The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-03 00:00:00

THAMES.

TOBACCO SMUGGLING.—Joseph Langston, a stoker, who
has been employed on board the Belgian ship Baron Osy,
was brought before Mr. Yardley, charged with smuggling
81bs. of foreign manufactured tobacco.
Mr. Thomas Smith, a tide surveyor of Customs, said he
stopped the prisoner as he was leaving the Baron Osy, and
asked him if he had anything about him ? He said no.
He was not satisfied with his declaration, and detained the
prisoner and searched him, and found upon his person 81bs.
of compressed tobacco, and it was fastened round the pri-
soner's body. The tobacco was liable to a duty of 35. sd.
per lb. .

The prisoner, in defence, said the officer did not take the
Athaeco from him.

Mr. Yardley—What of that. You had it concealed on
your person.

The prisoner—And the officer did not rub me down.
Mr. Yardley—The case is clearly made out. You are
fined £lO, and in default one month's imprisonment.

AN EXPENSIVE SMASlL—Cornelius Healy, an Irish
labourer, was brought up before Mr. Yardley on a warrant,
charged with assaulting Mr. George Homer, the landlord
of the White Fox beer-house, in New Gravel-lane, Shad-
well, on the 28th of June last. It appeared that on the day
named in the warrant the prisoner, who was intoxicated,
entered the White Fox beer-shop and called for a penny-
worth of tobacco, for which he tendered in payment a good
halfpenny and a bad one. Mr. Homer rejected the spurious
coin and asked the prisoner to give him another. The pri-
soner refused to do so, although he had a handful of half-
pence, and Mr Homer refused to part with the tobacco,
The prisoner then began swearing at and abusing Mr.
Horner; and after making a great disturbance, he took
up the bad halfpenny in dispute and hurled it at
the complainant's head. The coin missed him, but struck
a large pane of plate glass at the back of the beer-shop, and
broke it into a great many pieces. The cost of the glass
was £lO, but Mr. Homer said he would be satisfied with
the payment of £5 when the prisoner was brought before
Mr. Yardley, on the 29th of June, and he promised to pay
that amount by instalments, and was liberated on his own
recognisances to appear a month afterwards. The prisoner
did not pay a farthing, and was brought before Mr. Selfe
on the 29th of July, and again liberated on his own recog-
nisance on a promise to pay for the plate glass he had
broken. All he had paid was ls., and ho was now brought
up on an assault warrant.
The facts, as above stated, were clearly made out, and
Mr. Yardley said he could not fine the prisoner for breaking
the glass, because it did not appear to be wilfully done ; but
he fined him £5 for the assault on Mu. Homer, and in
default of payment one month's imprisonment.

AFFAIRS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.—Papers rela-
tive to the affairs of British Columbia (part 2), being copies
of despatches from the Governor of British Columbia to the
Secretary of State for the Colonies, and from the Secretary
of State to the Governor, relative to the government of the
colony, were presented to Parliament on the 12th ult., and
yesterday appeared in print. Her Majesty has decided that
the capital of British Columbia shall be called " New West-
minster." The policy to be observed towards the Indian
native tribes will be a fostering and protective one, care
being taken in laying out and defining the several reserves
so as to avoid checking, at a future day, the progress of the
white colonists. Governor Douglas appears to have com-
plained to the Colonial-office of the inadequacy of his offi-
cial salary. The Earl of Carnarvon, in the absence of tho
Secretary of State, wrote on the 23d of May last to the
Governor, admitting that his emoluments had been fixed at
too low a rate, and announcing his readiness to sanction an
addition to his salary of £1,200 out of the local receipts of
the current year, provided that the revenue of British Co•
lumbia amounted in the aggregate to not less than £50,000.
This addition can on no account be made otherwise than

