The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 12, 1854.

took Luh-chau, which is to the north west of
Lu-chau, and from the Gazette of the 10th of
March, it appears that, proceeding still further
to the north west, they had taken the district
city of Yingshang in the department of Ying-chau ;
and then, diverging to the north-east and passing
by the departmental city of Ying-chau, they had
also taken the district city of Mung-thing in that
department. But as at every step there has been
pretty hard fighting, their progress is slow ; and the
contest still promises to be a very protracted one.
The British ship Dumfries, of 468 tons, which
left Shanghai on the 3d instant for Liverpool with
a full cargo of tea (about 560,000 lb.), was totally
wrecked on the Pescadores on the evening of the
11tH. Crew saved.
His Excellency Sir John Bowring arrived in the
harbour at night of the 12th, and landed next
morning under the salute, due to his rank, from the
battery, repeated by the men of war, both British
and American. At noon he was sworn in as Go-
vernor and Vice-Admiral of Hong Kong, and Chief
Superintendent of British Trade in China.

SPORTING NOTES.

ASCOT HEATH RACES.

Things were somewhat dreary at Ascot on Saturday.
Few horses had arrived in the neighbourhood, and the
preparations for the approaching meeting were not so
variously and busily displayed as on former anniversaries.
Gipsies had pitched their tents by the road-side, and
were scattered among the furze on the heath, but their
numbers appeared to be diminished, and their dirty-like
children seemed to lack their wonted energy to pursue
chance travellers for " coppers." Whether the opening
of the Crystal Palace had caused this change, it is not
my business or inclination to inquire. One old time-
honoured custom, too, has graduallydwindled into decay.
In bygone years trainers would assemble in the jockeys'
stand on the Saturday afternoon to smoke their pipes, en-
joy their grog, and talk over the prospects of the meeting.
Railways have, however, destroyed this social intercourse,
for on Saturday last two gentlemen only were present,
and one of whom, a well-known trainer living in the vi-
cinity, as if to mark the death of old custom, appeared
not as was his wont, in boots, but in shoes and gaiters !
The waifs and strays which I gathered in the way of in-
formation were of little worth. Kingston had been
brought direct, I believe, from Epsom, and was com-
fortably stalled at Ben Land's. They with whom I
talked were loud in their expressions of admiration as to
the horse's form and condition. Every morning he took
regular, steady exercise, and went as light and free as a
bird on wing. The opinion seemed to gain consistency
respecting the probable withdrawal of Virago from all
her engagements during the meeting. Until lam in
possession of more definite information, however, relative
to the mare's unfitness, I shall merely place her " under
suspicion," and not " act " upon, the reports which are
now so widely circulated.

To redeem the promise which I made on Saturday
when I attempted to trace the "shadows" of the most
important " coming events," I will now bring the prin-
cipal items in the programme under discussion. Twenty-
seven races are appointed to be decided during the four
days, and the supply of sport will be scarcely below the
average. The Trial Stakes closed with twelve nomina-
tions, Snowdon Dunhill, Welham, and Eliza, being the
most attractive names on paper.
On Saturday my " liking' for Kingston for the Ascot
Stakes was pretty plainly indicated. The occurrences
of the last two days have tended to confirm it. That he
is a good, game horse, frequent proofs have been afforded,
and his impost on the present occasion, although un-
questionably trying, will not be sufficiently heavy to
militate materially against his chance of success. Should
Bracken be intended to do battle for this event, and
not for the more important and desirable trophy—
The Queen's Vase—l shall be inclined to regard his
pretensions with favour. At present, however, I must
put him out of the question, and select
KINGSTON, PANCAKE, and HERCULES,
against the field. The next " heavy weight" of import-
ance after Kingston appears to be Ilex.
The doubts which exist relative to the starting of
Virago for the Queen's Vase render it somewhat diffi-
cult, until they be resolved, to pursue operations on this
event. In her absence, the race will doubtless he be-
tween Stockwell and the best of Mr. Parr's, perhaps
Rataplan. The winner will, I fancy, be Stockwell.
For the Welcome Stakes I shall select Weathercock,
and for the Ascot Derby, Marble Hill and Apropos.
No trustworthy information relative to the " young-
sters" likely to make their debut for the Sixth Ascot
Triennial Stakes is yet to be obtained. I shall not,
therefore, hazard a guess at the probable result.
The most knowing advertising " prophet" will find
himself sorely puzzled to " pick" the winner of the Royal
Hunt Cup, and will doubtless after all, and notwithstand-
ing his boasted stable information, "miss his tip." My.
old " fancy," which I expressed on Saturday, I am dis-
inclined to change. I then wrote--" Ephesus is certainly
not handicapped out of the race for the Hunt Cup. The
other animals whose respective chances look well on pa-
per are Filbert, Calamus, Marc Antony, and Alembic."
All persons seem pretty well agreed that the "Fernhill"
is a certainty for either Bessie or Flatterer.—Nuf ced,
therefore, to use a Yankeeism. For the Coronation
Stakes I am inclined to place some confidence in Scrtie.
In her default Strutaway may win. West Australian
will, in my opinion, experience little difficulty in carrying
off the Triennial Stakes for 4 years-old, should he enter the
lists for it. Sittingbourne and the Reiver are the other
animals of note; both have, however, of late figured in so
questionable a form that the victory of Vanderdecken
over them will not be surprising. The weights for the
Half Mile Handicap have not yet been published.
Thursday's events I shall reserve for future discussion
—merely delivering my present opinion as to the pro-
babilities for the Cup being, now Virago is likely to be
among the missing, in favour of Stockwell and Kingston.
The race with tbisse two horses will doubtless be close
and exciting, and on the assumption that both will go
fit and well to the post, I shall expect the result to be
recorded in favour of Stockwell.
• June 12. A FRESH MAN.

