The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-29 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

LAMBETH.— Both the magistrates attended to de-
liver their judgment in the case of a summons that had
been taken out by one cab proprietor against another
cab owner for plying for hire within the station of the
South-Western Railway, contrary to law. The case had
been very ably and elaborately argued some weeks ago
by Mr. Ballantine on the part of the complainant, and
Mr. Crombie on behalf of the railway authorities, and
the question at issue being one upon which several of
the metropolitan police magistrates have differed, and
also one of considerable importance to the railway com-
panies, the cab proprietors, and the public, the decision
in this instance was looked for with much interest.
_ _

Mr. Elliott—lf I am called upon to decide this case,
I shall certainly never shrink from any responsibility
that may be attached to it, and I will at once proceed to
do so. The driver of the hackney carriage No. 2,581
was summoned for plying for hire elsewhere than at a
standing or place appointed for that purpose. It ap-
pears to me, then, with great deference to the opinion of
the magistrates who have given a different decision, that
the driver of this hackney carriage, who was admitted
within the railway station with the consent of the rail-
way company for the purpose of carrying passengers
arriving by train, and there hired, is not liable to be
convicted under this section as plying for hire elsewhere
than at a public stand, any More than he would be if
brought in direct for that purpose from a public stand—
at all events, the point is too doubtful for me to con-
vict a party in a penalty without the power of appeal,
and this summons must be dismissed. It was pressed
upon me that the result of such a decision would be to
deprive the public of the advantage of the provisions
contained in these acts for the protection of passengers
against the misconduct and extortion of the drivers of
hackney carriages ; but it does not appear to me that
any such result will take place. The carriages being
licensed as hackney carriages, the proprietor will be
liable for any misconduct or overcharge on the part of
the driver, when hired within the railway station, in
exactly the same manner as if hired on a public stand.
On the other, it does appear to me to be a convenience
to the public that a sufficient number of cabs should be
ready at the various railway stations to convey the pas-
sengers arriving by train, and I am not aware that any
complaint has been made on the part of the public in
respect of the arrangements so made. It was stated by
me on a former occasion that the opinion of the Attor-
ney and the Solicitor-General (Sir Frederic Thesiger and
Sir Fitzroy Kelly), had been taken by the Home-office
to assist the magistrates in coming to a correct conclu-
sion on this question ; but of course in that, as in every
case before us, we are bound to exercise our own judg-
ment to the best of our ability. It may be satisfactory
for me now to add that I have now before me a copy of
the opinion of Sir F. Pollock, now the Chief Baron of
the Court of Exchequer, a most distinguished lawyer,
given in the year 1843 upon a case laid before him by
the hackney carriage proprietors of the metropolis on
this very point.
The opinion alluded to by the learned magistrate was
as follows :

" I am of opinion that no penalty is incurred by plying
for hire within and at a railway station. The station is
privateroperty, and the drivers go in (being permitted
to do soon the chance of being wanted; and this chance
is better than that of an ordinary coach or cab stand, and
it seems to me to be worth purchasing ; but on going there
the parties do not violate any regulation. Elsewhere means
elsewhere in some public place or street ; it was meant
entirely for the protection of public places, and has no re-
ference whatever to any place that is purely private."

Mr. Norton—For myself, I decline giving any opi-
nion upon the present occasion. lam not called upon
to do so. The case was originally brought before one
magistrate, and therefore I am at perfect liberty to with-
hold my opinion. I think there are only two courses to
be pursued—one to take the opinion of the Court of
Queen's Bench as the act provides in the cheapest pos-
sible way—the other that the railway proprietors and
the Commissioners of Police should meet and make such
arrangements as would give the public every conve-
nience, without any injury to the cab proprietors, and
which weuld have the effect of producing a better order
of vehicles for the general use of the public than are now
found in the public streets.
The summons was then dismissed.

THAMES.—A well dressed buxom young woman
came before Mr. Ingham, and having been ushered
into the witness box, and directed to make her ap-
plication to the magistrate, she very oT avely asked
if she could marry another man while her first husband
was living.
Mr. Ingham—No, certainly not. How can you think
of asking me such a question ?
The Applicant—l will tell your worship. I married a
man who did not prove at all agreeable to me, and
in fact there was a mutual distaste for each other soon
after the honeymoon passed away, so we agreed to
part, and not trouble each other in future, with leave for
either to marry, and we both signed an agreement to that
effect.

Mr. Ingham—A cheap mode of divorce truly, but not
a legal one.
The Applicant, hanging down her head with much
simplicity, said—l wish to settle in life, and—and (after
much hesitation) I have found a young man who will
marry me if your worship is agreeable.
Mr. Ingham could not be agreeable to any such thing.
If the applicant gotmarried again while her present hus-
bandk was living she would be liable to transportation for
seven years.

The- yonng woman dropped a curtsey, thanked the
magistrate, and retired amidst the titters of the men and
sly glances from the women in court.

AUSTRALIA.

