The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-08 00:00:00

MILITIA.

The Royal East Middlesex Militia; now assembled
for training at Hampstead, were on Thursday in-
spected by Colonel Douglas. The regiment now
numbers nearly 600 men, and are taking carefully
selected recruits at the rate of from eight to ten per
day. Their gallant and venerable colonel (who re-
ceived the reviewing officer at the head of his regi-
ment) has established a system which has notAnly
rendered this corps peculiarly popular, butmalso
proved that a regiment of militia may, when well
commanded, be brought into an advanced state of
efficiency even in the brief period of 10 days' drill.
The inspecting field-officer addressed the regiment
in highly complimentary terms, and expressed a
confident hope that they would continue until the
day of dismissal that remarkable good conduct in
billets which had already earned for them a well-
merited good character. The, day concluded with a
dejeuner and al fresco dance at the mess-house,
where Col. Wood and the regimental officers re-
ceived the inspecting officer and a numerous assem-
blage of their friends, the highly respected Colonel
presiding. In the evening the Lieutenant-Colonel
gave a musical party at his quarters.
The East Norfolk Militia, under the command of
Lieut.-Col. Mason, assembled on the 14th Sept. for
21 days' training and exercise, and were dismissed
to their homes on Monday last, the 4th of October.
The regiment mustered 500 volunteers. They were
inspected on 30th Sept., by Colonel Lewis, Grena-
dier Guards, who expressed himself much satisfied
with the appearance and discipline of the men.
The 3d Royal Middlesex Militia were inspected
at Turnham-green on Wednesday, the 6th inst.,
by the Inspector-General of Militia, Colonel
Douglas. At the conclusion of the inspection the
regiment, under the command of Colonel Glossop,
formed square, and Col. Douglas, addressing the
regiment, expressed himself highly satisfied with
the clean and smart appearance of the men, with
their activity under arms, and with the general in-
telligence which characterised their movements.
The conduct of some of the North Cork Militia,
now stationed in garrison at Sheerness, has re-
cently been most outrageous, and the lives of seve-
ral of the inhabitants have been threatened by them.
Night after night soldiers of the regiment—most
of them newly-raised men—have gone about in
groups of nine or ten, entering public-houses, and
in some cases shops and private houses, attacking,
with their leather belts, stones, sticks, &c., indis-
criminately any persons they found, and in some
cases civilians have sustained severe injuries. On
Wednesday night the commandant ordered out
several very strong pickets, who succeeded in pre-
serving order in the town, and it is hoped that such
Unsoldierlike conduct as we have referred to will
not be repeated.

THE SUN, = LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 8, 1858.

THE LATE FIRE AT GREENWICIL

RE-EXAMINATION OF MR. ROPER.

Mr. R. Roper, corndealer, late of Royal-hill,
Greenwich, surrendered to his bail at the Greenwich
Police-court, to answer the charge of attempted
fraud on the Kent Fire Insurance Company.
Mr. Scudamore, solicitor, Mr. Lendon, secretary,
and Mr. Hodsoll, surveyor, attended on the part of
the prosecution ; and Mr. Ingle, as before, ap-
peared for Mr. Roper.
Mr. Sitgrave, auctioneer, of 28, Leadenhall—street,
City, deposed that he was employed by Mr. Hod-
soll to investigate the prisoner's claim against the
Kent Insurance Company. He had been employed
in such capacity between 30 and 40 years. He first
came to Greenwich on Wednesday after the fire,
and then went over the ruins. Witness having
copied the claim into his book, went through the
items as they appeared in the list, and checked
them as far as practicable, which was a matter
of much difficulty. The first item was an Arabian
bedstead. Witness saw a portion of a four-post
French bedstead and relics of dimity furniture.
There was a charge of £2 15s. for the bedstead,
which he put down with the furniture at £1 155.,
considering that sufficient. The next was a palliass
and mattrass charged £2 10s. Witness found flocks
and shavings belonging to that particular palliass,
and therefore allowed 30s.

