The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-08 00:00:00

Central Criminal Couit.

THIS DAY.

The adjourned sessions of the Central Criminal Court
commenced this morning before the Lord Mayor, Re-
corder, and the sheriffs. Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant
Brand, who stand committed for trial at the Bow-street
Police-court, but who aro in the meantime liberated on
their own recognisances and on substantial bail besides,
will be indicted at the instance of the Jamaica Committee,
for the alleged murder of George William Gordon, on the
23d of October, 1865, at Morant Bay, and in the event of
the grand jury finding a true bill the occasion will be in-
vested with all the dignity of a State trial. Already pre-
parations are being made for it. Ordinarily the duty of
charging the grand jury devolves upon the Itcorder of
London (Mr. Russell Gurney), but he has not thought it
desirable on this occassion to assume it, so far, at least, as
tl►e charge against Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant Brand
is concerned, in consideration of his having acted
as ono of the Royal Commissioners for inquiring jute
the circumstances connected with the rebellion in
Jamaica. That being so, the Lord Chief Justice of England
has intimated his intention to attend the court on Wednes-
day morning and deliver the charge to the grand jury in
that. particular case. Sir Alexander Cockburn will be ac-
companied on the occasion by two other of the judges, who
will probably bo Mr. Justice Montague Smith and Mr.
Justice Lusk, for their names are upon the rota for
April Sessions, and it is said that nothing will be wanting
in the constitution of the Court, or in the arrangements
calculated to lend dignity to the occasion.
The agents for the prosecution are about to indict
Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant Brand not only for the
alleged murder of Gordon, but also for that of Samuel
Clarke. In the case of Clarke the proceeding is excep-
tional in this respect, though not without precedent or au-
thority, that no evidence was adduced before Sir Thomas
Henry, the committing magistrate, and there was, in fact,
no commitment for the murder of Clarke. The commit-
ment was for the alleged murder of Gordon alone. Clarke,
it may be remembered, was tried by court-martial for re-
bellion, and hung at Morant Bay on the 23d of October,
1865, the same day on which Gordon was executed.
In the event of a bill being found- by the grand jury, it
is understood that the case for the prosecution will be con-
ducted by Mr. Edward James, Q.C., Mr. Fitzjames Stephen,
and Mr. Horne Payne. Tho defence of Colonel Nelson
will be taken up by the War Department, and that of
Lieut. Brand by the Admiralty. The Attorney or Solici-
tor-General will probably defend Colonel Nelson, with Mr.
Hannen and Mr. Poland. Lieut. Brand will, it is said, be
defended by Sir R. P. Collier, Mr. Iluddleston, Q.C.,
counsel to the Admiralty and Judge-Advocate of the Fleet,
and Mr. West.

To-day the Recorder charged the grand jury with respect
to all the rest of the prisoners committed for trial, of whom
there is more than an average number. There are two
cases of wilful murder to be disposed of. The first of these
is that of a Swedish seaman, named Karl Andersen, which
was postponed from last SOS6O/1. The prisoner, it will be
remembered, was one of the crew of an English merchant
vessel, and while she was on her voyage, and, without
any provocation, he nearly severed the head of one of his
comrades from his body while he was asleep. The pri-
soner appeaped to have conducted himself in a very extra-
ordinary manner for some time before he committed the
act imputed to him, and there seems to be very little doubt
that he was insane at the time, and the trial was adjourned
from the last session in order to afford an opportunity of
bringing forward evidence to establish this fact. Another
charge of murder is one which created a good deal of sen-
sation at the time the matter was under inquiry by the
police magistrate, the prisoners, who are man and wife,
named George and Mary Condy, being charged with
causing wilfully the death of their child, a boy 12 years of
age, by starvation and ill-treatment. There is a case of
conspiracy, in which a father, mother, and daughter are
accused of obtaining a considerable suns of money
from a widow lady by representing that the last
mentioned prisoner was an heiress, and entitled
to large estates, and producing various pretended
deeds and other documents in support of the assumed
claim. Upon the faith of these representations, the prose-
cutrix was induced to advance a large suns of money to the
prisoners, the whole of their story turning out, in the re-
sult, to be an entire fabrication and fraud. The Sffence of
stealing post letters, which, under the recent regulation of
the Post-office compelling the registration of all letters
containing coin or valuables, was apparently put a stop to,
appears to have revived; and there are no fewer than four
prisoners charged with that offence in the present calendar,
and among them is one of a letter-carrier who has been
employed in the Post-office for a period of 23 years. Ut-
tering and counterfeiting coin would also seem to bo on
the increase, and there aro no less than 31 prisoners oom-
mitted for trial at the ensuing'session for that offence.

