The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-16 00:00:00

COURT OF ALDERMEN.

A court of aldermen was held yesterday at the
; the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor prr-
sided. The minutes of the last coutt were, as
usual, read and confirmed.

S. EVANS, Esq., then introduced T. Dakin, Esq.,
the newly elected alderman for the ward of Candle-
wick, in the place of the late Sir G. Carroll, and
that gentleman took the oaths, and was then intro-
duced, with the usual formalities by Mr. Sewell,
the sword-bearer, to his brother aldermen, and took
his seat among them.
Upon the motion of Mr. Alderman CorELAND,
seconded by Mr. Alderman WILSON, a resolution
of condolence to the widow of the late lamented
Alderman Sir G. Carroll, upon the loss she had
sustained, was unanimously carried, as was also
a motion that the resolution should be adver-
tised in the usual newspapers, and that a copy
should be sent to the widow of the deceased gentle-
man.

The next subject that was brought before the
Corot was one of a very important character, not
only in reference to the interests of the corpora-
tion, but generally to the merca.nfle community of
the City of London.
It may 1T 3 recollected that at a recent Court a
petition-was presented by certain influential mer-
chants of the City, complaining of the conduct of
one of the City brokers, named George Henry
Darby Lawrence, in the performance of his duties.
The usual course on such occasions is to give notice
to the party complained of, of the nature of the
complaint made against him, and to call upon him
to give en answ,,r in writing and to appear before
the Court and give any explanation he may think
Twee .sary, and the matter then stands over until
the next Court. Tbis was done, and upon the next
ocersion Mr. Sewell, a responsible officer of the
corporation, to whom these matters are usually en-
trusted, reported to the Court that he had used
every practicable exertion in his power to serve
the parry complained of with the notice or summons
of the court, but had been unable to do so. He
stated that he found he had left the offices he had
heretofore occupied, and all that was known of him
was that he was supposed to have gone to the con-
tinent, but no one appeared to be able to give any
definite infer matlon aoout him. Upon this state-
ment being made the next proceeding to be taken,
according to the forms of the Court, was to give
notice to the sureties of the party complained of
of the application that had been made, and to call
upon them to produce their principal, or in default
of doing so to appear and answer for him; and
this course was adopted, and the usual formal no-
tices were placed in the hands of Mr. Sewell to
be served upon the parties, and the matter now
again came before the Court.
The TOWN CLERK having read the notice upon
the paper of business, the Court proceeded to dis-
pose of it.
The RECORDER inquired of Mr. Sewell whether
he had served the notice upon the sureties of the
party complained of, requiring them to attend.
Mr. Sewell replied that he had not. This state-
ment evidently excited some surprise in the court,
but he went on to explain that he endeavoured to
the best of his power to serve them, but he found
that one had been dead a considerable time ; and
with regard to the other, upon his going to the
place where he had resided, he found that his house
was pulled down, and no one knew anything about
him, and persons of whom he made inquiry with
regard to the supposed " surety " had never heard
of such a person. (A laugh.)
The Recorder inquired whether any of the peti-
tioners were present ?
Mr. Sewell said they were not, but they were
aware of the circumstances.
The Recorder observed that as this was so, they
no doubt thought it was unnecessary to be present.
The only course that now could be taken in the
matter was to adjourn the consideration of the
petition sine die.
Mr. Alderman CHALLIS accordingly put that
motion to the court, and it was seconded by Mr.
Alderman W. LAWRENCE, and carried.
This question of "suretyship" is one of consider-
able importance, not only to the corporation of
London but to those interested in the large amount
.of charitable funds which they have at their dis-
posal. Only a short time ago a case occurred in
which it appeared that £3OO had been advanced by
one of the City charities upon the security of three
persons, and in the result, the borrower went into
the Insolvent Court, two of his sureties were bank-
rupt, or men of straw, the third left the country,
and the whole of the money was lost.
Mr. Alderman CHALLIS, in the absence of Mr.
-Alderman Sidney, brought before the court the
subject of the crowded state of some of the streets
in Billingsgate ward from the great amount
to
e
traffic, and he moved that the matter should
reittec
referred to the General Purposes Committee.
Mr. Alderman ROSE seconded the motion.
that any alte-
Alderman FINNIS said he believed
ncerned, would
rations, so far as buildings
expe , a.nd that. all
we__ -nse
be attended with enormous
the difficulty would be overAeofmewe bayddtihtieonaparommetn-
ment of extra constables.
had been employed
occasionally, and it had had the
traffic.
effect of completely relieving the affi
The LORD Af.tvoß said .that application had been
made to the Police Conunisioncr upon the subject,
and his reply was that he could not find men enough
to perform the duty.
Alderman FINN'S observed that plenty of men
could be found, if they would only lower the stan-
dard height half an inch.
The motion was then put and carried.
Mr. Aldermen CH/m.ls then moved that the
thanks of the court be presented to the Rev. James
Cohen, M.A., late chaplain to the City Prison, Hol-
loway, together with the sum of flay guineas, as a
testimonial of their appreciation of his faithful
ministry during the seventeen years he performed
the duties of chaplain.
The motion was carried, and the court shortly
afterwards adjourned.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S INN-ROAD.—
The number of patients relieved at this hospital during the
week ending Jan. 12, was 2,522, of which 692 were new
eases.

