The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-27 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER.

EXTRAORDINARY CHARGE OF FELONY.—Susan Davis, an
innocent looking girl, was charged with the commission of
a series of thefts.

Tho Rev. Mr. Ford, of 15G, Cambridge-street, Pimlico,
said that the prisimer had been in his service, and left
about a fortnight ago. Having been accused of other
offences, she had admitted that she had robbed him of
money from time.ko time.

Mrs. Ford said that during six weeks, which time the
prisoner was in the house, she missed money from her
locked trunk. The prigormi had afterwards admitted that
she had robbed her of between £3 and V.

Mr. Benjamin Pulley, a gentleman living in tho house,
said that ho had four £5 notes in a locked desk in his sit-
ting-room. He missed one of the notes ten days after she
had been there, and subsequently some gold. She ad-
mitted that she had stolen it, but that was under a pro-
mise of forgivenness.

Mr. Ford said he had made no promise to her of any
description. He then handed in a written confession of
prisoner's peculations, and said that some skeleton keys
brought by a man whO visited the prisoner had been
found in the cellar. He had given her the keys and set
her, according to her account, to rob the house.
Prisoner said the confession had been extorted from her
by threats, that she should bo thrown into a dungeon
where there were rats and mice for the remainder of her

life. She declared that her master's son had brought the
skeleton keys there.

The son positively denied this, and proved finding tho
keys in the cellar.

A young man, related to the prisoner, positively declared
that the Fords had offered to forego the prosecution if the
money was restored.

Mr. Ford denied it.

It was stated that the prisoner's young man, said to have
given her the keys, could be produced.
Mr. Arnold said it was an extraordinary thing that the
thing that the girl should have been kept in the house so
long after the confession. Prisoner was ordered to find a
surety in £25 for her re-appearance.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

-4.-

The Minotaur, armoured iron frigate, in the
steam basin of Portsmouth dockyard, is being fitted
with the heavy metal racers for her main deck guns,
and otherwise brought forward as quickly as pos-
sible for commission in May next as the flagship of
the Channel Squadron. The four central ports on
the main deck—two on each side—that were built
in the ship's aide of a larger area than the remain-
der of the ports, so as to admit of 12-ton guns
being mounted and fought through them,were found
during the recent experiments with the 12-ton gun
' and carriage to be of too small an area to work
the gun efficiently under all conditions, and
they will therefore only fight 6f-ton guns in com-
mon with other ports built in the ship's side for the
same gun. Four other ports have, however, been
selected out of the ship's main deck battery for
mounting the 12-ton guns, and are now undergoing
the necessary enlargement and fitting for that pur.
pose. These ports are just abaft the four formerly
intended for the large guns, and are also abaft the
working parts of the chain cables on the main deck.
The latter circumstances will give additional room
to the crews of the guns in the rear of the slides
when at drill or in action. Scuttles for the admis-
sion of light and air to the cabins on the lower deck
are being cut through the armour-plating. The offi-
cers' cabins on the main deck have been temporarily
taken down to allow of the gun-slide.racers being
fitted to the deck, and from the large amount of cabin
accommodation the ship possesses on her lower deck
and under her poop it is very probable that all the
cabins fitted originally to the after part of her main
deck may not again be erected. As one instance
of the cost of preserving" iron ships of war
when lying idle on the lists of the steam re-
serves we may mention a very recent circumstance
connected with the Minotaur. On opening some of
the cellular compartments of her double bottom it
was discovered that a certain amount of scraping, or
cleansing, and repainting with red lead or other pro-
tective composition was necessary for the removal of
rust, w hich it was said had appeared in many parts,
and for the preservation of the iron. The matter was
apparently but a trifling one, and an estimate was
called for by the authorities at Whitehall. This esti-
mate was furnished by the master shipwright's de-
partment of Portsmouth yard, and it exceeded
£l,OOO I The armament of the Minotaur is fixed by
Admiralty minute as follows :—Main deck—Four
12-ton 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns, and 18
6-ton 7-inch rifles, as on beam deck, as revolving
chase guns.
An order was received by telegram at Chatham
yesterday from the Admiralty, directing the screw
gunboat Sepoy, 2, 60 horse-power, Lieut.-Com-
mander 11. J. Dyke, to proceed forthwith to Queens-
town, there to await further orders,