The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-05 00:00:00

The Bank Returns.

The Bankers' Magazine furnishes the returns of the cir-
culation of the public and joint-stock banks in England
and Wales for the four weeks ending the 9th November.
These returns, combined with the circulation of the Scotch
and Irish banks for the same period, and the average cir-
culation of the Bank of England for the four weeks ended
the 6th November (the nearest date furnished by their
returns), will give the following results of the circulation
of notes in the United Kingdom when compared with the
previous month :

Oct. 12, Nov. 9,
1867. 1867. Increase. Decrease
-
Bank of England 24,129,645 24,755,193 625,518
Private Banks 2,802.464 2,966,089 163,625
Joint-stock Banks 2,361,107 2,418,88- 57,781
Total in England 29,291,216 30,140,170 816,9541
Scotland 4,581,226 , 4,711,869 160,643
Ireland 5,865,221' 6,511,2;0 679,016
--;
United Kingdom. 39,739,663 ,41,426,30) 1,686,616

And as compared with the month ending the 10th of
November, 1866, the above returns show an increase of
£1,052, 789 in the circulation of notes in England, and an
iucreaso of £1,161,006 in the circulation of the United
Kingdom.

On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the
several banks the following is the state of the circulation:—
The English private banks are below their
fixed issue £1,066,527
The English joint-stock banks are below their
fixed issue

819,752

Total below fixed issue in England ... £1,386,279
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue... 1,992,598
The Irish banks are above their fixed issue ... 189,776
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both departments during the month ending the 6th
November was £22,769,653, being a decrease of £1,617,707
as compared with the previous month, and an increase of
£6,238,172 when compared with the same period last year
The following are the amounts of specie held by the
Scotch and Irish banks during the month ending the 9th
November :

Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks ... £2,750,071
Gold and silver held by the Irish banks ... 2,402,389

£5,152,460
Being an increase of £135,064 as compared with the pre-
vious return, and an increase of £76,978 when compared
wit the corresponding period last year.

THE PATRIOTIC FUND.—A meeting of the Com-
missioners of the Patriotic Fun d was held yesterday at
the Palace of Westminster. There were present—the Earl
of Hardwicke, in the chair; Lord St. Leonards, Lord
Lyveden, Gen. the Hon. J. Lindsay, Sir John Pakingtcn,
Right Hon. H. T. Lowry Cony, Sir John Burgoyne, Sir
Hew Ross, Capt. E. G. Fishbourne, R.N., and Brigadier-
General Lefroy, R.A., the hon. secretaries, attended.

THE HERMIT CRAB.—No sooner is an empty shell
dropped into the water close to the crab than he darts at
it, and seizes it with his claws, with every appearance of
delight ; he then proceeds to turn the shell about and exa-
mine it thoroughly; diving his legs and claws into it as if
desirous of ascertaining its depth and breadth. If this exa-
mination should prove unsatisfactory, the crab pushes the
shell on one side with an air of disgust ; but if, on the
contrary, he is satisfied with his investigation, he sud-
denly draws himself out of his house, and pops his tail into
the new shell with marvellous rapidity ; reminding cno of
the way in which we jump into bed on a cold winter's
night.—Once a Week.

The gh-OVOT Mr. Lan, a'tnatehmaker and jeFelleF in
Hart-street, Mark-lane, was entered a few days ago, and
stock in-trade to the value of £4OO or £5OO stolen, con-
sisting of 38 gold and 45 silver watches, 25 gold guard-
chains, a silver brooch, 2 wedding - rings, 17 diamond
and other rings, 3 gold keeper rings, 1 mourning ring,
and a number of keys, seals, charms, sleeve-links, and
other articles of jewellery. Hart-street, the scene of the
robbery, connects Crutched-friars with Mark-lane, and
Mr. Leach's shop is on the ground floor, the upper part of
the premises being let out in offices chiefly. There is a
street door common to all the occupants, and within that
is a side door, locked at night, leading to the shop of Mr.
Leach. The watches and articles of jewellery above enu-
merated were on the evening of Friday last placed partly in
a wooden box and partly on trays, according to custom, and
deposited in an iron safe, with other valuable property
forming part of his stock. The shop, like those of many
other jewellers, since the burglary in Cornhill, has usually
been lighted with gas throughout the night, and was so
lighted on the night of Friday to ensure greater safety.
The robbery, however, was not committed during the
night, but on Saturday morning between 8 and 9 o'clock.
At 8 o'clock the premises are supposed to have been all
safe, for some one connected with a floor at the top of the
house, on opening the street door at that hour from the
outside and proceeding upstairs to his work, observed
nothing amiss. About 20 minutes afterwards, on Mr.
Leach's ssn, a boy of 14, arriving, he found the door of the
shop had been opened by a false key, and the gas inside
turned off. The iron safe was also open, and a skeleton
key had been left in the door. The robbery must have
been effected hastily, for much valuable property still re-
mained in drawers and other parts of the safe untouched,
and the thieves had taken that which first presented
itself. Several watches and other articles also remained in
the window undisturbed. They got clear off with their
booty, and are still at large. A reward of £lOO has been
offered for their apprehension and the recovery of the
stolen property.

:ME
_MURDER AND ROBBERY IS

SHROPSHIRE.

The Inquiry into the circumstances attending the death
of Mr. Bernard Zusman, late of Birmingham, which was
formally opened on Saturday last, was resumed yester•
day, before the coroner, at Dawley. It will be remem-
bered that the deceased was last Friday found dead in
a ditch, near Stuckley, under circumstances which have
been already reported, and which leave no doubt that
he had been the victim of a shocking murder. The court
sat the whole day, but the following comprises the main
points of the evidence elicited beyond that with which the
public is familiar. A boy named Booth son of the farmer
upon whose land the body was discovered, deposed to
finding the hat of the deceased near the ditch. This was
on Saturday, the 16th of November, the day after the
murder, when, of course, nothing was known of the mat-
ter. The witness placed the hat upon a post, and used it
as a target. At the time of finding the hat he noticed a
large patch of blood in the field close by. George Evison,
a labourer, said he was in company with others looking
over the scene of the murder on Sunday morning, when
his attention was drawn to some object hidden among the
long grass in the ditch. On examining it closer he found
it to be the box in which the deceased carried his watches.
It was broken open and empty. Several witnesses spoke
to seeing deceased on the day of his disappearance, the one
who saw him last being the station-master at Iforsehay,
who booked him for Coalbrookdale by the 2.43 p.m.
train. This witness was not sure whether it was the
11.36 a.m. train or the 2.43 p.m. by which the deceased
travelled, but the hour is fixed by other evidence. Coal-
brookdale is the nearest station to Ironbridge, where the
deceased was staying, and the place where the body was
discovered is about three miles from Ironbridge, and
entirely out of the route which the deceased would have
taken in walking to that town from the station at Coal.
brookdale. It may be stated as the opinion of the police
engaged in the investigation of the affair, that the decease&
was designedly decoyed to the place of his murder, it
being in a lonely neighbourhood, and leading to no place
where he '.ad business. The inquest was adjourned.