The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-08 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALA qE DISTRICT GAS.

The report of the directors staLgs that the works and plant
are in good order and effective. The profits for the half-year
ending the 30th June are £3,423, out of which the directors
recommend a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum
on the preference capital, and at the rate of 10 par cent. per
annum on the ordinary capital of the company, both free of
income-tax, leaving with £l7B from the preceding half-year,
a balance of £245, The balance-sheet showed that £18,950
had been expended on capital account, leaving a balance at
the bankers of £8,683. The revenue account for the half-
year ending the 30th June shows that L 11,916 had been re-
ceived, and £8,494 expended, leaving a balance of £3,423.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS—Sept. 7.

(Before Mr. Pa...rie,)
At the sitting of the Court considerable delay was occa-•
sioned it consequence of the numerous excuses being offered
by persons who had ken summoned as traverse jurymen,
principally upon the ground of being upwards of 60 years
of age, yhich, of course, formed a legal ground of exemp•
tion. Out of a panel of 60 persons summoned at this ses•
sion only 30 could be found qualified as jurymen, and this
is the case nearly every session.

Mr. Payne commented with some severity on the way in
which persons over 60 years of age were summoned to act
as jurors, whose names ought not to be on the list.
The summoning ()Meer said the whole fault lay with the
overseer, apfj from the defective way in which the lists
Were maile out. In many eases the names of persons were
sent in as qualified to act as jurors who had been dead four
or five years, had gone away, or were otherwise disqualified,
but the sheriff in issuing his precept had no means of ascer-
taining these facts.

In the present instance the jurors were summoned from
the parish of St. Pancras.

John Brown was indicted for assaulting John Michael
Connor, a constable of the Metropolitan Police, in the exe-
cution of his duty.

Mr. Cooper (instructed by the Treasury) prosecuted ;
Mr. Ribton defended.

John M Connor, 56 E, said, on the 20th July, at about
half-past 12 o'clock at night, he was on duty at Marylebone-
stree t, where lie saw the prisoner,two other men, and a woman.
The prisoner and the two men were talking together at the
corner of a street. He knew the prisoner from having seen
him hundreds of times in the street, although he did not
know his name. While they were talking a young man passed
by and accidentally touched one of the men who was with
the prisoner, who upon that began abusing the young man,
and using the foulest language. Witness spoke to this man
and told him that he ought not to insult people at that
hour in the morning, and that it would be the
best plan to go home, as it was then getting very late. The
men said they would do so. Witness went on about three
yards, when one of the men who was in the company of the
prisoner said, "You -, I will settle you." He returned
and asked him what he said, but he did not repeat the word.
Witness said, " You must go home now," and put his hand
on his shoulder and pushed him into the street. That was
not the prisoner, but one of his companions. This man put
himself into fighting attitude, when the prisoner came up
and struck witness a violent blow in the mouth with his fist,
and in consequence of that blow he fell backwards and his
head came in contact with the curbstone. It was a violent
blow and it knocked out one of his teeth. The next morn-
ing he found himself in the hospital, and was there for 13
days. He remained insensible the whole of that night and
part of the next day. He was examined before his discharge
by the hospital surgeon, and afterwards by Mr. Ross, the
divisional surgeon.

Cross-examined by Mr. Ribton—There was no particular
disturbance that night, as Sunday is usually a quiet night.
Witness had not spoken to the man more than two minutes
before he was knocked down.

Peter Frampton, an undertaker, said at half-past 12
o'clock on the night of the 19th of July he was in Maryle-
bone•street. He saw the prisoner and two men standing
talking, and he touched one of them accidentally in passing.
Witness saw a friend home whom he was with, and re-
turned the same way. When he came back the policeman
was speaking to the men, advising them to go home.. He
ordered them off, and then he (witness) went away. One
of the men made use of bad language, to the effect that he
would finish him.

