The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-29 00:00:00

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, 0cT.28.

IN THE MATTER OF WILLIAM MARMAN BROWN.

The bankrupt carried on an extensive business as an
American merchant, in Skinner's-place, Size-lane. His
liabilities amounted to 23,000/. and his assets were
estimated at about 3,400/.
He appeared to pass his final examination before Mr.
COMMISSIONER EVANS, who, upon looking over his
balance sheet, expressed his opinion that many of the
items required further explanation, and ho should there-
fore adjourn the examination until the 2d of December,
when the bankrupt in the mean time should cause it to
be amended.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO USE.

A well-dressed man, named Thomas Williams, was
brought before the LORD MAYOR, charged with having
stolen a silver table-spoon, in the house of Mr. Simpson,
the proprietor of the Three Tuns Tavern, Billingsgate.
The complainant said that the prisoner walked into
the dining-room, saying that he wanted to look for a
friend, and, going over to the sideboard, whipped up
a tablespoon, and slipped it into his pocket. One of
the gentlemen at the table asked him what he bad
got, to which he replied, nothing ; but upon being
pressed he delivered up the spoon, and pleaded po-
verty. Witness did not wish, if the man spoke the
truth, to prosecute.
The prisoner declared that he had never done a dis-
honest act before, and that extreme distress drove him
to the offence.

The Loan MAYOR— What are you ? Prisoner—l
am a sheriff officer's man, but have had little work to do
of late. I hope for better times though, and believe
that I shall have plenty to do next month when our
labours begin.
The LORD Mnyoß—Then you expect to be em-
ployed in the law ? Prisoner-1 es, my Lord, no doubt
of it.

The LORD MAYOR—You would be a very nice man
to put in possession of the house of a poor man, whose
property would in his distress be at your mercy.
Prisoner—l never did anything bad before in my life-
The LORD MAYOR-4 must make inquiry about you
before we part. If I find that you have been at this
work before, you shall be prosecuted. You are, at all
events, a most improper person to place in care of pro-
perty of any kind.
The prisoner was remanded for a week.
A man, named George Davis, who has been known
about the streets as a cad, was charged with having as-
sisted another person in a robbery.
Evans, the active beadle of Candlewick ward, stated
that he observed, as he was going round his district, a
man going towards Sherburne-lane with a chest of tea,
which he carried in a peculiar way, that induced witness
to suspect that it was obtained unceremoniously. Wit-
ness followed the awkward porter, and the prisoner, who
walked behind, observing that all was not right, gave a
whistle, whereupon the fellow who had the chest threw
it down, and ran of. Witness then called to an officer,
who was near, to watch the chest, and took hold of the
prisoner, through whose means the thief escaped. The
chest of tea proved to be the property of a tea-dealer in
Martin's lane, who identified it.
The prisoner said that he was not aware that he
whistled, but if he whistled, it was not to give anybody
notice, but because he was in the habit, like other
people, of whistling as he walked along the street.
Evans said there was no doubt of the object of the
whistle. The prisoner had, he. added, been seen about
Martin's-lane just before the chest was stolen.
The prisoner was remanded.

A lad named George Hyde Hanbly, was charged
by the solicitor to the Excise with having had in his pos-
session a quantity of silk and cotton gloves and mittens,
of foreign manufacture, on board the City of Boulogne
steam-vessel, and with having denied the fact.
An Excise officer stated that upwards of 200 persons
came over in the above-named vessel from Boulogne,
and landed at Fresh Wharf. Witness suspecting from
the bulky appearance of the defendant that he had some
contraband goods about him, asked him whether he was
in possession of any, to which he replied in the nega-
tive. Witness then proceeded to search him, and found
upon him some cotton mits. He then desired the lad
to stand aside until the other passengers should pass
out, and soon after returned to him, and found in his
possession a handkerchief containing silk gloves.
The defendant said that the cotton mits were his
certainly, and he thought there was no barm in having
an article of the kind which was of no value. As for
the silk gloves in the handkerchief, while he was stand-
ing aside in the steam-vessel by the direction of the
officer, a person asked him to take care of the hand-
kerchief, and he took charge of it without knowing any
thing of its contents.
The Loan MAYOR and Sir J. COWAN said that
they did not think the evidence, as to the valuable part
of the seizure, was sufficient to justify them in convict-
ing the defendant, as regarded that part.
The Solicitor did not press for a conviction for the
whole. The value, he said, of the cotton mitts was
seven shillings and three-pence.
The Magistrate then convicted the defendant in the
penalty of twenty-one shillings and nine-pence, being
three times the amount of the value of the property he
smuggled. The silk gloves were, of course, condemned
with the other property.
The father of the defendant, on paying the penalty,
said that his boy had, for the first time, gone over the
water, and never had any notion of contraband dealing.
Sir JOHN COWAN—He could have got as good arti-
cles as these in London for less money than he paid at
Boulogne, and advised him not to go so far again for a
bargain.
It is certain that ten times more contraband traffic is
now carried on than used to exist, and that hundreds of
smugglers arrive in steamers daily. The ladies are
particularly clever at this work.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE IR-

WELL.-SEVEN MEN DROWNED.

