The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-05 00:00:00

IN RE INGLIiIi.

The bankrupt was a druggist in the Poultry.
Mr. Linklater supported his application fur his
certificate. Mr. Sturgeon opposed, on the ground
that the bankrupt had, whilst in a state of insolvency,
vexatiously defended an action brought by Mr.
Wright, of the firm of Bentley and Co.
His HONOUR, after referring to the accounts, said
that the bankrupt's debts to unsecured creditors were
1,100/. ; to creditors holding security, 1,000/. ; there
were also liabilities of about 4001. The property held
by creditors was stated at 1,3801., whilst creditors to
the amount of 1,1591. would not get one farthing.
Mr. LINKLATER called the attention of the Com-
missioner to the securities having realised a sum of
about 2501. beyond the claims upon them of the se-
cured creditors.
His HONOUR, after some investigation, said that
the question for his consideration was—was a trader
to be allowed to plead. a falsehood in a court of jus-
tice ? He thought not. Whilst he held that a trader
was at liberty to struggle with his difficulties as long
as creditors permitted him to do so, he must maintain
that he was not justified in doing so when any one
creditor instituted legal proceedings against him for
the recovery of a debt. A debtor in such a position
ought not to advance an untruth, still less to put in
a false plea in a court of justice. Whilst there were
favourable circumstances in the case, and the
bankrupt might, if he had called his creditors toge-
ther at the time Mr. Wright instituted the legal
proceedings, and a bankruptcy had resulted, have
obtained a first-class certificate, his certificate could not
now b-? granted without a considerable postponement.
At the time that the false plea was put in, the bank-
rupt was not in a position to pay more than 3s. or 4s.
in the pound to the unsecured creditors. It might
be said that the bankrupt's solicitor was the party
who ought to be punished. He (the Commissioner)
wished with all his heart that the law were such that
the bankrupt had it in his power, under such circum-
stances, to sue his attorney for the damage he had
received by acting upon his bad advice. He had,
however, only to administer the law as it stood. The
certificate would be suspended twelve months, and
when granted be of the third class. Protection would
not be granted, unless the bankrupt should have been
in prison three months.
IN BB JANE BOLTON.

The bankrupt is the widow of Mr. Bolton, tailor,
of Pall mall. At Mr. Bolton's death, in 1643, he
bequeathed property of the value of about 6,0001. to
his widow, in trust for their six or Seven children,

and with stipulations that the business should con-
tinue to be carried on for their joint benefit. The
executors declined to accept the trust in consequence
of some peculiar requests in the will, and Mrs.
Bolton administered the estate.

Mr. Masox now opposed the granting of Mrs.
Bolton's certificate. He urged that she had recklessly
allowed her sons, George and Henry, to draw con-
siderable sums of money from the business ; that she
had removed or otherwise improperly disposed of her
furniture; and that she had not rendered any assist-
ance to her creditors. Her eldest son, George, had,

in 1846, become a lessee of the Olympic Theatre, and

in 1848 her second son, Henry, became involved by
theatrical engagements. In consequence of their
losses the sons retired from the business, and had both
passed through the Insolvent Court. It appeared
that the bankrupt had, in the period ef sixteen months,
given five children a sum of 5291., exclusive of 2101
advanced to her two sons, in the shape of salaries.
There was also a sum of 2661. entered on account of
her own personal expenses, and a sum of 3001 entered
in a lump, as had by her son Henry at various times.
When the creditors met, Mrs. Bolton's debts were
stated to be 7501., and her assets 1,050/., in bona fide
good debts, exclusive of several hundred pounds of
debts that were doubtful. It was then fully expected
by the creditors that 203. in the pound would be paid,
there being, in addition, the bankrupt's-furniture in
the house in Pall-mall, and stock in trade. The house
was let in furnished apartments to members of the
aristocracy, and the furniture had been disposed of
by one of the bankrupt's sons for a small sum.
After evidence had been given of no public interest,
Mr. STAFFORD addressed the Court for the bank-
rupt. It had been her misfortune to be left by her
husband, who had for 21 years carried on a successful
business in Pall-mall, with a young family. Inex-
perienced in business, and her family being young,
the eldest son being at that time only 23 years of age,
it could not be matter of surprise that the business
had been unsuccessful. Unfortunately the father had
encouraged in the eldest son an idea that he had a
talent for the drama. It was not, therefore, matter
of surprise that the young man should be induced to
become a lessee of the Olympic Theatre, or that
heavy losses should be sustained by such an adven-
ture. The furniture alleged to have been removed
was of very small value; and Mrs. Bolton's want of
knowledge upon business matters had caused her to
leave almost everything to the management of her
sons.

