will paid. Their exertions, however, are
never ofrored until their victims are rendered penniless,
end then the crimp prefers 5/ per man for restoring them
to their ships to the chance of 21. advance of wages in a
British ship. This "reward" is subsequently deducted
by the master from the wages duo to the seaman, who is,
to his astonishment, brought from his place of conceal-
ment to the vessel from which ho had lately departed. 1
have seen in the books of a merchant in this city an
entry of 301. odd paid to n crimp for the return of six
foreign seamen to their vessel, one of whom, at least, 1
could have proved was secreted in the house of the party
who received the reward; and until the introduction of
the Foreign Seamen's Deserters Bill cif last session, and
which caused so much discussion in P irliament, no per-
son could interfere in this sort of traffic, the existing
laws for the regulation of seamen only applying to
" subjects of her blejesty," or to the seamen of this
" kingdom.' By this Act, heavy penalties are enforced
for inducing a seaman to desert, or harbouring him, with
the knowledge that he is a deserter.

BOW-STREET.— Wm. Herbert, Harrison, of 14,
Claremont-place, Brixton-road, the keeper of a post-
office receiving-house, was brought before Mr Henry, in
the custody of T'eske. the constable attached to the
establishment of St. Martin's•le Grand, charged with
stealing a letter containing a cheque for 161 38. GC
Mr Peacock, the Plst-offico solicitor, attended to con-
duct the prosecution.

The letter in vestion was posted at the prisoner's re-
ceiving-house at three o'clock in the afternoon of the
13th October. It never reached its destination. and,
consequently. Dr. Cronin, of Brixton, by whom it had
been despatched, caused inquiries to be merle respecting
it The prisoner professed great readiness to assist in
the investigation, but eventually Peake, the officer, ascer-
tained that the cheque was presented at Drummonds'
bank at four o'clock on the same day. and that two 51.
Bank of England notes were given, with the balance in
cash, in change for it. The numbers of the notes were
preserved, and, on subsequent inquiries, it was found
that one of them was °clanged by the prisoner the same
evening, at six o'clock, at a shopkeeper's named Dawson,
while the other was passed at a public-house early the
next morning, also by the prisoner, whose name was
written on the back of one of them, at the request of the
person by whom it was received. Having thus traced
the notes to the possession of the prisoner, Peake pro-
ceeded to the prisoner's residence, and took him into
custody. He said, " This is a mysterious affair ; but I
know nothing about it."

Mr. Henry—Wh3t is the salary usually paid to a re.
eeiving, hou' e-keeper ?
Mr. Walter Seultherpo (president of the London dis,

ttict deportment) said the salary was 101,; but the ap.
pointment was considered valuable as a recommendation,
or introduction, in business. _ _

The prisoner, on being duly cautioned, said—Dr.
Cronin came to me last Monday night, and said the
cheque had been lost. I told him to write to Mr. Smith,
the superintendent of the letterecarriers, but ho did not
do so. Afterwards he called at my shop, and said that
the matter rested between the postman and myself. I
did not like the imputation thus cast upon me, and so I
wrote to Mr. Smith myself upon the subject. I was
requested, in reply, to ascertain the particulars as to the
posting of the cheque, &c., and I gave Dr. Cronin a form
to fill up for that purpose. While this was about, I was
taken into custody by Peeks. I admit that 1 changed
the two et. notes, bat I shall be able to show very clearly,
on a future occasion, where I obtained them. I ought to
remark, that the postman has been off duty for a month,
end that Dr. Cronin's servant, who posted the letter,
knew very well that there was a cheque inside it.
case
further
examination,
Mr. Henry said an opportunity should be given the
prisonerly and h
remtomde snake
hisi
m for Blear, as
promised,inatiOanl,ldreafuecsinordi,
however, to admit him to bail.
WORSHIP-ST REET.— Henry Land was placed at
the bar before Mr. Hammill, charged with having ob-
tained, by false pretences, from the Eastern Counties
Railway, two boxes containing working tools and other
articles, the property of George Stewart Sutton, a mas-
ter carpenter at Norwich.
The prosecutor said that having received an order, in
the early part of the week to proceed to town with all
possible expedition, to execute some work connected
with the preparations for the funeral obsequies of the
Duke of Wellington, he hastily packed up in two boxes,
upwards of 201. worth of tools, together with numerous
articles of wearing apparel, and other necessaries for his
personal use during his residence in London. Shortly
before he started from Norwich, an argent appeal was
made to him by the prisoner, who represented himself
to be out of work and in a state of complete destitution.
Compasaionating his tideless condition, witness invited
him to accompany him to town, and, not only agreed to
defray his travelling expenses, but promised to provide
him with board and lodging for a week, and to use his
best efforts to procure him a situation. The pri-
soner :acceded to his proposal with the most
profuse expressions of gratitude ; and on Tues-
day afternoon, they arrived in town together by
the Eastern Counties Railway, and after depositing his
luggage in tho cloak-room, under the charge of one of
the porters, he proceeded in search of a lodging for the
prisoner, and soon afterwards established him in com-
fortable quarters in the neighbourhood. Witness also
took up his residence in an adjoining tavern, where ho
remained that night, but was somewhat surprized at the
absence of the prisoner, who had promised to call upon
him; and, upon getting up next morning, ho discovered
that his luggage ticket, which ho imagined he had on
the previous day securely placed in his waistcoat pocket,
had disappeared. HP instantly hurried off to the rail-
way station, on reaching which he found that the pri-
soner had been beforehand with him, and had not only
obtained and absconded with his two boxes, but had gone
the length of forging a receipt for thorn, to which he had
attached his own signature. He immediately gave in•
formation to the police, who succeeded on the preceding
evening iu taking the prisoner into custody, and also
traced some part of his property, a portion of which had
been pledged by th accused, who had left the remainder
under the charge of the landlord of a public-house.
On being asked if he wished to say anything in answer
to the charge,
The prisoner, with an air of injured innocence, re-
plied—" Well, I don't think that 'ere man has done the
right thing by me, by no manner o' means, as he pro-
mised to board and lodge me comfortable; and what does
he do, on getting up, but gives me for a meal just three
halfporth of bread and butter and a pint of coffee. Now,
I calls that 'ere right down dog meals; and, finding that
I was thrown on my own bottom, and hadn't no tools of
my Own, which I couldn't get work without 'em, I makes
bold to borrow bit'n; but as for stealin' on 'ern, why it's
no sitch thing—l scorns the notion." (Laughter.)
Mr said
that he considered it a very flagrant
case, and he should order the prisoner to be remanded
for a week, to
afford the police an opportunity of tracing
the remainder of the - •
missing property.
LAMBET-

__,,,rn.—EmnEzzi,NENT.—Jonathan Mould,
chief clerk in the traffic departmcnt of the Suu'h Vv' est-
em Railway, nttho Watprioo station, wail on Saturday
brought to the Lambeth Polic© Court in custody of Ser-
geant Thomas Bent, and charged with cmbrzzling 3091.
4s. 2d., the moneys of the directors and cowpony of that
railway, his employers.