The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-20 00:00:00

UNION TREATMENT.

Wednesday Mr. T. Wakley, M.P., Coroner, and a
jury empanelled on Saturday last, at the One Tun
public-house, Old Brentford, resumed an inquiry
into the circumstances attendant upon the death of
John Shaw, aged 22 years, who died in the work-
house of the Eton Union, at Slough, Bucks,
from the effects of injuries he had received by a
fall of earth, and who, it is alleged, was much ne-
glected. John Peverall deposed that he was a
pauper inmate of the Eton Union workhouse, at
Slough, and for seven years had been nurse in the
men's sick ward. Deceased was brought to that work-
house on the afternoon of last Saturday six weeks,
having been injured by an accident owing to an
abatement of earth which had fallen on him while
excavating for the foundation of some cellars at Slough.
Deceased was accompanied by Mr. Nobland, a sur-
geon, of Windsor, who was passing at the time. Mr.
Hammond, the surgeon of the Union, saw deceased
next day, and continued to attend him up to his
death, which took place on the night of Wednesday,
the 12th instant, about half an hour after midnight.
The day that deceased was brought in Mr. Bryan,
another surgeon, set his leg, and deceased re-
peatedly declared to witness that he was sa-
tisfied with the treatment he received while
in the workhouse. After a very extended
examination, Mr. Seers, the master of the
deceased, deposed that the deceased told him
that for the first three weeks he was quite starving,
and consequently, although contrary to the rules, he
took him food. Deceased also told him that after Mr.
,Bryan had seen him on the Monday night, no medical
'man saw him until the union surgeon came on the
Friday morning, when he became much easier. Wit-
ness gave deceased money, as he said other men had
victuals which they could not eat, which he would
buy of them, as he was so ;hungry. Since deceased's
death the master had asked him to pay for_the porter
and wine &teased bad had the last two or-three days
of his life, as witness had said he would send deceased
some nourishment. Mr. Wakley said, after that evi-
dence, the case must be adjourned, for the attendance
of Mr. Hammond, and other witnesses. The inquiry
was then adjourned for a week.

STATE OF FIELD-LANE AND ITS VICINITY.—In the
evidence given before the Commissioners for inquiry into
the state of large towns and populous districts, lately
published by Dr. C. J. B. Aldis, physician to the Far-
ringdon Dispensary, he says, " In the neighbourhood of
Field-lane some persons have not even cesspools or privies,
all their excrements are thrown into a little back yard,
where they are allowed to accumulate for months
together ; others have a, cesspool, but it is not pro-
vided with a drain, so that the excrements run into
courts or streets, where they remain till a shower of
rain washes them into the gutter. Such are the places
we are called upon most frequently to visit. One
woman informed me to-day that her husband lay dead,
and that she could not obtain water without the greatest
difficulty to was his rags.' I went into her room, and
found her husband lying dead in a coffin ; the room was
small, dark, and dirty, and occupied by six children, in
addition to the father and mother. Another female re-
presented the place to be stinking alive' for want of
water. The courts in Field-lane are low and ill-ventilated,
leading to backyards and houses. The yards are strewed
with decayed vegetables, dust heaps, dung, human excre-
ments, and other putrescent substances. In one yard
I have noticed some pigs. I find the cesspools imper-
fectly covered, and the privies in a most filthy condition.
All this must necessarily occasion effluvial poisons. Red
Lion-court, Saffron-hill, is quite unfit for human beings
to dwell in. One yard especially, pointed out to me,
was filled with a mass of putridity. Other sources of
unhealthiness may arise from the knackers' yards, in one
of which I was informed that 60 horses were slaughtered
weekly. Different kinds of animals are skinned here,
and the bones boiled, which occasion a sickening smell,
and heaps of bones may be seen in the yard, the wash-
ings from which, with the offal from the animals, are
thrown into the Fleet-ditch."

