The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-17 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—Feb. 16.

MANSION-HOUSE.-- Alfred Algerson, journey-
man baker, who had been remanded upon the charge
of having attempted to commit suicide by jumping
over the parapet of London-bridge, was again
brought before the Lord Mayor.
It will be recollected that after the charge had
been proved against the prisoner on Saturday last,
he made a long rambling, incoherent statement, to
the effect that he had been induced to commit the
rash act on account of mental distress, brought on
by his having killed his father, by administering to
him poison by direction of his mother, he not being
aware at the time of the nature of the dose he so
administered. The Lord Mayor said he did not
believe there was the least foundation for the state-
ment of the prisoner, but remanded him till yester-
day, in order that the state of his mind might be
ascertained.

Mr. Goodman, the chief clerk, now handed to tho
Lord Mayor the following certificate :
" Gaol of Newgate, Feb. 16, 1859.
" In obedience to the instructions of the Lord Mayor, I
have the honour to certify that I have daily carefully ex-
amined Alfred Algerson since his admission into this gaol on
the 12th instant, as to the state of his mind. I have ascer-
tainedsthat just previous to the attempt at suicide he had
been drinking hard, which doubtless led to the depression
and derangement under which he acted. On a former occa-
sion he has attempted the same, but under the same perni-
cious influence. He states that he never had such a thought
except when he had been drinking ; that he now regrets and
is sorry for what he has done, and has expressed a resolution
never to allow himself to be brought under the influence of
intoxicating liquors in future. _

"As regird; his statement that'he had given something
to his father when he was ill, which his mother said was
poison, it appears to arise from some general observation of a
drinking and abandoned woman, for he informs me that she
drank very hard for four years before her death. Ho like-
wise states that the doctor from whom the medicine was
obtained was found gnawed in his bed by rats.
" These statements appear to me absurd and unfounded,
and may be pure delusions. His conversation upon all other
matters, manner, and conduct, since under my observation,
have been quite correct, and have not exhibited any indica-
tions of derangement of mind.
" J. H. GinsoN, F.R.C.S."
The Lord Mayor—You see that the statement
that the medical man has very kindly sent me says
that your depression is brought on by drunkenness.
That is generally the case. We cannot permit you
to go at large to attempt sack another attack upon
your life, and therefore you must find a surety—a
good housekeeper—in £lO to keep the peace for
one calendar month, and in default of your doing
that you must go to prison ; but in sending you
there it is in the earnest hope that there you may
repent of this propensity, leave it off, and become a
useful man.

Isaac French, a young fellow belonging to South
Shields, and who described himself as a clothier,
was charged before the Lord Mayor with having
fraudulently obtained goods of the value of £l2
from Messrs. Tallerman, wholesale clothiers,
Houndsditch, by false pretences.
Mr. Doyle, on behalf of the prosecution, said the
prisoner carried on business in South Shields as a
clothier • and in the month of October last, when
Mr. Tallerman was in the north, he paid a visit to
the prisoner, who gave him an order for clothing
amounting to £l2 Os. 11d. Mr. Tallerman, struck
by his youthful appearance, asked him if he was 21,
and received for reply that he was nearly 24. The
goods, upon the faith of his representation, were
transmitted to South Shields, and in the ordinary

course of business payment was applied for several
times, but without success. Ultimately an action
was brought against the prisoner for the debt in the
Sheriffs' Court. The action had just been tried,
and to the utter surprise of Mr. Tallerman, the
prisoner, who had assured him he was nearly 24
years of age, had pleaded infancy in bar of the
claim. As his brother swore that he was only 19
years and four months, and the prisoner swore posi-
tively that he was under 21, the jury were reluc-
tantly compelled to give a verdict in his favour.
He (the learned counsel) apprehended there could
be little doubt that the prisoner's misrepresentation
of his age, when pointedly asked the question,
amounted in law to a fraudulent representation,
and inasmuch as the goods would not have been
parted with except for that misrepresentation, Mr.
Tallerman had considered it his duty to give him
into custody. The learned counsel then proceeded
to say that he intended to put in evidence the pri-
soner's own statement as to his age when examined
in the Sheriffs' Court, and then, if the Lord Mayor
thought any further evidence was necessary, to ask
for a remand for the attendance of witnesses from
South Shields, who would prove what the age of
the accused party was.
The Lord Mayor said he was of opinion, accord-
ing to this statement of circumstances, that there
was no proof of any legal fraudulent representa-
tion, for although the prisoner might have told a
lie with regard to his age, for the purpose of facili-
tating his dealings when he went into business, he
might at the same time have really intended to pay
for the goods.

Mr. Doyle contended with great ability *hat the
prisoner had been guilty of a fraudulent repre-
sentation. •

The Lord Mayor said that after the circum-
stances mentioned by the learned counsel he did
not consider it his duty to go into the case, as
he believed that no jury would convict. His
lordship then discharged the prisoner, and observed
that as the alleged fraud had taken place at South
Shields, Mr. Tallerman could institute a prosecution
against him if he thought proper to do so in that
town.
The prisoner was then discharged.