By way of New York, advices have been received from
Sydney, New South Wales, to the 20th September,
which, although not of so late a date as the accounts re-
ceived direct, nevertheless contain some information of
interest :—" At a sale of real estate in Brainwood, on
the 15th of September, nine allotments sold for 2081.
This was at the rate of over 451. per acre. About fifty
acres of land near the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum
were sold by the Government for 69,693/. ; the land was
put up in quarter acre allotments, at 751. each, 9nd
some of them sold as high as 6001. The average wages
of seamen in Sydney are from 101. to 121. a-month. As
most of those arriving in English ships receive only 2/.
or 31., they desert as soon as the opportunity offers.
Scores of seamen were skulking about the outskirts of
the town, and hanging about the dens of the crimps.
The desertion of ships' crews the moment they reached
Sydney was a great evil, which prevented many ships
from again putting to sea. The Herald recommends
English shipowners to only engage seamen for the voy-
age to Sydney, and not, as has usually been the case,
for the voyage out and home. It may be said to be
impossible to keep seamen bound by articles giving
wages of 2/. or 3/. per month, when the averages of the
port of Sydney are 101. to 121. The seamen must be
released, and re-engaged at the current wages, otherwise
they will run away to the gold fields. Considerable at-
.

tention was being paid to the cultivation of tobacco, al-
though the great deficiency of labour operates as a serious
drawback upon agricultural improvements. The quantity
grown in the country is equal to three-fourths of its
consumption, but in quality it is very inferior to the im-
ported. This is attributable, not to any deficiencies in the
soil or climate, but to the ignorance prevailing among the
planters of the proper method of cultivation. One
planter states that he raised a crop of upwards of forty
tons, which was sold in Sydney at public auction at an
advance of twenty per cent. more than the imported
leaf. A great portion of the crop, he says, had leaves

measuring two feet nine inches in length, and 18 inches
wide, being larger than any known to have been grown
in America. The average weight per acre was 25 cwt. ;
whereas, by the public returns, the average of what is
grown in Australia is only 17 1-7th cwt. The duty upon
imported tobacco is about to be reduced, and hence an

improvement in the quality of the native grown is
strongly urged. The Sydney Morning Herald says :
' Instead of being importers of tobacco, we should, if it
were grown here to perfection, be exporters of it to all
our sister colonies ; and, in its raw state, also to the
European markets. At present, for home consumption,
there is a greater profit to be made by its cultivation, if
skilfully managed, than in any part of the world, for the
duty upon imported is a positive bonus to the grower.'"
The Sydney Herald has been furnished with the rates of
wages at Sydney by the employers in each department,
as being there actually paid, and every means has been
used to avoid exaggeration. We make the following ex-
tract from the tabular statement --" Stone masons re-
ceive Bs. to Bs. 6d. per day ; carpenters and joiners 7s.
to 9s. ; common spadesmen and inferior building la-
bourers, ss. to 6s. ; painters and glaziers, Bs. 6d. to 95.;
brickmakers, 18s. to 20s. per thousand ; carriers and
draymen 15s. to 20s. per day. It is stated, by the lead-
ing architects and contractors, that hardly one-third of
the men now employed in Sydney are effective, or fairly
entitled to more than one-half of the wages demanded by
them. Most of the best labourers in the building de-
partment are• in the gold fields."

WALKING IS GOOD.—Walking is good : not stepping
from shop to shop, or from neighbour to neighbour, but
stretching out far into the country to the freshest fields,
and highest ridges, and quietest lanes. However sullen
the imagination may have been among its griefs at home,
here it cheers up and smiles. HoweVer listless the limbs

may have been when sustaining a too heavy heart, here
they are braced, and the lagging gait becomes buoyant
again. The mere breathing of the cool wind on the face
in the commonest highway is rest and comfort, which
must be felt at such times to be believed. It is disbe-
lieved in the shortest intervals between its season of en-
joyment ; and every time the sufferer has resolution to
go forth to meet it, it penetrates to the very heart in glad
surprise. The fields are better still, for there is the lark
to fill up the hours with mirthful music, or at worst the
robin and the flocks of fieldfares, to show that the hard-
est day has its life and hilarity. But the calmest region
is the upland, where human life is spread out beneath
the bodily eye—where the eye moves from the peasant's
nest to the spiry town, from the schoolhouse to the
churchyard, from the diminished team in the patch of
fallow, or the fisherman's boat in the cove, to the via-
duct that spans the valley, or the fleet that glides, ghost-
like, on the horizon.—Miss Martineau.
DUELLING ABROAD.—The Opinion of Turin, of the
24th, gives the details of the duel lately fought, on the
territory of Piacenza, between Lieut. Ropolo, of the
Piedmontese, and Capt. Giurich, of the Austrian army.
The only circumstance worth noticing is, that the matter
seems to have been conducted in the most public man-
ner, without any interference on the part of the authori-
ties, upwards of 2,000 persons having repaired to the
ground, and regular wine-tents and other contrivances
for the comfort of the spectators having been provided.
It appears that Lieut. Ropolo, on his return, was put
under arrest for a fortnight, and his seconds for eight
days each,

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

OUNDLE STEEPLECHASES.

