The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-21 00:00:00

THAMES.

• IMPITDENT ROBBERY.—Caroline Harris, aged 35, and
described as a washerwoman, was brought before Mr.
Yardley, charged with stealing 240 yards of printed cotton
from the shop of Mr. Abraham Beasley, linendraper, of
No. 1, Albion-place, Commercial-road East.
Francis Morris, shopman in the employ of Mr. Beasley,
stated that he saw the prisoner and another woman
looking at the piles of cotton print in front of the shop yes-
terday evening. His attention was diverted fur a moment,
and, upon turning round again, he saw the prisoner's com-
panion remove several pieces of cotton print from a pile
and walk away with them. The prisoner walked by the
side of her confederate. He went after the two women, and
the one who had the cotton print dropped it en the pave-
ment and ran away. The prisoner picked up the
cotton print and ran as fast as her load would
permit her, into Belgrave-street, by the side of Goldsmith's
and Blyton's premises. He overtook her in Belgrave-
street with the property in her possession. She said she
picked up the print, and tried to get away, but he held her
fast until a policeman arrived. _ _

Police-constable Pople, No. 288 K, said that when he
took the prisoner into custody. the prisoner said " I did not
take it; it was on the pavement, and I picked it up."
The prisoner pleaded guilty, and asked for mercy on ac-
count of her dear fatherless children.

Mr. Yardley—This woman has been here before.
Inspector Griffin, of the K division, Roche, the gaoler
of the court, and other officers, said the prisoner had been
in custody before on more than one occasion, but they could
not tell when the last conviction took place, or for what
offence.

The prisoner declared she had never been in custody
before, and that many constables looked at her in the cell,
and could not identify her.

Inspector Griffin—l have seen the prisoner in custody
here.

Mr. Yardley—l know the prisoner's face well. Sho has
been here several times, and I have no doubt she is a most
incorrigible thief. The magistrate then sentenced the pri-
soner to six months' imprisonment and hard labour, and
in conclusion said—" This is the last time I intend to com-
mit you summarily, and next time you are brought before
me I will commit you for trial if a case is made out."

SIR C. NAPIER AND THE NAVY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—When an officer of high rank and great
experience comes forward to address the public
through the press on the state of ;a p: ofession with
which he has been intimately connected, for many
years, the public has a right to expect something
more than a vague denunciation of existing abuses,
and a few mild suggestions as to the best mode of
remedying them.
Sir Charles Napier commences his letter to the
First Lord by a repetition of the oft repeated com-
plaint, that although since the peace of 1815 we
have always found a difficulty in manning newly
commissioned ships, and have been put to great ex-
pense in consequence, no Board of Admiralty has
ever hit on a method of manning the navy econo-
mically or expeditiously.
He considers that disgust is engendered in the
navy, and that seamen are deterred from joining it
through the existence of a variety of unredresscd
grievances, some of which he enumerates. Among
them are to be found unnecessary confinement, the
discomfort of hulks, infrequent payment, a faulty
system of clothing, and lengthened periods of ser-
vice on foreign stations.
Now, no one can object to the gallant admiral
bringing these matters to the notice of the naval
authorities, or can do otherwise than honour him
for wishing to see these orany other abuses, affect-
ing the comfort and well-being of our gallant tars,
promptly and effectually remedied ; but surely there
are graver matters of complaint which he has left
unnoticed, though on former occasions they have
not escaped the gallant officer's well-deserved con•
demn ation.
What does seem objectionable in the gallant
officer's remarks is simply this :—At a time when
it is more than ever necessary that the real state of
the navy should be thoroughly understood through-
out the country, and when the necessity of sup-
planting the present vicious system (so full of grie-
vances as regards the individuals who compose the
service, and so faulty in everything which relates to
a permanent and economical effieiency) by an en-
tirely new organisation is almost universally ad-
mitted, he attempts to draw away the attention of
the public from the graver points at issue by bring-
ing forward minor matters of complaint, as if they
were apart from, and not intimately bound up
with, the exising system as it now stands.
It is, indeed, greatly to be feared that until naval
officers of rank, whose opinions, like those of Sir
Charles Napier, must necessarily carry great weight,
are induced to take a wider and more comprehen-
sive view of the wants and requirements of the
naval service, nothing will be done towards inaugu•
rating those vast changes which are so imperatively
demanded in its constitution.
The real question at issue with regard to the
navy is this, flow ought our navy to be constituted
in time of peace so that we may be best prepared
to meet the contingencies which must'arise on the
sudden outbreak of a maritime -war ?
It has long been admitted that we ought to have
a standing navy, and that our first efforts should
be directed to its establishment, but by a strange
fatality we have substituted for it the enrolment of
men for what is called continuous service, than
which no two things can be more dissimilar.
Our first consideration, then, should be directed

towards the establishment of this standing navy,—
the best method of securing a reserve, however im-
portant the subject may be, is necessarily secondary
to it.

