The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-28 00:00:00

rLtEFEREN

;11G SHAKES.

North Eastern,
Stockton and Darlington, A 5 per cent., 281
PREFERENCE SHARES AND STOCKS.
Great Eastern 4 4 per cent. pr.,
Ditto, 5 per cent. pf.,
LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTAL`
Northern and Eastern. 5 per cent., 51
Wilts and comerset, 88,

tetlitlClGN MIN icb
Frontino and Bolivia tiold, lirn., 5i
Kapanda, lim.,

BANKt,
Commercial Bank of India and the East, 29
London Chartered Bank of Australia, 25i
London and estminster,
National Provincial of England.
Ditto, d and 3d issue, 45
Standard of British South Africa, 161
MISCELLANEOUS.
Atlantic Telegraph, 8 per cent. gua.,
Gen. Credit and N'inanx of London. lim., f
Hudson's Bay, 15,E
London tieneral Omnibus Company, :if
Overend, Gurney, and C0.,11w., 151

A MERMAID SEEN IN LOCH FYNE.—Our inve-
rary correspondent transmits the following:—One
morning recently, before sunrise, a labourer, setting out for
his work along the shore of Loch Fyne, about five miles
from Inverary, saw, or imagined he saw, what is seldom
seen by mortal eyes. On a smooth rock by the water's
edge was reclining a creature which, in the struggling
light, he thought to be a seal. When ho approached it
splashed into the water, and as he saw its head bobbing up
and down, and its long grey hair floating on the waves, he
altered his opinion, and became convinced it was an ancient
mermaid. Unromantic wretch that he was, he began to
throw stones, to avoid which the creature moved further
from the shore, but soon, for some reason not explained,
changed its purpose, and made straight,again for the rock,
on which it landed. The man, no doubt from the laud-
able desire of furnishing the British Museum with a true
specimen of a mermaid (a person could hardly send such
a creature to the Zoological Gardens among wild beasts),
drew a large knife from his pocket and advanced. Ile
had hitherto kept a respectful distance. But he suddenly
stopped, for to his amazement the creature spoke. To
hear, in the early dawn cf a peaceful autumn morning, a
mermaid speak !—that surely were bliss beyond compare.
Not so thought the labourer ; terror added wings to his
feet, and he fled, circulating over the parish that surely
his end was near, for he bad seen a mermaid and heard
her tongue. Eventually, however, his delusion was dis-
pelled, for the mermaid turned out to be the wife of a
Glasgow professor, who had come down to spend his
holidays on the shores of Loch Fyne, It is superfluous
to add that the lady had gone ont to bathe.. 'We un-
deptand the man is still living !-Glasgow &mkt'

LAW INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

SHERIFFS' COURT.
(Before Mr. Gibbons.)

ROBINSON V. THE PATENT BREAD MACHINERY COMPANY.
This was an action to recover the value of a quantity
of flour sold to this company.
Mr. Dod appeared for the plaintiff, and stated that he
believed some one was present from the company to admit
the debt.

Mr. Bundle came forward, and said he was secretary to
the company and admitted the debt.
His Honour did not like to have the case proved in this
way. The secretary appeared very willing to give evidence
against his employers, and the Court did not care to accept
his evidence if plaintiff would prove the debt in the regu-
lar manner.

Mr. Dod had another witness, but would observe that
the secretary attended under a subpoena. •
_

His Honour—Call him then. You see that it sometimes
happens that the unfortUnate shareholders in these com-
panies have no voice in the matter, and in the end are
called upon to pay. lereally looked us though the defen-
dants servants came forward very readily to prove the case,
against :heir masters.
Mr. Weston said he was a baker of Camden-town. He
bought the flour for the company, and the person Who
receipted the delivery note Was the shopwoman at the
defendants, shop at Islington. •
His Honour—Were you in the company's service ?
Witness—l was, but am not now. I left because the
affairs of the company were in such an unsatisfactory con-
dition.

His Honour—Well, Mr. Dod, here is another of the com-
pany's servants. You ought to call the plaintiff or some
one in his employ.
Plaintiff said that he supplied the flour. Entered the sum
against Weston, but looked to the company for payment.
Weston acted as agent for the company. Plaintiff had
received letters from the company promising payment.
His Honour noticed that the delivery note.was made out
to Weston.

