The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-19 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

A DISHONEST RAILWAY CLERE.—John Charles Abel,
lately in the employ of the London and South-Western
Railway Company at Jersey, was brought up at the
Southwark Police-court, charged with absconding from
his situation and stealin,-, upwards of £lOO, the property
of the company. The offence was committed at Jersey;
conseqently the prisoner was delivered up to an officer to
ba taken to that island. On his arrival there he will be
proceeded against by the public prosecutor of Jersey.
DETAINING AN ALLIGATOR.—A waterman named Rock-
ling applied to the magistrate at the Thames Police-court
for advice. He had caught an alligator about
four feet long in the Thames? and had taken
it to a dealer in curiosities m Ratcliff High-
way, who refused to give it up. The magistrate said
the dealer had no right to detain the alligator,
and he would send a policeman to speak to him. If it
were not given up he would grant a summons.
ROBBING A HUSBAND.—At the Warrington police-
court Samuel Darby was charged with stealing certain
moneys, the property of Jacob Smith. There had
been an improper intimacy hetween the prisoner
and Smith's wife, and the prisoner had used
his influence over the woman to obtain £143, which she
had received from her husband to pay into a Building
Society. They agreed to elope. Prisoner gave her £2O to
go on first to a coffee house in London, promising to
follow next day. She went there, but he did not keep his
promise, and on the let of April she was found there by
the husband, with whom she returned, confessing all.
A warrant was issued against Darby, who stands com-
mitted for trial.

A MEDICAL CHARLATAN.— A man, styling himself
" Professor Allen, vegetable chemist, lecturer on medical
botany, anatomy, &c.," has been sentenced at Glasgow to
sixty days imprisonment for representing himself to be a
duly qualified. practitioner.

A " DAY'S WORK."— A novel case has occurred in the
Glasgow Small Debt Court, in which the number of
hours necessary to constitute "a day's work" was the point
in dispute. The employer contended that the workman
having commenced work at mid-day, and stopped at
six o'clock, he was bound to work the next day till
mid-day before he could claim the day's work. The
sheriff, however, repelled this plea on the ground that the
man having been allowed to commence at mid-day, had
worked till the closing hour, and thus completed his day's
work.

ADULTERATION OF BREAD.—A baker named Johnson
has been charged at Bolton with using alum to adulterate
bread. Samples had been purchased at his shop and ana-
lysed. The chemist who analysed the loaves said that in
the first he found 1-6th of an ounce of alum--equal
to 74.41 grains, and in the second 1-7th of an
ounce, equal to 59.03 grains. On Saturday last
be received another 21b. loaf from Inspector
James, and discovered 65.66 grains of alum m it.
The object in using it was to enable the baker to employ
a very inferior kind of flour, and to give to the bread re-
sulting from that flour the appearance of having been
made from flour of a very superior quality. Alum enabled
the bread to hold a larger amount of moisture, so that a
baker conld get a greater number of loaves from a sack of
flour containing it than he could from a sack where its
presence was wanting. The defendant, who declared the
whole fault was the miller's, was fined £lO and costs.
DOG FIGHTING.—Two men were superintending a dog-
fight at Skipton on Sunday, and when a police constable
appeared they set the dogs upon him, and attacked him
so violently that he made his escape with difficulty. As
they had previously been convicted of Sunday gambling
they were sentenced to two mouths' hard labour.

ALLEGED ROBBERY DY SOLDtERS.—TWO soldiers belong-`
ing to the 9th Lancers, stationed at Hounslow, have
been charged at Brentford with stealing several articles
from a room at the George th Fourth Inn,
Hounslow. One of them climbed into a bedroom of the
inn from the street and handed down the articles to
another soldier not in custody. The other prisoner stood
by, and when his comrade was apprehended he attempted
a rescue.

