The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON DON,
_TB Ult ‘7.!DA y EVE NI NG, _DEC 6.1_N111 ER 11, 1862,

ASSIZE INIELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—LIVERPOOL, Dec. 10.
THE CHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT AGAINST A BANK
MANAGER AT MANCHESTER.
(Before Mr. Russell Gurney, Esq , Q.C.)
At the sitting of the Court yesterday morning,
Jonah Andrews, the manager of the Manchester
City Bank, was placed in the dock, charged with
having embezzled a sum of money which had been
paid into the bank by way of deposit.
It may be remembered that a few weeks ago it
was discovered that there were defalcations on the
part of the prisoner amounting to several thousand
pounds, which caused the greatest consternation
amongst the depositors. The prisoner became a
bankrupt, and the bank stopped payment. He had
for reveral years occupied a highly respectable
position in Manchester, and was a person in whom
the general confidence of the community was re-
posed. He was a liberal supporter of the local
charities, and a prominent member of the religious
denomination to which he belonged, taking an
active part as a Sunday school teacher<
When placed in the dock the prisoner in a•firm
voice, pleaded not guilty. He is a man of very
gentlemanly exterior, and wears a large flowing
beard and a moustache.

Mr. Higgin conducted the prosecution, and Mr.
Hopwood appeared on behalf of the prisoner.
Mr. Higgin stated the case on behalf of the pro-
secution. The particular charge against the pri-
soner was that he had converted to his own use the
sum of £37 165., with which he had been entrusted
by Mr. Samuel Lyon, of Manchester. The learned
counsel said that the prisoner now at the bar was
charged with a misdemeanour. For some years
the prisoner was at the head of an establish-
ment in Manchester which was called the " Man-
chester Bank of Savings." About two years ago this
bank was discontinued, and on its discontinuance
the prisoner opened another bank in Manchester,
which he called the City Bank, he being the only
responsible party, and indeed the only person in the
concern, acting as manager, treasurer, and secretary,
and making the necessary returns to the office of
Inland Revenue in London, as-to where the business
of the bank was carried on, he gave his own name
solely. When people came to the prisoner to have
their bills advised, they were in the habit of taking
documents signed by the prisoner, and then the
money was deposited with him, and this course was
adopted in the case now under consideration. On
Oct. 21 last, Mr. Lyon, who had a bill falling due
at the Union Bank, in London, went to the priso-
ner's bank, and there he saw a man named Coniston,
who, at the time, was acting as a clerk to the pri-
, souer. Mr. Lyon would tell them that his impres-
sion was that the prisoner at the bar was in an office
at the bank at the time, and could hear all that
passed. Had that not been so, there might be some
doubt whether he was in the bank or not, but he
would prove to them by another witness that at an
earlier hour—that was before Mr. Lyon called, the
prisoner was in the bank, so that at all events it
would be seen that the prisoner was not in London,
but at the bank in Manchester on the day when
Mr. Lyon deposited the money. The prisoner sus-
pended payment the next day, and consequently the
bill was not met in London on the following day, as
it ought to have been. The jury would have to be
satisfied, of course, that the prisoner knew the pur-
pose for which this money was deposited in the
bank, and that he converted the money to another
ase than that for which it was intended, and he
thought his lordship would tell them that in appro-
priating the money as he had done the prisoner was
guilty of the offence now charged against him.
His lordship observed it would require more evi-
dence than the learned counsel proposed to call, be-
fore it could be shown that the prisoner knew that
the money was paid at the time that the clerk re-
ceived it from Mr. Lyon. All that the learned coun-
sel appeared able to prove was that at the time the
money was paid to a clerk the prisoner was in 'an
office. But was it to be inferred from that that the
prisoner knew that the money was paid in for a
specific purpose ? Perhaps, however, the learned
counsel could carry the case further.
Mr. Higgins said he believed he had told the jury
all that he could prove, and if the case failed he could
not help it.
His lordship said no doubt the case had been stated
very fairly, but if it was to rest there he thought
the evidence of prisoner's knowledge was defective.
Mr. Higgin said he could not carry the evidence
further than he had indicated in his opening address.
His lordship then directed an acquittal, and th e
case collapsed, much to the surprise of many inte-
rested parties from Manchester connected with the
bank.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—WINCHESTER, Dec. 10
(Before Mr. Justice Byles.)
Fernando Petrina, a fine-looking Austrian sea-
man, was indicted for the wilful murder of a man
known by the name of Jones, on the 4th of October
last.