His HoNou& said that the address of Mr. Stafford
caused him in some degree to view the case of the
bankrupt in a new light. He had laboured under the
impression that the bankrupt had identified herself
with her sons in the course they had pursued in dis-
puting the adjudication of the fiat. Still he thought
that her conduct in allowing her sons to act as they
had was matter for condemnation. He was willing
to believe that the furniture was of but little value,
and that its removal was not made by her direction,
or from any dishonest motive. He could not, how-
ever, exonerate her from a considerable degree of
blame, and the certificate would be suspended twelve
months. Protection not to be granted unless she
should have been in prison three months.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
Three tailors, named Patrick Reenham, Patrick
Lemon, and James Crimmon, inhabitants of one of
the tenements in Gun-square, near Seven-step-alley,
Bishopsgate, a locality frequently denounced by the
City of London Officer of Health during the late
cholera plague, were brought before Alderman Hum•
phery upon the charge of having assaulted Ann
Costello.
The complainant, it appeared, rented a room and a
closet in a house in Gun-square, and contrived to
accommodate nine tailors, besides her own family, in
that narrow space. The other rooms were let to other
parties, who also contrived to stow away multitudes
of under-tenants; so that, according to Alderman
Humphery's estimate, the population under the
single roof actually amounted to about a hundred
individuals, men, women, and children. The season
of the year being fortunately adapted to the dense
population, the mortality in the neighbourhood was
stated not to have exceeded the City average since the
winter commenced ; but Christmas, at the same time,
that it brought cold weather, brought with it the ex-
cuse for the glass and for the wild merriment for
which the tailors have been long distinguished
above all sedentary trades. A row took place in the
complainant's apartments, and the poker and the goose
and other familiar instruments were brandished about
amidst cries of murder, so that it became necessary
to try the experiment of the police as a check to the
disturbance. The three defendants were seized as the
most noisy of the aggressors (for after all, there was
more noise than work), and Gun-square poured
numbers of its inhabitants into the justice-room, to
witness the result.
The policeman who interfered for the restoration of
peace stated that the' condition of the houses in Gun-
square and Seven-step-alley was the most extraor-
dinary that could be imagined. The difference be-
tween the sexes appeared to b 2 no difference at all.
There they were, old and young, men and women,
nlrried and unmarried. Every room was crammed
with occupants, so that when a dispute took place in
any particular building, such crowds flocked intdo
toit
from the other habitations, that it often
be a miracle how the walls could standtuogaeptpheeurr;e and
what was most surprising
of all was, theat every
inmate seemed to be fighting, and when' the was at end, not a drop of blood was to be seen
(Laughter.) A singular instance of the
teninc..—;
amongst the tailors in the district to cry "murder(e "
upon very slight provocation occurred on Christmas
bight, when the police, alarmed by the cry
into one of the houses, and found that their
assistance
t
was invoked by a woman, whose husband had " mur-
thered her altogether," by throwing a plum puddio
at hcr head),:, g
\Mtlern\ An iiiih4Pll ERIC —Was there no other
vio-
lecee ecitrirnitted,,upon that occasion ? Policeman--
None, sir. The'Man acknowledged to me that he had
flung the pudding tit his wife because she had made it
badly, and I certainly saw her face covered with it.
He said it was a.plum pudding, but it looked more
like something else.—(Laughter.) The rooms are all
over straw, and how in such dreadful habitations the
people can Ere is quite amazing.
Alderman HUMPITERY—Are the Sanitary Com-
mittee aware of the fact that the people are crnsvded

