The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-05 00:00:00

INDIA.

By the last accounts Dost Mahommed was still on
his deathbed, and all was confusion throughout his do-
minions. The Hazarroes near Ghuznee, on learning
his state, had at once refused to pay revenue, and
shut themselves up in their fastnesses. The inhabi•
tants of the recently conquered province of Balk have
taken advantage of the opportunity and risen against
Aoram Khan, who has only 3,000 men with him,
and will be unable to hold the country unless
speedily reinforced, which he is not likely to be in
the present posture of affairs. On Dost Mahom-
med's death the contest for the succession will be
between his brother, Sultan Mahommed, who is
supported by the Kohistanees and other tribes, and
his two eldest sons, Gholam Hyder Ali and Mahom-
med Afzal, assisted by the Kuzzilbashes and Ghilzies.
Sultan Mahommed's party is thought to he the stronger
of the two. " The results to be expected," says the
Englishman, "are much anarchy and many mur-
derous assassinations ; and eventually the party
having the chiefest right earnestly demanding, and
probably obtaining British support, which must be
of necessity yielded, rather than permit Persian, or,
eventually perhaps even Russian interference, under
circumstances of such temptation."
Our former disasters in Affghanistan render the
idea of any new interference with the politics of that
country a most distasteful one; but all grounds for
anxiety on the subject disappear on reflecting how
completely the possession of the Punjaub has altered
our position in:regard to the valley of the Cabul river.
We now occupy the lower portion of that valley (the
Peshawur district) with a large force of picked men,
trained and habituated to mountain warfare. In the
Punjaub we have 50,000 regular troops, mostly massed
along the course of the Lahore and Peshawur road,
and, with the strong Sirhind division in their rear,
from such an array a force farge enough to make the
conquest of Cabul a mere promenade would scarcely
be missed ; but we should not again attempt either
conquest or occupation, or interfere with the inde-
pendence of the country any more than we do with
that of Nepaul. It is unquestionable that a Resident
at Cabul, and the establishment of such relations with
its Government as would insure the safety of the Ca-
bul road for purposes of commerce would greatly ex-
tend the demand for British manufactures through a
very large tract of country, now principally supplied
by Russia with goods of a very inferior description.
This would be still more the case were the capabilities
of the Indus developed by placing on its waters
steamers on the American river model. The exten-
sion of our commerce in that direction is now the
great desideratum of the Bombay merchants.
Captain Coke's force has returned without fighting
to Kohat, after taking possession of the annexed terri-
tory to the westward. A strong fort is being built
near the Behader Khail Mine, to command the Salt
range.
Sir Colin Campbell's force has been employed in
blowing up Momund forts and burning Momund vil-
lages. No resistance has been attempted. The main
part of the force is now encamped near the junction
of the Cabul and Archukizie rivers, where a new fort
is being built, capable of holding two companies of
infantry, two troops of irregular cavalry, and a cou-
ple of guns. The point seems a very important one
to occupy ; it commands the trade of the Cabul river
and the irrigation of Michnee and other lerge villages.
The Momunds hover round the camp to take a long
shot at it occasionally.
The local newspapers have, since the departure of
the last mail, been occupied, almost to the exclusion
of all other topics, with the description of the
Mussulman disturbance, which, it will be remem-
bered, commenced on the 17th of October, on
the occasion of the appearance, in a Parsee news-
paper, of a short biographical notice of the Prophet
Mahomet, illustrated by a lithographed portrait,
which the Mussulmans constrained into an intentional
insult to their religion. The mob of the 17th of Oc-
tober was immediately dispersed by the police autho-
rities, and the principal positions in the town were
occupied by troops the same evening. For some days
after this small parties of Mussulmans waged a sort of
guerilla warfare against order, pouncing upon any
solitary Parsee they saw passing, whether in carriages
or on foot, thrashing them with heavy clubs, and
escaping through the dark narrow passages of the
native town on the appearance of the police. Such
cases of assault, at first very numerous, daily dimi-
nished in frequency, and by the day of departure of
the last mail no cases of the sort had occurred for up•
wards of a week. Public confidence was restored,
the disturbance was considered at an end, and the
troops were withdrawn from the town. On the 20th
of November, however, a rumour was rife in the Ba-
zaar that there was to be a Mussulman outbreak on
the following day (Friday). The police were on the
alert, strong parties being posted near the principal
