The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-24 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE DANGER OF A LlE.—Alfred Tharbey, who was de-
scribed as a buyer of grocers' empties, and who had been
in prison a fortnight, was brought up on remand 'before
Mr. Paget, at the Thames Police-court, charged with
being in the unlawful possession of 461bs. of coffee and
501bs. of sugar, supposed to have been stolen or unlaw-
fully procured. On the morning of the 6th instant
Joseph Newman, a police-constable of the H division, met
the prisoner in the New-road, Whitechapel, carry-
ing a large bag, containing 461bs. of raw coffee, which
he carried into a chandler's shop in Thomas-street,
Stepney, mid offered it for sale at sd. per pound. New-
man took him into custody, and seized the coffee. The
prisoner said he was met by a man who gave him a shilling
to carry the coffee. The constable afterwards found
50 lbs. of sugar concealed in the prisoner's stable, which
he also seized. Mr. Charles Young, for the prisoner,
said the sugar could not be made the subject of a pro-
secution under the Act of Parliament, with which
the magistrate coincided. The coffee was a job
lot, and bought of a grocer for sd. per lb. The
prisoner dealt in sugar bags, coffee barrels, tea
chest tins, and other things called in the trade grocers'
" empties," and it was a pity he perverted the truth by
telling a lie, when questioned by Newman. Mr. Young
then called Mr. Edward Kirk, a corn dealer, who said
the prisoner always bore the reputation of an honest,
straightforward man. Nathan Nicholas, 36 H, said the
prisoner was an honest, sober, and industrious persevering
man. David Grer, 28 H reserve, gave the prisoner a
similar character. Mr. Paget believed the coffee was
stolen. A grocer had stated it was worth 10d. per pound,
and the prisoner asked but sd. for it. He sentenced the
prisoner to two months' imprisonment and hard labour
for the unlawful 'possession of the coffee, which he de-
clared to be forfeited.

THE IRISH AMBULANCE AUTHORITIES.—At the. Bow-
street Police Court Patrick Macdonald, one of the mana-
gers of the French and Irish Ambulance Corps, was
charged with violating the Gth section of the Foreign
Enlistment Act. The prisoner, and two men
named Cotter and O'Hagan, had an office in
Bolt-court, Fleet-street. Edwin Henry Page, sailor,
stated that he was engaged there, it being stated that his
duties would be to carry the wounded off the field. He
and seventy others embarked in the John Bull, but, on
arriving at Havre, they were toll there was no ambulance
corps, and they would have to fight. Witness refused,
and returned home by'the aid of the British Consul. Sir
Thomas Henry refused to accept bail, as it appeared to
him that seventy persons had been defrauded. The pri-
soner was remanded. Warrants are out against O'Hagan
and Cotter.
GENTLEMANLY AMUSEMENT.—At the West Kent Quar-
ter Sessions Robert Charles buncombe Shafto was
charged with maliciously damaging a first-class railway
carriage on the South-Eastern Railway. On the 10th of
January the prisoner and another person, who were both
drunk, travelled in a first-class carriage from Charing. cross
to Dover. At Tunbridge Junction the carriage was seen
to be uninjured, but when the train arrived at its destina-
tion the carriage was found to have been completely wrecked
—the elbow rest had been torn away and thrown out, and
the cushions and foot-warmer, and the carriage very mate-
rially damaged. The prisoner was committed for trial at
the Dover Sessions, but it was found that the magistrates
there had no jurisdiction. • He then went on the Conti-
nent, and upon his return was apprehended at his father's
house at Durham, about three weeks since. Mr. Barrow,
on behalf of the prisoner, expressed his contrition, and
offered to pay the whole of the damages and costs of the
prosecution, and give one hundred guineas to the funds of
the railway guards of the company. The court sen-
tenced the prisoner to one mouth's imprisonment as a
1 first-class misdemeanant.

Mr. George Moir, LLD., the eminent lawyer and
literary writer, died rather suddenly on Wednesday after-
noon at his residence in Edinburgh.
The South London Press states that the detective
police have received information of the existence of three
•baby-farming establishments in Peckham, and very
shortly the owners of those establishments will be arrested
and brought before the magistrates.

