The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDQN, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1866.

Central Criminal Court—This Day.

OLD COURT.
,(Before the Common Sergeant.)
THE MURDER IN ST. GILES'S.

An application was made by Mr. Daly before the court
this morning on the part of Jeffrey, the accused, for a post-
ponement of the trial to the next sessions.

The Common Sergeant said the application should be
made to-morrow, when the judgeswould be in attendance,
more especially as the grand jury had not yet returned a
true bill against the prisoner. The application, therefore,
had better stand over.

Shortly after the grand jury entered the court with a
number of true bills,amongst which was one against Jeffrey
for wilful murder.

➢ir. Daly, it is understood, will renew his application
to-morrow morning.

CHARGE OF BURGLARY-A KIND GRANDFATHER.

John liarectt, 28, compositor, was indicted for feloni-
ously receiving a plated biscuit box, a cruet frame, three
spoons, and other articles, the property of John Clark
Marshman, well knowing the same to have been stolen.
From the evidence it appeared that the residence of the
prosecutor, who resided at Bickley Park, had been broken
into, and tho prisoner was soon in Bishopsgate-street with
ono of the articles in his possession under very suspicious
circumstances. On being questioned he gave a very un-
satisfactory account of how he became possessed of the
property, and ho was taken into custody. Some pawn-
brokers' tickets were found in the pockets of the prisoner,
which wore found to relate to the other articles stolen from
Mr. Marshman's house.

On the close of the evidence the prisoner made a very
original statement to the jury in his defence. He said—l
was passing over London-bridge to work on Saturday
morning, when two men came up to me, and one of them
said, "Good morning, John," to which I said, " Good
morning, but ycu've the advantage of me." The man in
answer, said, "I'm your grandfather," when I answered,
" Aro you ? Well, I didn't know it." The man said,
" Oh, yes, I am, but I haven't seen you for seven years."
I said, "I am glad to see you." (Laughter.) To
which my grandfather said, " Como and take some
refreshment, as I am going to Paris," and we all
went to a public house, where we remained for over
an hour. We then went. to the railway station to-
gether, and finding the train not going for some time we
went and had some breakfast. While enjoying the repast
my grandfather—(laughter)—said, "I should like to give
you something to remember me by," and I said I should
like to have something. (Laughter.) He said, "Do you
want money ?" and I said " Yes ; but don't give me any,
as if you do I shall spend it." He then took out a carpet
bag from under the seat and said, " This teapot cost me
.£5 10s., and I give it to you as a heirloom, so that you may
keep it in the family to remember me by" (laughter), and I
said " thank you, I will." He then said to the young man
who was with him, "you have a lot of things you don't
want, they'll only be a trouble to you to take them to Paris ;
you might let my young relative have them cheap ;" and
then the young man took out another bag and showed me
a pot and some towels and a number of other things, and
he offered to sell them to mo for a pound. I told him I
had'nt got a pound and that I had onlylss., but if he would
wait until the evening when I got my money I'd give him a
pound for them as they were worth it. He agreed to take the
155., as they were going away, and then I saw them safe
off. (Laughter.) I thought I'd go down to Kingsland
and see my aunt—(loud laughter)—and show how kind
her brother had been to me—(repeated laughter)—but she
was'nt at home, and as it came on to rain, and I had'nt got
any money, I went and pawned some of the things for
6s. 6d. (Laughter.) I then went and had some dinner,
and went home to Lambeth. After dinner I thought I'd
go and see my aunt again—(laughter)—and so I
took the tea-pot under my arm, wrapt up in one of
the cloths, and as I was going down Bishopsgate-street
I met one of my aunt's lodgers—(laughter) —and I asked if
my aunt was at home, and ho said no, and so I thought I
wouldn't go ; and as it came on to rain again—it poured
very hard—l stood up under a gateway, and just as I was
doing so a gentleman tumbled in after me, right on to my
heels; and ho said it's very wet, sir ; and I said, yes, it is.
He said, what have you got under your arm? I am a police
officer. I said, a pot ; and he said, where did you get it
from ? I told him my grandfather gave it to me. He said,
your account is not satisfactory, and he took me to the
station. That's all I've got to say about it.
The Common Serjeant, in summing up, pointed out the
difference between the statement made by the prisoner
according to the version of the police-officer, and his pre-
sent defence, which, if the jury believed, they would give
a verdict accordingly. _ _ _

The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the Common
Serjeant sentenced him to 12 months' imprisonment with
Lard labour.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

MANSION-HOUSE.

STEALING LEAD.—William Price, Richard Stock, and
John Brown, were charged, the first with stealing 331bs of
lead, and the others ,e ith aiding him in the same.
Prom the evidence of police-constable 909, one of the
City police, it appeared that about half-past eight last even-
ing ho was standing at the door of his place in Baker's-
buildings, Bishopsgato-street Without, when ho saw the
prisoners loitering about, and his suspicions being aroused
he spoke to Price, who had a bundle tied in an apron. He
opened the bundle and discovered the lead, which Price
said he had found on a dungheap. With the assistance o f
his brother officers the prisoners were taken to the station.
They wore not known to the police. He compared the lead
with some that was in the house of a gentleman in the
neighbourhood, and found that it had been stolen from
these premises.

