The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-12 00:00:00

THE SUN. LONDON, TUESDAY EVENMG, JANUARY 12, =M4r

him, walked into his counting house lately, and saying he
understood he (witness) was famous for the mirrors he
supplied for the entertainment of "The Ghost," ordered
one for £l6, and asked at the same time for a loan of £2,
which witness was to add to the bill. During the conver-
sation the prisoner took witness's umbrella from a stand
and began twirling it about. Witness asked to be excused
for a moment and went out, raying a gentleman wished to
speak with him. On his return to the counting-house the
prisoner was gone, taking the umbrella with him, and
witness had not seen him since until now.

This being the case against the prisoner, ho received the
usual caution from the Bench as to anything he might s iy,
upon which he said that at every place where he gave an
order it was on tho distinct understanding that he was to
forward the money either by cheque or by Post-office order,
on the receipt of which the goods were to be sent to him.
Alderman Waterlow—But you took Mr. Medwin's goods
away with you and had a bill and receipt, having given a
worthless cheque for them.
The prisoner said the boots fitted him very well, and it
was arranged that he was to have more. He confeased it
was an error to give the cheque, but he should have sent
the money on receiving the rest of the goods. lie could
pay every penny of the money he owed. There was no
intention on his part to swindle anyone, or to do anything
dishonest. When ho was apprehended he gave a correct
address and the names of two respectable persons for pur-
poses of reference. A swindler would not have done that ;
and, by the way, when the proper time arrived he should
bring an action against the witness Millhouse for giving
him into custody, He might add that an accident had oc-
curred while he was performing "The Ghost," by the
breaking of a looking-glass which had cost him :£.O. That
was all he had to say,
Alderman Waterlow was afraid the prisoner was too well
known about town.

Prisoner (interrupting)—Not in the sense in which you
think ; but when misfortune befalls a man there aro always
people ready to run him down.
Aldorman Waterlow said ho had not the slightesthesita-

tion in committing him for trial. The defence he had set
up was wholly ridiculous. He had obtained possession of
the goods of Mr. Mills and Mr. Medwin, and had given in
payment checks which were utterly valueless, not to men-
tion the poor cabmen whom he had defrauded. He stood
committed to Newgate for trial.
Several cabmen stood forward to prefer charges against
the prisoner, but the circumstances were not investigated.
One of them, on being told by Mr. Goodman that his remedy
was in the County Court, said that he had never been able
to find the prisoner.
Alderman Waterlow said the applicant knew where to
find him now. (A laugh.)
The prisoner was then removed from the bar.

Defalcations of the Lambeth Rate Collectors

Last evening a public meeting of the ratepayers of the
parish of St. Mary, Lambeth, was held at the Horns Tavern,
Kennington-park, for the purpose of considering the serious
defalcations which have recently been discovered in the case
of two of the collectors of the parish rates, and to devise
means for the prevention of such occurrences in future. As
the matter had given rise to much commotion in the parish
the meeting was crowded by respectable ratepayers, who
evinced mu3h interest in the proceedings.
Mr. Webber having been voted to the chair,
Mr. GILES then moved the following resolution :—" That
defalcations having occurred with two of the rate eollectors
of this parish to a very considerable extent, this meeting
deem it of the highest importance for the protection of the
ratepayers that immediate steps be taken to ascertain and
inquire into the management of the collectors and the sys-
tem of check adopted with the accounts, and that the Poor-
law Board be requested to institute an inquiry forthwith into
the whole of the circumstances and report thereon." In
support of the resolution' Mr. Giles entered into a detail of
the manner in which the business of the parish was con-
ducted. There was the board of guardians, who had the
management of the poor, but who had nothing to do with the
collection of the rates. Then there was the burial board and
the vestry, with the churchwardens and overseers, the
latter having the management of the rates. The number
of assessments in the parish was 23,000, and the rateable
value £556,420, the amount assessed as poor rate being
£93,000, and the total amount assessed for all purposes was
£152,221, for the collection of which there were 12 collec•
tors, and the cost of collection was £3,240, an average of
£270 to each collector. Under such circumstances. there-

fore, when there was such an amount of money to be dealt
with, the most rigid supervision should be exercised over
the collectors.
Mr. MERCER having seconded the resolution,
Mr. STRATTON said he had the misfortune to appear before
them as one of their churchwardens, and he could assure
them no ono regretted the state of matters more than did

