The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-05 00:00:00

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

THE RUINOUS HOUSES IN FLEET-STREET.—YCS-
terday a Court of Aldermen was specially held in the
Old Bailey, to receive a presentment from the Inquest
of St. Bride's, in the ward of Farringdon-without, in re-
ference to the state of the ruinous houses in Fleet-street.
The Foreman of the inquest, in delivering the pre-
sentment, acknowledged their obligations to the Lord
Mayor For the very prompt manner in which his Lord-
ship had complied with their wishes in summoning the
Court.
Mr. Smith (the Vestry Clerk) said, that the back
walls left standing after the late disastrous accident were,
in the opinion of competent judges, in a very precarious
state, and that unless properly secured they might
fall, and drag with them the adjoining houses. Since
the last. interview at the Mansion-house, the Inquest
had succeeded in finding the freeholder of one of the
fallen houses, the back wall of which occasioned the ap-
prehended danger. and his surveyor was present and wil-
ling to co-operate -with theowner of theadjoininghousein
securing the property from further accident. Had they
known that before, it was probable that the Inquest might
have spared the Court of Aldermen the trouble of
assembling ; but as they were not he trusted that an
order would be issued for the immediate removal of
the wall without waiting for the dilatory process pointed
out in the building act. It was probable that the
necessity of resorting tl such a summary proceeding
might be obviated by the active co-operation of Mr.
Blackburn, the respectable surveyos of the freeholder.
Mr. BLACKBURN assurred the Court that he had
received instructions to cause immediate measures to
be taken to save the property from further accident,
and he should carry these measures into effect without
detry.

The CITY SOLICITOR said that the presentment of
,ha Inquest, in conformity with the provisions of the
building act, had described the state of the ruinous
buildings in proper technical terms to bring' them
within the jurisdiction of the Aldermen under the
70th section. The authority of the Aldermen un-
der that statute was strictly defined, and it was
not competent for . them to act in the sum-
mary manner suggested by Mr. Smith. The Act
required the Aldermen, upon the receipt of tie pre-
sentment, to cause a proper and sufficient board to be
put up for the safety of the passers by, and to eau e
notice to be given to the owners of the buildings, if
known, and if not known, to be affixed to the premises,
aid in case the ruinous houses were not taken down or
repaired within fourteen der, it would be the duty of
the Aldermen to remove them at the expense of the
City, looking to the sale of the materials or to the ar-
rears, when discovered, for repayment. If the Court
of Aldermen were to act in any other way than strictly
in conformity with that prescribed by the Act, they
woull subject themselves to actions at the instance of
the owners of the ruinous premises and of the adjoining
property. By the ancient custom of the City of London,
there was no doubt that at,: Lord Mayor, in cases of
sudden emergency, attended with imminent and
immediate danger to life and limb, might interpose his
authority to wall in the dangerous buildings, and to
abate the nuisance. That power, since the passing
of the Buildings Act:, had been rarely put in execu-
tion, and could only be recommended in ca es when,
from the urgency of the occasion, the public security
would not admit of the relay requisite to call in aid the
powers of the Building Act. In such cases there
could be no doubt t hat the Lord Mipouttould be ad-
vised to exercise his authority, but, in the present in-
stance, such an interference could not be supported.
With this exception, in the meantime the back wall of
the fallen houses which had been presented must be
remove.] by the order of the Court.
Mr. Smith, and the geatlemen of the Inquest gene-
rally, acquiesced itk the opinion given by the City
Solicitor, and after a. conversaiion between Mr. Wood,
of the Dispatch,
broke up. and Sir Peter Laurie, the Court

ii.EADFUL i/)CCURRENCE IN ST.

BRIDE'S CH-17RCHYARD.

Yesterday the grave-digger, Scott, his assistant
David Thompson, aged 29, d a boy, were engaged in
digging a grave in St. Bride's churchyard, which was to
he twenty feet deep, opposite the door of the Bell pub-
lic how. Thompson was below digging and filling
the baskets of earth, which were hoisted up by Scott
and the lad by means of poles and a pulley. At twelve
o'clock Thompson had got down seventeen feet, and
said he thought he could go five fect further. He
continued at work till a quarter to three, when the
earth on each side gave way, and the grave was almost
instantly closed up. Scott and the boy gave an alarm,
and very speedily Inspector Foresby and a large
body of the City Police ri-ere on the spot, and
without a momeat's loss of time five or six men were set
to work in clearing out the grave, but as it was known
the gravedigger was at least eight6en feet below, no
bores were entertained that his life could be saved, as
the earth i 3 heavy and loony. and likely to cause in-
stant suffocation. The work of the men proceeded
with grca t rapidity, but it was half-past five before they
came to Thompson's head. He was found standing
upright; but quite dead, having been buried nearly
three hours. It was now found that the coffins from
the neighbouring grave bad fallen upon his body, and
amidst
which he was so completely jammed that it was
found necessary to remove them before the body could
be got out. Mr. Fare, the Churchwarden, who super-
intended the operations, directed what was to be done,

sury, the Anglo-Maltese Bank, and the Malta Bank
shows that the proportion of South American dollars is
above 89 per cent., while that of English is under 5,
and that of all other coinage put together is under 6
per cent. •

