The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-05 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Sept. 4.

WESTMINSTER.—THE AUDACIOUS AMERI-
CAN SWINDLE.—The following relative to this
widely-spread swindle have been handed to us by
Mr. Paynter _

" London, Aug. 31, 1860.
" Sir,—The newspapers show that you have in a most
laudable manner taken the trouble to put the public on
their guard against the audacious American swindle. I
venture to address you for the purpose of stating that ever
since the exposure of that rascally trick to extort money, I
have had a strong impression that the scheme is much like
a fellow's, whose handwriting and person I am familiar
with, and who, if identified, will be amenable to punish •
ment of some sort in this country. You are quite at liberty
to; use this letter for any purpose that will aid in stopping
the wicked course of this scoundrel. I' enclose my card.
" Cheltenham, Aug. 26th, 1860. E. S."
" Sir,—l am induced to send you this letter (an enclosure
returned to the writer by Mr. Ingleby, of the Athenaeum
Club), which I received in April, about six weeks after my
husband's death, addressed to him, on seeing mention of
such in the Times of the 23d inst. Owing to my husband's
character, as well as his former life being so thoroughly
I known to me, I believed it to be a falsehood, and sent no
money, but I had no idea others were subject to such cruel,
suspicions being cast on their dear departed ones, and was
much surprised, as .well as very thankful, to see it made
public. I write this merely to let you know of another in-
stance of this diabolical system of swindling, which it truly
is when slandering the name of the dead and blaspheming
God's name in common. I beg you or other good men who
have authority in the matter to leave no means untried to
expose the authors of it. Surely some one will be ready to
rise on the side of the wiiows and fatherless, to prevent
them being subject to such treatment, and I hope you will
not let the subject drop here, but will succeed in setting on
foot an investigation into the matter. May I beg you to
return the note of Clara •Mostyn.' in the envelope ad-
dressed to me. You will see it is almost word for word the
same as one Mr. James sent for publication.—l am, Sir,
yours faithfully, E. P.
" C. M. Ingleby, Esq."

GREENWICH.—COMMITTAL OF A BURGLAR.
Joseph Cronin, 28, a well-known thief, was charged
on remand with burglariously entering the premises'
of Mr. Long, landlord of the Golden Fleece public -
house, Deptford, and stealing various articles.
It appeared that on the morning of the 15th ult.
the house of the prosecutor was discovered to have
been entered during the night, and a quantity of
articles of wearing apparel, a black leather bag,
and a large and peculiarly-shaped knife stolen. Some
three or four hours before the discovery of the rob-
bery, the prisoner asked a man at a neighbouring
night coffee-house to purchase a shirt, which he
declined doing, the prisoner being afterwards seen
to throw a knife, which proved to be the one stolen,
down a grating. He afterwards left the neighbour-
hood, and nothing more was seen of him until a few
evenings since, when police-constable Membery,
216 R, met him at the London-bridge station of the
Greenwich Railway, and on arriving at Deptford
by the train; he took him into custody.
The prisoner declined making any defence, and
Mr. Maude committed him for trial.
ROBBERIES BY A DOMESTIC SERVANT.—EIiza
Ansell, aged 16, was charged on remand, with steal-
ing a sum of ss. 21d., the moneys of her master,
Mr. Charles Gardiner, landlord of the Greycoat
Boy public-house, Greenwich.
The prisoner had been six months in the service
of the prosecutor as nursemaid, and had no right to
be in the business part of the house. On several oc-
casions money had been missed from the till in the
bar, and the aid of a detective officer was obtained
to find out the thief. On the following morning,
shortly after six o'clock, before the house was
opened, the prisoner was observed to come down
stairs from the nursery into the bar, and take the
amount of money named from the till, upon which
she was secured and taken into custody. There was
also a second charge of felony against her—that of
stealing a small gold brooch, while in the service
of another person, the brooch being discovered in
her box when searched after the above robbery by
Margetson, 373 R.
In answer to the magistrate,
The prisoner pleaded guilty to both charges.
Mr. Maude said the prisoner had been guilty of
very serious offences, having committed robberies
at two places where sh; had obtained respectable
situations as a domestic servant, and he should,
therefore, without committing her for trial, pass
upon her a severe sentence. His worship then
ordered her to be imprisoned and kept to hard
labour for six calendar months.

