The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-13 00:00:00

A "CASUAL" PRISONER.

A reporter of the Toronto Daily Globe newspaper, in.
fluencal, no doubt, by Mr. Greenwood's doings as an
" amateur casual," managed to get into Toronto gaol dis.
guised as a criminal, and to spend twenty-four hours there
in the character, for the purpose of knowing something of
gaol life from the prisoner's point of view. How
he managed to get in is thus alluded to in
an article in a recent number of the Globe, entitled
" Twenty-four Hours within the Walls of Toronto Gaol.'
" By the aid of a little dust-throwing, and of a warrant of
mmitment obtained from an obliging alderman, who was
quite innocent of the scheme, I on Saturday afternoon
found myself pretty well disguised, and as villanous a
looking customer as need be, at the entrance of the
gaol, in charge of an official, in the character of a
`remand.'" After describing his first sensations on entering,
his first rencontre, and the horrible stench in the corridor,
he followed the crowd of prisoners to a large bare room, in
which there were some forms, with basins and spoons
about two feet apart on the forms. " The prisoners lifted
the basins and spoons, and sat down to eat supper
on oatmeal porridge, ' without milk, sugar, or molasses.'
`Can't you eat it? whispered my companion. `No,' said I,
whereon he changed basins, and soon emptied the second.
' Supper's over,' shouted a turnkey before many had finished,
and instantly all had to leave." The experience of that
night explained the stench of the corridor where our
casual and two others passed the night in cold and misery.
The breakfast was a lump of badly-cooked bread, a little
salt, and a pint of water. Sunday school is next described,
and the hypocrisy of some of the vilest prisoners
in the presence of the teachers, who were of both sexes.
The women teachers appeared more anxious to induce the
prisoners to promise to plead guilty when tried than for
anything else. The dinner of barley soup and bread was
unpalatable to the writer, and long before many
had finished the order was given, " Down dishes."
Most of the prisoners who spoke about themselves blamed
drink for their sufferings, and nearly all of them said they
could not help it, that they wanted moral power. One
said, " Look at me, the husband of a decent wife, the
father of seven children, the son of as well-living a man as
ever lived, whose heart would break were he to see me
here; and yet lam here, and all through drink. My
God ! My God ! My wife !" And he went away
wringing his hands. Sunday night came without the
arrival of the reporter's bail bonds, and he had tried to
confess to the governor his real character, so thoroughly
tired was he of gaol life. The governor said he would
hear what he had to say to-morrow morning, and, writes
this amateur prisoner, " I was herded down stairs. I
once more got hold of a pail, entered the corridor,
and passed into a cell, which was kindly vouch•
safed to me without my taking a bath. I asked for
a little water, but even this small luxury was refused in a
surly manner, and I shook up my straw as best I could in
the dark. I lay down with rather a feeling of irritation
at the delay of my bail bonds, but in a few minutes I
heard my nom de guerre shouted in the corridor ; my cell
was unlocked, and in a few minutes more I stood in the
pure, fresh air of heaven, a free man. And if ever I enter
the precincts of a gaol again, either as a `casual' or in
any other capacity, depend upon it it shall be because I
can't help it."

LAW AND POLICE.

- - -~---

A LIBEL CASE.—A trial which excites great interest in
commercial and financial circles has been commenced
at the Central Criminal Court, before Mr. Commissioner
Kerr. The accused is Mr. Ellisen, a gentleman of good
standing and position, who, as chairman of a committee
of shareholders in the Ottoman Railway Companh
addressed a letter to Lord Stanley, reflecting upon the
directors in respect to their management of the affairs of

the company, for which he is now indicted as a false,
scandalous, and malicious libel.
AN AWKWARD MISTAKE.—At the Central Criminal
Court, on Tuesday, Morris, who is charged with fraudu•
lently attempting to obtain a large sum of money from a
gas company upon claims arising out of the fire at Saville
House, Leicester-square, surrendered to take his trial. it
may be remembered that on the previous day, being out
on bail, he did not appear when called on, and his recog•
nisances were estreatecl, as well as a warrant issued for hil
apprehension. His counsel explained that his non.
surrender arose out of a mistake as to the day, but the
Recorder said that the warrant must take its course, and
he was at once handed over to the gaoler.
THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION.—An important decision
was that in the Court of Common Pleas, on Tuesday, in
respect to the petition against Mr. W. H. Smith, the
sitting member for Westminster, who claimed that the
petition should be taken off the file because it did not
furnish the particulars required by the statute and by the
rules framed under it. It was contended that this gave
very insufficient time for the defence, but the Lord Chief
Justice refused a rule, and the court adhered to the orders
laid down. A similar decision was given at Edinburgh in
the case of Mr. Grieve, the member for Greenock.
A. STRIKING CONTRAST.—It has often been said that

the law has more regard for property than for persons, and
two recent decisions confirm this assertion. A letter'
sorter, charged at the Central Criminal Court with steal'
ing a letter and forging an order for £lss., was sentenced
to five years' penal servitude. At the Worship-street
Police-court, a woman crossing the road at Mile-end W
knocked down by a furiously-galloping horseman and
much injured. The offender escaped with a penalty
of 40s.

MR. BEWICKE AGAIN.—Mr. Bewicke, of Threepwooa
Hall, Northumberland, who has already made himself
conspicuous in the law courts, made two applications of
an unusual character on Tuesday in the Court of Queen's
Bench. The first was for a rule calling upon Mr. Justice
Keating to she w cause why a criminal information should not
be filed against him for libel. This application was refused
on the ground that such a motion could only be made hi
counsel. Mr. Bewicke then moved for a rule to stay pro-
ceedings in the Divorce Court till an action which he luta
brought against Sir James Wilde for malversation of
justice had been tried. The judges held that they had 11°
power over the Divorce Court, and this motion also VII
refused.

SUICIDE AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.—A fearful
tragedy has just taken place in the Rue d'Angounme di;
Temple, Paris. A land measurer appears to have lived
on bad terms with his wife. More than once they had
parted. Less than a week back the wife returned to het
husband after a fresh separation. The peace was of Olaf
duration. A few nights since two pistol shots were heard
in the apartment, and on an entry being forced the
husband was found to have fired a bullet into his wifell
head, and then blown out his own brains. The v 1,0,104
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