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 Serperitine, 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, beindsomewhat sheltered, is now 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 persons 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
froim 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 gentleman, 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 portiQn was, however, covered
with ice, which, owing to the snow, was very spongy.
About 150 persons, in spite of all the cautions of the
Society's men, went upon it. . While they were
amusing themselves, the ice gave way, and five per-
sons fell in. Deputy-Superintendent Perry had the
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. The 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. One 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. He 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.

he Charge of Conspiracy to Defraud

Insurance Offices.

Yesterday, at two o'clock, Mr. John Geo. Barry and Mr.
Alfred Barry, brothers, wharfingers, of Meriton'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 Haydon 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 the
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 one 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 bolding" 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,—I had at the time of the
November fire warehoused at Meriton's wharf 986 bales of
jute, which had came by the ship City of Sydney, and bore
distinctive:marks and numbers. About a week after the fire,
not having heard anything as to the state of my jute,
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; but while 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. He said
all the rest were in warehouses where the fire had been. I
had no suspicion at that time, and therefore did not think of
counting or checking the quantity pointed out by Sedg-
wick. I then saw Mr. Alfred Barry, and told him I had a
quantity of jute on the premises, that I was uninsured, and
that, perhaps, he might help me if he had a floating policy.
He said ho could not, as he feared they were not fully in-
sured themselves. But he suggested that I should write a
letter claiming participation pro rata with the fire offices
from the salvage, and also a letter to themselves directing
them (the Barrys) to set aside any bales out of the ruins
which could be identified as belonging to the City of Syd-
ney shipment. I wrote such letters accordingly, and after-
wards meeting Mr. 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.
He 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 warehoused. 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
repor‘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 theiereturns
as having been burnt had been saved. He scouted the idea

of there being so large a number over, and stated that the
stock in the different warehouses was then being accurately
taken, and that in a few days he would be prepared to tell
me exactly what they had. He said he could not account
for the state of confusion they had got into, and that until
the stock was taken they could not tell what they had. On
the following day my principal and I again saw Mr. John
Barry, who told us that the stocktaking would not be com-
pleted for a fortnight, npon which we asked to see the 140
bales and jute said to have-been saved from the City of
Sydney's cargo. He objected, alleging that he did not wish
to interfere with the stocktaking. On our pressing him ho
said he would go and see what could be done, and he went
upstairs, leaving us in his cyffice. He was a long time ab-
sent, and wo became impatient. At length he returned, and
said he was willing to go with us to the warehouse. We all
three, with a porter, went to a particular warehouse. No
one was there taking stock, and the doors had to be un-
locked and the windows opened to admit light. On reach-
ing the top floor I walked to the spot where Sedgwick had
previously pointed out the 140 bales of jute by the City of
Sydney. My principal and I got upon the pile of jute, and,
having calculated the quantity, found 280 bales instead of
146 bales. We expressed our great astonishment, and asked
Mr. John Barry how he accounted for the difference. He
said he could not account for it. We then asked if that
was all the jute which he had by the City of Sydney, and
he replied that it was, so far as he knew. We asked to be
allowed to go to another warehouse which we indicated, and
he gave permission. All four of, us went there, and in the
top loft we found a quantity of jute. My principal went
along one side of it and I the other, examining the jute.
Mr. John Barry went straight to the end of the loft, and
presently called out, "Hero is the City of Sydney," and
on our going there we found 35 bales more of the cargo of
that vessel. We asked Mr. Barry what explanation he had
to give. He gave none. The value of the 175 bales of jute
which I found is about 50s. a bale, or, in all, £437 10s. I
produce the warrants as to the titles for 986 bales, the other
10 bales having been previously sold.
At the request of ,tho.fcounsel for the prosecution, Mr.
Alderman Stone adjourned the examination until Friday,
declining, at the same tiine, to admit the prisoner to bail.

Naval Intelligence.

The iron screw steamship Black Prince 41, Capt.
Lord Frederick R. H. Kerr, was towed yesterday
from the moorings in Hamoaze to the sheer hulk,
preparatory to her being placed to-day in the
Prince's dock in the Devonport yard.
The artisans at Devonport are actively engaged
in preparing the screw steam-frigate Narcissus, 39;
for the reception of a flag-officer. She is under
orders to be undoaked and Paced alongside the hulk
in Hamoaze to receive her masts, after which she
will go into Keyham steam-yard.
The iron screw steamship Defence, 16, Capt.
Augustus Phillimore, was towed on Monday from
her moorings in Hamoaze to the Devonport dock-
yard. She was placed in No. 1 dock to be over-
hauled and repaired.
The paddlewheel steamsloop Geyser, 6, Com-
mander A. Thrupp, which accompanied the iron-
cased screw steamsloop Enterprise, 4, Commander
Charles J. Rowley, to Gibraltar, returned yester-
day morning to Plymouth Sound.
The gunboat Jackdaw, 2, having been partially
repaired, was, removed yesterday from Keyham
steam-yard to_llamoaze...Aster a trial of her machi-
nery she will be replaced to complete her repairs.
Her Majesty's, screw corvette Niger, 12, recently
commissioned at Woolwiclijby Capt. J. C. Byng for
the North American arid' West Indian stations, was
yesterday hauled out-of the fitting basin in readi-
ness for sea.
Her Majes storeshxp Fox, Commander
Moriarty, with returned:stor.ckfrqm Malta, yester-
day entered the outer basin at :Woolwich, in pre-
paration to ship steam gear for the iron-cased ship
Lord Warden.

