The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-16 00:00:00

PRETENDED ROBBERY AND ARREST

OF A TRADESMAN:

On Friday, the 2d instant, considerable excitement
was created in Stourbridge by the report that the
house occupied by Mr. Davis, grocer and collector of
assessed taxes and of the market tolls, had been
broken open during the night preceding, and upwards
of aOO/. in money, besides other property, carried off
by the thieves. The account given by Mr. Davis of
the robbery was that the thieves had first entered his
back kitchen by opening the window; that they
returned through the window into the court-yard,
bringing with them a bar of iron which lay in the
kitchen, and with this they had burst open the back
door and obtained admission to the sitting room and
the other parts of the house. His money was kept
in his children's bed-room, which was situated
over his own, and the thieves discovered where
this money was placed, and. had got possession
of it. They had also stolen a quantity of silver
spoons, a silver watch, and other valuable ar-
ticles, and with all this property and about 251bs. of
tea from the shop they had got clear away. Nobody
in the house had heard their movements, and nothing
was known of the, burglary until the children came
down in the morning. Mr. Davis then sent for Su-
perintendent Bevan, and informed him of his loss, and
went over to the Bewdley Bank in order to ascertain
the numbers of some of the stolen notes, which he had
previously received from that establishment. Of the
money lost no less than 1701. had been received in
the shape of taxes, and 1401. were his own, and much
pity was felt fur Mr. Davis, because it was known that
so large a loss must prove very serious indeed to a
man' in his circumstances. When Superintendent
Bevan and Mr. Grove, the parish constable, came to
examine the premises, they found that there were no
footmarks inside the house or outside. A brightly
polished mahogany table, which stood immediately
under the kitchen window referred to,
had no traces of nails or dirt upon it. The
kitchen window had apparently not been disturbed for
a considerable time, as a quantity of dust had lodged
in the groove in which it travelled. Then there was
a dog in the house—an animal particularly remark
able for its vigilance during thee night, as every one in
the habit of passing the shop at a late hour was well
aware—and no alarm was given by it. After these
discoveries the police did not trouble themselves about
the matter, but Superintendent Bevan waited upon
the magistrates at the Town-hall, on Wednesday, and
in order to free the police from. the blame which some
people had visited upon them for not taking vigorous
measures to discover the suppos ed thieves, related the
facts above given, and declared emphatically that he
did not believe that a burglary had taken place. On
the same day Davis was arrested under a wsrrant
from the Commissioners of Taxes, and his goods and
stock were seized at the same time to assist in making
good the account due by him to the revenue.—
Worcester Chronicle.

Yesterday the Lord Mayor, accompanied by Mr.
Sheriff Nicoll, and escorted by the Under-Sheriffs and
the Mansion- house officials, attended divine service at
St. Paul's, here a sermon was preached by the Bishop
of London, adapted to the occasion of the general
thanksgiving. The congregation was extremely nume-
rous. It will be recollected that the late Lord Mayor,
at the Guildhall banquet on the 9th instant, said "he
was happy to add, that by the blessing of Divine Provi-
dence, he had been enabled to ht.nd over the government
of the City to bis successor with a clean bill of health."
The preterit Lord Mayor haa, in the opinion of his
fellow-citizens, adopted the best means in his power of
publicly acknowledging, at the .opening of his mayoralty,
that this, with every blessing which this vast city is
favoured with, cumeth from -aim who is the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.

IfIRMINGEIAM: 1"-i-iunsuitY.—Yesterday the Right
Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Lady Peel, and a distinguished
party, visited Elkington's electro-plating manufactory in
this town; after which they voi!eeded to inspect the grand
exposition of arts and manufactures, which had been
honoured on Monday last by a visit from Prince
Albert.

HANDSOME DONATION.---The Right Hon. the Earl
of Onslow has forwarded the liandsoine donation of 100
guineas to the treasurer of the. City of London Hospital
for Diseases of the Chest, in sad of the funds of that use-
ful institution.

There is a thread in our thoughts, as there is a
pulse in our hearts. Ile who can hold the one, knows
how to think; and ha who cant more the other, knows
how to feel.—Eliza Cook's journal. _

Lady Anne Beckett left town on Wednesday for
Downham-hall, Norfolk, on fa visit to Lord and Lady
Wm. Powlett.