The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-03 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

AN DIPOBTANT QUESTION IN t 1 WINDING-UP " MATTERS.
—Vice-Chancellor Manus has had before him the case of
the Xeres Wine Company. This company was ordered to
be wound up in December 1864, and in 1865 the Alliance
Bank, being creditors for over £15,000, and holding wine
warrants, sold the warrants for over £l2,ooo,leaving about
£3,000 due to them asscreditors. This was an application
by the bank to be allowed to stand as creditors for, and to re-
ceive a dividend upon the f ull amount of their debt of £15,000
odd. ThqVice-Chancellor said the rule applicable in bank-
ruptcy must prevail here, viz., that the bank must prove for
the balance due and no more. his Honour characterised the
application as most unjustifiable, and said the case, which
occupied nearly the whole day, ought to have taken up
only five minutes of the time of the court. He further
laid that the question had not been raised before, because
everybody knew and admitted that there was no shadow
id ground either under the Act of 1862, or upon principles
of justice, for raising it. The claims was a monstrous one,
:aid must be dismissed with costs.
A MASTER CONVICTED FOR KILLING HIS APPRENTICE.
—At the Durham Assizes, before Mr. Justice Mellor,
Timothy Stephenson was indicted for the manslaughter of
William llarrison Bambridge, at Stockton, on the 9th of
December. The deceased was the prisoner's apprentice,
and on the day in question his master, being annoyed at
something he had done, in a moment of passion threw a
pair of pincers at the boy, which struck him on the head,
The boy died some days afterwards from the effects of the
blow. The prisoner was found guilty and sent to prison
for three months.
CHARGE OF ATTEMPTING TO BRIBE A POLICEMAN.— -At
Derby, Richard Bunting, miners' agent, Ilkeston, has
been charged with endeavouring to induce James Newton,
a police-officer, of Church Gresley, to neglect his duty by
promising to give him money. The complainant stated
that the defendant, on the 13th January, gave him and
another constable each 6d. and a cigar. On the 15th ult.
defendant gave Newton 10s., and promised him a sum of
money if he would not be so hard on the union men,
stating that they had a job to pull off at Hull and Board-
man's colliery when the constable was on duty, and that.
they could succeed if he was "right." The defendant was
committed for trial at the assizes, bail being accepted for
his appearance, himself in £lOO and two sureties in £5O
each.

A WEALTHY COSTERMONGER.—A costermonger, named
Patrick Toohcy, was brought before Sir R. Carden, at the
Guildhall, on Monday, and remanded, on a charge of
having in his possession several old guineas and shillings,
supposed to have been stolen. The prisoner had offered
them to a pawnbroker for sale, and he had become suspi-
.
ems. An :.-oplication was made by his daughter for bail. She
rroduced a receipt for the purchase of £263 New Three per
Cents., and two bank books, in one of which was an entry
for £l5, and in the other were numerous entries, the gross
amount of which did not transpire. She said that her
father had got the guineas from a labouring man, who had
found them in an old house that was being pulled down,
that he was a hardworking and saving man, and would
produce the man if let out on bail. Ifer application was
immediately acceded to.

MR. 13RIGHT'S ADVICE TO THE PUBLICANS.—
Mr. Thomas Rigby and Mr. A. B. Walker, the two largest
public-house proprietors in Liverpool, have commenced
closing their houses on Sundays.

Among the debutantes of the present season will
be Lady Mary Cecil, daughter of the Marquis and Mar-
chioness of Sal:simry ; Lady Alexina Duff, daughter of
the Earl and Countess of Fife ; and Miss Van de Weyer,
daughter of M. and Madame Van de Weyer.
The mortal remains of the late venerable and
learned Lord Wensleydale were interred on Saturday in
Ampthill Church, Bedfordshire. The funeral was strictly
private. The chief mourners who attended were Sir
Matthew White Ridley, Bart., M.P., the Hon. Charles
W. G. Howard, M.P., and his son, Mr. George Howard,
the sons-in-Law and grandsons of the lamented deceased,
and Mr. W. Lowther.

WOMEN'S SU FFRAGE. —The National Society for
Women's Suffrage numbers among its members several of
the Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. One of these
wrote to Mr. Beresford Hope's committee declining to vote
for that gentleman, on the ground of his vote against Mr.
Mill's motion in the House of Commons last May in
favour of extending the franchise to widows and single
women possessing the property or other qualification neces-
sary for admission to the suffrage.

