The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-13 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CHARGE AGAINST

TWO TRADESMEN.

At the Birmingham Police-court on Tuesday,
Isaac Hill, landlord ofthe Malt Shovel Inn, Princep-
street, and Clement Payne, butcher, Newdegate-
street, were charged with having possession of
stolen deeds. The owner of the lost deeds is Mr.
Edwin Barlow, of Hampton-street, metal dealer.
Mr. Barlow stated that on the Ist day of last Nov.
he went to London. At that time he had in his
warehouse in Hampton-street an iron safe, in which
he safely locked up two deeds. One was a counter-
part of a lease of a house in Hampton-street from
Barlow to Baker, and the other was a conveyance of
some land in Middlesex from a gentleman named
Sams to Mr. Barlow. Mr. J. Barlow, son to prosecu-
tor, stated that when he got to the warehouse of his
father, in Hampton•street, on the 3d of Nov., about
eight in the morning, he found that the iron safe,
which was built into the wall in the counting-house
upstairs, had been forcibly taken from the wall,
carried down into one of the shops, broken almost
to pieces with a hammer, and the deeds abstracted.
Other papers and documents in the safe were
strewed about the floor. Nothing was heard of
these documents until Monday last, when, in con-
sequence of information which the officers of the
detective force received the two persons accused
were taken into custody on the charge of being con- ,
nected with the deeds, so far as Hill was specially
concerned, he implicating Payne as to the posses-
sion of the documents. Hardly had the matter been
launched when the question of an adjournment was
mooted, and after this had been settled some dis-
cussion took place as to whether further evidence
should now be taken or otherwise. It was even-
tually decided that it should. A person named
Nathan James Johnson, who said he was an
accountant, stated, about six weeks ago he was at
the inn kept by Hill. The prisoner said, " I under-
stand you know something about deeds." To this
a reply in the affirmative was given, and Hill then
took witness into the cellar and showed him the
two deeds previously described. (Johnson gave a
description of the documents.) Hill added, " These
deeds were lost, and the person who found them
brought them to me." The prisoner further asked
what was the value of the parchments, adding,
either a reward had or would be offered for them.
He (witness) saw Mr. Barlow's name on one of the
deeds. Hill had asked him who he thought the
documents belonged to. This witness, when he said
the deeds were valueless to him, Hill, was asked by

that prisoner to go and see Mr. Barlow. He (John--
son) went twice to Hampton-street, but Mr. Barlow
was out of town, and he (Johnson) did not see him.
This witness did not say if he had given information
to the detective force.—Detective Alexander was
then examined, and stated that on the preceding
day, he, in company with Kelly and Palmer, also
detectives, went to Hill's house, in Princep-
street, having a search warrant. Finding the
prisoner at home, he questioned him as to
the deeds referred to, telling him he should
search the house. Hill positively, at that time,
denied all knowledge of the deeds, adding," You
may search, and welcome." (He, witness, id not
find the deeds.) Subsequently Hill said, "The
man who brought them to me took them away
again." He, witness, then said, " Who was this
person ?" and after some time Hill added, " I'll not
get myself into trouble; I had them from a man
named Payne ;" and finding he, Alexander, did not
know where this prisoner lived, said, "I'll go and
show you his house (Newdegate-street). If we could
see him, I have no doubt he would say where he
had the deeds from, and clear me." Later in the
day, detective Kelly having apprehended Payne,
Alexander went to the public-house where they
were and " confronted" the two prisoners in the
yard of the premises. When this took place, Hill
remarked to Payne, " You see what trouble you
have got me in over these deeds. What have you
done with them ?" To this the accused, Payne,
replied, " You know that we put them on the fire,
in your house, and burnt them ; and that we were
both together when this was done." To this Hill
replied, " That is the truth." This comprised the
evidence given in a most extraordinary case, and
the further hearing was then remanded till Thurs-
day next.—Birmingham Daily Post.

FATAL ACCIDENT.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. Carter, coroner for East
Surrey, held an inquest at the Duke of Cambridge
Tavern, Mansion-house-street, Newington-road, on
the body of Mr. Charles Perry, aged 57, clerk to
Mr. Temple, Q.C., who lost his life under the
following circumstances :
Wm. Bray deposed that onYriday evening last,
about a quarter to six o'clock, he was -in the Ken-
nington-road, on the right-hand side of the way,
when he heard some vehicle coming along the road
at a very rapid pace. He looked round and saw it
was a phaeton drawn by one horse, and was about
seven feet from the kerb. The deceased was in the
roadway, and either one of the shafts or the shoulder
of the horse struck him, and he fell on his face in
the road, the near wheels passing over him. Wit-
ness ran to Mr. Perry's assistance, but the carriage
did not stop—the driver, at the moment it passed
over the deceased, striking the horse with the whip.
Witness obtained the assistance of a young man,
and on raising Mr. Perry from the ground he was
found to be quite insensible, and was at once con-
veyed to his own residence, 9, Kennington-row.
He should be unable to identify the driver of the
carriage. At the time the occurrence took place
an omnibus stopped in the road ; the deceased
alighted from it, and was coming towards the
pavement when he was knocked down.
Richard Chamberlain, a lighterman, corroborated
the evidence of the last witness, and added that the
carriage was driven at a very rapid pace, and that
after the occurrence several. persons called loudly
after the driver to stop, but he did not do so.
Mr. Iliff, surgeon, 19, Canterbury-row, Kenning-
ton-road, deposed that on Friday evening last he
was called upon to see the deceased, and found him
lying on the floor of the back parlour of his own
house. He was perfectly cold and pulseless, but
he afterwards slightly rallied, and witness then
found that the ribs on the left side were crushed,
and there was no doubt the inner chest was injured.
He became very low, and expired about half-past
11 o'clock the same night from the effects of the
injuries.
Mr. Inspector White, of the L division, said that
neither the driver nor the persons who were in the
carriage had yet been traced.
The Coroner said he thought, in such a serious
case, the jury could not come to a decision without
the strictest inquiries, and he therefore recom-
mended that the inquiry should be adjourned to
give the police further time to trace those who
were in the carriage.
The jury concurring in the propriety of this
course the inquiry was adjourned for a week.