The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-06 00:00:00

NEW COURT.

No case of any interest occurred in this Court during
the day, the jury, as they generally are (,n the first
day of the sessior, waiting until the bills are returned by
the grand jury.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-ROUSE.
A man named Robert Thompson, who was known in
the neighbourhood of Stag-alley, Bartholomew-lane, at
the time of the railway fever, was brought before the
Lord Mayor yesterday in the custody of a policeman,
charged with having stolen a banker's receipt fur money
on account of a railway company.
Mr. James Hitchin, of Newington-terrace,Brunswick-
place, Dover-road, stated that he was a gentleman oat
of business, and that to the best of his recollection, on
the 17th September last, at about one o'clock, the pri-
soner came to him at the Hall of Commerce, to which he
was a subscriber, and had him called out. The prisoner
said that he came from Mr. Gibbons, who was known to
witness, for the banker's receipt for the deposits on 40
shares in the British and Irish Union Railway. The de-
posits were 3/. per share, amounting in the whole to 1201.
Witness, believing that the prisoner was duly authorised
to receive the document, went to Mr. Brown, of Thread-
needle-street, procured the receipt, and handed it to the
prisoner, who waited fur him outside the Hall of Com-
merce, and stated, upon being put in possession of it, that
he had to go as far as Westminster, and would return in
an hour or an hour and a half. Witness waited in
anxious expectation until five o'clock, but the prisoner
never returned, and witness then went to the house of
Mr. Gibbons, of Collet-place, at the East-end, oil and
colour manufacturer, to ascertain what could be the cause
of the delay. Mr. Gibbons said that he had neither
given the prisoner authority to get the banker's receipt,
nor even seen the prisoner at all upon the subject. The
prisoner disappeared altogether for some time, but wit-
ness determined to punish so flagrant a violation of
honesty and good faith, and never dropped the pursuit
until he succeeded in apprehending the " stag."
The LORD MAYOR—Was it not an unusual course to
give a banker's receipt for money without a written ap-
plication or order from Mr. Gibbons ? Witness (as our
reporter understood the witness)—No. Mr. Gibbons
was to sign the deed upon producing the receipt.
The LORD MAYOR—And you did not require any
authority from Mr. Gibbons ? Witness—No. I never
thought that any was at all necessary.
The LORD MAYOR—And you have lost 120/. by the
disappearance of the receipt ? Witness—That was the
deposit-money I paid ; but my loss in the affair was
260/. That was the amount of the value of the shares.
They were bought in against me at Liverpool at 3/
premium, and I have spent 101. more in my endeavours to
bring the prisoner to justice.
An attorney who attended for the prisoner, and who
evidently thought he could make people look at the
complaint as a mere joke, said he had a question or two
to ask of the witness, if the Lord Ma% or considered that
the case required any inquiry at all.
The LORD MAYOR having intimated that he looked
upon the charge as being one of rather a serious kind,
The prisoner's attorney—Pray, was the allotment of
the shares made to you ? Witness—No. I purchased
the letter of allotment.
The prisoner's attorney—The Act says that the party
to whom the allotment is made must be the person who
is to sign the deed, and that he alone is responsible.
Now, there is nobody at all responsible.
The LORD MAYOR—But that question has nothing to
do with this. This gentleman was induced by the repre-
sentation of the prisoner to part with his property. It
does not signify what sort of property is in question.
It was of value to the owner.
The prisoner's attorney—l think the name of the
person to whom the shares were allotted was Fletcher,
was it not ? Witness—l think it was.
The prisoner's attorney—You think it as. Are you
not sure of it ? Witness—Yes, I can swear the name
was Fletcher.
The prisoner's attorney—My Lord, these things were
never shares. There was no deed signed, for nobody
knows anything of Mr. Fletcher.
The LORD MAYOR—That does not signify one far-
thing. The banker's receipt everybody must know is
valuable security for the deposits. There may be quite
enough in this business to justify the commitment of
the prisoner to the Central Criminal Court for the
robbery.
The witness—l request your Lordship will remaad
the prisoner for a few days, until I shall have the op-
portunity of producing Mr. Gibbons.
The prisoner's attorney—My Lord, I hope you will
call upon the prosecutor to produce the Reverend
Fletcher, to whom the shares he claims as his are said to
have been allotted.
The LORD MAYOR—You may produce him upon
your side, it you please, as your witness, or Mr.
Hitchia may call him upon his.
The prisoner's attorney—My Lord, it is quite clear
that this is altogether a stagging job. There is no
principal who can be acknowledged as entitled to sign
the deed.
The LORD MAYOR—II is time that the " stags" should
be brought to justice. I hope we shall be able to
" stag" some of them here.
Remanded till Wednesday.
A poor woman, named Margaret Wright, upwards of
70 years of age, was brought before the Lord Mayor by
Captain Kincaid, the governor of Bridewell Hospital.
Captain Kincaid said that the old woman had been