MARIO AT ST. PETERSBURG. —Signor Mario has
been exceedingly successful at St. Petersburg, and it would
appear from the glowing accounts received, that so far
from his brilliant voice deserting him, as has been feared,
it now possesses all his former voice and feeling. On the
occasion of hia benefit the opera was " Les Huguenots,"
and the renowned singer received a perfect ovation. A
crown of massive gold was presented to him, as well as a
profusion of rings and diamonds. The scene the house
presented will long be remembered by the crowded audience
present, and the great triumph achieved by Signor Mario
was alma st unparalleled by any of the previous occasions
on which the delight of thtt public has been shewn towards
him.

ABYSSINIA AND TILE VICEROY OF EGYPT.
A correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette, dating
from Alexandria on the 16th February, • says :
" There is a strong impression here, which I find
to be shared in official circles, that the Viceroy is
in a great measure prompted by the French in his
Abyssinian projects. Three days ago we were startled by
a telegram from Reuter's office, dated Senafe, February 2,
and ending with ' the Egyptian troops are pushing on with-
out sanction.' I thought, if true, this could not be the
Viceroy's doing only. There are other indications of the
quarter from which the wind is blowing besides the prone-
ness to originate reports adverse to us. There is still an
impenetrable secrecy connected with the question of a
new loan. All I can learn is, that Nubar Pasha has
sent an agent from Paris, who has conclu lei, absolutely or
conditionally—l think more probably the latter— terms
with his Highness, for a loan of 25,000,000 sterling, and
that the Emperor has lent his interest to the transaction."

TRADE AND NAVIGATION RETURNS FOR JANUARY.
—The Board of Trade returns for the first.month of the
present year have been published. The declared value
is fully 4 per cent. under the corresponding month
of , 1867, and more than 14 per cent. below January
186 G. The figures stand thus —214,354,748 for
January 1866 ; £12,786,842 for January 1867, and
£12,252,688 for January 1868. We have to repeat
the caution we lately gave when commenting
on the exports of the year 1867 against the running
to the conclusion that the extent of our trade
is seriously decreasing because the declared values
are smaller. The profits on the trade may for the
time be smaller, but if the amount of our principal
exportations, so far as quantity is concerned, continues to
rise, the industry of the country cannot be regarded
as on an unsound foundation. The exports of
cotton yarn, for instance, have risen in qt antity from
10,190,7021 b in January, 1866, to 15,694,2031 b. in January
1868, and cotton manufactures of all kinds from
172,119,828 yards in January 1866, to 217,666,029 yards in
January 1868. In woollen manufactures there has been
a decline both in value and quantity. The tables just pub-
ished give us also the completion of the records of im-
ports for 1867. They have fallen 8 per cent. below those
of 1866,. the figuies for the three years standing thus :-
2219,393,987 for 1865, £238,773,192 for 18643, and
£220,862,585 for 1867.

NARROW ESCAPE OF A FAMILY FROM FIRE.—
ohortly before six o'clock, a few mornings ago, it was
reported at the police-office at Belfast that a fire had
broke nowt in the hay and straw store of Mr. J. Forsythe,
Shankhill-road. It appears that Mr. Forsythe kept
,tabling for horses in the rear of the straw store, and that
early in the morning a person came to the stable and took
away his horse. By some misadventure on the part of
Mr. Forsythe or the owner of the horse, a lighted candle
was afterwards allowed to remain in.the store, and, coming
m contact with the straw, in less than ten minutes the
place was in flames. The family, consisting of Mr. For-
sythe, his wife, and three children, were all on the pre-
mises at the time—the mother and her children being in
bed in the upper storey. The appearance of the fire
attracted to the place several residents of the neigh-
bourhood and a number of the police. When it be-
came known that the family were on the premises,
and that there was every proba'oility of their being
quffocated, the consternation of those assembled outside
was very great. A cart was procured, which was placed
underneath the window, and Sub-constable Andrew Miller
succeeded in reaching the window of the upper storey,
when he made his way through the smoke, which at
the tune was very dunce, to the place where the
aril Ireo were, lie then carried one of the children to the
window, and lowered it down into the street. Aided
by the other policeman and a number of
civi-
lians, the whole of the children were rescued from
• their perilous position, and placed in safety. Mrs.
Forsythe, by the exertioni of her husband, aided by Mr.
George Larmour, was also rescued from the burning
premises. Mr. Larmour, during the course of his exem-
plary exertions, received a severe wound in the head by a
falling brick. Mr. Forsythe was burned severely on the
head, legs, and breast, and remains in a somewhat pre-
carious condition. A horse which was in the stable at the
time, and which belongs to a resident in the vicinity, was
burned to death. The premises were uninsured, and Mr.
Forsythe and his family have by the occurrence been left
in a destitute condition.—Northern Whia.