The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-08 00:00:00

LeiMBE77I.

some weeks ago Mr. Jo,eph Ellis and Mr. Martin
Body, both inhabitants of the parish of St. Mary,
Newington, had been summoned to this court at the
instance of the governors and guardians of that parish,
for permitting on their premises the accumulation of
offensive matter, which, according to the certificates
of two medical gentlemen, was prejudicial to the
health of the persons whose habitations were in the
-neighbourhood thereof, and the case having been
made out to the satisfaction of Mr. Elliott, the
sitting magistrate, he made an order for the removal
of the nuisance. On the 15th of the last month the
same parties were again summoned and called on to
show cause why the one, Mr. Ellis, should not have
an order made upon him for the payment of 241. Bs.
to the governors and guardians of the parish, and the
other, Mr. Body, for 21/. 15s. Bd., fur their costs and
expenses in the matter.
From what then transpired it appeared that the
parish authorities, instead of having the matter at-
tended to by their beadle, handed the cases over to
Mr. Gedge, their clerk and solicitor, and the conse-
quence was that that gentleman made out a regular
professional bill of items, which, in close lines, filled a
sheet of foolscap. The defendants objected to the
payment of such exorbitant sums, and one of them,
Mr. Body, declared that the moment he had found
that his dungheap was pronounced a nuisance, he, in
the presence of two of the trustees of the parish, re-
moved it, and so pleased were those persons with his
promptness in the matter, that they assured him he
should have nothing to pay.
Mr. ELLIOTT admitted that the refusal on the part
of the defendants to pay such extravagant bills was
perfectly reasonable and just; and he, as a magis-
trate,•could not think of compelling them. The cases,
he said, might have been managed by the parish
beadle ; at all events there was no necessity for em-
ploying a solicitor in the matter and making out
enormous bills of costs.
The clerk of Mr. Gedge, said the charges were
those usually made by solicitors in professional matters.
Mr. ELLIOTT replied that the greater part of them
were wholly unnecessary, and the award for the costs
was postponed until yesterday ; the magistrate recom-
mending that in the interim they should be placed
before a board of the governors and guardians of the
parish for their consideration.
Yesterday the clerk of Mr. Gedge attended and
informed Mr. Elliott that the guardians would be
perfectly satisfied with any sum which his worship
thought proper to award.
Mr. ELLIOTT here went through the items of the
lenghty bills, and that of Mr. Ellis's he reduced to
3/. 14s. 4d., and that of Mr. Body's to 2l 19s. 10d.,—
thus lopping off in the former 20/. 13s. Bd., and in the
latter 18/. 15s. 10d.

It was suggested to the magistrate that the bills
thus taxed would, if forwarded to the Sanitary Com-
mission, form instructive documents, and account, in
a great measure, for the want of sanitary improve-
ments in many of the metropolitan parishes. It is
more than probable that the ratepayers of the parish
will be obliged yet to pay the whole of these bills to
the lawyer so unnecessarily employed by their board
of governors and guardians.