The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-02 00:00:00

_ .
,the ship made the voyage to Africa and back in
safety, as he (Captain O'Connor) had resolved not
to carry out the nefarious instructions of the

prisonef.
In this case Mr. Raffles declined to interfere,
partly because he was not satisfied with the evi-
dence, and partly because he doubted whether he
had any jurisdiction in the case.

VICTIMISING AN EMIGRANT

John Marshall, alias Davies, was charged at the
Liverpool Police-court on Saturday with having de-
frativied Richard James, an intending emigrant, of
£lBO in h;overeigns, by the old dodge of " ringing
the change The prosecutor (who in appearance
,'"
is a much sharper fellow than this affair has proved
him to be) intended go:-Jig to New Zealand, and
purpose at the beginning
came to Liverpool for that
of August. On the 7th of that month he was on
board the ship Champion of the Seas, then lying in
the Coburg Dock, when he met the prisoner, who
managed to engage him in conversation, and they
then left the vessel and started off for a walk through
the town. In the course of their perambulations they
called at several public-houses, and at one of them a
second man made his appearance, introduced him-
self, and the three had some drink together. This
" gentleman," pretending to be a perfect stranger to
Marshall, commenced talking about money matters,
and informed his newly-found friends that he had
recently come into possession of a large property—
several thousands a-year—and was consequently
very free with his money. Having invited his com-
panions into another public house, he producend tow!?
drom a ld
womanp urs es, si any
the
hn
eg
shter
ehe at
sd, pa un rdc has
he:odntshideemret them of an
Marshall, and placed a sovereign in
excellent description. He presented . " for luck,"one to the man
and at prisoner's request gave one also, containing
a sovereign, to Mr. James, advising them both to
keep their money in these purses, and then said he,
"it would be safe." The prosecutor, at this stage
of the proceedings, proved himself to be remark-
ably verdant. He produced his money (XlBO in
gold, and no troublesome notes with the numbers
known, perhaps), and the prisoner kindly under-
took to place it in the purse for him. This was
done very nicely, and a purse filled with " Cali-
fornia sovereigns," or " jacks," was handed to
James in the place of his hard-earned gold.
Easy, unsuspecting, confiding fellow, he put
the purse and the contents into his pocket with- /
out examination, and theithree worthies resumed
their peregrinations. Soon after they had .lone so,
however, the inheritor of the immense estate pro-
posed that as they had had so much drink they
should now " have something to eat," suggesting
beefsteaks as something they would relish_ He
generously offered to " stand " the steaks,
gave Mr. James a half-crown, and despatched
him to purchase them, it being arranged that
Marshall and his wealthy friend should await his
return in the street. The prosecutor willingly un-
' dertook the commission, but, on returning with the
steaks to the spot where he expected to find his
late companions, he discovered they had vanished.
He very soon made a still more important discovery
—that instead of a pocketful of gold he had nothing
but worthless brass. information of the swindle
was given to the police, and the prisoner was ap-
prehended in Manchester by Detective Smith.
When the latter first seized Marshall he struck the
officer on the side of the head, tripped up his heels,
threw him down, and attempted to make his escape,
but knocked him down and secured him. As
the detectivemtbi was bringing him to Liverpool, Mar-
shall apologised for assaulting him, saying, " You
know, Smith, when a man's right for 15 years, you
can't expect but what he'll do the best he can for
himself." He subsequently remarked, "I hope I
shan't be tried before the recorder, for he's such a
hot 'un." Marshall had been remanded in the
hope that the police would get hold of his accom-
plice, but they have not yet been able to do so, and
the prisoner was committed for trial.— Liverpoo
Mercury.

The National Zeitung prints an interesting letter
recounting the exploits of the London Alpine Club during
the last two weeks of July. The club hr.s so far been very
successful this year. Its operations have been mostly con-
fined to the mountains about Grindelwald. Three peaks,
that had never before been tredden by human foot, have
just beep ascended by different parties of Englishmen, viz.,
Jungraujoch, on July 20, by five Englishmen ; Viescher-
horn, on the 23d, by two Englishmen; and Viescherjoch,
on the 30th, by four Englishmen. In addition to these
ascents, a great many mountains which have only been
ascended two or three times were also visited by the same
gentlemen during the same period. Among these were the
Jungtrau, Eicher, thoWetterhorn, Schreckhorn, and several
other equally formidable.

ALLEGED WILFUL DESTRUCTION OF
SHIPS.

