The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-21 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN SUGAR COMPANY.—This
company has been in compulsory liquidation for a king
series of years, under the old Act of 1848, and its affairs
were brought forward for final settlement in the chambers
of Vice-Chancellor Malins yesterday. The liabilities
were about £70,000, and the assets under £40,000, and a
dividend of 11s. in the pound had already been paid.
The application was to authorise the payment of a final
dividend of 5d., amounting in the gross to £1,423. The
usual affidavits of verification havinc, been presented, the
application was acceded to, and the company will,
therefore, be speedily numbered among the things of the
past.
ACTION AGAINST A PEER.—In the Court of Queen's
Bench, Lord Rivers was the defendant in an action to
recover a very large sum of money upon several bills of
exchange dated 1852. The defendant pleaded,
amongst others, the statute of limitations. The
action was brought -by Mr. Edward Ransom Clarke.
' It was stated there had been a Chancery suit between
the parties, andthat a deed for £20,000 had been compro-
mised by the payment of £16,000, and Lord Rivers be-
lieved the bills sued on had been paid under that arrange-
ment. Sir J. Karslake, who appeared in the case, said
that no claim had been made for the bills, which
the defendant believed bad been paid, until after the
death of his nephew, and he succeeded to the title and the
estates. He submitted it would be better to enter a non-
suit and argue the question of law on leave to move to set
it aside. It would be impossible to try the facts by a
jury. Ultimately, at the request of the parties, his lord-
ship nonsuited the plaintiff with leave to move on the
point of law, and in the event of the court deciding in
favour of the plaintiff, the amount due to him to be as-
sessed by an. arbitration. The plaintiff was accordingly
non-suited.

CHARGE OF FRAUD.—Simon Jonas and Lewis Sterne,
Jews, were brought before Mr. Lushington , at the Thatnes
Police-court, charged with attempting, by false and fraudu-
lentpretences, to obtain 204 boxes of soap value £lO 4s. 3d.
from Mr. John Parker, dealer in soap, of Parkfield-street,
Islington. The prosecutor met with Jonas about six
weeks ago opposite the Royal Exchange, and said he
would introduce him to several persons and transact
business with safety. Jonas subsequently introduced
Sterne, and, in consequence of what the former said, he
supplied Jonas with soap of the value of £lO 4s. 3d.
The order for the soap was received through
Jonas from Sterne. The , terms were cash on
delivery. All that the prosecutor ever received was £2.
He had since applied to both prisoners frequently for the
money, but without success. Lillystone and Alfred
Smith, detectives, searched the house of Jonas in High-
street, Stepney, and on doing so found 172 boxes of
scented soap. The officers asked for a remand, and
said they should have more and important evidence to
adduce. The prisoners were members of the notorious
" long firm." They had offered the prosecutor £4 in
addition to £2 already received, but was refused. Remanded
accordingly.
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A SINGULAR STORY.—John Turner, a butler, and Alfred
Cummings, a police-constable, have been charged at
Wandsworth with maliciously damaging the property of
Mr. Valpy, of Wimbledon, and also with stealing several
bottles of wine. It seemed from the account
of the prosecutor's son that last Thursday morn-
ing about four a.m. the family came home from a
party, and were let in by the butler, Turner. An hour
or two later he was roused by a crashing noise, and on
going downstairs with his father found the pier glass had
fallen. The dining-room windows were broken, and the
butler was intoxicated in the pantry. The two gentlemen
finding this, went back to the drawing-room, and found
that the chandelier and lamps were broken, glass shades
and ornaments overthrown, &c., at a damage of about £lOO.
A pepper-box and mustard-pot which had been thrown
through the windows, were found on the lawn, and a bottle
of wine was found in the shrubbery. The police-constable
in custody was found coming out of the house. It turned
out this was the constable on duty there who was missed
that morning by his inspector. On a search being. made
he was discovered asleep in a neighbouring garden with
four bottles of wine upon him. The prisoners were both
committed for trial.

