The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-28 00:00:00

Elopement and Charge of Robbery.

At the Salisbury Police-court, on Monday, a young mar-
ried man, named James Stainton, a clerk in the employ of
the South-Western Railway Company, was charged with
having feloniously stolen £5O, the property of Mr. Charles
William Harris, landlord of the London Inn, Salisbury.
Mr. Whatman prosecuted, and Mr. Wilson defended the
prisoner, who was formerly the superintendent of the
Dinton station of the South Western Railway Company,
but about six months since he was transferred to Salisbury,
where he has acted as booking-clerk, During the past three
weeks he has been appointed parcel-clerk at the Salisbury
station. During his visits to the prosecutor's house an in-
timacy sprang up between the prisoner and Mrs. llarris,
which resulted in the present charge.
Mr. W. Harris gave evidence to the effect that on the
20th inst. his wife suddenly and unexpectedly loft home,
and that the prisoner, who was at his house when he dis-
covered the fact, expressed considerable sorry at the affair,
and pretended to use his best efforts to discover where Mrs.
Harris had gone to. He subsequently missed a box con-
taining £5O or £OO, and had since received the following
letters,one of which was intercepted, and others found upon
tho prisoner.
The letter found upon the prisoner was as follows. It
was directed to " Mr. J. Stainton, Salisbury Railway Sta-
tion, Salisbury" :
"A. W. Z.—To be left at the Post-office, Islington, till

called for.
"Here I am, my darling, almost afraid to write to you,
in case you may be watched very closely. Write by return;
save the London post in the morning. lam so anxious to
hear from you. lam very comfortable, but shall get into
fresh quarters in a day or so. I cannot give you any parti-
culars. lam so—so nervous. My idea is to write to a
friend of mine, an Indian colonel, and get information about
my going to India ; what do you think ? I would rather be
oil at once. Send the traps to the Greenwich Station till
called for, to Mrs. (not Miss)
Wilson. I will run down there
on Saturday. lam not sufficiently composed to write a
lengthy letter. Good bye, God bless you. Do you under-
stand to address your letter as above, that is—A. W. Z., &c.
God bless you. I have just been to Highbury to have a
look at your place. The house immediately before the en-
trance to the yard has every blind drawn down ; it gave me
such a turn, although I do not know it to be your father's.
Do not fail to write, my own loved one."
The intercepted letter was addressed to Mr. James Stain-
ton, Clerk, S. W. Railway, Salisbury, Wilts, Salisbury
past mark, Jan. 22d, 1864,
and was as follows :
" Here's a pretty pickle. I went just now to the P. 0. at
Islington. Informed all letters so addressed were detained
at General P. Office. Went there, and further informed no
letters with initials taken in, but opened and forwarded as
dead letter to writer. lem hot and cold, and I hope you
did not put any name ; then you will take no further trouble
about it. I will run down to Greenwich to-morrow in case
you may have sent on the parcel. 'Write to me immediately
you got this, my darling, or I shall go out of my mind. If
you do not, I cannot get a letter from you till Monday. I
shall therefore look out to-morrow afternoon. Direct, Miss
Wilson, Thompson's Family
Hotel, 10, Pentonville-road,
London, N. I shall remain here a few days. If you find
it desirable for me to change quarters because of any fresh
turn up, write a message and send some lad in tho tele-
graph-office. Say ' Change and write ;' and ic you think it
desirable for me to change, not write, say ' Chlnge and
Pedro.' I will then advertise in the _Daily Telegraph to
Pedro. I can do nothing, my love, until I year from you.
I hope all's well. I went to inquire about a passage in the
Duleep Singh—£6o—stiffish I Tell me, can I write unre-
servedly to you without fear? Good bye, write my eternal
love. God bless you."
Supolintendent Daidow proved taking the prisoner into
custody on Friday upon the charge of aiding, abetting, and
receiving from Mrs. Harris money and wearing apparel be-
longing to her husband. Ho replied, "I did not; nor have
I anything belonging to either Mr. or Mrs. Harris." In
a desk in the prisoner's office there was a parcel, and I
asked the prisoner to whom it belonged, and he replied
"It is my parcel ; I have got to pay 7d. for it." The par-
• cel was directed to Mrs. 'Wilson, Waterloo Station, There