THE SUN,

together in such a manner ?—Here a man of very
respectable appearance stepped into the witness-box,
and said that several of the houses in Gun-square
and its vicinity belonged to him, and the Sanitary
Committee had been to examine them thoroughly, and
pronounced them to be, in point of sanitary arrange-
ments and condition, most unexceptionable.—
(Laughter.) If the houses were crowded to incon-
venience, he could not help it. He let part of a house
to Mrs. Costello, and if she chose to take in other
lodgers, he could not interfere with her inclination to
be overrun with Irish tailors.—(Laughter.)
Alderman HUMPHREY—What is the average pay-
ment for the rooms ? Witness—l rsceive from
half-a-crown to five shillings weekly for each room.
By taking lodgers my tenants contrive to get accom-
modation for themselves at a very moderate charge.
Alderman HUMPHREY—I think they do. Do you
collect the rent yourselves? Witness—l do; twice
a week.
Alderman HIIMPHERY—Are you not afraid to go
into a locality so much exposed to infectious disease ?
Witness—Not at all; the place is by no means un-
healthy. The people are very quiet, and they pay
with great regularity.
Alderman HIIMPHERY—Then you are not afraid to
trust any of them a week's rent ? Witness—Not
at all.
Alderman HUMPHERY—Then as these men are
tenants or under-tenants of yours, I suppose you will
have no objection to be bound over for their good
behaviour ? Witness—l can do nothing of the kind.
On the contrary, I wish them all to be bound over
to keep the peace.— (Great laughter.) I believe there
would be no interruption to the harmony and good
understanding amongst them if it were not for the
drink, but against the bad operation of that there can
be no security.
The defendants declared that they never had been
charged before a magistrate upon any former occa-
sion, and that, although miserably paid for their
labour, they endeavoured to keep all straight at
home.
Alderman HUMPHERY—What is the average of
your wages ?
The principal workman among the defendants said
—For working sixteen hours a day 1 can, perhaps,
get 12s. a week, and I am generally employed by an
extensive tailor.
Alderman HUMPHRRI—I am afraid you do not
work on Mondays ? Defendant—Yes, your worship,
from morning till night, and from night to morning,
if I could get it to do ; but we are all dreadfully
pushed. If we could get work there would be no
time for quarrelling, and we shouldn't think of drink.
Alderman HUMPHERY said every magistrate's ex-
perience brought him daily in contact with instances
of unmerited distress amongst the hard-working poor,
and he hoped* the sanitary condition of the
neighbourhood in which the crowd of people
in the justice-room resided would again
call forth the active en'rgies of Mr. Simon,
who, if he recollected rightly, had frequently remon-
strated with the City authorities upon the dreadful
state of the very spot to which the attention of the
magistrate was thus accidentally called. He consi-
dered it to be the duty of every magistrate to make
such inquiries into the condition of the localities to
which his jurisdiction extended as would assist the
'journals in the wise course they were pursuing. For
his part it; was his determination to solicit every in-
formatinn Which he might use for the benefit of the
sanitary as well as the moral condition of his fellow-
citizens.
The Alderman was satisfied, in the case of assault,
with binding over each of the defendants in his own
recognizances to keep the peace.
GUILDHALL.

