The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-10 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

CLERKENWELL.—Mr. Wakeling, the solicitor,
accompanied by five hardy Kafirs, entered the court, and
applied to Mr. Tyrwhitt, under the following circum-
stances :—He said that his black clients, some time ago,
were brought from their native country for the purpose
of exhibition, and to display their peculiar manners and
characteristics. Mr. Caldicut, the gentleman who brought
them over, with eight others, had returned to the Capo
of Good Hope, having entered into an agreement with
a Mr. Roberts, a licensed victualler, to support and ex-
hibit them. One of the party died, and seven others
determined to go back, and the five now present pre-
ferred remaining in England ; but the parties not hav-
ing kept strictly to the terms of the agreement, Mr.
Roberts detained their native costumes, shields, spears,
,tc., by which they were prevented getting their liveli-
hood. Ho (Mr. Wakeling) applied for a summons
against Mr. Roberts, to compel him to return the pro-
perty.
Mr. Tyrwhitt immediately granted the summons.

MARYLEBONE.---John Johnson was brought before
Mr. Broughton, charged with assaulting Lucy, his wife,
and police-constable Hamilton, 49 D.
Mr. Handley attended for the prisoner, having been
retained by the injured wife herself, who had no wish to
punish her husband for the ill-treatment to which she
had been subjected.
The magistrate, upon ascertaining that she was out-
side of the court, desired that she should be called in.
This was done, and she was then sworn.
Her statement, which she gave with some reluctance,
was to the effect that the prisoner, who had served twenty-
six years in the Grenadier Guards, was in the receipt of
a pension of 13d. a day. They were living at 46, Pick-
ering-place, Bayswater. She had only been married to
him eighteen months, and for some time past, owing to
his giving way to intoxication, he had been in the habit
of assaulting her without any provocation whatever. On
Tuesday last be struck her repeatedly, and on the next
day he gave her two severe kicks, and kicked her with
great force in the side. He- also tied up the bed
for the purpose of taking it away in a cab, and would
have succeeded in doing so had not some persons, who
had congregated at the spot, rushed forward and got it
from him.

Mr. Broughton, after denouncing in strong and indig-
nant terms the conduct of the prisoner, sent him for a
month to the House of Correction for assaulting the con-
stable, and ordered him to find good bail for his keeping
the peace towards his wife for three months. He was
the❑ locked up.

THAMES.—James Wright, described as a plumber,
of No. 21, St. Andrew's-road, Horsemonger-lane, about
34 years cif age, dark complexion, and 5 feet 6i inches
in height, was brought before Mr. Ingham, charged with
feloniously uttering a forged Si. Batik of England note,
he well knowing the same to be forged.
The prisoner's description answers the appearance of
a man who is strongly suspected of having defrauded the
revenue, as well as having passed several forged notes,
and he states that he came from Leith, and had been re-
siding in St. Andrew's-road for two months. On the
previous afttrnoon the prisoner drove up to the house of
Mr. Joseph Tatham, a coppersmith and brazier, of No.
92, St_ George's-street, alias Ratcliffe-highway, with a
horse and cart, and upe❑ alighting bargained with Mr.
Tatham for the purchase of a copper still and worm, the
price of which was 41. 10s. The prisoner tendered a
51. note in payment, and on Mr. Tathatu looking at it
he at once suspected it was not a genuine one, and took
it to a neighbour to ask his opinion of it, and to procure
change. He had no sooner left the shop than the pri-
soner got into the cart at the door, and, without waiting
for his change, drove off with the still and worm at full
speed. The prosecutor, having ascertained that the
note was a forgery, went in pursuit cf the prisoner,
and overtook him near the principal entrance of the
London Dock, and laid hold of the horse's head,
and told the prisoner the note was a forgery. The
note named by Mr. Tatham bad been shown to the
inspector of notes at the Bank of England, and pro-
nounced to be a forgery. A gennine Si. Bauk of Eng-
land note, the signature to which resembled that on the
forged one, together with 2s. 61d., was found on the
prisoner.

