The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-10 00:00:00

they might, and with infinite advantage. Why
not set apart plo'a of ground like Vincent--square, -
tha'olayground, of the scholars of Westminster, at -distances from each. bther, ail ov4r'ton'(.l-6ri,LT(Cy-
for athletic sports—say a mile asunder—or the e 7,7-
.periment might be tried more sparingly at first, ...
and public playgrouos be located at larger dis-.
tances.
The bulk of the space;might be reserved for foot . .
ball, hurling, and cricket ; part for ,skittles,qUoitE.,
and putting the stone ; a place set apart for roe- •
ping races ; a sort •of gYmnasium erected in one .
corner, something like, only_on
,a larger scale, that•
at the font- of -PiitnrosOkill, opposite- the biidge
leading into Regent's.. Park ;
.football might_he 011
one evening,-cricket'and rOuntlrs on the next, but....
so arranged that two games inconipatible with eaclii
--
other should be prohibited on the same night, be-
Cause if all sorts of gainer were allowed, together.a •
space much larger than Yincent,nuare would be
_required-. • linwever, ,it might besso arranged that
wheri , the next nearest public 'playground had. 'T
,cricket, -the other one might have football, and- .;
-vice versa.

The great subdivision of labetir which ever attends
the progress. of manufacturing industry, and which
has a constant tendency to reduce man to a mere
machine, might/thus be, to some extent, success-
fully counteractedthe physical Capabilities of the
town populations would Le_ effectually developed
—legitimate scope would be given to 'the
quadru-
minous activity and restless energy of the juvenile
portion of the populations that might draw them
from the haunts of vice.:. Sets of tails, batsquoits, wickets, Sze., might be kept at all the public
playgrounds, hireable fer some trifling sum, as one
halfpenny an hour. .

_
Indeed we cannot see any good reason why
gymnasiums, like that at Primrose-hill, should not
be at once put up in all theparks. -In, Hyde-park
it might be placed behind the barracks or in the
sand-pit, and so in all the-otherparks suitable sites
m ight-roadily-be- found— Of course cricket, foot-,
.ball, and hurling would be inadmissable in any of
the parks ; but we do think some provision for
.gymnastic exercises would be quite in unison with
the real objects of the
,parks, and could not fail to
!afford great amusement not only to. the performers,
;but also to the spectators.
, Saturday ought throughout the country to be a
half-holiday. All work should be -sippended at
noon, or at all events by tw o'clock in the after-
noon of every Saturday, the wages -of the week
having been paid not later than seven o'clock on
the evening of every Friday. This would afford the
labourer some time forratx4tion, and he would re-
turn with redoulded vigour to his work on Monday.
The 6. hopkeeping por' ion of the cpinaunity would
not suffer the sliglitest diuiinution of business
from closing early on Saturday, as there, would be
precisely the same amount of money in the Lands
of purchasers, only they would have less time to
make them in, but there would be precisely the
same amount of cash expended, and in precisely
the time articles, as at present. Merchants would
be unaffected by it, nor, in short, would any per-
son suffer the slightest diminution in the amount
of their sales or profits, save and except, perhaps,
those who employ labour in-the ditect production
of commodities. It is a well-known fact that many
mechanics habittially neglect to work on IVronday.
Now, it is a great evil, and one that tends mate-
rially to diminish the productiveness of labour,
that some should be absent from work when others
are engaged. A half-holiday on Saturday would
induce nearly all this class cheerfully to come back
on Monday, and this, combined with the increased
energy and renewed vigour of the working classes,
resulting from a Saturday half holiday, would pro-
bably compensate and counterbalance any loss
arising from the respite from- work. Indeed, it
may be doubted if - the gross production of the
country would be at all affected by it ; we are cer-
tainly inclined -to think it would not, as the phy-
sical strength of the population would be decidedly
improved, their mental capacity enlarged, and
their moral energy incredibly stimulated.

GREAT ROBBERY.- EATRAORDINA RY

CASE.

At Folkestone Petty Sessions, yesterday, an ottracr•
dinary charge of robbery was preferred against Mr.
Hastier,Augustus manager of the Pavilion Hotel, for
stealing 1,5001., the moneys of a gentleman named
Alfred de la Motte, who described himself of Paris. The
case had been privately gone • into by the magistrates,
who remanded the accused till yeSterday, preparatory to
his committal.