The prisoner was alleged to have committed three
separate murders during the same night. He was
the carpenter and second mate of the ship Winthrop,
which had formerly sailed under the American flag,
but on the last voyage she was registered at Hali-
fax, Nova Scotia, and sailed under the English
flag from that port. The captain of the ship was
an Italian named Nicolo Liperi, who, with his wife
Sarah Liperi, and Jones, an American, the first
mate, had severally been killed by the prisoner on
the night of the above date.
The jury were one-half foreigners.
Mr. H. T. Cole, with Mr. Beare, conducted the
prosecution; Mr. Brown, under instrdction from
the judge, watched the trial on the part of the pri-
soner.

The grand jury found three true bills against
the prisoner, but he was first put on his trial for
the murder of Jones, the first mate.
There were a number of witnesses, but the state-
ment of Peter Allen, a Swede, and one of the able
seamen, well skilled in English, will be sufficient to
explain the horrible affair.
Allen said—l remember the night when the cap..
tain was killed, on Friday. I was on deck on the
look-out forward. It was my watch. I heard a
shot in the cabin about half-past one o'clock, and I
ran amidships, and I then saw the prisoner come
out of the saloon running after the mate and the
helmsman. I saw the prisoner fire a pistol, and he
cried out at the time, " -- farina! No more
farina !" The mate ran round the forecastle, pri-
soner pursuing, and at the same time I saw the
captain's wife on the poop aft, crying out that her
husband was killed. She came down and ran into
the forecastle, the prisoner following her. I saw
her lying on the chest there, and the prisoner struck
her with a dagger in her side. She was in her night-
gown:only. It was moonlight, but there was no
lamp in the forecastle. I had for a time lost sight of
the mate, but I now again saw him at the door of
the forecastle going in, when the prisoner stabbed
him with a knife in the breast, and he fell. One of
the men in the forecastle secured prisoner, and
cried out for help. I went in, but we could not keep
the prisoner, and he broke away, saying, "That's
well; now I'll jump overboard." Prisoner again
went into the saloon, and I went out upon the deck,
and saw a dagger near the forecastle door, lying in
blood. I picked it up, took it into the forecastle,
and put it in my chest, and afterwards threw it
overboard, as my shipmates said the prisoner would
come back and ask for it. Prisoner came out of
the saloon, saying, " Get out of my road, or I'll kill
you all." I and a passenger hid ourselves under a
boat. We could see into the forecastle, when the
prisoner went with the augur in one hand and a
pistol in the other. Prisoner pushed the augur in
fiand out of the mate's bowels, as he was lying on the
dead
' e athdaeHere,d
0 peoplethrew
boys,hhererwo overboard."
tera heave vuo
if
for
dwt. theheu mate
tnohtaeehH:
ned
asked
took
otekohae
ked n
heavethemsaid,
all
an body
his countrymen, and we said " Yes," because we
take
afraid.
pHtaeinsaidantdo uhse,av"eGohiamft tooTtehrebocaarbdin2;
The other man 100, Iced at the prisoner, when he
e wereT sea.wo
s_aid, (pulling out a pistol and showing it), " If you
ean
rstdo.wf: a,
Inc
atoovidet
r,
otheregdo a
witht
men ta
bn
ldwa throwwent
tni
nlirt
otehttehherceawpt
hima cabin,inwoohvveeerrr -o.
the captain was lying
I did not see his wound, don't
dead on
hitehehefleodo floor, ins
covered
front
eodf
with blood. Prisoner then went with us and said,
" Take the mistress and heave her overboard." I
peoplesid, "
overboard,"
bi so
onrodt,,d, dead yet,he
got
menepavo rke: resr bo.
with the big augur in his h
o said, " Let her be
thenand we can't heave live
where abe is." He thenon the boat swearing,
to carry her aft, and, with the
forecastle and saw the mistress.an.
hperirsoonnert,hle asnodfaaninoththere man took le
Shee wu went ne
consent
ti
askednet of the
tt
mhh
eee
;s
.hderhenr i
ga
hn
td
dresslaid
blanket
k et coveredand pillow,"
iiitohw
~, blood.and awiein,lttlb"rGaenwivdeitghoeetrveaar
blanket from her own bunker and
her stomach and
anil3cier,?'wan;d he then
her. I asked him to get her a
pocket.butThhee
said, " No, that's good enough for her,"
his
woman
olockedman hers h
o w door,ed andthe put
wound keythe
in
asked the prisoner for some medicine for it.' He
said, ii That's nothing , never mind that." He then

