The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-27 00:00:00

THAMES.

A TRIPLE ROBBERY.—Michael llonsen, a German sugar
baker, bout 21 years of age who has only been in England
a short time was charged with robbing three of his country
men of money, clothing, and other property.
The three prosecutors Klaus Trineken, Frederick Hein-
rich, and Heinrich Schutte, are also sugar bakers, and were
living in the same house as the prisoner in Lambeth-
street, Whitechapel. On Wednesday morning last, at
half-past three o'clock, the prisoner left the house, and
soon afterwards Trineken discovered that his box had been
forced open, and his clothes £2 in money, two watch
chains, and other property, valued in all at £l3 abstracted.
The other Germans were also robbed of their money
and clothes. The prisoner returned to his home on
Wednesday afternoon. He appeared to be quite uncon-
cerned, and spoke to no one. The Germans did not speak
to him, but Trinckin, finding that the prisoner had his coat
and trowsers on under his own. dress, sent for a police-
constable named Hoe, of the H division, who found upon
him £6 6s. 20. and three handkerchiefs. Each of the
prosecutors identified one handkerchief. All the property
and money stolen exceeded £2O in value, and it is sup-
posed that he had sold the property stolen from his coun-
trymen, with the exception of that on his person, and that
his intention was to return to Germany. He made a par-
tial admission of his guilt, while Mr. Wintjen, the inter-
preter to the court, was translating the evidence to him.
He took the clothes and money, but had nothing to do
with any gold chains.
The prisoner was remanded for a week to enable the
police to trace the stolen property.
AUDACIOUS ROBBERY.—HOW SEAMEN ARE TREATED IN
EAST END DENS.—Mary Ann Bignell, a notorious prosti-
tute and thief, was charged with robbing a German sailor,
who gave the English name Roberts, in a den of infamy
in a court known as John's-place, Baker-street, Stepney,
where numerous outrages and robberies have been com-
mitted.

On Tuesday last the sailor, with the usual improvidence
of his class, was drinking and spending his money freely,
and met with the prisoner and lavished some of his hard-
earned wages upon her. She decoyed him into a vile
house, No. 13, John's-place. He had not been there long
before the prisoner called in three men, and they
ill used him, held him down on a bed by the
throat until he was nearly strangled, and removed
a ring from his finger, took away a gold watch and guard,
and all the money he had about him, except a few shillings
which they overlooked. The thieves soon disappeared,
leaving the sailor half strangled and half naked in the room
where the outrage and robbery were committed. He gave
a boy sixpence to fetch a policeman. The prisoner was
arrested yesterday, and she was remanded for a week to
enable the police to apprehend the other thieves."

The Spy System.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—It appears, according to one of your even

ng contemporaries, that during the recent struggle

in Hyde-park between the people and the police-
men some of the latter have assumed private
clothes, as detectives, and thereby some of the

former have been captured quite unexpectedly.
The plan has been adopted, probably, because in
these cases, as in similar cases, the end is sup-
posed to justify the means. Without desiring to
express any opinion upon this point, I beg leave to
remind you that Copestick, the Bath astrologist,
was captured in this manner in December, 1852,
and shortly afterwards, namely, on the 19th Jan.,
1853, you published a leading article condemnatory
of this practice. Since that time other astrologists
have been captured in a similar manner by police-
men ; and at this time any astrologist is liable to be
so captured, although he may be a rate-paying
householder, with a vote for his member of Par-
liament.

But if the plan is bad with respect to people
out of doors, it must be equally bad with re-
spect to people within doors, including Sidrophel,
and, therefore, in his case also, it must be worthy
of condemnation. As this fact may not be so pal-
pable to the writers of the Liberal press as it is
to myself, I request you to permit me to place
my opinion upon record in your journal, which
has already more than once advocated the claims
of the Sidrophel family to the possession of justice
and liberty of action.—l am, sir, yours obediently,
CUR. COOKE.
London, 25th July, 1866.

Lady Lilford has arrived at the Queen's Hotel,
Upper Norwood.