The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-24 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

IMPORTANT LEGITIMACY CASE.-1 here is now pending
in the Rolls Court a suit instituted by several cotton
spinners of Blackburn, named Chadwick, for the purpose
of establishing over the head of the present holder, their
right to considerable house property at Westminster as
the descendant of the late Sir Andrew Chadwick, who
died intestate in 1768. It appeared that the intestate
was of humble origin, being the son of a Lancashire
farmer; but coming to London, and being attached
to the Royal Household, he had the good for-
tune to render assistance to Queen Anne on
one occasion when her Majesty had the misfortune to
fall over the stairs, for which he was knighted. He ac-
quired subsequently a great deal of property at West-
minster, which was the subject of the dispute. In 1840 a
Mr. John Chadwick was decreed by the court to be the
heir-at-law of Sir Andrew, and he thereupon came into
possession of the estate ; but the plaintiffs alleged that the
result was obtained by fraud and imposition, in the
extraction from the register of the parish church of
Haslingden, Lancashire, of an entry of the baptism of James
Chadwick, who was at that time the intestate's heir-at-
law, and from whom the plaintiffs' claim descended.
The case will probably occupy some days.
MONEY AT 70 PER CENT.—At Marlborough-street,
Captain Francis Butler, of the 9th Foot, was brought
before Mr. Knox on a warrant charged with obtaining
£3OO by false pretences from Mr. Michael Benjamin, bill
discounter, Air-street, Piccadilly. It appeared that in
February, 1869, Benjamin discounted a bill for the defen-
dant for £4OO, giving him £306 for the same on the repre-
sentation that there was no other charge upon his com-
mission. It turned out, however, that there were other
similarliabilities, but the regulation value of the commission
was £l,BOO. The evidence having concluded, Mr. Knox
said :—As to the hard money actually advanced, it was
£3OO by Benjamin, £3OO by Boss, and £1,300 by Lewis ;
but it turned out that the prisoner had repaid Lewis
£240, leaving the amount on the actual advance in his
case £1,060 or thereabouts. The aggregate sums then
were £1,660, against £l,BOO, the regulation value of the
commission. Could he say there was a palpable " intent
to defraud ?" When he looked at the testimony by
which the charge was supported, he found as witnesses
Benjamin, the prosecutor, who lent his money to an em-
barrassed young officer at the rate of 70 per cent, or
thereabouts, and Engel, who introduced the officer to
Benjamin, and received £lO for the job. Would a jury
believe such testimony unsupported ? He thought not.
The prosecutor did not come with clean hands into court.
He belonged to an odious class. The prisoner's conduct
was not that of a gentleman or a man of honour, but
there could be little sympathy felt for men who made a
trade of lending money to young men at such rates. The
prisoner must be discharged.
DEFRAUDING A CHARITABLE FUND.—Ann Dunn was
charged at Marlborough-street with obtaining a charitable
contribution from Captain Cavendish Fitzroy, at the
office of the British Charitable Paris Fund, 28, Mount-
street. The prisoner was one of the persons expelled
from Paris. She called at the office in Mount-street,
stating that she could get employment if she
had funds to get a dress out of pledge. The
prisoner obtained 25., promising to bring the ticket.
When she did produce the ticket it was found to be
dated the same day, and it was subsequently found out
she had pledged the dress after receiving the money. Mr.
Knox committed the prisoner for three months, with hard
labour.
FRACAS ON THE LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY.—
At the Croydon Division Petty Sessions, Mr. Henry
William Carey, of Toronto-villas, Sutton, and Mr.
Arthur Carpmael, of Arundel-house, Sutton, were
charged by Mr. Thomas Fearncombe Chorley, solicitor,
of the Willows, South Norwood, with assaulting
him in a carriage on the London and Brighton
Railway. The complaint arose out of an altercation
at Forwood Junction on the morning of the 6th
I instant, when the defendants endeavoured to prevent Mr,
Chorley from entering the compartment in which they
were seated, on the ground that there was no room. He,
however, persisted in travelling in the carriage, when the
defendants acted in the most ungentlemanly manner
towards him, Mr. Carpmael puffing the smoke
from his cigar in his face all the way up to
town. On behalf of the defendants it was urged that the
assault was no more than was justifiable in order to pre-
vent the complainant from entering a carriage which he
should clearly shew was only intended for three passengers.
The magistrates considered th 4 the occupants might have
made room in a crowded train; and inflicted a penalty of
40s. in each case.

A COLLIERY ON FIRE.—A fire which seems likely
to be one of the most extensive that have occurred in the
coal district of South 'Lancashire has commenced at the
collieries of the Tawd Vale Coal Company, situate about
nine miles from Wigan. The seam in which the fire has
broken out is known as the twelve-feet or seven-feet, and
is worked at these pits by means of two shafts—an upcast,
sixty yards deep, and a downcast, which has been carried
to a depth of nearly 120 yards. Indications of smoulder-
ing were observed some time ago, but no immediate danger
appears to have been anticipated, and the ordinary
working of the mine was proceeded with. Last week,
however, the fire broke into an open flame, which
with great rapidity extended along the main airways, and
it soon became evident that the only way of dealing with
the flames was to close both shafts, and try, if possible,
to shut off the supply of air. The upcast pit was filled
with " metal " to within a short distance of the surface
and across the mouth of the downcast was constructed
a strong scaffold covered with clay. The work of build-
ing the scaffold was carried ou with great difficulty in
consequence of the pressure of an immense volume of
smoke, which reached far above the head gear, and shut
off. all 'possibility c`lescendiug. The mine has been
open-eoitabout teri2yeara.;" mid the:fire will.have an im-
nienisei6a to work upon.. The seam is the. thickest In
the lieigthourhoodf and the height -of.. the places..
is lenr;ek the air 41y thesp;.;..AOrkwey-.. ir7
Vare7-flautes,- utojr 04.44 -ola
outing:4n; a4;.4;cclitilif,•. TO, i.tEere. also
d~ gYx WtrefYAi4 lilOillin'AlkstKiii94 ;*i;'We,
hexfr_6n3 • file scene of
ii;:idilio,--gritiou,-4--Tile7firel;i attributed to spontaneous
c:OlnVistio

On Monday afternoon the Lord Mayor presided over a
public meeting at the Mansion House, called to promote a
fund which has been started for the purpose of providing
rifle ranges, drill grounds, headquarters, armouries, &c., for
the five city regiments, the want of which has been severely
felt. The Lord Mayor, in introducing the subject, paid a
high compliment to the Volunteers for their efficiency,
but complained that the city of London was behind every
other large town in the kingdom in its support
of the cause of volunteering. Throughout Eng-
land the various corps had been supplied with
every necessary ; but in the City of Loudon
little or nothing had been done in this direction.—Mr.
Alderman Besley spoke of the necessity of our being pre-
pared for war, if we would preserve peace, and pointed to
the Continental war as an inducement to
us to be prepared. He expressed his belief
that the time had come when it was an
absolute necessity to give greater facilities to the Volun-
teers and militia, which should become the finest reserve
force the world ever saw ; and he imprebsed on the em-
ployers that it was their duty to further encourage the
principle of Volunteering.—Resolutions in conformity
with the objects of the meeting were agreed to unani-
mously.