The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-19 00:00:00

QUEEN-SQUARE.

James Bergeman, an elderly man, was charged with
stealing three branches of trees.

During the hurricane of Sunday night several of the
small branches of the trees in Hyde Park were torn off
by the violence of the gale. Yesterday morning the pri-
soner, with others, passing through the Park, picked
up three branches, and being met with them by a police-
man was taken into custody.
llenbury, a kind of Deputy-Ranger of the Park, said
the boughs were the property of the Commissioners of
Woods and Forests, and the public had no right to them.
Mr. GREGORIE said the offence was clearly of a pu-
nishable nature, whatever the defendant might think to
the contrary, and he should fine him 103., or in default
commit him for seven days.
The defendant said he had no money and must go to
prison. He was then removed.
CROYDON POLICE.

ENCROACII3IENTS BY RAILWAYS ON PUBLIC HIGH-
WAYS.-ofie of the Superintendents of the London and
Brighton Railway attended before Messrs. Sutherland,
Warrington, and Adams, the presiding Magistrates, for
the purpose of making an application, on behalf of the
Directors of that Company, to stop up one of the public
footpaths in the parish of Croydon.
The Superintendent stated that he was instructed to
apply to the Magistrates for their sanction to stop up al-
together what had heretofore been a public footpath of
the parish of Croydon. but which was at present crossed
by the railway. Persons who used the footpath were
now obliged to go across the rails, and the Directors
feeling that this might lead to some accident, were de-
sirous that the footpath, which was of very little con-
venience to the public, should be altogether stopped.
Mr. ADAMS expressed his opinion that the application
was of rather an extraordinary character. lie did not
know what right the Railway Company had to lay their
roils across an acknowledged public footpath, and when
they found the inconvenience of the proceeding, that
they were to apply to the Magistrates to shut out the
public from the use of the footpath altogether. If they
had acted legally, and in accordance with their own Act
of Parliament, they should have built an arch over the
footpath, and carried their railway across it.
The Superintendent said that there were two arch-
ways within a very short distance of the footpath in ques-
tion, under which the public might pass without having
occasion to go over the railway. The only object of the
Directors was to prevent accidents.
Mr. ADAMS said, that if they wished to avoid acci-
dents, they should have done in the first instance what
their own Act of Parliament directed, which was, to
make an archway for the free passage of the public,
under their railway. He did not see what right any set
of speculators for their own interest, for in such a light
railroad proprietors must be looked upon, had to carry on
their line, just where they pleased, without caring at all
for the rights of the public, and when they found that
accidents were likely to ensue, that they were to exclude
the public from their rights.
The Superintendent said there were archways at a
very short distance, under which the public might pass.
Mr. WARRINGTON said he did not consider that this at
ail altered the question. Why were railway proprietors
to act in this arbitrary manner ? The fact was, how-
ever, that they presumed upon their power and their
wealth, and did really just what they pleased, because
they well knew that no individual could attempt to
go to law with a powerful body. In this case the Com-
pany had thought proper, without any notice, to carry
their railway across a public footpath, and having done
this, when the public found the inconvenience, they now
sought to shut them out from the use of it altogether.
The other Magistrates concurred in the view taken of
the matter by Mr. Warrington, and the application was
unanimously refused.