The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-03 00:00:00

OLD BAILI,Y, JULY 2.

John Bowman was brought to the bar, indicted
for stealing in the dwelling-house of John Wat-
kins,. a bank-note, value 2/. the property of.
Samuel Smith:
The Bank note, which had a particular indorse-
ment upon it, was found disposed in the crown
of the prisoner's hat, where he was at work in
the employment of Smith.
The prosecutor recognised the note immeAlate-
ly by this .mark; and a servant-girl proved that
she had deposited the same in a drawer pertaining
to Mr. sinith.
The,prisoner-in his defence, asserted that the
note had conics, he believed, accidentally into his
hat, for he always kept this part of his dress ly-
ing an inverted position below the bench where
he followed. his Occupation: of a painter at. He
asserted that the prosecutor had subpoenaed him
to dive evidence in AVeltnilis'ter hall, in a cause
whercha he appeared as a party, and delivered
him in writing what he was expected to say as
evidence.

Justice GIBBS cautioned the prisoner against
indulging himself in observations which he was

not prepared to substantiate by evidence.
The prisoner said he could prove the whole, but
he required first co he acquainted with the Attor-
ney of t e prosecutor before that he could pro-.
ceed to ihat part of his defence.
. A number of persons were called to character,
who did not pretend to give the prisoner a cha-
racter particular for its excellence.
fustice GIBBS, in narrating tl..e evidence to the
Jury, particularly pointed out the clearness of the
guilt of the prisoner. . The note had a:particular
mark known to Smith. Ile 'delivered it to Ann
Robinson to giveto her Mistress. She deposited
it in a drawer. It was discovered to have been
taken from the drawer, and after some search, it
was found secretedin the crown of the prismer's
hat, who immediately exclaimed to the Officer,
" You have put it there:" The circumstances of
guilt were clear.

The Jury vrere.desirous to know, whether the
note Was a good Bank-note or not.

Justice GIBBS said, it became the prisoner's
Counsel to prove that the note was a bad one,
at present its authenticity stood unimpeaohed.
The Jury,. after considerable hesitation, pro-
nounced the prisoner—Guilty.

Ann Tewkey and Margaret IV' Ginnifstood in-
dicted for, stealing a piece of' cambric, the pro-
perty of William Prosser, privately in his shop.
The prosecutor was standing behindilis counter,
and the-prisbners came in and desired tO look at,
some trimming. Several pieces.of cloth were:
lying upon the table, and the piece of cambric
amongst them. He happened to hear.the rust-
ling of 'cambric, and tinning about, ulscovered
that the piece of cambric was wanting. He
challenged the prisoner concerning it, and imme-
diately he found the piece dropped upon, the floor
beside them.

Five respectable-looking persons bestowed a
character of some value upon Ann Tewkey2
The Jury found a verdict of :acquittal to Tec% key,
and foimd M'Ginnis Guilty of stealing, but not
privately.
Martha Hodgson and Sophia. Giles stood indict-
ed, on suspicion of having stolen a silver-watch,
with gold seals, a shawl, and, other property, be-
longing to Mary O'Conncir.
The ,proseeutrix kept a Lodging-house, in, ,So-
mers7street, and Martha Hodgson rented one .of
her rooms : during the period of her continuance
there, Giles was in the habit of visiting her, com-
panion. The prosecutrix, froth time to time, lost
several articles of wearing apparel, and at last
she missed_, hei watch from a trunk wherein it
was deposited.

,
The officer who took the prisoners into custody
searched them, and found a handkerchief, a pair
of stockings, &c.
.to the prosecutrix,
in, the custody of Giles.

One 'of the Risoners said, that Mary O'Connor
canie home intoxicated at time that she was
accused. The. husband of the woman was,.ac-
cording" to her own confession, transported for
issuing- bad notes.

The prosecutrix denied all this; and asserted,
'that her lodger had filled her hands with wet
linen,. which belonged to her.baby, and which she
took from her.

Justice GIBBS ,desired the Jury to forget all that
,had been urged by the prisonerS, because they
brought a violent impeachment against their pro-'
secutriX, totally unsupported by' any evidence
whatever." Respecting the identity of the pro,
perty, one of the handkerchiefs had a very, parti-
cular stain upon, it, which caused it
.to be ree6g-
nized by the prosecarix. 'NO evidence whatever

had- been offered, to substantiate the charge of
stealing the watch.
The Jury acquitted the prisoners.

.„. ,
One of theit offered to s 4 ,in
her vindication, when she was stopped by Jus-
tice GIBBS, who said that she had great gobd for-
tune in the present prosecution, and perhaps they
owed their delivery to the circumstances of not
being permitted to say thing further in their own
defence. •

Lydia Spencer stood hidieted for having stolen
a pair of sheets privately from the dwelling house
of Ann Crosse..

