The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-28 00:00:00

THE A RMY.

Major-General D. A. Cameron, Vice-President,
presiding, assisted by Major-General Josh. E. Port-
lock, R.E., Lieut.-Col. J. E. Addison, and Col T.
Elwyn, ILA., members of the Council of Military
Education, concluded their examination of candi-
dates for direct commissions on Saturday last, at
the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. There were upwards
of 130 candidates on the occasion.

A court-martial has been held at Chatham garri-
son for the trial of a non-commissioned officer of the
Royal Engineers, named Jonning, on the charge of
having been intoxicated while on duty at Bionp-
ton Barracks ai orderly corporal. In support of
the charge against the accused four witnesses were
examined before'the Court, two of whom, includ-
ing Captain, I)urnford, Royal Engineers, swore to
the 'prisoner being intoxicated. For the defence,
the surgeon who examined the prisoner imme-
diately after he was placed in confinement was
called, and his evidence was to the effect that the
accused was not intoxicated when he examined
and this evidence was confirmed by other
witnesses. The Court remained in deliberation a
considerable time, and ultimately acquitted the pri-
soner, who has a very good character.
The Royal Marines selected for her Majesty's
steam sloop Icarus, 11, fitting for sea at Woolwich,
to the number of 21 men of all ranks, left head-
quarters, Chatbam, on Saturday, and joined that
vessel.. A detachment of go mug of the 54w 4111-
sion also left Chatham on Saturday, and proceeded
to Portsmouth, to be in readiness for embarkation
in any ships they may be required.

THE RECENT' MUTINY ON BOARD

.11.31.6'. PRINCESS ROYAL.

