The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-25 00:00:00

IN RE J. STAPLES.

This bankrupt was described as a patent medicine vendor,
of Catherine-street, Strand, and to-day ho came up to pass
his last examination and for tho order of discharge. The
debts are £2,647, the deficiency being £2,500. The order
was granted.

CRIMINAL COURT.—This Day.

OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Keating.)
CHARGE OF WILFUL MURDER.

Amelia Sutherwood, 22, late a chambermaid at the
Charing-cross Hotel, was Indicted for the wilful murder of
her female infant child.

The facts of this painful case have already appeared. It
will be recollected that tho body of the child was found in
one of the drawers of the prisoner's bedroom with an ex-
tensive wound on ono sicb of the neck.

Mr. Ribton, instructed by Mr. Abrams, from the office of
Mr. Goatley, ably defenCeed the prisoner, and said he felt
certain, as reasonable men, he need not address the jury at
any great length, because the charge of wilful murder had,
according to his view, failed. There could be no disguis-
ing the fact that concealment of birth had been committed
by the prisoner, and he felt certain that that would be the
conclusion at which tiny would arrive. To enable them
to come to such a conchsion, he need only recall to their
recollection the prostrate and distressing state the prisoner
must have been in whet the circumstance occurred. She
was alone when the (welt occurred, and in her agony, not
knowing where to conceal the body of her prematurely
still-born infant, she placed the body in one of the drawers,
in the closing of which tm lacerated wound on the throat
was produced—the childs head having been loft projecting
outside the drawer before it was hastily closed. The me-
dical man was of opiniox that that wound might have been
been caused in the way he.had described;; besides which
various other circumstances, which he need not repeat,
would produce the masks found upon the upper part of
the body. He contended that the child never had a sepa-
rate existence from the mother, and the medical man could
not undertake to swear that it had. Under all the circum-
stances of the case; he fait confident they would acquit the
prisoner of the capital diarge, and find her guilty of the
misdemeanour of concealnent of birth.

The learned Judge summed up the evidence, and told
the jury that before theycould convict the prisoner of wil-
ful murder they,must have no doubt in their minds that
the infant had a separate existence from the mother.
The jury retired, and after an absence of ten minutes
returned into court with a verdict of not guilty of murder,
but guilty of concealment of birth.

Inspector Brennan, of the F division of police, said he
had made inquiry relative ;o the character of the prisoner,
and he had to inform the Court that her former employer
had the highest opinion 01 her, and up to this charge her
conduct had been irreproathable.

Mr. Justice Keating semenced her to eighteen months'
imprisonment.

NEW COURT.
(Before Mr Justice Pigott.)
THE RVSSIAN NOTE FORGERIES.

An application was made to his lordship to postpone
the trial of the six prisoners indicted for being concerned
in the offence until next session.
The learned Judge granted the application.
George Dean, 27, labourer, was indicted for robbing
Thomas Ladd of the sum is, 44d.
The jury found the prisoner guilty, and previous con-
victions having been prored against the prisoner, the
judge sentenced him to seen years' penal servitude, his
lordship remarking that, larder the circumstances, the law
allowed him no option in ao matter.

THIRD COURT.
(Before Commissioner Kerr.)
James Watson was indeted for stealing a .£lO bank•
note, the property of Marl Rarris, in her dwelling-house.
The jury found the visoner guilty, and he was sen,
tented to ono year's impriioament with hard labour,

Thomas Brown, printer, was indicted for unlawfully
attempting,-burglariously, to break and enter the dwelling-
house of Auguste Gagnire, with intent to steal therein,
and also for having in his possession by night, and without
lawful excuse, an implement of housebreaking.
The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to five
years' penal servitude.

FOURTH; COURT.
(Before th( Recorder.)
THE ROBBERY AT PII(FESSOR HOLLOWAY'S.