mosques, and the Governor's escort of Lancers having
been placed at the disposal of the magistrates, pa-
trolled the streets, and the usual Friday crowd of
Mussulmans, after attending their weekly prayers,
dispersed quietly. About five o'clock in the evening
a few drunken Mussulmans assaulted two or three
Parsee passengers in one of the streets of the Maho-
rnetan quarter. A cry of " Deen, deen !" was raised;
a mob of two or three thousand lussulmans instantly
collected, but finding the police on the alert and
assembling in force, they dispersed without doing
more damage than breaking into two or three Parsee
liquor-shops in the neighbourhood and beating the
inmates. The police succeeded in taking some of the
most violent prisoners. On the following day (Satur-
day) nothing but insulated cases of assault occurred
till about four o'clock in the afternoon. About that
time four or five Mussulmans asasagauaslistneemdrbaliaseeddr:a
ar
passenger in one of the main streets of the native
ow
usosf‘ Dees innP;tawnastly
mobtan. 'she cry
ulrn‘ an
of Mussulmans
m
rushing into a street called Parsee-wada, situated in
the Parsee quarter, attacked all they found in it, and
tried (and in some cases with success) to break into
gilts
asi thetoer
ea
tofgenr
anal
tyinnh
deorcaot chdaefsani
upper
pno
pon
mounted
nrn
enowsndt
thneoirdcif he
cts
the
onPossaftt rar sbeteleheet
ess,
the houses, which had been closed on the first alarm.
assisted
attempted
yAr ebnlmseisesi
were almost immediately on the spot, and charging
the mob, dispersed them. The foot police that fol-
lowed took several prisoners, and half a dozen Mussul-
mans and about double the number of Parsees (one
of whom is since dead) were taken to the hospital.
The troops were immediately ordered out, and occu-
pied their old positions.
On Sunday morning (the 233), about half•past 8
o'clock, a Mussulman mob suddenly assembled on the
opposite side of the native town, and attacked a Parsee
fire temple, and the houses of the adjacent streets,
attempting to break into them. The police were on
the spot in time to prevent their penetrating into the
holy of holies of the temple, or getting inside any of
the houses. At half-past 2 r.m. another mob assem-
bled in the centre of the native town, and advanced up
the street leading to the principal Parsee quarter.
Two magistrates, with some Lancers and mounted
police, were, however, on the spot, and dispersed the
mob, taking a few prisoners. The mob assembled
again, and were again dispersed, and several of the
rioters having been seen taking refuge in an adjacent
mosque, the building was cleared, all its inmates
marched off to gaol, and the doors locked.
Monday passed off quietly, and there has been no
disturbance since. Twenty-eight of the rioters have
been committed for trial to the Supreme Court, and
about double that number have been summarily dealt
with by the magistrates, who in every case inflicted
the highest penalty allowed by local regulation.
The results of this &nettle have been out of all pro-
portion to its importance. It occasioned a complete
panic of considerable duration among the native popu-
lation, whole streets in the Parsee quarters were de-
serted, shops closed, and business at a stand still.
The Parsees and Mussulmans are about equal in
number, and there being above 105,000 of each per-
suasion, both sects together form about half, and that
by far the most important half as far as commerce is
concerned, of our population. As usual in such cases,
the magistrates have been blamed by the local papers
for the long continuance of these disturbances, and for
not having at first ordered the troops placed at their
disposal to fire into the mob. The sessions, however,
commenced this morning, and the presiding judge,
in his charge to the grand jury, strongly approved the
conduct and the forbearance of the magistrates, and
attributed the long continuance of the riots to the in-
sufficiency of the police force as regards number and
material with a population of near 600,000. We have
hitherto had only 600 policemen, ill-paid,yndersized,
and unrespected by the lower orders. In consequence of
the late riot the
permanently and its material improved.
the numerical strength of the police is
to be double
The number of the police has been temporarily raised
to nearly 1,900, and 50 of the Poona Irregular
Horse have been
authorities, and are expected at Bombay to-morrow.
placed at the disposal of the civil
The suddenness with which the Mussulman mob
collects on the cry of
" Deen !" being raised—as in-
stantaneously as Roderick Phu's clansmen at the
sound of his whistle—has been a source of much em-
barrassment to the civil authorities. The cowardice
aofnd the the mob,
attacked by them, together
painddity with which it disperses on being
the superstitious dread of horsemen,
with n
a
the intricacies of the native town afford for its escape
time before the foot police have
of dealing with them properly. the facilities which
to come to the spot
much
(to take prisoners), have increased the difficulty