Five separate courts-martial have been ordered
by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to be
held on board H.M.S. Victory, at Portsmouth, in
connexion with the late disturbance en board the
Princess Royal. The first court assembled on Sa-
turday, at nine a.m., for the trial of the following
seven prisoners on charges of " mutiny" and "mu-
tinous conduct :"—John Earley, ordinary seaman ;
Robert 'Turley, ditto ; Henry Randle, ditto ; John
Harvey, ditto; John Wilson (1), ablebOdied ; James
Smith (1), ordinary seaman; and Charles Coals,
ditto.
The court was composed of Rear-Admiral the
Hon. George Grey, president ; Captains the Hon.
Joseph Denman, G. T. Gordon, O'Callaghan, R.
Harris, It. S. Hewlett, C. 8., Cockburn, Hillier, and
Wilson, with Mr. J. W. Ilillyer, Deputy Judge-
Advocate.
Captain Billie, commanding H.M.S. Princess
Royal, appeared as prosecutor, assisted by Mr. W.
Swainson, the Admiralty solicitor.
The first witness examined was Commander J. J.
S. Josling, who deposed—l am commander of
H.M.S. Princess Royal. On the afternoon of Satur-
day, the 12th inst., I was on board. In the after-
noon, about half-past three, the chief petty officers
came aft on the quarter deck on behalf of the ship's
company to request me to ask leave of the captain
until Monday morning. I told them the captain
was not on board, but that I would send an officer
to the Port Admiral's house with their requisition.
Lieut. Prattent was the officer sent. About 4 p.m.
the captain came on board and ordered me to send
one watch on leave. I sent for the petty officers to
ascertain which watch it was that was to go
on shore, and they agreed to cast lots ; but, find-
ing that did not meet the approval of the ship's
company, they asked for the first halves of both
watches (equal to one watch) to go, which I granted.
I then ordered them to fall in on the jetty, and they
were mustered by the watch bell. While they
were mustering the petty officers of the second halves
of the watches came aft to request that the rest of
the ship's company might have leave also. I refused
to hear or to forward such an application. While
this was taking place, Captain Baillie camo out of
his cabin to go to the Admiral's house, and in pass-
ing through the men asked me " what was the
matter," or words to that effect. I told him what
the petty officers now requested, and he passed on.
I ordered Lieut. Prattent to pass those men who
were going on leave through the dockyard gates,
and he accompanied them through the yard for that
purpose. About a quarter of an hour afterwards I
observed the liberty men returning with Lieute-
nant Prattent,, and Captain Baillie following close
behind. Finding the men on their arrival very
unsteady,:f ordered them to fall in, and requested
Captain Baillie to speak to them, and I heard noises
on the lower deck, and went down to see what was
the matter. I walked half way round the deck,
and found the men quite respectful, but heard
shouting behind my back, and in the fore part of
the ship. Coald not distinguish the people doing
so. I then went on deck and reported to Captain
Baillie the state of matters below, and asked him
to beat to quarters, which he ordered me to do. I
went down on the lower deck and found that the
ports had been lowered and the lights put out, the
men making a great noise and throwing their mess
traps about the deck. I found Lieutenant Prattent
on the deck with a light in his hand, and
walked forward with him and endeavoured to
address the men, but the shot, bread barges, and
mess-traps were being rolled and thrown about, and
Lieut. Prattent's light was extinguished, so that'iwe
were in total darkness, and found it uselesss to re-
main on the lower deck, I then reported again to
the captain the state of the lower deck. The boat-
swain's mate was ordered to pipe all the well-dis-
posed men to come on the upper deck and have
their names put down. Some of the men came up.
The captain then ordered the gratings to be placed
on the hatchways and fastened down with capstan
bars. The men below then commence I to haul
down the ladders, and were more furious then ever,
throwing cutlasses, broken pieces of mess-traps and
other missiles up the hatchways. Sentries were
then placed on each hatchway, with orders to
secure any of the men who attempted to come up
from below. The Marines bad been ordered under
arms when the hatchways were secured, and Cap-
tali Baillie sent an officer to acquaint the Admiral
with the state of the ship's company. A party of
Marines came on board from the St. Vincent, and
other bodies of Marines from the ships in harbour
fell in on the jetty alongside which the ship was
made fast. The mon below, now being intimidated
by the arrival of the Marines, commenced coming
up the hatchway, which had been left open the
whole time by the funnel casing, by twos and
threes, and were secured as they came up, and
passed round to the port side of the deck to have
their names taken down. After they had all been
mustered they were pinioned and sent in boats on
board the St. Vincent. When the Marines first
arrived from the different ships in the harbour to
suppress the disturbance the well-disposed men
were mustered out of the ship on to the jetty,
where they remained until all the prisoners had
been removed.
By Captain Baillie—At the time you were asked
for leave by the petty officers did you hear any
person say, "Leave for all or none ?"—I did.
Were the prisoners present at that time
can't say that they were.
Can you identify either of the prisoners as hav-
ing come from the lower deck after the hatches
had been fastened down ? I can : John Earley.
In answer to questions by the Court Commander
Josling further stated,—When the well-affected men
were piped up from the lower deck they had ample
means of coming up. About seven or eight minutes
elapsed between the men being piped from the
lower deck and the hatches being battened down ;
quite sufficient time for any well-affected men to
have got up had they wished to do so. There was
one hatchway with no gratings fitted to it against
the funnel casing, and iron ladders were placed
against it. It was open the whole time for any
man to come up, but guarded by sentries. Saw the
prisoners when they were pinioned. They were
sober. When the petty officers came on deck to
ask for leave on the two occasions referred to there
was no appearance of a mutinous assembly, and the
ship's company was orderly. It was the custom of
the ship to give leave to one watch, and nit to the
first part of both watches, as had been done on this
occasion. The prisoner John Earley came up by
the iron ladder against the funnel casing, about the
mid part of the disturbance. I consider he was an
ill-affected man, because he came up long after the
hatchways had been secured, and the well-affected
men had been piped on deck. There was no stated
time given for the well-affected men to come up on
deck. About seven or eight minutes elapsed be-
tween the " pipe" and securing the hatchways, and
the iron ladders were open for any man to come up
who wished to do so. Was certain that John Ear-
ley did not come up from below until after the ar-
rival of the marines from the St. Vincent, The
men knew of the marines' arrival on the jetty by
occasionally tricing up the lower deck ports to see
what was going on. The call " leave for all or
none," when the petty officers were asking for
leave, was from a single voice. The remainder of
the crew were then assembled round the mainmast
to hear the result of the application. The drum-
mer when lie beat to quarters was standing on the
main hatchway gratings on the maindeck. The
pipe for the well-affected men to assemble was
delivered at more than one hatchway ; heard it
repeated several times, and considered that, in
spite of the noise and confusion below, several
of the men might have heard it. Was on
the lower deck at the time and heard it him-
self. The boatswain's mate piped on the main
deck, and he believed he came on the lower
deck also. Saw several of the men go up in
answer to the pipe. Called out to the men several
times to go on deck, both from the hatchways and
the lower deck ; whilst on the lower deck several of