The three clerks lately in the employ of Professor Hol-
loway, viz., Robert Spooner, Charles Utton, and Thomas
Sellen having been found guilty of stealing various sums
of money and postage stamps his lordship intimated that
he should postpone passing sextence until the other charge
connected with the case was dsposed of, and, accordingly,
this morning, IL Locke, landord of the Holyrood Palace
public-house, in the Strand, urrendered to an indictment
charging him with conspirin; with Spooner, Sellen, and
Utton to obtain divers sumsof money with intent to de-
fraud. The clerks were in ,ho habit of frequenting the
house kept by the defendaa, and he was in the habit
of playing cards and changfig cheques for the prisoner
Utton for comparatively larg(sums, which, it was alleged,
ho knew must have been disionestly come by.
Serjeant Ballantine defenda Mr. Locke.

(The case was not concluthi when we wont to press).

Cow-house and Slauditer-house Licences.

Yesterday the county maistrates acting for the Hol-
born Division hold their annul meeting, for the purpose
of hearing applications for cowhouse and slaughter-house

licences.
Mr. 11. Priestman, the Government inspector, was pre-
sent by direction of the Homeoffice.
Mr. Priestman reported thatho had inspected the places
for which licences were asked, Ind he had no objection to
make in any case, but simply ittended to furnish any in-
formation the Bench might rquire.
Mr. Hopwood, the clerk of he Holborn Board of Works,
said that his board had come b a resolution that they were
of opinion that the time had come when the practice of
having cow-houses within dilricts such as theirs should
cease. Ile added that they cosidered that cows should be
kept only under more natural conditions than could exist in
connexion with cow-houses n crowded neighbourhoods.
The board however, considding that the law at present
permitted this state of things had not instructed him to
oppose any application for a leence.
Mr. Harrison, a solicitor, anl a member of the St. Giles'
Board of Works, said, on behaf of himself and some other
inhabitants of St. Giles, that trey believed that cow houses
in that locality were great nuisances, and endangered the
health of the district. He hell in his hand some memo-
randa upon the subject, whch had been made by Dr.
Buchanan, the medical officer a: the district, who was a man
high in his profession, and wlo had lately boon employed
by the Government to report tpon the outbreak of yellow
fever at Swansea. The doctor said that all the cowsheds
but one wore in the most crowded parts of the district,
where the population was 401 per acre. The death-rate
there was about 30 per 1,000, and in many years was above
40, mainly in consequence of overcrowding and impurity of
air. Cow-houses, oven when conducted in obedience to the
regulations, could not be other than a source of serious im-
purity of air in such a district, and the cattle plague had
had its head-quarters in the London sheds, and had com-
mitted greater proportionme ravages there than in the
country. London derived fully half its supply of milk, and
Liverpool its whole supply, from the country, so that there
would be no practical difficulty in abolishing the London
sheds.

Mr. Adams, a magistrate, said ii seemed to him that it
was for the Legislature to daternaino whether cow-houses
in London should be done away with ; but that whilst the
present law remained; it was the duty of the Bench to
license those cow-houses in which the regulations laid
down were complied with.
Mr. Delano, a cowkooPer, complained that no notice had
been given of this attempt to deprive them all of their
licences. If the Legislature thought fit they would remove
cowhouses from towns, and would no doubt consider what
compensation should be awarded to those cowkeepers who
had laid out their money in order to comply with the ex-
isting law. Ile submitted that, at all events, the Bench
would not deprive them of their property in the way which
had been suggested.
There worn 49 applications for cowhouso licences for the
whole of the division, and all but one who applied had their
licences granted. In ono instance the application was post-
poned;for a month to give time for certain works to be done,
and in another caso it was intimated that the licence would
be continued for thie year only, and in the meantime the
applicant must find more suitable premises.
About 40 slaughter-houea licences were granted without
opposition.

The magistrates of the St. James's Division held a
similar meeting. For the last two years they have refused
to licence any cow-houses within their division, but it was
reported that those who were formerly licensed in Soho
parish had continued to keep cows, and now applied that
the licences should be regrantod.
The Bench declined to grant this application, and some
discussion took place, which resulted in Mr. Lewis, the
clerk to the Strand District Board of "Works, saying that
ho believed that ho could pledge himself that his board
would now take steps to punish any person who kept cows
in an unlicensed shed. _ _

Several slaughter-house licences were granted, but the
chairman intimated that they would probably grant no
such license next year, therefore the parties interested had
better act upon this warning.