The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-28 00:00:00

BOXING MORNING AT BOW-STREET.

Mcmlay morning at Dow-street is always lookLd for
ward to by a section of a certain class cf people as some-
thing like a gratuitous exhibition ; but the persons wl:o
visited it—and there was a vast crowd of thcm—

yesterday had a very long entertainment, if that
term can be .applied to such a scene of misery
and dissipation as was there presented. In the
majority of cases the offence charged was drunkenness,
and where there was no previous conviction the accused
wag let go, on the promise of not appearing in such a posi-
tion again—a promise that past experiences teach, will, in
a great majority of instances, be totally disregarded.
Amongst the drunkards was a solicitor who was mulcted
in a penalty of ten shillings, and having suffered a night's
im2risonment was probably sufficiently made to feel that
being " drunk and incapable" is scarcely the position
for a professional man to fill. Of cab-drivers there
were five charged with being inebriated, and as
in all cases the accused were unknown to the police, they
ware discharged with one exception, and that where the
the driver by his negligence had done some five pounds
worth of damage to another vehicle. A class of offences
that is frequently before the notice of metropolitan
magistrates is Sunday gambling in the streets,
an I for this infraction of the law, fines of a
shilling were inflicted. In another case a lad was fined
five shillings for pelting a scripture reader on Christmas
Day. The boy, in a pitiful tore, assured the magistrate
that it was only " a tater that he threw at the gentleman."
but all the evidence proving that this was false, the
•
mscrcant, in default of payment, was committed for
a week. Another prisoner was a youth of 16, who assured
the magistrate that he was too drunk to know whether he
made a disturbance or not; and, after being reminded
that he was rather young to refer with pride to the
fact that this was his first appearance, he was
disch rged. The most serious charge brought forward
was that in which a man named Johnsen and a woman
named Banks were charged with robbing and assaulting a
Mrs. Crawley. The parties lived' in the same house, and
on Christmas night the complainant said, she
was putting her child to bed, when the accused
followed her to the bedroom, and belaboured
her most unmercifully with a life preserver, and then took
from her pocket some eight shillings. Mrs. Crawley
exhibited wounds of a most fearful description. Her eyes
wore so discoloured that it was almost impossible to see
whether she possessed those organs or not, her arms and
neck were covered with bruises, and the police surgeon
deposed that her ear had nearly teen severed from her
head by seine sharp instrument. On the other hand, the
prisoners appeared the dock with their heads enveloped
in surgical bandages, and the medical testimony
was to the effect that they had suffered nearly
as much as the complaining party. It was clear
that, to use the magistrate's expression, there had
been a " drunken general fight," and the only question was
how it began, and to gain additional information on this
point, the accused were remanded. In all there were
over forty night charges, independent of the remands and
summonses; and most, if not all, arose from too much
indulgence in intoxicating drinks.

On Christmas-day evening the lamps on the
Wolf Rock Lighthouse, off Land's End, were lighted for
the first time, to test their qualities.. They burned with
remarkable brilliancy, and gave perfect satisfaction. The
lamps will be lighted permanently from the Ist of January
next.

A PItOFESSIONAL EPITHET.—SOIIIO doubt was
expressed the other day as to what Sir J. Karslake could
mean by describing Dr. Thom as "an adamantine and
granitic man." Sir J. Karslake, if he is reported correctly,
was rather too brusque in his phrae; but we dare say that
we can trace his expression to its source. About ten years
ago the late John Leech was accustomed to describe
with humcurous bitterness h,w, i t a ieligious perioed:al
cf that time, he was characteri,:cl as " a cruel and granite-
hearted " man." Nothing, a coarse, could he More
f.dso than the epithet as applied to John Leech, but all
his largo circle cf friends were much amused at its would-
be severity, and it was constantly iu their mouths. The
ernrcssion has since then been bandied about as one of
the stock phrascs of humourous talk, bc:ng generally
thrown at men to whom it could have no sort of just
application. Sir John Karslake has at last picked it up,
has varied it, and ha,, in all seriousness, and with not a
little clumsiness, hurled it at poor Dr. Thom. We, in
turn, now rick it up, and write its history, for the benefit
of future dic#94449#,—,P01.2/ 2rev.