The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-03 00:00:00

THAMES THIS DAY.

CAUGHT IN THE FACT.—George Park, a labourer, aged
42, was brought before Mr. Selfe charged with stealing one
ounce of tea, the property of the St. Katherine Dock Com-
pany.

It appeared that yesterday evening a dock watchman,
named James Mitchell, hearing a hammering and the noise
of a tea chest, or package being forced open on the C quay,
went there as quietly as possible, and saw the prisoner
stooping over a chest of tea, and in the act of putting some
into a bag. The watchman cautiously approached and
sprung upon the thief as he was taking another handful of
tea out of the chest. The prisoner being thus caught in
*pante delicto, roared out for mercy and dropped
the bag, which contained about an ounce of te ).
It was capable of holding two pounds. The lid of
the tea chest was taken off and the contents exposed.
The chest was in a perfect state half an hour before the
prisoner was captured. A stout and formidable knife with
traces of lead with which the tea chest was lined was found
upon the prisoner.

The prisoner in defence said he picked up the tea on the
quay.

Mr. Selfe--Will you have the case settled here or prefer
being committed for trial.
The prisoner—Settle it here, if ynu please.
Mr. Selfe-1 don't believe you did pick up the tea, and
if you did you had no right to it. A good deal of this pil-
fering is going on, and I shall not treat cases of this kind
as unlawful possession. I find you guilty of larceny, and
sentence you to six weeks' imprisonment and hard labour.
A MALE SHOPLIFTER.—CharIes King, aged 29, calling
himself a weaver, of No. 17, Flower-and-Dean- street,
Spitalfields, was brought before Mr. Selfe charged with
stealing three skeins of silk, value 65., and two reels of
twist silk from a trimming (shop in Lower Chapman-street,
St. George-in- i n-E as t.
It appeared from the evidence of Miss Henrietta Amelia
Vincent, the daughter of Mr. Vincent, proprietor of a
trimming shop, that the prisoner came there yesterday and
asked for silk. Several parcels were shown him, and he
bought two skeins and a drachm of twist for 4d.,
and lett the shop. Directly afterwards Miss V in-
cent missed three skeins of silk thread and
two reels of silk twist from the window. The
property was there immediately before the prisoner
entered the shop, and the articles sold to the prisoner, and
which he had selected, were close to him. Miss Vincent
had placed them on the counter while she was serving the
prisoner. The young lady pursued the prisoner imme-
diately she missed the things, and called out " Stop thief."
The prisoner took to his heels, and after a long chase was
overtaken by a police-constable named Byford, 202 K, who
found the stolen Iroperty upon him. The prisoner came
from a thieves' colony, and had been in custody before. The
value of the silk stolen from Mr. Vincent's shop was 20s.
The prisoner pleaded guilty.

➢lr. Selfe—l have no doubt you are a professional thief,
but no former conviction is proved against you. The sen-
tence is the t you be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for
four calendar months.

THE ALBERT MEMORIAL FUND.—The total
amount of contributions received for the Memorial Fund up
to yesterday is about £48,500.

CAPTURE OF A TORTOISE.—A singular capture,
that of a young living tortoise, in our Cliffe brook, took
place on Tuesday last, by a son of Mr. House, gardener to
Archdeacon Bonney. He was fishing with a bow net, and
at first thought it was a crayfish. There have been seen
several tortoises, and their appearance is accounted for in
this way. Last summer a large tortoise left a garden ad-
joining the mill dam, hence the yor mg ones. Is it not
strange they should live through the winter in our waters?
It is now alive, and in the possosaiou pf Dr, Bonney.—
'Stamford Mercury.