The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-08 00:00:00

for army head-quarters; General Gilbert, with five
brigades of infantry, troop of horse artillery, part of
the train, &c., on the 9th instant; reserve train, with
artillery, sappers and pioneers, artillery and engineer
parks, &c., on the 15th, with 7th brigade of infantry,
and 4th brigade of cavalry.
The Commander-in• Chief had arrived at Feroze-
pore, and would dispatch troops as fast as possible,
preceding them if possible or if necessary. It is evi-
dently his Excellency's policy to allow the Seikhs to
get head, and with the large army he has assembled
to make a clear sweep of them, which, after all, per-
haps, is the best thing that can be done.—Times.

THE POST-OFFICE ROBBERY ON

THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

EXAMINATION OF THE PRISONERS.
EXETER, SATURDAT.—The two men in custody on
a charge of having robbed the down mail between
Bristol and Bridgwater on the night of Monday last
were brought up for re-examination this day, before
the Mayor and a full bench of magistrates, at the
Guildhall of this city.
The proceedings excited great interest, and the
body of the hall was crowded in every part by per-
sons anxious to hear the evidence. Among those
present we observed Mr. Charles Russell, chairman
of the Great Western Railway; Mr. Woolcombe,
chairman of the South Devon ; Mr. J. W. Buller,
chairman of the Bristol and Exeter line ; Mr.
Saunders, the secretary, and Mr. Seymour Clark,
superintendent of the Great Western Railway ; and
many other gentlemen of influence resident in the
district, including the High Sheriff of the county of
Devon, John Silliford, Esq.
Mr. Christopher Arden (Mayor) was presiding
magistrate. The following members of the bench
were also present :—Dr. Miller, Dr. Pennell, Mr. G.
C. Holroyd, Mr. E. Woolmer, Mr. H. Hooper, Mr.
W. Kennaway, Mr. J. Carew, Mr. D. B. Davy, Mr.
Kingdon, and Mr. J. Harris.
Mr. Peacock, Solicitor to the Post-office, attended
to prosecute. Mr. Ramsay, Inspector-General, and
Mr. Cresswell, Surveyor of that establishment, were
also present.
Mr. Scoble Willesford, of Exeter, attended to watch
the case on behalf of the accused parties.

Shortly after eleven o'clock the prisoners were
placed in the dock. Poole is a good-looking man,
with a remarkably shrewd and quick expression of
countenance ; he is somewhat below the middle size,
and appears about thirty years of age. As already
stated, he was formerly a guard on the Great Western
Railway,ri from which service, after being guilty
of many peccadilloes, he was at length discharged,
about nine months since, for conveying in his mail-
guard's box a female who had not paid her fare.
Since that period be has been residing in Exeter in a
large and fashionably situated house, most expensively
furnished, a handsome harp being somewhat osten-
tatiously displayed at one of the windows. It is said
by the gossips of the city that Poole's wife, a very
showily-dressing woman, with some pretensions
to beauty, was formerly the chere antic of a
gentleman of fortune, who gave Poole a handsome
sum to marry her, and that the money was subse-
quently invested in the expensive furniture found in
his residence, with a view of taking lodgers. The
other prisoner, who still refuses to give his name, is
somewhat taller than Poole, and has a heavier expres-
sion of countenance. When, apprehended, he wore a
valuable diamond ring, worth 301., and a handsome
gold watch and chain ; but, notwithstanding these
aristocratic appendages, his appearance generally is
of the most ordinary description. The efforts of the
London detective police to discover his identity have
hitherto been fruitless, although three of the most
intelligent officers have been down here for that

purpose.
During the examination both prisoners paid the
greatest attention to the evidence, and Poole was in
constant communication with his solicitor. On being
asked their names, the one replied, "I decline giving
my name." The other answered boldly, " Henry
Poole."
Mr. Peacock, having briefly stated the facts of the
case, quoted the Act of Parliament, 1 Vic., c. 36,
sec. 28, by which it is enacted that stealing letters,
&c., from the Post-office is a felony, punishable with
transportation for life, the 37th section providing
that, for the more effectual prosecution of such
offences, they may be dealt with in any county or
place where the offenders might be apprehended, as
if the offence bad been committed at such place. -
The first witness called was Mr. Edward Henry
Augustus Fisher, who said—l reside at St. James's
Cottage, Beauvoir-square, Kingsland, near London.
I am a clerk in the inland department of the General
Post-office, at St. Martin's-le-Grand. On the even-
ing of the Ist inst. I made up the dispatches for the
Tavistock and Truro mail bag. In that bag were
several registered letters.
Mr. Willesford—lf he is to speak to letters, they
had better first be produced.
Joseph Gibbons, superintendent of the Plymouth
constabulary, having been called on, produced a
packet of letters, which he had received on the night
of the Ist inst., from Mr. Clarke, the station superin-
den t at Exeter. _ .