SANITARY CONDITION OF THE CITY.
Dr. LETHEBY, the Medical Officer of Health for
the City of London, reported upon the state of 182
houses that had been inspected during the week,
and he submitted a list of 50 places that required
Tyler'ssne. sed ia,
market
improvement. The inspections of markets
and slaughter-houses had been continued as usual,
and the officers had seized 3,741 lb., or more than
a ton and a half, of meat unfit for human consump-
tdiioaflaantrhdkiesl:9lbB,syl36iAllrsb...Nwweerewerme seized in Newgate-
ma rket by Mr. Fisher 60 lb. inLeadenhall-market
by Mr. Davidson; and 2,145 lb. in A ldgate and
seainze;dl,o7n un6laelbcos.wt ofere
the animals hai ing died from natural causes. Nearly
the whole of this was found in: two City slaughter
houses; in one there were 18 sheep, weighing 41.40
lbs. ; and in the other a dead cow, weighing 330
There was no justifiable realon or excuse for the
possession of such animals. The excessive cold and
dense irritating fogs of the last fortnight have
acted with gratt severity on the weakly members
of the population. The progress of the death-rate
during tae last four weeks has been from 44 to 95
—the average during the last five years being 67.
The chief increase has been in the Eastern Union,
where the weekly. proportion has risen from 17 to
41. With one exception only I have never known
so large a weekly return of deaths as that which has
been iurnished by the week which has just expired.
The exception was in the severe autumn of 1858,
when in the week ending Nov. 27, there were 102
deaths. In that week; .as. in the week that has just
elapsed, the mean temperature was greatly below
the average, only just above the freezing point of
water, and, the fogs were dense and frequent. In-
deed, the condition of the atmosphere on Thursday
last was remarkably unwholesome, the quantity of
OTAanic viipour, sulphate of ammonia, and finely
-uva Any ,edented. It tatounted to nearly
feu r-grain ialtialreet Of
the eyes and bronchial membranes was most irri-
tating. This is evidenced by the enormous amount
of illness and mortality from acute pulmonary
affections. Pneumonia, for example, has risen in
the course of the last four weeks from only one
death in the week to 11, the successive numbers
being 1,2, 5, 11 ; and bronchitis from 5 to 25. The
increase of mortality has been chiefly among the
young end the old; these have contributed 63 to
the 95 deaths. Of the zymotic class of diseases,
however, measles is the only one that presents au
increase. The bit the in the week amounted to 52,
namely, 24 boys and 28 girls.
A memorial was presented from the owners and
occupiers of property in the neighbourhood of
Newgate-market, praying that certain proceedings
directed by the Commissioners of Sewers to be
taken against them, as the owners of structures
that were considered dangerous to the public, might
stand over for the present.
Mr. JAMES COYTE, a solicitor, appeared in sup'
port of the memorial, which stated that the property
at pressmt was in a secure state,and that, pending the
arrangements that were in progress for the formation
of a market, the result of which might be that the
whole of the property in question would have to be
pulled down, it would be advisable that no altera-
tions should be made, particularly as no inconve-
nience would thereby arise to the public.
After some discussion, upon the motion of Mr.
Deputy FARRAR, it was resolved that the prayer
of the memoiialists should be agreed to, and that
no farther proceedings be taken in the matter for
six months. .

A retina wes presented which showed that
during the months of October, November, end
December, no fewer than 52,000 fish of different
descriptions had been seized in Billingsgate-market
as unfit for human food.

- - -- -----
The court then adjourned, after disposing of the
usual routine business.

DESTITUTION IN THE METROPOLIS.