Mr. Itibton—You being an undertaker, that would just
have suited you. (Laughter.)
Witness—And it would have suited for you. I should
be happy to oblige you at any time. (A laugh.)
Mr. Ribton—Not at present, I thank you. (Renewed
laughter.)
Witness continued—The prosecutor pushed the man
into the street, when the prisoner came up behind him
suddenly and knocked the policeman down. He struck him
in the mouth, which rendered him insensible. All three
men then went away. Witness was sure the prisoner was
the man, as he was not more than four feet from him when
this occurred.
Mr. Tyer. house surgeon at Middlesex Hospital, said the
constable Connor was brought in on the morning of July
20th in a state of unconsciousness. He had a contused scalp
wound and a concussion of the brain.
Mr. G. Ross, surgeon to the u division of police, said he
saw Connor on his discharge from the hospital. He was
still suffering under great debility, and had been under his
care ever since. He was still unfit for duty.
John Rogers, police-constable 47 E, said he took the pri-
soner into custody on the 11th ult. He told him he should
take him into custody for an assault on a police-constable
in Merylebone-street, at the corner of Ogle-street, on the
20th of July. He said it was not he, as he was put to bed
drunk that night at 11 o'clock.
This witness was cross-examined at great length by Mr.
Ribton as to whether he had not stated before the magis-
trate that the prisoner had said he was not the man. For
some time he did not answer the question, upon which Mr.
Ribton asked to have the depositions before the magistrate
read. In these it appeared that the witness had stated that
the prisoner had denied that he was the man.
The witness having acknowledged that the depositions
were read over to him, and that he had signed them, in ex-
planation of his omission said he had forgotten it.
Mr. Ribton, at great length, addressed the jury on behalf
of the defendant, and said he should call witnesses who
would positively establish the fact that this was not the man
who struck the blow, and unless they should believe that
they came forward to commit wilful and corrupt perjury,
they would give justice and acquit the prisoner.
Four witnesses were called, two of them stating that at
11 o'clock on the 19th of July, they saw the defendant
Brown lying drunk in front of the house where he lodged;
that they assisted in putting him to bed, and they could
positively assert that he never left the house during that
night. The other two witnesses swore that they were pre-
sent in Marylebone-street, and saw the assault committed
upon the prosecutor, but it was not by the defendant at the
bar. They were positive that it was not the prisoner who
struck the blow, as the man who did commit the offence
was much shorter and altogether unlike him in appearance.
Within a few days they had seen the man who really com-
mitted the offence.
In cr ,ss-examination by Mr. Cooper, the two latter wit-
nesses said they were in attendance at the police-office for
the purpose of giving evidence, but the magistrate asking if
there were any more witnesses on behalf of the prisoner, the
policeman said, " They are all of the Ogle-street gang.," and
they were not called. They were asked by the policeman to
speak to the identity of the man Brown as the person who
committed the assault, but they denied that he was so, and
they were not examined.
Mr. Cooper replied upon the evidence given on the part
of the prisoner, and contended that the persons who hod
some forward had been called to prop up the case for the
prisoner, and it was at least very strange that as they
knew
the man who really committed the assault, and knew also
that an innocent man was in custody, charged with the
offence, they had taken no steps to bring the real offender to
justice. The witnesses who had been called on the part of
the prosecution were most respectable persons, and as the
jury had seen their demeanour and the way in which they
had given their evidence, he saw no reason why their testi•
mony should be doubted, or why they should, under the
sense of a solemn obligation, come forward to commit per-
jury to serve a man who was almost a stranger to them.
He believed the case had been fully made out, and he called
upon the jury to return a verdict against the prisoner.
Mr. Payne minutely surmnel up the evidence.
The jury, after a long consultation, returned a verdict of
not guilty. _ _

