The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-20 00:00:00

ARMY PRIZE MONEY.

The account of unclaiwed army prize money, from
Jan. 18, 1809, to December 31, 1849, directed to be
annually laid before the Houses of Parliament, shows
a total amount on the debtor side of 1,349,1491.15. 3id.
The creditor statement is as follows :

By cash, refunded to claimants, 681,723/. 2s. Old.;
by expenses in executing acts from Jan. 18, 1809, to
Dec. 31, 1849, 57,724/. 9s. 4d. ; by sums paid for
the Royal Hospital in diminution of the annual vote,
589,701/. 9s. *l. ; Oct. 20, 1849—by paid to the
Commissioners of Woods and Forests for appropria-
tion towards the Royal Military Asylum, realised by
the sale of 21,7391. 4s. 2d. Three per Cent. Consols,
20,000/. ; Total, ],349,149/. ls. Sid.
A memorandum is appended to the account which
states that, although the balance appears to be u
above stated, yet there is in the Three per Cent. Con-
sols 78,2601. 15s. 10d. Stock invested on account of
army prize money, the interest whereof is included
annually in the Parliamentary estimates, and is appli-
cable to the payment of prize claims ; and when the
amount thereof, in addition to the other sums received
on the same account during the year, exceeds the
claims paid, the balance is taken by the Paymaster-
General as an appropriation in his accounts. The
existence of the above amount of stock in the Three
per Cent. Consols, notwithstanding the balance is on
the debit side, arises from the Mnatments in that
stock having been made when• the funds were very
low, and from the sales thereout as occasion required
having been from time to time effected when the
prices were considerably higher.

DARTMOUTH BOROUGH GAOL, extraordi-
nary sessions was held in the Guildhall, on Saturday, the
prison being considerid unfit and unsafe for the detention of a
prisoner, Woodmason, a locksmith of the town, committed
on the 3d of June, for housebreaking. The Learned Recorder,
Mr. C. D. Bevan, in his charge to the jary, said he could not
reconcile it to his conscience that the prisoner should remain
in such a hole—he could call it nothingselse. This was not
his own personal opinion only, bat all the Government in-
spect rs who, from time to time, in the course of their duty
had inspected it, had unanimously reported "that the gaol
of the borough of Dartmouth was the worst in the three
kingdoms, and a disgrace to the place." Ile wished be
could gainsay this, but, on the contrary, he entirely con-
curred in that opinion; for such a vault was unfit for the
purpose of a gaol. Neither was there accommodation for
prisoner, petty jury, or grand jury in the Guildhal. He
had been compelled that day to inconvenience many persons
to obtain a separate space for the prisoner. They had their
choice, either to make tkeee things better, or to submit to
have the sessions removed to the Castle of Exeter.
SAN JUAN PERNANDEZ.—ROBINSON CRUSON.—,
A California emigrant, in a letter to the Belfast Sipa,
writes as follows with regard to the present condition of this
island.—" At sunrise, the 11th of March, we made the
island of Juan Fernandez, celebrated as the' re idenee of
Alexander Selkirk, and as the Botany Bay of Chili. It af-
fords a very indifferent harbour, and has only twelve inha-
bitants, five men and seven women, 'all Chilians. with the
exception of one man, who said he watt governor of the
island, that his name was Worth, and that to -wake native
of Maine. Ile had lived on the island three. years. There
are five houses or huts on the island, trade of poles inter-
woven with straw, affording protection front the weather.
Peaches are large and abundant, and compose the_principal
food of the inhabitants. The valley in which Selkirk lived
is pointed out, and also the caves in the sides of the moun-
tains formerly occupied by the Chilian convicts.- The island
is extremely mountainous. Wild horses and goats abound.
It is resorted to by vessels for wood and water. At sundown
we sailed for California."

A FRESH OLD MAN.—Some weeks ago a pauper
of this parish applied for an augmentation of his allowance,
and was refused on the ground that he was a fresh old man
and able to do something for himself. Nothing further WU
heard of his claim, till, after the lapse of a few days, he pre-
sented himself to the inspector, requesting a schedule to for-
ward to the board at Edinburgh respecting his case, when it
appearedthe insp
e ctthoart,she allegation, had effectually
b having
wa l demonstratedked t 0 the
E ditnrub truth of
and back, a distance of 120 miles, for the accomplishment of
a purpose which might as well have been done by' aying at
home.—Kilmarnock Journal.
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.--AD exhibition of a
novel and ingenious kind took place at Liverpol last weak, io
the underwriter's-room, in the presence of a number of ship-
owners, merchants, and others, the object of which was to
show how a fire may be made to destroy itself. The ap-
paratus, which is of the most simple and inexpensive kind,
being adjusted, and its mode of action explained, the igni-
tionprra;eleistteupei o:hif:d‘d.sececdh.bisn3eht_eaoaoplcintnlio:
their
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it may be the means of preserving property
• and Yalta'tle
hves..Newcastle Guardian.

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