Mr. Dod said that if he were allowed to call the secretary
who had been regularly subpoenaed, the case would be made
plain enough.
His Honour really did not like to see the secretary of a
company coming forward in this manner. The Court
had a duty to perform ae regarded the shareholders.
Mr. Dod—The Court has nothing to do with the share-
holders. •

His Honour—Oh, yes, we have. It is my duty to
watch the interests of the shareholders, and see that no
wrong is done to them.
Mr. Rundle, the secretary, then said that he wrote the
letters, promising payment by order of the directors.
Mr. Weston—And I produce a letter from the chairman.
His Honour upon this said plaintiff would have a verdict.
Mr. Dod repeated that it was the duty of the Court to
take the evidence of a witness who had been subpoenaed.
His Honour said that the Court had to look to share-
holders who could not be heard.
Mr. Dod—lt was in the power of the directors to send
some one here to-day. If the directors of a company order
goods the shareholders must pay.
His Honour—Yes, but the case should not be forced out
of the mouth of the company's servants. However, as
the case stands, you will have a verdict.
Verdict for plaintiff, with costs.

The Extraordinary Death of a Young Lady
at Leeds.

ADJOURNED INQUEST.

Yesterdey the adjourned inquest was held at Leeds re-
specting the death of Harriet Matilda Firth, aged 21, who
died on the 20th inst. at Dr. Mayne's residence in Leeds,
under circumstances which excited the suspicions of the
deceased's relatives. _ _ _

At the first inquiry, which took place on Friday last, it
was stated that she had lived more than four years with
Dr, Mayne, having at first gone there as housemaid, but in
12 months after the was considered by Dr. Mayne to be
unfit for hard work, and he thenceforth treated her as a
protégé, and finding she had a natural ability for music he
engaged professional masters to cultivate it. In April,
1863, ho effected an insurance on her life to the amount of
£2OO. But Dr. Mayne deposed on Friday that he had told
her he did not suppose she would predecease him, and she
might dispose of the policy as she liked. Still Dr. Mayne
thought the insurance would not cover by £lOO what he
had expended upon her. The evidence of Friday went to
show that while on a visit at Barnsley she had eaten so
freely of blackberry pie as to bring on an attack of diarr-
hoea ; on Monday, the 18th, Dr. Mayne fetched her home,
and she died on Wednesday from excessive purging and
vomiting.

Yesterday the first witness examined was Fredk. Nathl.
Richardson, -a pupil of Dr. Mayne's, who described tho
illness of the deceased, and said on Monday and Tuesday
night he sat with her at her request.
The Coroner—Her mother did not live far off ; why did
you not send for her ?
Witness—Because she did not ask me to do so.
But why did you not send for her yourself ?—Because I
did not think alt,e.: ;11 • • _

From Monday night to. Wednesday morning did-you *not
think she required a female attendant ?—The servant at-
tended her many a time. I asked her to have a nurse, but
she would not.

Mr. S. 'Smith, one of the oldest and most respectable
surgeons in Leeds, confirmed the opinion given on Friday
by Mr. Nunneley, that death had resulted from diarrhoea,
fever, and sinking. The symptoms, in his opinion, were
not consistent with any other cause of death. If death had
been caused by any kind of poison there would have been
indications of it. If an excessive dose of opium had been
given there would have been that congestion of the vessels
of the brain, which he did not find.

Coroner—From what you have heard do you think the
deceased was in a fit state to be removed from Barnsley on
the Monday ?

Mr. Smith—l think sho might be in a fit state, so far
as regards the journey by rail, it being her own particular
desire. I should have allowed it in a similar case, under
the circumstances.

Supposing you had attended her yourself on Monday
and Tuesday, would you not have considered it advisable
to have a female attendant?—Yes, I should have thought
it better.

In answer to Mr. A. W. Blackburn, solicitor for Dr.
Mayne,

Mr. Smith said the dangerous symptoms might have set
in on Tuesday night, or during the night. He never saw
a case of poisoning which presented the same symptoms
as this. So far as he had heard, hi) thought Mr. Mayne's
treatment of the deceased was proper.
Sarah Jane Firth, sister-in-kw of the deceased, was
called upon by the coronet-, and she said the statement was
false which Dr. Mayne made at the first hearing, to the
effect that when he took deceased into his service she was
destitute, and her friends would not assist her.

Mrs. Firth said the family took deceased home and pro-
vided for her when she was quite destitute, and had a bad
disease through having gone astray previously.
Mr. Blackburn here asked that Mr. Smith, the surgeon,
should bo questioned as to the deceased's virginity, because
the statement just made by Mrs. Firth was a libel which
should not go uncontradicted.
The jury, however, thought it was not within their
province to inquire into that point.
Mr. Blackburn said ho would not press the matter, as
the attacks which had been made upon Dr. Mayno would
in a few days be brought before another court.
Some witnesses from Barnsley had promised to attend
on behalf of Dr. Mayne, but they did not put in an ap-
pearance.

