The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-06 00:00:00

THE BELGIAN GIRL'S CASE.

On Friday afternoon a private application was made
to Mr. Arnold, at the Westminster Police-court, by the
police,' in consequence of which the information, upon
oath of Alice Leroy, the unfortunate Belgian girl, and of
Elvire Cerckel, who aided her in her escape from the
house of ill-fame in Denbeigh-terrace, was taken in
writing, and a warrant issued for the apprehension of
Alexander Desaux, the father of Laura Leboucher, alias
Madame Denis. Inspector Simoncli, proceeded to the
house in Denbeigh-terrace, but had no sooner effected a
partial entrance than Desaux attempted to close the
door against him, and called a very powerful and savage
dog to his aid. Fortunately for the inspector, he had
taken with him Antonio, the foot-boy recently in the
establishment, to whom the dog was much attached,
who succeeded in quieting the animal, and Desaux, a
miserable dirty-looking old Frenchman, the janitor of
the establishment, was brought away, and on Saturday
placed before Mr. Broderip for examination.
The warrant, as in the case of Feistel, alias Harrison,
who has undergone two or three examinations, charged
him with conspiring with others by false representations
to procure the defilement of a girl under 21 years of age.
Mr. Threw, for the prosecution, said, that apart from
the present charge, defendant had rendered himself liable
to the law as the keeper of a brothel, and for assaulting
and falsely imprisoning Alice Leroy. He would, how-
ever, at present confine himself to the charge under the
common law, as cited on a previous occasion, in the case
of the " Queen v. Mears and Chabot," and would shape
his case in accordance with it.

It was then determined that the information upon
oath before alluded to should be read and translated to
defendant as evidence for a remand, and this was accord-
ingly done.
Alice Leroy's information was as follows :—Defendant
is the father of Madame Denis. He was always in the
house in Denbigh-terrace. He was there the day I ar-
rived from Brussols, and dined with us that day, and
every day after. Several times when I have been going
down stairs he has met me, and told me to go up again,
and he has told me his daughter would scold him if
he let me go down. This happened more than six times.
Ho remained almost the whole day with me, and the
other girls, in the room there, smoking or reading, and
if I went to the window he would draw me back, and
say his daughter would scold him. The words he used
were, " What do you want always going to the window ;
you don't want anything, and we shall be scolded ?" I
never saw but the two young ladies in the house before
spoken of, and they had not much more liberty than I
had. Only the little one who was brought from Brussels
with me by Harrison went out sometimes with him and
madame . Defendant slept in the third-floor front, and I
and another girl in the back. The morning before I
escaped madame came into the room where I was cry-
ing, and said to me, " You think to escape, but you
shall not," and locked up my cloak and bonnet. I had
previously told one of the girls that I would rather live
in the streets than in that house ; and I told defendant
that madame had loaked up my bonnet and cloak. I
told him the same evening that they were locked up in
the morning.
Elvire Cerckel's deposition was as follows :—I first
knew Madame Denis's father a year ago. He passed a
few months with her then, and came to the house to live
altogether about 6 months ago. He was always up
stairs with the girls ; but what he was doing there I do
not know, as I was always down stairs. I did not sleep
there. I went about half-past seven or eight in the
morning, and the girls were not up then. He was up
and down stairs before they were up, and up and down
stairs the best part of the day. Sometimes he went out,
but very seldom. It was his watchfulness prevented
her escape sooner. The morning that I effected her
escape he was to comedown, and 1 went up and remained
up ; and I found he was in his room, so I woke Alice
and got her up and out of the house ; and after, when
he ran out with me the wrong way, he told me that as
her things were locked up he thought she could not
escape ; and that was the reason he went up to bed again
that morning.
Mr. Broderip (addressing the interpreter)—Tell him
I am quite ready to hear what he has to say, but inform
him that I shall not be the magistrate ultimately to
dispose of the case, although I remand him till a future
day. Ask him, therefore, if he wishes to say anything
before me.

The interpreter made the inquiry and replied—He
says that the day before Alice escaped, they had offered
to put her on board a steam-boat and send her back to
her own country.
Mr. Broderip--Ask him whether that is all he has to
say?
The interpreter replied—He says the girl advised
Alice to escape to get money from madame, and that he
went out every day with the dog for a walk.
Mr. Broderip—Tell him it is my duty to remand him
till Monday at two o'clock, when he must be brought
up before the magistrate wha will dispose of his case.
Upon this being communicated, the interpreter re-
ph ed—Ho says if you will let him go he will come back
again.
Mr. Broderip—Tell him I cannot do that.
_ _

Defendant WAS accordingly remanded.
M. and Madame Denis, alias Laura Leboucher, ab-
sconded directly after the girl's escape ; 30 guineas has
been offered for her capture, and ten guineas for her
husband's.

A NEW PLANET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—At half-past 2 o'clock yesterday morning, Mr.
Marth, assistant at this observatory, discovered, close
to the bright star Spica in Virgo, a new planet, evi-
dently belonging to the group between Mars and Jupi-
ter. It appears like a star of the tenth magnitude. The
following are the positions given by Mr. Marth's obser-
vations :

Greenwich Apparent Apparent
Mean Time. Rl ht Ascension. Declination.
h. In. sec. h. in. sec. deg. m. sec.
March 1, at 14 45 6.7 13 17 31'05 10 5 28.8 South
March 2, at 13 53 47'6 13 17 4.61 13 5 25.4 „
I remain, sir, your most obedient servant,
J. R. HIND.
Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Regent's-park, March 3.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—Mr. Norman Pogson, one of the assistants at
this observatory, has been observing a star to-night in
the constellation Virgo, which turns to be another planet.
As I am not aware that this object has as yet been seen
elsewhere, the announcement of it in your columns may
be interesting to astronomers,
Its position in the heavens is as follows :
Greenwich Right North Polar
Mean Time. Ascension. Distance
h. in. sec. h. m. see. deg. m. sec.
March 2 ... 13 24 46 13 17 4.98 100 5 30.0
„ ... 13 58 57 13 17 4'30 100 5 30'3
„ ... 16 32 51 13 17 1.28 100 5 28.9
Daily motion in R. A. ,------- - 28 sec. ; in N. P. D. ----- - 11".
Yours, &c.,
M. J. JOHNSON.
Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, March 3.

DISASTERS AT SEA.--On Saturday information was re-
ceived at Lloyd's that the Edinburgh steam-ship, one of
the fleet of the General Steam Navigation Company, on
making the entrance to the Texel in the course of Tues-
day last, struck on the Borkurn Reef, one of the patches
which abound near the approach to the river. The gale
was blowing heavily from the N.W., and some of the
crew and passengers imagining, it is thought, that the
steamer was going to pieces, unknown to Captain Phil-
lips, imprudently took to the boats, and put off from the
vessel. They consisted of three passengers, fire sailors,
and four stokers. Nothing has been heard of them, and
it is feared that the two boats were overwhelmed by the
heavy sea which was running. After remaining on the
reef some time the Edinburgh was got off. She was
found to be leaking, but was taken into Hamburgh on
Wednesday morning.
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