. .
Wm. Parker, 23, barman, was indicted for stealing Cs and
other moneys, the property of Tom Surridge, his master.
The prisoner p'eaded Guilty.
Mr. Sleigh appeared for the prosecution; Mr. M. Wil -
hams for the prisoner.
Mr. Sleigh said he appeared on the part of the prosecution
in this matter, and he was afraid that the Court would be of
opinion that it was one of the worst of its class, for although
the prisoner was charged in the indictment with only steal-
ing Cs., yet Mr. Surridge had lost altogether upwards of
£BOO, and since the prisoner had been in custody, his tak-
ings had been plus £lO per week. That systematic plunder
had been carried on was made manifest from the fact that
the prisoner had a bag which he secreted in a hole in the
floor, and covered it over with a carpet. Mr. Surridge, hav-
ing his su,picions, put himself in communication with Ser-
geant Joy, of the C division, who found the money in the
hole increase from time to time, and among it some of the
m-mey that had previously been marked by Mr, Surridge.
He was then taken into custody, under the advice of Mr. M.
Williams, he bad pleaded guilty, but he (Mr. Sleigh) would
have been guilty of dereliction of duty if he had not stated
these facts, and Mr. Surridge, in justice to the body of
licensed victuallers to which he belonged, as well as to him-
self, felt bound to institute these proceedings.
Mr. M. Williams, for the prisoner, said there was nothing
against his previous character, and he believed his former
master with whom he served was willing again to take him
into his service. He asked for the mercy of the Court on
account of his youth, and of his having yielded to a tempta-
tion that he had not strength of mind to resist.
Mr. Sleigh said that Mr. Surridge was present if his
lordship wished to ask him any question. He had paid the
prisoner £25 a year, he had his board and lodging., and was
treated as one of the family.

Mr. Payne deferred passing sentence until Friday.
George Thallman, prosecuted at the last sessions of this
Court by the Associate lustitution for Improving and En-
forcing the Laws for the Protection of Women, and con-
victea of in4ecentiy exposing himself on the top of a house,
was again broughrup:• -
It will be remembered that an objection was taken at the
trial by Mr. Best, the prisoner's counsel, that the top of a
house which could not be seen from the public thoroughfare,
althor_gh it might be seen by the inmates from the back
part dt 'it; was not such a p#li9 plane as could bring the
prisoner within the df)eratioal Of the act.
Mr. Payne said the point raised by'Mr. Best was ono of
considerable importance, and it ought to be settled by a
superior court. He should therefore remand the prisoner
until liovemter, and in the meantime a ease would be sub-
mittedlor the decision.of the Court of Criminal Appeal. He
would allow the prisoner to give bail for his
of them to
isappearani: h
given en
he might be requfr 61) ed, himself in the sum £BO, and two
sureties of t;25 each, and 24 hours' notice
• tpor:Tory,
.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

