The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-15 00:00:00

The Weather and the Parks.

Yesterday there was, as on the previous day, no ice on
the Serpentine, although the thermometer was during Mon-
day night as low as 26 deg. At 9 a.m. yesterday the mercury
stood at 27 deg., and at noon at 30 deg. At seven o'clock
last night the mercury had again fallen to 27 deg. The
barometer at 9 yesterday morning stood at 30.10 deg. The
wind during the day was north-east, which kept the water
in such a state of agitation as to prevent it from freezing in
Hyde Park. The Long Water in Kensington Gardens, on
the other hand, being somewhat sheltered, isnow completely
frozen over, but the ice is very dangerous. In spite of the
printed cautions posted by order of Mr. Young, the secre-
tary, and Mr. Williams, the superintendent, some 50 or
60 persona went upon it, it suddenly gave way, and
some of them fell into deep water. They, were, how-
ever, rescued by the Society's men. About four o'clock
in the afternoon four men came down the bank for the
purpose of skating. They were warned by the society's
men, and also the park keepers, but it was of no avail.
They had not been long on the ice when a loud crack was
heard, and before they had time to get clear of the.spot
three of them fell up to the middle in water, while the
fourth had the water and ice round his neck. The So-
ciety's men had the greatest difficulty in getting them out.
The members of the Skating Club very wisely refrained
from venturing upon the Serpentine. At the Round Pond,
Kensington Gardens, a large crowd assembled to see the
skaters. The Royal Humane Society's men cautioned
them against venturing on the ice in large numbers, but
they did so in vain. No fewer than 600 persons went on
the ice. For some time all went on smoothly enough,
but about nine o'clock a crack indicated danger, and be-
fore those near it could get away, a Mr. Hereford, re-
siding in Hammersmith, fell into water several
feet deep. He struggled desperately for some time,
hoping to get out, but he was unable to do so, and had it
not been for the prompt assistance rendered by the ice-
men he must have been drowned. This was, one might
have thought, enough to convince every one that it was
time to leave, but the crowd still continued on the ice, and
in less than half an hour afterwards Mr. Henry Smith, of
Beaufort-place, Bayswater, fell in where the water was six
feet deep. He was rescued much exhausted by the icemen
of the Royal Humane Society. A gentlemanf who was
skating went through the ice into water five feet and a half
deep, in presence of his two servants, who were watching
his evolutions from his carriage. In all 40 persons fell in
and were saved by the Society's icemen. At the Regent
Park there were some hundreds of skaters, only one of
whom fell in. At St. James's Park the ornamental water
from the entrance opposite the Horse Guards to the bridge,
was free from ice, with the exception of the pond at the
back of the Island. This portion was, however, covered
with ice, which, owing to the snow, was very spongy.
Society's men, went upon it. While they were
About 150 persons, in spite of all the cautions of the
amusing themselves, the ice gave way, and five per-
sons fell in. Dyputy-Superintendent Perry had tho
whole of his men summoned to the spot, but there was the
greatest difficulty in getting to the endangered persons,
owing to the rotten state of the ice. Tho men, however,
with their ropes, formed a kind of pontoon. Icemen Pavey
and Higginbottom fell through into the deepest part of the
water, and the former got his hands terribly cut by the
sharp edges of the ice. Fortunately they succeededby great
exertions in getting out the whole of those who had fallen
in. They, as well as the icemen, were much exhausted.
About 12 o'clock seven other persons fell in, and they were
also rescued by the icemen. Ono of them a boy named
Lloyd, of Snow's-fields, Bermondsey, was so long under
the ice that it was at first thought he was dying. Ho was
taken to the marquee, however, placed in hot water, and
put to bed. He was attended by Dr. M'Cann, and happily
recovered. About 20 other persons fell in during the day,
but their cases were not so serious as those before men-
tioned. During the day a mob again commenced snow-
balling. Owing, however, to the prompt measures of the
icemen, and park constables they were made to desist, but
not before one or two had been taken into custody.

she Charge of Conspiracy to Defraud

Insurance Offices.

Yesterday, at two o'clock, Mr. John Geo. Barry and Mr.
Alfred Barry, brothers, wharfingers, of Moritou's-wharf,
Bermondsey, and who had been arrested on warrants,
were brought before Mr. Alderman Stone, at the justice-
room of the Mansion-house, in the custody of Detective-
sergeants Ilaydon and Brett, charged with having com-
bined, conspired, and confederated together with James
Arnett, William Sedgwick, and Charles Thorne, three of
their servants, now in custody, to steal divers quantities
of jute, and other commodities, with intent to defraud tho
Royal Exchange Corporation and other insurance com-
panies.

