The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-31 00:00:00

CROWN SIDE.

This morning, at ten o'clock, Kt' Justice Erskine took
his seat in the Crown Court, and after the Grand Jury,
of whom Sir R. Brooke was Foreman, had been sworn,
the Learned Judge delivered his charge.
The calendar is unusually heavy for the summer as •
sizes ; no less than sixty-five prisoners, several of whom
are for very serious offences. There are five charged
with wilful murder, one with rape, two with stealing
I,oooh in banknotes at Samtheach, and no less than
fourteen with burglary, some of an aggravated nature,
There are also eleven for taking part in the recent elec-
tion riots in the county, and the calendar is distinguished
by several cases of stabbing, and one nameless offence.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE:
MANSION-HOUSE.
The LORD IVIAvon stated that he felt pleasure in men-
tioning that he had received a Post-office order for two
guineas, to be applied to the purposes expressed in the
following letter :
Halifax, Yorkshire, July 27, 1841.
"My Lord,—Having seen in the newspapers of yes-
terday an account of the most cruel and detestable hoax
of sending to a literary gentleman in great necessity a
fictitious check for 201. signed • W. Day, and as I am, I
believe, the only one of that name at all connected with
literature, I have, from various circumstances which
have recently occurred, every reason to believe that this
hoax forms part of a disgraceful and systematic attempt
made for some time past to bring my name into disre-
pute, in consequence of a threatened exposure on my
part of some very disgraceful publishinr, transactions,
which will be duly brought to light, and in the hopes
that amongst literary men the inference might be that
was an author of so heartless a piece of villainy.
Will you
utherefore, my Lord, through the medium
of Mr. Hobler, jun., do me the favour to assure this lite-
rar‘y‘ gentleman,Vwhoever he may be, of my deepest sym-
pathy for his situation, and my regret that the griev-
ances of (if not the real " Simon Pure " endeavoured to
beimplied) at least one of the name, will not allow him
to contribute more than the enclosed Post-office order
for two guineas towards alleviating a distressing position,
augmented by the machinations of some contemptible
individual.
"I have the honour to be, my Lord, with the greatest I
respect, your Lordship's most obedient servant,
"CHARLES WILLIAM DAY.
" To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor."
The Ion]) MAYOR in handing the post-office letter to
Mr. Hobler, jun., observed that the writer adopted a

very honourable and decisive mode of. proving that it
was quite impossible to attribute to him the heartless
and scandalous trick upon the unfortunate gentleman
to Avhom the fictitious check had been transmitted, and
whose condition of body and mind was described as most
deplorable.
A young woman of respectable appearance, who
seemed tollabour under some affection of the head, was
placed at the bar by a policeman, who stated that she
leaped or tumbled from a boat into the Thames, and
would most assuredly have been drowned if it had not
been for the exertions of the waterman, who narrowly
risked his t.nvn life to save hers.

John Spooner stated that he was a waterman on the
City side of London-bridge. The young woman hired
him to row her a short distance in the river. She ap-
peared to be unwell and uneasy, and he told her to keep
steady, but she suddenly started over the side of
the boat, and immediately sunk. It was with the
greatest difficulty he saved her, on account of the tide
and the craft, and was very near going over himself in
the struggle to get hold of her, and if that had been the
case they would in all human probability have been both
drowned.

One of the Inspectors, and others of the police who
witnessed the conduct of the poor waterman, said that
they had given up the girl for lost, and that if the skill
and coolness which the waterman had exhibited had
been wanting at the moment, the world would not have
saved her.

The father of the girl said that she was of an ex-
tremely timid disposition, and had been some time sub-
ject to fits, and that he entertained no doubt at all that
a fit was the cause of her fall into the water.
The LORD MAYoa--But from what the waterman says
I must infer that she jumped in.
The waterman—She certainly did, my Lord. I can't
tell you with what difficulty I got her up.
The young woman said that she got into the boat,
thinking that a row on the water would do her good,
but that when she got on a little way she found her
head get worse, and she tried to stand up, but how she
fell overboard she could not at all say. One of her fits
must have come upon her.
The LORD MAYOR—WeII, your father will take you
home. You owe your life to this poor waterman, whose
conduct cannot be too highly commended. I am happy
to see the police so anxious as they have shown them-
selves upon this occasion to come forward and do jus-
tice to the exertions of the man, and care shall be taken
to inform the Humane Society of the case.