THE LAST Max,—.l•he solitary Eurvivor of the
wreck of the Royal George is now living at St. George's,
Gloucestershire. Ilij name is Abel Hibbs, aged 91. Until
lately he was a hale old man, but is now bedridden, and 1113
only support is from the pocr-rate.

LAW INTELLI( iENCE.
COURT OF BANKRUT TCY, Jan. 3.
(Before Mr. Commiss'.oi ler FARE.)
IN RE JOHN HINE MA- r— —JUDGMENT.

This bankrupt, a draper, of CI =den-town, applied
a short time since for his cer tit icate, and judgment
was deferred.

His HONOUR now gave judgment as follows:
The bankrupt asks for his certi float°. The assignees
object on general grounds, ar two creditors—Mr.
Warwick and Messrs. Bradbui 7 and Co.—on special
grounds. The general ground s are—firstly, gaining
credit by misrepresentation ; secondly, not keeping
proper books ; and, thirdly, reckless trading. The
alleged misrepresentation was that the bankrupt,
through Messrs. Parker and Hi n ,e whom he had made
his referees, and one of whom, ;5,1r. Hine, was a re-
lation of his, gave out that he had a capital of 2,0001.,
which representation, as it is a aleged, was not true.
The evidence, however, does not satisfy me that he
ever authorised the exact repel eeentation made by Mr.
Parker. That gentleman was examined before me,
but he could not go further the et to say that he had an
impression that the bankrupt b ad told him he had such
capital, though how he came by the impression he could
not exactly state. He never tc ok down any statement
in writing. Now the bankrupt ,had married, in 1848, a
lady who had 7741., and ex pe ctations besides. His
wife'sae
on
sum, which she let him
h
samemotht sr had 6801., which she
have
sister
loan, hadand theer
also lent him. These three st is as amounted to 2,000/.
and upwards. The mother t bnd sister came to live
with him, and led him to expe a' t that he would have
the use of their money for his trade so long as he
paid interest. In 1849 his na, 3t her-in-law died, and
on her death he appears to h iv a received, partly in
right of his wife and partly b y the consent or his
sister-in-law, a further core lie lerable sum. To say
that, under such circumstance* as these, he had wil-
fully conveyed falsehoods to his creditors through
113 r. Parker,
charge,rke rwouldlin my opinion, be most unjust.
Of this therefore, I en t irely acquit him. And
here I will observe that I wish creditors, when con-
sidering whether to give creel tor not, would look
more to the prospects of their i ntended debtor than
to his supposed wealth. Credit 3rs ought not to trust
capital. They ought to trust prudence, experience,
knowledge of business, and the sort of business
which is being carried on. ETt'a id the creditors in this
case inquired, not how ere ,ti 1h capital the bank-
rupt had to lose in his ;business, but whether
his business was likely to prosper, they would
have seen ample grounds foie . caution. They might
have learned that he was a young man without
experience; that the capital svs a not the result of his
own industry, but an incitit 3nt of marringe ; and
that he had taken a shop at C. LI uden-town, where two
predecessors had failed ; and f et ma these circumstances
they might have anticipated t i eat the capital so easily
acquired would soon melt a.
ay under the influence
of youth, inexperience, and a n ill-chosen site. To
iy
none of these circumstances, however, did they look.
All that they looked to was I lc w much capital he had
to lose. But is this right ?
'The practical result is,
that in less than three years himself, his wife, and
his wife's sister, are reduced frc )m comparative afiia•
ence to penury. Capital sot at i melts away in the
hands of inexperience, stim, ale ited to folly by the
sudden possession of apparent ly ample funds. The
other general charges are, the , not keeping proper
books -and reckless trading ;►
d of these it is im-
possible to acquit him. Good b ook -keeping is almost
the only security for success in. business, and this he
utterly neglected. He did nof even keep a cash
account, which is the basis of al I bookkeeping. His
trading was also reckless, for it al peara by his accounts
that,while his profits for three y ears were almost no-
thing, his outlay for shop impr ov ements was 3001.; his
hen the natural result
and Rtrade expenses were 3,000/. • gnd his domestic
upwards;
ex-
penses 9001. and
of this was that he was unable t o meet his payments,
he endeavoured to postpone th e e .vil day by borrowing
and pawning goods at heavy ii At rest. There is, how-
ever, some set-off against thee e grounds of complaint,
for, from the moment that his en editors called for in-
vestigation, be acceded to theirwish, put himself en-
tirely into their bands, and apr )ears to have told the
whole truth without the least disguise. He has also
given up everything
that he ?ea d remaining, and the
result is an actual receipt und,e r his estate of 2,000/.
and upwards. I heartily w is! ti the case had rested
here; for, had there been n °thing more I might,
having regard to his youth and the sufferings in
which he has involved himself, his wife, and sister- in-
law, have merely suspended 1- its certificate and given
him protection. But, unfortun s tely, under bad advice
t
he was induced on the 24th of July last, when he was
utterly insolvent, to give ar dove for goods to Mr.
Warwick and Messrs. Bradbu a and Co. (who are
the creditors who complain on t hese special grounds),
and to Messrs. Mair and Co., igb r the express purpose
of having those goods pawned. at once to raise the
funds necessary to meet a den 3ft nd upon him. It is
impossible to characterise tb is otherwise than as a
gross fraud. If there are pal lie ting circumstances—
and Ido not say they are—tht )y are these, that the
pressure upon the bankrupt v great, the peril to a
friend was immediate, the adiv ice he received from
certain parties was most wicket 3, and in the hurry of
the moment he had not strength of character to resist
the pressure. The goods he std obtained were under
1001., and he says—and I am eiis posed to believe him
—that he meant to redeem thet a as soon as possible
after his return home. I canntot , however, say judi-
cially that these are even pal lia ting circumstances,
and therefore I must, in the tiiescharge of my public
duty, not only suspend his .certificate, but refuse
him protectionl Lfrom arrest. If, however, a
wronged creditor, however justly indignant
at the fraud, should concur with me in thinking
that the transactions of the 240 (if July were the re-
sult more of feebleness of charricter than of knavery,
and should abstain from the power of arrest put into
his hands, I shall not regret it. If the power should
be exercised, I shall release him after three months'
postp postponed for
imprisonment.n My judgment is. that his certificate is
twoyears from titsl date of the bank-
ruptcy, without protection.
An application made by Mr. A. Turner for the
Court's sanction to prosecute the: bankrupt at the ex-
pense of the estate, was refused.
Mr. Lawrance was for the 139.111IrEpt.
IN RE W. STRANGE, ZTJN.
The bankrupt was a publisher of Paternoster-row.
The accounts prepared by Mr. Butler showed debts
secured,:39s/. ; unsecured, 1,35:2/. The assets were
—good debts, 761. ; property given up, 1461. ; ditto
in the hands of creditors, 2921. The profits had been
4,3051. Amount paid to W. f3trange, sen., 1,282/. ,
trade expenses, 2,6061 ; personrd ditto, 482/.
His HONOUR granted a third-class certificate.