GUILDHALL.—Thomas King, a young man;
by trade an umbrella maker, was charged with
having posted up some quack-doctors' bills on the
outside of a public wall, erected at the north end of
Shoe-lane by the Commissioner of Sewers.
Police•constable 230 stated that he found the
prisoner defacing the wall in question by plaster-
ing bills on it. Great pains were taken to keep
the inside and outside as clean as possible, and he
took the prisoner into custody for defacing the wall
without the consent of the owners of it.
The prisoner said he was a poor man, and he had
no idea there was any law to prevent him from
doing so.
Sir F. G. Moon asked if this was the first com-
plaint of the sort ?
The officer said he believed it was.

Sir F. G. Moon said, as it was a first offence, he
would discharge the prisoner, but he must let him
distinctly understand that the law prohibited such
acts, and that if he offended again, he would not
only be taken into custody, but fined.
John Green, a deformed lad, about fifteen years
of age, was charged with stealing a roll of flannel,
value 10s., from the shop of Mr. Spice, an oilman,
of No. 2, Little Britain.

William Augustus Barman stated that he was
behind his master's counter on the previous even-
ing, when he saw the prisoner walk out of the pas-
sage by the side of the shop with roll of flannel on
his shoulder. He followed him, and called " stop
thief," upon which he threw down the flannel and
ran away. He ran after him, calling out "stop
thief," and he was soon stopped and given into cus-
tody.
Edward Brett 272 said be • had made inquiries
into the boy's character, and found that he had been
twice in custody in the G division. He was re-
manded from the 4th to the 9th inst., and then dis-
charged. He was then charged with stealing
brushes.

The prisoner, in answer to the worthy alderman.
said his father was dead, and his mother had run
away and left him nine months ago, since which time
he had worked as a wood cutter in Golden-lane,
but had been out of work for the last three months.
Springatt, the gaoler, said he knew the prisoner
well. His mother had been twice brought to this
court for deserting him, and as soon as she had an
opportunity she ran away from him again. The
poor fellow was considerably deformed, and was left
totally destitute by his unnatural mother.
Sir F. G. Moon directed the officer to make further
inquiries into the prisoner's antecedents, and he
would see what could be done for him. He then
remanded him till Monday.

CLERKENWELL.—Margaret Sullivan, a girl
about 18 years of age, a servant out of place, was
charged with stealing £2O, the moneys of Mrs.
Augusta Gough.
The prisoner was formerly in the employ of the
prosecutrix, but in consequence of some irregula-
rities she was discharged. As soon as she left two
sovereigns were missed, and upon a further search
being made the remaining money was found to
have been stolen. Information was then given to
the police, and the prisoner apprehended by Stam-
mers, 136 N, when she denied any knowledge of
the transaction. The prisoner had left three sove-
reigns with a tradesman in the neighbourhood,
which she said she had saved, although she was only
in the receipt of a very small sum weekly.
The prisoner declined to make any defence, and
was remanded for a week.

LAMBETH.—Thomas Haden and James Rook,
the trustees, and Nathaniel Airs, the treasurer, of
the Friendly Society called the " Friendly Codgers,"
held at the Bird-in-Hand public-house, in Garden-
row, London-road, appearedin answer to a summons
taken out by Charles Tuckey, a free member, and
calling on them to show cause for illegally dissolv-
ing the said society, contrary to the provisions of
the statute.
Complainant stated that for some years he had
been a member of, and contributed to, the society,
but had lately become ill, and had been compelled
to claim relief under its sick-fund rules. On being
paid his weekly allowance on Saturday last, he was
told that the society was dissolved on the 31st of
last month, and that it was the last money he would
receive from its funds. He complained of the
society having been dissolved without his being
furnished with the usual legal notice, and was told
that the members refused to continue in the society
if he was allowed to remain in it; so that they not
only dissolved the old society to get rid of him, but
refused to allow him to join or participate in the
benefits derivable from the new. In reply to the
questions of the magistrate, the witness repeated
that he had received no notice whatever of the in-
tention of the defendants to dissolve the society and
form a new one, and that he had not, either by
writing or verbally, given his consent to such a dis-
solution.
The defendants, in reply, said that owing to
their rules their members dwindled so rapidly that
at last there were only 17 remaining, and the
funds, consequently, were not sufficient to pay sick
members. They therefore sought to reform the
society, and so far as the complainant was con-
cerned, he had not even applied to be re-elected

into the new society.
Mr, Elliott (to the complainant)—ls that true ?
Tuckey—Certainly not, your worship. When I
went to the society they all got round me like bull-
dogs, and kept saying and shouting out and
striking o' the table, "You have no demand on this
board—you have no demand on this board," and I
told them that I had no demand on the board, your
worship—and that was the table they was a strikin'
on—but I had on the funds of the society. Their
abuse was scandlous, particlar when I axed them if
I wasn't to be a member of the new society.
Mr. Elliott told the defendants that the whole
of their proceedings were not only irregular, but
perfectly illegal. He then read a clause in the act
to show them that they could not legally dissolve
the society without having the consent of the com-
plainant in writing. And, further, that they, as
officers of the society, were liable to be sent to the
House of Correction for three months, on conviction
before a magistrate, for baying aided and abetted
in the dissolution of the society. The magistrate
added that the most scandalous injustices were done
by the officers of these societies, by disqualifying
superannuated members without the slightest legal
grounds, after taking their money for many years,
and he wished it to be understood that, in all cases
coming before him where he found such injustice
practised, he should punish the offenders to the ut-
most limit of the law. In the present case he should
adjourn the summons for a week to give defendants
an opportunity of doing justice, and at least elect-
ting complainant a member of the new society.

