The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-06 00:00:00

TFIE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 6, 1863.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.--This Day. i DESTRUCTrVE FIRE AT PLYMOUTH,

OLD COURT.
(Before the Recorder.)
STEALING SILK.

PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY, 2 A.M.

The Royal Hotel and Theatre here is being con-
sumed by a terrible fire. It commenced in the
theatre after the Christmas pantomime was closed.
The thick wall between the theatre and the hotel
does not rise higher than the exterior walls, so that
the fire soon communicated from the roof of one
building to that of the other.
That portion of the hotel next the theatre con-
sists of the card-room, connected with the ball-room.
The card-room contained the samples of Messrs.
Blumberg and Co., 55, Cannon-street West, valued
at £l,OOO, which are entirely lost.
From the card-room the fire went across the grand
staircase to the splendid ball-room, where it is now
raging furiously.

John Jones, 18, was charged with stealing a silk scarf,
and a quantity of property of the same description.
The prisoner was in the employ of Messrs. Morley, the
warehousemen in Cheapside, as porter, and while holding
that situation had availed himself of the opportunities which
presented themselves, and plundered the firm.
Some witnesses proved that for some time the prisoner
had been engaged dealing largely in silk handkerchiefs and
scarfs, and that he had also given a number of handker-
chiefs to a girl with whom he was intimate.
The jury found the prisoner guilty.

The counsel for the prosecution, Mr. Kemp, said the
prisoner had no doubt been carrying on the robbery for
some time.

The Recorder sentenced him to 12 months' imprisonment
with hard labour.

ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE.

Mr. Pearse, the occupant of the hotel, is convey-
ing his moveable property across Lockyer-street to
Ilarve3's Hotel.

George Day and Susan Knight were indicted with
feloniously assaulting George Meyer, with intent to rob.
The prosecutor was a printer, carrying on business in
Chancery-lane, and on the night in question was returning
home, when the prisoners and another man came up to him
at the:corner of Carey. street, accosted him, and shortly afte
the men struck him and knocked him down. He managed to
get hold of one of the men, when the woman commenced
kicking him, and during the time the other man com-
menced rifling his pockets. The prosecutor raised a cry o
police, and while he was engaged with Day, the constable
came up, and the woman Knight was secured, the other
man making his escape.
The jury found both prisoners guilty.

The entire property, which belongs to the Corpo•
ration of Plymouth, forms the noblest specimen o
architecture in the West of England.
The military, marines, and seamen of the Roya
Navy are in full attendance, aiding the civil
authorities.

2 30 A.ll.

The fire, though partly kept under, is extending
to the eastern wing. The roof of the ball-room has
fallen in.

The prisoners were well known to the police.
The Recorder sentenced each to four years' penal servi-
,ude.

The Era, of last Sunday, in speaking of the
pantomime at the above theatre, which is now
destroyed by fire, says :—" Robinson Crusoe ; or,
Harlequin Friday, and the King of the Caribbee
Islands," is the title of our Plymouth production.
The scenery in the burlesque is truly beautiful,
reflecting the greatest amount of credit on Messrs.
Marston and Hawes Craven. To close our notice
without especial words of praise to Mr. J. R.
Newcombe would be unjust, for under his inde-
fatigable direction has the whole pantomime been
so successfully produced."

BIGAMY.

Thomas Butler was indicted for feloniously marrying
Ellen Shire, his first wife Honorah Driscoll being then and
still alive.

Both marriages were clearly proved.
In defence the prisoner said his first wife left him a
short time after marriage.

Mrs. Butler said that statement was untrue. He left her,
and before he did so used to treat her very unkindly be-
cause she interfered to protect one of their children who
the prisoner used to most cruelly beat. When he was re-
monstrated with upon his inhumanity he always replied
he had a right to do what he liked with his own.

The Recorder sentenced him to:l2;months' imprisonment.

LATEST PARTICULARS.
PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY, 10 A.M.
The fire commenced shortly after midnight in the
property-room of the theatre, and the interior of
the building is almost entirely consumed; the
flames communicated by the roof with the card and
club rooms of the Royal Hotel, both of which are
gutted. The ball-room staircase is burnt; the
handsome assembly-room, and the tea-room below
it, are also partially destroyed.
The eastern end of the quadrangle is uninjured
by the fire, and Mr. Pearse, the lessee of the hotel,
is replacing his furniture.
The Royal Hotel and Theatre were finished in

NEW COURT.
(Before the Common Sergeant.)
Jehn Lowe, Matilda Lowe, and Jane Francis were in-
dicted for feloniously having in their possession a mould for
the manufacture of counterfeit coin.
Brennan, the officer attached to the Mint, said, from
information that came to his knowledge, he, in company
with some other constables, proceeded to the house in which
the prisoners lived, in Union-street, Lambeth. On searching
the place a great number of counterfeit coins were found.
Some of the base coin was found in the room in which the
two female prisoners were sitting, and on being asked to
explain how it came there, they each said they did not
know. The male prisoner also denied all knowledge of

he bad money. Two moulds for the manufacture of counr

813, at a cost of £60,000. The north front is 270

terfeit coin were also found in the coal cupboard. Some I
r 4
feet long.
base sovereigns were also discovered by the police.
The roof of the splendid lonic portico is con-
sumed.
The buildings are insured by the Corporation
with the Atlas-office. Mr. Pearse is insured in
the General. Mr. Newcombe, the manager of
the theatre, is uninsured. He recently expended
£3,000 on the fittings and.scenery. Some valuable
dresses were saved.
A fire occurred in the property-room on the 26th
December last, which was promptly extinguished.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

Particulars of the Loss of the Colombo.

By the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
steamship Massilia we have received full particulars
of the loss of the Colombo. Owing to the thick-
ness of the weather, no observations could be taken
after leaving Galle, and on the morning of Nov. 19,
at 4 o'clock, the weather continuing very thick, no-
thing being visible at a ship's length, and the rain
coming down in torrents, speed was reduced to
" full slow." Two hours afterwards, breakers ahead
were reported a quarter of a mile off, and before
the engines, which were immediately reversed,
could have any effect on the vessel, sbe forged
ahead, and the swell and a strong wind drove her
bodily on the coral beach. She touched so lightly
that no one on board felt the shock. There was a
strong current to the northward at the time of about
three miles an hour. After striking, she fell over
to windward, exposing her deck to the sea, which
poured down the hatchways and skylights in tor-
rents. As nothing could be done to save the ship,
the boats on the land side were cleared, and by 8
a.m. all the passengers and crew were safely landed.
A drenching rain continued all the time, which was
the more felt as most of the ladies and children were
very lightly clad. Awnings and spars were brought
on shore, and by 2 p.m. the passengers were com-
fortably housed until better accommodation could
be obtained at the village a short distance, where
they repaired the next day, and took up their abode
until the arrival of assistance. A native boat, with
an officer, was sent to the nearest land, 210 miles
distant, to telegraph the news of the disaster to
Bombay, Galle, and Calcutta. An abundance of
provisions was obtained from the wreck. Oa the
30th of November the Ottawa arrived from Bombay,
and brought the passengers to Suez. Eighteen
hours after striking, the ship parted in two pieces
midships. The disaster appears to have been occa-
sioned by insufficient allowance having been made
for the strength of the current, which, notwith-
standing a mile and a half an hour had been allowed
for it, drove the vessel some 32 miler out of her
sourse. The passengers speak in great praise of
the presence of mind shown by Captain Farquhar
under the trying circumstances, and his unwearied
exertions for their comfort and convenience. A
short time before the disaster Captain Farquhar
had succeeded in saving a vessel from shipwreck.