The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-04 00:00:00

DEATH OF LORD ANDERSON.

The announcement of the death of this excellent
judge and amiable gentleman will be received with ge-
neral regret, not only by his personal friends and the
members of the profession of which he was a distin-
guished ornament, but by all of the general public who
may have come in contact with him in private or pro-
fessional intercourse. The melancholy event took place
in London at an early hour on Wednesday morning.
His lordship was on his return to Scotland from the
Continent, to resume his duties as one of the judges on
circuit, and though on landing at Folkestone, on Mon-
day, he felt indisposed, he proceeded after a day's de-
lay to London, where, however, fever supervened and
terminated fatally, as we have stated. Lord Ander-
son, whose valuable life has thus been suddenly cut
short at the age of 55, was a sound lawyer and a hard
worker, as all those who sought his professional ser-
vices, and especially those who employed him as a
consulting counsel, well know. He was a Conser-
vative in politics, and obtained his distinctions as a
member of that party ; but he was not a prejudic -d
or even a very keen politician, his profession aid
art and general literature baring more attractions for
him than political life. He was called to the bar in
1818, and became Sheriff of Perthshire when, in 1834,
on account of the singular movement which gave Sir
Robert Peel a brief lease of power, Mr. M'Neill became
Solicitor-General. To that office Mr. Anderson suc-
ceeded on the death of Sir William Rae in 1842, when
Mr. M'Neill became Lord-Advocate. Mr. Anderson's
own tenure of that high office last year was more brief
than even the momentary elevation of the Protectiolics,
with whose fortunes he identified himself, and now it is
our sorrow to record that his career on the bench, for
which he was so well fitted by his talents and his con-
scientious use of them, has been equally short. For
some tinie before the Protectionist Ministry came into
power he had been chosen by the Faculty of Advocates
as their Dean, and this office, by affording much oppor-
tunity for encouraging the younger members of the pro-
fession, brought into notice his kind and amiable dis-
position and gentle manners. These were attributes
thoroughly founded in his character which no success or
elevation in life could affect, and few men have left a
more pleasing recollection among those with whom he
was brought in contact through his active and useful
life than Adam Anderson.---Scotsman.

JENNINGS v. THE SCREW SHIP COMPANY.

On Saturday a case of great importance to the ship-
ping interest of England came before Mr. Ryland, who
presides at the Sheriff's County Court, Guildhall. The
case is, per se, a simple one • but a great principle with
respect to the construction of an act of Parliament is in-
volved. We may premise that by what was considered
the custom of the trade, engineers and firemen on board
steam-vessels going foreign voyages are entitled to a per-
centage or commission on all coals shipped at foreign
stations in the course of the voyage. To this charge,
which amounts to and is claimed at is. per ton upon all
coals shipped during the voyage, whether put on board
by the labours of the engineers and firemen, by the crew
of the vessel, or by any other persons, great objections
were made by the great steam companies, who consi-
dered that all they ought to pay was the wages that
were agreed upon, and in order to test this question,
it was resolved by the men that one of their own mem-
bers should bring an action. An action was accord-
ingly brought by a man of the name of George Jen-
nings, a fireman on board the Mauritius steamer, which
belongs to the General Screw Ship Company. It
appears that this vessel sailed from Southampton
under the command of Benjamin Jame' Elder, and
was bound for Calcutta, and that during the voy-
age she took in coals at St. Vincent, the Cape of Good
Hope, the Mauritius, Ceylon, Madras, and Calcutta,
and on her homeward voyage took in coals at Ceylon,
the Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope, St. Helena, and
St. Vincent. By the plaintiff, as representative of the
engineers and firemen, it was contended that on every
ton of coals taken in at foreign stations they were entitled
to is. per ton. The number of tons taken during the
outward and homeward voyage was 4,575, the amount
on which, at is. per ton, would be 2281. 155., of which
sum 331. 4s. had been paid to the seamen, and the re-
maining sum of 1951. 118. was claimed by the engineers
and firemen. Mr. Smith, attorney for the plaintiff,
claimed 101. ss. as his share, with 19 others, of the
sum of 1951. 11s. According to the usual arrange-
ments of the trade, the engineers and firemen were
entitled to Is. on coals shipped at foreign ports, whe-
ther they had assisted in getting the coals into the ship
or not. Mr. Sleigh contended, on the other side, that
the plaintiff should be nonsuited. The claim was not
tenable, because a release of all claims due to the plain-
tiff had been given by himself. He was engaged at 41.
a month, with a special reservation that in case of his
giving a release he should be bound to abide by it.
Upon returning to Southampton he gave that release,
and he contended that the release being in conformity
with the 98th section of the act of Parliament, the
plaintiff had no further claim against the company.
After a great deal of discussion, the Judge (Mr. Ryland)
decided that the act of Parliament left him no discretion,
and the summons must be dismissed. By this decision,
a question affecting several thousands a year has for the
present been set at rest.