HAMMERSMITH.—A young man named Un-
derwood Males, who has frequently been summarily
convicted, was charged with the following outrage-
ous highway robbery upon Mrs. Sarah Pembridge,
a married woman, residing at No. 17, James-street,
Notting-hill.
The complainant stated that shortly before 12
o'clock on the night of Tuesday, the Bth inst., she
was returning home from Oxford-terrace, when she
saw the prisoner as she was passing out of the Mall
at Notting-hill. He came behind her and took her
forcibly, round the neck by her cloak, and dragged
her back into the Mall, where there were some carts
standing. She struggled to relieve herself, and told
him that he was mistaken in the person. He re-
plied that he was not, and that she was the person
he wanted, she then caught hold of some railings

as a protection, when he pushed her violently for-
ward, and she fell down in the mud. He then pressed
his knees upon her, and pressed her down while he
turned out the pocket of her dress. Fortunately
she had only 2d. and a bunch of keys in her pocket,
her purse being inside the bosom of her dress. She
caught his hand in her pocket, and when she got
up she missed the 2d., and her keys were lying on
the ground. As he went away she saw him
look into his hand, as if he was seeing what he
had stolen. She called out loudly for the pollee,
and the prisoner returned and knocked her
down twice. The first time he knocked her down
with his fist, and the second time he pushed
her down violently. He also threatened with an
oath that he would knock her teeth down her
throat if she made a noise. The prisoner was per-
fectly sober.

Police-constable Turner said he took the prisoner
into custody At the corner of Camden-place, and
upon taking him to the complainant at her house,
she immediately identified him.
The prisoner denied the charge, and Mr.
Ingham fully committed him for trial.

MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSESHOES.

An ingenious machine for this purpose has been
been erected-at Chillington Ironworks, in this town,
by the inventor and proprietor, Mr. Henry Burden,
of Troy, in the State of New York, and the pro-
prietor of an ironworks in that town. Mr. Burden
is a native of Dumblane, in Scotland, and from his
early youth showed considerable aptitude for me-
chanical pursuits. From an account published of
his career in the New American Cyclopeedia it
appears that he is the author of numerous valuable
inventions, including a machine for making the
double-headed spike used extensively on the Ame-
rican railways ; and a self-acting machine for
reducing puddlers' balls into bloom, which is being
largely used in that country. As early as 1835 he
took out a patent for a machine for making horse
shoes, which he improved upon in 1843, and this
was turned to practical account by the production
of a considerable number of horseshoes. The present
machine, however, which was patented in 1857, is
entirely different from the former ones, and is a
very remarkable piece of mechanism. In the pre-
vious machines the piece of iron bar of which the
shoe was to be made was rolled into shape before
being bent, and the pressure of the rollers being
in the direction of its length, the bar, when it was
pressed, was naturally rather extended in length
than width, and the widening which is required at
the crown of the shoe was not properly effected.
By the present plan the bar, after being heated,
enters the machine by a feeding apparatus, a piece
of the required length is cut off, and, by a stroke
from a piece of steel, shaped like the inside of a
horseshoe, is bent, and falls upon a die on a wheel
beneath, corresponding to one on a cylinder above,
and thus acquires by pressure the desired shape,
two lateral strikers at the same moment hitting
the extremities, or heels, of the shoe, and driving
them inwards into the required shape. Thence it
passes between another pair of dies, where it is
stamped, and by an ingenious arrangement is flat-
tened from the curled shape which the wheel gives
it as it falls at the mouth of the machine. The shoes
thus made are remarkable for their exactness in shape
and in the position of the holes—a most important
point with regard to the safety of horses' feet ; and
they can be produced, when the machine is in pro-
per order, at the rate of 60 per minute, which is
more than two men can forge in a day, and the
superiority over shoes forged by hand is very strik-
ing. As the bar is bent before being pressed in
the die, the pressure at the crown is in the direc-
tion of the width, and hence the widening is readily
effected. The machine is secured by patent in this
and in most of the countries of Europe. It has
been erected at Wolverhampton as a central and
suitable place of inspection both for this country
and for any persons on the continent who may de-
sire it, the inventor desiring to sell his patent rights
in Europe. The United States Government pur-
chase the shoes thus made for the supply of the
cavalry of the States.—Wolverhampton Chronicle.

COUNTRY MA_RKETS.