The Coroner, in summing up, said it was due to all par-
ties that this inquiry should take place, because at first un-
doubtedly the circumstances appeared to be of a peculiar
and extraordinary character. The insurance of the de-
ceased's life by Dr. Mayne was now explained; but cer-
tainly the deceased ought to have been provided with a f -
mole attendant. During two nights, at all events, Dr.
Mayne's pupil was her only attendant, &nd that was rather
indelicate. It would have been better, and have looked
better, had the deceased's mother been sent for ; but after
all, there could be no doubt from the medical evidence that
death had resulted from natural causes.
The jury returned a verdict accordingly.

EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS AT THE ASCOT GRAND
STAND.—The want of a convenient alighting place
for the numerous visitors who yearly flock to the grand
stand at Stock has long been felt, more especially in wet
weather. In order to remedy this defect a large octagonal
rustic pavilion, with two wings and covered way to the
front of the stand, is being erected close to the side of the
roadway. Carriages will thus be enabled to draw up by
the side of the central pavilion and also at the wings, this
new and extremely convenient arrangement allowing visi-
tors to alight in comfort without getting out, in the event
of rainy weather, and pass under a continuous shelter to
the stand.

PROFITS ox MUSHRo33lg.—Yesterday, at the
Sheriff's Court, Red Lion-square, before Mr. Hum-
phries, coroner and assessor, and a special jury; a compen-
sation case, "Inglish v, the Metropolitan Railway Com-
pany," occupied the Court, nearly the whole day. Mr. J.
0. Griffiths appeared for the claimant, and Mr. Holloway
for the company. The claim was .£716, in respect of pre-
mises and business as a nurseryman at Kensington. The
claimant, Mrs. hagfish, was widow of Mr. Inglish, who had
carried on the business for years as a mushroom grower,
and had a number of beds. The railway had taken pos-
session of the ground, and a loss had been sustained. It
was stated in evidence that the profits on mushrooms
amounted to from 100 to 150 per cent. One witness said
if £5O was expended, in 12 months, or perhaps in six
months, the sum realised would be £2OO. Several wit-
nesses were called on both sides; and the assessor, iu
placing the case before the jury, remarked that the profits
on mushrooms had no doubt surprised them. In addition
to the compensation for the place, the jury would compen-
sate the•clahnant for the loss of the business, and also in
reference to the pro4s on mushrooms. The jury even-
tually assessed the P°PiPelsOioflAt .g2O. The case was
not .concluded till past five o'clOck. . .

POLICE INTELLIGENCE,—This Day,

--.41- -

BOW-STREET.

George Hill, who gave his address 29, Eaton-street,
Gloucester-road, Regent's-park, gentleman, was placed
before Mr. Vaughan, charged with assaulting a married
woman of the name .of Buiwer, in the pit of Drury-lane
Theatre last evening.
The worthy magistrate, after hearing the evidence, which
is unfit for publication, fully committed him to tho sessions
for trial.

Barker, ono of the engineers employed at the Baths and
Washhouses, Endell-street, Bloomsbury, appeared before
Mr. Vaughan, charged with violently pinching aladnained
Lee in the stomach with a pair of pincers.

The lad at the first examination detailed the matters
which led to the alleged assault, and said when he re-
turned to the baths, in order to possess himself of the
trousers he Wore when the injuries were inflicted, found
they had been removed from where be had placid them.
The Ether ou the present occasion said the injuries in-
flicted on his son was of a most cruel and serious de.-
scription, the wound on his abdomen being nearly as
large as the palm of his hand, instead of being as had
been stated only the size of a threepenny piece.
Mr. Lewis, who appeared for Bulwer, said the matter had
altogether been very much magnified ; the whole thing
had been done in a joke, and to show that ho had not suf-
fered to the extent he had stated, he would produce the
trousers he wore on the occasion, Which as they presented
no marks of blood would be strong evidence in favour of
the defendant.

The trousers (which were made of white drill) were here
produced, the complainant swore they were not his ; but,
on the contrary, they were those worn by Nicholson, who
was a witness for the defendant.

Mr. Lewis said there was, he believed, another pair of
trousers of the same description, which he had been told were
those worn by Nicholson, but he would have them sent for,
because it was important that. the matter should be
thoroughly sifted.
A second pair of trousers of the same description as
those already produced were then shown to the com-
plainant, but he said they were not the one's he wore.
Mr. Lthvis said the trousers were of a peculiar descrip-
tion, and one or other pair must have been those worn by
the complainant. _ _

The boy Lee said such was not the case, as Nicholson,
who kept a shop in Dudley-street, had offered to sell him
a dozen pair of the same description. The pincers also
produced by Mr. Lewis were not those with whom the in-
jury was inflicted. They were very much larger than
those then before the Court.

A number of witnesses were then examined, but

Mr. Vaughan said the evidence was so conflicting that
he should give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt.
That he had pinched the lad in the stomach he fully
believed, but whether that had been done accidentally or
maliciously he could not say ; and as the evidence did not
enable him to come to a satisfactory conclusion, he should
order the defendant to be discharged.