The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-07 00:00:00

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

James Smith, a genteel-looking young man, who described
himself as residing at Badham, in Essex, and of no occupa-
tion, was fully committed on a charge of stealing a silver
butter-knife from the stand of Mrs. Gittins, in the Pantheon
Bazaar, Oxford-street.
Between five and six o'clock yesterday afternoon, the pri-
soner was standing in front of the counter when the butter-
knife was missed. He was charged with stealing it, when he
produced it from his pocket, and offered to pay for it. On
being given into custody, he made a desperate attempt to
escape, and broke a quantity of china. He had a good watch
and purse of money about him. He declined saying anything
in his defence.
Wm. Baker and Henry Baker, brothers, and by trade paper
makers, were charged with committing a violent and un-
provoked assault on one of the footmen of Baron Brunnow, the
Russian Ambassador.
The Chevalier Benehausen, the Russian Consul, was in at-
tendance in one of the private rooms of the Court.
The complainant stated that, between ten and eleven
o'clock last night, as he was proceeding along Piccadilly, the
defendants, who were intoxicated, struck him twice without
the slightest provocation, and knocked him down.
The defendants alleged that the complainant had struck
them first.
The complainant positively denied this, and his statement
was corroborated by a police-constable.
Mr. MALTBY said the assault was a very gross one, and
fined the defendants 40s. each, or one month's imprisonment
and hard labour.
The defendants, not having the money to pay, were locked up
WANDSWORTH.
THE LATE ATTEMPT AT MURDER AND SUICIDE.—
Monday was appointed for the examination of Amelia
Alferry, the young woman who, on Monday, the 29th
ult., attempted the murder of her two children and self-
destruction, on Wandsworth-common.
Mr. Bicknell said, as the prisoner was then in a state
of great nervous excitement, he thought that it would be
politic before the prisoner was brought into Court to
have the room cleared.
The Court was accordingly cleared.
The prisoner was led into the Court ; she is about
twenty-seven years of age, was deadly pale, very weak,
and had a vacant look. She was accommodated with a
chair.
The children, one a girl six years of age, and the
other a noble looking boy, about four years old, were
also brought into Court.
The charge, as entered on the sheet against the pri-
soner, was as follows :—" Amelia Alferry, aged 27,
single woman, charged with assaulting her children,
Mary Anne, aged six years, and Henry, aged four years,
withintent to murder them, by drowning, and also with
attempting to commit suicide at the same time, to wit,
on the 29th of July last."
Mr. BURRELL approached the chair in which the pri-
soner was seated, and said, "Do you feel that you are
capable of answering the charge nowmade against you?'
—The prisoner, in a scarcely audible tone, said, " Yes,
I do.

_
William Alferry, a lad about fourteen years of age,
was then sworn, and stated, " I live near the White
Horse, Water- side, Wandsworth, and am brother to the

prisoner. On Monday evening, the 29th of July, be-
tween five and six o'clock, I was crossing Wandsworth-
common, when I saw my sister sitting on the island
near Mr. Wihon's. She had her two children with her.
Their names are Henry and Mary Anne French. I
wished her to go home. She said, You can go home ;
I'm coming presently.' I went home alone, but came
ba,ek shortly Afterwards to play at cricket- My sister
was still sitting on the island, and the children were
playing near her.' She called them to her and said,
We'll go bome.' She then drew them to her, left the
bench on which she had been sitting, walked to the
water's edge and jumped in with them. The part into
which prisoner jumped is called the Black Sea.' I
went in after the children and held their heads up to
prevent them from drowning. I hallooed for help, and
kept the little children up until Mr. Steers came, and he
walked into the pond and took the children out. Mr.
Steers afterwards got my sister out with a great deal of
trouble, and laid her upon the grass.
The prisoner wo.* remanded.

REQUIRED IMPROVEMENT AT

WAPPING.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
If the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, who direct
the metropolitan improvements, have any bowels of com-
passion for the public good or the morals of the inhabitants
of Wapping, who reside in the immediate vicinity of the
Dundee, Aberdeen, and Perth steam-wharfs, they will as-
suredly improve the narrow street in this neighbourhood, by
pulling down some few old houses of comparatively little
value, and remove the cause of the nuisance periodically
taking place, sometimes four and six times a week; indeed
every time those steam-ships come up or leave the port of
London. Great credit is due to the police for their exertions,
but they cannot abate the nuisance while the streets continue
so very narrow. The number of vehicles of various descrip-
tions standing in this narrow thoroughfare at times is not
less than from thirty to forty. If the desire for the public
good does not affect those gentlemen, the convenience of
passengers of their own class ought to make some impression
on their feelings, inasmuch as they are greatly itconstnoded;
for many of their carriages cannot get near the wharf. One
old gentleman last week, an invalid, who arrrived just time
enough for debarcation, was carried a-pic-a-back ; and many
others, ladies and gentlemen, were obliged to make their
way through this dirty street oh foot to the steam-ship, with
evident marks of chagrin.

