The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-03 00:00:00

BARNUM OUTDONZ

A Berlin letter tells the following a musing story
of a hoax :

‘‘ I cannot conclude the present letter without
mentioning a little incident that occurred here in
the course of the present week, and in which some
ingenious rogue has verily out-Barnumed Barnum.
A member of the company of players at Callen-
bacla's Theatre was to have a benefit night ; and
the question was how to get a good audience, as the
usual attendance at that place, even if doubled,
would produce far too slender a sum to satisfy the
expectations of a benefit night. Accordingly, some
days before the memorable evening, there appeared
in all the Berlin papers an advertista vent to the
following affect:—

" A gentleman, who has a niece and ward pos-
sessing a disposable property of 15,0 00 thalers,
together with a mercantile establishment , desires to
find a young man who would be able to u tanage the
business and become the husband of the young lady.
The possession of property or other qualifications is
no object. Apply to --.'"

Hundreds upon hundreds of letters poured in,
in reply to this edvertisment. On the morning of
.the benefit day, each person who had sent a reply
received the following note The most important
point is, of course, that you should like one another.
I and my niece are going to Callenbach's Theatre
this evening, and you can just drop in upon us in
Box No. I.' Of course, the theatre was crammed.
All tie boxes, all the best paying places in the
house were filled early in the evening with a mostly
male public, got up in a style which is seldom seen
at the Royal Opera itself. Glasses were levelled on
all sides in the direction of box No. 1, and eyes were
strained to catch the first glimpse of the niece,
when she should appear in company with the uncle.
But uncles are proverbially ' wicked old men;' and,
in the present case, neither uncle nor niece was to
be found, and the disconsolate lovers—of a fortune
—were left to clear up the mystery as best they
could. The theatre has not, had such an audience
for years, and of course the chief person concerned
reaped a rich harvest by the trick."

JUDICIAL SIA7ISTICS.-ENGLAND AND

'VALES.

The constabulary returns recently issued for
the past official) year, compiled by order of her
Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the
Home Department, afford the following information
in regard to criminals and offences

The " indictable" crimes committed are stated to
be 50,809 in number--viz., 2,473 offences against
the person, 5,062 against Property with violence,
40,242i0i00s against
offences ngainst property, 1,762 forgery and
offences against the currency, and 777 offences
which cannot be included in the foregoing classes.
The number of persons apprehended during the
year
for indictable offences was 27,174, of which
property without violence, 493 ma-
-8,794 were discharged by magistrates, and 18,380
coo/lifted or bailed for trial. Of the latter, 13,879
were upon trial convicted and sentenced as follows,
viz.:-50 to death, 2,450 to various terms of penal
servitude, 10,971 to imprisonment for various pe-
riods, 262 detained in reformatory schools, and 146
whipped, fined, or held to bail.
'rhese 27,174 persons are classed as 5,759 known
thieves, 1,597 prostitutes, 740 vagrants, kc., 6,464
suspicious characters, 414 habitual drnnkards, 5,404
of previous good character, and 6,796 whose cha-
racters were not ascertained.

The number of persons proceeded against before
magistrates during the year, the cases being deter-
minedtheir offences com-
summarily,yiot sff C,wasoffenceso animals,thefts,
against various acts of Par-
liamentpmo poor
rr factory,marine,
,ahl%ap,
scu,kbnlrei
revenue,
eannude, health,ata
vagrant,t
pawn-
brokers, a ew anr
b'da.
rnaaromigdks eiaengrgi damage
o;
eraleadsaprslesesoarsaoluleinc mercantile e
weights and measures, and others.
Of the 394,717 persons so charged 131,237 were
discharged by the magistrates before whom the
cases were brought fe,- adjudication, and 263,510
Iconvicted-60,452 being sentenced to imprisonment
!for various periods, 1,257 sent to reformatory
schools, 165,974 fined, 10,747 required to find
sureties, 22,459 otherwise punished, and 2,621 sent
to be dealt with by the army and navy authorities.
The persons disposed of as above stated are de-
scribed as 15,508 known thieves, 18,407 prosti-
tutes, 18,756 vagrants, or having no visible means
of subsistence, 40,-514 suspicious characters, 24,021
habitual :drunkards (not otherwise described),
135,649 of good character, and 143,862 whose pre-
vious characters were not inquired into.