Public Petitions.

An interesting return moved for by the late Mr. Samuel
Gregson has just been printed by order of the house. The
objeCt of the return is to give some information as to the
growth of the practice of petitioning, and to set forth the
number,Rf petitions brought alllyunder,the cognizance
of the Puldic Petitions' Committee. Thus, by way of con-
trast, it is stated that 200 years ago, in the year 1664, the
number of petitions presented was 21. Ono hundred years
later the number had but slightly increased, being in 1704
only 47 ; while in the last year, 1864, the number of peti-
tions amounted to 10,222. Even at the commencement of
the present century there was no rapid increase, for in the
five years ending 1804-5 the average number was but 205.
A marked change, however, took place in the year
1812-13, when the number rose to 1,699, the average for
the five years ending 1814-15 being 899.
From the year 1828 the annual numbers are given con-
tinuously to the present time. In the five years ending
1832 the average number was 4,656.
In the.l,; ie years ending 1837 the average number was 7,436.
In th&five years ending 1842 the average was 14,014.
'ln the five years ending 1817 the average number was
16,397.

In the five years ending 1852 the average number was
12,44 g.
In the five years ending 1857 the average number was
10,352.

In the five years ending 1862 the average number was
12,600.

In 1863 the number was 12,583.
In 1864 the number was 10,222.
• The two heaviest sessions were in 1843, when the enor-
mous number of 33,898 petitions were presented, and in
1860, when there were-4279 petitions.
It is curious to observe that although the average number
of petitions remains about the same the number of signa-
tures diminishes. In former times the number of signatures
was swelled by the monster :petitions for the people's
Charter ; the discovery of the gigantic imposition sought
to be practised upon the house in the case of the petition
presented by Mr. Feargus O'Connor in the year 1848 ope-
rated as a salutary check upon the practice of concocting
huge petitions, with millions of names attached, for the pur-
pose of intimidating the house. ; and the supervision of the
committee, who invariably report to the house the cases of
petitions that appear to them to be "fictitious," has gradu-
ally biought petitioning into a much more satisfactory state.
It is also satisfactory to learn that although the number of
petitions has nearly trebled since the year 1832 the expense
of printing 'and publishing them has actually diminished.
In the five years ending 1832, the average expense is
stated at £1,162 15s. 11d., 23,283 petitions having been
presented in those five years ;*while in the five years ending
1862, during which period 63,003 petitions were presented,
the average expense is set down for £1,002 12s. 6cl. This
result has been partly obtained by a reduction in the charge
for printing, but it has been principally caused by the care-
ful selection of petitions for printing by the committee,
and by the system they have adopted of comparing peti-
tions, so that when hundreds of copies of a petition are
sent about the country for signature only ono copy is
printed, as a rule, and a reference is made from all the
others to that petition.

A summary of the labours of the committee is given at
the end of the return.

• in 32 years they have had before them 389,056 petitions,
oflwhich they have selected 37,234 for printing. The num-
ber of signatures in that period was 81,851,510, and the
number of reports made by the committee, 1,597. -
There have been seven chairmen in the 32 years, who
served as follows :—Mr. Littleton, one year; Sir Robert
H. Inglis, one year ; Mr. Oswald, three years ; Mr. G. W.
Wood, six years ; Mr. Thornely, ten years ; Mr. J. Bon-
hum-Carter, five years ; and Mr. Gregson, seven years.
The comraittee have just experienced a great loss by the
sudden death of their late chairman, Mr. Gregson. Arrived
at a time of life when he might fairly have claimed exemp-
tion from active duties, he nevertheless continued to the
very last day of his existence to, give unfailing attention to
the duties of chairman of the committee. So seldom was
he absent'from his post that in some Sessions he attended
every meeting.of the committee ; in others he was absent,
from unavoidable causes, only once or twice. During the
seven years that he served he attended no less than 280
meetings of the committee, and had under his cognizance
85,808 petitions. His conciliating and obliging manners
will long be remembered by all who knew him, while in
the diScharge of his public duties his sound judgment and
perfect impartiality secured for him the confidence and
respect of the House.

" BEATRICE." By Julia Kavanagh, author of
" Nathalie," ecc.--" Miss Kavantigh is a writer of consider-
able and-uncommon ability. Her novels never fail to in-
terest. They are thoughtful book; and bespeak a highly
toned and cultivated mind. 'Beatrice' is a very interesting
story, admirably constructed. It is calculated to increase
Miss Kavanagh's reputation as a novelist in several mate-
rial point; and will assuredly not disappoint her readers.
It is very much superior in power and in skilful construc-
tion to any of the author's former works; and the interest
created by Beatrice Gordon is vivid and unflagging.
Beatrice is the finest female character Miss Kavanagh has
yet drawn."—Morning Post.

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