ARRIVAL OF THE WEST INDIES, MEDITERRANEAN
AND PENINSULAR MAILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, AUGUST s.—At
forty-five minutes to two o'clock this day, the Oriental Com-
pany's steam-ship Royal Tar arrived in the docks from Gib
raltar, and landed the Mediterranean and Peninsular mails,
which were immediately dispatched by a special train, leav-
ing here at two o'clock. The Royal Tar left Gibraltar on the
28th of July ; Cadiz, July 29 ; Lisbon, August 1 ; and Oporto
the 2d. She has a full cargo, and above thirty passengers.—
At 4 p.m. this day, the Royal West Indian mail-packet the
Medwayarrived at her moorings and landed her mails, which
will be forwarded by the two o'clock a.m. train to-morrow.
The dates are Tampico, June 21 ; Vera Cruz, July 1 ; Ha-
vanna'', July 11 ; Nassau, July 13 ; and Bermuda, July 22.
She brings in freight 247,025 dollars, 697 oz. of gold dust,
9,588 oz. of silver bullion, 1,816 oz. of gold, 313 oz. Plata
Brats, 171 serons of Cochineal, 1711. 12s. British money,
and 104 passengers. The Medway was not due before the
7th inst.

WEST INDIA PINES AND TURTLE.—On Monday
there was another sale of 5,000 pines in Monument-yard,
making a total number of 36,000 of this fruit which have
this season been brought to the hammer by Messrs. Keeling
and Hunt. These last were brought from the Bahamas, by
the Fear -Not, in twenty- six days, and the competition was
very spirited, the best quality averaging from 3s. to ss. 6d.
each, whilst those of the inferior quality sold at 6d. to 10d.
The sale of this new article of import may now be considered
as fairly established for future annual supply, there being but
an import duty of five per cent. Purchases were made for
several of the provincial towns, and also for the Paris market.
A quantity of live turtle which were sent over by the same
vessel, and were the first imported duty free under the new
tariff, were sold by private contract at Is. 6d. per lb. in the
shell, it being hazardous to keep them, owing to the sudden
transition from a hot to a cold climate, of which they appeared
particularly sensitive.
The Emperor of Russia has forwarded to Mr.
Charles Coote, pianist to his Grace thr, Duke of Devonshire,
through his Excellency Baron Brunnow, the ribbon of the
Order of St. Anne (with a gold medal attached), for his corn-
sition entitled " Homage a l'Empereur Nicholas," written in
honour of the Imperial visit to England, and performed in
presence of the Emperor at the memorable fete given to his
Imperial Majesty by the Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick, in
June last.

