The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-21 00:00:00

WRECK OF A STEAMER,

The steamer City of Aberdeen, from London, went on
the rocks at Portletheii, about eight miles south of Aber-
deen between 12 and 1 o'clock on Friday morning. A
thick fog prevailed at the time, but the sea was not rough.
The passengers and crew were all saved, and the steamer
was not much damaged, but having gone ashore at high
water, there is little hope of getting her off again. She is
a fine new vessel.

The official inquiry at Liverpool into the loss of the
brig Mary, which struck on Lundy Island in December
last, while on a voyage from Cardiff to Bordeaux, termi-
nated on Thursday. The court considered the master,
(John Day) to have been in default, and suspended hi
certificate for three months.

THE LATE EXTRAORDINARY JEWEL
ROBBERY.

On the 12th inst., a daring robbery of costly diamonds
and jewels was effected at 4, Upper Berkeley-street,
Portman-square. An assistant from Messrs. London and
Ryder's went to the above address with £2,500 worth of
diamond ornaments, to show them to a lady and gentle-
The assistant was rendered parthlly insensible

man.

by chloroform, bound with leathern straps, and
thrown on a sofa. When he recovered, the lady
and gentleman had left, and some of the jewellery
and diamonds were missing. On Tuesday night, Martha
Tarpey, a girlish-looking woman, was brought up at the
Leamington Town Hall, charged with having, in con.
junction with her husband, committed the robbery. They
had lodged at Windsor Villa, Campion-terrace, since last
June, and are well known among the Leamington
tradesmen. Whilst under examination she appeared
greatly distressed, and in a very nervous and excited
state. Mr. James Unitt Parkes, assistant to Messrs.
London and Ryder, described how the robbery of the
jewels was effected, as already published, and said they
consisted of two diamond collette necklaces of large single
stones, one opal and diamond cluster pendant, one diamond
shell centre pendant, and three diamond rings. Their
value was 22,500. He positively identified the prisoner as
the woman who assisted the man to commit the robbery,
and had picked her out from five or six others at the
police-station. Mr. Superintendent Lund deposed that,
from an advertisement which had appeared, and other in-
formation, he had for several days kept a watch on
Windsor Villa, where the prisoner and her husband had
been residing since last June. He went to the house
shortly after ten o'clock the previous night, and found
her in the front room, reading a letter. He told her who
he was, and that he wanted to speak to her, when she
said, " How dare you come into the house of a lady ?
I request you will leave the room immediately."
The prisoner began reading the letter, the envelope of
which lay on the table, and bore the Ostend post-mark.
He saw her countenance change, and snatched at the

letter, which he obtained, but it was torn into fragments.
He had, however, been able to decipher it. He produced
to her a letter, addressed " Mr. T. Thornton, Poste
Restrant, Ostend, Belgium," when she said, " Yes, that
onght to be posted ; it is a letter for my husband, under
cover to a friend at Ostend." She then began to cry, and
he told her he should have to take her into custody on
the present charge, and cautioned her in the usual way.
She then exclaimed, " Oh, my God ! what will become of
my baby ? • Where is my husband ? Shall I ever see him
again ? I do not care about being punished, so long
as my husband is not, for he is not strong enough
to bear it, as I am." He then read a letter to
her, which had arrived from her husband from
Antwerp by the mid-day post on Thursday.
She then said, " Mind, you, I am alone to blame in this
transaction ; my husband would not have done such a
thing if I had not tempted him to do it."—The three
letters referred to in the evidence of Mr. Lund were also
put in and read. The first was dated Ostend, Tuesday,
eleven a.m., and the most important parts were as follow :
—" The boat did not leave Dover until about four this
morning. This will, I sun afraid, delay me a day. We
had ultimately a good passage. . . . I start for Ghent at
12.5, hence Antwerp, and will write you as soon as ever
I touch the first proceeds, &c. The more I think
about the notes the less I fear them. Even if they
think of them, I believe now they can never trace
them from their first source. Keep up your
spirits, my own darling, and I shall return, certainly
as soon possible. . . . . They describe your
dress in the Daily News as light brown, with
green trimmings,' so clearly that they have little
recollection of us." It concluded, "your ever fond
Michael." The last communication from her husband
was dated " Antwerp, Wednesday, 2 p.m.," and in it
he said :—" My progress from Ostend was thus—To
Ghent two hours, but could not dispose of anything,
therefore came on I have been walking
about since morning., but could not do anything.
I asked for the £2OO parcel, £l6O at one place,
but they simply laughed at me. Finally, I
have decided to go to Rotterdam to-morrow
morning at 7.35. I will try there then, and if I cannot
do anything will come home at once. My money being
nearly gone I was obliged to dispose of a single one of
the £2OO lot. I asked £6 for it, which I thought about
the market value ; but, after some bargaining, sold it for
85f., about £3 Bs. They said it was a good one, but light,
only one grain ; but, generally speaking, this is not the
place to get anything done, there are so few jewellers. If
I succeed in Rotterdam in time for post I will send
you something if possible. They tell me, on account of
the war, there is little demand for diamonds, and that
they have depreciated much. If I succeed at Rotterdam
I shall be able to get back by Saturday ; but I fear
not before. I intend to get a small pair of scales, and see
what I can make out with regard to their value. One
fact is clear—it will be more difficult to get rid of them

