The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-22 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

A Lir INstnAxca POLICY.—In the Rolls Court, a suit
has been brought by a person named Atherton against the
British Nation Assurance Association, to obtain payment
of £l,OOO insured in the defendants' office on the life of
John Rigg, the plaintiff's father-in-law, who had assigned
him the policy. The office bad refused to pay, on the
ground that Rigg and the plaintiff had concealed the true
state of Rigg's health and habits, he having suffered
frcm delirium tremens. In answer to the ques-

tion as to his temperance in the rrinted form,
the reply was " temperate generally," and his lordship held
that this qualified answer should have put the office. on
their guard as to the insurer's habits. After eight years
had passed, and the office had received £3CO in premiums,
it was sought to set aside the policy en grounds which
should have teen acted upcn at the time. There must be a
decree for payment of the policy money with interest and
costs of suit.

TILE IMrERIAL LAND COMPANY OF MAnsEniEs.—An
application has been made to ti ice-Chancellor Malins in
Chambers, on behalf of the Imperial Land Company of
Marseilles, for leave to inspect the books of the Credit
Fonder et Mobilier. His Honour, observing that the
matters in dispute must be proved to the bottom, granted
the application.
THE BOSTON ELECTION PETITION.—A question of some
interest connected with election petitions has come before
Mr, Justice Mellor, in Judges' Chambers. A petitien had
b en presented by Mr. Mason Jones against the return of
the present members for Boston, Messrs. Malcolm and
C ',Ens, which was withdrawn, an or(ler being made
for the withdrawal on payment of costs to the sitting mem-
bers. No bill of cuts had teen delivered, and the peti-
- Caner took out a summons for payment of the depcsit
money. Mr. Justioe Mellor made an order that the
casts incurred by the respondents should be delivered to
the petitioner within a fortnight, and adjourned the sum-
mons for that time.

ATTEMPTED PorsoNlNG.—At the Wakefield Police-court,
George Pickersgill was charged with attempting to poison
•his wife. He had offered her a cup of tea which was found
to contain enough phosphorus to poison two persons. He
was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, in default
of finding sureties to keep the peace towards his wife.

MANSLAUGHTER 13T A FAR3SER.-At the Liverpool
Assizes, John Brown, a farmer, was sentenced to ten
years' penal servitude for the manslaughter of a labourer
in his employment. They had been drinking at a public-
house and returned to Brown's house, where, during a
quarrel Brown so-seriously injured the other that he died
next morning.

SUNDAY TalraNG.—Several tradesmen have been sum-
mened at Marylebone Police-court, charged with trading
on Sunday, in contravention of the Act of Charles H.
These prosecutions have been frequent of late, and Mr.
D'Eyncourt expressed the difficulty which he experienced
in dealing with such cases taken under a statute nearly
200 years old, and adjourned the hearing for seven weeks,
in order to consult his brother magistrates.

A ti-r•.w C.B.—lt is stated that Mr. Thomas L.
Sercombc, for many years Financial Sccrctary to the India
Office, is about to be nominated to the Civil Ccmpanion-
ship of the Bath.

It appears from the Almanach de Gotha for 1870;
which has just appeared, that the Pope is the oldest 01
European sovereigns, being 77 years old ; Duke Leopold
of Anhalt is second, at 75; and King William of Prussia
third, at 72.

ARREST OF TUE MUTILATOR OF Mn. O'CONNOR.
—The police of Frankferd, in the King's County, have
arrested a man who has been fully identified by Mr.
O'Connor as one cf the party which attacked his house
and mutilated his face. An attempt has been made to
represent the 'occurrence as accidental and greatly exagge-
rated, but the statement is unfounded. The outrage was
deliberately committed. One of the party seized Mr.
O'Cenner by the nose, and with a knife hacked it almost
off, together with a piece of his lip. He had his hands
severely cut in attempting to protect himself.
Thurlow Weed tells the following story about him-
self :—"During the late war, after the evacuation of York-
town by General M'Clellan, I entered a car in a Philadel-
phia train, and sat by a gentleman who wore a military
cap, but shewed no other sign of military rank. We got
into a discussion of M'Clellan's campaign on the Peninsula.
He defended him mildly, and I answered with a scorching
exposition of his incapacity and blunders, demonstrating
them fully. When we reached Trenton, a young officer
came up and saluted my companion very deferentially,
and, on inquiry, I discovered that I had been talking to
➢l`Clellan himself. I think he felt, however, that I was
right in what I had said, by the feeble way in which he
answered my criticisms."

THE PUBLIC 11EALT11.—Last week the rate of
mortality in London was 26 per 1,000, while in thirteen
other large towns of the United Kingdom it was 29. The
city with the lowest rate was Dublin, whore it was 24 ;
whilst 40, the highest was recorded in Glasgow. In the
metropolis, 2,229 births and 1,566 births were registered,
the latter having exceeded the estimate by 25, but it fell
short of the number in the previous week by 193. The
deaths from zymotic diseases were 404, the corrected
average number being 359. Eight persons died from small
po.T, 26 frcm measles, 186 from scarlet fever, 3 from diph-
theria. 62 from whooping-cough, 12 from typhus fever, 16
from enteric fever, 16 from simple continued fever, and 14

from diarrhoea. The deaths from scarlet fever were less

by 23 than the number registered in the previous week.
The mean temperature during the week was 44.7 dogs., or
4.3 degs. above the average. There was a consequent de-
cline in the mortality from affection!) of the breathing

organs.

THE LORD RECTORSHIP OF ABERDEEN UNIVER-
SITY.—As Friday of this week approaches the excite-
ment among the students of Aberdeen University,
consequent on the coming election of Lord Rector,
becomes more intense. A very noisy meeting of students
was held in the Quadrangle of Marischal College on
Saturday afternoon, when both candidates were proposed
and seconded. The show of hands seemed to be
about equal, and we believe that the contest is to be very
keen. From the lists of the various committees it
appears that Mr. Grant Duff will have a majority in the
Angus and Buchan Nations, and that Sir William Stirling-
Maxwell will have a decided majority in the Moray
Nation, while in the Mar Nation the numbers are about
equal. Mr. Duff's committee believe they will have a
majority of ' two or three in the Mar Nation, but
they are not very certain. The result of the election
will thus hang mainly en the Mar Nation, where
strenuous efforts aro being put forward on each side.—
Sccisnzav

CHANGES IN CHATHAM DOCKYARD.—Further
important changes and reductions are to be made in Chat-
ham Dockyard. An order bas been received from the
Admiralty giving directions as to some of these. As had
been expected for some time past, the workmen are hence-
forward to be superannuated at the age of 55—several
years earlier than has been the practice. Returns are being
prepared of the ages cf the menorah a view, it is believed,
to the spee2;y carrying out of this order. The office of
"inspector' in the various departments of labour in the
yard is in futare to be abolished, the senior inspectors
are to be s'aperannuated, but ten years will be

I t‘) service so as to increase their retiring ren-
sions. In fuLare tio salax:ei of foremen of the yard will
commence at £l5O per annum, rising £lO every thr,:e year,
until a raa7imum cf £2OO has been attained ; hitherto
these offlccin ecramcncc, 1 with a salary cf 2i.Y). The
order also directs that hervefcrth theannualgratuity of .-C.1:0
given to one of the foremen of the yard shall be abolished.
There are rumour} of the reduction in numbers or removal
from thbyard to Sheerness yard of the'riggers : aportion of
these artisans would be discharged under the new rule en
superannuation; and from the change in the shipbuilding
at Chatham thsre is not the work for riggers that there was
formerly. Other changes at Chatham yard are extectoti to
bo announced.--Times,