The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-12 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER.

CONVICTION OF AN OFFICER IN THE ARMY.—Mr.
John Charles Sweeney, of 13, St, George's-street, captain
in the 91st Highlanders, -was charged with unlawfully
breaking a square of glass, value £lO, and assaulting the
policeman.
The charge of wilful damage was not proceeded with,
Miss Hughes, the complainant, being absent.
Police-sergeant 26 13, said that at 11 o'clock last7night
he was called to 16, Cumberland-street, Pimlico, where the
defendant was given into custody for wilfully breaking a
square of plate-glass. When witness entered defendant
was coming down stairs with a stick in his hand, and in
allusion to the glass said, " Bobby, come and see me
finish it, and in returning upstairs he broke some more of
the glass from the wardrobe. The lady, having given him
in charge, witness laid hold of him by the arm, upon which
he said he should like to have e. slap at the " bobby," and
struck him on the hat, on the breast, and on the mouth,
In cross-examination by Mr Edward Lewis, solicitor for
defendant, witness said that defendant said he should like
to " bonnet" witness. He was not drunk, The blows he
struck were not violent.
Police constable 0 B said that as he entered the house
with the servant, they met the defendant coming down
stairs. He had part of his clothes ( ff, and after putting
them on, he said, "I should like t 3 have a go at
you." "Bobbies," he added, "I'll pay for a new
hat, and give you IF. if you let me bonnet you." lie then
sttuck the sergeant on the top of the hat. In the seta 3to
secure him he struck witness under the ear with his
Mr Lewis said that his client had, while in a state o!
intoxication, been inveigled into this house, where a dif-
ference arose. The fact of defendant being partially un-
dressed would show the character of the house.

Mr Arnold inquired what it war.
The sergeant sai he believed it was very respectable.
Mr Lewis said it could be shown it was not—it woe
a lodging-house for ladies.
Defendant said Col. Cumberland hired it for its present
occupant.
Mr Lewis said that defendant very deeply regretted what
had occurred. He had been wounded while in service in
India, and having had sun stroke there, became much ex-
cited under the influence of liquor, as in the present case.
The assaults seemed to have been jocular, by the language
used, and not of a vicious character.
Mr Arnold thought there was not evidence of a savage
character in the assaults, but pointed out that the police
were not to be assaulted as a source of amusement to gen-

tlemen who got drunk. Although the lower order of per-
sons might be guilty of misconduct while in a state of in-
toxication, better conduct was expected of those in the posi-
tion of gentlemen, and be (Mr Arnold) cLubted whether
he ought not to commit without a fine.

He fined defendant £lO (i 5 for each assault) or two
months, which was immediately paid.

MAREETB—This Day.

MARK-LANE.

But moderate supplies of home-grown wheat were re-
ceived fresh up to our market to-day coastwise and by rail.
The trade, however, was in a sluggish state for all qualities
nevertheless, the bulk of the supply of good and fine pro-
duce on offer was disposed of at Monday's currency. The
transactions in inf3rior Engliah wheats were at about pre •

vic,us rates.
There was a good supply of foreign wheat on the stands.
In all descriptions sales progressed slowly, yet no change
took place in prices compared with Monday. Indeed both
continental and American parcels were held at fully that
day's currency.
There was a moderate supply of barley on offer. Good
and fine malting qualities mt.ved off steadily, at full prices ;
otherwise the barley trade was dull, at quite the recent fall
in the quotations.
Malt was in slow request, at about previous rates.
The supply of oats on the stands was tolerably large.
Most descriptions wore in good demand, at full currencies.
Beans met a slow sale, at the late decline in prices. Peas,
however, ruled firm.
The flour trade was quiet, at late prices.
ARRIVALS THIS NvItBK.
Wheat. Barley, Malt. Oats. Flour.
English .... • • 210 750 200 _ 3so
Irish ........
4,193 1,100
Foreign ......

1,860 --
-- 26,120 30 sks

, Us 6d tok
WHITECHAPEL.
Moderate supplies of meat are on sale here, and trade, on
the whole, is steady, at the annexed quotations
and por .;
Beef, from 2s 10d to 4s 4d putton,4s 10d per Sibs by
3s 8d to 4s 8d •
veal, 3s
a3rscalOse.dto 458 d ;

.........rm...

BonouGH HOP.
The hop trade is dull. Fine samplos aro tolerably firm in
price; but inferior produce Is obtainable at reduced
quotations.

