The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-22 00:00:00

London, with having deserted from his vessel at
Chatham on the 4th inst.

Mr. Coleman attended with the register tickets of
the prisoners from the office of the Registrar-General.
The captain deposed that he was master of the
Prince Albert, and that the prisoners signed the
ship articles in London on a voyage to Cronstadt
and " back to the United Kingdom to her final port
of discharge," and that he delivered part of his cargo
at Chatham, and during his absence the crew left
their work, but returned to the vessel on the
following day, when, however, they refused to work,
considering that they had arrived at their destina-
tion. Having Government stores on board which
required to be immediately delivered, he, together
with the owner of the vessel, remonstrated with the
seamen and pointed out their error, but could not
convince them that they were at all in the wrong,
until they summoned him before the magistrates at
Chatham for the balance of their wages, for which
the bench refused to make an order, they not yet
having arrived at their " final port of discharge."
Upon the announcement of that decision, the men
consulted together, and would then have returned to
their duty, but in consequence of the necessity
of the immediate delivery of the Government
stores it had been necessary to engage a steamer,
with other hands, to tow the vessel to London, to ac-
complish that object within the stipulated time, and
the extra expense incurred by the obligation to do so
amounted to 251.

The LORD MAYOR—How much was due to the
seamen at the time ? Witness—About 4/. to each.

In answer to the charge Marriott, who stood for-
ward as spokesman for all the defendants, denied
altogether the imputation of desertion as applied to
them, but admitted their refusal to work at Chatham,
which refusal they grounded upon the reasoning that
their agreement terminated at the first port at which
they discharged any of their cargo. He added, that
when it was explained to them by the Chatham ma-
gistrates that they were wrong in the construction of
the Act, they returned to the vessel, but the master
refused to receive them.

The LORD MAYOR, having examined the ship's
articles, and consulted Mr. Goodman, the chief clerk,
said the seamen might have thought their voyage
terminated at Chatham, and that the charge of deser•
tion had not been made out, but the Act of Parliament
made a distinction between " desertion " and " refusal
to perform duty," an offence of which the prisoners
had been guilty, and as the master had power to
deduct the extra expenses incurred by their conduct
from the wages due to them, he should recommend
that some arrangement should be made between them
and the master and owner.

The parties having retired, it was found that, after
the deduction of the extra expenses, the sum of ss.
was due to each, and the men expressed their willing-
ness to receive that amount.

The LORD MAYOR having been informed of the
arrangement effected, advised the defendants against
the repetition of such conduct, and assured them that
if the charge of " desertion" had been proved against
them he should, as he had done in every other case,
have inflicted the full term of imprisonment (30 days),
and he trusted that the loss of nearly 4/. per man
would operate as an adequate punishment on the
present occasion.

Mr. Goodman stated the amount of fines inflicted
by the Lord Mayor under the provisions of the Act,
since the 30th of June, to be 911., and the number
of summonses granted at the Mansion-house to be
198, and these cases were independent of the pro-
secutions to support which sufficient evidence was
obtained.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
Mr. James 'Might, of No. 42, Bath-street, City-
road, was summoned before Mr. Hardwick by
Charles Maillard, the conductor of one of the Hamp-
stead omnibuses, for refusing to pay him his fare.
The complainant said the defendant got into his
omnibus in Holborn and got out at the corner of Ox-
ford-street. Complainant demanded his fare, but the
defendant refused to pay him more than 3d. The
fare was 6d.
The defendant said he refused to comply with the
complainant's demand because he felt that he had
been made the-victim of a trick, and because he was
desirous of protecting the public, and more especially
females, against this trick, which he understood was
frequently resorted to. The complainant's omnibus
had the words " Holborn," " Oxford-street," on it, in
large letters, so as to lead the public to believe that
the omnibus traversed Oxford-street, whereas it only
passed the corner of the street, and proceeded up Tot-
tenham-court-road. When he got into the omnibus
he told the conductor to set him down at Duke-street.
The conductor did not say anything to undeceive
him with respect to the route of the omnibus, and he
only found the matter out from hearing a person
make an-inquiry of the conductor. When he got out
at the corner of Oxford-street, he tendered the con-
ductor threepence for his short ride, as that was the
charge of the regular Paddington omnibuses, but the
conductor would not take the money, and pointed to
the writing outside of the omnibus. lie looked closely
at the writing, and found the words "corner of" in
very small letters, placed close to the words " Oxford-
, street" in large letters. This evident attempt at im-
position made him determined to try the question of
the legality of the conductor's demand.
Mr. HARDWICK considered it was unfair towards
the public that the words should be so placed on an
omnibus as to induce people to believe that the route
of a vehicle was in a particular direction when the fact
was not so. The defendant, had, however, positively
declared that he named Duke-street, when he got
into the omnibus ; and, presuming this to be the
truth, he must dismiss the summons against him.
Caroline Bradbury, better known for the last
twelve years at this court as Caroline Guest, was
charged with being drunk and creating a disturbance
at one of the west-end club-houses.

Mr. HARDWICK sent her to prison for twenty-one
days.

Just before the arrival of the van for the removal
of the prisoners, an alarm was given by some of the
women confined in the cell where Caroline Bradbury
was placed, that one of the prisoners had cut her
throat. The cell was promptly visited by the
gaolers, and the discovery was made that Caroline
Bradbury had forced a penknife into her throat, and
had made a wound of about an inch in length. The
woman was immediately removed in a cab to Mid-
dlesex Hospital, but after the wound was dressed, it
being the opinion of the medical man that nothing
serious was to be apprehended, she was eventually
taken to St. Margaret's Infirmary.