PREVENTION OF THE IMPOSITION OF CAB-DRIYERS.—
By the direction of. Alderman Wilson, Mr. Davis; of the
house of Davis Brothers, opticians, of New Bond-street,
made an experiment of the efficacy of a very extraordi-
nary instrument, in the Egyptian Hall and Saloon of the
Mansion House. The instrument, which was stated to
be their invention,is intended to prevent the imposition
of cabriolet-drivers, a most notorious class, by indicating
the distance their vehicle travels. This is shown on a
small face by an index, or hand, inside the vehicle. The
means by which the object is accomplished appeared,
Mr. Davis, said, to be as simple and self-evident as it
was original, although almost incredible until the ar-
rangement was known. He then drew a miniature cab-
riolet from the Egyptian Hall along the Saloon to the
front of the Mansion House. After having set the in-
strument he subsequently measured the distance with a
string, and requested the Alderman to compare the
number of yards indicated by the measurement with the
hand on the face of the instrument, when, much to the
surprise of those who witnessed the experiment, the
index and string completely agreed.
The same instrument could, the inventor stated, be
applied or removed to any vehicle, being totally indepen-
dent of the size of the wheel.

The manner in which the thing is effected, as far as
we could collect from the description, is as follows :
The measurement of the ground is transferred from the
wheel of the carriage to a small roller kept in the peri-
phery of the wheel by a spring, and by a mechanical
contrivance,. known as a hook's-joint, which is attached
to the sliding spindle of the roller. This mechanism ac-
commodates itself to the eccentricity of the wheel and
to every motion of the carriage, and renders it impossi-
ble to be put out of order. The measurement of the
ground being thus transferred to the roller, is again
transferred to some mechanism, similar to the works of
a watch, inside the carriage, and thus the number of
miles the vehicle has travelled is accurately indicated.
Alderman WILSON, at the close of the experiments,
expressed very great admiration at the extraordinary
ingenuity of the invention, which would, he conceived.
be hailed with delight by the public, and heard of with
dismay by the cab-drivers.
Mr. Davis said that no doubt the drivers would be an-
noyed by the application of this instrument, although it
would certainly increase their business, inasmuch as vast
numbers gave up all idea of travelling in cabs in conse-
quence of the extortion, which amounted, upon the
fairest calculation, to about 50 per cent., and which had
led to the intolerable abuse so frequently and loudly
complained of.
. Alderman WILSON said that the invention struck him
as most valuable, and he felt convinced that Government
would, in a case where the advantages were so palpable,
pass a law to make it Compulsory upon the proprietors of
public vehicles to carry such checks upon imposition, as
the improvement was decidedly a metropolitan one. He
also was persuaded, that the first Cab Company that
adopted the instruments would meet with infinitely more
encouragement than the vehicle's would receive which
were determined to adhere to the old plan.
We understood Mr. Davis to state that each vehicle
could be supplied with an instrument at a price very
little exceeding one pound.

QUEEN-SQUARE.
Thomas Haggerty, a respectable looking man, was
charged with attempting to commit suicide.
Policeman 53 B stated than on the previous evening,
about six o'clock, he saw the prisoner descend the steps
on the Surrey side of Westminster-bridge, and attempt
to throw himself into the water, but he was staid by a
waterman. Witness expostulated with him on his rash
conduct, and advised him to go home, as he was drunk,
but defendant refused, and swore that neither the con-
stable or any other man should prevent him from drown.
ing himself.
The defendant said he was so drunk as not to be
aware of what he did. He had no wish to destroy him-
self, and was thankful that his life had been saved.
Mr. BURRELL ordered the defendant to find sureties.