STRIKE OF SHIP CARPENTERS.—SUNDERLAND,
SEPT. 17.—The ship carpenters of this port have struck
for an advance of wages. At present their wages are
18s. per week, and they request that these wages (which
it must be admitted are very low) should be raised to
21s. For the last three or four years ship-building at
this and the neighbouring . towns has been in a
greatly depressed state—so much so, that the wages
of carpenters declined from 30s. and upwards down to
18s. and even to 16s. per week. Many ship-builders were
either ruined or voluntarily closed their yards, and indeed
last year there were scarcely even a dozen ships upon the
stocks at a time in this port, which was at once cele-
brated as the first ship-building port in the world. At the
commencement of this year a revival in this important
branch of industry took place, and hundreds of able. bodied
men who were thrown for sustenance upon the poor-rates
again found employment,although at low wages. Since the
close of the pitmen's strike there has been an extraordinary
demand for vessels, and freights have been offered both in
the coasting and foreign trades double those given at a
corresponding period of the preceding year, and in some
instances a still further advance has been demanded and
obtained. The consequence of this has been, that ships
have risen in value, and an additional impetus has been
given to ship-building, which is now in a thriving, and
promises speedily to be in a highly flourishing state
the men have seized the present opportunity so favour-
able for obtaining increased remuneration for their
labour. On Saturday night most of them 'ceased work,
and yesterday they held a numerous meeting on Build-
ing-hill, at which they resolved to continue out of
employment until they received ls„ per week. This
afternoon they were to have he Id another meeting in
the same .locality, but this meeting either was post-
poned, or the place altered. The general opinion in the
town is, that the workmen are entitled to, and will re-
ceive the advanced wages ; but it is to be regretted that
previous to a strike commencing the men employed in
any trade do not wait upon their employers, and repre-
sent their wishes and urge their claims. If this ‘vere
done, strikes would rot be so frequent as they now are,
' and a better feeling Wou'd prevail amongst masters
L and men,

LIEUT. P UDDICOMBE—HIS "BRO-
THER OFFICERS"—THE PRESS.
(From the cork Examiner.)
" Trial by Jury—the glorious bulwark of the sub-
ject's liberty !" has long been a cant in the mouths of
unthinking and inconsiderate men, even of those
who, by their own acts, make a mockery of their
words, and a nullity of a great principle. How, or
in what terms, can we allude to the reprehensible
conduct of the brother officers of an unfortunate
young man, who, as yet, has not been found guilty
of any crime—who has not, as yet, been tried by a
jury of his peers ? We confess we have not language
strong enough to express our indignation at conduct
so precipitate, so wanton, so cruel, and so unjust.
An officer an.l a gentleman is invited to a ball—he
goes there, amuses himself for the evening, and retires
at a late hour. Some silver is missed; and, because,
in a week after a female offers broken pieces of silver
to a silversmith, and tells him that she had received it
from this officer, and that the silversmith believes that
he can discover the traces of a certain crest, or cer-
tain initials, on the mutilated pieces of silver—
therefore this officer is guilty of a base and pal-
try robbery—therefore he has violated every prin-
ciple which the gentleman and the man of honour
should hold dear as his life—therefore he is guilty
without judge or jury, save and except the
rash judgment and unscrupulous verdict of his own
brother officers! The brother officers of an accused
man are the first to blacken him in the eyes of the
world, by a damning manifesto, in which guilt is not
only taken for granted, but positively asserted. We
have published this extraordinary document before
sow, but we cannot avoid re-inserting this single
paragraph, at once remarkable for blundering con-
tradiction and illegal accusation :
" Lieut.-Colonel Burton and the officers of the bat-
talion of Royal Marines serving in Ireland, beg, indi-
vidually and collectively, to convey to Captain Warren
the expression of their indignation at the reported con-
duct of one of their brother officers, Lieut. Puddicombe,
for whose infamous violation of every principle of hos-
pitality and honour in Captain Warren's house, on a
recent occasion, they, blush with shame."
Here, in the first place, they are indignant at the
" reported conduct" of a brother officer ; and then
they convict him, on the strength of mere report, of
an " infamous violation of every principle of hospi-
tality and honour in Captain Warren's house, on a
recent occasion." So then, if any man goes before a
magistrate, and accuses Lieut.-Colonel Burton of
ng a pocket, or stealing a spoon, or doing any
a which every rational person ought to be sure he
would not du, his own brother officers would be the
very first to express their " indignation" at his " re-
ported conduct," and to denounce him as guilty and
disgraced, before he had the benefit of a legal inquest.
Mutat() nomine, the case is the same, whether the ac-
cused be Lieut. Puddicombe or Lieut.-Col. Burton.
But what injury has this document done to the
accused ? It has done him the greatest and most
grievous injury that any body of men could inflict
upon a single individual—it has prejudiced the public
against him, and, therefore, the minds of the jury
who are to be selected from that public. This is an
injury of the greatest magnitude.
There is something radically wrong in our nature
—a proneness to believe everything bad against our
brother; and hence, the rapid acceptance of an evil
report, or a foul accusation. We more readily
believe in a man's guilt than in his innocence ;
and the very fact of a man being accused of
a crime, or standing at the bar of justice,
charged with the commission of an offence, is in it-
self sufficient to array the whole prejudices of society
against the accused. Was not this prejudice heavy
enough against this unhappy gentleman, that his
brother officers should fasten conviction on the public
mind, and, of course, on the jury ? The fact is, that
where ever one turns in this city, in passage, in cove,
or for miles round, the cry is, " Ob, what a wretched
man is Lieut. Puddicombe !—how could he commit
so base an act ?—oh, he must be guilty—for otherwise
how could he have come by the silver ?" If ever man
were condemned before trial it is this unfortunate
young man. The belief of his guilt is universal.
And why not, when his brother officers have given the
sanction of their belief, and their indignation, to the
vulgar rage for false judgment?
A very serious question arises from this studiously
created prejudice—can this young man be safely tried
in this city? Can he hope for a fair trial ? Is he cer-
tain of an unbiased jury? From what we know of
the present temper of the public mind, from commu-
nication with more than one hundred persons, we do
say, that a trial in this city would be a risk. No
matter how honourable twelve men are, no matter how
sensible, how rational, how just they may be, preju-
dice will taint the judgment of the most honourable,
the most sensible, the most rational, the most just. In
our opinion, it would he far better if the accused were
tried at the Fermoy Sessions, when the public feeling
would have cooled down into dispassionate calmness,
and when the evil influence of the document of his
" brother officers" had been in some degree neutralised
by time.
Now only imagine the cruel injustice of the follow-
ing paragraph :
"It only remains for the Lieut.-Colonel and officers
to intimate to Captain Warren their intention to see
such measures immediately adopted as will remove Lieut.
Puddiceme from her Majesty's service; and the Lieut-
Colonel and officers beg Captain Warren will have the
kindness to allow them to make good the articles of
plate that have been abstracted."
So, before the accused is found guilty, he is to be
regarded as guilty, and to be deprived of his commis-
sion—the means of his existence as a gentleman.
'We have one word to say to a certain por-
tion of the local press. For the miserable de-
sire of furnishing a topic of scandalous gossip
to its readers, it has out-Heroded Herod—gone
beyond the inconsiderateness and injustice of
the "brother officers." Court-martial law is far
different from the law of the land. Officers know
but the former—a journalist is supposed not to be
utterly ignorant of the latter. And yet, the accused
has been stripped of his uniform, degraded, debased,
found guilty, and held up to public scorn, by a
thoughtless writer—all for the sake of appearing to
know something of a matter publicly agitated. To
our mind this conduct is disgraceful in the extreme,
and worthy of the strongest indignation. What
atonement can this journal make? Ignorance is no
plea for such folly and injustice.
We say nothing about the guilt or innocence of the
accused—that question is for a jury. Our motto is,
" fair play."
We conclude by publishing the following letter
from the respected agent of the accused, and shall
merely say that we fully concur in its tone and spirit :

