The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-14 00:00:00

NAVAL AND MILITARY BIBLE SOCIETY,

At the annual general meeting of the friends of this
society Admiral Sir W. Bowes presided. The report
stated that the issue of the Scriptures during the past
year had been 11,821 bibles and 4,177 testaments. 10,241
bibles and 1,660 testaments were free grants. The total
cost of these grants was £626 16s. 4d. It was proposed to
reduce the admission to membership to 10s., and it was
hoped that the ranks of the society would be recruited by
a number of young officers of both services.

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF CHILD-
STEALING.

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At the Manchester City Sessions on Wednesday, before
Mr. IL W. West, Q. C., M.P., recorder, Margaret Smith, 40,
pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with having,
at Liverpool, in December 1860, feloniously and unlaw-
fully enticed away one Mary Ann Welsh, a child of the
age of two years. It appeared that the child at the time
she was stolen away, in December 1860, was two years
and nine months old. The prosecutrix kept a stand in
St. John's Market, Liverpool, and one Saturday night,
in December 1860, as she was leaving the market, in com-
pany with her child, she was accosted by the pri-
soner, who asked her for some bread. The prosecutrix
took her into a vault and treated her to bread and cheese,
and beer. The child at this time was outside waiting for
her mother. The prisoner, while the prosecutrix was en-
gaged in conversation with a friend, took the child away.
Information was given to the Liverpool police. The pro-
secutrix bad spent seven years in search; and after visiting
every town and village in the three kingdoms, recently
obtained information respecting the child. She then came,
to Manchester, and found the child, and also the prisoner,
who was given into custody. The child was brought into
court, and, in reply to the Recorder, stated that while
she was living with the prisoner she spent her time in
begging and stealing. The learned Recorder, in passing
sentence, said he thought this one of the worst cases he
ever heard. It was an offence which he hoped was not a
likely one to be imitated by many persons, as it was a very
cruel and wicked one. The prisoner was sentenced to
penal servitude for seven years.

LAW AND POLICE.

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FRAUDULENT DEED.--The International Contract Cor-
poration have succeeded in getting a fraudulent deed set
aside. They sued a chemist, of Southampton-street,
Strand, in the Exchequer Court, for £370, due on calls
made by the official liquidators of the company. The
defendant pleaded a composition deed. That deed
the plaintiff said was fraudulent. It appeared
that on the making of the calls in 1868, the
defendant offered to pay the liquidators, first a
sum of £2OO, then £250, and lastly £3OO, in lieu of all de-
mands, threatening that if the last offer was rejected he
would execute a composition deed under which they
would only receive 2s. in the pound. The liquidators
refused to accept unless they were first allowed an oppor-
tunity of examining the defendant's books. Thereupon
the defendant executed the deed. Amongst the
assenting creditors were his mother for £3OO ; his
brother for £O5 ; a Mr. Knight Salter, between whom
and himself there had been mutual financial arrangements,
£240, principally for money lent ; and a Mr. Phillips, on'
behalf of a benefit society, for over £4OO. Mrs. Dart was
stated to be too ill to come to court to support the validity
of her claim against her son ; and Mr. Phillips, although
called on his subpoena, was not forthcoming. 'I he jury,
after hearing this, immediately found for the plaintiffs.
LIBEL.—An Isle of Wight contractor ini3 succeeded in
obtaining damages of £2O against the proprietors of the
Isle of Wiyht Chronicle. The defendants had called some
public works of the plaintiff, made in the construction of a
sewer, " perfectly disgraceful," said the plaintiff had been
cruilty of a " shameful act," and had " perpetrated a job."

ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT AGAIN.—A collector in a
limited liability coal company has been charged at the
Clerkenwell Police Conrt with embezzlement. There was
no doubt that moneys received for the coal company had
not been accounted for ; but as the defendant, who held
28 shares in the concern, was remunerated solely by com-
mission, the magistrate held that he was an agent rather
than a servant, and that the case was one for a civil
tribunal to deal with.

ANOTHER EMBEZZLEMENT CASE.—On Thursday, at the
Brighton Police-court, Alfred Treble, late cashier at the
Brighton branch of the Hampshire Banking Company,
was brought up on remand, charged with embezzling the
sum of £lOO, paid into that bank to the credit of Mr.
Mannington, of Middle-street, Brighton. On Wed-
nesday last prisoner was committed for trial on a
charge of embezzling the sum of £147 ls. lid., and
this case. was remanded in consequence of the absence
of Mr. Mannington. It appeared that on the 26th of
August last, Mr. Mannington, who keeps an account with
the bank, deposited with the prisoner a bank post bill for
£lOO, to be credited to his account. The prisoner receipted
Mr. Mannington's pass-book, but entered the amount in
the bank cash-book in such a manner as to make it appear
he had merely cashed the bill. Of course the amount was
not entered to Mr. Mannington's account, and when the
books were compared the discrepancy was discovered.
After carefully investigating the case, the bench com-
mitted the prisoner for trial, deciding that both charges
should be included in the same indictment.

RIDICULOUS CASE.—At the Limerick City Police-
i!ourt, the other day, a man named Hilton was charged by
a grocer named Synan with stealing a lucifer match.
From the evidence it appeared that Hilton took a match
from a box on the counter to light his pipe with, a pro-
ceeding to which the grocer objected. The magistrates
dismissed the case, after severely cautioning Hilton. The
grocer had to pay a shilling for the summons, Hilton
observing that that shilling would have bought, if advan-
ageously laid out in the way of trade, twenty-four boxes
of lucifers.

SALE OP BEER IN THE STREETs.--The proprietor of a
brewery, and the possessor of a retail license to sell beer,
was on Thursday charged at Bow-street Police-court with
having caused .the sale of beer, other than in a licensed
house. It appeared that defendant had sent out a potman
with a cask of beer to sell to any customer who came to
ask for it. The defendant was fined £5.

The cash-box of another large company in Paris
has been robl,ed. A young man, relative of one of the direc-
tor, Ills diappeared, aviug a deficit of £12,000, a sum
which has mostly been expended on behalf of an acrtess.

Lora Adelbert Cecil, who has been conducting
revival services in Ottawa, the legislative capital of Canada,
is stated by the Guardian to have received an autograph
letter from her Majesty requesting him to return to
England.

All the gutta peicha core of the new French
Atlantic cable has been completed. The total length of
the line manufactured is 3,30 miles, of which 2,700 miles
have been shipped on board the vessels appointed to take
part in the expedition, which is expected to start in June.
THE REPRESENTATION OF STAFFORD.—It 15
stated that Mr. Whitworth, late M.P. for Drogheda, and
Mr. Evans, late member for South Derbyshire, are likely
to be the Liberal candidates for the seats just vacated for
this borough