At the Liverpool Police-court yesterday morning,
Geo. Ruxton, described as a shipowner, was brought
up charged with having, along with others, been
an accessory before the fact fraudulently to cause
the destruction of the ship Roscoe, by burning her.
Mr. Lushington, instructed by Messrs. Lowndes,
Bates, Lowndes, and Robinson, conducted the pro-
secution, and the prisoner was defended by Mr. H.
Forshaw.
The prisoner was owner of the ship Roscoe, and
had been previously in the corn and ship-bread
trade. Thos. Jamieson was part owner of the ship,
and also had the command of the vessel. The Roscoe
was loaded with coals at Cardiff; for Smyrna, and
the prisoner told Jamieson that, as the ship was
well insured he was either to knock the ship's
Ibrains out, or if that could not be accomplished he
was to set fire to her. For the purpose of more
effectually carrying out this object, three barrels of
rum and two barrels of brandy were put on board
at the instance of Ruxton. When the vessel was
within 18 miles of Smyrna and about four miles from
land, she was set on fire at the instigation of the
prisoner:
Thos. Jamieson was the first witness. He had
been in the habit of getting ship bread from the
prisoner for ships under his command for several
years prior to 1856. In that year he, at the sugges-
tion of the prisoner, became part owner of the
Roscoe along with him, and witness was appointed
captain of her. When he went the first voyage in
her the prisoner told him if she became leaky he
was not to take her into port, but to let her go
down, as otherwise they would all be ruined. On
a second voyage, which was to Miramichi, he was
not to let her go wrong, as she could not be in-
sured unless at a high premium. On the third voy-
age she was laden with coals from Cardiff for
Smyrna; but prior to that she was taken into the
graving dock and caulked and sheathed with zinc,
as the prisoner said to the witness, that she might
present a good face to the underwriters. This being
done, the prisoner said to witness, as he was about
to start on the voyage, "Now we have a good thing
on be sure you knock her brains out ; and if you
cannot do that set her on fire ; there is plenty of
rum and brandy on board to burn her." About
midnight on the 3d March of that year (1857) the
witness took several bottles of turpentine out of
about two gallons which had been put on board by
the prisoner to aid the brandy and rum in burning.
Having taken the turpentine he smeared some of
the spare sails in the fore hold with it, and set it on
fire. The fire spread rapidly and the crew and the
captain took to the boats, and the ship was burned.
On witness's arrival in England Ruxton congratu-
lated him on the success with which he had man-
aged the matter.
Llewellyn James was second mate of the Roscoe
in the voyage in which she was lost. Just as they
were leaving Liverpool the prisoner and the captain
were in the cabin, and witness overheard the pri-
soner say to the captain, " Now, be sure you put
the fire well into the brandy, that it may burn well,
and that will be all right, and you will be all right."
As the prisoner was leaving the ship, at the
Bell Buoy, he said to the captain, "Now,
Jamieson, everything is all right, and I hope
you will be soon back." On the night in
question the captain took the witness and
the first mate into his cabin and gave them some
grog, and from some circumstances which then
took place witness suspected that the ship was to
be set on fire that night, and he soon after packed
up his clothes. Soon after twelve o'clock he saw
the captain come up from the fore hold, and in a
short time after the fire broke out. The crew and
captain took to the boats, and the ship was destroyed.
Samuel Wallace Bickley, a corn dealer, who had
had frequent dealings with the prisoner, who was
in his debt, said that on pressing him for money
the prisoner told him that the Roscoe had gone to
sea, and that he had given instructions to Jamieson
to knock her brains out, and as she was insured he
would get money from the insurance company, and
Ihe did not care what became of the crew. Conver-
sations of this kind occurred at different times, and
when he received intimation that the Roscoe was
burned he (Ruxton) was quite delighted, and said
so ; saying that now he (prisoner) should get
money, and be able to square off. The prisoner on
several occasions told witness that he hoped the ship
would go to the bottom, as he should then get
plenty of money.
The prisoner was committed for trial at the
assizes on this charge.
A second charge was for having incited a Captain
John O'Connor to cause the destruction of the ship
Montrose, of which the prisoner was owner. While
the ship was lying in the outer roads of Cardiff the
prisoner said to O'Connor he was not to bring back
the ship on any account, adding that if he (O'Connor)
would scuttle her he would give him £lOO and the
command of another ship. This took place in May,
1861, in the Mount Stuart Hotel, at Cardiff, an