The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-12 00:00:00

ESTMINST ER.

AN EXTRAORDINARY FANCY FOR PLANTS AND
T;LowEßS.—Emmn. Clarke, a showily-dressed girl
of about 17, was placed at the bar charged with
stealing two geraniums in pots from 197, Bucking'
ing Palace-road.
William Cammeaton, 311 B, said that at about
one this morning he saw the prisoner step from the
doorway of 197 with something 'concealed under
her cloak. Witness stopped her, and found she had
the garden pots and plants concealed.
Mr. Arnold—Was she sober ?

Witness—Yes, your IVorship, she was.
Mr. Arnold—What did she say ?
Witness—She said she found them.

Charles Valleys, 197, Buckingham-palace-road,
said that the plants were safe at his parlour window.
A person could reach and take them by getting
upon the railings. He did not wish to prosecute
her for taking them.

Mr. Arnold—you don't mind her taking them-'
perhaps rather like it.

Prisoner—l am very sorry.
Sergeant Matthews—This is not the first tiros
the prisoner bas been here. She was charged two
or three years ago with another girl for committing
the same offence.
Mr. Arnold—What was done with her ?
Peter Smith, 163 B, said she was convicted and
fined 2s. 6d. on that occasion.

Mr. Arnold (to prisoner)—What do you say to
this statement that you have been previously con'
victed of a smilar offence?
Prisoner—lt is true.

Mr. Arnold—You seem to have a great fancy for
thins. .c +l-iiq sort. I shall now convict you of
unlawfully possessing, awl
or in de-
fault 10 days.

MR. P. B. PHILLIPS'S READINGS.—Lest evening,
new "reader" appealed to the judgment of the metropelv
tan public. The debutant was Mr. P. B. Phillips, wh°
gave his first reading in England in the Victoria gall
Archer-street, Bayswater, choosing his subjects from the
works of Shakspere, Hood, Dickens, Tennyson, and °there'
Mr. Phillips has many qualities which fit him for the pall
of a reader—among others an expressive countenance, se'
a strong clear voice. He reads prose, whether serious et
humorous, a great deal better than poetry. His renderief;
of " The Death of Joe" from " Bleak House," and a eonil°
sketch from "All the Year Round," entitled "Pray eel:
ploy Major Namby," was really excellent. He rendarsa
full justice alike to the tender pathos of the former and to
the rather broad humour of the latter of these selectionSt
and his exertions were rewarded in the one case by tb°
laughter, and in the other by the tears of his appreciative
auditors. " The Song of the Shirt," " The Bridge °'
Sighs," "The May Queen," and the trial scene from the
" Merchant of Venice," concluded the entertainment. .I4j
the close of the reading Mr. Phillips was recalled to lux
desk and loudly applauded.

A NEW METAL.—For a considerable time f.
variety of experiments have been carried on by Messi'n'
Pyke, of Thavies Inn, to test the quality of a new metal
combination, called Abyssinian gold, which they We
discovered, and a result has been arrived at that far 0';
ceeds the most sanguine expectations. The new mete;
has all the appearance of 18 carat gold ; in weight as well
as in colour, it does not tarnish, and, most important of all'
it takes the most brilliant polish, and is alike throughout'
The most exquisite articles of jewellery have been made
up in the new metal, and without the application
of aquafortis it is quite impossible, even for an tOd
perienced person, to discover the real quality of the
"gold," as it withstands rubbing and scraping. At on;
time aluminium bronze was to supersede gold as a meta
in which articles of jewellery would bo beautifully a°
cheaply manufactured, but the old fault, namely, dig'
colouration, soon showed itself, and thus it was thrown
aside. With the now metal now at command that gr..
defect has been most successfully surmounted, and in "i
very short time the Abyssinian gold will come into general
use, especially as its cost will not be above one-fourth °
t hat charged for even jewellers' gold.
TILE THAMES.—Yesterday the water, which 11:
considerably on Saturday, and flooded the low-lying 111°,,
to a considerable depth at Maidenhead, Windsor, Vt.
Egham, Staines, and the district around, began to recede.
The " Cobler," the noted watermark by which it is knovto
whether the Thames is in or out of bounds, was Wll
visible out of water yesterday morning, and last night
was plain that the river had rapidly gone down towardnl
proper level.
Yesterday being the anniversary of the death 4
General Count Lunnyski, a requiem mass for the repose
of his soul was celebrated at the Polish chapel, Gower'
street, by the Rev. E. Podolski, which was attended 11);
many of his countrymen residing in London, who do 11°
cease to deplore this irreparable losO to Poland.