SIR EDWARD BLAKENEY.—The gallant Commander
of the Forces in Ireland has so completely recovered as
to be able to walk out every day.
WOOD PAVEMENT IN OXFORE-STREET. The works
having been advanced with so much ripidity within
these few days, that the removal of the whole of the
wood pavement has been effected, and replaced with sub-
stantial granite block paving, the entire line of road,
from the Regent-circus as far as Old Cavendish-street,
has been reopened for traffic, to the great convenience
of the immense number of vehicles of all kinds tra-
versing this great line of road to and from the west-
end of town and the City, and the public generally.
The small portion of the street between that point and
Bond-street now only remains closed, which causes com-
paratively little inconvenience, and which, however, will
soon terminate, as the remaining portion of Oxford-street
by this time entirely completed, and will immediately be
thrown open to the public. The thoroughfare at the
end of the street, near Tottenham-court-road, is now
completed, and thrown open for traffic, and as soon as
the small portion of the street between Old Cavendish
and Bond-streets is re-opened, the whole of this fine line
of street will be open, and in a complete and perfect
by granite
character,s
state of repair, the whole of the wood and other paving
taonnde
mbloorcekapdaavpitnegd
ohfaavinsugbnstonwntbiaelenanrdepdlnacraedbleb
to one of the busiest and most
impoxtant of the metro-
politan thoroughfares.
CLOSING OF THE TRAFFIC OF CHANCERY-LANE.--
Yesterday morning workmen were busily engaged in
taking up the pavement of the roadway at the lower end
of Chancery-lane, from Fleet-street, for the u ose of
its being entirely relaid, the traffic of that purpose
portion of the
lane being entirely stopped. In Fleet-street the whole
of the granite was relaid, and the concrete
infused on
Saturday, but the workmen were unable to finally
complete the works 0) as to admit of general traffic from
the Strand to the City for omnibuses and other heavy
vehicles. This morning the last layer of gravel was laid
down, and the apparent imperfections in the pavement
levelled and cemented, so that in a few hours the general
traffic will be fairly resumed from the Strand to the City.
In the Strand the general repair of the roadway has not
been completed in a very satisfactory manner, so that
many holes and ruts still remain, but the relaying down
of the pavement on the south side of St. Clement's
Church is a great improvement, the former pavement
being on a slope towards Essex-street ; but as relaid it
is made more level, thereby rendering less liability to the
horses slipping, a more certain footing being afforded.
THE ARMY.—Major-General James Jackson has, we
conclude, resigned the Cape command, to which he had
been appointed. In the " Army List "of the present
month neither the general nor his aides-de-camp occupy
the places assigned to them in last month's 'List."
Lieutenant-Colonel Routh and Lieutenant G. M'Gold.
rick have exchanged places, the former taking the bar
rackmastership of Bristol, and the latter of Canterbury.
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Robe, C. 8., has ceased to be
deputy quartermaster-general at Mauritius. Brevet
Major Rose, of the 55th Foot, has been appointed an
extra aide-de-camp to the Governor of Gibraltar, vice
Captain the Hon. A. F. Egerton, of the Grenadier
Guards. Dr. D. Dambreck has succeeded Dr. Hawkey
as staff surgeon of the London recruiting district.
Lieutenant Dowling, 20th Foot, has succeeded Lieu-
tenant Eager, 40th Foot, as superintending officer
of the Glasgow district. Our readers may remember
a paragraph inserted in our paper a short time since re-
lative to the existence of grave dissensions between a
field officer and a junior major of one of the crack
in Dublin garrison, which ended in tl
.corps
le adm onionti of
both parties. We regret to hear that
_ recent events of a
most serious nature have been a subject of mutual re-
oncecriminaration
likely bet
to
ween the Parties, and, unless stayed at
, e
It is said, however end in
that a most unpleasant manner.
the authorities, not liking the
complexion of the affair, have signified their readiness to
accept mutual
hushed up. Weexplanations, and that it may yet be
tinues in the 76th Regiment,
to find that desertion still coa-
Regiment, and, since the arrival o
the corps in
ofAmerica, upwards of 60 men have deserted,
three-fifths
Fred • whom have been from the head-quarters
at,,erickton, owing to the ready facility afforded
theta
the country people in guiding and assisting
them into the States.—United Service Gazette.
CHARGE OF WILFULLY PROPAGATING SMALL-PDX.—
A serious case, under the new Vaccination Act, has just
arisen in Devonshire. A woman, living in the village
of Tedburn St. Mary, a few miles from Exeter, wished
her children to have the small-pox, and, according to a
custom which seems to have prevailed in the rural dis-
tricts, she determined that they should receive it by con-
tagion. Accordingly she sent her children, in the care
of a nephew, named William Peimsaul, to Crediton, that
they might get it from the servant of a respectable
farmer, who was ill of the disease. The farmer's wife
took a handkerchief which had been worn by the serv-
ant, and tied it round the children's necks. They soon
afterwards caugh the disease. The wife of the farmer,
and the mother of the children, were brought up before
the magistrates of Crockernwell, sitting in petty sessions,
and charged with the offence. The former was com-
mitted to prison for a week, but the latter escaped, it is
believed, through the perjury of the nephew, who was
thereupon charged with the offence. On Monday last
he was brought up, he was so dangerously ill that the
charge could not be gone into. The chairman (Baldwin
Fulford, Esq.) told him that the magistrates were un-
willing to proceed against him in the present state of his
health, but he wished it to be understood that in all
cases where persons were found to endanger the lives of
their children, by exposing them to the small-pox in the
way narrated above, the magistrates would inflict the
extreme penalty of the law. If death had ensued to the
children, the parties concerned would have been trio
for their twee.