the churchwardens. lie admitted the system was bad, and
that more supervision was necessary, and in order in some
degree to remedy the matter they had called in a profes-
sional accountant, who was making a strict investigation of
the books. He was churchwarden in 1855, and they had
then a staff of arrest collectors, who, coming after the re-
gular collectors, operated as a check upon them, and it was
almost impossible for them to have cheated the parish, but
in 185 G the Poor Law auditors had refused to sanction those
arrear collectors, and ever since they had little or any check
neon the collectors.
After some further discussion Mr, Buckton moved as an
amendment that the meeting abstain from expressing any
opinion in respect of these defalcations until the account-
ant now examining the books gave in his report thereupon,
Mr. GODFREY seconded the amendment, but the mover

of it having ascertained that the accountant who was in-

vestigating the books had been appointed by the church-
wardens and overseers, and not by the Poor-law Board,
withdrew the amendment, and the original resolution was
carried amid much applause.
Mr. PHELPS then moved that a memorial, founded on
the resolution ju,t adopted, be proposed and presented to
the Poor-law Board—such memorial to be signed by th©
chairman on behalf of the meeting.

Wheat, old white 308 47s
new 44s 50s
old red 34s 40s
new 38s 42s
Barley 27s 37s
Chevalier 2BB 39s
Grinding 22s 31s
Malt....
Chevalier . 64s 69s
Oats 20s 28s

Mr. BATLEY having seconded the resolution, it was
unanimously adopted, and the proceedings terminated with
a vote of thanks to the chairman.

Frightful Accident at Woolwich Dockyard.

THREE MEN KILLED AND SEVERAL INJURED
Yesterday afternoon considerable excitement prevailed in
the town of Woolwich, in consequence of a fearful accident,
which occurred at her Majesty's dockyard, causing the death
of three workmen and severe injuries to several others em-
ployed at the establishment. It appears that the paddle
steam •vessel Spiteful, lying at the east side of the inner
basin, had been condemned as unfit for further service, and
arrangements made for the removal of her boilers and ma-
chinery by means of the powerful crane and sheers on the
-,harf, which is worked by hydraulic pressure. A conside-
-mber of artisans and labourers from the steam fac-
rabic nu.-
f were employed on board the Spiteful to carry
tory departmeh
' -tions, and one of the boilers having
out the required oPel- -19 lifted from its position, and
been attached to the geae, `in when at that time (a
had just cleared the hold of the
the cylinder of the
quarter to 3 o'clock) the tenth link frau, , -asunder, and
massive chain attached to the sheers snapp4*
iind with
the sheers being thus released, suddenly canted
su
the ponderous gear attached, sweeping with tremena,
force over the deck on which the men were standing. A
scene of the utmost contusion and havoc resulted. The men
were knocked about in all directions ; the heavy chain and
gear falling upon their heads and bodies. As soon as pos-
sible assistance was at hand, and the authorities and medical
officers of the dockyard went on board the vessel, the deck
of which presented a shocking spectacle. Two men named
William Johnson, aged 43, leading hand at the factory de-
partment, and Patrick Kelly, aged 25, a factory labourer,
were teund lying dead, five men dangerously wounded, and
others more or less injured. The most severe cases were
those of George Nash, fractured skull, who it was evident
could not long survive ; Patrick M'Gennity, fractured
skull; Edward Reed, broken leg and other injuries; Cor-
nelius Regan, compound fracture of thigh; and Edward
Adams, injury.
The deceased men and the worst cases of the wounded
were immediately after the accident removed to the Royal
Marine Hospital, and every attention was rendered to the
sufferers by Drs. Thompson, Kelly, and Minnoch ; but on
inquiry at the establishment last evening it was ascertained
that George Nash expired about two hours after his admis-
sion, and l'd.`Gennity and Reed are in a very precarious con-
dition.
The sheers were erected about three years since, and the
link of the chain which snapped is about two inches in dia-
meter, weighing several pounds, and of wrought iron.