"TO THE EDITOR OF THE CORR EXAMINER.

" Sir,—Having read in the Constitution and Reporter
newspapers of yesterday, a letter purporting to be
from the Colonel and Officers of the Marine Force
stationed at Spike Island," to Captain 'Warren, com-
menting in very strong language on the alleged mis-
conduct of their brother officer, Lieutenant Puddi-
combe, I trust you will give me space for one or
two observations. I was called on yesterday to con-
duct that gentleman's defence at the approaching ses-
sions, when I hope he will establish his innocence, and
vindicate his character as an officer and a gentleman.
Until then his case ought not to have been pre judged
or prejudiced by such means. He has been advised, at
present, not to notice what has been said, unconstitu
tional and unfeeling as it appears. All, but the most
ignorant, know that the maxim of our law, founded,
as it is, on the purest principles of justice, is to pre-
sume every man innocent until he be found guilty by
the proper tribunal of the country. I say this much
to account for his present silence. He does expect that
the time will shortly come, when he can both speak
and act. as the circumstances deserve.—l am, Sir,
your very obedient servant,
PHILIP O CONNELL.
37, South-mall, 13th Sept., 1844.

---
FRENCH MISAPPREHENSION OF ENGLISH TITLES
AND PROCFiEDINGS.—The late elevation of Lord Stanley
to the Upper House is thus recorded and explained in
the Commerce, a Paris paper of high character, in its
number of the' Bth inst. :—" Lord Stanley, Minister for
the Colonies, has accepted the title of Lord Chiltern
Hundreds—a title with no duties annexed—which is in-
compatible with that of Member of the Elective Cham-
ber, because it is attached to the Household of the
Queen." In the same blundering spirit, the National of
Sunday has a long article in which it talks of the efforts
made by " Lord Hardinge " to conclude a commercial
treaty with the Pscha of Egypt. A mysterious per-
sonage, called Sir IL Peel, is still commonly described
in tho French provincial journals as the English Premier;
and it is only
a few weeks since we were startled by the
announcemenpt,thseadt Sirhis xa
examination
min
Peel,a hione
astoni, oofrttshmeosuatihd Six
IL. Peel, had passed
the rank of Admiral !—Times.

The railway from Bury to Colchester is abandoned,
and this week a meeting of the shareholders in that pro-
ject was to be held, to consider the expediency of pro-
curing a survey, and taking measures for constructing a
railway from Thetford through Bury to Newport, whilst
a general m' sting of the inhabitants of Bury division
of the coumy is convened by five magistrates for the
18th, to consider what line it will be most expedient to
adopt.—,Essex Herald.

