The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-17 00:00:00

THAMES.

DARIXG HIGHWAY ROISBERY.—Timothy Lynch, an
active young thief, was brought up on remand charged
With stealing a silver watch from the person of Mr. George
Leonard, beer seller, of the " Old House at Home," No.
lig, Upper East Smithfield. A great number of watch
robberies have been committed in the district of this court
during the past year, and such is the daring and activity of
the numerous street thieves, that it has become absolutely
dangerous for persons to wear watches at all, and they must
keep a sharp look-out to preserve them while passing
through many parts of Whitechapel, St. George-in-the-
East, Stepney, Shad well, Limehouse, and Poplar. .There
have been numerous convictions for watch robberies both
by magistrates and juries, but the evil has not
abated. Mr. Leonard, the prosecutor in this
case was robbed in a very daring manner, on
Wednesday last between three and four o'clock in the
afternoon. He was passing a large sugar house in Dock-
street, Whitechapel, when the prisoner, who was accom-
panied by some very rough characters, rushed upon him
in front, snatched his watch from his pocket, and ran away
with it down a narrow court filled with loose women and
dangerous characters, and where it would have been dan-
gerous for Mr. Leonard to have followed the prisoner.
His companions, who surrounded Mr. Leonard when he
committed the robbery, also made their escape. On
the same day Francis Kelly a police-constable No. 130 H,
went in search of the prisoner, and found him in a low
lodging-house in Rosemary-lane, in company with several
notorious thieves. Kelly said, " I want you for stealing a
silver watch." The prisoner said he did not do it. He was
taken into custody, and on reaching the station-house he
said to the prosecutor, "Pray forgive me, master, forgive
me this time." Kelly said the prisoner was not 17 years of
age, and had been the associate of thieves for several years.

Doeble, a detective officer, said the prisoner was sum-
marily convicted of felony a year ago, and had been in
custody since for axother robbery and escaped conviction.
The prisoner said he was guilty of the robbery, and
wished the case to be settled at onco.

He was at onto sentenced to six months' imprisonment
and hard labour.

THE GREA T EASTERN.

Notwithstanding all the rumours and -confident
assertion to the contrary, the announcement made
that the great ship would before the end of the pre-
sent month be far upon her voyage to the United
States will be found to be correct. As at
present decided, the vessel will leave Holyhead
on Monday, the 24th instant. There may be a
short delay beyond this date, but it will not ex-
tend to more than a day or two. The cause of this
delay, if any, will arise from the inspection of the
ship and engines, in accordance with the terms of
the contract with Mr. Russell previous to their ac-
ceptance by the company. The contract nominated
Mr. Fowler, C.E., and Mr. M'Lean, C.E., arbi-
trators to decide upon matters that might arise in
dispute between the company and the contractors.
These gentlemen have now commenced their exa-
mination, and have appointed Mr. Hawkshaw,
C.E., as referee. Mr. Jordan and Mr. Bailey have
been requested to survey the ship, and they have
requested Mr. Paterson, the builder of the Great
Western and many other ships at Bristol, to assist
them in the survey. The directors are, it is stated,
satisfied with the performance of the ship on the
late trial trip, No official report has yet been re-
ceived by the board, either from the captain or the
engineers in charge. Some very extraordinary
notions have been indulged in respecting the speed
which the ship was to make, very far exceeding the
anticipations and calculations of Mr. Brunel, to
whom the great ship owes its origin. A short time
only before his death he stated most distinctly to
some persons who were talking of the ship's making
20 knots that she would do nething of the kind;
that she was never designed for such a high rate
of speed, and that his calculations were that she
would make the voyage from England to Calcutta
in from 32 to 36 days. This he stated, in the most
confident manner, she would accomplish, the late
of speed required for that purpose being only from
14 to 14,-I knots per hour.—Observer.