The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-15 00:00:00

LATV AND POLICE.

A CAREFUL CABSIAN.—At Guildhall Police Court a
curious incident occurred. A cab-driver named Clayton,
on Monday evening, gave himself in charge because he
felt unable to take care of his cab. When brought before
the magistrate on the following morning he explained
that he was seized with a sudden giddiness, and fearing
an accident, went to the station•house and gave himself
in charge. The magistrate commended his prudence and
discharged him, observing that, as he was quite sober,
he might have been driven home instead of being
locked up.

"A PERSON."—A gentleman, who thought he had been
overcharged by a cabman, applied on Tuesday to the
magistrate at Bow-street for a summons. His little baby,
only seven weeks old, had been charged for as a " person,"
and he had always understood that a baby was not counted
as a fare. Mr. Flowers said that a baby was a " person,"
and could accordingly be charged for.'
RAILWAY TRAVELLERS.—At Greenwich a person named
Burr avas summoned for travelling in a first class carriage
on the North Kent line, having paid for a third class
ticket only, and refusing to pay the difference. The solicitor
who appeared for the railway company asked that the full
penalty might be imposed, as the company was so often
defrauded in this manner. A penalty of 40s. and costs
was imposed, and immediately paid.
ATTEMPTED MURDER OF A WIFE.—At Birmingham,
on Tuesday, a lithographer, named Spratt, was charged
with attempting to murder his wife. lie had been drink-
ing for some days, and after striking her on the head with
a poker he tried to strangle her, and then to cut his own
throat. Be was remanded for a week.
THE WINDSOR EXPRESS TRAIN.—A man in the
employ of a farmer, at Feltham, Middlesex, was charged,
on Tuesday, with negligently driving a waggon and
horses across the Reading and Windsor railway line.
The driver of the express train from Windsor to London
saw the defendant driving his waggon and horses on the
down line, and, with the aid of the guard and fireman,
succeeded in stopping the train a few yards from the
waggon. Mr. Superintendent Potter said that a gate
had been erected by the company for the accommodation
of the defendant's master, who was a large farmer
at Feltham. Notices of caution were posted on the gates.
The defendant said he forgot to look at the signals. lie
was fined 40s. and costs, the fine being paid by his em-
ployer. Had the train not been stopped, a serious acci-
dent must have occurred, as it was going at full speed.

THE FEARFUL TRAGEDY IN EAST
LONDON.

Several accounts appear of the fearful tragedy in Brom-
ley (mentioned in a Central Press Telegram yesterday).
Ono report says :—Four persons were suffocated by the
fumes of charcoal. This method of causing death has been
rarely adopted in England, but has been very common in
France. The victims are Jonathan Judge, aged 33 years,
Mara Ann Judge, the same age, man and wife, and their
children, Charles, aged 10 months, and Louisa, aged 4
months. Jonathan Judge was a driller in the employ
of Messrs. Dudgeon and Co., ship builders, of
whose premises were destroyed by fire
three weeks ago. Since that Judge, in com-
mon with many others, has been out of employ, and
this circumstance is supposed to have preyed on his mind,
and in the anticipation that he should come to want and
be driven to seek guardian-law relief, he determined to
sacrifice himself, his wife, and children. The family
inhabited the whole of a cottage, containing four small
rooms, No. 18, Bromley Cottages, St. Leonard's-road,
near the new church of St. Michael and All Angels,
Bromley. The house was very comfortably furnished;
and although Judge has not received any wages for
three weeks there were no indications of want,
and the whole family seemed happy and contented before
the fatal occurrence. On Monday night, Judge, who
-was a member of the Foresters' Society, went to his club-
house, and when he came home appeared partially intoxi-
cated. No notice was taken of this, because it was his usual
condition after leaving his club. The family retired Wrest
at the accustomed hour, atleastsuch is thesupposition of the
neighbours, but they were not stirring at the usual time in
the morning. Suspicions being aroused, the place was
broken open by the neighbours, and stretched on a bed in
their sleeping-room were the lifeless remains of the
whole family. In the middle of the room was a tin pan
on a large tray filled with the expiring embers of char-
coal, with the fumes of which the man, his wife and two
children were destroyed. The chimney leading from the
fire grate, the door and window of the room, and every
crevice and hole which could admit air was stopped up by
paper being pasted over it. The mother was lying on the
middle of the bed undressed, and her two children also
undressed alongside of her, while Judge was stretched
across them. Dr. Brownfield, divisional surgeon of police,
was soon in attendance, and said there was no doubt that the
four persons were suffocated by the fumes of charcoal, And
that they had been dead several hours. Inspector Smith on
searching the house found bread, flour, and other provisions.
In fact, there were no indications of want. On a table in
the room below there were two pieces of paper n Lich had
been written upon. One bequeathed the old family clock
to Judge's brother, and tl.e other contained a becinest of
the rest of the furniture and effects to several relatives.
Both were in the handwriting of Judge. One was signed
by him alone ; the other was signed by him and his wife,
implying that she was a willing victim, if not a sharer in
the crime.