The mail and passenger service to Australia and
New Zealand by the new route, via San Francisco, which
was commenced in May last under a temporary postal
contract with the Colonial Government, will, it is an-
nounced, be continued under a permanent arrangement ;
and a superior class of beats, it is said, will replace those
now plying between the coasts of California and
Australia.

CONSERVATIVE DEMO N STRAT lON. n Thursday
evening a Conservative gathering was held at Bucking-
ham, the occasion being the invitation of M. Du Pr 4,
M.P., to the Conservative electors of that division to a
dinner at the Town-halL Upwards of 200 were present,
among whom were Mr. J. G. Hubbard, Admiral Sir J.
D. Hay, Colonel Pratt, Captain Fremantle, Mr. Egerton
Hubbard, Rev. W. F. Norris, Rev. C. Coker, the Mayor
of Buckingham, Mr. J. K. Fowler, and most of the Con-
servatives of the district. The speeches were almost
entirely complimentary and non-political.
THE ROYAL BETROTHAL.—There is one criticism
upon the Royal Marriage Act, 12 Geo. 111., c. 11, which
may be made, and which seems to us to shew that the
Act must be amended at a future date. The ouly de-
scendants of George 11. exempt from the Act are " the
issue of princesses who may.have married, or may here-
after marry, into foreign families." Therefore the chil-
dren of the Crown Princess of Prussia, of Princess
Louis of Hesse, of Princess Christian of Schleswig-
Holstein, and of the Princess Teck will be exempt from
the act. But 'as the Marquis of Lorne cannot be held to
be a member of a foreign family, it would seem that the
issue of his marriage with the Princess Louise will be sub-
ject to the act, and that the Crown may, at a future day,
enjoy the right to dictate its wishes as to any matrimonial
alliance.songht to be formed by the house of Campbell.—
La:w Journal.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.
The United Service. Gazette says—The First Lord of the
Admiralty—whose health, we are happy to say, is much
improved—Sir Sydney Dacres, K.O. 8., Captain Lord
John Hay, RN. , C. B. , Mr. Lushington, Second
Secretary, and Mr. Wolley, Chief Clerk, are at
their official posts at the Admiralty. Lord
Camperdowu, Sir Spencer Robinson, K. C. 13., and Mr.
Baxter are not in town. Captain C. Murray Aynsley is the
officer selected by the Admiralty to command H.M.S.
_Monarch, vice Captain Comerell, C. 8., V.C., appointed
as Commodore in command of the squadron on the Cape
of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa station.—The
Royal Engineers have lost no less than five subaltern
officers by drowning within the last four months.—Lieu-
tenant-General the Hon. James Lindsay, Inspector-Ge-
neral of the Reserve Forces, has returned from Canada,
where he has been specially engaged for some months
past, and resumed his duties at the War Office.
The Army and Navy Gazette says ;—Mr. E. J. Reed,
C. 8., late Chief Constructor or the Navy, caught a severe
cold in returning from the court-martial at Portsmouth to
Manchester, and has ever since been confined to his room
with a severe attack of rheumatics, from which he is but
very slowly recovering.—The iron-clad ship Hercules is
to be taken into dock at Portsmouth forthwith with
a view of having her centre of gravity positively
ascertained. Staff Assistant-Surgeon W. Collins, M.D.,
has been selected to fill the vacancy amongst the medical
officers of the Brigade of Guards caused by the death of
Assistant-Surgeon H. Turner, Scot,' Fusiliers. Dr.
Collins, it will be remembered took first place at the
competitive examination of the Army Medical Depart-
ment in October, 1866. He has since served in Canada,
and Was recently attached to the Ist Life Guards.
The Broad Arrow says :—" With reference to the unfor-
tunate fracas in an infantry regiment on which we
recently commented, we now learn that the Horse Guards
have peremptorily called on the Major, who, by-the-bye,
was the aggrieved party, to go on half-pay, notwithstand
ing that he has at length expressed his readiness to stand
a court-martial."