The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-08 00:00:00

POLICE

IGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE.—ROBBERY AT MESSRS. PiCK-
FORD'S.- William Renry Fox, one of Messrs. Odams,
Pickford, and Co.'s clerks, who on Thursday gave evi-
dence against William Clark, the porter employed by the
firm, upon which evidence Clark was sentenced to two
months' imprisonment, was yesterday brought before
the Lord Mayor upon the charge of having himself com-
mitted the robbery.
The case excited much interest.
Mr. Ashley, who defended Clark, and who had fre-
quently asserted that his client was perfectly innocent,
attended for the prosecution ; Mr. Biggenden appeared
for the prisoner.
Mr. Ashley, the solicitor, said I am exceedingly happy
to have to communicate to your lordship, and I am
quite certain that your sympathy will go with me and
with the parents of the boy whom you committed yester-
day to prison for two months with hard labour, that he
was not the thief, but that the lad now in your presence
is the person who really stole the half-crown. For the
purpose of ascertaining who the guilty party was, the
prosecutors brought forward every person in their
establishment, and the question was put to each of them
" Did you put the half-crown in William Clark's hat ?"
And each, for the purpose of justifying himself, de-
clared he had done no such thing. This question was
put amongst the rest to the youth now at the bar;
the book was put into his hand, he was sworn, and
replied, 8' No, I did not." In consequence of a com-
munication having been made, most providentially,
by a highly respectable gentleman in the City, whose
attention had been accidentally directed to the report of
the case in the public journals, to the prosecutors,
one of them was induced to go to the prisoner, and say
to him, " Fox, did you take the half-crown, and put it
into William's hat 1' The prisoner, whose conscience
smote him, replied, "Yes, I did." "Why did you do
it ?" " Why; it was to screen myself." So that there
was a double act of guilt ; first, he was to screen him-
self from this act of dishonesty, and then seeks to fix the
guilt upon William Clark, who was perfectly innocent.
The prosecutors are as strenuous in coming forward to-
day, to procure the immediate liberation of Clark, and
to prosecute the present prisoner, as they were eager to
prosecute, as it now turns out, an innocent lad,
yesterday.
The Lord Mayor—lt ought not to be forgotten that
each of the witnesses not only swore that he himself did
not take the half-crown, but stated that it was utterly
impossible for either himself or the other witnesses to
have put it into the cap. I am highly delighted to
learn that the prosecutors are willing to take Clarke
immediately into their service again.
Mr. Ashley—Such is the case, my lord, so satisfied
are they of his honesty.
The Lord Mayor.— On looking over the evidence I am
bound to say that if I had been sworn, and sitting upon
a jury, I must have pronounced a verdict of guilty be-
fore God and my country, judging from the facts and
circumstances therein stated, and I was greatly strength-
enedi n my belief of Clark's guilt when, as I was on the
point of sending the case for trial, Mr. Ashley applied
to me to exercise summary jurisdiction, a course which
I reluctantly consented to take. lam very glad indeed
to see the innocent lad liberated, and shall be happy to
render him any assistance in my power.
The case was then gone into against the prisoner Fox.
At the conclusion of the evidence,
The Lord Mayor said the prisoner must be remanded
for a week.

Mr. Biggendin applied to have the prisoner admitted
to bail, and said that recognisances to any amount would
be entered into.
The Lord Mayor—lt is quite out of my power to grant
your application. It is not the mere crime of the prisoner
that influences me, but the cruel injury he has inflicted
upon the other poor boy.

WORSHIP-STREET. —BRUTAL ASSAULT. —James
Grout, a hard-featured middle-aged may,, described as a
carman, was placed at the bar before Mr. Hammill,
charged, under very aggravated circumstances, 'with
having cruelly maltreated his son, Samuel Grout, twelve
years of age.

- Joshua Jacobs, a brass-founder, residing in Chapel-
street, Shoreditch, stated that while sitting at his parlour
window, about 11 o'clock that morning, his attention
was attracted by the piercing screams of a child, which
proceeded from the house of the defendant, who resided
opposite to him, and shortly afterwards the prisoner's
son rushed out into the street into a state of perfect
nudity. The boy, who exhibited extreme terror and
distress, instantly darted across the road, but had only
proceeded a few yards when he was pursued and over-
taken by the prisoner, who was grasping a thick leather
belt, with the buckle end of which he struck the child a
savage blow with all his force across the back. The
prisoner then addressed an odious epithet to his son,
and continued beating him with the strap in a most un-
merciful manner, until two men, who had witnessed his
brutal conduct, forcibly dragged him away, and rescued
the boy from further ill-treatment.

Hayward, the warrant officer, stated that he had ex-
amined the person of the boy, which presented a
shocking appearance ; the entire surface of his back
from between the shoulders to the lower part of his loins
being scored with parallel lines, produced by the strap,
and he also observed several bad bruises in which the
impression of the iron buckle was distinctly discernible.
In answer to the charge, the prisoner said that he was
greatly exasperated at the time in consequence of having
detected the boy in stealing a shilling from him that
morning, and that he had also robbed him on several
previous occasions. He had often corrected him before,
without making him any better, and so this time stripped
off his clothes to see if a good flogging on the bare skin
would have that effect.

