The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-20 00:00:00

TUESDAY'EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1859.

CRIMINAL COURT.-( THIS DAY.)

OLD COURT.
(Before the Recorder.)

Walter Henry Combe, aged 29, a young man of respec-
table appearance, pleaded guilty to two charges of forging
cheques with intent to defraud.
Mr. Tindal Atkinson, who appeared for the prosecution,
stated to the Court that the prisoner had been in the ser-
vice of Mr. Ellis, a soliciter, and that he left such service
without giving any notice of his intention to do so. On in-
quiry i t was then ascertained that the prisoner had abstracted
four blank cheques from Mr. Ellis's cheque-book. Two of
these cheques he afterwards filled up for the sums of £lB
and £2l, and obtained the money at the banker's. A
portion of the money, it turned out, had been expended by
the prisoner in the purchase of jewellery, which he had
given to a female.
The prisoner put in a written paper, in which he appealed
for mercy on account of his wife and family.
The Recorder, in passing sentence, said unhappily the
offence of which the prisoner had pleaded guilty was of such
a serious nature, he felt he should not be doing his duty if
he did not pass a severe sentence, that was, that the pri-
soner bo kept in penal servitude for three years.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DA Y.)

MANSION-HOUSE.

James Matthews was brought before the Lord Mayor
charged with stealing six bullocks' heads from a shop in
Aldgato-street, on Saturday, the 10th inst., between seven
and eight o'clock in the morning, the property of James
Cash, butcher. The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was re-
manded till Friday. _

John Hollis, a young man, was charged with stealing a
watch, value £lO, from a young gentleman's pocket, on the
Custom-house Quay, and throwing it into the river on
Thursday afterncon between three and four o'clock.
He was committed for trial.

A young boy, who was charged with pilfering 11b. of lump
sugar, lozenges, and orange peel from a confectioner's shop
in Bishopsgate- street Without, the property of his em-
ployer, was found guilty, and sentenced to seven days' im-
prisonment with hard labour.
A *young man, who was charged with continually annoyin g
and threatening to injure his mother, was found guilty, and
sentenced to seven days' imprisonment, and to be kept on
bread and water. _ _

James Alexander Noble was charged with stealing a large
quantity of books and paper, value about £2O, the property
of his employers, Rock and Co., Walbrook. The prisoner
was remanded till Saturday, bail being refused.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

THE
.SCHOOLINO O T 7 R_ GREAT,
EASTERN.

The martyrs toprogress in the Great Eastern—
martyrs by fire and water—will not have given up
their lives wholly uselessly it we know how to Pea-
Son rightly. The Great Eastern has not bOn
burnt, as would assuredly have been the case with
a wooden craft, and the boiler fire that threw but
flames like a volcano was extinguished by the Ofi-
cient water supply. The tiller ropes that broke
were easily replaced by the chains provided by the
sagacity of Capt. Harrison. How far these chains
may be trustworthy we do not know ; but the risks
in chains are considerable. Every link is composed
of a separate piece of bar, which, is usually welded
by a scarf-joint heated in a coal fire, and therefore
there is great risk of an imperfect weld. This might
be remedied. We join lead pipes now-a-days not by
solder but by melting them together by gaseous
flame. We could do the same thing by iron rods,
making most probably a sound butt joint instead
of an imperfect scarf-joint. This is one of the
things worth verifying. For the sake of security,
the smoke funnels of the vessel, were surrounded
by water-casings, thus to keep cool surfaces. But
the surplus heat practically converted these cas-
ings or jackets into boilers. These boilers were
not prcivided with sure safety valves to relieve the
pressure, and one of them burst and carried away
the funnel, the effects of the explosion penetrating.
into the passengers' saloons and gutting them, for-
tunately the passengers being absent. Now, the
water-casings were right enough, if we remember
only that they were a kind of prolongation of the ,
boiler, and should be treated accordingly. But outside
the casings there should have been an explosion-proof
iron chamber entirely cutting off the steam from
the other portions of the vessel.. Before the vessel
goes to sea again this should be. done. It is quite
possible to make the passengers absolutely safe in
such a vessel if rightly constructed, and if the
directors look to profit they must make this dear
possibility, an absolute fact. The passengers should
be enabled to turn in to their berths quite certain
that they can neither be burnt, nor scalded, nor
drowned, nor suffocated. Nothing short of this
wilLf or ought to satisfy those who may take
passage in the vessel. The sides of every
boiler-room should form a solid wrought-iron
shaft, open or lightly covered at top to a suffi-
cient height to vomit forth the results of any
explosion above the heads of those on • deck. And
exposed as the engineers and stokers must be to
boiler casualties, still they should be provided with
a wholesome atmosphere to work in by the abun-
dant play of cool air around them. This can be
done, and should be insisted on. Let all frippery
be dispensed with ; passengers will be content with
plain white paint in their berths if they knew that
those who serve them amidst the machinery are in
a state of as great comfort and as little risk as
may be. The neglect of these things has filled
the mouths of fools with matter for exultation,
and progress is retarded for a while. But it would
be better to put off the sailing of the vessel for
any number of months, rather than put to sea with
anything left undone that may be done in the
way of the most perfect comfort and security. This
catastrophe should be regarded as a warning, a
source of knowledge how to avoid future catas-
trophes; as a cause of additional safety to all those
who may travel by this vessel, and not as an
omen .of misfortune. Not by having regard to
omens was England made what she is; but by
regarding every misfortune as a teaching of some-
thing more to be avoided in the future. And the
essence of safety against explosions in steam-ships
is to remove every obstacle to,the upward force of
the explosion, and to provide solid iron walls to
retain it laterally and downwards. Let this be
done, and the Great Eastern will still be the first
in the latest phase of ocean transport. If it be not
done, she will be a standing menace to passengers
that no amount of decoration can overlay.—Once a
Week.