The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-09 00:00:00

he had treated the job from this barman in easy cir-
cumstances—too easy circumstances for his character
of honesty—as one of common and every-day occur-
rence. With all the mutations which this article of
luxury had undergone, the original maker, Mr.
Adams was still, happily for Mr. Binks, enabled to
swear to its identity. "He had not the least diffi-
culty
culty in identifying it; it was worth 70 guineas."
" The plate on the watch," continued the witness,
was the same that the diamonds were set in.
There was a peculiarity in the make of one stud,
and he had not the least difficulty in identifying the
watch. The F and S for fast' and ' slow' had
not been altered. The letters were engraved out
of his house. Ho did not swear to the watch
by these letters, but by its general appearance,
and many other peculiarities of it." The police
tell the rest of the tale. They had gone tc
the Bull and Anchor public-house, High Hol-
born, saw the prisoner and the " manager,"
and, after a little parley, obtained the watch, which
the prisoner was very loth to part with. The
" manager," however, who at the appearance of the
police saw that matters had gone a little too far,
told him to restore the watch. Oa the person of the
prisoner £6 12s and six watch keys were also found,
so that it would seem that the barman has a fancy
to or trades in these personal appendages. Then
the diamonds were found at the pawnbroker's hard
by. The prisoner of course protested that he bought
the watch " of a man in Seven Dials," for £l4, with
whom, as is most likely to be the case, he declared
he had had several dealings. Before the judge
other ugly circumstances respecting the ordinary
habits of " Thomas Skendall" were detailed. Last
June ho was charged at Bow-street Police-court
with receiving stolen cigars, the produce of a
burglary. The police-sergeant, 11 F, affirmed
that, on that occasion, "his employer went to the
prosecutor and begged him off from prosecuting, but
the case was quite complete against him. He had
frequently seen him hanging over the counter at his
master's conversing with convicted thieves. His mas-
ter kept the Bull and Anchor, High Holborn, which
was the resort of thieves." Happily for the safety of
unsuspecting, casual, and innocent customers of the
Bull and Anchor, High Holborn, this matter of the
house's reputation is to be brought before another
tribunal, and there, we may presume, this facile
" employer" will be called upon to explain away,
excuse, or account for the bad character of his
house. Otherwise it would have been necessary to
ask the brewers and distillers who supply and sup-
port the Bull and Anchor, High Holborn, whether
the character of the house and of those frequent-
ing it is known and accepted "in the common
order of things." Meantime the barman "of very
respectable appearance" was sentenced, for his pos-
session of Mr. Binks's diamond watch, to a term of
four years' penal servitude. And the complying
watchmaker, who had assisted him in his crime, was
dismissed by the lenient judge with a caution—a cau-
tion, it may be hoped, that will always be before his
eyes in any other repairs he may have to perform on
watches from which the maker's name is to be
erased. Of course we must have thieves and re-
ceiving-houses, the fence-shop and the inelting-pot ;
but that does not reconcile us to an establishment
like the Bull and Anchor, High Holborn, and its
respectable-looking barman. In one of the most
crowded thoroughfares in the metropolis we
are introduced to a public-house in full swing,
which the police declare is " a regular
place for the reception of stolen goods."
What are the licensing magistrates about, and who
are the "men of capital" who have put the present
occupant in this public-house and keep him there ?
Crime is everywhere sheltering its predatory habits
under " respectable appearances," but this unblush-
ing occupancy of a house in the frequented neigh-
bourhood of High Holborn, by " a manager" who
keeps a professional thief for his barman, should be
at once attended to, especially when the barman is
able to equip himself with a 70 guinea watch which
ho had bought of a mutual friend.
DAILY NEWS.—A hard electoral battle has been
fought at Coventry for Mr. Ellice's vacant seat.
Both parties claim the victory, Mr. Arthur Peel's
committee quoting a majority of seven, and Mr.
Morgan Treherne's a majority of 147, for
their respective candidates. If Mr. Treherne is
really returned, the proceedings of the House of
Commons may again be enlivened by some of the
originality and vivacity which have been wanting
in them since the days of the lamented Sibthorp.
.Although put forward by the Conservative party,
Mr. Treherne is not a Conservative. It is his plea-
sure to describe himself as an " unmitigated Tory."
As such he contested the borough before the pass-
ing of the Reform Bill ; he has been doing it ever
since, and he boasts that his opinions are now what
they were in the fine old days when his followers
marched under the blue banners of " Church and
King." The reports of the canvass and election
speeches in the local journals show us that " the
party" has this time got a representative of
strong individuality. Mr. Treherne professes
a "thorough and hearty detestation of Whigs,"
which ho sometimes expresses strongly, and
sometimes in a delicate manner. " Every-
body and everything about him appeared to hate
Whiggery. He had a parrot at home which cried,
Daien the Whigs ;' and although he should be very
sorry to use such language himself—even if he did
express himself strongly sometimes—he could not
say that his feelings towards the Whigs were more
friendly than those of his parrot." But Mr. Tre-
herne disdains to stick at words ; he is a man of
action. Last Saturday he told his followers—" He
was an old man, but he could fight a blow or two
yet, and he never intended to desert his friends.
He should be very sorry if such interruptions were
given to them as to render it necessary for him
to take his place side by side by them but if
the necessity arose he hoped that two of them
interrupt
the take and hold him so as not to
the action of his arm, but to keep him on his
legs as long as he was able to strike a blow."
Clearly Mr. Peel, who neither keeps a parrot nor
challenges his opponents to a fight, met his adver-
sary at a great disadvantage. Mr. T reherne's battle
horse was the French Treaty, which has " ruined
Coventry." He belongs to that school which used to
set up toll-gates on all the high ways of commerce,
Three years ago we pulled down the gate on our side
of the road to France, and SD far made communica-
tion and exchange easier. Mr. Treherne tells the
Coventry people that this is wrong, and that if we
cannot have the road with no gate at all, we had
better have two gates and double tolls. He does
not mind telling the weavers that they were
robbed when the ribbon-weavers at last got leave
to lay out money where they could get the
ribbons they liked best. This is the style of
politicians who succeeds to the seat of the great
manager of the Liberal party. It is a pity that
the representation of an important borough like
Coventry should fall into the hands of a Morgan
Treherne, but it is not surprising. What can we
expect but that the constituencies will go off wildly
upon false issues of all kinds, when the leaders of
the Liberal party proclaim that there is nothing
worth fighting for but their own precious selves.

