The Sun.
London, England, 1834-01-06 00:00:00

THAMES POLICE.

Yesterday Robert Evans, a fellow of doubtful
character, belonging to Woolwich, was brought
before Mr. BRODERIP, on a charge of stealing, or
receiving knowing to be stolen, a large quantity of
good fish, consigned to Bilingsgate-market. The
case excited a good deal of interest amongst the
fish-salesmen, who have been severe losers through
the fraudulent practices of the masters and crews
of the fishing-smacks, who break bulk before they
arrive at Billingsgate-market, and dispose of the best
of the cargo at very low prices.
The principal fish-salesmen and smack-owners
were in attendance.
Mr. Daniel Blyth, a surveyor of Thames-police,
stated that about four o'clock that morning he saw
the prisoner going ashore in a large boat, which
was filled with fish, at the Bell Water-gate, Wool-
wich. He had previously seen witness and his
men, and appeared in a great hurry to get on dry
land. lie boarded and took possession of the boat,
which contained eighteen pairs of soles, the primest
he ever saw, fifteen score of plaice, of which ten
score were alive (that is, quite fresh, the others
being not quite so good), a large cod, nine score of
maids, a few states, eighteen whitings, and two
bushels of dabs and gurnards. All the fish were of
the best quality. There were also in the boat a
piece of salt beef, such as is used in smacks and
vessels which go short voyages, a quantity of sea
biscuits, and a fish trunk marked "Albion."
The officer pointed out the fish to the Magis-
trate. They were lying in the boat on the office

causeway.
Mr. BRODERIP—What is the man, is he known ?

Blyth—He is, Sir. He is a Woolwich man, not
a waterman, as.his dress betokens, but is sometimes
employed in the sand barges, and at others is a
hawker of fish. He buys of the fishing-smacks, as
they are coming up the river, arid the masters and
crews sell to him at a low price, and illegally break
bulk.

Mr. BRODERIP—Did he say where he got the
fish ? Blyth said that when he stopped the pri-
soner, he said he got the fish at Barking-reach,
and that he was going to London. His boat's nose
was then on the land, and he asked him what he
did at Woolwich. His reply was that he was
going in to get some beer, though at that time
there was not a public-house open. He then asked
the prisoner what vessel he got the fish out of, and
he swore with an oath that he did not know. Wit-
ness remarked that he must know, and he said it
was the Favourite. Witness then told him his
conduct was so suspicious, that he must take him
into custody, and on their way to the office the pri-
soner said, " Shall I tell you the truth about these
fish?" Witness told him he might do as he pleased,
and cautioned him not to criminate himself. The pri-
soner then said, " They are all my fish, and I was
going to sell them in Woolwich." He had before
that said he was employed by another man to take
them to London. He asked him who he bought
them of, and he answered "Of some one I don't
know, out of a smack in the Halfway-reach ; they
called me, and I gave them 2/. for the fish."
Mr. BRODERIP—What are those fish worth ?
Mr. Richard Forge, a fish salesman, said the fish in
the boat was worth at least 81.; they would have
fetched that, if not more, by selling them wholesale
in Billingsgate.
Blyth-1 asked the prisoner how he accounted
for the beef and the biscuits, and he said the cap-
tain' of a collier gave it to him for bringing up a boy
with the ship's papers. He said he picked up the
fish trunk five or six weeks ago.
Prisoner—l put the boy into a hatch-boat, your
Worship.
Mr. BRODERIP—I don't believe a word of it.
The parties who have sold you fish for 21., which
would have produced four-times the sum in the
London market, have rendered themselves liable to
heavy penalties. They have not been content with
breaking bulk and selling the fish, but they dispose
of the ship's provisions.
A fish Salesman—Those are all picked fish, we
have not had such good soles in the market to-day.
The masters and crews of our smacks, or those whom
we employ to bring up the fish in hatch-boats, after
the arrival of the smacks at Gravesend, select the
best fish, and dispose of them before they get into
the Pool.
Prisoner—Those here fish were honestly got,
and I intend to make a reglar good profit of them.
—( A laugh.)
A Salesman—Yes, you did, and no mistake-
-400 per cent. is a " reglar good profit."—(Much
laughter.) You would have made 101. or 121. by
the fish.
Mr. BRODERIP said, he would put a stop to thin
system of breaking bulk so detrimental to the fair
trader, if he could. There could be no doubt how
the fish were obtained, and the many stories told by
the prisoner showed that he had been concerned in
an illegal transaction. There were circumstances,
however, which rendered it necessary that the pri-
soner should be remanded for a week. It was due
w the fish salesman who had been robbed to adopt
that course, with a view to detect other parties.
The fish seized must, of course, be instantly sold at
Billingsgate.

-
CHOLERA AT WAKEFIELD.—During the
last fortnight cholera has raged in the House of Cor-
rection, Wakefield. There have been four fatal cases.—
Doncaster Gazette.
At Chalford, Gloucestershire, on Tuesday,
the roof of a house fell in, burying in the ruins a father
and mother and three children. The two former were
killed, but the children escaped with little injury.— Oaford
Journal.
A REJECTED LOVER.—There is something
in njection. It unhinges one, relaxes all his muscles, and
produces a state of feeling very nearly allied to that which
a man feels who is to be hung, from the time the scaffold
is knocked lose until the rope snatches him. During that
single moment of descent, liver, lights, &e., endeavour to
go out through the mouth.—Sketches and Eccentricities
of Colonel Crockett.
On Tuesday this city and neighbourhood were
visited by one of the most violent hurricanes that has been
known for years. It began about twelve o'clock, accorn •
panied by a torrent of rain. About two the rain ceased,
and the wind somewhat abated ; but about four o'clock it
increased to a most dreadful hurricane, and continued till
about twelve o'clock, when it began gradually to lessen.
A great deal of damage was done in various parts of the
city to walls, paling, chimneys, and roofs. We have hear
of no personal injury having
,been sustained.—Norwich
Mercury.
LIVING WITHOUT FOOD.—Animals sup-
port want much longer than is generally believed. A
civet cat has lived 10 days without food, an antelope
20, and a very large wild cat also 20, an eagle
has survived 22 days, a badger one month, and
several dogs 36 days. In the Memoirs of the Aca-
demy of Sciences, there is an account of a bitch,
which having been accidentally shut up alone in a count-
ing-house, existed for forty days without aoy other
nourishment than the stuff on the wool of a mattress, which
she had torn to pieces. A crocodile will live two months
without f tot], a scorpion three, a bear six, a chameleon eight,
and a viper ten. Vaillant had a spider that lived nearly a year
without food, and was so far from being weakened, that it
immediately killed another large spider equally vigorous,
but not so hungry, which was put in along with it. The
celebrated Juhn Hunter enclosed a toad between two stone
flower-pots, and found it as lively as ever after 14 months.
Land tortoises have lived without food for 16 months, and
a beetle is known to have been kept in a state of perfect
abstinence for three years, when it contrived to make its
escape. There is also a well-authenticated account of two
serpents living in a bottle without any food for five yctre.
—Encyclopmdia Britannica, new edition.