POLICE IN TELYZGENCE
GUILDRAL L.
Mrs. Dawson alias Phcebe blakeney, who was
charged with having committed wilful and corrupt
pcoemrjumroyinlB she was3by making affi&avit in Doctors'-
ns that the only natural and lawful
daughter of the late Mrs. Elam widow of Lieutenant
Elam, of the Stb Garrison Battalion, appeared before
Alderman Farebrother for further examination rela-
tive to that charge.

Mr. Huddlestone, on behalf of Miss Elam, said
that he bad no evidence to offs r beyond the facts
already in the possession of the
.magistrate, but that,
from inquiries made by Messrs. Cotterell, they bad
not the least doubt of being a.bleoccasion, to prove the legitimao,7 of on a subsequent
Miss Georgina
Elam, and that she would also be entitled to a part, if
not the whole of the property Mrs. Dawson was
charged with unlawfully adminisltering to, as the only
next of kin. With regard to the charge against that
lady, he should leave it in the hands of the worthy
alderman to adjudicate upon.
Mr. Ballantine, in reply, said that this, like all
other empty charges, had ended with a bombastic
flourish of trumpets,
and, in abandoning the charge,
these parties came forward and stated that they could
prove everything, but had 'proved nothing. Mrs.
Dawson had always been the kindest friend Miss
she had clothed, fed.
Elam ever had ; s
sheltered, and
protected her; and
yet she (Mrs. Dawson) was
dragged from her home to a police-court, confined in
a cell, and her,admission to bail opposed by the prose.
cution, and that, too,
without the slightest regard to
the woman, her position or even common courtesy,
and without any ground' for such a gross violation of
the criminal law of this country. They failed in every
point upon Which the charge was grounded, and
throughout these proceedings they had kept the real
prosecutors mysteriously concealed, and Miss Elam
had been merely a puppet in the hands of parties
behind the screen, who pulled the wires and
set the whole affair in 'notion, but who
would, when a further inquiry took place
elsewhere be unmasked and punished for
this conspiracy. There was no doubt this girl
(Miss Elam) had been picked up anywhere, and
palmed off upon
When Mrs. Elam died Mrs. Dawson, instead of ad-
the late weak Lord Portarlington.
ministering immediately to the property, consulted
Mr. Palmer,
able solicitor, and was advised by him to take out
who is well known as a highly respect-
letters of administration ; and so satisfied was he:of
the validity
for the whole amount, and signed the bond accord-
of her claim that he became co-security
ingly. It was true that the morality of the intimacy
between Mrs.
Dawson and Lord Portarington was
rather questionable, but, since his Lordship's death,
she had been living a virtuous and respectable life,
and was therefore entitled to the respect due to her
position.

