The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-19 00:00:00

indictments, and no other evidence being offered, the jury I SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,
in each case returned a verdict of not guilty.
The Assistant-Judge, addressing the woman, who had a
very young child in her arras, said—You will be now for a
considerable time left alone in the world, but I advise you
to be very careful what you do, for if you come here again
you will be very severely dealt with.
Julia Elizabeth Graham and Catherine Holmes were in-
dicted for attempting to steal from the persons of divers
women, whose names are unknown, certain goods and chat-
tels, their property.

Mr. Gresham prosecuted ; Mr. Pater defended the pri-
soners.

Edward James Langley, a detective sergeant of police,
said, on the 26th of October he was in company of Edwin
Coathupe, another sergeant, in Oxford-street, and saw the
prisoners there. He saw Graham place herself on the right
hand side of a lady, while Holmes walked on in front of
her. He saw Graham place her left hand in the pocket of
the lady, but he did not see anything taken. They then
left the lady and walked side by side, He afterwards saw
Graham attempt to pick several ladies' pockets at a bazaar
in Oxford-street, to which he followed them. They left the
bazaar together and went down Regent-street. He saw
Graham attempt to pick a lady's pocket at the corner of
Argyll-place. He watched them for an hour and a half. In
New Oxford-street he took Holmes into custody, telling
her that it was for attempting to pick ladios' pockets in Ox-
ford-street, Regent-street, and the Crystal Palace Bazaar.
They denied all knowledge of each other, and said they had
only just met at the corner of Tottenham-court-road.
Edwin Coathupe, a detectiv3 sergeant of police, said he
was with the last witness on the 28,h October, and saw the
two prisoners near the corner of Great Portland-street, in
Oxtord-street. He saw Graham place herself on the right
hand side of a lady, and put her left hand into the lady's
pocket, Holmes being in front of her. They then went up
Oxford-street, and he saw them attempt the pockets of two
or three ladies who were standing outside shops. The pri-
soners then went to the Crystal Palace Bazaar, and he saw
them try four or five ladies' pockets as they were standing
at the stalls. They left the bazaar, crossed Oxford-street,
and went down Regent-street. He spoke to two ladies dur-
ing the time he was following them, bat they said they had
not lost anything. After they had gone down Regent-street
they went to New Oxford-street, vthere he took Graham.
He told her he was a police-officer, and that he should take
her into custody for attempting to pick pockets in Regent-
street and Oxford-street, and she said she had not been
near Oxford-street nor Regent-street.
Mr. Pater addressed the jury for Holmes, contending
that, as they sometimes saw policemen placed in the dock for
grave offences, their evidence ought to be received with more
than ordinary caution, and condemned the way in which
they had acted on this occasion.
The jury found both prisoners guilty, expressing their
entire approbation of the way in which the police officers
had acted.

Several convictions were put in against the prisoner
Holmes, among them being one of penal servitude passed
on her at the Surrey Sessions, in 1857, for picking pockets,
after previous convictions. There were several convictions
since then. No conviction Was put in against the other
prisoner. _ _

The Assistant-Judge expressed his regret that he could
not send Holmes again to penal servitude, and sentenced
her to bo imprisoned and kopt to hard labour for two years,
and Graham to be imprisoned for 12 months.

George Trotman surrendered in discharge of his bail,
charged with cutting open and stealing from certain bags
91b. of coffee, the property of the St, Katherine Dock Com-
pany, his masters.
Mr. Sleigh (instructed by Messrs. Tooke, Hallowes, and
Price, on behalf of the St. Katherine Dock Company) pro-
secuted ; Mr. Metcalfe defended the prisoner.

It appeared from the evidence of Mr. Walker that the
prisoner had been in the employ of the company ss a sampler
for 21 years, and that he was employed on No. 2 floor, and
on Nov. 2 he had occasion to go on that floor, and noticing
the trapdoor was closed, and hearing a peculiar noise, it

it.