A sailor, mho gave his name as James Jones, but
who refused to give his right address, was charged be-
fore Mr. Alderman Wilson with having committed
the following daring robbery :
Mr. Samuel Henry Freeman, 147, Fleet street,
jeweller and optician, said that on Wednesday even-
ing last the prisoner entered his shop, and asked if
he could have a good watch. Witness showed him
several that he thought would suit a sailor in his
station; but he did not approve of them, saying that
he did not mind a few pounds so long as it was a good
one, for he wished to make a present of it to his uncle
in America, to which destination he would shortly be
bound. He (Mr. Freeman) then showed the prisoner
a gold watch, of the value of 81. 181., and was offered
8/. 83., which he declined. The prisoner then asked
for a heavy chain, upon which he left the watch on the
counter to get one. On his return the prisoner took
the chain in his band, and at the same instant flung a
handful of pepper in his eyes, which blinded him, and
then ran out of the shop. On recovering his sight he
instantly missed the gold watch, which had been left
on the counter, and which was worth 8/. 18s.
Alderman Wu-sox—You did not see him take the
watch ?

Mr. Freeman—l did not, for I was blinded at the
moment he ran out of the shop.
Alderman WILSON—Did you attempt any pursuit ?
Mr. Freeman—No, because I was the only person in
the shop, but I called the police, and gave them infor-
mation of what had taken place.
Alderman WILSON asked if the watch had been
found ?
George Wardle, 221, said the watch had been
traced, and was in his possession.
Alderman WiLsoN inquired when the prisoner was
aken into custody ? IVardle replied that he appre-
hended him the previous afternoon.
Samuel Sadler, assistant to Mr. Martin, of Snow-
hill, pawnbroker, said the gold watch produced by the
officer was pledged by the prisoner on Wednesday
evening, for the sum of 3/. 10s.
Mr. Freeman identified the watch as being his
property, and which be had shown to the prisoner.
Prisoner (to Sadler)—Do you mean to swear I am
the man who pledged the watch ? Sadler—l have
not the shadow of a doubt you are the man.
George Hague, in the service of Mr. George Cohen,
of 67, Roy al Mint-street, Tower hill, general dealer,
said the prisoner came to his master's shop about half-
past three or four o'clock the previous day, and offered
the ticket of a gold watch for sale. He represented
that he had given 121. for it about three weeks ago at
a shop in Fleet-street, when he received 40/. on being
discharged from a man-of-war. His master would
not buy the ticket until he saw the watch, and
accordingly sent him to get it out, giving him 3/. 103.
10fd. for that purpose, but after paying the money
he found the watch had been stopped by the police.
He then accompanied the officer to his master's, who
had given the prisoner a shilling to get some refresh-
ment until his return. On ascertaining the watch
had been stolen they went in search of the prisoner,
and, succeeding in meeting him, conveyed him to the
station-house. Mr. Cohen was to give him 11. if the
watch turned out to be a good one.
Wardle said, that on taking the prisoner into cus-
ody, he said that he found the ticket in King
William-street. On searching him I found a memo-
randum, and in his right hand trousers-pocket some
pepper. When I told him he had 'pepper in his
pocket, the prisoner replied that he had picked a paper
of it up in King William-street also. The prisoner
refused his address, and also "gave a wrong name.
His right name and address is Edward Coghlin, of
No, 30, Cursitor-street, Chancery-lane. Wardle
further said, that on asking the wife if her husband
brought any money home on Wednesday night, she
informed him that he had to the amount of 2/. 95.,
and 183. which be paid away.
Alderman WILSON asked the prisoner what he had
to say ? The prisoner entered into a long statement
of having been a sailor both in the navy and the
merchant service for many years—that he was never
in custody before, and was perfectly innocent of the
robbery. He found both the duplicates and the
pepper, and he must confess it was very wrong for
him to try and dispose of the former—the latter he
had been using at home for several days, which he
could prove.

Alderman WILSON said he must try and persuade a
ury of that fact, for he should commit him for trial.
The depositions being made out, he was conveyed
:o Newgate.

LONDON, SATURDAY
_EVENING-, JANUARY 5, 1850