The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-03 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

(OLD COURT.)
(Before Mr. Justice WILLIAMS.)
John Burton, aged 28, was indicted for feloniously assaulting
Amelia Broad, on Tuesday evening, the 2nd of February last,
with intent to rob her.

Amelia Broad, the prosecutrix, stated that she was a servant
in the family of Mr. tiodfrey, of Hanwell. On Tuesday evening
Feb. 2, as she was going along the church path of Hanwel!, she
saw a man standing by the Old House. She saw him again as
she passed the archway of the railroad. He adotessed her, and
said it was a " snowy night." She said " Yes," and walked
on, until she got to the swing gate in the churchyard. He
then seized on her, and prevented her from proceeding, saying,
" Would you like a good rolling in the snow, my-dear?" She did
not speak, as she was very much frightened. He continued
to follow her, and soon said, " Have you not got any money
to give a poor fellow to get him a night's lodging ?'' She then
put her hand upon her pocket, upon which he took hold of her
with one hand, and felt her all round with the other. She
struggled with him, and hurt her arm in so doing. He sw o-e
at her very much, and gave her a blow with a sharp instru-
ment. She never saw the prisoner before that night ; but she
had no doubt of his identity.
By the JUDGE—She had some silver at the time in her
pocket. She had been sent with it to the village. the pri-
soner went away without taking anything from her.
B W. Matthews, a police constable, stated that he had
examined the pathway on the night in question, near the gate
of the Church, and perceived from the foot-marks that there
must have been a struggle there between two persons. He
could relay the traces that one was a man and the other a
woman.

William Stebbings, another constable, confirmed the testi-
mony of the preceding witness. He stated, in addition, that
he had taken his boot from the prisoner, and that it corre-
sponded with the foot-marks of the man where the struggle
had taken place. He had received from the prosecutrix a de-
scription of the person who had attacked her.

it was attempted to be shown for the defence that the
prisoner could not have been the author of the as-
sault, inasmuch as he had spent the evening of the
2d of February last at a public-house, while he was,
at the time, in a very delicate state of health. Of the
four witnesses who came forwa-d to prove the alibi, two had been
formerly convicted t.f offences, and had suffered a l eriod of im-
prisonment. Another of the witnesses was a brother-in-law of
the prisoner, but it appeared, from the evidence of a pol.ceman,
that he hal formerly stated that the prisoner hid been at home
during the entire of the evening in question. The fourth wit-
ness was a person whose character was unknown.
J,stice WILLIAMS having summed up the evidence,
The Jury,- after a few minutes' deliberation, found the pri-
soner " Not guilty."
In the•course of the day William Norris, the individual who
stands indi,•ted for having committed perjury in the late
election for Bridge-master, in the City of London,lwas placed at
the bar.