Police-sergeant Foay, 7 H, believed the prisoner was
connected with a gang of persons engaged in illicit dis-
tillation, and that the copper and worm, forming a still,
were intended for the private manufacture of spirits.
A respectable tradesman, residing in Southwark, said
the horse and cart which the prisoner was driving was
hired by three men on Wednesday afternoon. He knew
nothing whatever of the prisoner.
Inspector Germon, of the H division, said he had sent
the horse and cart to the green-yard, and the copper
and worm were under detention at the station-house.
Mr. Ingham said the inspector had done quite right.
He saw no objection to the horse and cart being delivered
to the owner, but the copper and worm having been paid
for with a forged note the prisoner mast be detained.
He remanded the prisoner for a week, and said the offi-
cer who had charge of the case must summon the proper
officer of the Bank of England to give formal proof that
the note was a forgery.

THE EXPLOSION OF FIREWORKS AND
LOSS OF LIFE IN ST. GEORGE'S-IN-
THE-EAST.

Yesterday, Mr. Baker, the coroner for the Eastern
division of Middlesex, and a jury, held an inquest at,
the Duke of Wellington Tavern, Cannon-street, Saint
George's-in-the-East, on the bodies of Elizabeth Watson
and her four children, of the respective ages of seven,
six, four, and nearly two years, who were burnt to
death by an explosion of fireworks in the course of
manufacture in the house of her husband, John Watson,
in Cannon-street, on the morning of Monday last.
Hannah Elizabeth Watson, the sole surviving member
of the family if the man, was called, and stated that
on the evening of Sunday last, shortly before eight
o'clock, she saw her mother and her four little sisters
all well. At eight o'clock all the children, except her-
self and the baby, went upstairs to bed. She (witness),
her mother, and a girl named Elizabeth Ford, a neigh-
bour, remained up all Sunday night, in a room on the
ground floor, finishing off squibs, crackers, and other
fireworks, which her father was occupied in making all
night in the room upstairs, in which the three children
were asleep. The baby slept that night in a corner of
the room in which her mother and herself were at work,
and about 5 o'clock on Monday ruornier, Elizabeth Ford
snuffed with her Angers a lighted candle which stood on
the table where she (the witness) and her mother were
engaged, and, the candle-snuff burning her fingers, she
let it fall on an unfinished cracker which lay on the
table, and which immediately caught fire and bounced
about the room, igniting and exploding in its progress
other fireworks which lay scattered about, and speedily,
enveloping the room in one sheet of flame. Immedi-
ately before the explosion her father bad left the room
upstairs for a moment, where he had been at work, and
where three of the children slept. The fire spread so
fast all over the premises that be was never able to re-
gain this room to save his children. Her mother
snatched up the sleeping baby in the room down stairs,
and tried to reach the room where her three children
were, but she could ❑ot, and returned into the open yard
with her clothes and those of the baby all on fire. Wit-
ness escaped, but she did not know how. The mother
and baby were taken to the London Hospital, where they
both died in the course of the day.

Mr. D. C. Thornhill, house surgeon at the London
Hospital, deposed that the mother and her baby were
brought there on Monday morning, between 5 and 6
o'clock, and placed under his care. They were both
severely burnt from head to foot. The usual zinc dressing
and other materials were applied to the wounds, and
every attention was paid to them, but, notwithstandina,
the infant died in the course of the forenoon, and the
mother about an hour and a half afterwards. The other
three children, whom he had since seen at the dead-
house, had been evidently burnt to death, for their re-
mains were_scareely distinguishable as those of human
beings, being merely so much animal charcoal. The
girl Ford still lemained an inpatient at the London
Hospital, but she was in so dangerous a state as to ren-
der it impossible for a coroner and jury to take her evi-
dence.