Mr. Traill, in reply to Mr. Ingle respecting the
necessity of going separately through these items,
said that it might be a part of the case if it were
shown that the charges were excessive.
Mr. Scudamore said he considered that it would
be necessary.
Examination resumed—Witness enumerated the
articles which he met with in passing through the
various rooms, on the most of which he found an
excess of charge made, and entered them in his
book accordingly. A claim for a dressing-case and
fittings was charged, but he could not find it. A
Spanish mahogany wardrobe, for which a claim of
£l4 was made and of which he found some remains,
he put down at £7. A marble top washstand and
fittings complete were charged at £4 4s. It was
standing there, and witness thought £2 Gs. ample
for it. A claim was made of £2 2s. for wax flowers
and glass shade. Witness saw the bottom of a stand
covered with velvet, which had contained an orna-
ment, but not wax flowers. There was also a claim
made for books, various, £5. Witness did not see a
scrap. If they had been there he must have seen
some portion of them. A claim of £lO was made for
china dinner service, complete, 150 pieces. Witness
examined the ruins, but did not find anything like
the remains of a dinner service. He saw some blue
crockery of a common kind, and of which he thought
he should have found more. From what he saw, he
thought 255. or 30s. would be quite a sufficient
charge, but from sympathy he allowed 60s. The
nexticlaim was £7 7s. for china tea and coffee ser-
vice, which he put down at 405., having seen a
broken cup only. For wearing apparel, a charge
was made of £55 3s. Mr. Roper's apparel, £5B ;
Mrs. Roper's, £63 10s. ; and children, including
babylinen, £33 13s. Witness found the wardrobe
entire, except the top, which was charred and de-
stroyed. He broke open the drawers, which were
locked. In the bottom drawer there were a pair of
child's boots and a child's satin cape. In the
middle drawer a satin jacket, a cotton jacket, an
old cotton apron, and a pair of kid gloves. In the
left hand top drawer there were three silk neck-
ties and three pairs of kid and three pairs of worsted
gloves, one purse, two sample bags, one linen
collar, one china cup, five studs, and two watch
keys, one of which was gold. In the right hand
corner drawer there was a piece of wadding and a
piece of a small glass scent bottle. At that time wit-
ness could not find any traces of men's outer cloth-
ing, nor of clothes belonging to Mr. Roper. He
saw some small portions of children's under ap-
parel, principally cotton. For the shop fixtures
witness allowed £2O, they being in his opinion in-
sured under their value. The claim for stock was
£Bl 14. The first item in that claim was 14 sacks
of flour at 335. per sack—£23 2s. Witness could
only identify a portion of flour in a sack, about a
quarter full. This was the only trace of flour or
sacks found.

By Mr. Traill—Had there been 14 sacks of flour,
witness must have found at least three-fourths of
it, the fire and water causing flour to become cal-
cined. Witness examined the cellar, into which
the flour might have fallen, bwt found no portions
of it nor sacks there.

