The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-17 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-110USE.
Mr. Pinkus, a gentleman of considerable scientific skill,
:appeared before the Loup MAYOR to answer the complaint
of Mr. William Tijon, the Secretary to :.he Pneumatic
Railway Company.

Mr. Tijon, who was accompanied to the justice-room by
Mr. John Travers, and other gentlemen of the City, de-
posed that a few mornings ago, the defendant, who is
the Pneumatic Railway patentee, called at the office,
No. 22, Cornhill, in a state of great excitement, and de-
manded to see the minutes of some proceedings of the
Board, which he supposed reflected upon his conduct.
Witness not only made allowance for the desperate state
of passion in which the defendant appeared to be, but took
the trouble to give him an extract of the proceedings
of the Board. The defendant, however, became more
excited by the appearance of the document, cursed and
d—d the Board in a demoniacal style ; and upon wit-
ness's refusal to let him examine the books, knocked. hint
down and threatened to extinguish his life. The violence
with which the defendant performed all this very alarming
business roused the instinct of the witness, who, having
been tumbled by his assailant near the fireplace, very na-
turally and judiciously seized the poker, and gave the pa-
tentee a whack with it across, he believed, the face, and
altered the complexion of the matter. A gentleman who,
was present called a policeman whose presence put a pe-
riod to the conflict. Mr. Tijon entertained not the
slightest feeling towards Mr. Pinkus, but so tomplete.4‘
frantic did the gentleman seem to be, and without having
received the slightest provocation, that he considered it
to be necessary to seek the protection of the magistrate.
Mr. STAMMERS asked Mr. Tijon several questions, in
order to ascertain whether the conflict did not commence
upon the part of the complainant.
Mr. Tijon positively denied that he had raised his arm
until attacked in the most desperate manner by Mr. Pink-ea,
whom he should not have been justified in allowing tr.
examine the Company's books. Providence had, he 54; a,
put the poker in his way on the occasion.
Mr. Stammers—Did you not strike him as hard as you
could with the poker 1' Complainant--I did. I stru4 , him

ever I could by instinct, for the. preservation of my
Mwhich 1 considered to be in danger.
Mr. Pugh, a solicitor, of Bond-court, Walbrools., had
been present when the scuffle took place, and the complain-
ant had acted Avith remarkable forbearance.- lie it was
who c.llled the policeman.
The Loan MAYOR was perfectly satisfied, and called
upon the defendant to find hail.
The bail was immediately procured.
A N AWKWALD Mt ;Tart.—illy. Samuel Whitbread, for-
•lnerly Member for Middlesex, was yosterdav
along
robbenchurc d of his
pocket handkerchief, as he i.x:as walLina, Feh-
street with a friend. Ile did not either see or. feel the rob-
bery, but a little boy ran up to him and said two gentlemen,
one with a brown coat, the other with a black one, have
just taken your handkerchief out of your pocket. The gen-
tleman with a brown coat slipped it out. Mr. 'Whitbread
looked about, aad seeing t7to persons, one in brown and the
other in black, walking by them, turned to the former, and
aFked him for the handkerchief be had just possessed him-
self of. The gentleman thus addressed happened to be a
very active overseer of one of the largest and most busy
parishes in the City, and the other was his brother. Before
the surprise and indignation excited by the question were
abated, Sergeant Mealey reached the spot, and addressed
the overseer, whose pardon Mr. Whitbread immediately
begged. The overseer, however, would not be satisfied
without appearing before the Lord Mayor, as the charge of
roi,bery bad been made by a person so well known as Mr.
Whitbread.
Mr. Whitbread had suddenly acted upon the boy's in-
formation, upon finding that he had lost his handkerchief,
and was very sorry for having said a word about the business.
The oversew* then expressed himself satisfied.