Thomas Overton, the beadle of St. George's-in-the-
East, stated that he knew John Watson, the occupier of
the house in Cannon-street in which the explosion took
place, and that he saw him shortly after the fire. He
toad witness that he had been at work making rockets
all Sunday last, all the Sunday night, and down to the
time of the explosion in the room upstairs
of his children, Maria, Clara, and Elizabetl where three
, slept in a
tent bedstead ; that his daughter Hannah Elizabeth, his
wife, and Elizabeth Ford, were making serpents and
crackers in a room down stairs ; that he went down for
a moment into the yard about 5 o'clock on Monday
morning, and while he was there the window of the
room in which they were at work blew out with the ex-
plosion,
and the whole place was speedily on fire ; that
he tried to save his wile and the infant, and that she
rushed upon him all on fire, and burnt him very much.
Witness asked him if he had a large stock at the time,
and he replied that he bad hetweeli 301. and 401. of stock
on the premises, and that he had there also 30 pounds
weight of gunpowder in made-up goods, about 21b. more
loose, and not made up, about 51b. of brimstone made
up and 11b. loose, about 141 b. of saltpetre made up and
about 10Ib. loose, and some charcoal and other mate-
rials, hut they were not combustible. He also said he
put his three children to bed himself on Sunday night,
at 8 o'clock, quite well. He added that there were
in a room upstairs, over that in which his wife was at
work, a single woman named Maria Thompson, and a
young sailor named Edward Fosdyke, at the time of
the explosion. They were both in the hospital now,
and quite unable to be examined, the woman Thompson
not being likely to recover.
John Leppidge, a fireman, who assisted in extinguish-
ing the fire, deposed to finding the bodies of the three
children, Clara, Elizabeth, and Maria, about a quarter
past 6 in the morning, in a room on the first floor. Two
of them were lying on.a bed burnt to death, and almost

to ashes, and the third, and apparently the youngest,
lay at the bead of the bedstead, and burnt to death also.
The Coroner, in summing up the eciflenee, said the
only question for the jury was whether the girl Ford,
who certainly was the proximate cause of the fire, by
the imprudent and reckless manner in which she snuffed
a lighted candle with her fingers in the room where the
fireworks were being made, was mixed up in this matter
with the father, John Watson, who unquestionably in
point of law was liable for the fatal consequences of this
melancholy catastrophe, resulting, as it did, from his
having carried on a trade of this dangerous character,
in which he and everybody else were expressly prohibited
from being concerned. Tue words of the act of Parlia-
ment bearing upon the case expressly rendered it a com-
mon nuisance for any person of any age to be engaged in
the manufacture or sale of fireworks, and subjected them
to a charge of manslaughter in the event of loss of life
being the consequence of their being so occupied.
The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter against
John Watson, who was thereupon committed for trial.

THE AMERICAN VIEW OF THE BATTLE

OF ALMA.

(Flom, the New York Courier and Enquirer.)
No man who has a drop of Anglo-Saxon blood in
his veins will read of the conduct of the British troops
at Alma without a thrill of admiration. The real
brunt of the battle fells upon them, and it was the
most trying that can occur in military operations. To
cross a deep and difficult ford in the very face of a
tremendous fire of a hundred pieces of artillery, to form
on the opposite bank where the ground was most broken
and encumbered, to struggle up steep heights under a
murderous sweeping shower of grape, round shot, shell,
canister, case shot, and musketry, to march steadily on,
though platoons and companies were mowed down like
grass, and to sweep away the Russians from a position
of such extreme strength, was an achievement that, it
took Saxon stamina to execute. It was not impetuosity,
the impulsive enthusiastic ardour which characterises
the more Southern races, which effected it. That pro-
bably would have been unequal to the purpose, for that
kind of martial spirit is especially subject to panic, and
would have hardly escaped it in such an extremiby. It
was cool, calm, determined, unfaltering iron energy
which won this battle—that quality which as signally
marks the race in war as in peace. The French had the
easier part to perform of outflanking and turning a wing
They did this under considerable difficulty in their own
gallant style. The Russians fought with undeniable
resolution. They did not leave the ground until
absolutely compelled, and they displayed that steadi-
ness in retreat which has long been their most distin-
guishing characteristic. Few such defeats have ever
occurred in which the loss was so small in prisoners and
captured guns. The spirit with which the Russians
fought is best attested by the 6,000 dead and wounded
they left on the field of battle. In view of the
fact that, according to the latest accounts, their force
amounted to only 35,000 men, and, considering, too, the
less exposed character of their position, this is, indeed,
a remarkable proportion, and reflects quite as much
credit upon their fortitude as upon the efficiency of their
enemies. The entire body of the Allied troops outnum-
bend the Russians ; but owing to the peculiar character
of the ground, only about 30,000 of them were actually
engaged. There were two entire divisions of the army
which scarcely lost a single man.