The number of the criminal classes in the metro-
polis in proportion to the population appears to be
less than in any of the groups of towns; being about
lin 231. The setts of the textile fabrics stand
next, of the cotton and linen manufactures next;
those of the woollen manufactures, the commercial
posts, the towns depending upon agricultural 41s-
tricts, the seats of the hardware manufactures fol-
low in the order in which they are Placed.
; the
pleasure towns last, the proportion of the criminal
in the group so designated being eatunated
at 1 in 96 of the populatio

interviews with President Lincoln,
American letters state that Mr. Thurlow Weed
an important mission from the
ahnads rhecasenbteleynhcandaeregveedral i
wig
United States Goveronient to that of her Britannic Us.
*IT.

Orders have been received at Portsmouth from
the Admiralty to give the iron frigate Black Prince
another trial,of speed,at the measured mile in Stokes
Bay, with the pitch of her screw altered 21 inches.
According to the present arrangements,the trial will
take place in the early part of next week, The indi-
cated horse power of the Black Prince's engines in her
full and reduced power trials of Saturday and Mon-
day was, with ten boilers on Saturday, 5,746.514;
six boilers, on Monday, 3,569.6; and with four
boilers the same day, 2,98906. The operation of
swinging the ship, to ascertain the deviation of her
compass, was commenced at Spithead yesterday.
The screw corvette Pylades, 21, 400 horse, which
has been under repair at Chatham for several months
past, has had an additional number of hands placed
on her. During the time she has been in dock her
decks have been ripped up and her beams strength-
ened by the addition of iron knees. Additional
space has also been secured on board for the in-
creased quantity of ammunition vessels of her class
will in future carry, the shot and shell ordered to
be supplied to the Pylades being 40 common and 30
segment 110 pounder Armstrong shells filled, and 30
common and 40 segment empty shells ; of the 40
pounder Armstrong shells she will receive 100 com-
mon, and 100 empty, together with 50 boxes of the
filled and 200 of the empty Armstrong 12 pounder
shells. Of the ordinary shells she will be furnished
with 400 of the 8-inch filled, and 80 of the empty.
Her solid shot will consist of 50 100 pounders, 120
40 pounders, and 200 of the 12 pounder Armstrong
conical shot.

Thirty shipwrights have been entered at Ports-
mouth Dockyard to strip off the copper and prepare
as a target ship the Alfred sailing frigate. She is
to be fitted with a number of armour plates, and
made ready for taking up Porchester Creek for
practice by Tuesday next. Among the plates to be
tested are four forged in Portsmouth Dockyard, and
several others from private firms.
Advices received from the Baltic state that the
iron frigate Defence, Capt. R. A. Powell, C. 8., had
struck on a rock and knocked a hole in one of her
bottom plates of so serious a nature that she was
only kept from foundering by being divided into
compartments.

The following changes have taken place in Sheer-
ness dockyard :—Mr. H. L. Peak, late master ship-
wright, Deptford dockyard, has been appointed
master shipwright in Sheerness dockyard ; Mr. W.
B. Robinson, senior assist.-master shipwright in
Sheerness dockyard, has been appointed master
shipwright to the Malta dockyard; Mr. Henwood,
foreman of shipwrights in Woolwich dockyard, who
is now at Constantinople giving instructions in the
art of shipbuilding, is appointed second assist.-master
shipwright in Sheerness dockyard; and Mr. E.
Wood, foreman of shipwrights at Devonport, is ap-
pointed to act at Sheerness as acting assist.-master
shipwright till the arrival of Mr. Henwood from
Constantinople.

The Resistance, 18, iron screw steamship, 3,710
tons, 600-horse power, Capt. W. S. Chamberlain,
was inspected yesterday by Vice-Admiral W. J.
Hope Johnstone and Staff. The vessel will be taken
on trial at the measured mile off Iklaplin Sands on
Thursday, after which she will proceed to Ports-
mouth, when she will be taken into dock for neces-
sary repairs.

The following ,'appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—R. R. M. Hall has been
nominated to a naval cadetship; C. Atchison, sur-
geon, additional, to the Severn; Fred. S. Turner
and Wm. J. Fellowes, acting second-claas assist.
engineers, to the Indus, as supernumeraries.