The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-28 00:00:00

2 FIR NEAPOLITAN NAVY.

The Moniteur dc la Flotte git'es some information
about the Neapolitan navy, which just now is im-
portant :

" The naval establishment of the kingdom is con-
centrated at Castellamare, which communicates
with the capital by means of a railway which passes
through Portici. None of the improvements
adopted by the navies of other countries have been
neglected, and the docks and workshops of Castel-
lamare are worthy to figure by their organisation
and their resources by the side of those of France
and England.".
[One fact has probaby escaped the recollec-
tion of the Noniteur de la Flotte. Some two months
ago, just before the insurrection in Sicily broke
out, three Neapolitan steam frigates were sent up
to Toulon for repairs, " with the gracious permis-
sion of the Emperor of the French." It must be
confessed that this does not look as if the dockyard
at Castellamare was all that the Ilioniteur de la
P lotte represents it to be.] The same authority
tells us that 30 vessels have been added to the
Neapolitan navy since 1856, but it omits to state
that they are merely gun-boats. The official print
then enumerates the naval forces of King Bomba,
which is manned by about 10,000 officers, seamen,
and marines.

SAILING VESSELS.

1 ship of the line
1 do.
6 frigates
3 corvettes 5O „
10 brigs
3 schooners
STEAMERS.
5 frigates, 450 horse-power, 10 guns each
15 do., 300 horse-power, 6 guns each 9O „
5 corvettes, 240 horse-power, 6 guns each
5 despach boats, 200 horse-power, 4 guns each 20 „
1 despatch boat, 120 horse-power 5 7)
10 do., 50 to 80 horse-power
3 transports.
15 mortar boats
15 gun-boats
30 do., mounting Paixhan howitzers ... 40 „

180. vessels, 10,000 horse-power 9OO „

UNFOUNDED CHARGE OF SHOPLIFTING.

The jury retired, and returned a verdict for the
plaintiff—damages, £Bo—after having been locked
up two hours. •

FURTHER DISOOVERIES OF CHILD

J[URDER.

On Friday Mr. Brent, deputy coroner for West
Middlesex, held an inquest at the Pied Bull,
Upper-street, Islington, on the body of a newly.
born female child, which was found in the Regent's
Canal, near the City-road basin, under the follow-
ing appalling circumstances :
It appeared that about five o'clock on Thursday
evening,.the lockman on duty at the City-road lock
saw a parcel floating on the water, and having ob-
tained possession of it, he found it to be of brown
paper, tied up with string. Having cut the string,
and released the outer covering, he came upon a large
flint stone on the top of a bladder, the latter being
tightly tied at the end in a knot. He released that
also, when he found that a child had been jammed
into it head foremost.
The medical testimony proved that the child was
a newly-born female, fully developed, and had
breathed, but had had no medical attendance. It
had been thrust into a large buLock's bladder, pre-
Tiously wetted, and secured at the end, and suffoca-
tion was the result.
The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder
against some person nr persons unknown.
Mr. Brent held a second inquest in the Board-
room of Clerkenwell workhouse on the body of a
newly-born female child, which was found in Al-
ford-square, Pentonville.

In this case a boy, at half-past eight in the
morning, picked up a parcel having an outer
covering of oilcloth, tightly bound and knotted
with string. He stood by the palings where he
picked up the prize, and being anxious to see its
contents, he after much trouble, succeeded in un-
doing the knots, and after removing the oilcloth, a
black apron, and a sack, he found the dead body of
a child. A woman who was watching him from an
oppositeivindow desired him to leave the body, the
boy complying, and running off to tell his father.
On their return to the spot a constable and several
persons had assembled and the body was conveyed
to the workhouse. Mr. 11. J. Brown made a post-
mortem examination, and found it to be a fine,
healthy female child, of full growth, it had breathed,
but had been unattended to. The feet were tightly
bound up towards its head as though in a bundle,
and its nose and face on the left side were flattened,
and its tongue protruding, as if the head had been
pressed violently against a hard substance. The
left parietal bone was also separated from the occi-
pital bone, and the brain was disorganised to a
fluid state. Decomposition, however, had so far
advanced that he could not state whether death

was really caused by violence or not.
The jury, after some deliberation, returned a ver-
dict of " De'ath from culpable and wilful neglect,"
not feeling themselves justified, from the evidence,
in giving their opinion as one of wilful murder.

