The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-22 00:00:00

THE .51IDDL E L EVEL INUNDA'ZIONS.

LYNN, WEDNESDAY:

Yesterday the poor fellow Davis, whose foot was
caught in the wheel of a timber drag, and who was
very seriously injured thereby, died. The poor
fellow's body presented a ghastly and he:rible
appearance, being literally split up. He died .after
great agony. Another poor fellow was brought into
the hospital yesterday afternoon who had receiN ed
very serious injuries. Every effort seems now to
be made to master the tidal waters; several cradles
have been put down, and the practice of throwing
sacksful of earth into the current is continued. The
rumour that the bridge had fallen in turns out to
be false. Meetings of the commissioners are being
held almost daily, and individual cases of distress
becoming known, exciting sympathy on all hands.
There is little or no appearance of the tidal waters
being stopped.
A meeting of the Meydale Drainage Commis-
sioners was held this day on the bank near the
breach, the Rev. W, B. Dalby in the chair. A.
Saunders,
C.E., was present, and showed the commis-
sioners that there was a great hole being made in the
east bank •26 feet deep, and 40 feet long, directly
opposite the breach in the west bank. If this is
not stopped by some means directly, the result will
be that all the east side of the fens up to Downham
and Ely will be inundated. A telegram was imme-
diately forwarded to the secretary requiring atten-
tion to it. Mr. A. Saunders, C.E., waited upon the
Secretary of State for the Home Department yes-
terday, and asked the interference of Government
with the Middle Level Commissioners. He promised
to do all he could in the matter, which was to write
to the secretary of the Middle Level Commission on
the subject. There appears to be no probability of
, the dam being constructed before the tides begin to
increase again. 'ft re is no head to the great num-
ber of men who are at work. The alarm is now
spreading rapidly, and Nast numbers of persons
visit the banks daily, and, seeing the inactivity and
confusion, grumble fearfully. To-morrow the tides
begin to increase, and the general impression now
is that the whole of the Level will be flooded.

CaIIfIUTTAL OF A NOTORIOUS SW INDLER.

At the St. Helen's Police-court, yesterday,before
Messrs. R. Dalglish and W. Pilkington, Jun., an
aged and respectably-attired man, who gave the
name of Francis Whittall Jackson, and his son,
Septimus Jackson, a boy about twelve years old,
were charged with obtaining a large quantity of
various articles from tradesmen in the town by
false pretences and with intent to cheat and de-
fraud. Several witnesses were examined, and from
their testimony it appeared that the elder prisoner
is a plausible fellow, who has for some years car-
ried on a gigantic system of fraud, which eclipses
the nefarious transactions of the notorious Gil-
mour. A gentleman from Mr. Mactaggart's es-
tablishment, Bold-street, in this town, gave the
prisoner a very unenviable character, and enume-
rated about twenty Liverpool firms who have been
victimised by the rogue, some to the extent of ahoy'?
£5O. Jackson's modus operandi was this. He first
contrived to obtain an introduction to his intended
dupe, to whom he would tell a very plausible story.
Sometimes he would represent himself as a traveller
for an extensive tea and coffee establishment, or wine
merchant; at other times he stated that he was a
retired wine merchant, who had just taken a house
in the neighbourhood, that he had heard the trades-
man mentioned in flattering terms, and had been
thus induced to patronise him. He would then
select a few portable and valuable articles, and carry
them off without paying. During last week he
patronised the tradesmen of St. Helen's. From Mr.
PJrter, draper, he obtained goods to the value
of £5; from Mr. Butler, a watch of the value of
£5 55.; from Miss Johnson, harness, ice. ; from Mr.
Dawson, a carpet bag and drapery ; from Mr. Mort,
boots ; and at Mr. Booth's he ordered ironmongery
of the value of £ll, but, fortunately, only a few of
the articles were delivered. He also engaged
apartments at the Raven Hotel, whore he stayed
only one night, and then, after borrowing 4s.
from the ostler, decamped without paying the bill.
It was likewise shown that the prisoner, in
waiting upon the tradesmen of St. Helen's, re-
presented he had taken a house at Rainhill, where
he was residing, and that he was well known to
the stationmaster at that place. He was liberal
in his orders for goods, and directed that every-
thing should be sent to the care of the station-
master. One of the tradesmen took the precaution
of going with the goods, and ascertained that the
station-master knew nothing of his " friend" except
that he had lodged for some time at a house in the
village. It was also ascertained that the porters
carrying the goods were generally met on the road
and the goods taken from them. The result of these
disclosures was the apprehension of the swindler
just as he had booked at the St. Helen's Junction
Station. The bench thought it was one of the most
extensive swindling transactions that had been
brought before the public for some time, and corn,
witted the prisoner for trial at Kirkdale sessions.
In answer to the charge, the prisoner said he had
had great losses within the last three or four years.

MARKETS---THIS DAY.