from colonial resources.
MINES.—The mining market has continued to occupy a
good position, for although the activity has been less ap-
parent, a fair amount of business has been done, and the
number of distinct mines the shares in which have changed
hands has been considerably larger than usual—a satisfac-
tory proof that the appreciation of mining property by the
genera public is extending. The dividend mines which have
been most in request are Wheal Clifford, West Caradon,
Great South Tolgus, West Seton, East Basset, Herodsfoot,
Providence, Margaret, Tincroft, and Mary Ann; and the pro-
gressive mines Wheal Unity, East Grenville, North Downs,
East Cam Brea, Cook's Kitchen, East Russell, Stray
Park, Ludcott, and Pendeen. Wheal Unity shares have
been largely dealt in, and leave off at 19s 6d to 20s 6d; one
of the points to which we have alluded--cutting the lode in
the 30 cross-cut from engine-shaft—has been accomplished,
the lode met with being worth £6 per frn., and improving.
Wheal Kitty (St. Agnes), 3to 31 ; in our last a clerical
error occurred in the quotation of these shaves. Wheal
Margaret were flat, at 471 to 50, sellers, up to Thursday,
morning, but rose soon after to 56, buyers, in consequence
of telegrams being sent up that the dispute with Wheal
Mary was settled in favour of Margaret. Providence rose
to 45, ex div., but dropped to 421, sellers, and left off at 42
to 44. Herodsfoot have been dealt in at prices varying from
14 to 144, and left off at 14 to 141 ; the next sampling will
be 75 tons, of as good quality ore as the last. Tolcarne shares
have advanced to 1 Ik, in consequence of an improvement.
—Mining Journal of this day.
STATE OF TRADE.—MANCHESTER, Sept 2.—The
market retains the firmness reported at the commencement
of the week, and the lighter T cloths for Bombay and print-
ing cloths are a shade dearer. The better qualities of T
cloths also are in more demand, and the better long cloths
have improved. India 40-inch shirtings of most qualities
and 36 .inch are low in stock, with good contracts, and
prices are consequently well supported. A moderately ac-
tiveodd
doing in yarns, both for export and
28's and 32's water twist in the
bundle maintain the advance of about id. per lb, obtained
h nlnabusiness
consumption, isalso
an
on Tuesday. "The improved demand," says Messrs. G.
a
Fraser, Son, and Co., in their monthly circular of yester-
day, "from Bombay, together with the considerable busi-
ness doing for China, Germany, and the Mediterranean,
has, together with a large business done for the home trade,
greatly sustained this market, and at the present moment
nearly all spinners and manufacturers are well employed
with orders for future delivery."
TOAD VERSUS SNAKE.—On the gardener of a
gentleman living at Runcton going to work a few morn-
ings ago he was surprised to find a snake lying in one of the
paths, wriggling about in a very uneasy manner, and evi-
dently, to use a familiar phrase, "in a Kn.,' He quickly got
an implement, and without difficulty despatched the intru•
der, which was above three feet in length. But the sin-
gular part of the affair is to come. On examining the dead
snake, his jaws and the parts which "there adjacent lie"
were found to be enormously distended, and the cause of
this was soon ascertained .to be a large toad—still alive—
which, in order to prevent the unpleasant operation (to it)
of being swallowed by the snake, had evidently resorted to
its well known power of blowing itself out, and and thus at
the time the gardener came upon the scene then) was
a deadly conflict going on between snake and toad, the
former exerting its faculty of almost unlimited disten-
sion of the jaw, the latter its almost unlimited power of
bodily expansion. The snake, at the moment of the gar-
dener's interference, was clearly in a very uncomfortable
position ; it had got more than it could eat. The toad, too,
could not have been easy in its feelings, finding itself gradu-
ally going down, down. However, it survived the contest,
and was extricated and set at liberty by its good friend the
gardener.—Brighten Herald.
REVOLTING CHILD MURDER.—Yesterday after-
noon, Mr. Wakley held an inquest in the. board-room
of Marylebone Workhouse, on the body of a newly-born
male child found murdered on the morning of Wednes-
day last, under the truly revolting circumstances sub-
joined :—James Plattenden said he lodged with his wife at
3, Upper Boston-street, Dorset-square, which was also in-
habited by several other people. During the last fortnight
the water had tasted and smelt so bad that every
.one was
complaining of being ill. On Wednesday morning wit-
ness's wife, who had just come home from the country, said
the tea made her sick, and she was sure there must be
something improper in the waterbutt. Witness said he
would go and see, and lighted a candle, as the waterbutt
was in a dark corner of the wash-house. On taking off the
lid he saw a brown paper parcel floating on the water. On
taking it out the stench was intolerable, and on being
opened the body of the deceased child, with its legs doubled
up and tied with a cord, was found wrapped in calico. In-
formation was given to the police, and the body was
brought to that workhouse. -He had no suspicion of any
woman in the house having given birth to a child. Some
one from the street might have put the body in the water-
butt, as during the late hot weather the steeet-door was
constantly left open. Mr. Smith, resident surgeon to St.
Marylebone Workhouse, said he had made a post ntorton
examination, and had not the slightest doubt the child was
born alive, and had been murdered. The right parietal
bone of the skull was fractured completely across, and that
had no doubt caused death. The coroner remarked that
these cases were multiplying so fast that they presented a
sad aspect of the state of society. Such a fracture of the
skull would produce death, and must have been the result
of a blow or blows. The jury returned a verdict of Wilful
Murder" against some person or persons unknown.