TlMEs.—When the Chief Constructor of the
Navy addresses a select assembly on the special
subjects of his profession it is certain that the inte-
rest taken in his communications will extend far
beyond his immediate audience. What the inhabi-
tants of Greenwich heard on Tuesday evening the
public at large will desire to know, and we charge
ourselves accordingly with the exposition of Mr.
Reed's views on -We.r Ships and Shipbuilding for
the benefit of the country. These views were ex-
pressed at the Greenwich Institution with much
perspicuity and very little reserve, so that the
reader may learn exactly what we are doing in our
dockyards on authority which is not to be im-
peached. The successive "reconstructions" of our
Navy have been occasioned by successive discoveries
in the application of steam power, the science of
artillery, and the availability of iron armour for
the protection of floating vessels. Steam com-
pelled the change from sails to paddles, and from
paddles to screws. Just now the twin screw is
talked of as introducing us to another phase of the
invention, but Mr. Reed does not regard this device
as likely to have very extensive consequences. The
double screw will be useful, he says, in vessels of
light draught, but, where the draught of water is
sufficient, a single screw of a given diameter is
more effective as a propeller than two screws of
greater diameter together. A ship, for instance,
with a 85-teat screw would be faster than another
with two screws of ten feet each ; nor does our
Chief Constructor believe that even the turning
power of the double screw will be found to sur-
pass that obtainable from a single serew under
judicious development. Steam, therefore, even
if still " in its infancy," does not threaten us
with any new revolution at present. On the
contrary, it is likely to be brought more conveni-
ently under control by an anticipated economy in the
use of fuel. Of guns Mr. Reed cannot be expected to
say much. This subject is only incidentally connected
with his department, and we shall have conveyed his
views on the matter when we state that he sees no
impediment to the employment of far heavier ord.
nance in a ship's battery than is used at present,
and that he believes these guns, however ponderous
they may be, can be carried in broadside ports with-
out recourse to the invention of turrets. When our
artillerists have produced the proper gun Mr. Reed
will be ready to mount and work it without any
innovation on the natural characteristics of good
sea-going vessels. Steam and ordnance being thus
disposed of, we now come to the great question of our
future Fleet; and we shall best introduce our ships in
prospect by a brief classification of our ships in pos-
session. We have actually got the Warrior and Black
Prince of the first class, with the Achilles, the Agin-
court, the Minotaur, and the Northumberland in
various stages of progress, We have then got the
Defence and the Resistance, shorter, smaller, and
slower vessels than those of the former class, and the
Hector and the Valiant, of a class intermediate.
These are all iron built ships. Then we have five
vessels converted from timber ships of the line into
irenclads by the addition of armour—the Royal Oak,
the Prince Consort, and the Caledonia afloat, and
the Ocean and the Prince Alfred to follow. We are
also constructing one ship and converting another
on the cupola or turret principle, and with these
specimens the catalogue is complete. We have now
to report the opinion of the Chief Constructor on
these various models, and to describe the improve-
ments which he represents as in contemplation.
Let us first mention that he confirms the suspicion
which we recently expressed, and announces dis-
tinctly that these two turret or cupola ships are nct
designed for sea service, but are now proceeded
with simply as coast-going vessels or floating bat-
teries, available only for the limited duties per-
formad by the American Monitors. We add no
comment on this point at present, but confine
ourselves to the statement of the fact. As regards
the rest, Mr. Reed informs us that in all our first-
rate Ironalads we have committed a mistake. Die
Warrior and her consorts are swift, strong, and

caused him to look behind the coffee bags, and he there saw
the prisoner crouching behind them. He also found one of
the bags cut and saw the prisoner drop his apron. He asked
the prisoner what he wanted, and he said he was looking
for some box trucks ; but on Mr. Walker looking further
he found a bag containing about 61b. of coffee.
Mr. Munaford, superintendent of police at the St. Kathe-
rine Dock, said he took the prisoner into custody, and he
said he went to look for some box trucks, and he hoped he
should not be taken into custody, as he was putting the
coffee back into the bag. His house had been searched, but
nothing had been found relating to the charge.
Mr. Metcalfe addressed the jury for the prisoner, and
afterwards called several witnesses, who gave him a charac-
ter extending over many years for honesty and integrity.
The Assistant-Judge summed up the evidence, and
The jury found him Guilty.
The learned Judge observed that it was truly pitiable to
see a man forfeit a 23 years' character and his situation in
such a way, and sentenced him to be imprisoned and kept to
hard labour for six months.