Mr. GURNEY, addressing the Court, said he appeared on
behalf of the City of London to prosecute the defendant, but
in consequence of circumstances that had occurred, he was in-
structed to apply that the defendant might be allowed to go at
large upon his own recognizance to appear in case he should
be called upon to take his. trial. The reason for this course
being taken was, that the prosecutor believed that the de-
fendant was to some extent an innocent agent in the hands of
others. He had already given important information, and they
had reasons to believe that if the proposed course was adopted,
the more guilty parties would be brought to justice.
The COURT granted the application, and the defendant en-
tered into his recognizance, and was discharged from custody.
THE CASE OF THE DRYAD.—The Grand Jury in the early
part of the day returned true bills against Michael Shaw
Stewart Wallace, and Pa.riek Michael Stewart Wallace, for
the felonious destruction of the Dryad.
The trial will come on this day at ten o'clock, and it is ex-
pected to last three days.
POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSIOIV..HOUSE.
THE FALLEN HOUSES IN FLKET-STREET.—Several gen-
tlemen cf the Inquest of St. Bride's palish waited on the
Lord Mayor with the following presentment :—" We, the
Inquest of the Pa: iah of St. Bride, do present to your
Lordship that we have carefully examined the ruins of the
two houses on the north side of Fleet-street, latelyoccu-
pied by Mr. Bundy and Mr. Dobson, which fell down on
Saturday night, and as to which a presentment was yester-
day made by the Foreman of the Inquest to your Lordsliip,
and that the ruins in the back parts "Le premises are in
imminent danger of falling down, and there is every ground
to believe that if they were to fall, they would drag part cf
the adjoining premises, lately occupied by Mr. Simms,
with them, and great loss of life would probably ensue;
and we make this presentment to your Lordship, unier
conviction that the public safety will not admit of the pul'-
g dawn of the said ruins being delayed until the meetlng
of the next Court of Aldermen, but require your Lord-
ship's authority to be immediately exercised in ordering
them to be pulled down ; and we 'present to your Lord-
ship that the said ruins are in danger of falling, and pas-
sengers thereby arc in danger of their l:ves or limbs by
the falling thereof, or of the bricks, tiles, or timbers,
therefrom,"
The presentment, which was signed by fifteen inquest-
tree, was handed to Mr. Montague, the City Surveyor, by
the Lord Mayor.
The City Surveyor said that the Lord Mayor probably
was aware that there existed no authority under the Act of
Parliament for his Lordship's interference, except as re-
garded the conservancy of the public safety. The gen-
tlemen of the inquest had acted with proper zeal and acti-
vity pn the occasion, but they asked for what it would be
illegal on his Lordship to grant without the sanction of the
Court of Aldermen. The City Surveyor certainly was
not just fled in interfering with Mr. Simms's premise?.
The gentlemen of the inquest said what they asked for
was not that Mr. Simms's premises should be interfered
with, but that the ruins which endangered the, security of
these and' other premises should be pulled down.
Mr. Montague said that the owner of the ruins was
under an obl g tion to remove them.
The Gcntien ea of the Ins:Fest said that a difficulty
stood in the way. A fire bad Woken out a short time ego
in the back pelt of Mr. Bundy's premises; and Mr. Dot-
son's pren.i es, they believed, belonged to the Bishop of Pe-
t( rbcnough, and a e e in Chancery, su that the confusion
wAs icArcely possible to be overcome. Now the
ruins of Dobson'a heuse were the cause of the ex-
isting danger, They were most anxious that they
shoal l not he misapprehended in thiir object, particularly
as there seemed to be some vs gue reports that there were
b. dies under the ruins. There existed a n oral certainty
that such was not the case, but a report had got abroad,
and they nere eager net only t tour teract any fuller
hazard, but to convince the public that there was no
ground for the suspicion.
Tie LORD MAYOR—I recollect hasi,g seized the reins
of a horse on London Bridge to save a man whose lire
a; peared to me to be in dang r. I hazarded, and was
near being knocked down for my interference, but. I was
resolved to run the hazard in consideration cf the g cod
;t would produce. I should, if I was connected with the
parish, act upon my own responsibdity and prevent dagger
to the public, without looking to th; consequences to m}-
self, which I should leave to the direction of a greater
power._

His LORDSHIP then said, that I,e should order a Court of
Aldermen to t e summoned for Thursday next at the Old
Bailey, to suit the accommoda ion of the members, who
should be obliged to bo in attendance at the Ccbtral
Ginainal Court.