-~

TIIIES.-It, may possibly have been observed that
our ladian intelligence of yesterday comprised cm--
tein enthentic reports from the kingdom or country
of Affghenistan. The recent demise of the Crown
in that happy State has been followed by consider-
able dissension in the Royal family, and "three
parties," we are told, have already declared them-
selves. One of these interesting factions is headed
by Shere Ali Khan, and Mahomed Sherif Khan, a
second is led by Futteh Mahomed Khan Sullaloo-
deen Khan, ant a third obeys the command of M.
homedAzimKhan, Mahomed Asian Khan, and Ma-
homed Osman Khan. The reader may very naturally
anticipate that we propose to explain the pedigrees
of these princes, the relations subsisting between
them, and the hopes or desires by which each may
be animated in commencing a family quarrel and a
civil war. We propose nothing of the kind. On
the contrary, we devotedly trust that every one of
these names may remain for ever as utterly strange
and barbarous to English ears as it is at present.
Never may it fall to our lot to introduce such char-
ecters upon the political stage. It is solely for the
purpose of depreciating auy concern whatever in
the subject that we refer to it this morning. The
feuds of this precious family did once cost us sacri-
fices so terrible that we cannot look back without
a shudder. 'We took it upon ourselves to conclude,
some twenty years ago, that it would be a judicious
thing for us to pull down one Khan and set up
another for the sake of establishing a species of
influence in this savage wilderness. The result was
one of the most shocking disasters were sustained
by the British arms. We lost an army, and almost
lest an empire. The "Affghan expedition " plunged
India into debt and difficulty for years, and left
behind it memories which we should think could
never be effaced. Yet we actually read in our in-
telligence that "an army of observation " is ex-
pected to assemble at Peshawur, on the Affghan
frontier, in the ensuing cold weather, and that " it
is more than probable that these forces will have
something to do." We can only say that if, after
the lesson we have received, we meddle again
with the affairs of Affghanistan, it will be the very
extravagance of folly. "Disturbances," it is added,
" seem almost unavoidable in Cabul." We have not
the least doubt of it. Bloodshed seems almost un-
avoidable in Dahomey, and the two prospects con-
cern us in about an equal degree. There has never
been a time, we suppose, when the Princes of the
Dooranee family were not at war among themselves,
except when they were controlled by some excep-
tionally powerfully chief. It is only by an abuseof
terms that the country can be called a monarchy.
Its provinces are governed by members of the reign-
ing House whose independence has been commonly
complete, thongh seldom allowed. The new Ameer
of Cabul, titular successor of Dost Mahomed, will,
no doubt, find his title contested by a dozen others.
Dost Mahomed himself had first to seize his place
and then to maintain it. Nothing ire the world is
more likely or natural than that every one of the
Khans whose titles we have specified should set
himself up in some city or other, and do his best to
acquire, first independence, and then supremacy.
Every Prince in the family will undoubtedly attempt
to avoid obeying anybody himself, and to make
everybody else obey him. In this contest, too, they
will all resort to intrigue, and endeavour to secure
the support of allies. " The Persians," we are in-
formed, will add" a fourth element to the coming
struggle." That is as probable as anything can be.
We do but repeat our most anxious hope that a fifth
" element" may not be supplied from British terri
tory. Hardly, even with a map before him, could
any reader be brought to comprehend the madness
which possessed us in 1839. Of course nobody,
even then, ventured to assert that the affairs of
Affghanistan, considered in themselves, could import
anything to the interests of British India. It was
not suggested, either, that Persia was a State in
whose policy we need take much concern. We had
to stride across the barbarous wilds of those two
realms, and reach the frontier of a very different
Power, before we could discover the real source of
alarm. If Russia had not bordered on Persia as
Persia bordered on Affghanistan, we should never
have persuaded ourselves that any danger loomed
in the distance, What we were induced to fancy
was that Russia might set Persia in motion, that
the Persians might fall upon the Affghans, and
that, when the road had thus been levelled for the
advance, the hosts of the Cesr might begin their
march from the shores of the Caspian to the banks
of the Indus; We resolved, therefore, to snap the
chain in its nearest link, and to set up in Cabul a
Power capable of resisting, in our interest, the an-
ticipated attack of the Persians. These people did
cross their own frontier, and did lay siege to the
border town of Herat, but they had forsaken the
enterprise and retired to their own territories even
before we commenced our expedition in toAffghaeis-
tan. If we had not been utterly blind, we should
have seen that, as fac as the relief of our misgiv-
ings went, whatever the most successful war could
do had been already done, At the present time,
however, there exists no such sprit as was allowed
to set all this machinery in motion five-and-twenty
years ago. We are no longer afraid of a Russian in-
vasion of India. We do not imagine that any such
project is contemplated, and still less that the pre-
sent period would be selected for putting it into
execu!ion. We know also from experience that if
Persia gave us any cause of offence she should be
brought to reason far more speedily by a squadron
off' Bushire than by any army in Affghanistan. We
are reduced, therefore, to Affghanistan itself for a
cause of intervention. If we again interfere be-
tween these kites and crows, it must be simply be-
cause we prefer crows to kites, and for no other
reason. We cannot dignify the proceeding with
the lofty and mysterious character which we gave to
it a quarter of a century since. We cannot pretend
to entertain apprehensions of Russia, still less of
Persia. We have learnt, to our cost, that our
Empire of the East is far more likely to be en-
dangered by ill-judged armaments and insolvent
treasuries than by a hostile force from the countries
beyond the Indus. The Affghans can never harm
us except by inducing us to invade their territo-
ries. That one of the contending Princes would
do this if he could is exceedingly probable, but
we should be madmen to give him the chance.
Let us repeat once more that it cannot by possi-
bility signify to us which one of these Princes
reign in Cabul. Of course a quiet neighbour is bet-
ter than a troublesome one, but no trouble that an
Atneer of Cabul could give us would amount
etoe
t,uudredth part of the trouble which we should
elves.
ff
incur in making an Ameer of Cabul for ou res
they
The Affghans may settle their awn quarrels
please, without affecting us. It is just possible that
one of the competitors for power may think to gain
favour with his people by an attack upon our pos-
sessions. Peshawur, with its territory, which we
conquered from the Sikhs, the Sikhs had conquered
in former days from the Affghans, and the recovery
of the province has often been talked of at the Court
of Cebu!. So far, therefore, and as. a precaution
against a possible onslaught, there is nothing in-
judicious in our maintaining a good garrison in
Peshawur. We wish we could think that the specu-
latiuns of the Indian press meant no more than this ;
'out the truth is that, in a society so purely military
as that of British India, war is never an unwelcome
topic. It is not in the least improbable that even a
secon'l "Affghan expedition" would be popular with
the ledian Army. Let us trust, however, that
Indian statesmen may be wise enough to extirpate
the delusion, and preserve a proper horror ofa policy
which might once more convert prosperity into em-
barrassment, and productive peace into calamitous
war, So long as we keep to our own territories,
tile repulse or a few marauders is the hardest work
that can await us, but nobody can measure the diffi-
culties which might follow from another occupation
of Cabal.