CHARGES CF EMBEZZLEMENT AND FORGERY AGAINST A
SURGEON.—Francis Horne Scaife was brought up on
remand before the Richmond magistrates, charged with
embezzling, on the 2nd of June, the sum of £5 13s. 6d.,
and a cheque for £7 10s. 6d., the property of William
Anderson and his partner Richard Hassan, surgeons, of
Richmond, his late employers. On searching the prisoner's
portmanteau, the constable found a cheque, dated 7th of
June, 1870, for £2BO, and another cheque, dated" June 4th,
for £323 75., both purporting to be signed by Wm. Ander-
son, M.D., and payable to Francis Scaife, Esq., as
bearer ; and a cheque for £7 10s. 6d., signed by W.
Knight, as executor of T. J. Knight, Esq., deceased.
The evidence of Dr. Anderson went to shew that the pri-
soner was provided with a cash-box, in which it was his
duty to enter all receipts, and on the 23rd of May witness
handed the cheque for £7los. Gd. to the prisoner to keep
till the next settlement, and on the 28th of
May the sums of £2 and £5 13s. Gd. were
handed to the prisoner by witness, but neither amount
appeared, nor had they been paid to witness at the last
settlement. The cheques found on the prisoner for
£323 7s. and £2BO, were in the prisoner's handwriting,
and were both forgeries. At this stage, Inspector Ayre
applied for a remand, stating that an important witness
was not in attendance. The bench, after a consultation,
granted a remand.

REVIVAL OF THE CASHIER EPIDEAIIC.—ThO late
cashier of the Bank of Bengal, Akyab, has been con-
victed and sentenced to transportation for life. Of the
RBO,OOO, of which he defrauded the bank, 846,000 have
been recovered.
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a. vw • •
The Liberte states that at a Cabinet Council held
in Paris on Saturday the question of the Saint Gothard
was raised, and that the Ministry decided that the
convention concluded between Switzerland, Prussia, and
Italy does not possess the importance of a political ques-
tion.
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The Right Rev. the Bishop Mcllvaine, of Ohio,
delegated by the New York Conference Committee, has
arrived in London, and has met various noblemen, clergy,
and others at the Evangelical Alliance House, where a
report was made of the progress of arrangements in the
United States. The Bishop stated that from communi-
cations received from various parts of Europe and else-
where, the Conference was likely to be very largely and
influentially attended.
The average number of persons living in a single
house in London is 8, in Berlin 32, in Paris 35, in St.
Petersburg, 52, and in Vienna 55. For every 1,000 in-
habitants the average annual mortality in London is 24,
in Berlin 25, in Paris 28, in St. Petersburg 41, and in
Vienna 47. The average proportion of illegitimate .
legitimate births is in London 4 per cent. ; in Berlin 16
per cent. ; in. Paris 20 per cent. ; in St. Petersburg 26
per cent. ; and in Vienna 51 per cent. It is evident from
these figures that in those cities where the population
are much restricted in houSe-room, not only is the mor-
tality higher, but the number of illegitimate births is also
greater.
THE GREEK QUESTION.—The brigandage ques-
tion in Greece is far from being satisfactorily settled, and
a few days since six brigands, who were to have been exe-
cuted at Corinth, escaped from their prison. These have no
connection with the 'Marathon group, since they have been in
prison for three years under sentence of death, time
enough one would imagine for their sentence to have been
carried out. Their escape seems to indicate that these
worthies are not very closely watched, and an Athenian
paper asks what Mr. Zaimis intends to do with
the 83 brigands now in prison and whether they are to be
allowed to escape. With such an impression abroad it
is plain there is not much hope of amendment, but though
every one declares a change to be absolutely necessary, there
is kgeneral fear that the accession of the Koumoudoros or
Bulgaros party will obstruct much needed reforms. There
is another party leader who might be summoned. M.
Deligeorges, but the King is unwilling to see him
again in office (he has been Prime Minister), because
he is not personally liked by the representatives of
the foreign Powers. The constitution of the country is
not thought to be so much at fault as the vices of the ad-
ministrative system and the incapacity and vacillation of
the Ministers. Public respect for law, whether civil or
constitutional, is the great want of Athens, and until that
is gained no changes will suffice.