Large bodies of strong and hardy labouring men
paraded the va"ious parts of the metropolis yester-
day, giving utterance to their doleful. complaints
of being " frozen out," and unable to get work by
means of which to feed themselves and families,
and there can be no question that with few, if
any, exceptions there is too much truth in their
statements. The extreme severity of the weather,
and the comparative length of time during which
it has already lasted, has put a stop for the most
part to the works connected with the main-drain Age
scheme, the under-ground railway, and other great
undertakings in the metropolis, and the un for innate
men engaged upon them are thrown upon charity
for their present nnans of subsistence.
A public meeting, convened by the churchwardens
of Christchurch, Blackftlars, was held in the vestry-
room of the parish church. The meeting was held
for the purpose of adopting measures to meet the
pressing and urgent wants of the labouring classes
and the poor generally, caused by the stoppage of
employment through the severity of the weather.
Numerous influential parishioners were present,
and the Rev. Joseph Brown, M.A., the rector, took
the chair. He called the attention of the meeting
to the state of the labouring classes, and from many
letters of application he had received, he found that
the distress had reached a class above the poorer
classes. They all knew that there was always a
certain class who were willing to accept relief, but
the distress had now reached those who sought to
maintain themselves by their industty and labour.
Mr. Richard Downs, one of the churchwardens,
announced a list of contributions, amounting to
upwards of £6O. Several gentlemen expressed a
hope that care would be taken as to the distribution
of the funds, and recommended that blankets and
other articles of use should be issued on loan. A
committee was then formed to canvass the palish
throughout for subscriptions, and several additional
amounts having been handed in, Mr. Frederick
James Blake, jun., was requested to act as honorary
secretary.
Meetings with similar results were also held in
other parts of London.
About 400 persons, male and female, attended at
the Marylebone workhouse for the purpose of ob-
taining relief. The guardians have given directions
to Mr. Tubbs, the assistant overseer, to afford relief
to the applicants who were in destitute circum-
stances, confining himself as far as possible to those
who are residents in, and who are chargeable to, the
parish. In compliance with this order on Saturday
as many as 4,0001b5. of bread, &c., were distributed.
At the Guildhall Police Court Alderman Mechi
said ho had very great pleasure in announcing that
in consequence of the very seasonable gift by Mr.
Swainston, of the Three Bucks, Old Jewry and
Gresham-street, of 100 soup tickets, and the pub-
licity given to the donor's suggestion, other bene-
volent persons had come forward with similar
assistance, and among them he must not omit to
mention the very liberal contribution of Mr. Stubbs,
the proprietor of the Trade Protection establish-
ment at the corner of King-street and Gresham-
street, who had provided for distribution among
the starving poor of his own and the adjoining
wards 1,000 quarts of good strong soup and 1,000
loaves of bread. Mr. Swainston,
was also prepared to give 100 loaves
f breadpens
and
he understood,with
the soup already provided at his
°w,ollepextO he_e,s, and
given
further to make the 1,000 quarts
of
by Mr. Stubbs at the cost price of the
he material
without any charge for fire or labour.h
und were again very re-
lief from from the poor .box f
At the Thames Police-couhretartinegatphpaLticaanvtassftonrurneii
rous, and Mr. Yardley,
,on
lateen. rers were assembled in
edave directions to Mr. Living-
bf
front
to
of f
chief usher, to obtain £BO worth of silver,
ston, the
and distribute it among them to the best of his
judgment.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the gates
uthneemcopuleryt, g
of the station-house yard were thrown open, and a
tremendous rush took place. Great eagerness was
manifested to obtain a sixpence or a shilling, and
it required the utmost efforts of Inspectors Griffin
and Hayes, of the K division, and a force of twenty-
five constables acting under their orders, to prevent
accidents. The clothes of many were torn, and
others received bodily injuries, but not of a serious
nature. The inspectors, sergeants, and constables
had a very arduous duty to perform, and they acted
with great forbearance and good humour, admitting
the poor creatures into the passage of the court ten
or twelve at a time. They were speedily disposed
of by Mr. Livingston, who was assisted by Denny,
Kent, and Taplie, officers of the court, and by Mr.
l'reece, a coal tatter, and an influential member of
the vestry of Mile-end Old- town, who is Nit2ll
acquainted with the working classes of the port of
London and the district generally. A few words
of inquiry only were addressed to each individual,
but imposition was almost impossible. Mr. Living-
ston paid 300 ls each, 100 od. each, and about 200
more 2s. and 275. 6d. each. There were upwards of
100 poor women craving relief is attendanef,, and
they were directed to attend this day with letters
f recommendation from persons known to the
magistrate, and their cases would be attended to.
The subscriptions forwarded to Mr. Yardley for the
poor-box fund yesterday were unusually large.

COVENTRY DISTRESS.—The amount raised in Bir"
mingham for the relief of the distressed at Coventry Ow
amounts to nearly £3,000, in addition to which, Ifr:lhhn
Walsh Walsh, one of the promoters of the fund, has col-
lected and transmitted to Coventry a large quantity of
clothing for those who stand in need of it.