WOOLWICH.—A PAINFUL CASE.—Margaret
Low, 16 years of age, residing at White Horse
Cottages, New Charlton, was placed at the bar on
a remanded charge of stealing a dress and bonnet,
the property of :her sister, Jane Ann Low, a young
woman of respectable appearance.
The case was one of a very painful description,
The complainant, who appeared overwhelmed with
grief, and gave her evidence with much reluctance,
stated that herself and the prisoner lived at home
with their mother, but recently the prisoner had
conducted herself in a very bad manner. A short
time since she took a gold ring from the finger of
an imbecile old lddy residing in the house, and put
a brass ring is its place ; witness being compelled
to take the gold ring out of pawn, in order to save
her sister from being sent to prison. On the morn-
ing of Sunday week witness went to church, and
during her absence, the prisoner, who would never
keep ary decent clothing, went out attired in a
dress and bonnet belonging to her. The prisoner
did not return all day, and on the same evening
witness saw her about to enter a house of ill-fame.
As the prisoner refused to leave the house; and de-
clared that she would never return home again,
witness, in order, if possible, to save her sister from
a life of misery, gave her into custody for stealing
the clothing.
The evidence having been corroborated,
Mr. Traill expressed his opinion that, under the
circumstances, the complainant had acted quite
right in giving her sister into custody. She was
evidently a badly-inclined girl, and the course he
should now adopt would be to send her for trial,
which might afford an opportunity for, her admis-
sion into a reformatory institution.
The prisoner, who exhibited a very careless man-
ner, was then removed.

HAMMERSMITH.—IMPUDENT ROBBERY OF
A. GOLD WATCH.—CAUTION TO HOUSEKEEPERS.
—A tall, dark-complexioned young man, named
William Weaver, was brought before Mr. Ingham,
charged with stealing a gold watch, value £l2, be-
longing to Mrs. Mary Ann Watson, of No. 1, Cam-
bridge-road, Hammersmith.
The evidence went to show that on Thursday.
afternoon last the Prisoner called at the prosecu-
tor's house with a basket full of glass and china,
and inquired if she had any old clothes to exchange
for anything she might choose from his basket.
She told him that she had none, and he then asked
if she had any old parasols. She went up stairs
and brought him down one, and upon her intimat-
ing that she had another he offered her five plates
for the two. At that time he was standing outside
arid his basket stood on the door step. She went up
stairs for the second parasol, and when she returned
the prisoner had disappeared, but had left his bas-
ket of glass and china behind. Upon going into the
kitchen she immediately missed her gold watch
from over the mantel shelf. It also appeared that,
from the position in which the prisoner stood at the'
street door, he could see the watch hanging up in
the kitchen. Information of the robbery was given
to the police, who took possession of the basket,
and the diligent inquiries they instituted led to the
apprehension of the prisoner.
Upon Mr. Ingham asking the prisoner if he had
any questions to put to the prosecutrix, he said it
was very hard that he should be identified in that
manner. He had always borne a respectable char-
acter.

Mr. Ingham said he should remand him for a
week.

As he was being removed a female in the body
of the court called out to him to apply to his wor-
ship for the basket of china to be delivered up.
ILowever, he took no notice, and he was removed
to the cels.

WANDSWORTH.—DAKING PLATE ROBBERY.
—George Price, a' man who described himself as a
shoemaker, was charged before Mr. Ingham with
stealing a quantity of plate and other articles from
the dining room of the Grange, in the Chase, Wands-
worth•road.

It appeared that shortly before two o'clock on
Monday afternoon the servant laid the cloth in the
dining room for the children's dinner, and not long
afterwards the prisoner was seen to jump out of the
window with a cruet stand in his possession. The
window had been left open a little way, and a per-
son standing on the lawn in front could see the in-
side of the room. The prisoner dropped the stand
on the lawn as he ran away. A constable followed
him across some allotment grounds, and he was ob-
served to throw a pair of lady's boots into an open
sewer, and also some plate. When captured a
gold brooch and two silver'spoons were found upon
him. A plated spoon was picked up close to him,
and in the sewer were found the boots, a cruet, and
two plated spoons.
:Hrs. Ellam, the occupier of the Grange, identi-
fied all the articles as her property, and said they
had been taken from the dining room. She also
stated that some of the bottles and silver castors
belonging to the cruet-stand were missing,
It being stated by the police that there an-
other charge against the prisoner,
Mr. Ingham remanded him for a week.
A DISTURBANCE AT "LITTLE VAUXHALL.—
Three youths, named James Morley, Joseph Mor-
ley, and James Mullens, were placed in the dock,
before Mr. Ingham, charged with wilfully destroy-
ing some illumination lamps.
James Leckett, a general dealer, of High-street,
Vauxhall, said be supplied the illumination lamps