Ellen Murphy, 20, and Ann Murphy, 18, were indicted
for stealing a gold watch, value £l5, the property of Thos.
Dawes Harris, from his person.
Mr. F. H. Lewis prosecuted ; Mr. Ribton defended.
From the evidence it appeared that early on the morning
of the 29th ult. the prosecutor was going home drunk, and
while in the Hampstead-road he was beset by the two pri-
soners. Ryan, a policeman, who was on duty near the place,
heard cries of " Police," and 00. going to the place found
the prosecutor,
.held by two gentlemen, and he said he had
lost his watch. He went into Robert. street, close by, where
he saw Ellen Murphy in front of him, and when he got
within about 20 yards of her, she said, " Policeman, I did
not take the watch." A young man named William Paul,
who was there, after seeing Ellen Murphy taken into cus •
tody, saw Ann Murphy at the corner of Hammond-street,
and he told her that her sister was taken into custody for
stealing a watch. She replied, " I know she is, you fool,"
and produced the watch from her bosom and asked him to
open it. He did so, when she snatched it from his hand,
and it had not since been found,
The witness Paul was severely cross-examined thy Mr.
Ribton as to his having been convicted of felony, which he
positively denied. He said he had seen Ann Murphy before,
but had not spoken to her. The watch was nut in his hand
for more than a second. He knew that it was stolen, and
he went and told the police about it.
Brown, 308 S, proved apprehending Ann Murphy in bed
at her father's house.
Mr. Ribton addressed the jury for the prisoners,
The Assistant-Judge summed up the evidence with great
care.

powerful vessels, formidable to an enemy, and cre-
ditable to ourselves as beginners; but they are all
too long. The ordinary reader will hardly believe,
at first sight, in the importance of this fact, or be
prepared to recognise what Mr. Reed describes as a
great " discovery." Yet it does import a groat deal.
The excessive length of these vessels makes them
difficult to steer and hard to manage ; while the
increased cost which it entails is really incredible.
Mr. Reed assures us that the curtailment of 100 feet
from the Warrior's lengthwould have saved £lOO,OOO
in the expense of the ship, besides relieving us from
the heavy incidental charges which the enlargement
of our docks must occasion. He assures us also that