Mr. Lewis, of Ely-place, London,- attended on behalf
of the prisoner... .
The evidetide Of the prosecutor, as interpreted, was to
the following effect :—Oa Sunday week last he arrived
at Folkestone by the Boulog,.e steamer, and put up at
the n Hoti-1. He had a leather bag with him,
coLt siring s onevih -re about 430,0001 r. ; he could not
Mae exackly the sum. 'He gave to. the, proprietor,
Mr. Breach, to take chnrg.) of. The next day, -however,
Mr. Brach t Id him, as he was going from home, he
would leave the money to the care of his manager, Mr.
Hastier (the prioni-r). whom he introduced at the time.
On the following Thursday the prosecutor, who had
go.ie to D iver on business, returned to the hotel, and
asked for his money. He was tolii h, clout i not have it
until Mr. Hayti r had returned from Loinion, where he
tad gone. Feeling ut_eass about the money, lie re-
queskd h a portfoliii and leather bag to be searched for,
When discovered, -it- was fiend that the .:whole of the
notes (E, g ish end Prei.ch) had b •en abstrac, ed.
Fr rot o witness ait appeared Wat the prisoner,
so •ii of er Mr. Tr a,,h hat impose i oft iiitri.4he custody
.of the money, r-udd nly left the hotel fsr London, kit
telezraphe,l saying he would he back in the
course of he f rit4 ht. Not making lippear'
suspic one were exc !ed, anti on the di,ci.very
being macLi of taa n tea bet g ab,racted, inf,rnalion
giv.:n to Mr. 'Stees, the Fuperiiites,&nt if the'
Fo'ke,toiie t cults, whin graphed the
particulars of the robbery to all part; e f the kingdom.
0.. Friday night Mr. Reharda Civtoin hearse azent)
discovered the prison -r at Dover, muffled up wajeing
for a steamer fi r Belgium. He challenged him, and
gave him into the cu t.)(sy uf an officer who happened to
• be near, and on searching him the whole of the stolen
notes were found in his posstssion, some. sovore g►:e,.a
handsome bag, containing every requisite for the toilet,
and a pa;sport for Belgium.
()tiller evidence having,been adduced, .
Mr. Steers, the superintendent, made an application
for a further remand of the 'prisoner, which sVas granted,'
and the prisoner was remanded ; the
-prosecutor being
bound in the sum of 1,0001. to appear and prosecute.
Since the-apprehension .of the accused, several L iridon
detectives have, by the instruction of Sir Richard Mayne,
been engaged at Folkestone and. Dover, making inqu'riis
into the case; the result has been to place an attachment
on the money recovered and placed in -the hands-.0f....the
French Embassy. A local paper states that M. de la
Motto bad had the'maney entrusted to him in 'France
to invest in French securities ; but that he :had brought
it t ) England, along with another man's wife, and that
the metropolitan police had been telegraphed' with to
stop the notes, The affair has created tutioh'tenation
at Folkestone and Dover. . .

TIIE LATE GALE IN THE CLIANIVEL.

LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY.

Accounts from all parts of the coast conticue to pour
into the Underwriters' Room, which show that the re-
cent hurricane has left many traces of its course.
The George A. Hopley, Capt. Maloney, which sailed
hence for Charleston on the sth July, is ashore near
Portrush, and will become a total wreck ; crew saved.

The Isaac Webb, Bryer, hence to New York, is lying
against the rocks at the entrance to Amlwch harbour.
Her passenger,, 200 in number, all landed. In the vie.
Pent gale yesterday morning she lost sails, and was put
o❑ shore for safety. Sbe has a good deal of water in her
lower bold, and some floor timbers are supposed to be
broken, but it is expected both ship and cargo will be
saved.

The Isle of Man steamer, King Orry, left Liverpool
for Douglas, Isle of Mao, at 2 p.m., on Monday, and
when about t n miles from the island, at 2.30 a.m: yes.;
terday, her intermediate shaft and a crank pin broke.
She was fallen in with about 15 rni'es from the islantrby
the company's steamer Tynwald, at 11 a.m., while on
her passage from Douglas,and towed back safely to
Liverpool.
`""THE STORM OF MONDAY NIGHT.—Tbe gale of Monday
night appears to have been very destructive. Its ef•
fects in the neighbourhood of the Mersey have already
been stated. On the Perel,rokeshire coast formidable

-7eather vtas t xperiencid. Two c.)asting..yessele. were
driven on shire near Abermitur. an,l it is f.ared.the
ere of one of them perished. A echoonei cared ilia
P.ir plew 1, hArnd to Chet,ter from Swansea, a, e
ashore near Fishguard, but the crew. escaped. Duri. g
ihe height of the storm two vessel' were driven on iha
rocks in St. Bride's Bay, and became wrecks. A short
iistimce to the northward of H.)lyhea t the schooner
Adelaide, belonging•to Workingt tn, was lost, with Air.
Potts, the master. On the Anglesey coast there was
almost a hurricane. Etrly
in the morping a large Ame-
rican ship, Isaac Webb, Captain Bryer, which had left
Liverpool .on the previous day for New York, with 320
emigraotq, went ashore near the entrance of the harbour
of Amlwch. The whole of the passengers, &c., and
their baggage, were saved. Several fishing cobles left
Redcar, on the north-east coast, about the middle of the
day, for their ordinary avocation. The weather was
then fine, but in two or three hours the wind chaaged to
the N.E., blowing furiously, with a very heavy sea.
The cobles immediately male for land, but three or four
are missing, with their crews. One of the cobles was
washed empty ashore near the Redcar Cliff. Seve-
ral large coasters are reported to have been wrecked on
this district of coast. Some few miles to the northward
of Staithes, near Redcar, four vessels were carried ashore
by the gale.. Two schooners, named the Eaglet and
Lively, of Whitby,- bound 'to Hull,' shared a similar fate
between Red Car and the Staithes.

CRYSTAL PALACE. —ONE SHILLING DAY, Wednesday,
July 9.—Admissions on payment, 6,243 ; ditto, by sea.
son tiokets, 654 ; total visitors, 6,897.