mere exercised upon the recommendation of the
Homey, Secretary, could save him. But from this
statute it would appear that a prisoner under sell"
tense of death can at any time be reprieved by mei!!
force of a certificate of his insanity, drawn tr P
two physicians or surgeons of any, character ef
opinions whatever, attested by two justices of el°
peace of any idiosyncracies or intelligence whatever'
Now, as it has been made abundantly evident, in the
course of the discussion on this case, that medical
men of high standing may be found who will certify
to the existence of insanity in almost any conceir
able case of murder, and who, indeed, would be
more likely to give the required certificate the worse
the murder was, it is certain that the medical secu-
rity for the execution of justice in the spirit of the
law is worth absolutely nothing. Nor do we se,
that matters are made much better by the required
addition of the signatures of two justices of the peace'
It would be hard if out of the magistra:ce Of
county town two could not be induced, either by
clever lawyer, or by the medical men themselves: Or
by some crotchet or sentiment, or by some poptl
cry, to endorse such a certificate. We do not sel,s.
for our part, why anybody need be hanged Wit"
this loophole to escape by. At all events wear e
certain that tiny clever rascal, by the help of
clever lawyer, might take advantage of the Acoi
It is scarcely poeeibie to exhaust the anomaly
such a state of things. Great complaint has bee°
very properly made of the irresponsible and uncev
tain character of the Commissions which might b°
appointed by the Home Secretary to inquire b°
appointed
such cases as these. But the Home Secretary is, °
all events, responsible for acting on the report of the
Commissions he appoints, and, unsatisfactory
any secret tribunal of the sort must necessarily be'
the persons appointed by him can hardly be othor
wise than independent and competent authorities'
But the tribunal to which this Act gives an autho.
rity to revise the sentence is fortuitous, and maybe
either ignorant or prejudiced, or both, and its actioa
removes all responsibility from any one. It Nrti°
felt to be sufficiently unsatisfactory that an ones'
stricted and unregulated power of;reversing tile
solemn sentence of a court of law should rest eye?,
in a responsible Minister of the Crown ; but it 1;
amazing to find this power placed in the hands °l`
any two crotchetty medical men and any two
informed or prejudiced justices of the peace. ItV;
been found dangerous that the authority of a jag
and jury should be set aside by a Minister actiog
under the authority of the Queen ; but here the
thority, not only of judge and jury, but of t
Queen herself, is set aside by two magistrates' o°o
two medical practitioners. The Act is said to kte:o
been hastily and inconsiderately passed in 18%;
and it cannot be doubted that such a flagrant au of
maly will be at once rectified. It is tobe hoped, Y
W'
that, the attention of Parliament being thus iroper°:
tively drawn to the question, it will take the opP°`;
tunity to law down some satisfactory law for tb
decision of similar cases for the future. Unwelcotre'
however, as such a revelation of the state of tbe,
law may be, it is satisfactory that it removes eye%
shadow of ground for the unpleasant imputatie°o
on the administration of justice which have beeo°o
loudly and unhesitatingly expressed. The evh°.'„
point before Sir George Grey, the Lunacy Cotno'l6s
sinners, and :he self-constituted Commission beg
been entirely mistaken. The matter has been arguebe
as though they were upsetting the decision of tot
jury es to whether the prisoner was insane or Po
when he committed the act, whereas the sot
question was whether be is insane or not
of
the present moment. Neither the truth i;
the verdict nor the justice of the sentence i;
in any way impugned. The sole questicu to
whether the sentence shall be executed. If to
prisoner, from whatever cause, is now io°,°;te
it is acknowledged that it would be an act of
U 0
humanity to put him to death. It will be seen, iv
from Sir George Grey's letter, that precisely to.
same question of the sanity of a prisoner after eeii
tence was raised in the case of a poor man tried 00i,
the year before Townley, in precisely the same lirfl,'
by the intervention of the Judge, and that the Poi
soner was sent to an asylum in just the same 81ii,
that Townley has been. The accusations of pti,
alit y which have been made in the matter are rt'A
we think, proved to be uncalled for and unjustillo
At all events, now that it is made evident that 'tile
miscarriage of justice, if there be any, is charge° to
entirely on en absurd Act of Parliament, it is t,,te
hoped that the public will reserve their dissatiii3o
tion for that strange piece of legislation, and
no time will be lost in altering it.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

-111, ...-

COLCHESTER—JAN. 0. OP
There was a fair supply of wheat at our market ~ tO' ....•
with a moderate business doing, and prices as follovl9 • y+9
Wheat, white..... ~44s 50s Beans,Mazagan.,2Ss 0
red 40s 44s middle & 5ma11.329 P
Barley
I
Oats . 20s 25s grey 340

GLOUCESTER—JAN. 9. frd
There was a good show of English wheat to-daY,, pc
the farmers, which met a fair sale at an advance of
qr. Foreign whcat dull, with no advance on the p% tAO
last week. Oats, barley, beans, and peas were 1:111'4
still unaltered in value.