- The case excited considerable interest, and many of the
directors.of the principal insurance companies attended to
hear it.

Mr. Giffard, Q.C., and Mr. Poland, instructed by Messrs.
Humphreys and Morgan, solicitors, Newgate-street, were
counsel for the prosecution; and Mr. Sergeant Ballantine,
instructed by Messrs. Lewis, of Ely-place, defended the
prisoners.
Mr. Giffard prefaced the examination by stating that at
Meriton's-wharf, of which the defendants were the occu-
piers, a fire occurred in June last and another in November
last, destroying on both occasions large quantities of valu-
able merchandise, but principally jute, rice, and seeds, and
the frauds with which they. were now charged was that
they had from time to time represented to certain insur-
ance offices in which the merchandise stored there was in-
sured that quantities of it had been burnt which in truth
were still in existence. For some time it was almost the
wish of those concerned for the prosecution that the Messrs.
Barry might themselves be ignorant of what was going on
at their wharves, and if the case had been confined to ono or
two small parcels of property with respect to which it might
be supposed that their men and not they were concerned in
an act of fraud, the present defendants would not have been
called to account; but when on investigation it had been
found that property to the value of £5,000 in round num-
bers, which was professed to have been burnt, and with re-
spect to which the merchants who were the insurers either
had been or had claimed to be compensated by the insur-
ance offices, still remained on their premises, the irresistible
conclusion was that the defendants had been privy to the
fraud. The witness Fage, who had given evidence against
the three men already in custody, had more than once
stated that the Messrs. Barry ."
knew all about it ;" but
so cautious were the prosecutors not rashly to ac-
cuse gentlemen holding so high a position, and in
large a way of business, that they abstained from
interfering with them until the evidence of Fage was con-
firmed by that of other witnesses to such an extent as to
leave no doubt on their minds that the Messrs. Barry had
acted in complicity with the men already in custody.
Mr. Theodore Baxter, of 1, Great St. Helen's, broker,
whom Mr. Giffard called said,—l had at the time of the
November fire warehoused at Meriton's wharf 986 bales of
jute, which had come by the ship City of Sydney, and born
distinctive:marks and numbers. About a week after the fire,
not having heard anything as to the state of my jute, I
went to Meriton's wharf to make inquiry about it, and was
told by a clerk there that it was all burnt, except 140 bales.
I then left the office; butwhile still on the premises, I asked
Sedgwick, a foreman, one of the men in custody, to let me
see my jute which had been saved. He took me to the top
floor of a warehouse, and pointing to a stack marked " City
of Sydney," said it was made up of the 140 bales. ,Ho said
all the rest wore in warehouses where the firo had been. I
had no suspicion at that time, and therefore did not think of
counting or checking the quantity pointed out by
wick. I then saw Mr. Alfred Barry, and told him, I had n.
quantity of jute on the premises, that I was unfinsured, anti
that, perhaps, he might help me if ho had a, floating policy.
Ho said he could not, as he feared they 'were not fully in-
sured themselves. But he suggested
letter claiming participation pro that I should write a
rata with the fire offices
from tho salvage, and also a,
letter to themselves directing
them (the Barrys) to set
`aside any bales out of the ruins
which could be identill`4l as belonging to the City of Syd-
ney shipment. I Tri•ote such letters accordingly, and after-
wards meeting Ir. A. Barry at the Baltic coffeehouse, of
which we were both members, I asked him whether any of
my jute had been recovered from the ruins. The reply was
that none of it had been recovered. Sedgwick,the foreman,
was asked the same question and gave the same answer.
Ile added that there was no chance of any being recovered,
and he pointed to a particular part of the ruins where my
jute had been warehouse& On that I gave up all hope of
recovering more than the 140 bales, and anything I might
get out of the salvage for my pro rata share. After Sedg-
wick, Arnett, and Thorne had been taken into custody I and
my principals, who were merchants, saw Mr. John Barry
in consequence of something I heard, and asked him as to a
report of the jute saved being in excess of the number of
bales returned in their lists to the fire-offices. I referred to
the report that 2,000 odd bales mentioned in their returns
Re having bon burnt had Won, bayed. Ile §cotoci the ider