The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-20 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

ALLEGED VIOLENCE OF THE POLICE.—An Irish
labourer, named James Lynch, appeared for the second
time before Mr. Paget, at the Thames Police-court, to
answer a charge preferred against him by Macdonald, a
constable of the H division, for assaulting him on Friday
evening last in Leman-street, near the station-house in
that street. While it was raining fast on Friday evening,
the prisoner was rolling about very drunk and making a
great noise. The constable laid hold of him and led him
towards the station-house. The prisoner struggled and
struck right and left, and kicked the constable, who was
soon joined by the reserve man, James Sorrell, 30 11,
from the station-house. The police-constables turned the
prisoner over and carried him in a quiet and gentle' man-
ner to the station-house. The prisoner was unhurt,
and he preferred no complaint of ill-usage. If is
dress was also perfectly clean, but a man
named Clarke, foreman cooper in the• dock, said
the prisoner was knocked down repeatedly, kicked, and
trampled upon, and that he was dragged across the road
in a most barbarous manner. Mr. John Budgett, jun.,
surgeon, saw the whole affair, and said no violence was
offered to the prisoner, and that he was treated humanely
and with proper discretion. Mr. Paget had no doubt of
what had happened, and was not sorry he had adjourned
the case for the attendance of Mr. Budgett. The evidence
of Clark was worthless and untrue, and in a fit of excite-
ment got it into his head that the police were ill-using a
man who was very disorderly and violent, whose clothes
were not soiled, and upon whom there was not a mark.
He sentenced the prisoner to seven days' imprisonment.
PICKING POCKETS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.—Three
well dressed women, who gave the names of Jackson,
Thompson, and Phillips, but who refused their addresses,
were charged, at Westminster police court, with picking
pockets in the above Abbey on Saturday last. From the
evidence of two detectives, who are specially employed in
the Abbey in consequence of the numerous robberies com-
mitted there of late, they watched the prisoners acting in
concert, and from their manner they were suspected, and
followed to a public house in the neigbourhood. . After
leaving a detective searched the closet and found three
purses, one containing money and the others emptied of
their contents.—Remanded for inquiries.

WOMAN'S VOICE.—In a lecture delivered by Mr.
Glaishier at Edinburgh the other evening, he gave a
sketch of some of his balloon ascent experience, and
mentioned one circumstance which appears to require
explanation. He had noticed generally that the voice of
a woman was audible at the height of about two miles,
while that of a man never reached higher than a mile.
He assigned no probable solution as to the cause of this
phenomenon.

A FORTIFIFD LONDON.—The extraordinary effeot
in the duration of this war produced by the fortifications
of Paris has drawn the attention of all thoughtful profes-
sional men to the subject of fortifying capitals gene-
rally. It has also, we are happy to learn, drawn the
attention of our own War Office, and it is understood
that the Fortification branch there, under Sir F.
Chapman and Colonel Jervois, C. 8., has been directed
to prepare a careful scheme for defending London.
That the gentlemen who live at ease in Lan-
cashire may not be alarmed, it is well to state that Mr.
Cardwell is not likely to propose any vote on this account,
or anyone else; to begin a series of Forts Valerien. All
that will be clone will be to make such a careful study of
the hills which enclose this great basin of the Thames in
which we live,. that we should have a ready-made plan
whereby to turn our navvies on to the intrenching of a
set of rough field-works should the Continental fleets and
Continental armies unite to imperil our metropolis. In
such a ease we should have the labour and the gulls, and
should try to create a big Sebastopol.—Army and Navy
Gazette.