The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-03 00:00:00

TIM SUN. LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 3, 1863.

venience and time will be understood by all travellers
who know that to traverse London from the north
to catch a southern train is, in point of loss of time,
equal to 100 miles of rail added to their journey.
In point of trouble and annoyance it is infinitely
worse than 200. With the completion of such a
link, also, the public are promised the utter banish-
ment of railway waggons from the streets. Per-
haps with those overladen, lumbering obstacles
eliminated from our roads, and with the comple-
tion of the straight, broad avenue which the Thames
embankment will offer, our city traffic may become
manageable after all, and our streets be, in fact as
well as name, practicable thoroughfares. Without
some such means of relief all the police regulations
which were ever devised can do nothing more to
mitigate their present congestion during the very
hours when their freedom from obstruction is ne-
cessary to business.

_
The Charge against a Surgeon.

Yesterday evening the inquiry respecting the deaths of
the two children which were found on the late Mr. Charles
Law, as he was about to dispose of them surreptitiously in
the Kingsland-road, on Saturday week, was resumed by
Mr. Humphreys, Middlesex coroner, at the Black Horse
tavern, Kingsland-road. Mr. It. Dawson, solicitor to the
National Societyfor the Prevention of Child Murder, attended
to watch the case. Inspector Wiseman said the police had no
further evidence to produce. Dr.J.C. Griffiths, police surgeon,
said that he was called to see the two children. The first and
stronger was a female child. The post mortem examination
showed that the lungs were not inflated, therefore the child
could not have breathed There were no marks indicative
of instruments having been used. It was a six or seven
months' child. It might have been born alive, but have
been purposely destroyed. There was no reason why it
should not have been born alive. Abortion skilfully pro-
duced would not have left any marks on the child. The
other child was the one found in Mr. Law's pocket. Wit-
' nese could not say whether it had been born naturally or
otherwise. It was a six or seven months child, and the
lungs were not inflated. There was no reason why the child
should not have lived. It had been born about a day.
There were no marks of violence. The coroner then
summed up, and remarked that since the arrest of Mr. Law
no dead bodies of children had been found in Shoreditch.
If the deceased children bad been the victims of abortion,
the crime was as bad as if they had been murdered. But
under the circumstances it was impossible to arrive at any
definite conclusion with regard to them. The statement of
Mr. Law was that he had not delivered the children, but
had merely undertaken to dispose of the bodies to save the
burial fees. The jury returned a verdict " That in the first
case the said female child was found dead in an unfinished
building, where it had been placed by one Charles Law,
and the jurors say that whether the said child was born
alive, and, if so, how it came by its death, the evidence
does not fully prove ; and that in the second class the
female child was found dead in the pocket of the said
Charles Law, but whether the said child was born alive,
and, if so, the manner of its death, the evidence is not
sufficient to show," In the evening Mr. Humphreys re-
sumed, at the Panther tavern, Hope-town, Bethnal-green,
the inquiry relative to the death of Mr, Law. Mrs. Eliza
Law, the widow of the deceased, said that her late husband
was in the station-house a fortnight ago. He was liberated
on the Monday afternoon, and came home at 6 o'clock. His
intellect was quite gone. He did not know witness or any
of his family. He was irrational. He spoke of birds
and fishes. Subsequently fits came ciL He had before
suffered in the same way from delirium tremens, and Dr.
Walsh said that a relapse would cause either his death or
his detention in a madhouse. He vied on the Wednesday
morning. The witness was sure he did not take anything
noxious. He was a registered medical practitioner. Mrs.
Fimes, 1, Featherstone-buildings, City-road, confirmed the
evidence of the last witness. H, Williams, 102 N, said that
he apprehended Mr, Law for disposing of the dead body of
a child. Sergeant Smith said that he booked the charge
against the deceased, and put him in the sell. Witness left
him at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. He was perfectly
sound in mind then. Witness next saw him on Mon-
day morning at Worship street police-court. He called
witness over to him in the dock and said, " I was taken
from Worship-street in a cab and they will take me there in
a van, Will you come with me ?" H 9 then spoke to his
attorney. Witness thought that Mr. Law made a mistake,
or that his mind wandered, That was about midday. Dr.
Wm. Wallace said he was called in to see the deceased at
his house in Virginia-row, Bethnal-green, early on Tues-
day morning. He was suffering from delirium tremens,
Witness ordered him rest, nourishment, and stimulants.
Deceased aied next day. Death arose from delirium tremens.
A man given to drink and locked up for two days, and ex-
hibiting aberrations of intellect on the Monday morning,
ought to have been seen by a medical man while in cue-
tody. Witness would have then given stimulants and
nourishment. Delirium tremens generally yields quickly to
treatment, and it was quite possible that it deceased had
been medically attended while in custody his life would have
been saved. The Coroner said that ii the information he
had received was correct, the deceased while in custody was
either out of his mind or was shamming insanity. It would
be very necessary to ascertain whether proper steps had
been taken to discover whether he was really in a state of
dangerous disease, or whether the symptoms observed were
feigned. Police •constable Williams said that deceased ap-
peared rational when taken to the police court. He had
received coffee and bread and butter for breakfast on the
Sunday. When witness arrested him in the Kingsland-
road ho called out for a person named Wyman, who was his
assistant. The proceedings were adjourned to investigate
the treatment of the deceased while in custody.