The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-09 00:00:00

SERIOUS CHARGE,

At the Town Hall, Manchester, on Saturday, John
M`Ghie was charged with obtaining, under false pre-
tences, one hundred and twenty dozen pairs of stockings
and eighty doien pairs of seeks, from Daniel Nands last
March. The prisondr had, it Was alleged, falsely repre-
sented that he had had previous large transactions with
other firms in the town, by whic't he obtained the goods.
Prisoner was tried at the Manchester Sessions six months
ago on this and other charges, but he was acquitted. He
has made, it is said, similar transactions since that time
in Leicester, but nothing had been seen of him recently,
until Friday, when he visited that town, and was appre-
hended on the platform of the railway station as he was
about to leave for Manchester. The prisoner was re-
manded for a week.

EFFECTS OF THE THAW ON THE WEAR.
The sudden thaw has broken up the ice on the Wear.
The ice going away with great force, carried the following
vessels tl sea :—Pearl, of Montrose, Reindeer, of Scar-
borough, Corsair, of Shoreham, Belmont, steamship of
Sunderland, Cognac packet, of Harwich, French lugger
Jean, of Portsmouth, and the Dart, of Shoreham. The
Rockcliffe, of Sunderland, is on a rock opposite the dock
entrance. Many ships lying in the river are injured by
the vessels swept away from the coal drops.

TWO MEN DROWNED.
The grain ship New Dominion, from Prince Edward's
Island, having been wrecked during Friday night on the
Nash Sands, Bristol Channel, an attempt was made by
the crew to board her on Saturday. When close along-
side, however, she suddenly broke her back, capsizing a
boat and drowning Osborne, the mate, and Riley, one of
the seamen. The others were rescued by a tug.

BRISTOL SCHOOL BOARD.
It had been decided in order to avoid a contest
that the Liberal and Conservative organisations of
Bristol should each nominate seven persons to constitute
the School Board, leaving the fifteenth seat for Mr.
James Ford, the selected Roman Catholic candidate.
On Saturday, however, the Conservative working men
fixed upon two candidates, the Orangemen one, and the
schoolmasters one—so that there must be a contest.

At an adjourned meeting held in Liverpool on Satur-
day, under the liquidation of Messrs. Thomas Ridley and
Sons, of Liverpool and Newfoundland, it was decided to
accept an offer of 10s. in the pound, payable by instal-
ments ; this will realise about £BO,OOO.
An inquest was held on Friday, before Mr. Reedon;
the coroner foa Berkshire, on the body of a woman named
Hannah Smith, a criminal patient. Deceased was tried
at Stafford, in 1837, for the wilful murder of her son, but
was acquitted on the ground of insanity, In the year
1867 she was attacked with paralysis, which caused her to
keep to her bed until her death. Deceased was 75 years
of age. The jury returned a verdict of " Died of paralysis
and old age."

THE STOURBRIDGE RAIL WAY FRAUDS.
We believe the directors of the Stourbridge and Great
Western Railway Companies will issue £64 of rent-charge
stock, instead of the full £BO, in exchange for every ten
shares of the Stourbridge Railway Company which are
duly upon the register, the remaining £l6, being
reserved for the contingency of the holders of
false scrip proving their right to be placed in
a like position. As to the shareholders not
upon the register, actions at law to compel the
directors of the Stourbridge Company to do some of
them justice are now in progress, but are likely to be sus-
pended for about a fortnight, in order to give the directors
time to offer a compromise. There is a doubt whether
these shares ought to be on the register at all, but, if this
right does exist, there can be no doubt but that the
holders of the false certificates can claim damages. The
compromise will most likely take the shape of an offer
to purchase the scrip at some small discount from the
market value of the stock to which they claim to be
entitled. A meeting of shareholders will be again
called in the course of a few days, to receive, in a formal
manner, an offer from the directors.—Birminyh,anz
Gazette.

CRYSTAL PALAC E.—Halt-a-crown Day.—Satur-
day.L-The admissions by season tickets were 3,023';
du. on payment, 972; total visitors, 3,995.
Dr. Wright, Professor of Arabic, has been elected
a Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge.

The Rowan Catholic ladies of England, following
the example of the ladies of Rome, contemplate (under-
stands the Westminster Gazette) presenting an address of
sympathy to the Pope.

Two young gentlemen skated li.om Bath to Devizes
and back a day or two ago, doing the forty-five miles
upon the canal in less than nine hours, including some
time spent in refreshment.

The Town Council of Glasgow have resolved to
present an address of congratulation to her Majesty the
Queen on the occasion of the approaching marriage of the
Princess Louise to the Marquis of Lorne.
Mr. Butler Johnstone, M.P., is slowly recovering
from his recent illness, and will, as soon as the weather
enables him to travel, quit England for a few months'
sojourn in the East.

The marriage of Sir Alexander Robert Smythe
Muir Mackenzie, Bart., and Miss Moncreiffe, eldest un-
married daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Louisa
Moncreiffe, and sister of the Countess. of Dudley, is
arranged to take place in a few weeks in Scotland.
The Civil Service Gazette says that' Mr. Cardwell's
attention has recently been drawn by a memorandum
emanating from a high party in office, to the injustice
created by recent methods of enforcing reductions in
officers' claims for allowances,