The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-08 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMIYAL COURT-(7h

is Day)

OLD COURT.

The April sessions of the Central Criminal Court com-
menced this morning before the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs,
the Recorder, and the other civic authorities.
Owing to the long time that has elapsed since the last
sittings of the Court, the calendar of prisoners for trial is
exceedingly heavy, there being no less than 136 prisoners
on the list for trial. Four charges were for assault and
robbery, one fraudulent bankruptcy, two bigamy, eight
burglary, twenty-six for uttering counterfeit coin,
embezzlement twelve, felony one, forgery five, larceny
twenty-six, larceny from the person one, larceny
as a servant seventeen, manslaughter two, misdemeanour
eight, murder two, rape two. Of these cases forty-eight
were from London, 47 from Middlesex, 6 from Essex, 15
from Kent, and 19 from Surrey.
The Recorder, in charging the grand jury, said the num-
ber of prisoners for trial was much larger than usual, but
that, no doubt, was occasioned by the length of time since
the court last sat for the trial of prisoners. The first
charge he would refer to was that against Wm. Frederick
Knighton, who was indicted fer the wilful murder of Vic-
toria Pugh, who was pushed one morning into the Surrey
Canal. The evidence was to the effect that the voice of
a female was heard crying out " Oh, don't 1" and after-
wards a splash was heard. This left little doubt
that the death of the unfortunate woman was
caused by violence. The prisoner was connected
with the matter by his having been seen quarrelling with
the woman at half-past one o'clock in the morning. It was
for*them to say whether there was sufficient evidence to
justify a true bill being returned against the accused. The
other charge of wilful murder was against Ann Reid. She
was charged with the wilful murder of her child. She
went to her lodgings, and being taken ill, something was
reqttired from her box. She said she had lost the key,
when the chest was broken open, and the body of the child
was discovered with its throat cut from ear to ear. The
whole of the evidence would be laid before them, and in this
case also they would have to say whether or not the pri-
soner ought to be put upon her trial for the capital offence.
The next charge was of a somewhat singular nature ; it
was that against Sarah Terry, who was indicts)] for two
offences; the first was that of aiding and;abetting in the
committing murder, and the other was that of attempting
to murder herself. The prisoner went to a coffee-shop in
Bishopsgate-street with her brother, who was a soldier,
and then poison was taken by both ; the brother
died, but the prisoner recovered. She said her
brother took the poison, and if this was the
case it was very questionable whether she was
amenable to one of the charges made against her of aiding
in the commission of murder. There was a cha, ge of man-
slaughter against a prisoner named George Chapman. He
was driving a cart at about 12 miles an hour, and whilst in
a state of intoxication he drove his horse up a street in
which there was no thoroughfare, and in so doing the
death of a man was caused. There was also a case of a
nature that had been rather numerous of late,
viz., fraudulent bankruptcy. It was an indict-
ment against Eustace Parry, who was indicted
for not surrendering to the fiat in bankruptcy. There was
also two charges of rape in the calendar, and he was anxious
that they should pay particular attention to these cases, be-
cause there were no chances of a conviction, public injury
was inflicted by the trials taking place in,open court. Of
course it was very difficult in cases of this nature to procure
evidence, but it was always of great importance to notice
the conduct of persons who made such a charge. In
the first case it appeared that the female, immediately
after the offence had been committed, mentioned it to some
of her relatives, and the prisoner was given into custody.
In the other case the offence was alleged to have been com-
mitted on a child under 10 years of age, and the assent or
non-assent of a child of such tender years was of no avail,
as undoubtedly under any circumstances, if the offence had
been committed, it was a very serious crime. He did not
think he need call their attention to any of the other eases,
but if any difficulty arose assistance would most readily be
granted them.
CHARGE OF OBTAINING MONEY BY FALSE PRETENCES.

Vere Dawson Hunt, a gentlemanly-dressed man, for-
merly a captain in the army, was indicted for obtaining
from Mr. Hackblock the earn of £25, and also the sum of
£6, by false and fraudulent pretences.
_ _ _ _

Mr. Metcalfe and Mr. Poland prosecuted, and Mr. Ser-
geant Ballantine and Mr. Ribton defended.