at Little Vauxhall, the .water-eress.grounds in th e
Wandiworth-road, and on. Monday •night he at-
tendeoras usual, when he was called to the entrance
where there vv4sa. star, and he found four or five of
the lamps destroyed. The damage was about is.
Mr. James Evans; the proprietor of the grounds,
said he happened.to he near the on Mon-
day night, and hearing bad language used, he went
to the 'spot and saw the, prisoners, jumping up.at
the star and pulling, down the lamps.
The prisoners, in &fence, said they were only
hard-working chaps.
Mr. Ingham said the witness Leckett was a hard-
working chap, and he was not to have hie lamps
broken. • • • .
The complainant saidhe had had upwards of 150
lamps broken in this way.
Mr. Ewens said it was the-pilictice for the boys
to come there and have .what they called a lark, by
breaking the lamps.. • • •
..
Mr. Ingham ordered. them to pay .Is. each for the
damage done, together with a fine of 55., or seven
„days imprisonment with hard labour. He can-
. tinned them if the breaking •of the lamps were re-
peated the punishment would be much more severe.

.HEALTII OF LONDON DURING THE
WEEK.

(From the Registrar-Get erar s Weekly Return.)
The deaths in London declined to 937 in the
week that ended August 25 ; they rose to 1,018 in
the week that ended last Saturday. If 1,287 deaths
from cholera, that occurred in the 35th week of
1854, are withdrawn from the returns to be com-
pared, it will be found that the average number of
deaths in the weeks corresponding with last week
of the years 1850-9 was 1,045.; and this average,
corrected for increase of population, becomes 1,149.
Hence it appears that the public health is now
comparatively good ; for the deaths were fewer by
131 than they would have been under the average
rate of mortality as calculated for the end of
August.

The births last week exceeded the deaths in the
same time by 831.
Smallpox continues to exhibit a low mortality ;
last week the deaths from it were seven, which is,
the average number for the last six weeks. Diar-
rhoea was fatal in 91 cases; the average of corre-
sponding weeks in the last 10 years, corrected for
increase of population, is 173 ; of the 91 all except
seven occurred to children. There were also five
deaths from cholera or choleraic diarrhoea, all,
with one exception, among infants. A gardener,
aged 51 years, died at 17, Lavender-road, Battersea,
of cholera (six days), consecutive fever (five days).
The deaths from measles were 43, of which three
occurred in St. Mary, Paddington, three in Belgrave
sub-district, three in the Hackney-road sub-district,
three in St, Mary (St. George-in-the-East), and
three in Bow. Scarlatina was fatal in 37 cases, six
of which were in Poplar. A boy, aged eight months,
died of acute eczema ; a young woman of chlorosis.
A laundress died in the Paddington workhouse of
fever and diarrhoea following cold and destitution.
A widow died at the age of 94 years. A child was
scalded by overturning a can of hot water. Three
infants were suffocated in bed. A labourer, aged
42 years, was suffocated in the cabin of a barge in
the London Docks. A boy died at the age of 15
weeks of idiotcy from birth—atrophy. He was one
of 10 children born of healthy parents in the coun-
try ; six of these died of brain disease in infancy ;
three, of whom two survive, grew up idiots; one is
quite healthy.

- Last week the births of 944 boys and 905 girls,
in all 1,849 children, were registered in London.
In the 10 corresponding weeks of the years 1850-
59 the average number was 1,586.

, -
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.537 in.
The reading fell from 29-75 in on Monday to 29.19
in on Thursday. The mean temperature of the air
in the week was 58.0 deg, which is 1.3 deg below
the average of the same week in 43 years (as deter-
mined by Mr. Glaisher). The thermometer in the
shade rose to 70 deg on Sunday, and fell to 46.7 deg
on Saturday. The range of temperature in the
week was therefore 23.3 deg. The mean daily
range was 174 deg. The difference between the
mean dew-point temperature and air temperature
was 5.9 deg, showing the amount of dryness in the
air. The mean degree of humidity was 82, com-
plete saturation being represented by 100. The
wind blew from the south-west. Rain. fell to the
amount of o'Bl in, most of it on Monday and Tues-
day. It fell on every day except Friday ; heavily
for 35, minutes on the evening of Saturday, when
there was considerable electrical disturbanoo. Tho
mean temperature of the water of the Thames was
604 deg.