went and got the medicine chest and putsomething
to his hand, which had been hurt through his hav-
ing too much powder in the pistol. He then put
the chest back again without
giving the woman
anything from it. Ile then went and ordered
breakfast. They all had breakfast about eight
o'clock and it was about ten o'clock when they took
the prisoner and lashed him. Before the captain's
wife died she told me she heard the carpenter kill
her husband as he was lying on the sofa, and she
asked me to read the Bible to her, but I could not,
nor could anybody on board. She died about five
o'clock the eame day. I talked'with the prisoner after
he was secured, and asked if 'he was sorry for what
he had done. He replied, " You've no heart ; when a
man's dead he is dead, and that's nothing." I asked
him how he killed the captain, and he said he didn't
know, and that he had given him a kick. I went
and fetched the axe and showed it to him, and
asked if he did it with that, and he said he didn't
know. He said, " When you go on shore, don't
talk about it." I again asked him why he did it,
and he then said, " What did they give me farina
for ?"

After the completion of the evidence by the
other sailors, all agreeing in the details, the follow-
ing extraordinary statement made by the prisoner,
and taken down, was read to the jury :
The first time I Caine on- board at Monte Video
I was good friends with the captain and everybody
on board. When I arrived at Paraguay I hurt my-
self, and was ill five or six days on board, and nine
days in the hospital on shore. During the time I
was ill on board the people laughed at me, and said
it was only because I would not work, and I asked
the captain to let me go into the hospital, which he
did. After 1 came out of the hospital a bill was
sent in for 30 dollars, which the captain paid, and
after that he always vexed me, and did not like me
any more after I left Paraguay for San Francisco.
The first day we arrived at San Francisco the cap-
tain went on shore with his wife and four sai:ors,
and when they returned in the evening the captain
had some quarrel with his wife, and I saw him strike
her in the face. When I saw this I was in my cabin
and I laughed. In consequence of my laughing the
woman was cross with me every day afterwards.
The second day the captain and four sailors went on
shore, leaving me, the mate, and the wife on board.
That morning I had been at work outside the ship,
and I went into the saloon fora tool which I wanted.
As I came out t saw the mate come from the cap-
tain's cabin all in a perspiration, and his trousers
were unbuttoned. The mate said, "What do you
come here for, to look after me ?" I said, "No."
He said, " Don't be frightened; before we arrive at
Monte Video you shall pay for this." We stopped
at San Francisco seven or eight days, and 1 was
always at work in the rain mending the small boat.
We had some spirits on board, and the mate gave
some of it to everybody but me. He said, "I give
it to the sailors to drink, but not to you, because
you are too lazy." He ordered me about like a
slave. The captain and his wife behaved to me the
same way; she did all she could to mortify me at
dinner. They gave me farina to eat because they
knew I did not like it, and to make me cross. Five
or six days after I spoke to the captain about it,
and said, " Why do you treat me in this way ?" and
he said, " I think I treat you very well, because all
the time you have been on board you have done
nothing." I told him when I got to Monte
Video, I should tell all to the consul ; and about the
captain and his wife and the mate should put
something in the newspapers. The others were
then present, and the captain said, " Never you
mind, before you arrive at Monte Video I will
make you see the consul, vice-consul, and general
counsel altogether." I then went to my cabin and
pretended to sleep, and heard the captain and his
wife talking. They said, " That savage man is gone
to sleep." The captain said, "He wants to give
the ship a bad name ; we had better tie his hands
and throw him overboard." The mate said, " It's
no use to tie his hands ; I have thrown six men
stronger than him overboard, and I suppose I can
do the same for him; when he's sound asleep I will
throw him overboard." The captain said, " When
the proper time comes I will let you know." After
this I was afraid, and loaded my pistol. The third
night after, the mate and captain came to my cabin.
The captain put his hand on my throat, and the
mate had a cord to tie my hands. They pulled me
out of my berth, and the captain tied a woollen
scarf round my mouth and dragged me near to
the sofa. When the mate found he could not tie
me, he struck me in the eye, and knocked me down
ou the sofa. The mate tried to put irons on me, and
I hit him in the face. The captain seized me to
throw me overboard, and I was cross. I saw the
hatchet, and took it and struck him with it across
the face. The mate ran away, and the captain put
up his hands and said, " Oh, my God, I am dying,"
and fell dos non the sofa. I got a pistol and went
after the mate. I saw him coming with a piece of
iron in his hand. I fired and missed, and he ran
away again. I went after him to the forecastle,
and seeing something white, thought it was him,
and struck him with a knife, but it was the
iron,
when wife, The mate then came on with the
when I in self-defence struck him with the knife.
Afterwards I asked the people if they were my
friends, and they said they were. They became
afraid of me, and I then said, " Well, if you like
you may tie me and keep me until we get to Monte
Video, when you can let me go." They did so, and
put me down below,
Mr. Bowen, in his speech for the defence, argued
on the truth of the prisoner's story, that because he
had witnessed the impropriety between the captain's
wife and the mate, he was treated with harshness
and violence. When attacked and in fear of his
life, he slayed the captain to save himself, and in
terror of the mate also wounded him. The coun-
sel also argued on the insufficiency of the evidence
to prove the nationality of the ship.
The Judge having summed up, the jury retired
to consider their verdict, and were absent a quarter
of an hour, when they returned with a verdict of
guilty.
The
ri rson
but made no remark, and the judge then passed
erw as called
sentence of death in the usual form. The trial
occupied six hours and ald uponf in the usual way,
a le
half.