CHELMSFORD—JAN. 8. 101
At this corn exchange to-day there was a moderate srice
of wheat, which met a tolerably active trade, and th°_,l3l,olo'
of last market advanced is per quarter for the best ows
Spring corn unaltered.
reas, Fartridge....36s
White
Boilingi
. ....... .
...
......... ....
Dun.......... .
Ditto new ......
Beans, Tick, old ••01:,
new
Harrow Ticks ..3u:
neW..,","
Mazagan

KIRKCALDY GRAIN—JAN. 9 t eIl
°
We had good supplies of barlay, oats, and
mai ket to-day. Sales were ready, and prices is
qr up.
Wheat. Barley. Oats.'
First....3ss Od 26s 6d 175 Od
Second .. 37s Od 28s Od 18s Oct
Third....39s_od 30s Od Ws Gd

COAL
Macs of Coal per Ton at
s. d. 6
Hastings Hartley lB ,9 Walls End. fj, 6
Eden Main 24 0 Haswell ......
Hetton ...........
Walls End. Ca 61301) .............
Tunstall 24 0
Ships at

IARKET.
tor; close of the inftWt'

25:; sold. 25.

Foreign Mail Packet List.

.d.
MAILS DUE. 15'
Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton •. JO l?'
JO' $,
via Marseilles ..
fi t
drazil and Cape Verds, by British pachet . keti'
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. Ji--; l',
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Seutliampten.P.,"‘;"
via Marseilles ... PP'
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton JO' l'''
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton...,.Jl
via Marseilles... • J'" '
India (Bombay), via Southampton
..... ..).170, '5,
via Marseilles f °l3'
Portuga 1....
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton ...... pal. 0,
via Marseilles ........ JO.
Newfoundland
Oporto and Vigo ..
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.. • • 0
by U.S. packet..•' ILO 10,
by Canadian packetTeb' 14,
W. C. of Africa, Madeira, and Tenerille ......... pa. ,g,
BahaCas, via New York ..................... fo,
3
o,
Mexic0..
All parts 01 West Indies, including Chili, Peril, jii.„../0'
California, rod British Columbia. ...........

Births. r Caps
HALL—On the 10th inst., ct Sheerness, the wife o' -doti'
W. King Hall, C. 8., H,A.f.„ S. Cumberland, of t 4 dots
W. til/
ter.
LICHFIELD—On the 11th inst at 35, Dever. Ore" I
0,
Countess of Lichfield, of a son.' ,h si'lY
STONE.—On the 10th inst., at 114, Piccadilly, (3
1,),54.1
John Stone, Esq., of a daughter.
TIDY.--On the 9th inst., the wife of IL Edgar Tidy,

of Clifford's-inn, solicitor, of a son.
Marriages. 00
neorge,ol
ANDERSON—TowER.—On the 9th inst , at St. `""alleV
Martyr, Do Laney Radcliffe Anderson, Egl''t..A7 rf
Royals, youngest sun of the late Colonl Ilenr-Tv folCe
son, to Adele Jane, second daughter of W. nellr" ,',
Esq., M.D., of Queen-square, W.C. 0011/,,,°'0
SDIPSON—SIIEITAED.—On the sth inst•, at S:,l,„vso?
Kilnburst, Yorkshire, the Rev. J. Ctirwen ''l,"'"ep
Fkances Maria, younger daughter of Sautuel °
Esq., of Taunton and London.
h
Deaths. AIN°
ALLEN.—On the 10th inst., at Herne-hill, Jui3 o'
;, Piel
Esq., aged SO.
BIELEFELD —On the 10th inst. Charles Charles Fredet'-i; ,
feld, of Wellington-street, St;and, aged 60. f'6
DONNE.—On the 7th inst., at Wcston Arico3ge' the
il'
cll°
Benj. Dd 67
MActitN. onne,
—On theage 10th. inst., at 31, Alfred-Place' 13'0,1
0 square, Nathl. Machin, Esq., aged 55.
snlltNE.—On the 9th inst at Walhant-greeljrlieflf
Elizabeth, Lady Osborne, "widow of the leis Pi 0
OLLAEne
, D E
Osborne,
ton, Kober
, ALL.-0a the 10th inst. at at Pentonville,roa I
PA,L ~
inf ,—Bart., of Deechwood, Tipperary. a 100
Pascall, sq , age 7S. . pil
P
Broitipton, aged 81.
On
Bn
itehineedlnOith,ohntisrtiii aEtsCq.r,eisacteenot
iiii3oilleos e o'ol/10led,
f;''
...--
sot, 0,1
London: Prinrc.!d and P.:l-qistied by IVILLI.N3f OAi. ~, I'll'
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Ttal SO 1,-(:- 00
Strand, in the Precinct of the 3avoy. ill tl"
Middlesex —'Tuesday, January 12, 1864'