Examination continued—From an observation of
the prisoner's shop-boy, witness put down two sacks
only at 335., and 14 sacks at 2s. 6d. each he allowed.
The next item claimed was £3 15s. for 22 sacks of
split peas. Witness found a quarter or one-third
of a sack of peas, and allowed £1 10s., being the
price of one sack. A claim of £4 19s. for 3 sacks
of beans was made. Witness, however, could find
no remains, but-on information from the shop-boy he
put down £1 13s. After going over the whole of
the claim for stock, and judging from what he saw
and information received, he valued it at £25 155.,
the valuation being made principally upon the
statement of the shop-boy, there being no appear-
ance among the ruins which would lead him to
justify givig more than £5 or £6. He made the
whole value of furniture and wearing apparel, in-
cluding everything in claim, except stock in shop
and utensils in trade, at £192. Witness saw Mr.
Allwright on the Friday after the fire, at witness's
office, and had a long conversation with him about
the overcharge. Witness told him, in consideration
of the man's bereavement, he had consented to
allow £2OO. For the stock in the shop he allowed.
£35, and the £2O claimed for fixtures. He after-
wards saw Mr. Allwright,iwho produced a memo-
randum signed "R. Roper," agreeing to those terms.
Witness subsequently took two men to the ruins,
which appeared to have been sifted, and there found
some children's clothes and babylinen articles, and
some women's apparel, which witness believed prin-
cipally belonged only to the servant or nurse, the
whole value of which would have been about £8 or
£lO. Of men's wearing apparel he found a pair of
check trousers, a pair of black trousers, two boots, a
jean coat, a pair of cotton drawers, and two doeskin
waistcoats, value in all about £3 or £4. All these
things are included in the £BO allowed for wearing
apparel in the settlement. From the manner in
which witness found these articles it would have
been impossible for such a large number of articles
as those claimed to have been completely destroyed.
By Mr. Traill—ln allowing the claim which wit-
ness had previously stated he took for granted that
the particular items named were on the premises
at the time of the fire, with the exception of two
or three articles which applied to the furniture.
Had witness known'that some of the articles had
been removed before the fire, he should have mis-
trusted the claim for those articles he could not find.

By Mr. Ingle—Witness believed that he had
allowed a fair price for everything, but he had
known that nine times out of ten other valuers had
charged higher than he had. What he had allowed
he considered was sufficient to replace the articles
at the price of the present day. His instructions
were always to act liberally. Witness did not con-
sider that the intensity of the fire was such as
entirely to consume a double chest of drawers. He
should expect, if they had been there, to have found
some portion of them. He found neither the locks
nor knobs of drawers, neither did he find any brass
stair-rods.

Geo. Lilley, fireman attached to the Southwark-
bridge-station of the London Brigade, was next
examined, and said that he was present at the
fire about 5 o'clock in the morning, and remained
in charge of the ruins until the Tuesday week fol-
lowing, when he gave up possession to the local fire-
man. During the time he was in possession the
-ruins remained in the same state until the Saturday
following the fire, when Abbott came to him and
said the claim was settled, and then went into the
ruins and gathered, some baby's -caps together and
placed them in a back outhouse. 'Witness saw no
remains of a chest of drawers, and considered from
his experience that it was not a great fire, nor suffi-
cient to burn a chest of drawers entirely if they had
been on the premises, as part of the flooring of the
room still remained.

Elizabeth Waterfall deposed to having been in the
service of Mr. Roper for the last two years, and
that about a fortnight before the fire, by the direc-
tion of -her master, she removed several things to
the house of Mr. Cowell, at Deptford. The shop
boy assisted in carrying the dinner, tea, and dessert
service, a portion of which her master also removed.
On the night preceding the fire witness carried a
writing-desk covered up by the direction of her
master. A quantity of books were also removed ;
they were put in a sack, she (witness) holding the
sact whilst her master put the books in it. me-
rous articles were then produced, consisting of din-
ner, tea, and dessert service, table lamps, decanters,
glass of various descriptions, writing desk, wax
flowers under glass shade, books, and wearing
apparel, the whole of which were identified by wit-
ness' as her master's property, which had been re-
moved to Mr. Cowell's at Deptford.
In reply to Mr. Ingle, witness said the goods
were removed in order to prevent their breakage,
her master telling her that he had let the business.
Mr. Charles Nash, china dealer, of Stratford,
proved selling to the prisoner the dinner and tea
service produced. The charge for the former was four
guineas ; and the latter either £2 ss. or £2 10s.
(These articles were set down in the claim—Dinner
service, £lO ; tea service, 7 guineas.)
Mr. Traill, having intimated that he should pro-
ceed no further with the case that day,
Mr. Ingle applied that prisoner might again be
admitted to bail, as he believed he should be able to
produce a witness, who would prove that he had
been negotiating with Mr. Roper for the purchase