We give up our columns this morning to the details of
this tremendous engagement. It has been more than a
generation since accounts like these have figured in news-
papers, and they cannot fail of being read with extreme
interest. Lord Raglan's despatch is written with concise-
ness, clearness, and elegance, and, in dignity and free-
dom from everything like gasconade, forms a marked
contrast to therhapsody of St. Arnaud. Operations have
not yet fairly commenced upon Sebastopol, and the
tenour of the last advices makes it manifest that this
stronghold will not be carried without the most despe-
rate fighting. The , fleet, upon the aid of which in the
work of bombardment, so much reliance has been
placed, have been rendered utterly unserviceable by the
closing up of the harbour, and the whole plan► of opera-
tions by the land force has in consequence been changed.
It is useless to anticipate results.

THE AITSTRIAN RAILROADS.

We extract the following from a letter received from
Vienna :

" About 10 days since some information was forwarded
respecting the railroad contract between this Government
and a French company, and as far as it went it was cor-
rect. Since that time the correspondents of some of the
leading organs of the foreign press have written on the
same subject, but on several points the public has been
misled. The following is correct in all essential points,
but one or two clauses of the contract aro probably kept
from the knowledge of the public.
" One part of the property has been regularly sold, and
the other ceded for 90 years to the company. The follow-
ing objects have become the property of the speculators :
1. The coal mines at a place called Bustchrad. 2. The
mines of Oravicza or Ohoravitza, which are said to pro-
duce a quality of coal equal to the English orßelgian. The
establishment at Oravicza is very large, with an engine
factory and a cannon foundry. 3. 200,000 Austrian joch
or 120,000 " h•ctaren" of land in Bohemia and the Banat.
The property ceded for 90 years —l. The railroad between
Bruno and Bodenbach. 2. The south-east line from
Ganserndorf to Pestb, Szolnok, Szegedin, and De-
breczin. 4. A branch line just completed between
Bashiash and the coal mines at Oravicza. The com
pany has, beside, the privilege of introducing, duty free,
during the term of five years, the rails required for the
new lines which it has to complete. The company has the
privilege of demanding payment of the fares in silver, or,
if paid in paper, of charging the difference between the
metallic and the paper currency. The State guarantees 5
per cent., and the "amortisations" capital. The company
pays to the State for this property and these privileges the
sum of 200,000,000 f. in monthly instalments. The com-
pany takes all the shares of the Vienna-Raab Railway,
which is private property at par, and also purchases the
engine factory attached to it. If the railway, its fundus
instructus, and the factory were to be paid for in hard cash,
they would perhaps cost the company 100,000,000 f., but it
has agreed to exchange on demand the new shares against
Vienna-Raab Railway Shares. The impression which this
financial measure has produced abroad is unknown to me,
but every one in this city thinks that the company has
great reason to congratulate itself on having obtained such
advantageous terms. One of the "longest-headed" finan-
ciers in this city has during the last few weeks bought up
Vienna-Raaber shares to a very large amount, and proba-
bly with the intention of exchanging them for the new
shares. The Parisians engaged in this gigantic affair are
MM. Cruest, Andre, Flottinger, Pereira, Morny, and is
this city Messrs. Arnstein and Eskeles, and Sina. Some
English firms are also concerned in the speculation, but
their names were not mentioned.