CRIMINAL COURT.-(THIS DAY).

The June session of the above court was opened this
morning, before the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, the
Right Hon. the Recorder, Mr. Alderman Farebrother,
Mr. Alderman Hunter, Mr. Alderman Rose, Mr. Sheriff
Wire, Mr. Sheriff Wallis, &c., &c.
The first edition of the calendar contains the names
of 126 prisoners.
The Recorder, on charging the grand jury, expressed
his regret at bserving that the calendar was not
only heavy in regard to the number of prisoners, but
also that it contained several very grave charges.
There were two cases of murder of a very serious
description, in one of which a man named Simmons was
charged with destroying the life of a woman by stabbing
her. In this case a question might arise as to the state
of mind of the accused ; but the grand jury would have
nothing to do with that question, and if the fact were
proved it would be their duty to find a bill for murder.
The other case was one of a very distressing character, a
woman being accused of the murder of her child,
or step child, by a series of acts of cruelty of the
most brutal description. It appeared, however,
that no deadly weapon had been made use of,
and that after the death of the unhappy child, the
prisoner had expressed great sorrow for what had
occurred , and, under these circumstances, it was
possible that when the case came before the petty jury
they might be of opinion that these facts were sufficient
to justify them in finding the prisoner guilty of a less
offence than murder ; but it appeared to him that
if the facts, as they were stated on the depo-
sitions, were laid before the grand jury, it would
be their duty to find a bill for murder. The
learned recorder then said that there were one or two
cases of manslaughter, but the grand jury he was afraid
would feel compelled to find the bills as the charges did
not appear to present any difficulties, either with regard
to law or fact. The only remaining case to which he re-
ferred was a charge of cutting and wounding preferred
by a wife against her husband, an offence which, he said,
had of late excited a good deal of interest in the public
mind. He was unwiliing, however, he said, to believe
that the offence was on the increase, and so far as that
Court was concerned it certainly was not, and said that
he was inclined to think that it was owing to the in-
creased vigilance of the police, and to the fact that mat-
ters of this description were now much more closely in-
quired into that the apparent increase in the number of
such cases were to be attributed.

The Court then proceeded to dispose of the business
of the session.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET-(THIS DAY.)

JUVENILE GAMBLERS.—George Dawgin, 14, Henry
Lawrence, 15, _Henry Grindley, 16, John Green, 16,
Robert Phillips, 15, were brought before Mr. Bingham,
charged with playing pitch and toss in the public street,
on the previous day.
Lewis, 62 C, stated that on Sunday afternoon he was
on duty in Berwick-street, when his attention was called
to the defendants, who were playing at pitch and toss
with halfpence, and in consequence of the repeated com-
plaints of the inhabitants he took them all to the
station.

The two first defendants said they were not playing
at all ; they were only lookipg at the other boys play-
ing. The other defendants *mated having a game of
" chuck halfpenny," and were not aware they were
acting wrong.
Mr. Bingham handed the defendants Dowgin and
Lawrence over to their parents with a recommendation
to administer a little gentle chastisement upon the lads.
Gambling in any way generally led to thieving, and
everything else that was bad. There were plenty of
good and interesting books with which they could
amuse themselves on a Sunday without resorting to such
a thieves' game as pitch and toss. With this admonition
he should discharge the other defendants on payment of
2s. 6d. each as a warning to them for the future.