BOW-STREET.
Olt Thursday evening, a little girl, rather genteely-dres-
sed, named Anne Fitzgerald, was brought before Mr.
Missituus fsi the custody of Foster, an officer of the
Mcndicity Society, on a charge of being concerned in go-
ing about with I;scing letters to obtain charitable contri-
butions.
'lo se
gentleman named
sells on Thursday afternoon, saw
Foster, about four o c
the prisoner knock at the i!'"r of a
Younge, in Nelson-square, BliwNsfriars-road, and present
a letter to the servant who opene"'.l the door. Witness,
who had been watching her for some tinN'sheard her say she
would call again for an answer, and he. paited until she
appeared again, and having in the meantinse' ascertained th
he
contents of the letter, he took her into cu5:442(.. 1Y- Te
It was
letter was here produced, and a portion of it read.
written in a florid style, and signed " Leonora Fitzger:44l.::
and dated front No. 1, Surrey-row, Blackfriars-road. 1..•
stated, in substance, that the writer and her orphan sisters
had once been in easy and happy circumstances, but were
now reduced to the lowest state of human suffering, having.
parted with the last article of value to support life, adding
that they had not tasted food for the last,tvventy-four
hours. The letter then went on to state that they and
their mother after the death of their father', which oc-
curred two year 3 ago) had still the prospect of humble but
comfortable support, but their prospects were all at once
destroyed by the death of their only parent, the most af-
fectionate and amiaisle mother that ever breathed. The
writer further proceesied to state, that assistance from any
public institution would be extremely painful to the family.
Upon the reading of thi.s letter the young prisoner was
asked if she bad anything to say, and she stated that she
bad beeti sent with it by her elder sister, whom she was
obliged to obey.
Mr. Musstium. remanded the girl until yesterday, and in
the meantime the officer went to No. 1, Surrey-row, where
be found Leonora Fitzgerald, and about fifty copies of beg-
ging letters, together with eighty duplicates of property of
various descriptions, some of it valuable. The property
principally consisted of wearing apparel, some of which was
of a very expensive description, such as silk dresses, gloves
at 3s. per pair, and silk stockings, shoes, &c., equally high
in price. The officer also found several shopkeepers' bills
receipted for articles of the description mentioned, and
publican s accounts for gin, ale, beer, with an odd half
pint' of sherry he: and there. Leonora was. taken into
custody, and brought to this office yesterday, and placed
at the bar with her sitter. She was well dressed, and
assumed a very confident Air. When asked what she bad
to say she admitted at once i3mt she was the writer of the
letter and many others of the wme kind, but begged that
her younger sister might not be puslisbed, as she was merely
a messenger, and bound to obey her (prisoner's) commands.
Nothing (continued the prisoner) but di:e necessity ever in-
duced her to make such applications, nor Lad she ever done
so until starvation stared her and her sisters ii; the face. She
must state that she thought such a course better ti: en to rob
or cheat, or resort to immodest means to obtain MOT,nY•
Mr. Knyvett here observed that the prisoner's landNY
was present, and had a serious charge to prefer, besidci'
being able to throw a considerable light upon the mode in
which the elder prisoner had obtained a living.
Mrs. Davey, of No. 1, Surrey-row, said Leonora Fitz-
gerald hired an apartment in her house some three months
ago, representing herself as a servant out of a situation, and
only wanting a lodging for a few weeks until she could pro-
. cure employment to suit her. In a few days she brought
her younger sisters there for the purpose, as witness had
since ascertained, of sending them out with letters to get
money. She had now found that the elder prisoner had
pawned the bedding, and indeed almost every available ar-
ticle that the apartment which she had hired contained.
Mr. MINSHULL asked the witness if she thought the
elder defendant was an object of charity ? Mrs. Davy
said certainly not. There was cooking and drink-
ing going on all day and night long.—(A laugh.) The
frying-pan, gridiron, large, end small saucepans, stew-
.pans, and similar useful articles were in requisition every
day, and very often in the evening, when two gentlemen
were in the habit of smoking their cigars in Miss Fitzge-
rald's apartment. She lived exceedingly well. Witness
could bring forward ample evidence, if more were necessary.
Mr. Knyvett said the elder prisoner had written of her
parents being dead. The fact was that her father had
made several hundred pounds by writing begging letters,
and twelve months ago he was transported for swindling.
After a very lengthened investigation the elder prisoner
was remanded, the child was discharged.

BOOKSELLERS' PROVIDENT

INSTITUTION.

Yesterday a numerous and highly respectable " prelimi-
nary meeting of booksellers was held at the Albion Tavern,
Aldersgate-street, to take into consideration the means of
establishing an institution for the assistance and support of
decayed booksellers, their widows, and assistants."
Mr. GREENLAND said he had to propose a gentleman to
fill the Chair on that occasion, who belonged to one of the
oldest, most extensive, and opulent firms in the metropolis,
and whose zeal for the prosperity of the cause they had in
view, was great indeed.—( Hear, hear.) He proposed that
Cosmo Orme, Esq. (of the firm of Longman and Co.), do
take the Chair.
Mr. DUNCAN seconded the nomination, which was un-
animously carried.
Mr. OItME having taken the Chair, briefly opened the
business of the meeting, the object of which was to form
an institution and establish a fund for the permanent as-
sistance of decayed aged booksellers, being members, or
their widows, and temporary assistance to members and their
widows, children, and assistants, when in necessitous cir-
cumstances. He was afraid they had elected a bad Chair-
man, but he would do his best to promote the formation of
so benevolent an institution.—(Cheers.) He would then
ask that the letters which had been received from members
of the trade be read.
Mr. GREENLAND read letters from Messrs. Longman
and Co., Mr. Murray, Mr. Richardson, Mr. Newman, &c.,
all of which expressed an anxious desire to see an institu-
tion formed for the relief of decayed members of the book
trade, promising to give it all the support in their power,
and stating their willingness to co-operate in any of the re-
solutions which might be agreed to for such a benevolent
purpose. He then announced that the Chairman (Cosmo
Orme, Rig.) had sent the munificent donation of 100 gui-
neas—(Cheers)—and Mr. Kaye, of Falcon-square, had
offered his office gratuitously for the use of the Society, and
would act as Hon. Secretary.
Mr. JAMES DUNUAN, in moving the first resolution, said
when he first heard a benevolent institution proposed,
which was to be confined to decayed booksellers, he ob-
jected to it ; but, when it was agreed that the benefits
should be extended to the widows, children, and assistants,
he felt a most anxious and earnest desire to promote its
success. It would be ridiculous on that occasion to. make
a long speech. Other trades had their benevolent institu-
tions, and they flourished. He could not therefore think
the booksellers would not be patronised and supported.
' Mr. Duncan then moved a resolution to the effect that steps
be taken to form an institution to be called the " Booksel-
lers' Provident Institution."
Mr. SLELEY seconded the resolution. A few years back
he looked at institutions of this nature in a different light.
to what he did at the present day. A great change had
been effected in the administration of the poor-laws. He
knew on that subject there was great difference of opinion,
and he did not therefore allude to it for the purpose of dis-
cussing a political question, but to show that the alteration
which had taken place rendered institutions of that kind more
necessary than formerly. He must, however, say that
his own opinion was favourable to the old system. That
system had abuses. He wished to see them remedied ;
but, take it for all in all, he preferred it to the present, as
it was more charitable to the poor.—(Hear.) He had no
doubt the new system would lower the poor rates very
considerably ; but, then, poverty was treated as a crime.—
(Hear, hear.) Work-houses were building, the windows of
which would be so high that the unfortunate inmates could
not look out. Yet if a decayed tradesman applied for re-
ief he would .be told to these places lie must go ; and,