The evidence was to the effect that in January last the
defendant, who is a horse broker, arranged with the prose-
cutor for the sale of a pair of carriage horses, for which he
asked and obtained £ 35, and £6 as commission. He re-
presented that the horses belonged to a gentleman who
asked £l5O for them, but he had brought him down
to take £135 for them. The horses were war-
ranted, but one of them turned out restive, and quite
unsuited for the purpose it was intended. He wished the
horse to be taken back, and he then discovered that the
owner of the horses only got £llO for them, and that the
defendant had kept £25 for himself. It was, therefore, con-
tended if the horses were the defendant's own property he
had defrauded Mr. Hackblock out of £6 for commission,
and if on the other hand he sold only as a broker, he had
defrauded him of £25. .

Evidence having been adduced to prove the charge,
The Recorder said it di3 not appear to him that there
was any case to go to the jury to prove the false pretences.
The presecutor must prove a false statement to an existing
fact here. Mr. Hackblock said he was induced to pay the
£135, by the prisoner saying that "he was going to pay
£135, that was a future, not an existing, fact.
After some discussion,

The Recorder said that the prosecution had not proved
their case, and the defendant must be discharged.
There was another indictment against the defendant, but
it was not proceeded with.

POLICE INTALLIGENCE.—( This Day.)

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

FRAUD ON A BANK.—James Miell, a man about 50,
residing at 4, East Surrey Grove, Commercial-road, Peck-
ham, a traveller, was charged with entering an amount of
10s. falsely in a deposit book and presenting it at the
Provident Institution Savings' Bank, St. Martin's-place,
with intent to defraud the trustees.

Mr. George Rowley Barker, one of the clerks at the
bank, said : The prisoner's son, James Miell, has an
account at the bank, and the deposit book produced repre-
sents the amounts he has paid in. The prisoner paid in 7s.
on Saturday, and on comparing the deposit book with the
ledger, I found the latter was 10s. short of what the de-
posit book stated, and on examining the deposit book I
found the figure " 1" had been inserted before the figure
4( 8" (thus making it appear 18s. instead of Bs.) one of the
amounts in the shillings' column. I then pointed it out to
the secretary.
The prisoner pleaded guilty.

Mr. Tyrwhitt said that the cashier must be present, and
with that view remanded the prisoner, who seemed quite
overcome with emotion, for a week, at the same time, on
the prisoner's application, offering to take two sureties in
£lO each for his reappearance.

TIME-GUN AT EDINBURGH CASTLE.—It is ex-
pected that before the close of the present month the audible
time signal at Edinburgh, Castle will be brought into daily
operation. The time-gun is established in connection with
the time-ball on the Calton-hill, which was set up some
years ago as a time signal for the benefit of the city of
Edinburgh and also for the port of Leith. It was found,
however, that frequently the signal was invisible through
fog or haze, and Mr. Ilewat, a merchantinEdinburgh, some
time ago suggested that the signal, which is worked from
the Observatory on the Calton-hill, should be connected by
means of an electric wire, with a gun on the Castle bat-
tery, which should be discharged simultaneously with the
fall of the time-ball. The suggestion is now being carried
into execution. A gun has been granted by Government
for the purpose, but otherwise the expense of putting up
and maintaining the signal has been undertaken by the
citizens, and a subscription has been commenced in order to
constitute a fund for the purpose. The apparatus is in
course of construction by Messrs. Ritchie, Edinburgh, and
one part of it is to consist of a single strand of electric wire
suspended from the Calton-hill to the Castle in one stretch
of 1,400 yards, and which, being elevated about 100 to 120
feet above the level of Princes -street, will be quite invisible
to the eye. The Directory map of Edinburgh and Leith
about to be published for 1861-2 will be marked with a
series of circles showing the exact time that will elapse be-
tween the discharge and the sound of the gun reaching any
point upon the map. The institution of this ordnance signal
in connection with the time-ball at the Calton-hill Obser-
vatory is looked forward to with great interest, and should
the experiment prove successful it will probably lead to its
adoption elsewhere.
NAVAL FASHIONS.—SteeI corsets are beginning
to be worn by frigates, but do not, in the last novelty, come
up to bows in front or descend quite to the other extremity.
The sides are pierced with holes for the arms, forming a ,
stylish open work. Canvas is less employed than formerly,
which, during the prevalence of March winds, is not to be J
regretted,—,Pumht