Price and Stock, who were in the employment of an
ironmonger, received an excellent character from him, and
he appealed to the Lord Mayor to deal leniently with them,
adding that he was willing to take them into his service
again.

A gentleman, named Simmons, said he lived in the
neighbourhood of Baker's-buildings, which had been taken
by the Great Eastern Railway Company, and from which
a number of persons had been recently ejected. Brown
was in his employment about a week, but he took him
without any character.

The gentleman to whom the load was supposed to be-
long not being in attendance, the prisoners were remanded.
A gentleman, who did not give his name, said he lived
in tho neighbourhood, and that the building had become a
regular nuisance since the premises had become vacant.
Idle and ill-conducted boys used to get into the houses,
light fires there, and cause great annoyance to the peace-
able inhabitants.

RATE DEFAULTERS.—SoyeraI persons were fined diffe-
rent sums, or sentenced to short terms of imprisonment for
non-payment of rates.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

THE BITER BlT.—Thomas Ever, cook, was charged be-
fore Mr. Tyrwhitt with stealing a jar from the shop of
Mr. Banger, shell fishmonger, Oxford-street.

The prisoner was seen by W. Hills, City policeman,
who happened to be passing, to go up to Mr. Banger's
window, and take up what no doubt he supposed to be a
jar of anchovy paste, and put it into his pocket. The pri-
soner, however, made a mistake, for in consequence of Mr.
Bangor having been several times robbed he had taken the
precaution to place some empty jars in his window with
the view of saving the full ones. .
Mr. Banger stated that his object was not so much to
punish the prisoner as to caution others.
Mr. Tyrwhitt committed the prisoner for seven days.

fined the prisoner 40s. for each assault, and in default 14
days' imprisonment, the sentences to be consecutive.
The prisoner—I can't pay .£6.
Mr.-Partridge—Then you must go to prison for 42 days

Naval and Military Intelligence.

A Horse Guards' order was yesterday received at
Chatham directing the 24th company of Royal En-
gineers to be held in readiness to embark at Graves-
end on board the chartered troopship Merchantman,
which has been taken up for the conveyance of the
company to the Cape of Good Hope, to relieve one
of the companies of that corps whose period 'of
colonial service has expired. The 21th company
will be augmented to 100 men of all ranks from the
depot companies at headquarters, Chatham. The
order also directs a small detachment of 23d company
of Royal Engineers, together with a draught of the
Ist battalion of the 10th Regiment, consisting of
45 men of all ranks, to embark for the Cape of
Good Hope in the same vessel, to join the service
.companies of that corps. The officers placed under
orders to embark with the above troops are Captain
Richard Buller), Lieut. Walter St. George Berke,
and Lieut. W. F. Richardson, Royal Engineers;
and Ensign James Woolcott Lang, Ist battalion
10th Regimeat. The detachments are to be in
readiness to embark at Gravesend on the 21st inst.,
should the vessel be ready to receive them on board
by that date.
The sloop-corvette Reindeer, 7, 200-horse power,
fitting for commission at Chatham, is ordered to
have an armament consisting of one ordnance
wrought-iron 7-inch muzzle-loading pivot gun, two
61-pounder muzzle-loading pivot guns, and four
ordinary slide guns and wrought-iron carriages.
She wall also carry one 9-pounder breech-loading
Armstrong tided guu and one 6-pounder smooth-
bore brass gun for boat and field sm vice. Her
proportion of shot and shell w'll consist of 120 com-
mon 7-inch, 480 64-pounder, and 90 9-pounder
segment shells, empty ; 70 7-inch common, 240
64-pounder, and 70 9-pounder Armstrong shells,
filled; and 30 9-pounder and 96 6-pouude7 solid
shot for her boat guns.
Mr. J. F. Barnaby, attached to the Draughts-
man's Department at Chatham dockyard, has been
selected by the Adm:ralty to superintend. the manu-
facture of the iron beams for the Blanche, 4, 1,268
tons, 350 horse power, building at Chatham, at the
Butterby works. The masts and gear for the
Blanche are to be made at Chatham.

• A site near tie redoubt on Mount Wise, Devon-
pot t, has been selected on which to erect a statue of
the late Lord Seaton—labourers are at work clear-
ing out the foundation.
The screw steam gunvessol Dapper (tender to the
Britannia), from Dartmouth, arrived at Plymouth
on Thursday, and returned to Dartmouth on Friday.
The armoar-plated screw steamship Ocean, 23,
left Plymouth on Thursday to join the Channel
Squadron at Portland.

