The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-22 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

Two MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT FOR STEALING TAM-
HALITENCE.—At the Middlesex Sessions, Alice Alloway
was charged with stealing a penny and a halfpenny, the
money of Mary Allen. The prosecutrix missed some coins
from a money-box belonging to her little daughter, and
in consequence placed a marked penny and a half-
penny in the box. The next morning both the
coins w ere missing, and the prisoner, who lived
in the house, was charged with taking them. The
prisoner's purse was opened, and in it was found the
marked money. The jury found the accused guilty, and
she was sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
DARING HIGHWAY ROBBERY.—At Worship-street Police-
court, Mary King was charged with having been con-
cerned, with three others not yet in custody, with
violently assaulting Maria Higgins, and robbing her of
3s. 6d. The prosecutrix stated that about six o'clock on
the evening of the 2nd instant she was in Osborn-street,
Whitechapel, when she was attacked by the prisoner, who
took her by the hair, knocked her down, kicked her, 'and
otherwise ill-used her. While the prisoner was assaulting
her three others came up, subjected her to a renewal of
the maltreatment, and robbed her of 3s. 6d., which she
had iu her hand. The prosecutrix was rendered very weak
from the injuries she had sustained, and was removed by a
police-constable to the London Hospitel, where she had
remained ever since under the care of the house surgeon.
The accoucheur at the London Hospital said that when
the prosecutrix was brought to the instiution with which
he was connected she was in a very dangerous state, and
suffered much from the great loss of blood. The magis-
trate, dealing with the case as one of assault only, said that
the prisoner had been guilty of a most cowardly and brutal
outrage, and it was not improbable that death might have
resulted from the kick which she had given her. He sen-
tenced her to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for
six months.

CHARGE OF ROBBERY BY MERCHANTS.—At Clerkenwell
Police-court, John Gilbert, alias John Shears Gilbert,
merchant ; William Gilbert, alias George Diddans, mer-
chant ; and William Pincombe, were charged with being
concerned together in stealing about 500 pieces of paper-
hangings, the property of Mr. Frederick Hitchings, value
£26 12s. 5J,d. ; also 223,000 artificial flower seeds and
75 gross bristle seeds, the property of Messrs. Anthony
and Baptist Silvia, value £Bl 19s. 7.1 d. ; 12 dozen
bottles and eight gallons of wood stain, the property
of Mr. Henry Stephen's, value £4 15s ; and also a
set of new plated harness, the property of Mrs. Mary
Watts, at 16, Kinton-street, Bloomsbury, value £9 103.
It seemed that the police had found invoices and letters
in the possession of the prisoners, spewing that they had
transactions all over the country, but more especially at
Leeds, Liverpool, Paisley, Plymouth, and Ipswich. The
policeman in the case said that when the'prisoners had been
apprehended their office was searched. There were no
books to be seen, or goods, with the exception of some
tinfoil and a looking-glass. A bag tied up like a
coffee bag was discovered, and on being opened
was found to contain cinders ; other chests, marked like
tea chests, were nailed down, and on being opened were
found to contain cinders and ashes. There was not the
least evidence of a legitimate trade being carried on.
Mr. Stephens, ink manufacturer, said that he received
an order headed " Gilbert Brothers, Drysalters, 44,
Hatton Garden," and goods to the value of £4 14s. were
sent. Witness subsequently visited the place, and found
that no drysalting business was carried on there. He had
never been paid. Other cases were gone into, and the
prisoners were remanded.

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES IN LONDON.—The Govern-
ment having grautt.d a select committee of lords on Lord
Lifford's motion for extending the Contagious Diseases
Act to the civil population, which was lased upon Mr.
Berkeley Hill's papers and the publications of the Con-
tagious Diseases Association, Mr. Hill publishes this week
a fourth paper, descriptive of investigations in several of
the districts in London, conducted with the assistance of
the police. He states that all the persons with whom the
Act would be operative are already known to the police,
and that from the very circumstances of their life
they are compelled to closely congregate together, so
that they might easily be reached for the purposes of
restriction. There are only about 150 beds in London, to
receive all who are diseased, and who amount in number
at this moment to very many hundreds, who are actively
engaged in infecting the population. Few among them,
of whatever class, escape contagion, or fail largely to dis-
tribute it ; and the records of the London hospitals,
recently published in the Journal, show a daily attendance
at the hospitals of a large number of women and children
who are hereditarily and indirectly suffering the effects of
contagion, while the evidence of the most eminent sur-
geons and physicians describes the large extension of the
evil, by hereditary and secondary influences, through all
classes of society. At some hospitals it constitutes nearly
one-third of all the surgical cases treated, and it forms a
large percentage of all classes of private practice.—
British Medical Journal.

SUICIDE OF BARNES, THE PANTALOON.—AII in-
quest has been held at the Salutation Tavern, Barton.
street, Westminster, respecting the death of William
Augustus Barnes, the well-known pantaloon. The first
witness was Ann Grant, a cousin of deceased, who haO
been his housekeeper for about seventeen years. He re-
sided in North-street, Smith-square, and he and his house.
keeper were like brother and sister. "By profession,
theatrically, he was a pantaloon, but otherwise was a pho-
tographic artist." Since the stoppage of the pantomime,
"Faw Fee Fo Fum ; or Harlequin Jack the Giant-
Killer," at Drury-lane, in which piece he was pantaloon;
the deceased had been in rather low spirits. The season
for pantomime was past, and his business as a photogra-
phic artist was not remunerative. On Sunday morn-
ing last he sat down to breakfast with his housekeeper,
but c-implained that he had a pain at his heart, and was
so ill that he could not eat. He shortly afterwards left
the breakfast-room, for the purpose of preparing his
camera and his chemicals for use, as six gentlemen
were about to wait upon him and have their portraits
taken. In a short time he called to his housekeeper, " I
want to speak to you particularly ; come down directly."
She descended, and found him sitting in his easy chair.
fie seemed excited. Ire took hold of her hand, and
shaking it said, " God Almighty bless you. Good bye.'
She saw that something was wrong, and ran out for
af;sistance. In ten minutes he was dead. Other nit-
nesses were examined. One of them, David Gammon,
bad been a friend of deceased's for about twenty years.
lie saw him nearly every day, and found him as a rule a
jocular man. On Saturday night last the deceased kissed
Gammon's little boy, of whom he was very fond, and
said, " If I die before to-morrow morning, you must pray
for me." The medical evidence sheaved that be had taken
a quantity of cyanide of potassium. A verdict was re-
turned to the effect that he had committedo}44? !kip
in au unsound state of mind. •