A plan proposed for the reformation of a currency
obviously bad is the repeal of all the proclamations al-
ready existing, and an enactment that British copper
shall only be a legal tender to the value of led., and
shillings and sixpences to the value of 405., and that for

larger amounts the only legal tender shall be a 4s,

piece, a coin which it is proposed shall be created, and
which the Treasury are to give in exchange for all the
present coinage, to be received at their preient value.
The effect of such a measure would, it is said, be the

abolition of the South American coinage, but not of
the Spanish pillar' dollar, sovereigns, or doubloons,
which would offer no inducement for parties to present
them at the Treasury. The Maltese seem to think,
that in justice the British Government ought to bear
the loss occasioned by the conversion, since that has

caused the vicious system which demands the change;
but at the same time the author of the plan stated above

:oems to think that it would be better for the island to

submit to the loss than to suffer such a system to con•
tinuc. With respect to the plan thus offerad, and which
proceeds from a resident in the island, it is not the

object of this notice to advocate or condemn it, but

there seems, at any rate, no doubt that a thorough re-
form of some kind or other is required.

x.,etters from Bremen, dated the 22d ult., mention
that an experiment made for blowing up the ice with gut:-
powder, by which the Weser was covered, had com-
pletely succeaded. The ice, it is said, has been wholly
cleared away, and the navigation of the river throughout
its entire course, at and near Bremer, rendered per-
fectly free.
The Hastings mail coach was overturned on
Wednesday night, on its way to London, between Tun-
bridge Wells and Tunbridge. One passenger was injured,
but not severely.
J. Edgerton, Esq., aged 76, was burnt to death
in lis be.!-room last Saturday at Haggerston. His &foes
caught fire.
THE NEW NovELs.—The following popular
new works of fiction . have just been published by Mr.
Colburn, of Great Marlborough-street, and may be had at
all the I,braries : —l. The Moneyed Man, by Horace
Smith, Esq., author of " Brambletye House," &c., 3 vols.
2. Greville, or a Season in Paris, by Mrs. Gore, 3 vols.
—3. Peter Priggins, the College Scout, edited by Theo-
dore Hook, Esq., 3 vole., wi h numerous illustrations by
Phis.— 4. Popular Traditions of England, by John Roby,
Esq., M. R. S. L , &c., 3 Yds.,'with numerous eogiavings
on wood.-5. The History of a Flirt, rel ited by fierself,
second edition, 3 vols. —6. Legendary Tales of the High-
lands, by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., with illastra-
Lions by Phiz.-7. Oliver Cromwell, an Historical R--
mance, edited by Horace Smith, Esq.. 3 vols. ; and 8.
The Chelsea Pensioners, by the Author of " The Subal-
tern," complete in 1 vol., with portrait of the author,'
puke 6e. bound, forming the new• volume of " Colburn's
Modern Standard Novelists."
MISS AGNES STRICKLAND'S " LIVES OF
TEE QUEENS OF ENGLAND."__ ,be second volumesof the
new and revised edition of this charming work bas just ap-
peared, and the third volume is understood to be also
nearly ready. " The popularity which this work has a!-
ready attained sufficiently marks the public approbation of
the valuable addi ion to our national history which Miss
Strickland has furnished in these deeply interesting " Liv.
of the Queens of England." It is a production which has
been long wanted, and it is now submitted to the public
with a care sui'ed to its important subject'. From mate-
rials most diligently sought out, Miss Strickland has pro-
duced a work of surpassing interest and great historical
value, conferring a lasting benefit on the litt rature of the
country. It possesses alt the sober truth-telling authority
of well autlergicated history, with all the attractive graces
of romance. It must find a place in the library of every
lady of taste."
Front T. J. Pettigrew, Esq., Surgeon, F.R.S.,
to Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, 39, Albemarle.street,
opposite the York Hotel, and 76, King William-street, Bank of
England.—." Gentletnen,—l have no hesitation in replying to
your inquiry as to the results obtained by the use of your
improved spectacles; being in the constant habit of reading and
writing for many hours together by lamp-light, it is but justice to
say, that your newly.invented spectacle lenses have afforded ins
the greatest comfort. When I employed the ordinary pebbles, I
never failed to experience in the morning a great irritation in the
eyes. Since I have used your admirable glasses I suffer from no
inconvenience of the kind. I shall ever feel grateful to my good
friend, Dr. Blundell, for having drawn my attention to the subject.
—Believe me to be your's, very respectfully, T. J. Parnottaw, 8,
Saville.row, Jan. 4, 1839."—" M. G. Sir Howard Elphinstone begs
leave to say that the Spectacles he has now had some time in use,
have fully redeemed the assuranceof the Messrs. S. and B. Solo
mona as to their excellence, and having found so much comfort and
advantage from their use, far preferable to every other kind of
Glasses which he has been in the constant habit of making use of
for a great number of years.-13, Norfolk-street, Park.lane, the 6th
of November, 1840." The Messrs. Solomons' Operative Voice Con
doctor, when fixed into the cavity of the ear, the faintest whisper
at a public assembly is heard with distinctness.—No connex ion with
persons of the same name.