The establishment of a standing navy may be
considered to be imperative, because without it, it
is impossible to organise any system that will pro-
vide for the proper selection, instruction, distribu-
tion, or promotion of our seamen, even should we
have no difficulty whatever in procuring them. It
is imperative, because without it it is impossible to
establish any permanent bond of union between the
officers and men. It is imperative, because without
it the principles of military organisation so essen-
tial
to the discipline of all large bodies of Mell
brought together as combatants cannot be made
applicable to the seamen of Great Britain.
We have boys in abundance, and men would not
be wanting. England swarms with them—stout,
athletic young fellows, ready to enter as seamen at a
word, to be made seamen with a little time and
teaching. Would it not be a just subject of pride
for our naval officers to be able to point to their
ships' companies, and say," Look at those fine fel•
lows. We made them sailors !"
Yes, sailors ; such as we want in these days to
fight our ships ; not the "half-monkey half-man" of
the romantic school, or the sea-soldier of those
who would man our fleets with marines, but an
instructed seaman and a well-taught gunner, raised
in his own estimation and in that of the public
by being privileged to wear the uniform of her
Majesty's navy.
Should you think these few lines worthy of in-
sertion, I may at some future time endeavour to
show how all this, and much more, might be done,
if, instead of continuing to lament over present ina-
bility to procure " ready-made" seamen, we could
only manage to throw our old prejudices overboard,
and set to work in right good earnest to manufac-
ture them for ourselves.
We have had quite enough of these useless lamen-
tations. It is high time that we should try some-
thing else.—l have the honour to be, sir, your very
obedient servant, DELTA.
Portsmouth, Oct. 18.

A WOMAN ONE HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS OF
AGE.—There is now in Liverpool a singular person, named
Elizabeth Roberts, or "Betty Roberts,' as she is familiarly
termed by her acquaintances, who, according to her own
statement, was born in Northop, Flintshire, 9
or in the 22d year of the reign of George llthus
attained to the ago of 110, and from presennt,e . "Betty"
appearances it
is possible she may survive many years lo
resides at the back of St. Martin's Aarket, Scotland-road,
and almost every fine day she may bel seen
landing-stage, or about the markets and on the south
other.public places
in the town. The landing-stage is her principal resort on
Sunday afternoons, where she generally attracts round her
a group of persons, who, astonished at her great age, as well
as amused by her loquacity, frequentiy drop her a few cop-
pers, although it @u ht to be stated she never solicits cha-
rity. Her frame is shrunken and withered, but still she is
erect and steady in gait, and with stick in hand she boasts
that she can yet manage to walk three miles an hour. She
attributes her extended life in a measure to her simple
habits, and states that she has never used any intoxicating
liquors.
TRAVELLING EXTRAORDINARY.—A singular in
cident occurred on Friday last, at the station of the Great
Western Railway, Gloucester. A little girl, the child of re-
spectable parents living in the vicinity of the railway, it ap-
pears, rather late in th evening was close by the rails, and
strolled into a horsebox, into which she was enabled to get
in consequence of the carriage being then on a siding. Here
the little thing fell fast asleep, and slept so soundly, that in
a short time afterwards some of the porters went to the car-
riage, and subsequently a horse was placed in it for convey-
ance to Hereford. Undisturbed by these movements, and
undiscovered by the porters themselves, the child slept on,
and the carriage being attached to the 8.15 p.m. train, she
and the horse were soon on their way together. At about
half-past nine they reached Hereford, where, of course, the
animal had t...) be rt moved, and the astonishment of the por-
ters there may be better imagined than described at discover-
ing so very unusual an occupant of a horse-box. The child
was still asleep. On tidings being learnt respecting her,
she was sent back to Gloucester next morning, her parents
being much pleased at her restoration.