Mr. Fisher—Among the letters in the Tavistock
bag was a registered one which I found-in the parcel
produced by Gibbons. It is addressed H. P. Dwarris,
he Rectory, near Callington, Cornwall. I have a
distinct recollection of the letter ; it came from the
Receiver-General's office. It was enclosed in the usual
green letter-cover, addressed to the postmaster, at Cal-
lington, and the name of Dwarris written at the cor-
ner. Letters for Callington are put into the Tavistock
bag. Among the letters put into the Truro bag there
was also a registered letter, produced by Gibbons. It
is addressed to the Rev. J. Hardy; and it was put in
the usual green cover, and addressed to the postmaster
at Truro. Both the letters bear the stamp of the in-
land office of that night. A letter bill accompanies
the letters in the bag. The two bills produced are
those which relate to the letters in question. The
registered letters were both entered by myself upon
those bills, and I compared those entries with the let-
ters when I put them in the bag. The general letters
were tied up in bundles, and the registered letters are
tied at the top of the bundles. After the letters were
put into the mail bags they were tied and sealed with
wax in my presence. The Tavistock bag I gave to
Mr. Collinson, another clerk in the same office; and
the Truro bag I put into the Truro and Penzance
sack. The sack was then tied with string and given
to the mail guard. I produce two sorts of string, one
rather stronger than the other, which is used to tie the
sacks, and the weaker is used to tie the bags.
James Collinson was next called—He said I reside
in Wellington-place, Newington-butts, Surrey. I
am a clerk in the inland Post-office. On the evening
of the Ist inst. I made up the bags dispatch to Ply-
mouth. Amongst the letters placed in the bag were
two registered letters, produced by Gibbons. One
was addressed to Mr. J. A. Page, 17, George-street,
Plymouth, and the other:to Mr. Robert Morris, Bank
of England Branch, Plymouth.
Cross-examined—l have a distinct recollection of
having entered those letters on the slips now produced,
which is my own writing.
Re-examined—These letters were inclosed in the
usual green letter-covers, addressed to the Postmaster
at Plymouth. Both bear the inland office date stamp
of that evening. A bill accompanies each letter,
on which the letter is entered. The bills now pro•
duced are those sent by me with those letters in the
bag. The several letters were tied in bundles, and
the registered letters were tied on the outside. I re-
ceived the Tavistock bag that night from Mr. Fisher,
and after inclosing the Plymouth letters in the Ply-
mouth bag, I put into it the Tavistock bag, and the
Plymouth bag was then tied up. I sealed it, and the
bag was taken to the door and given to the mail
guard, who was in waiting to receive it. There are
several other letters not registered, produced by
Gibbons, addressed to Plymouth, which all bear the
inland office date stamp of the Ist of January; and
they would in regular course have been conveyed in
the mail bag of that night to Plymouth. C. Holder,
Esq., Manadon, near Plymouth ; Miss D. Cannon,
Horribridge, near Plymouth ; Mr. H. W. Snell, 5,
Octagon, Plymouth ; Captain Milman, of the Sir
George Seymour, care of J. B. Wilcox, Esq., Ply-
mouth ; Mr. John Tregoe, Devon and Cornwall
Bank, Plymouth ; Mr. Wallace, 25, Park-street,
Plymouth, are the addresses upon those letters. I
made up and dispatched, also, on that evening, the
Devonport mail bags. Amongst the letters pro-
duced by Gibbons are two bearing the inland
office date mark of that evening; one to Mr. Gran-
ville, jeweller, 48, Fore-street, Devonport ; the other
to Mr. W. C. Cox, 89, Fore-street, Devonport, and
they were forwarded in due course in the mail bag to
Plymouth.
Leman Barrett, of No. 1, Mary-place, Stoke
Damerel, said—l am a mail guard employed by the
Post-office. I was the guard of the night down mail
train from London to Devonport of the Ist of
January. On that evening I received at the General
Post-office the mail bags and sacks to be conveyed by
the Great Western Railway. Amongst these were
the Truro and Penzance sack, the London and Ply-
mouth bag, and the London and Devonport bag. I
accompanied these bags in the Post-office accelerator
to the railway station at Paddington. The bags were
then taken out and placed in the Post-office tender,
and I rode in the tender with those bags to the rail-
way station at Bristol. On the way, between Chip-
penham and Bath, I arranged the bags. The Ply-
mouth and Devonport bags I laid on the right hand
side of the carriage ; the Truro and Penzance sack
atwas t
el
na i dm
nnutthe es
pastleft of
one,th adnodo
therel lVe reached
took
tßristol
three
bags for Bristol, and put in the Taunton and
Exeter bags. I then got out of the tender
and
locked the door, leaving the bags in the situation in
which T had placed them ; they were then in the same
state as they were when I received them in London.
I then went into the travelling post-office. The
%rain remained at Bristol from, four to six aunlites