this great length was not required, and that it was
accepted solely under the mistaken impression that
the desired speed could not be obtained without it,
whereas the truth is that a shorter vessel could be
propelled jest as rapidly. The new policy, there-
fore, of the Admiralty will consist in making our a
first-rate ironciads shorter, handier, and cheaper,
and this is Mr. Reed's first disclosure. He next
gives us a very distinct opinion on the con-
troversy between wood and iron, and, without
pretending to absolute dogmatism, evidently places
wood on a level with iron for the framework of a
ship of war. He considers, and indeed asserts, that
the Royal OA is as good a vessel as the Warrior,
and thus ranks our five converted ships with our
original ironclads. At this point of his discourse
he could not, of course, omit a reference to the dis-
tress of the Prince Consort in the late storm,'and he
tells us, on the best authority, that she not only
never leaked or strained at all, but that she rode
out the gale with less damage to her structure than
would have been suffered by any old-fashioned tim-
ber vessel. It happened that her bow port was
stove in, and that in her heavy rolling she shipped
a good deal of sea over all. The water thus ad-
mitted to her decks found its way to the hold, and
caused her distress, but there was no straining of
the fabric whatever. Mr. Reed proceeds even to
ask why there should have been, and informs us
that the centre of gravity is actually lower in an
iron-cased frigate than in an old two-decker with
all her guns and top hamper. So he roundly main-
tains that there is no argument against the employ-
ment of wooden frames which should exclude them
from use. There may, he admits, be a greater struc-
tural strength obtainable from iron, but not neces-
sarily a greater durability. Iron rivets, as we have
lately seen, are as apt to be corroded as wood is to
decay, besides which wooden bottoms are so plainly
superior to iron bottoms in one important respect
that the latter can only be effectually sheathed by
the interposition of a wooden skin. Then comes
the programme of novelties, and here the Chief Con-
structor has agreeable news to announce. The two
vessels built after his own designs, the Enterprise
and the Research, will, he tells us, be ready in a
few weeks, and that they were not ready earlier
has been the fault, he says, not of any dockyard
authorities, but of private contractors, who failed in
the supply of the requisite materials at the proper
time. These ships, it will be remembered are in-
tended to prove that armour-plating can be effec-
tually applied to the smaller classes of sea-going
vessels, so that heavy guns, may be carried to
any part of the world by iron-cased cruisers. Bat
Mr. Reed adds something more. Adverting to
the speech of Mr. Laird at Birkenhead, he says, "1
state with the most absolute fearlessness and confi-
dence that the Admiralty are now building a cor-
vette from which neither the Alabama nor the
Florida could hope to escape, and with which the
two together could not hope to contend fora single
hour." Thus, our private shipbuilders are at last
boldly challenged by our dockyard authorities, and
the trial cannot be far distant. In condensing what
was a long as well as an eh borate address for the
use of the public, we have left ourselves but little
room for comment. We will only add, therefore,
that we seemed to have been pursued by our usual
fortune in discovering that the Warrior ought to
have been 100 feet shorter and £lOO,OOO cheaper
only when we have built two more ships like her,
and contracted for three others rather longer and
dearer still ; that it will be some compensation for
us if our converted ironclads are really as good as
our originals; and that we look with some impa-
tience, and the utmost interest, for that floating
phenomenon which is to whitewash the Admiralty
and carry off the championship from Birkenhead.
DAILY NEWS.—The little further intelligence
received from Japan by the last mail only tends to
show that the position of matters there has not been
materially improved by the terribly destructive_
operations at Kagosima. Prince Satsumat as well
as Admiral Kuper, claims to have achieved
without
vic-
tory, and, in a certain sense, possibly not ithout
some reason. This deluded semi-barbarian may
have fallen into the error of supposing
egtha.tna_val
operations, when undertaken by " on ft e first
113i10/)8 _rs.t
_
113i10/)8 of the world," are intended to destroy
forces, rather than to
forti-
fications and disperse armed
inflict death and misery on thousands of non-com-
batants. Looking
at the enormous amount of
upon his subjects and upon
theiriu
injury
inflicted
property,he may naturally have con.
de d
there was some proportionably
great
ethat
design to damage his defences and his troops; so
ww:hshattered sides and tattered rigging, to
ituehra
inured,
he
presumed that he had been successful
repair at Yokohama," while his batteries were little
i
in foiling a formidable attack. The Japanese mind
has not risen to the height of the great argument
propounded by Admiral K.uper's defenders in Lon•
don, that an assailing force is in no way responsible
for the devastation which may be caused. Looking
roughly at the matter, it concludes that the bom-
bardment of Kagosima was a very serious attempt
to suppress Satsuma, and that it was one which
failed. Such, at least, appears to be the view en-
tertitined by the DAiD3iO TfIAQ holds the entrance of

The jury found both the prisoners guilty.
Brown, a police-constable, said he knew both the prisoners,
who were prostitutes, living in the house with their father/
who is a costermonger. Ann Murphy only came out of
prison on the 26th of last month, having been committed for
an assault.
The Assistant-Judge sentenced each of the prisoners to
be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for 12 months. He
said he should order the witness Paul to receivo a reward
of £1 for his conduct, and should refuse the prosecutor his
expenses.