I-1 It is remarkable also that the entire number of
jurors, common and special, now returned, amounts
only to 5,175. Last year, imperfect as the lists were
they exceeded th's considerably, and it is notorious
that there are at least 12,000 persons qualified to
serve as jurors in the city of Dublin.
" The Government have the power to compel those
entrusted with the administration of the jury law to
fulfil its mandates; and if Lord Heytesbury desired
that his administration should maintain a shred of
character for impartiality, he would require that the
jury lists should be made according to law. What
are the Government Crown solicitors for, unless they
see that a law, upon which the entire administration
of justice is based, has been complied with ?
" Never was there anything so scandalous as the
whole course of proceeding in reference to the jury
system in Ireland. The present Jury Act has been
the law of the land for ten years. That Act requiros
that there shall be an annual revision, before the Re-
corder, for the due administration of justice and the
security of the subject. Nevertheless, there never
was a revision until last year, when Mr. Mahony,
acting on behalf of the traversers in the State trials,
demanded it. Care will, no doubt, be taken that there
shall be another revision this year; but up to this
moment, as we have shown, the provisions of the
jury law have been utterly and daringly disregarded.
We call on Mr. Shaw, the Recorder, at once to inter-
fere. Why should he receive lists which have been
made up illegally, and in the arrangement of which
every guarantee provided by law for the impartial
administration of justice has been violated ?
" As to the county of Dublin we have inquired,
and have learned, to our utter amazement, that the
precepts were issued so long since as the 25th of June
last. The return should have been made on the 25th
of July at the latest, and yet we now write on the •
17th of September, having ascertained the fact that
not a single collector has made a return to the clerk
of the peace up to this hour. Is there, we ask, no
remedy for this ?"

FRACAS IN TIIE THEATRE ROYAL.
In the course of the evening an unpleasant fracas
occurred between an officer of the 11th Hussars and
a gentleman who not long since held the office of
high sheriff for a southern county. The latter was
sitting with some ladies in the last row of the dress
boxes, when the officer in question opened the door
and remained standing at it, the box being full. He
was requested to close it, as the air incommoded the
ladies, and from the reply he made some words passed
upon the occasion, but the affair did not terminate
without blows. Cards were exchanged, and several
officers of the regiment having interested themselves
in consequence of the position in which one of their
corps had been placed, not a little discussion took
place subsequently, which ended, as we learned, in
explanations being given, which put an end to any
ulterior proceedings.
The preceding statement is copied from Sauntlers'a
Wews Letter of this morning. The gentleman al-
luded to is Mr. Saunders, who had been high sheriff
of the county of Kerry two or three years since, and
who is regarded by all who know him as one of the
most peaceable men in society. It is stated that the
officer of the 11th Hussars, who had been engaged
in this rencontre, subsequently apologised to Mr.
Saunders.
A NEW ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY.
A most important step in the advance of railway
extension in this country has been taken from the visit
recently paid to this country by the Directors of the
Great Western and the South Wales Railways, to
test the working of the atmospheric principle on the
line now at work between Kingstown and Dalkey.
This project has for its aim the connexion of the
ports of Waterford, Wicklow, and Wexford, with
Kingstown and Dublin on this side, by means of an
atmospheric railway; and the port of IVexford with
Fishguard-harbour, in the south of England, by
powerful steam-boats. The inland communication
with the great metropolis, by means of an atmospheric
railway of 120 miles, to join the Great Western at a
given point, and from thence by this now available line
to London.

The harbour of Wexford to be rendered fit for the
reception of steam-vessels of suitable tonnage. The
distance, it is ascertained, can be readily accomplished
in thirteen harbours, and thus the Irish traffic to Lon-
don by the Liverpool and Birmingham and Grand
Junction will be fairly divided, and any unjust mono-
poly defeated.
The directory, it is intended, will consist of a cer-
tain number of the Directors of the Great Western,
the South Wales, and the Dublin and Kingstown
Railways.
This is the merest outline of the intended project.
On the 19th instant a deputation from each of the
directions intend to meet at Swansea, to adopt mea-
sures towards the furtherance of this great undertak-
ing, and to facilitate the passing of a Bill for the pur-,
pose in the next session of Parliament.—Dublin paper.
EVICTION OF TENANTRY.
The Cork Examiner publishes the following " facts
for Lord Devon :"—" In the parish of Drumtariff,
within half a mile of Kanturk, in this county, 16
families, numbering 96 individuals, have been turned
off the land which they held for several years—many
of them for 40 years and upwards. This took place
on the 25th of March last. This land, held by such
a number of tenants, is now in the possession of one
individual, and that individual, shall we add, is a
Protestant. The landlord is Richard Longfield, Esq."