About 200 artisans and labourers were entered in
the Devonport dockyard on Thursday for service to
the close of the financial year.
The armour-plated screw steamship Zealous, 20,
at Devonpert, was put in commission on Thursday
for service probably in the Pacific.
The armour-plated screw steamship Lord War-
den, 20, was placed on Friday in No. 3 dock in
Keyham steam-yard to have her bottom cleaned and
valves overhauled.
The screw steam storesbip Industry, Staff-Com-
mander E. C. Youel, from Woolwich for Ascension
and Rio, arrived on Friday at Plymouth to embark
stores.

Professor Anderson's Conundi dm Contest.

This " event" came off at the Mechanics' Hall,
Nottingham, on Friday evening, before a crowded
audience and under the patronage of Sir Robert and
Lady Clifton, who honoured the entertainment with
their presence. The first part of the programme
was confined to the Professor's performances of
legerdemain (several new and astonishing tricks
being introduced), and to an exhibition of Miss
Anderson's wonderful powers of memory. The
second part was devoted to the adjudication of the
prizes for the best and the worst conundrum. Ac-
cording to the conditions of this contest, a jury of
thirteen was selected by the audience, and after the
gentlemen had taken their seats the Professor put
it to them whether any of them were authors of, or
interested iu, competing conundrums. A solemn-
looking man, in a wide-awake hat, who had caused
considerable merriment by his pertinacity to form
one of the jury, and who founded his claim to the
position upon the ground that he was the " represen-
tative of the working classes," hereupon said that he
was " slightly interested." The Professor accordingly
requested him to retire; but so anxious was the repre-
sentative of the working classes to take part in the deci-
sion of the prizes that he at once offered to retract
his statement, which, of course, he was not allowed
to do, and he was declared disqualified. Before
descending the platform, however, he was led by a
singular freak of anomaly to make a short speech to
the effect that he was convinced that truth would
always prevail, and in order to show, as he said,
that he bore no animosity towards his fellow jury-
men, he shook hands with them all round. The
working classes having found another and a less
eccentric representative, Mr. Belk, one of the jury,
proposed that Mr. Steegman should be foreman,
and the motion, having been seconded by a gentle-
man in a white apron neatly rolled round his waist,
was duly carried. Miss Anderson then read the list
of selected conundrums, which the professor had
divided into the following sections :—Anderson and
Association-al Conundrums ; section B.—Bad
Conundrums ; section C.— Cliftonian Conundrums;
section D.—Doubtful Conundrums ; section E.
—Excruciating Conundrums ; section F.—Funny
Conundrums ; section G.—Good Conundrums. At
the conclusion, Mr. Anderson intimated that it was
open to any one who had sent in a conundrum which
had not been read to request that his or her
composition might be submitted to the jury,
whereupon a number of gentlemen, who evidently
considered that " The Brains of Nottingham" was
an incomplete work, rose and propounded divers
queries, which to our mind certainly came within
the jurisdiction of section E, " the excruciating." At
last the jury were enabled to retireto consider their
verdict ; in the meantime Miss Flora Anderson
sang " Macgregor's Gathering," the solemn-looking
representative of the working classes above-men-
tioned diverted the audience with a singular speech
from the platform, and Mr. Wardle gave a comic
disquisition upon music. In about three-quarters
of an hour the jury re-appeared, looking as grave as
if their deliberations had been one of life or death,
and amid a silence as breathless as that which pre-
vails when a criminal is about to be condemned to
the full penalty of the law; the foreman announced
that it had been decided that conundrum No. 105
was the best. It was as follows :—Why does Not-1
tingham show more partiality for the rifle than any
other town? Because it has an Enfield for the
Town Clerk, and a Ball for the Mayor. The
author, however, it was found on the vouchers
being produced, had not complied with the con-
ditions by omitting to send his name ; and
the jury had to make another selection.
The second verdict was in favour of No.
170:—Why is the Corporation of Nottingham
better armed than any other corporation in Eng-
land ?—Because it's got a " Ball" for its Mayor,
and an " Enfield" for its Town Clerk. The jury
had, in the first instance, decided that the worst
conundrum was No. 9 ;—Why is a swallow like
a German stove ?—When it's a crooked flue (flew) ;
and the author of it was announced to be Sir Robert
Clifton ; but the manuscript it was discovered was
in the handwriting of Miss Anderson, and it did not
bear the name of the hon. baronet. Miss Ander-
son explained that the original was accidentally
destroyed ; but the audience was unanimous in de-
claring that it ought to be rejected, and rejected it
was. The jury had, therefore, a second time to
consider their fat, which was ultimately pronounced
for No. 5 :—When is a conundrum not a conun-
drum ?—When it. is not. The winners were Mr.
Grundy, Sneiton (the best), and Mrs. Smith, Bruns-
wick-villas (the worst) ; but neither of_the indivi-
duals in question were in attendance, and I r.
Anderson, in accordance with his declared intention
in such case, handed the prizes to the foreman to be
realised for the benefit of the local charities, which,
perhaps, was about the best result that the " sand-
papering" of the brains of Nottingham could have
produced. The entertainment did not conclude till
midnight—Nottingham Guardian.