THE MOORS.—Our accounts from the north speak
highly of the sportsman's prospects for the 12th. An unusual
number of gentlemen from the south have gone into Scotland
to be ready for opening the campaign.
BOULOGNE AND PARIS.—The intercourse between
France and England is still remarkably on the increase as
shown in the number of persons embarking and disembarking
at the above-named French ports. During the week ending the
Ist inst., the number was—at 80u10gne,3,831 ; Calais, 1,012;
total, 4,843. During the corresponding period of last year,
the total was 2,140; thus showing an increase during the
week of the present year of no less than 2,703.
THE EXISTING PARLIAMENT.—At the close of this
present protracted session, Pailiament will nearly have en-
tered its fourth year of existence, having already lasted
about three years—viz., from August, 1841 (on the 19th of
which month it, first assembled), to August, 1844. In order
"to die a natural death," the actual Parliament must, of
course, linger until the expiration of the session of 1848, four
years in prospective. Since the era of the Reform Act, the
average duration of Parliaments has been generally less than
three years. The first reformed House of Commons, elected
in October 1832, was summarily dissolved by William IV.
in December, 1834; the second reformed Parliament had its
existence cut short by the demise of that Sovereign in 1837,
but the third, which was elected on the accession of Queen
Victoria to the throne of Great Britain, lasted nearly four
years, and was finally dissolved by the Melbourne Ministry in
June, 1841. Of these three defunct Parliaments, only one,
therefore, was extinguished by an inevitable, or constitutional,
as contradistinguished from a party or political, cause. Of
the other two one was dissolved by a Whig, and the other
by a Conservative Government ; and it is curious that in both
instances the attempts to gain a majority proved a failure.
The longest Parliament immediately preceding the passing
of the Reform Bill was that elected in 1826, which lasted till
the death of George IV., in 1830, put a period.to its exist-
ence. The shortest was the very next, which was elected
in the summer of 1830, and suddenly dissolved by the Grey
Administration in the spring of 1831, amidst the alarm and
excitement attendant on the introduction of the first Reform
Bill. It is worthy of remark that of the Parliaments which
were chosen for some time after the passing of the Septennial
Bill in the year 1716, not a few died a natural death, that is
to say, lasted their full period of seven years.
DESTRUCTIVE FlRE.—Shortly before three o'clock,
on Monday afternoon, a most alarming fire, resulting in loss of
property, estimated by the proprietors at not less than
2,0001., broke out in the extensive sheds connected with the
rope, marquee, tarpauling, and rick-cloth manufactory of
Messrs. Staff and Son, 2, Dawson-street, Great Dover-road,
Borough. Flames were first discovered by the inmates,
issuing from the shed in which the composition is prepared
for smearing the canvas used for waggon-covers, tarpauling,
&c., and it appears that the fire originated through the
neglect of a lad, who allowed the inflammable matter to
boil over, during the temporary absence of the man whose
duty it was to attend to the mixture. Before any assistance
could be obtained, the fire extended most fearfully, seizing
with the utmost fury upon immense piles of marquee covers,
one of which was sufficiently capacious to cover 4,000 per-
sons. It contained upwards of 12,000 yards of the best
canvas, and was completely fitted for immediate use. Be-
sides these there were several thousand yards of manufac-
tured tarpauling, sacking, rick cloth, and other stock in
trade. The shed in which they were stored was 140 feet
long by eighteen feet broad, and the height was eight
feet. Upwards of half this warehouse, with the valu-
able contents, is destroyed. Engines from the South-
wark-bridge• road station, with 111 r. Henderson, the
foreman of the Borough district, and front the Waterloo-
road, with Mr. Hambleton, the West of England, and the
County fire-offices, were shortly upon the spot, but upwards
of twenty minutes elapsed after their arrival before water
could be procured, although the Lambeth, Southwark, anti
Vauxhall mains reach the immediate spot. When water
was obtained streams were pourec upon the blazing pile, and
the effect was soon evident, the fire being confined to the
principal or northern half of the shedding. It was nearly
live o'clock before the firemen concluded their labours, and
by that hour no further danger was apprehended. The pro-
prietors, unfortunately, are uninsured. Some of the houses
in Great Bland-street are injured, and those in Deverill-
street, at one time, were in much danger. Several willow
trees in the rope walk of Messrs. Staff and Co. are much in-
jured by the fire.
A correspondent on whom we place reliance assures
us that land is certainly in the ascendant. The other
day a farm near to Hemel Ifeinpstead was sold, and by a
country practitioner, at near forty years purchase. There
is a property contiguous to it, which was announced
in our columns yesterday, by Mr. George Robins.
It includes an ancient mansion and 300 acres of land,
with a tenant whose family have numbered one whole
century upon it; there are ornamental woods, extending
to 50 acres ; and our friend the knight of the hammer
facetiously observes in his announcement, that it will be
in accordance with good judgment to have them grubbed
up, and substitute crops of wheat and barley, concluding
thus—" A farmer does not need the luxury of woodland
scenery to interfere with his more important avocations."
LAMENTABLE OCCURRENCE.—The particulars of a
frightful calamity have just reached us. A pony and car
were got this morning on the strand at Doran's Island. The
pony was dead, and there is every reason to fear that Mr.
Cutle Martin and his lady, who had a sea lodge in the island,
and who left this town about ten o'clock last night, have
been lost in the tide. Indeed, it is very generally reported
that their bodies have been found at the Point, clasped in
each other's arms. Nothing can exceed the sympathy and
grief of all classes. We never saw such an excitement in
this town before at se painful and unexpected an occurrence.
It has been rumoured that some of their children were in the
car with them, but we are well informed that all the children
are in the lodge on the island.—Sligo Journal.
PRIMITIVE CHURN.—The wife of a farmer at
Hougham, Stamford, saves herself the labour of churn-
ing by the following peculiar contrivance. She ties up
her cream in a linen cloth, over which she places a piece
of print, and buries the whole in a damp place in the
garden for twenty-four hours ; she then takes it up, and
turns the cream which by this time is in the shape and
consistency of a pudding) into a bowl, and by stirring it
with a wooden spoon the butter quickly separates from
the butter-milk, and is said to be sweeter than that pro-
duced by the ordinary method. W hat induced her to
resort to this extraordinary system she states to be, that
one of her neighbours having children troubled with
sores, applied to them the ancient remedy of a salve made
of buried cream ; by stirring it she perceived that this
produced an oil similar to butter, and she thought that,
if it would do in a small quantity, it would in a larger.
This is rather a more primitive system than the one pur-
sued in Chili, where they place the cream in leather bags
MI asses, and trot the animals about until it is changed
into butter.

PLEASING RESULTS.-.With the gaiety assumed by
nature in the brightness of the summer season there are
few disinclined to participate; and in pursuit of those
rational enjoyments personal agremens, in all their
vari. ty, are necessarily objects of desire—those, of
which th,e perfection and durability are at once obvious
and important, meet their most available preservative in
Gowland's Lotion ; first, as a decided remedy for all
cutaneous impurities ; and, secondly, as an elegant, mild,
and effective appendage to the toilet, removing every
species of local discolouration, defending the skin from
all the well-known effects of heat upon its surface, and
as contributing largely to continued delicacy and fresh-
uess of the complexion.