Mr. Hammill sentenced him to four months hard
labour.

THAMES.—ALLEGED MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS.
—Captain William Tapley Stooke, the master, and Wil-
liam Northeote and Thomas Goldsworthy, seamen, sue-
rendered on bail to answer a charge of killing five
seamen, who formed part of the Asiatic crew shipped at
Singapore.

Mr. Bodkin, )who appeared for the crown, said he had
some evidence to call which would put an entirely
different complexion upon the affair. It would appear
that the origin of the affray had no reference to a con-
spiracy to seize the ship at all. No attack was made on
the chief mate in the first instance ; but a Lascar was
found asleep by the chief mate on deck, whe ordered
another Lascar to beat him, and on his refusal to do so,
the chief mate attacked the man who refused to chastise
his shipmate, and several Lascars on board then inter-
fered to save their countryman and dragged him away.
Under all the circumstances of the case, he (Mr. Bod-
kin) felt bound to press a charge of manslaughter against
the prisoners.

A gentleman named Earl had promised to attend to
interpret, but it was found that he had gone away.
Jahn, the sening on board the Queen of the Teign,
native of Java, who understood a little English, was
then called, but his examination was effected with very
great difficulty. He said he was roused by his wife, and
went on deck. Bill (Northcote) had got a cutlass in
his hand. He saw no fighting going on, but Bill said
that Tindal (the boatswain) wanted to kill the mate and
kill every one. He then saw the captain, who got upim
the skylight on the poop with a gun and was loading it.
The captain said, " You see, serang, the men want to
make fight, and don't know what for." The captain
went forward with him to bring up the men who had
run below. Ahalt, who is in custody, came up first,
next Taleb, and the third was Ali, who was in custody.
Ali was followed by Seraman, Casaib, Topaz, Kichil
Mahommed, and " Small Schmat." The captain told
him to see whether the Lascars had got knives. They
were all made fast. Witness heard a gun fired after he
turned out of his berth and had come on deck and gone
to turn the men up. He did not see the gun.
Cross-examined by Mr. Clarkson The mate had been
stabbed long before witness came upon deck. Heard
the gun fired after he saw the mate wounded. David
Fairfold was in the forecastle asleep when witness was
called. Asked the captain to let his (witnesss) wife
come aft, and he said "Go and fetch your wife and
child aft."

M. Clarkson—Out of danger ?
The Serang could not comprehend the meaning of the
word " danger," and the question, though repeated
several times was never answered. He remained on
deck several hours after the " bobbery," and saw no
one killed, and no one hurt.

Mr. Ciarkson—lt was all dose before you came on
deck ?

The Serang—Yes, all over. No bobbery when came
up. Captain there—saw him.

At ler,gth the difficulty of proceeding without an in-
terpreter became so great, that a Bombay man of colour,
who understood Malay, and who had been found, after
great trouble, was sworn in that capacity. When, how-
ever, he translated the first question, the Serang looked
looked sternly at him, and remained silent.
Mr. Yardley—The witness does'nt understand him.
He speaks another language.
The Interpreter said the witness understood him very
well, and said something to the Serang, who turned
fiercely round and talked to him. After a short alterca-
tion the interpreter rushed to the door and hastily left
the court.

Mr. Yardley said it was a very great misfortune in-
deed that, when this most singular and complicated case
was first presented to the public, an efficient interpreter
was not employed on the part of the Crown.
After a long discussion it was agreed to adjourn the
further hearing of the case until Monday, the 17th
inst., and Mr. Yardley said he would at once write to
Mr. Earl, the interpreter, requesting him to attend.
The case against the Malays, who stood charged with
mutiny, was also postponed.
Mr. Treatt, the mate of the Queen of the Teign, said
he had been put to great expense by his detention here,
and could not afford to remain any longer. He had
been on shore twelve days, and was without funds.
Mr. Yardley recommended him to communicate: with
the Treasury.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]— A NOVEL COMBINATION OF
METALS.—Messrs. Morewood and Rogers have taken
out letters patent for their improvements in plumbic-
zinc, a material of modern introduction, combined, as
its title implies, of a layer of lead and zinc. Although
to architects and builders in this country plumbic-zinc
is comparatively unknown, the colonies appear to have
readily appreciated its many
qualities. At Victoria
alone, after practically testing its merits, the Govern-
ment, for the improvement of that city, entered into
contracts to an immense extent, and upwards of 200
tons have already been shipped from the Steel Yard,
Thames-street, and, as the local journals state, arrived
safely in Victoria. Its durability, toughness, and eco-
nomy are remarkable, and the purposes to which it is
applied seem innumerable.—Globe.