(From the Times.)
Some accounts have been printed and circulated
privately of the state of the currency in Malta, which
are well worthy of general attention. Every one
will be prepared to expect from the previous history,
and from the peculiar position of that island, an
exceedingly mixed and partially debased currency,
but, nevertheless, in a course of gradual reform,
since it has become a possession of Great Britain.
Of this, however, no symptoms whatever are appa-
rent ; on the contrary, a state of confusion exists,
which must render the carrying on of the trade of
the place unusually difficult and uncertain. A brief
description can hardly fail, one would imagine, to
bring on promptly both the consideration and the
application of the proper remedy. At present, it
seems, there are five kinds of money, which are
legal tenders in Malta, viz., Malta money, the Spa-
nish pillar dollar, the South American dollar, Bri-
tish silver and gold, and British copper, including
the grain, or twelfth part of a penny. Tne
general introduction of British metallic currency
was prepared by a proclamation of Juee, 1825, in
which it is enacted that certain enumerated coins
shall pass current, and the intention to introduce
the British metallic currency generally is speci-
fically stated. By a proclamation in the following
year it was ordered that all Government accounts
should be kept in sterling, but, nevertheless, although
this method was of course adopted in the Govern-
ment offices, the merchants and shopkeepers have
continued to keep their accounts in the money of the
order of St, John, the unwillingness to change
being attributed to the frequent chang:'s and uncer-
tainty of the currency, the mulf piic ty of coins ad-
mitted as legal tenders, and the deprecate 1 nature
of the British silver currency. It is worthy of re-
mark, that when British silve. was put into circula-
tion in the isl ind, the pound troy was, by the
authority of the Act 56th George 111., cap. 68, coined
into 66 shillings instead of 62 ; but while the same
Act established that such depreciated silver should
not be a legal tender in England to an amount exceed-
ing 405., in Malta it has been made so to any amount,
displacing the more valuable local currencies, and
causing a loss to the inhabitants of 6 per cent., since
prior to the introduction of the present British coins
the currency passed at rates at 625. per pound troy.
The Spanish pillar dollar becoming scarce in 1834, the
British Government caused proclamations to be issued
at Malts, Gibraltar, the lonian Islands, and other places,
enacting that the South American dollar should be a
legal tender at the rate of 4s. 4d.—a coin irregular in
weight, and by no means regular in alloy. Indeed, the
dollars of the Guadalaxara mint were found to contain
so excessive a portion of alloy, that in 1836 it was found
necessary to call them in. The effect of this introduc-
tion was not only the banishing of the more valuable
currency, so that Spanish, Sicilian, and Imperial dollars
are at a premium, but even British silver does not cir-
culate freely, since the Commissary engages to give a
1001. Treasury bill for every 101/. 10s., and therefore
whenever the continental exchanges are at a rate which
enables a banker to import dollars, and exchange them
for British silver at a profit on the Commissary's rate, a
premium is borne by the British silver. Besides the
obvious evils of an irregular currency, in causing the
heavier coins to be melted down, there is a further one
occasioned by the preset-it system—namely, a practice
in France and Italy of sifting the dollars received from
South America, so that the light ones alone may be
sent to Malta and other places where they are a cur-
rency. Another disadvantage of these South American
dollars is, that in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Barbary,
Algeria, Fez; and Morocco, they are rejected, whila they
will not pass as curreacy in Sicily, Naples, the north of
Spain and Italy, or at any rate arc only taken at a dif-
ference of 5 or 6 per cent. under the value of the Spa-
nish dollar. So great is the preponderance of this vi-
cious coinage that a six months' return from the Tree.