INCREASE OF' CRIME IN THE COUNTY
OF MIDDLESEX.

The official reportColdbath-fields, for tof fe tyhe ea rHe
Inds en
go f
eo
hr ra ee cl oe ne
1862, has just been issued, and shows that a great
increase of crime
has
as compared withtsh taken
vpi leaucee within thato
hperiod
as compared with the previous year. Upon this
subject the report says :—" The exceptional state of
things prevailing in the metropolis during the past
year has been attended with a considerable increase
in the number of commitments. In 1861 the total
number of prisoners was 8,065 ; in the present year,
9,261. It is, under these circumstances, a matter
of rejoicing that, while the aggregate numbers
have thus risen, the number of prisoners under 16
years of age has not only failed to keep pace with
the adults, but has materially diminished. Last
year the total number of boys under 16 years of age
was 774, this year it has fallen to 682. Of the pri-
soners committed during the year 1,562 had been
once before committed ; 567, twice ; 251, three
times ; and 422, four times and upwards. In ad-
dition to the punishments to which the prisoners
were sentenced, the following have been inflicted
for offences committed during the year in prison :
Whippings, 10 ; put in irons, 6 ; solitary confine-
ment, 267; other punishments, 6,227—making a
total of 6,510 additional punishments. The daily
average of prisoners was 1,594. The report of the
House of Correction at Westminster shows a great
increase in the number of female prisoners commit-
ted during the year, amounting to 5,099; in the
previous year they were 4,802. The number of
finales received from this prison into reformatory
asylums during the year was 130, namely, into the
Refuge for the Destitute, 29; Elizabeth Fry Re-
fuge, 60; Manor-hall Asylum, 6; placed in other
asylums, and paid for by the ladies of the Patro-
nage Society, 29. Of the prisoners committed
during the year, 993 had been once committed be-
fore,times, and 1,841 four
punishment for offences
comm times;4i andt9t7 edmoretwice,within2t7hle extra
prison--solitary
re
confinement,
83; other punishments, 1,485, making a total of
1,568. The House of Detention, Clerkenwell, as
in the previous cases, offers a considerable increase
in the number of prisoners for the year. The
number committed this year B,BBo—namely,
c 14 -
6,510 males and 2,370 females—while in the pre-
vious year they were 8,014, being an increase of
866. The daily average Was 224. Of the number
committed there were committed before :—Once,
I,CI and four times and
or
Ext.'s punishments, in irons, 1 ; soli-
tary confinement, 33 ; other punishments, 131.
Committed for attempting to commit suicide, 177.
m9e8,;2177.ice, 331 ; thrice,