SYSTEMATIC ROBBERY BY A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.—
Mary Ann Brown and Sophia Brown, her mother, have
been charged with stealing a large quantity of drapery
goods and other articles. John Cook, a detective, went
to the dwelling of the elder prisoner, and first saw the
younger prisoner. He said " I have come to take you for
stealing a roll of chintz from Mr. Long,uehaye's snop."
He searched the house and found the roll of chintz he was
in search of in a drawer in the front parlour. He also dis-
covered in the house and seized four saucepans, a fire
shovel, a coal scuttle, a set of fire irons, a large pewter
goblet, four children's hats, a pair of goloshes, two pairs
of stockings, a pair of garters, eight pairs of socks, two
pots of pomade, a bottle of hair oil, a picture frame, a
doll, three pieces of soap, two packets of cosmetic, a box
of seidlitz powders, a tin box, five pairs of earrings, two
pairs of buckles, five rows of coral beads, a brush, and a
roll of stair cloth. All the articles were quite new. and
had never been used. They were now identified, as having
been stolen. The accused were remanded.

The Rev. G. 11. G. Anson has been appointed to
the Archdeaconry of Manchester, recently vacated by the
elevation of Dr. Durnford to the Episcopal Bench.

Mr. and Mrs. Howitt are about to leave England
for a year in Switzerland and Italy. Mr. Howitt is en-
gaged on a volume of Quaker History and Biography.
THE SUN CONVALESCENT.—A careful scrutiny
with a powerful telescope has elicited the circumstance
that there were then only four small spots distinctly
visible on the face of the sun. The serious blotch on
the left cheek was disappearing, and yesterday was not to
be seen.

An overseer in the Public Works Department at
Nagpore, India, recently brought an action for breach of
promise of marriage against a Mrs. Craddock, formerly
Miss Cook, of Dublin. A verdict for the plaintiff was
given, and damages, which were paid by the lady's
husband, Mr. Craddock, were assessed at 491 rupees.
A dastardly attempt to upset a passenger train on
Friday is reported from North Shields. The line was
blocked by stones and wood, but fortunately the obstruc-
tion was not sufficiently heavy to effect the purpose for
which it was intended. Subsequently a private of the
93th Regiment was caught while destroying the rails on
another part of the line, and it is believed that the dis-
graceful attempt in the first instance was also his work.
One of the policemen was severely injured by the prisoner
while he was being taken to the po'ice-station.
UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN.-The first examination
for women was held in this institution last week when
twenty-three candidates presented themselves.
THE PRUSSIAN NEEDLE GUN.—A contributor to
the Allgemeine Militeir-Zeitung writes :—" As you know,
two improved models of the needle gun are on trial, which
both aim at increasing the rapidity of firing, with as little
waste a' possible. From fifteen to twenty shots may be
fired by them in a minute, so that the apprehensions of
those may be quieted who are alarmed as soon as they
hear another army can load more quickly than ours.
and many others are inclined to shrug our shoulders when
we hear the nonsense so current on this subject. All who
have any experience know that two, or perhaps three,
well-aimed shots are the most we can obtain from infantry
in the field."

Nearly two thousand acres of furze, besides a
number of plantations of trees in the New Forest, have
been destroyed by fire during the last few months.
Most of the fires have originated, it is believed, through
mischief.

The servants and bedmakers of Oxford and Cam-
bridge, following the example of the undergraduates, are
arranging for an inter-university servants' eight-oar race
and cricket match, both of which will take place at
Oxford this year.
MORE (31111:15-rIAN CHARITY.—The Roman Catho-
lics desire to have their quid pro quo in regard to Mr.
Newdegate's proposed inquiry into monastic institutions,
as we learn from the Weekly Register that when Parlia-
ment meets after the Easter recess, a member of the
House of Commons intends to ask for a special com-
mittee to inquire into the happiness or otherwise
of the wives of clergymen of the English Church. During
the last twelve months no less than seven married gentle-
men holding Anglican orders have figured in various law
courts under circumstances which speak but little for the
manner in which they observe what we call the Sixth, and
Protestants call the Seventh Commandment ; and it is
greatly to be feared that scandals of the same kind are but
too prevalent throughout the counti y. Some clergymens'
wives too are very unhappy at the practice their husbands
have of hearing ladies' confessions, and this matter also
will be inquired into by a parliamentary committee. This`
inquiry is to be supplemented by another one,lleht
ichwill
investigate the state and condition of all Protest n
board-
ing schools for young ladies throughout England. Private
lights, private property, or private feelings are in no way
to be respected in these investigations, and any person,
no matter who, that likes to come forward and tell his or
her tale, will be weleomto do so. No cross-questioning will
bo allowed, no testimony will be given on oath, and no
one cast be called to account for any slander he of she may.
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