The Sun.
London, England, 1847-08-17 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

Yesterday a number of persons were called upon to
surrender and take their trial for a misdemeanour in
keeping a gaming-house. Some of them did not answer,
but two or three of them surrendered and claimed to be
tried.

The prosecutor addressed the court, and said he was
not prepared with his witnesses, and he wished the trial
to be postponed.
The RECORDER asked him why he was not prepared.
He was the prosecutor, and it was his duty to have been
ready.
The prosecutor was about to make some further ob-
servations to the court, when
The RECORDER interrupted him, and said he must
make an affidavit, if he had any facts upon which he in•
tended to ground an application fur the postponement of
the trial. _

The prosecutor asked the Recorder whether he would
allow him till the next morning to prepare the affidavit?
The RECORDER said, certainly not. It should be made
at once. It was too much the practice for these indict-
ments against gambling-houses to he settled out of court,
and he should do all in his power to prevent it.
Alfred Evans and Joseph Price surrendered to answer
an indictment charging them with stealing a quantity of
coffee, tea, rice, and other articles of grocery, the pro-
perty of Peter Taylor.
Mr. Payne prosecuted. Mr. Ballantine defended
Evans, and Mr. Robinson the other prisoner. The cir-
cumstances of the case were of rather a singular
character.

The prosecutor stated that he carried on the business
of a grocer i❑ the Bethnal-green•road, and in April last,
being in difficulties, he was anxious to raise some money
by the sale of a portion of his stock, and he applied to
the prisoner Evans, who had formerly been his shopman,
to assist him in the sale, and upon his representing that
he had a brother in the trade, who would make the ptir-
bo.ac en L pjivo roa3J raornty for the, goods, he consented
to let him have property of the description mentioned in
the indictment, and which he said was worth 751. The
other prisoner, Price, brought a horse and cart, and he
and Evans went away with the goods, it being under-
stood that the value was to be forthcoming immediately.
He, however, could not get either money or goods, and
Evans subsequently represented that the property had
been placed in the hands of a person named Purday, who
had made away with it, and he met that person, by ap-
pointment,;with Evans, at a public-house, and Purday
then admitted that the goods had been placed in his
charge, and that he had made away with them, and upon
this Evans abused hint most violently, and threatened to
strike him. The prosecutor said, he afterwards ascer-
tained that this scene was all the result of a preconcerted
plan between the prisoner Evans and Purday, and that
the goods in point of fact never did go into the possession
of Purday, but had been appropriated by the prisoner
Evans to his own use.

inCross-examination the prosecutor admitted that, at
the time in question, he was almost on the verge of
bankruptcy, and that his object in disposing of the pro-
perty was to raise a sufficient sum to enable him to pay
his creditors a composition of ss. in the pound upon their
debts. He also said he was enabled to borrow 501. after-
wards for the same purpose ; but he admitted he had
not paid his creditors as he had suggested. He said he
had paid some of his larger creditors half-a-crown in
the pound as an instalment, and with regard to the
smaller creditors, he said, that if they did not like to
take what he chose to offer them, they might do as they
pleased.
John Purday, who stated himself to be a horse-jobber,
was the next witness. He said he was at Robinson's
Horse Repository in April last, when the prisoner Price
came to him, and asked him if he was inclined to earn a
expressing his willingness to do
o be
io ; au
d,
dulcdedohn his
him to the other prisoner. Evans then
sovereigns
told him that he wanted him to say that some goods had
been placed in his possession, and that he had made
away with them ; and it was arranged that he was to be
at the Grapes public-house, in the Kingsland-road, the
next morning, to meet the prosecutor. Upon Mr. Taylor
coming in, and the matter being mentioned, he said
what he had been requested by Evans, and Evans im-
mediately got up and called him very bad names and
threatened to strike him. Shortly after this Evans
came to him at another public-house, and told him that
he had well," and he afterwards gave him
a sovereign.
ae knew nothing about the trans-
r s sxa
"done
nm i t e
codiry
trans-
action, but he was told to say that he had made away
with the goods, and he did so.—(A laugh.)
The REcoanEu—You were hired to lie, and had a
sovereign for doing so.
In answer to a question put by Mr. BALLANTINE, the
witness said he had been convicted in this court of con-
spiracy, and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment.
John Payne, who also described himself as a horse-
jobber, said that be was in the public-house at the time
referred to by the last witness, and he gave a similar ac-
count of the scene that took place. He had 10s. for
" helping " in the business.
Cross• examined—He was aware that the story about
the goods being made away with was all a trick, but he
went with his friend Purday to help him, as he was no
scholar.—(A laugh.) Did not know what the 10s. were
given to him for, but supposed it was for helping Pur-
day. He did not know what he did, but he was ready
to help him if he had been wanted.—(Laughter.) He
knew that Purday was convicted of conspiracy, and had
been sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, but he had
been very good friends with him ever since.
This was the case for the prosecution.
Mr. BALLANTINE, for the prisoner Evans, urged that
it was clear it was the intention of the prosecutor, in the
first instance to cheat his creditors by disposing of the
property which they ought to have had to share
taomdoinsgpsotsethoefmin, ad that hweayinbtreusetoed uldth. e goods
With
rteogEarvdantos
the evidence of the witness Purday, he submitted that it
was impossible to believe the story he told, and that it
was more probable the goods 'really did get into his
possession, and that he improperly made away with them,
and thus prevented Evans from fulfilling his bargain with
the prosecutor.
The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a ver-
dict of Guilty against both prisoners.
Sentence was deferred.
Just as the Court was about to rise, Mr. CLARKSON
handed in an affidavit from! the prosecutor in the gamb-
ling-house indictment above referred to, and said that
the prosecutor stated in it that he had endeavoured to
serve subpoenas upon several persons whose names he
mentioned to attend and give evidence in support of the
indictment, but had been unable to do so, and, as he
could not proceed to trial without their testimony,
sheessprayed the Court to postpone the trial to the next

posed the application, and urged that there had not been
sufficient, reasons given for the postponement.,
who was instructed for the defence, op-
posed
he RECORDER after some deliberation, said he would
postpone the trial upon the condition that the prosecutor
should enter into a recognizance of 1001., the present
amount on which he was bound being only 40/., to pro-
secute the indictment with effect at the next session.
The prosecutor consented to this arrangement, and
the trial was therefore postponed, the defendants being
in the mean time adtni,ted to bail.

A meeting of Swiss sharpshooters lately took
place on the plain of Wyler, in the canton of Clorais.
Moro than 15,000 riflemen assembled to contend for the
prizes,