The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-19 00:00:00

THAMES.

James Howell, a well-known sturdy vagrant, who has
been known on the town for some time as a " distressed
sailor," was brought before Mr. Yardley, charged with
♦agrancy-.

'Mr. Alfred Dodd, jeweller, of Cornhill, was passing
along the Mile-end-road on Wednesday evening, and
saw the prisoner seated on the side of a door, crying
loudly, and appearing to be in the greatest possible dis-
tress and misery. He was asked the cause of his woe,
and ho said he was a distressed mariner, and had
just come up from Portsmouth and been robbed of 151.;
that he had nu means of obtaining food or lodging, and
that he had been greatly ill used by the villains who
robbed him. The story had the desired effect; Mr.
Dodd gave him all the halfpence he had in his pocket.
A gentleman gave him sixpence, and he received contri-
butions from others. Mr. Dodd having reflected upon
the matter, suspected the prisoner was an impostor, and
watched him. He saw him join another street beggar
and communicate with him, and afterwards seat himself
on another doorway and repeat the same fable with as
much success as before. Mr. Dodd afterwards followed
him some distance, until he met with a police-constable
named Hussey, and gave him into custody. Nothing
whatever was found on the prisoner on his arrival at the
station-house, and he had artfully contrived to dispossess
himself of all the alms he secured by the imposture. He
was recognized by the police as a well known mendicant,
and a very impudent one, who had never been to sea in
his life.

Mr. YARDLEY said that Mr. Dodd was deserving of
great praise for the manner in which he had acted in
this case, and that it was such persons as the prisoner
who did great mischief to the really deserving poor, and
were a nuisance in the streets. He committed the pri-
soner as an idle and disorderly vagabond, obtaining
alms under false pretences, and sentenced him to one
month's imprisonment and hard labour.
William Thompson, another mendicant, was charged
with vagrancy.

••
A police-constable, named Barnes, said the prisoner
had performed the part of " the shipwrecked sailor on his
beam ends" for some time past, and that he saw him
following three mariners in Ratcliffe-highway, and ap-
pealing to their sympathies on behalf of a poor brother
shipmate who had not a shot in the locker. He warned
him to desist, but he would not, and importuned every
person he met with for some time, and witness took him
into custody.
The prisoner said he was a sailor, and in distress.
Mr. YARDLEY—Where is your register ticket?
The prisoner said he had not got one.
The policeman said the prisoner was a common street
Leggar, and had never seen salt water in his life.
Mr. YARDLEY sentenced the prisoner to one month's
imprisonment and hard labour.

TYE FIRE IN NEW-SQUARE, LINCOLN'S-INN----On
Wednesday the several gentlemen who held chambers at
2, New-square, Lincoln's Inn, fields, met together, and a
committee was formed for the purpose of seeing that
proper care was taken in searching the ruins for the re-
covery of the remaining documents known to be still in
the rubbish. It was also agreed that no person what-
ever was to be allowed to go upon the ruins to search
for missing property until the remaining walls are
pulled down. So anxious were many gentle-
men the preceding day to search the ruins for their
property, that notwithstanding every gust of wind
made the walls reel to and fro, not the least attention
was paid to the warning, and in order to protect the
lives of the unfortunate sufferers by the fire, this order
was deemed indispensably necessary. Yesterday morning,
at an early hour, the work of levelling the walls will be
commenced. Mr. Martin, a gentleman whose chambers
have been totally consumed, has fortunately succeeded in
getting out of the ruins a vast number of documentary
papers of many thousand pounds value, and in order to
allay the excitement which has been caused amongst
several members of the nobility respecting the fate of
their title deeds, we are in a position to state that most
of them have been recovered, either uninjured, or so
triflingly scorched as not to be illegible. The police are
still obliged to be kept on duty within the square to pre-
vent the crowd of spectators from getting into danger.
FOREIGN ARRIVAL s.—ln the absence of the usual
arrivals of cattle, provisions, &c., from Rotterdam and
other of the continental ports, some supplies have taken
place from Ha..lingen, Nardwyk, and Nicu Diep. The'
arrivals from Rotterdam es well as Havahurfeh are at
present entirely suspended, owing to the severity of the
frost on the Continent. and merchants have in the emer-
gency availed themselves of the port of Ostend for the
transmission of continental merchandise to this country.
A seam-ship has just arrived in the river frown that
port, heavily laden with merchandise of every descrip- '
tion, a considerable portion of which has been brought
from the inland parts of Germany for shipment to this
country.

IVeunderstand that Mr. Pryse, the son of the late.
lamented Member for the Cardigan boroughs, has con-
sented to come forward, with every prospect of success.