;he men assembled round me and cried " Shame."

A fow of the well-affected men about me on the

lower deck appeared anxious to assist me in sup•
pressing the mutinous conduct of the rest, calling
out to them several times ; but the noise was too

great to be heard, and the missiles were flying
about. A man standing near me received a wound

on the head, and both oificeis and men were struck
several times. Immediately the drum beat to
quarters, the lower deck ports were lowered, the
lights put out, and the riot commenced. A few of
the petty officers near me did all in their power,
by words, to suppress the mutinous conduct of the
crew. While on the main deck heard voices on the
lower deck calling out, " Come down you -- and
we'll settle you," or words to that effect ; also heard
other foul and abusive language. None of the men
who had leave to go on shore were concerned in the
cry of " leave for all or none," as they were on the
jetty at the time. There were no mates of the main
or lower decks ; boatswains' mates had charge.
The ship's complement of mates and midshipmen
was about ten short. There were about 13 doing
duty on board, 5 of whom were naval cadets. -
By the prisoner Sohn Earley—You belonged to
the ,first half of the port watch, and to the best of my
knowledge, went with the men on leave to the
dockyard gates, and afterwards returned to the
ship
and fell in with the rest on the
tquarter-deck.the time.
Lieutenant P. M. Prattent—Belonged to her
Majesty's ship Princess Royal, and accompanied the
men on leave to the dookr-od
04, by Qom from .7( gates to pass them
Cornmaltder Joslino• While at
the dockyard gates received orders to conduct the
men back to the ship. There was great demur on
the part of the men to obey those orders. One of

the prisoners, James Smith, was whistling and
making improper noises, and upon my speaking to
him his manner was anything but respectful. Did
not hear him incite the other prisoners to mis-
behave as well. Did not observe any of the pri-
soners, either by voice or sight, on the lower deck
when the drum beat to quarters.
By the prisoner Smith—When I ordered you at
the dockyard gates to cease whistling you answered
without saying " Sir." You kept your hands in
your trousers, and when I told you I should report
you when I got on board you said to me, " I dare
sayyou will."

George Hoad—On the 12th inst. was a prisoner
in irons on board the Princess Royal, in the fore
cockpit. Saw James Smith, one of the prisoners,
come down during the disturbance on the lower
deck, but cannot say when he went up again, as
the lights were put out. A mob came down, and
myself and five other prisoners were released from
irons, but I cannot say who broke the lock. My-
self and the other prisoners remained in the cock-
pit until the officers came down after the disturb-
ance. Saw the prisoner James Smith put out one
light; it was hanging on the port side of the sail
room. There were five lights there at the time, and
they were put out down the fore scuttle. The two
sentries were there at the time, and tried to pre-
vent the lights being put out. Did not recognise
any other of the prisoners as being in the fore cock-
pit. Was invited by the rioters to escape from the
sentry's charge.
Samuel Hunt—Was ship's corporal of the Princess
Royal. At the time of the riot recognised the voice
of Handle, one of the prisoners. He was shouting,
" Hang on and keep the -- down." Did not see
Randle when he made use of this language, but
could not be mistaken in his voice, as he heard him
three or four times. The sentries on the main deck
also recognised it, for they said, " That is Harry
Randle's voice."