It is our melancholy and painful duty to record the
most extensively fatal accident that has occurred on the
river Irwell, at least in the neighbourhood of this town,
since twelve workmen were drowned while crossing the
river in a boat, during the erection of the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway Bridge, in April, 1830.
The circumstances preceding and accompanying this
melancholy catastrophe, are the following :
The Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company (the
Old Quay Company), as our Manchester readers are
aware, have had a number of men employed for some
few weeks past in deepening the navigation of the
river from the New Bailey Bridge to Hunt's Bank.
The earth, stones, and gravel got up by excavation
and dredging, were removed in an ice-boat belonging
to the Company—a square-sided boat about thirty feet
in length and fifteen feet in width, very shallow, being
not more than about two feet from the gunwale to the
bottom. This boat, laden with gravel, &c., had
drifted on Monday evening last from the place where
the excavations were progressing to Throstle Nest,
about two miles lower down the river, where there is a
weir, near the paper manufactory of Messrs. Smith and
In le. The captain of one of the trading fiats on the
river, on seeing this, proceeded with several labourers
to lighten the boat by throwing out the earth and
gravel. The ice-boat thus becoming light, and there
being a flood in the river in consequence of the rains,
the current dragged her onwards with so much force,
that the rope, by which the flat was attached to a tree,
broke ; and, of course, the ice-boat began her down-
ward course over the weir. There were then upon
this boat, including Captain Clare, nine men, seven
of whom attempted to save themselves by jump-
ing into a small boat by which they had
been conveyed on board the ice-boat. Five of the
seven succeeded in getting into the boat ; but the
other two, in their haste and confusion, fell
ihto the river, and were, we believe, immediately
swept over the weir and drowned. The five men in
the small boat were also hurried over the weir ; the
boat was capsized, and all the men were drowned. Two
men remained on board the ice-boat, having failed
getting into the small boat in time ; they were carried
over the weir, but very fortunately the now lightened
boat came up and again righted, below the weir, and
they, having clung fast to her, were saved. The alarm
and dismay that the shocking event caused spread ra-
pidly through the neighbourhood, and every effort was
made to recover the bodies without delay ; but we un-
derstand that some time elapsed before any of them
were taken "out of the water ; and up to last evening,
we are informed, only four had been found. The)
were got out of the water about two hours after the se-
cident, and were conveyed to the Britannia public' Ouse,
OrdsaMane, Salford, where they are now lying, and will
rem "tin until the Coroner's inquest has been held.
All the unfortunate men were in the service of the
Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company ; all of them,
with the exception of Captain Clare, were " navigators"
or excavators ; and al of them have left widows and
one or more elaildren, save one man, a widowen who has
left three orphans ; another has left a widow and eight
children ; a third, a widow and seven children.—Man-
Chester Guardian.

SHIPPING IhTELLIGENCE.

(LLOYD'S.)

VESSEL% SPOKEN !VIVA. —The Carleton, of Aberdeen,
and Helen, from Liverpool, both for Quebec, 26th ult.,
lat. 46, lon. 17; Raisborough, Quebec to Leith, 19th inst.
lon 16, by the Wilsons, SiouP, arrived at Liverpool.
John and William, Chili to Swansea. Bth inst., lat. 38,
lon. Si 3 ; Morgiana, Miramichi to Belfast, 20th, lat. 48,
lon. 16 ; Christiana, Quebec to London, 21st, by the Per-
sian, Edington, arrived at Liverpool. Lady Bute (out
73 days) and Magistrate, Bombay Londo, But Auk.
lat, 36, lon. 22 E., by Kr spay Caithness, arrived at
the Cape of Good Hope. Rival, Liverpool to Maranbarn,
20th inst., lat. 46, lon. 10, by the Law, Ogilby, arrived
at Liverpl, Dykes, from Maryport, Doris, from Lon_
don, and Recovery from Sligo, all for Quebec, sth inst.
off the Bird Islands. Ant, London to Miramichi, 7th, off
Cape North, by the Mary Muir, Paine, arrived at Liverpool.