sitting a letter was read from M. Enault, calling
FRENCH ACADIMY OF SCIENCES,--At the last
the attention of naturalists to the strength of the thread of
a garden spider, probably well-known to them; the advan-
tages, however, which might be derived from its threads,
which offer great resistance, seem to
to have escaped their
coursenatice.
of Drhi
s researchesA ren t z n wrote fromin g
the C
treatment of diseases
ohch
of the eye, he had discovered that electricity applied in a
t o that in the
certain way peculiar to him, may ato-
p the progress of an
incipient cataract. Nov, since the beginning of thi,,
disease generally commences at a point where it is easy
to perceive it, whenever the diminution of vision
is attributable to that cause,
the means ho pro-
poses will not ind.ced restore the eye-sight as it was before,
but will prevent the evil from becoming worse. If the
Academy, he adds, should think such a result, however im-
perfect, sufficiently important to deserve further attention,
he will be happy to communicate all the necessary details to
enable practitioners in France to try the method which he
has now been employing with success for more than a year.—
M. Lespiault, who, at the last sitting, had announced that a
violent explosion had been heard in the air on the 24th Sept.,
and which did not seem to admit of any other explanation
save that of the bursting of a fire-ball, wrote again to say
that his supposition was correct.; for tht.t, in a private
letter from Mon; -de-Marsan, and published in the Gironde,
it was stated that on that day at 20 minutes 12 p.m., a fiery
globe of the size, of a bombshell had burst in the vicinity
of that town with a violent noise resembling the simulta-
neous report of 20 pieces of ordnance. This noise las ed 10
seconds ; the direction of the bolis was from north to south ;
but the phenomenon could not be observed in all its splen-
dour because the sun was very brilliant, and unveiled by
the slightest cloud.

CITY SEWERS COMMISSION.

Yesterday a meeting was held at the Guildhall of the City
Commissio nerd et Sewers, Deputy De Jersey in the chair.

THE GAS QUESTION.
The following report from the special committee upon gas
was read and adopted :
" We, whose names are hereunto set, your special com-
mittee on gas, to whom it was on the 14th of June last re-
ferred to consider a motion of that date—' That the citizens
of London have for a long time been suffering from an in-
sufficient supply of gas, and that supply being under the
superintendence committee, they be appointed for the pur-
pose of ascertaining the cause of such insufficiency, with
power to make such investigation aid take such steps as
may appear desirable, with a view to its improvement, both
in quality and quantity, and to insure to the consumer more
pow•or and permanent light ;' and having had our attention
iced.° I to the various complaints which have been made
from time to time tt insuffioiency of light from the public
lamps whero the carburetter is fixed in the lantern, end to
the shadow cast by such c irburetters round the base of
such lamps, after consulting µi:h the chem'cal examiner
and gas engineer thereupon, we have decided to recommend
to your hon. Court that on the termination of the present
contract with the Co operating Company on Ist Feb. next,
the use of the carburetter, so far as regards those lamps where
it is I laced in the lant-rn, bo discontinued.
" With regard to the very difficult question as to the ex-
cessive amount of sulphur found in the gas supplied to the
City,we are advised by the chymical examiner of gas, that,
in the event of your hon, Court desiring to take any pro-
ceedings to put in force the provisions of the act of Parlia-
ment in reference thereto, it is expedient that you should
have the best opinion you can get on the subject, and he
recommends that Mr Hawksley, the gas engineer, be re-
tained for such purpose and to advise as to the best mode of
reducing the amount of sulphur in gas, so that such opinion
be had at a cost not to exceed 20 guineas, and we recommend
that he be retained for that purpose accordingly, and that it
be referred back to us to obtain the same."
Dr LETHEBY reported that the average illuminating
power of the gas supplied to the City during the week had
been above the requirement of the Act of Parliament, but
that on six occasions out of 17 in the case of the Chartered
Gas Company it had been below the standard, and that once
in seven in the case of the Great Central Company it had
also been below. The average power of the City Company's
gas had been equal to 13•i7 cantles, whereas that of
the Chartered and Great Central had not been 121 candles.
The amount of sulphur in the City and Chartered had ave-
raged 19.3 grains, but that of the Great Central had been
21.1 grains, and on every occasion the latter gas had con-
tained more sulphur than was sanctioned by the act.
Mr Crikrmer gave notice that when next the gas ques-
•

tion came before the Court ho would submit the following
motion :—" That it be referred to the Special Gas Commit-
tee to confer with the gas companies in the City of London
with the view of obtaining a reduction of the price of gas to
that which was charged by the various companies from and
after the passing of the sot of the Great Central Gas Com-
pany to the passing of the ➢Zetropolis Gas Act, and in the
event of the committee failing to obtain such reduction to
consider and report as to the advisability of applying to
Parliament for powers to obtain the same, and to secure to
the citizens the advantages they formerly possessed in re-
spect of the gas supply, and such other powers as may be
otherwise beneficial."
THE MEDICAL OFFICER'S REPORT.

The following report was read from the medical officer of
health :—" The inspectors' return which are before you re-
late.to 265 houses that have been inspected during the
week, and I submit a list of 62 places for sanitary improve-
ment. The markets and slaughter- houses have been duly
inspected, and the officers have condemned 2,3601 b of meat
as most unfit for human food ; 9701 b were diseased, b7dlb
were putrid, and 8141 b were from animals that had died
from disease. It consisted of 9 sheep, 5 pigs, 10 quarters of
beef, 20 joints of meat, and 42 head of game and poultry.
" The mortality returns for the week are a little above

the average for the corresponding week of the last 9 years.
Last week the number of deaths was 59, whereas the average
number is 51; 28, or nearly half of the deaths, were among
children of less than five years of age, and 8 were among
persons of CO and upwards. The chief causes of death are as
follows :—Phthi. is, s—mesenteric disease, 10—pntumonia,
3—bronchitis, 2—whooping-cough, I—diphtheria, 3—scar-
let fever, 4—measles, I—and 3 from infantile diarrhcei."