The Earthquake in the Archipelago.

-41 r.

A correspondent of the Levant Herald, writing
from Mitylene on the 20th of March, says :
" I cannot yet give you the final details of the
havoc caused by the calamity which has bdallen us,
as shocks still continue, and it has been impossible
to prepare up to the present moment any reliable
official return ; even the ruins have not yet been
completely explored. So far in the town of Mitylene
itself 150 bodies have been dug out and interred,
and to judge from the fetid smell which prevails,
especially near the bazaar, there are perhaps still
many victims lying under the mass of fallen rubbish.
The number who have perished throughout the
island is estimated at about 1,300, the entire popu-
tion being 80,000, of whom,lo,ooo only are Mussul-
mans. No further assistance has come to hand since
that I last reported, but the tents, stores, &c.,
which had already been sent are being distributed
every day to those who are in most pressing need
of them. Marco Pasha and the staff of medical
men under his orders have been most assiduous
since they were sent here by the Sultan in their
charitable work. They have paid every attention to
the sick and wounded. The other day Marco Pasha
went in person to Moliva and Calonni, and at the
latter place, which has suffered severely, he has
opened a couple of places of refuge for the homeless
and two temporary hospitals."
Another letter in the same journal dated from
Cephalonia, March 15, gives the following details;—
" rhe island continues to feel indications of vol-
canic action. Forty days have elapsed since the
calamity which has inflicted so much injury first
burst upon us, and the shocks have not yet ceased,
although they have become much weaker. People
are looking forward anxiously to the opening up of
a crater on one of the mountains, which will, in nil
probability, take place, and thus give vent to the
eruption and put an end to the shocks of earthquake.
At Argostoli there are not 20 houses left standing,
and the distress there is at its height. The fields are
left untilled, for their owners have no means to pay
for labour, and many have
emigrated. Trade
is completely paralysed, and, with the exception of
carpenters and masons, the workmen in the towns
have nothing whatever to do. Rents have risen to
enormous prices, 20 talaris a month being offered for
a miserable little place of two or three rooms. Pe-
cuniary assistance has been sent here from various
quarters, but the sums remitted so far will cover but
a small portion of the total loss, which is estimated
at about 3,000,000 talaris, or some £600,000, in ad-
dition to the loss of 300 lives and the number of
wounded.
to
sent
spout
nl
t the a e
fherereed,waennd went
after
Tfn t he King,
ey
places ut
cargo
that
r provisionsh fiveave
s u days
f .
re r sheo nl
e w
ft
and of wood for building purposes. The two Eng-
lish ironelads which came here from Malta brought
quantity of biscuit and of general provisions ; their
surgeons showed the greatest attention to the
wounded, and our Consul, Baron d'Everton, kindly
put a considerable sum of money at the disposal of
those who were in most pressing need.
The official returns of the victims of the late
disaster show 231 killed and 156 wounded.

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET.
(This Day.)

Market opens gniet. Sales probably 7,000 or
8,000 bales.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

(By Telegraph.)
GAITESENA, Monday Morning.
Arrived, April 7—Gra nton, steamer, from Hamburg;
Fysnoord, steamer, from. Rotterdam.
Arrived, April B—Rose Elizi, steamer, from Dunkirk ;
Dolphin, steamer, from. Antwerp; Sunderland, steamer,
from Gothenburg.
Sailed, April 7—Dians, steamer, for Amsterdam ; Ame-
rican Congress, for Nest York.
Sailed, April B—Cologne,8—Cologne, steamer, for Boulogne.
DEAL, Monday Morning.
Passed—Quarryman, ,t)f Caernarvon, from the West, for
the North; Jura, from St. John's; Elizabeth, from Man-
zanilla ; Hyppolyte, fro m S t. Kitt's—all for London ; Anna,
from Sunderland, for B aroelona ; Choice, from Plymouth,
for Newcastle.
Anchored—Schiller, from Shields, for Bombay ; Ocean
from Christiania, for 3kochefort.

Cro3by Hall, until lately used as a wine ware-
house, is likely to 1.10 conyertovl into a restaurant.—Tlic
Grocer.