than we thought." This letter, too, concluded with ex-
pressions of endearment, and was signed "Michael.',
The prisoner was then remandod to Marylebone Police
court, where she was formally examined yesterday, but
nothing of importance additional to the above was elicited.
Superintendent Williamson handed in the depositions of
the Leamington witnesses, and having expressed a confi-
dent hope that the man would be in custody in the
course of a day or two, asked for a remand for a week,
which was at once granted.

The Convocation of Canterbury, wltich stands
adjourned to Friday, the 10th of February, will not meet
for business till Tuesday, the 14th of February.

The clerical journals at Rome calculate that the
pontificate of Pius IX. has alrerdy in its length surpassed
that of all his predecessors excepting St. Peter himself.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—One Shilling Day.—Friday,
January 20, 1871.—The admissions by season tickets
were 1,826 ; ditto on payment, 2,010 ; total visitors, 3.836.

The Dowager Marchioness of Lothian has, says
the British Medical Journal, been under training recently
at one of the metropolitan hospitals as a nurse, and pro-
poses, it is stated, to devote herself to works of charity.

CATTLE DISEASE.—A very alarming outbreak of
the foot and mouth disease has occurred this week in Mr.
Superintendent Young's division of Buckrose, East
Riding. On one wold farm near Flixton no fewer than
twenty-three straw yard beasts, all heifers, have taken the
disease. In Kellington, also, the cows are attacked, there
being three in one place. During the late storm the
disease had disappeared.

Messrs. Turquand and Harding, the liquidators of
Overend, Gurney, and Co. (Limited), have issued a report
shewing that the indebtedness has now been reduced to
£162,504. The assets and securities still to be realised
represent a sum of £599,689, but there is no possibility of
arriving at a trustworthy estimate of the ultimate result,
The total amount paid by the contributories in respect of
three calls has been £2,042,061.

FUNERAL OF Mn. PAUL BEDFORD.—The remains
of the late Mr. Paul Bedford were on Thursday interred
in the family grave at Norwood Cemetery. The hearse
was followed bylour mourning coaches, the first of which
was occupied by Miss Bedford, Mr: PauL Bedford, jun.,
Mr. Charles Bedford, and Mrs. Wright ; whilst the
second held the representatives of the Dramatic Fund,
Mr. Benjamin Webster, Mr. Bennett, Mr. George Bel-
more, and Mr. Donald King. Captain Bedford, the Rev.
Dr. Horace Roberts, Dr. Canton, Mr. Billington, and
Mr. Toole followed in the third and fourth coaches. A
large number of the friends of the veteran comedian
and members of the dramatic profession had assembled
at the cemetery to pay the last tribute of respect to his
memory.

LORD CAIRNS ON WAR.—Lord Cairns presided
on Thursday at the annual festival of the Warehousemen
and Clerks' Schools. In proposing the toast of " The
Army, Navy, and Volunteers," the noble and learned
lord observed that the largest aggregation of national
wealth, without due protection, must indeed be little or
nothing more than baits to the ambitious and covetous.
He added : I feel a great deal of confidence when I say
that I do not believe from one end of the country to the
other there is a single man who does not detest war. I don't
believe people in this country ever hated war more than at
the present moment when we are witnessing with horror
and regret the centinuance of a war devastating the fairest
fields of the Continent, and reducing to nothing the efforts
of that civilisation on which we have so much prided our-
selves. At the same time, gentlemen, there is an old
proverb that the best way to maintain peace is to be pre-
pared for war if it should arise. I greatly mistake the
temper of this nation if I am not right in saying that they
do not more detest war than they are determined that so
far as in them lies they will take the necessary steps to be
prepared for war, in case war should be our fate,