Thos. Scandrup, sergeant, Royal Marines—Was
on the ship's lower deck when the disturbance took
place, and went on the orlop deck and remained
with the sentry and others there. The men on the
lower deck ordered the lights to be put out. After
that armed themselves with the cutlasses thrown by
the men down the hatchway. Recognised no one
at the time, but afterwards recognised Harvey, one
of the prisoners ; he spoke in an excited manner, as
though he was joining in the riot.
By the prisoner Harvey—Recognised your voice
from its peculiarity ; every man in the ship would
know it from any other.
John M'Donald, Royal Marine—Was sentry at
the gun-room door at the time of the riot among
the crew. The light was knocked out by the
rioters—pelted out with basins and plates. I could
not see who the rioters were, but could hear them.
Heard them call out " Put out the light." Heard
one of the prisoners, Earley, say, "Now for the
-- gun room door." Went forward with Lieu-
tenant Pratten, and:saw the prisoner Thurley, who
went by the name of " Chelsea" in the ship, with a
basin and plate in his hands, his hands held behind
him. Afterwards saw Captain Farquhar, of her
Majesty's ship Victory, on the main deck, who said
he was sent there by the Admiral to inquire into
the disturbance. Thurley said, " I wish to come
up and speak to you, sir," to which Captain Farqu-
har replied, " Come up, there's a good man, and
spoak to me." After that a great number of the
men followed him up, ani when no more came up
Captain Farquhar went below himself, and I fol-
lowed him. Found there was no light, and asked
one of the men to pass down a light, which he did;
everything was then quiet again, and witness re-
turned to his post at the gunroom door.
It being now past 5 p.m. the Court adjourned
until 9 a.m, this day. The second Court will try
Samuel Orr, 0.5., on charges of assault and mutin-
ous conduct ; the third will be for the trial of James
Griffiths, 0.5., on a charge of mutinous conduct.
The fourth Court will be for the trial of 110 other
seamen on a general charge of " mutinous conduct;"
and the fifth for the trial of William Barry, a sea-
man, for violent and mutinous conduct. The last
trial will not take place until a medical officer has
certified to Barry's fitness, he having received an
injury on his leg, from which he is still suffering.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE, Nov. 26,

