The Sun.
London, England, 1832-10-02 00:00:00

UNION-HALL.

Yesterday, John Thonzas, Arthur Yates Dillon,
and Letitia Dillon, his wife, were brought up,
charged with being engaged in the performance. of
the Honeymoon at an unlicensed place in Rothe-,
lithe.

In consequence of the announcement of a play at
the " Royal Tunnel Theatre," a miserable hovel in
Rotherhithe-wall, that a party of police went there on
Saturday last, and surprised the actors, just as
they had concluded the Honeymoon, and were about
to commence the farce of Raising the Wind. On
the entrance of the police a scene of indescribable
confusion arose ; the defendant, Thomas, who was
the Jeremy Diddles of the piece, upon seeing the
unwelcome visitors, gave the first alarm, by singing
out " Here's the police ! let us bolt." The mo-
ment he gave the announcement the whole of the
dramatis personee ran towards a window at the back
of the stage, and tumbled out one over another into
fi
the yard. The three defendants, who enacted the
principal characters in the piece, were secured and
conveyed from thence to the station-house in the ir,
dresses they had made their appearance in, but the
whole of the supernumeraries escaped, owing to the
darkness of the night. In their flight across a field,
which was surrounded by a filthy ditch, some of
them, not being expert jumpers, got into the mud,.
and stuck there for some time, until released by
some persons passing: the mischief of spoiling their.
dresses, and being soused in the mire besides, was-
considered a sufficient punishment for transgressiev;
the law, and no pains were, therefore, taken to secure•
them afterwards.

Sergeant Smithers, who headed the party of
police on the occasion, said, that the audience con-
sisted chiefly of a set of ragamuffin boys, amongst
whom were sweeps in abundance. The charge of
admission was 4d. to the front, and 2d. to the back
seats, and owing to the announcement of a play in
such a neighbourhood, the door of the theatre was
besieged from an early hour, to the great annoy-
ance of the passengers. The hubbub occasioned by
the blowing of two trumpets and the loud beating
of a big drum at the entrance, added in no small
degree to the nuisance created by an exhibition of
the kind in such a place as Rotherhithe, where the
people, who are composed of the working classes,
retire early to rest. Upon inquiry the sergeant had
ascertained, that the "company" had recently been
performing at Chelsea, but that they had " shifted
the scene" to the Surrey side of the water, owing
to some " unpleasantness" that had occurred in a
rival establishment in the neighbourhood of Queen-
square.

- Thomas, in his defence, declared that the Royal
Tunnel Theatre had no connection whatever with
either of the penny exhibitions alluded to; that at
the former the legitimate drama was played ; ladies
and gentlemen of talent in the theatrical profession.
were engaged at the " Tunnel," and as there was
nothing of an immoral tendency said or done on the
boards of that theatre, he trusted that none of the
members of the company would be considered as
coming under the clauses of the Vagrant Act.
Sergeant Smithers said that there was no license
for the place, and that such performances encour-
aged all the low characters in the neighbourhood to
stop out late, and make disturbances in the streets.
The Magistrate (Mr. WEDGWOOD) should dis-
charge the defendants this time, but warned them to
leave the neighbourhood, as they rendered them-
selves liable to the infliction of a 50/, penalty for
playing in an unlicensed place.