Alderman FA
_
REBROTHEU said, no proof bad been
given of Miss
Elam being the daughter of Mrs.
Elam, and, in
absence of that, he must discharge
the case.

Mrs. Dawson
occasion, was then discharged.
I who attended voluntarily on this

_ ---
Upwards of five Ilutidred lueotnoaves were em-
ployed on the various metropolitan lines to convey the cattlo
to the Christmas Cattle Show and market.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRES,

Last night two extensive conflagrations hap pared
within two hours of each other, on the Surrey side of
the water, both of which were attended with. con-
siderable loss of property.
The first fire commenced at a few minutes before
six o'clock on the premises belonging to Mr. T. Tip-
per, timber merchant, carrying on business at 28,
Gravel-lane, Southwark. It was discovered by one
of the workmen living in the private house adjoining
the yard, as the flames shot up from a pile of slight
wood stacked near the counting-house. The man
immediately gave an alarm, and having called for as-
sistance several persons arrived, and the utmost
efforts were made to extinguish the • fire, but without
success. It kept rapidly extending until piles and
layers of timber covering about 100 square feet were
in flames. The engines of the Brigade,. \Vest of
England, Messrs. Hodges, the distillers, and some
others, reached the spot with as little delay as por-
sible. The flames were then rising several yards into
the air, while volumes of sparks and immense flakes
of burning material were fulling along the carriage
roads, and ;also upon the housetops for a
long distance, threatening every building near with
destruction. At the same time the inhabitants
of Gravel-lane and Bear-lane were throwing
their furniture out of window, to the danger of the
passers-by. The engines were set to work under the
command of Messrs. Henderson, Connorton, and
Hambleton, but, in spite of the vast torrents of water
thrown upon the fire, it continued to extend itself.
Two persons named Swale and Nott rushed into a
store filled with veneers, which they removed, and by
that means saved much property ; for, had the veneers
not been taken away, the flames would have been fed
to such an extent that, in all probabilty, every house
in Bear-lane would have been gutted. The firemen,
although exposed to great danger, kept to their work,
and, by following the fire as it was travelling round
the adjoining premises, they were at length enabled
to encompass it at every point, and prevent further
danger. The main body of fire, however, continued
for some time to roar with a noise like several fur-
naces in fall work. Many tons of water were kept
pouring upon it, and by seven o'clock it was declared
by the firemen to be completely within their control.
The property destroyed will reach a very large
amount, for, although Mr. Tipper's property is far
from being entirely destroyed, an enormous area has
been laid waste and costly piles of timber consumed.
A great deal of damage has likewise been done to the
property of Mr. Rutt, also a timber merchant ad-
joining, and five houses in Gravel-lane are much in-
jured by tearing out the windows and breakage. The
furniture of the occupants is likewise very seriously
damaged from the same cause.
The firemen had barely got the command over this
fire when a policeman of the B division arrived with
intelligence of another having occurred in the West-
minster. bridge-road. As many engines as could be
soared were taken away, and the firemen, on reaching
Westminster road, found that the outbreak had oc-
curred in the premises of Mr. Haaeldine, a tobacco-
nist, and Mr. Collins, a betting-office keeper, situate
at No. 4 in the before-named road, and nearly facing
the Red Lion Tavern.

The fire was discovered by police-constable No.
133 L, who saw smoke issuing from the upper win-
dows. The officer knocked violently at the door for
a considerable time, but the residents were all out.
He kept the door closed, hoping to prevent the flames
from extending, and there is little doubt he would
have succeeded, had it not been for the fact of the
neighbouring engines being at the other fire. As
it was, the fire continued to descend until the
building, from the base to the roof, was one sheet of
flame.

The instant the firemen arrived they set to work,
under the command of Mr. Staples, the chief officer
of the C section of Brigade, and Mr. Connorten, of
the West of England office. A copious body of water
was thrown from the mains of the Lambeth Com-
pany, but the fire could not be extinguished until
the premises were completely gutted, and some
damage done to the Leopard Coffee-house next door.
Fortunately some flour mills at the back of the burn-
ing property escaped, although exposed to so much
danger.