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

INSOLVENT PETITIONERS.

Ambrose Read, Norton St. Philip, Somersetshiro, licen'
maltster. . . .

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 lam 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
private pzoperty, and the drivers go in (being permitted
to do so) on the chance of being want, 1; and this chance
is better than that of an ordinary coaei 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.

came THA
before Mr., gham, and having been ushered
into the witness box, and directed to make her ap-
plication to the magistrate, she very gravely 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 got married again while her present hus-
band was living she would be liable to transportation for
seven years.

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

RAILWAY .RETURNO.

TRAFFIC RETURNS FOR THE PAST WEEK.

3111 es
opened, NAME OF RAILWAY, Receipts.
1853.
1852. 1853.
sgiTlsH. -- --.•
72% Aberdeen .................... ... „ £1,210 1,413
37% Belfast and Ballymena .............. 526 575
17 Belfast and County D0wn............ 160 1t,3
33 Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire 1,227 1,400
26% Bolton, Blackburn, and West York - - 734 7,0
85% Bristol and Exeter .................. 3,557 3,667
189% Ca1ed0nian............. ... ... .. 7,278 8,497
94'4 Chester and H01yhead............... 2,342 3,209
6% Cork, Blackrock, and Passage ••.. • • :96 147
20 Cork and Bandon .................. 95 150
56 Dublin and Belfast Junction • .... .. . 719 860
b 3 Dublin and Drogheda... ... ......... 904 970
6 Dublin and Kingstown .............. 551 286
16% Dundee and Arbroath •• --••- - - 424 :441
31 Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen Junction 608 675
19 Dundalk and Enni5ki11en............ 182 150
68 East Ang1ian............ • • • • • • • • •• .. 642 693
81 East Lancashire - .................. 3,932 4.631
22 Eastern Counties and N0rf01k........ 13,443 1 15,238
95 Eastern Union • . ......c.............. 1,663 ' 2,173
894 Edinburgh and-Glasgow .... ........ 2,845 1 3,331
78 Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee...... 1,977 2,141
6 Exeter and Creditors..
19 Furness Railway ... .... • • ••.. •• 304 2,4
171% Glasgow, and South-Western........ 3.522 13,793
285% Great Northern and E. L... - ...... 10,364 13,233
188 Great Soathern and Western (Ireland) 4,029 4,610
319% Great Western .... ...... .......... 14,974 17,374
25 Irish South Eastern .... .... „ • ...... 141 203
90 Lancaster and Carlisle 3,642 4,553
260 Lancashire and Y0rk5hire............ 15,302 16,527
70 Leeds Northern .................... :„. 979 1,247
18} Liverpool, Crosby, and Southport.... 234 263
553% London and North Western ... - .... 38,916 43,711
5% London and Blackwall.... •......... 821 1,014
173% London, Brighton, and South Coast.. 7,754 8,602
253% *.ordon and South We5tern......... 8,767 0,778
34% Londonderry and Enniskillen ........ 161 313
11% Manchester, Buxton, and Matlock, &c. 111 114
167% Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire 6,178 6,276
9% Manchester and South Junction .... .. 475 555
28 Maryport and Carlisle - ............ 575 523
4983 Midland ..... ...... .... ....... 20,182 21,805
126 MidiaNl Great Western (Irish) ...... 2,034 2,233
37 Monklands ........................ 916 783
60 Newcastle and Carlisle.. - - ........ 2,011 2,135
149 North British ...... ••••• • • • • ....... 3,055 3,446
232 North Staffordshire •• • •••. - • . 4,384 -
47 North-Western ...................• 531 688
50 Scottish Central .................. - 1,661 1,951
32 Scottish Midland •.••• • •• • • ...... 562 6i 3
29% Shrewsbury and Birmingham ....., 550 688
47 Shrewsbury and Chester ..
29 Shropshire Ualon .. 496 554
58 South Dev0n........ . .............. 1,406 1,683
288 g South Eastern •••• • • . .
131 South Wales .. ••..••• • • • • • • .... 1,295 2,516
77 South York., Doncaster, and Goole .. 1,307 1,272
40 Taff Vale ••••••• • • • • • • • ..... •-••- 1,993 2,445
86 Ulster .••••• • • • • .
50 Waterford and Limerick .• ~........
228
'25 West Cornwall
12 Whitehaven Junction ............. 192 '.•08
304% York and Newcast'e, and Berwick ... 13,863 14,286
279 York and North Midland ........... 7,011 7,546
FOREIGN.
574 Dutch Rhenish .................... 785 835
21% -Maria Antonia • ..............„„ ..
151 63 Monterean and Troyes .......... •• .. 864 164854
63 Nv mur and Liege .......... ••..• • .. 1,013 1,302
413% No^thern o; France ................ 167:070740 2,223
577 Orleans and Central*
240 Paris and Lyons
392 Paris and Strasburgh ............ . 6,828 13,7' 76
59 Rouen and Havre.. ...
..• • • Z 483 Z 741
99 Western of Franco
•• •••• • • • • 2,962 3,300

* The receipts include the traffic on the Orleans and Central, Or
eaus and Bordeaux, and Tours and Nantes lines.

A NEW EMIGRATION SCHEME.—The " Port or South-
ampton Emigration Company" is in course of formation,
With a capital of 30,0001., in 51. shares. This company
is established with a view to forming a line of ships sail-
ing at short and certain intervals to the several Austra-
lian ports. Only one class of passengers is to be taken,
for whom a fixed and uniform rate is to be charged.
The co-operation of the London and South-Western
Railway and Southampton Dock Companies is stated to
have been secured, and arrangements have been made by
which passengers for the company's vessels will be con-
veyed from London to Southampton with their luggage,
the cost of this transit being included in the passage
money. The company also propose to receive passage
money by instalments or otherwise from parties in the
colony desirous of remitting funds to enable their fami-
lies or friends to join them.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—The Earl of Aldborough and
Holloway's Pills.—An astounding cure by this miracu-
lous medicine, after every other means had failed.—Sea
extract from his lordships letter, dated " Villa Messinf,„,
Leghorn, Feb. 21, 1845. To Professor Holloway.—;iii.
—I beg to acquaint you that your pills have effected a
cure of a disorder in my liver and stomach, which allthe
most eminent of the faculty at home and all over the
Continent had not been able to effect—nay, not even the
waters of Carlsbad or Marienbad. (Signed) ALD-
BOROUGH." These wonderful pills will cure any dis-
orders of the liver or stomach. Sold (also Holloway's
ointment) at Professor Holloway's Establishment, 244,
Strand,,London, and by all medicine vendors through
out the world.