some time since committed to Bridewell for two months,
for having broken a window, and was sent, upon being
discharged from that prison, to the City of London
Union, in Cannon-street, for the purpose of being con-
veyed to her parish in the country. By her own ac-
count, after she had remained at the Union-house at
Peckham for a fortnight, she was discharged, although
she was anxious to be allowed to remain at that asylum.
The Loan MAYOR—She did not discharge herself ?
Captain Kincaid—She says she wished to stay there,
For she was in a state of utter destitution, and that the
authorities would not allow her to remain beyond Mon-
day morning.
The Loan MAYOR-I must say it is very discreditable
to the authorities of the large union of the City of Lon-
don to hear such complaints. They will not take the
trouble to make inquiry into the cases brought before
them, and thus the poor are doubly afflicted, and an
enormous increase of expenditure takes place. I have
this day received an account of the mischief done in the
breaking of windows during the last year, by persons
who came here in consequence, in most instances, of the
defective system of the City of London Union.
From Ist Jan. to 31st Dec., 1845.
Total number of persons charged before the
Lord Mayor with breaking windows
Total number of panes of glass broken by the
above
Total estimated valae of the above £44 13 0
Of that number persons charged with breaking
windows of the Manion-house B2
Number of panes broken at the Mansion-house 103
Value of glass destroyed at the Mansion house £2B 12
The Loan MAYOR observed that the amount of the
expense incurred, according to the list he had read,
would have diminished the expenses to which the City
was subjected by the extraordinary conduct pursued by
the authorities of the union.
The old woman, in answer to questions put to her by
the Lord Mayor, said that she had two brothers in Cum-
berland, farmers, and she believed they would now have
no objection to support her. She had, when only four-
teen years of age, thought for herself when she was in-
capable of judging, and married a soldier, and her family
looked down upon her, but she hoped they would (those
who remained of them), now that rhe was aged and in-
firm and destitute, forgive and assist her.
The LORI) MAYOR said he would take care that the
poor creature should be safely and comfortably conveyed
to Cumberland. His Lordship said he could not take a
better opportunity of returning his most grateful thanks
to the press for the able manner in which they had re-
sponded to his call for assistance in rendering service to
the poor children who were to be seen about the streets
in a friendless and deplorable condition. He had received
a great number of valuable communications npon the
subject, and he had not the slightest doubt that a remedy
would in a short time be applied, and in all probability
efficaciously, to the alarming evil.
Mr. Jan:es Young, the master of the Fairy steam-boat,
was summoned for that, being in the command and ma-
nagement of the Fairy steam-boat in the Thames, he did
on the 29th of December, wilfully and carelessly navi-
gate such vessel, whereby certain danger was incurred
by persons on board another steam-vessel, contrary to
the rules and regulations laid down by law.
Mr. Thomas Gun, master of the Ant steam-vessel,
said that on Monday, at one o'clock, on the passage from
the Adelphi to London-bridge, and as he passed Lon-
don-bridge, the Fairy came on his quarters, and forced
the nose of his vessel upon the Bridegroom steam-vessel,
on her passage to Chelsea, and if the Bridegroom had
not gone astern, great damage and danger would have
Lwen incurred.
Mr. Banyon (from the Watermen's and Lightermen's
Company) stated that the rules and bye-laws had been
only just published, and the owners, Sec., of the steam-
vessels were not yet aware that they had been sanc-
tioned. It was proper to state that Baron Platt, to
whom the rules and bye-laws hal been submitted, had
confirmed them on the 22d day of December.
The LORD MAYOR said he should go no further in
this case, as the rules and bye-laws could not be well
known, but he should punish in all future cases ; and
he directed that copies of the rules and bye-laws should
be published for the instruction of all parties. He more
particularly called the attention of the masters or those
vessels who had been in the habit of racing and over-
loading, to the orders to which he alluded. He should
most positively put every one of the regulations in
force, and give no quarter.
GUILDHALL

John Asbury and Henry Lee, two lads eighteen years
of age, were charged by police-constables 290 and 269
with attempting
to pick a gentleman's pocket at the.
Old Bailey. e
It appeared from the evidence that police-constable
269 saw the prisoners at about five minutes before

o'ciock tint morning do:10)g f;t.
at the; Oldni3ailey, and when they place became
crowded, he saw both prisoners put their hands in tho
gentleman's pockets. He then took them into custody,
and when they were proceeding down Skinner-street,
he saw one of the prisoners drop a white cambric
pocket-handlterehief, which he produced ; and the other
prisoner said the two officers were two raecal, to take
them into custody merely tor an attempt to pick the
pockets.
Alderman Moox said that it was a most lamentable
thing to see so many boys devoting themse.ves to ciime.
He therefore committed both prisoners for one month.