Another report supplies further particulars as to tho
cause of the crime :—" During the great depression in the
shipbuilding trade Judge was for a period of ten months
wholly unemployed, one of his children died, and the
infant Charles was born. These combined cir
cumatances threw the family into extreme dis-
tress, but they never applied for any relief, even though
they were often dependent upon the kindness of a neigh-
bour for food. Their principal resource was the pawnshop,
but a local club, the Great Eastern, gave some assist-
ance on the occasion of the child's death. Some six weeks
ago Judge got work at Messrs. Dudgeon's shipbuilding
yard, and he and his wife were quite overjoyed, thinking
that their. misfortunes were all at an end. But in three
weeks the. great fire took place at Messrs. Dudgeon's, and
Judge was consequently again thrown out of work. This
new blow seems quite to have overwhelmed Judge and
his wife, as they fancied that the painful ten months'
struggle which they had just gone through was about to
recommence. A fortnight ago Mrs. Judge, while recount-
ing her troubles to her next-door neighbour, Mrs. Farmer,
of 17, Bromley-cottages, said that her husband the night
before had said something in a very peculiar way. He
said, according to her, 'I know a way of ending the whole
thing. It is a very easy way that I have heard of. It is
not my life or your life that I care about, but I do care
about the children.' Mrs. Farmer remarked that men
' talked queer' at times to their wives, but Mrs. Judge
said that he looked at her so curiously that she wat afraid
that he meant something."

The wife's signature to the paper is said to be a forgery
of the husband ; the theory adopted by the neighbours is
that Judge drugged his wife with beer before lighting the
charcoal. This surmise is hardly, however, consistent
with the fact that the wife appears to have been awake,
and to have struggled with death ; her face was contvedad
very much.

Prince Alamayo, the son of Theodore of Abys-
sinia, is to be seen nightly in knickerbockers, eating ices
and heading tire table at the GreatEastern.—Englishmau's
Weekly Journal (India).

THE PUBLIC HEALTH.—Last week the rate of
mortality in London was 26 per 1,000, in thirteen other
large towns cf the United Kingdom it was 27, and in
Paris 24. In the English towns: 452 deaths were
referred to diarrhoea, an increase of three upon
the declining numbers returned in the five
previous weeks. In the metropolis 2,127 births and
1,601 deaths were registered, the latter being 269 in
excess of the estimated number. The deaths
from zymotic diseases were 604, the corrected
average number being 440. Five persons died from
smallpox, 38 from measles, 179 from scarlet fever, 8 from
diphtheria, 70 from whooping•cough, 12 from typhus
fever, 22 from enteric fever, 18 froM simple continued
fever, and 185 from diarrhea. The disuioe last mentioned,
as well as measles and scarlet fever, vvas on the increase.
',Three persons were killed by horses or vehicles in the
streets. The mean temperature during the week was
63.5, or 5.7 above the average. The range of temperature
in the seven d.►ys slightly exceeded 28 degrees.

WHITWORTII SCHOLARSMPS.—The following is
in list of the successful candidates, with their ages, occu-
pations, and the number of walks they obtained, ‘,ho have
been reported to the Science and Art Department rs
entitled to the ten Whitworth Scholarships of £lOO a see.r
each: Greenwood, William if., aged 2. engineer,
student at the Mechanics' Institution, Manchester„ 143
marks; Hearscin, Thomas A. aged 23, engineer, student,
'royal School of Naval rclfritecture, V:7 marks ;
Hopkinson, John, :-•;(2,1 f,tlip,t. at Camhridge,
_ .

lA marks ; Elgood, Thomas S., aged 21.
mechanical ei,gincer, I. i.a 4h-r, and Ovreti's CoPege, Man-
chester, 127 marks; Greenhill, George A., aged 21, stu-
dent at Christ's Hospital School and Cambridge "Univer-
sity, Hi 3 marks; Brittle, John R., aged 23, engineer
student at Sir Walter St. John's School, Battersea, 113
marks ; Philips, Thomas W., aged 23, student at
British School, Milwall, and Royal College of Science,
Dublin, 100 marks ; Sennet, Richard, aged 21; engineer,
student at the Royal School of Naval Architecture, 98
marks; Buckley, Robert 8., aged 21, engineer, student
at Merchant Taylors' School, 07 marks ; Leeds, Charles
E., aged 23, 13,A. Mcr), stOelo at Oxford Vniyelity,
itiistakF,

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