IRONMASTERS' QUARTERLY MEETING,

BIRMINGHAM, Thursday Evening.

The great meeting of the ironmasters of this district for
the quarter was held in the Town-hall here this afternoon ;
there was a large attendance, the trade in the other iron-
producing districts being well represented. The tone of the
assembly was such as to lead to the inference that the re-
cently advanced prices will be maintained; home con-
sumers evinced more willingness to give out contracts ; and
on the part of those who are engaged in the export trade it
was evident that there was more confidence in the future of
prices, though the wisdom or policy, whichever it might
be, that dictated the last advance was not generally
recognised. The ironmasters point to the state of the labour
market, which has forced on the recent rise in the price of
iron, and in that respect the cause assigned is strong, for it
is quite certain that labour is decreasing in the South Staf-
fordshire district; the decline is going on almost daily, and
at this moment there are departments which it is impossible
to fill. A continuance of that condition must keep up prices.
The transactions to .day were not large, but most of the
producers of finished iron are well supplied with orders, and
had consequently no disposition to press for orders; the
fresh contracts entered into at this meeting were at the full
trade prices, none of the leading makers being disposed to
accept below the rates fixed at the preliminary meeting;
and the second class houses are obtaining better prices in
proportion than is usual. I: was mentioned, too, that the
works are al: in full operation ; where such is not the case it
arises from a difficulty in the way of procuring labour, or in
some other respect on that account. The fact of the North
Staffordshire and Welsh makers being well placed with
regard to orders must help materially to sustain the trade
in this district.
With regard to pig iron, the prices are not quite so well
settled as they are for the manufactured article—the pig
masters ask about £3 17s 6d to £f per ton for good hot blast
mine iron, but consumers concede it reluctantly, and many
they
having them are in a position to abstain from purchasing,
having stocks of pig bought at low prices; moreover, there
is the competition with the inferior makes of pig iron of
Northamptonshire and the North, which is being
pressed
sed
into this market at this moment at fully ss, perhaps 7s 6d,
below the pricy of the pig iron of this district. If, however,
the demand for finished iron keeps up, Staffordshire pig iron
will readily command the price above quoted.
The trade in Shropshire pig iron is steady, and prices
have advanced in proportion to the rise upon pig iron, the
produce of this district.
In reference to North Staffordshire iron, it may be noticed
that the advances in the price recently made will place the
general scale relatively higher than it is in South Stafford-
shire.
The meeting here to-day was a cheerful one, all who are
engaged in the trade as producers taking a cheerful view
With regard to the future.