211 E NAVY.

Her 'Majesty's steam eloopltacer, 11 guns, com-
dmils"inssiaoinltelded, wasJune3d, 1858, having ben stripped and
yesterday paid off at Woolwich.
She was employed, on the North American station
since March 3d, 1859, and being engaged as a de-
spatch vessel in the diplomatic service, she was the
only ship which entered the harbour of Charleston
during the troubles. The present captain, Algernon
M'Lennan Lyons, succeeded the Hon. T. Pakenham
in command of the Racer, the latter having been
superseded at his own request in July, 1860. On
his arrival in England the Admiralty, to mark their
approbation of Commander Lyon's ser vices,promoted
him to post rank. Dr. Duncan and Second Lieut.
Royse are the only officers who survived the ravages
of the yellow fever, with which the ship's company
was attacked in:the Havannah.
The French Imperial steam yacht L'Actif, carry-
ing the pennant, arrived and moored off the dock-
yard, Woolwich, yesterday to coal and replenish
her stores. On account of the extraordinary accu-
mulation of mud all communication with the dock-
yard was barred at low water from 9 to 10.30 a.m.
by a huge and impassable mudbank. On the flow of
the tide about midday the officers landed and after-
wards visited the Fisgard, Captain Lysaght. Com-
mander Zelenoy and the officers of the Russian cor-
vette Almaz, now lying at Gravesend, were also re-
ceived on board the Fisgard, and were accompanied
over the dockyard.

The Leveret screw gunboat, tender to her Majes-
ty's screw frigate Dauntless, in Southampton water,
tested her machinery and speed at the measured
mile yesterday, on the completion of repairs and
the fitting of condensers to her engines. Six runs
were made at the mile, the mean of the six giving
the ship a speed of 7.958 knots.:
The Alfred target ship has been brought down
from the practice moorings, and berthed alongside
Portsmouth dockyard, to receive fresh armour plates
for testing and experimental firing. The two plates
fired at on Monday last proved to be of very infe-
rior quality ; one, made at the Elswick Ordnance
Works (Sir W. Armstrong and Co), broke up like
potters' clay under the blows of the 68 pounder
shot. A second plate from the Elswick Ordnance
Works, with one for the Prince Albert cupola ship,
and four other makers, are now being fixed for the
next trial.

The Frederick William,B6,screw, has been brought
down from her harbour moorings at Portsmouth,
and berthed alongside the dockyard to receive her
deck fittings for sea service. She is to be ready for
commission in May, 1863. Sixty hired shipwrights,
with other trades in proportion, are being entered
in the yard to take in hand the repairs of the ships
ordered to be brought forward for commission. The
Esk and Curacoa will be the first two vessels taken
in hand, the former to be ready for commission, if
possible, by May, 1863, and the, Curacoa as soon as
possible without interfering with other work in
hand in the yard.
We are glad to be enabled to announce that Vic-
e Sir H. W. Bruce, Naval Commander•in-
Chief at Portsmouth, is fast recovering from his
late severe attack of illness, and is expected to be
able to resume his official duties in a day or two.
The report that the gallant Admiral has written to
the Admiralty to be superseded is incorrect.
An official communication has been received at
the office of the Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth
from the Admiralty, expressing their lordships'
gratification at the satisfactory reports they had re-
ceived from the inspecting officers of the creditable
and expeditious manner in which the Arrogant
screw frigate was lately paid out of commission at
Portsmouth, and which, their Lordships observe,
does credit to the officers and crew of the Arrogant,
and likewise to the officers of Portsmouth dockyard.

Thu following appointmonfo wore irnarin yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Lionel Swift, chief engi-
neeer, to the Asia for the Neptune, when the latter
is paid off; T. A. Burton, chief engineer, to the
Cumberland for the Amphion, when the latter is
paid off.