The prosecutrix resided in the neighbourhood
of Queen-street,:.and laid out a pair of.sheets for
the purpose of putting them upon her bed, and
happening to go into another room, discover-
ed on her return that the sheets were carried
Off : she ran to the door and saw the prisoner
running away, with a sheet hanging out below
ker coat ; she hallooed after her, and., a boy en 7
deavouring to stop her, caused lief to cast the
sheets from her. , They were marked by her• own
hand.. She bad no doubt of their being her's.
They were worth about 10s.
The Jury refurued a verdict of—Guilty. •

Thomas Ransom was put to the BAr, his judg-
ment having been respitcd at the la ,t Session for
the opinion; 01 the Ridges, for secreting a letter
containing certain'promissory notes, and inform-
ed by )Nlr. Justice LE,I3O.D:c that his conviction
was good.

HATTON-GARDE?:i.-Yesterday a number of re-
tail' -:vicinity of St. Andrew,
Holborn, and St. George the Marty,r,._attended at
this,Offie, being suminoned at the instance of tlic
Gentleman of the Court Leet Jtiry of those dis-
-tricts, ~who stated, thatigoing their rounds to in-
spect the -weights and measures of the different
shops, they had seized several, being deficient in
weight, and scales of an unequal balance. The;
several charges exhibited against theia being JintAe
out, they Ive,v convicted in the penalty accord-,
ing to Act of. Parliament, and the scales and mea-:
sures, by order of the Magistrates; were broken."

It has been decided by the Crown Lawyers,
that volunteers from the Militia to the regular
Army,:who have been, in the first instance, at-
tested for' imited service, or seven years, cannot
legally be permitted to be again attested for mill-
mite&service, or far life, until the first period is
completed.

PUGlLlSM.—Yesterday morning a pitched bat=
tie was fought behind the London Hospital, be-
t Ween a sawyer, of the name of Hasiam, and Joe
Lumley, *a sail-maker, both of Shadwell, for 5/.
a side; they met in the field, a few minutes be-
fore five o'clock, with their seconds, and a ring
being formed, they set to,. both being young and
athletic men, with courage and apparent resolu-
tion—exchanging severe, and knock--down blows:
The contest which lasted one hour and ten mi-
nutes, real bard fighting, terminated in favour of
the. farmer, nis antagonist being so weak and ex-
hausted, as not to be able to stand ; they were
both so much beaten as to be taken home by their
respective friends. A great many bets were de-
pending upon the issue.

FAIRLOP FAIR.-This day,. according to annual
custom, the Block and ,Pump-Hankers iil Wap-
ping- proceeded from Wapping Old Stairs, in two
bdatS, fixed to coach carriages, drawn by horses,
with .awnings, streamers, and bands of music, to
Fairlop Fair, - in Hainanit ',Forest, Essex, and
made procession round the great Oak, said to be
upwards of WOO years old, whose venerable
branches shade -two acres of land. This Fair is
kept in commemoration of Mr. Daniel Day, a,
Block-maker, in Wapping, who annually used to
visit the Oak, with a select.party of friends, and
dine under the spreading branches ; and since his
death, which happened in 1707, in the 84th year
of his age, the•Fair•is kept annually, though with-
out charter.

Potatoes.—The Potatoe plant possesses two
modes of securing its reproduCtion, the one by
producing tuberous roots, the other by the gene-
ral mode of flowers and seed siessels.' It has
been ascertained, by the ingenious President of the
Hortitultural Society,-Mr. Andrew Knight,. that
the plant employs the same fluid in both these
operations; and by preventing the Consumption
of it in either one of these, it will be made to act
more strongly in'the other. Upon this principle,
if a potatoe plant is carefully deprived of its tubers
'as soon as they are formed, it will be made infi-
nitely more productive af blossoms and seeds. On
the, other hand. if its • blossoms are constatly
picked off, and it is prevented from forming any,
seed at all, all the fluid which would have been
employed in that operation, will be exerted in
twining an increased crop of tubers. It is true,
that men who have to attend to the management
of hundreds of acres, will hardly condescend to
think of potatoes blossoms : but there axe thous-
ands of cottagiers, whose scanty pittance may be
increased by the simple expedient of employing
their children in preventing a potatoe crop from
ever forming d seed vessel.

Last Wednesday, a male martin was taken alive
from a-vermin-trap, in the Hammer-pond Wood,
Waresfield, by a man who, on Saturday, exhibit-
ed it, as a show in Lewes, The Martin, which is
of the weasel tri'.)e, may be styled-the most beau-
tiful of all British beasts or prey. Its head is
small, and beautifully formed; its eyes are lively;
its ears are broad/ rounded, and -open ; its back,
its sides, and tail, are covered 'with a fine
downy fur, with longer hair intermixed,; the
roots of fin ash-colour ; the middle, of a bright
cheSnut, and the points black ; the head is
brown, with a slight cast of red; the •legs and
feet a chocolate Colour, and the. throat and breast
Gesuer tells us, that lie once kept a tame
Martin, which was very pretty and 'playful; it
went about the houses of the neighbourhood, and
always-returned home when hungry,
. Tuesday afternoon, .foui men made their escape
from the impress tender, lying in Greenock Roads,
and got: clear off. Some shots were fired at• them
from the tender ; one of the balls entered a house,
and shivered a silver spoon to pieces:. A female
servant, who was standing 'in the kitchen at the
time, narrowly escaped.