Stewards—The Earl of Cardigan, Lord Burghersh,
and Hubert de Burgh, Esq.
A very delightful day's sport, in a delightfully pic-
turesque country, over grass land on the estate of Earl
Cardigan, took place yesterday near the quaint town of
Oundle. The weather was clear though cold, the stand
substantially erected, and the arrangements well carried
out. Indeed few meetings, with a rise in the character
of the sport, and an increase of the fields, which would
follow popularity, deserve better than this. The course
is now three miles on the opposite side of Oundle to that
of former years, and is an immense improvement' on the
old one. The attendance from the metropolis was re-
spectable, and the events ran off with considerable
punctuality.
A Handicap Sweepstakes of 15 sous. each, 10 ft, with

100 sovs: added, the second horse to save his -stake,

over about four miles of hunting country. 15 subs.
Mr. Goldby's Ploughboy, 12st 21b, 21b over (Middy) 1
Mr. C. Higgins's Forest Lad, lOst 21b (VVeiver) 2
Mr. Hall's Trust-me-not, list 41b....(Mr. Goodman) 3
Mr. Mason's Proceed, list 81b (T. 011iver) 0
Mr. Laing's Johnny Barrie, list 81b (Thrift) 0
Mr. Higg,ins's Simple Peter,•llst 31b (Darling) 0
Mr. Briscoe's Ex-Minister, list 31b (C. Boyd) 0
Mr. Williams's Unknown paid.

Betting.-3 to 1 agst Forest Lad, 4to 1 agat Plough.
boy, 5 to 1 agst Proceed or Trust-me-not, 7 to 1 agst
Johnny Barrie or Ex-minister.
Proceed lost start, and soon after refused the brook,
and ran into it, unshipping 011iver, and being out of the
race. Johnny Barrie made = the running, Trust-me-not
and Ploughboy following ; Forest Lad, Simple Peter,
and Ex-minister in a group. Thus they went in and
out of Glapthorne-lane, and round the further turn.
Coming to the stand-field, Ploughboy lay next to Johnny
Barrie, and these two were alternately changing their
positions. Simple Peter fell in the rear coming home,
and Ex-minister resigned. Ploughboy now got a good
lead, Forest Lad lying a bit out of his ground, and both
he and Trust-me:not blundering a fence from home.
Finally, Ploughboy won an up-hill race by three lengths
from Forest Lad, Trust-me-not third by four lengths
from second, and Johnny Barrie fourth.
The Selling Steeplechase of 5 sovs. each, with 25 added.
Three miles. Winner to be sold on the usual con-

ditions.
Mr. Simpson's Tipton Slasher (801.); list ...(Davis) 0
Mr. Land's Slashing Painter (401.), lOst 41b (Ablott) 0
Mr. Prime's Kilwick (401.), 9st 91b (Boxall) 0
Mr. Whitehead's Titbit (401.), 9st 91b (Weiver) 0
Mr. Day's Tough Tom (251.), 9st (Donaldson) 0
The horses came in all but Tipton Slasher, who pulled
up. Kilwick first, Titbit second, Tough Tom third, and
Slashing Painter fourth. An objection was lodged
against the three first horses, for going the wrong side
of the turning flag. It was sustained ; but it after-
wards appearing that the Slashing Painter had avoided
crossing the brook a second time, he, too, was disquali-
fied, and the race declared void, to be run for the ad-
vertised money this day.
The sports closed with—
The Farmers' and Tradesmen's Steeplechase, over about
three miles, five sovs. each, 25 added, for horses the
property of farmers and tradesmen, &c. To be ridden
by gentlemen, farmers, or tradesmen.
Mr. Percival's Melon, 12st 71b (Mr. Gordon) 1
Mr. Francis's gr g Sysonby, 12st 71b (Mr. Goodman) 2
Mr. Blott's nbr g Rocket, 12st 71b (Mr. Butler) 0
Mr. Gate's b g Running Reindeer, 12st 71b.
(Mr. Crawley) 0
Mr. W. Smith's Atalanta, 12st 71b (Mr. F. Lotan) 0
Mr. Francis' n Forward Miss, 12st ... (Mr. Swann) 0
Betting.-7 to 4 agst Sysonby, 2to agst Melon.
Melon, Reindeer, and Sysonby went away together,
but Sysonby soon got ahead, and kept it for two-thirds
of the course. Melon, however, got to him and passed
him, and Forward Miss being knocked down by Rein-
deer, both went out of the chase. Atalanta fell two
fields from home. Finally, Melon defeated Sysonby by
20 lengths, the latter tiring at the up-hill finish. And
thus ended a pleasant meeting, except the mishap which
will produce the after-clap of this day.

HUNTING APPOINTMENT'S.