DAILY NEWS. People generally hug themselves
' in the belief that, however much their bread and
other articles of manufactured food may be adul-
terated, their meat is at any rate free from any
foreign element, and may be eaten wit but the fear
of poisoning. Our beef and mutton, we fondly
imagine, are free from vitiation. We mey cut and
come again safely at the sirloin or the saddle. We
have only to go to a first-class butcher, and pay the
best prices (two things, however, which a large
number of persons cannot do), and we are beyond
the reach of harm in that direction. The reliance is
more pleasing than well grounded. We seem
doomed to impurity and filthiness in the food thatwe
consume. In vain do we fly from bread made of mag-
gotty yeast to the flesh of oxen, sheep, and swine.
A large amount of the meet that come to our tables
is adulterated by disease. No doubt this is less
likely to be the case when a good price is paid ; but
butchers are mere men, and sometimes sell inferior
commodities while charging the highest terms; Mr.
Simon's last annual report to the _privy Council on
our sanitary condition opens the eyes of the public
to the disagreeable fact that so much as a fifth of
the meat purchased for food in this country is dis-
eased. Some investigations into the eubiect have
been made, at 4lr. request, by Mr. txamgee,
Prineipal and ProfeSsor of the Edinburgh new
Veterinary College, and from these it appears that
a good deal of the mischief is found ;in uunexion
With the pork we get from Irelaiia.' 'From forty to
fifty thousand of the pigs reared in the sister island
are measly, and the greater number of these come to
Great Britain for consumption, That such_ meat
should um. o. tloi#e* !"! some_
should be taken into t
'idea; it is the source
more _ e..6usting
of serious disease. Mr. Gamgee calculates thet for,
every measly pig in the yingo When meat is there is at least
one human being with tapeworms.
cooked the action of the fire probably destroys the
germs of these parasites ; but it shouldr I not. be for-
pig s flesh s eaten
gotten that a large amount of