In some parts of Turkey, whenever a shopkeeper
is convicted of telling a falsehood, his house is at once
painted black, to remain so for one month. If there was
such a law in force in this country, what a sable and gloomy
appearance some people's houses would present,

An action was brought on Thursday at the Bail
Court, before Mr. Justice Hill, by a lady named
Lecomte, a governess, to recover compensation from
Hope, a partner in the firm of Swan and Edgar, the
drapers, for having given her into custody on a
charge of shoplifting. The plea of the defendant
was, that a French lady, of the name of Blackman,
with whom the plaintiff at the time was in com-
pany, had taken from the counter a black lace
lappet, which was afterwards found in her bag, and
that the defendant had reasonable ground for be-
lieving that the plaintiff was an accomplice. It ap-
peared that the two ladies had been given into cus-
tody at the time, but that they had been liberated at
the Marlborough-street Police-office. An indictment
had been afterwards preferred against Mrs. Black-
man, but it had been thrown out by the grand jury.
Mrs. Blackman had, it seemed, turned out the con-
tents of her bag to look for a memorandum, and had
put in the lappet afterwards by accident.
For the defendants it was urged that they had
reasonable ground for suspicion, and were justified
in the course they adopted.
On Friday morning witnesses were called for the
defence.
Peter Calder, the shopman who served them, said
that the ladies sat opposite each other before the
counter. Whilst showing the lappets he saw
Madame Blackman pull one down, and he dis-
tinctly saw it lying on her lap, with the yellow
ticket very conspicuous. He afterwards saw Mme.
Blackman wink to the plaintiff; at the same time
she rose from her seat and shook her clothes, put
her hand in her pocket and turned it inside out.
The pocket was empty, and she appeared to be
looking for something on the floor. She opened her
bag, put her handkerchief into it, " rummaged" it
and then re-seated herself. When he had served
them with what they required he communicated
what he had seen to the defendant, who came to
thorn and politely asked them to walk into his pri-
vate rporn. They did so, and defendant then ex-
pressed his suspicions to them. Madame Blackman
appeared excited, shook her dress, and opened her
bag, drew out her handkerchief, and afterwards the
lappet with the yellow ticket. Plaintiff said it was
all a mistake, and it must have got in there by
chance. The ladies were much excited, and said it
was no use for the defendant to send for a police-
man. The plaintiff gave her address as a governess,
residing in Wales. Madame Blackman's address
was not asked for. A policeman was sent for, and
they were taken to Vine-street police station, where
they were charged.
In eross•examination the witness said that was
the first time he had said he saw Madame Black-
man pull down the lappets. Madame Blackman
gave the plaintiff qshrewd wink with her right
eye before she turned out her pocket. Madame
Blackman did not say that the lappets might have
fallen off the counter.
The defendant was called. He gave similar
evidence to the last witness with reference to the
part he took in the transaction. He thought their
answers vague with reference to their addresses.
He had had, unfortunately, many such cases, and
believing it was clear against the parties he gave
them into custody. He thought he should make
no distinction between persons so offending.
The learned counsel having addressed the jury
on behalf of their respective clients,
Mr. Justice Hill summed up. There were two
questions upon the plea. Did Blackman commit
a felony ; If she did not, then the plea failed, and
verdict must be for the plaintiff; but if the jury
should be of opinion that she did commit the
felony, then there was a further inquiry—were the
circumstances such as to be true in fact, and to
afford a reasonable ground of suspicion in the mind
of Hope that the plaintiff was an accomplice in the
commission of the felony ? If the parties acted as
stated by Calder, then the defendant was justified
in what he did.