WESTMINSTER. THE EXTRAORDINARY
CHARGE OF ADULTERY ANII ROBBERY.—EmiIio
Ponti, a young Italian, underwent another length-
ened examination, charged with stealing a quantity
of valuable property belonging to Thomas Pithers,
of 19, Stanley-street, Brompton (not Stanley-street,
Pimlico, as previously stated), with whose wife he
had eloped.
The details of the case have before appeared.
Ponti locked Pithers up for a month for threaten-
ing him, and during his incarceration cohabited
with his wife. When Pithers was released he
found that his wife and property had left his house,
and both were found in an apartment occupied
by Ponti, and it was urged for the prosecution
that prisoner was guilty of stealing the goods taken
away. The answer to this was that the law did
not protect a man who suffered his wife to indulge
in infamous practices; that the property taken
away was personally the wife's, and the wages of
promiscuous adultery ; and further, that Ponti was
no party to the removal.
Two more witnesses having been examined by
Mr. S. mythe for the prosecution, who proved that
Po zit! had said he would do all he could to get Mrs.
Pithers away from her home, and that she had run
away from him on two or three occasions, as he was
in
the
habit of ill-treating her, the important testi-
mony of Mrs. Pithers was taken by Mr. W. B.
Davies, for the defence, and was as follows :
Mary Pithers (sworn)—l am the wife of the pro-
secutor in this case, to whom I was married on the
last day of May, 1855. I have lived at 10, York-
place, Vauxhall-road. I first became acquainted
with Pithers a year before I was married. I was a
housemaid and he was a serving-man in a family.
I went to York-place in 1857. We did not live
together for a long time. He knew I saw gentlemen
before I was married. I saw other gentlemen be-
sides Ponti, at York-place, while my husband slept
in another room. Sometimes he slept with me. He
never did any work while I was in that house. I
saw other gentlemen before Ponti came, and my
husband never used to say anything so long as they
gave me money, even if it was only 55., but if they
gave me none he would make a disturbance. On
any occasion when gentlemen came in he would go
out of the room and run down stairs. The gentle-
men gave me money, clothes, rings, brooches, and
other things. A gold chain was bought out of a
£5 note given me by a gentleman, and my hus-
band went with me to purchase it. I used to give
my husband the money; he would take it from
me as soon as the gentlemen were gone. On the
sth of April, 1857, I was dressing in my room
to go out, when my husband came to me and
said, " There's a gentleman looking up, he's
quite a gentleman, let him in." The servant
let him in, and my husband ran down into the
kitchen. It was Ponti; he gave me a sovereign
directly he crme in, and gave the servant half-a-crown
to go and fetch some pale ale. He stayed an hoar,
and then went away. While he was in the house I
went down stairs and gave my husband the sove-
reign. Ponti said he wanted to take apartments—
had I any I could let him have ? I said he might
have the drawing-room floor if he liked. I asked
my husband, when he was gone, whether he would
let him come, and lie was quite agreeable. He came
on the following Tuesday, bringing his luggage with
him ; no terms were made about payment. He did
not know that I was married. He did not know it
for three months afterwards. I never told him. He
gave me £3 to pay the rent. He paid for my dinner,
and for months afterwards I had poultry, fish, fruit,
and other delicacies sent from the City by him. I
gave my husband the £3 directly after I received
it, and I told him where I got it from. Ponti has
given me notes and a great many sovereigns, and
while he gave me money, my husband said he might
come as often as he pleased ; as long as people gave
me money he never said anything, and if Ponti was
giving me money now, Pithers would not bring this
charge against him. The whole of the time Ponti
waswith me my husband was in the same house.
Ponti gave 74ie the greater part of the money I re-
ceived. When I told Ponti I was a married woman
he said I ought to have told him that before, as I
had kept him from his friends, and now he could not
go back; that was true. He wanted to go a week
before, and I would not let him. I cried, I begged
and prayed of him not to go—not to leave me, for my
husband ill-treated me so I could not live with him.
When I left York-place I went to 5, Boyle-street. I
went alone, but Pithers used to come and see me,
and I wrote to him and sent him money. I saw
gentlemen there; my husband was aware of it.
Gentlemen came while my husband was there, and
lie waited outside. When lie came in I gave
him some money. Shortly afterwards Pithers
took me away to 11, Belgrave-street South. He
gave his name " Thomas" t here, and represented me
as " Mrs. Hill." He had told me I might take any
name I liked. Ho did not want the people at the
house to know he was my husband, as he was afraid
they would not let me see gentlemen it they knew
that. He used to be there all day, and once he
opened the door himself to a gentleman. The
gentleman gave me money, and Pithers came in
when lie was gone. My husband used to have all
the money. He would not let Ponti see me, be-
cause Ponti would not give me money for my hus
band. I ent from there with Pithers to 19,
Stanley.street, Brompton. All men might come to
see me who would give me money. My husband
used to go out with me, and he would come down
the area steps quietly, so that if I had gentlemen
with me they should not hear him. He never asked

me how I got the money I gave him, because he
knew. I had cards, on some of which my name/gal
Mrs. Pithers, and on others Mrs. Hill. I wrote the
name of Hill, he said it would not do for him t°
write it, as it must be in a female hand. MY ht
band used to take letters in addressed to Mrs. ,
and open them. On the night I left ray husbands
with me, had gone ; he had given me
home, while he was in prison, Ponti, who had been
and promised to let me have four more on the 1.01
lowing morning if I would go home to my
rih
but. I refused. I packed up my things alone, ni
called a cab. Ponti was not there at that time• t.
went to his lodgings in Charles-street with tille
.
order
things, and threw stones at his window,
in
of the
that I might be let in without the people
a sovereign.,
le °thing'
house knowing. I took nothing but my
and jewellery, and four chamber towels, with me.
Mr. Smythe here requested another adjournmen+e
Mr. Arnold immediately complied, and the fur-
ther hearing 0
of the case was postponed until Fridsy
next, the prisoner's recormisances being extended
as before.
As Pithers left the court he got tolerably well,
mauled by the mob outside, the female portion (/'
whom were net at all backward.