Mr. Wood, the publisher ( f the Weehly Dispatch
Newspaper, then mentioned that lie had some observations
to make with respect to the conduct ef the City Surveyor.
He (Mr. Wood) was a l'ep when the houses fell, and as
his office was next door to these house,, he eonsi ii red that
be owed hi 3 safety to the piirty-wall which had bi.ee built,
upon the advice of Mr—Elrnee, the Surveyor of the Port
of London. Having felt a natural anxiety upon the sub-
ject, be applied to the City Surveyor, who, he Lelieved,
received a very largo amount of pay for the performance
of his official dut:e,, to walk up-stairs and examine the
premises, to ascertain whether any danger was to he ap-
prehended. The answer he received, howevev, wa , that
if the City Surveyor were sent for officially to examine the
house he should attend, and he then asked fur a bruia to
remove the dust from his clothes. Now, it would be very
desirable to be informed whether an officer of the City,
whose duty it was to look particularly after old buildi 'ge,
was justified, under the circumstances with which every
body was acquainted, in refusing to satisfy the minds of
those who were employed in the very next premises ? Ho
did not himself pretend to be acquaitt.d with the duties
of tha City Surveyor, but was convinced that the Lord
Mayor would not consider it too much in him to request to
be informed.
The LORD MAYOR having referred to Mr. Montague
for an answer,
The City Surveyor said he did not mean to deny any
part of the statement of. Mr. Wood, but he wished it to be
understood that he did not hold any situation which obliged
him to go over premises under such circumstances. He
found, upon going to the premises, that they belonged to
Mr. Harmer, who had been an Alderman, and that another
surveyor had hi en employed there. He could not think
therefore of doing as was requested.
Mr. Wood said thst Mr. Montague was not only the
City Surveyor, for the performance of the duties of which
he was paid eery largely, but he was also District Sur-
veyor of. the very portion of the City in hich the two
houses fell, a fact not calcul ted to diminish the obligat'on
upon him to do as was required of him.
The Gentlemen of the Inquest said that they had ex-
amined the Dispatch premise,, and fuund not the slightest
crack in them.
Mr. Wood observed that lie wanted the opinion of a
professional man, and not of an inquest, whe, in all pro-
bability, knew nothing at all about the matter. He re-
peated, that the subject was one of great importance, and
that he was not disposed to let it drop upon so unsatisfac-
tory a definition of the office as the City Surveyor himself
bad given.
Sir PETER LAURIE (who sat with the Lord Mayor dur-
ing the latter part of the discussion) said that if Mr. Wood appeared at the bar of the Court of Aldermen with
any complaint against the City Surveyor, proper attention,
should certainly he paid to it,

The Court will be held at tile Central Criminal Court,
at txelve fur one o'clock on Thursday, upon the above
suTct, to the exclusion of all others.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENC.C.

(LLOYD'S.)

LONDON, MARCH 2.—Wind this day at noon, S. S.W.
DEAL, MARCH I..—Wind S.W.—Arrived from the River
and sailed Claudine, Brown, for Madras ; Maria, Collings,
Terceira.

PORTSMOUTH, MARCH L—Wind S.S.E.—Arrived. St.
James, Sibor, from London, for New York ; Betsey, Lloyd, Li-
merick. The 131 ince Albert, Eliot, from shields to Alex-
andria, which put in here yesterday leaky, will be lightened
for further inspection.
YARMOUTH, act' I.—Arrived the Catherine, from Caen.
WzvENnisis, •MAsicti I.—The Augusta, Johnstone, from
London. to Newcastle, got on the Middle Sand 26th ult., but
was assisted off, and proceeded.
IaVERrOOL. MARCH 1 —Wind variable and light.--Arrived
the Alice, Anwyl, from Barbadoes, after striking on Black,-
water Bank, but makin4 very little water; General iltshire,
Wilson, Bathurst; Hero, Giant, Bonny. Sailed the Rapid,
Smith, for Demerara; Stephen Baldwin, Glidden, Philadel-
phia; Peru, liumley,Africa ; Orwell, Greyburn, Aden. The
Hero, Grant, arrived here from Bonny, was struck by a sea
during a gale on the 13th ult., off Flores, which carried away
bulwarks, stancheons, &c., and washed one man overboard.
On the 23d, off Kinsale, passed a pipe of brandy, a beam, and
part of the bulwarks of a vessel, supposed to be about 120 tons.

THE MARKF.,TS-YESTERDAY.

COLONIAL MARKET.

The amount of business by private treaty was on a small
scale, and the public sales went off without spirit, but prices
underwent little variation. The imports were to a fair extent
from most parts.