The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-29 00:00:00

THAMES.

Mr. John Francis Fawcett, master of the Anna Jane,
was finally examined, charged with carrying and convey-
ing a quantity of foreign manufactured silk, over and
above the value of 201., whereby, under the 52d section
of the Bth and 9th Vic., c. 87, the goods were lialu!e to
seizure, and the defendant to a forfeiture of three times
their value.

Oa Saturday last, Mr. Hammond, landing surveyor of
Customs, saw a porter taking out a chest which defend-
ant admitted to be his, and said it only contained his
clothes, at a wrong gite. After some early the chest
was examined, and 416 yards of China silk were dis-
covered, the greater portion being in concealment at the
bottom of the chest, upon which the goods were seized
and information laid.

Mr. L'iwis, who appeared for the defence, cross-ex a.
mined all the witnesses at great length, and took severs:
objections to the informations, which however were over.
ruled by Mr. . Ingham
_ _

Mr. Connell, the Quo.en's appraiser, proved that the
silks were worth 401., and liable to a duty of 6/. 63. The
detendant had, tberefore, rendered hirnselt liable to a
penalty of 120/., with power of reduction on the part of
the magistrate to ono•fourtb.

Mr. INGHAM said that, independent of the defendant's
own words, who admitted that he Intended to evade the
duty, the plan of concealment proved the intent to smug-
gle, and he should impose a penalty of 601.
Mr. Lewis—Reduce it to a fourth, Sir.
Mr. latcrum —I fear I have even now dealt too
leniently.
The tine was immediately paid.
Jam.'s Evans, James Taylor, John Spencer, John
Hew,on, Richard Mummery, Robert May, Richard Hall,
William Hallybone, and Wi Liam Hudson, the crow of
the Caledonia steamer, belonging to the General Steam
Navigation Company, and trading between London and
Hamburgh, were brought before Mr. Ingham, charged
with smuggling eighty pounds of foreign manufactured
tobacco.

Mr. Beverley, clerk to the solicitors of the Customs,
appeared on the part of the Crown; Mr. Joseph Smith for
tt►e prisoners, who were all arraigned together; and,
after some discussion, it appeared that ten informations
had been tiled. The cases were heard separately.
All the defendants pleaded not guilty.
It appeared from the evidence of Mr. David Samuel
Harding, an inspector of Customs, that upon the arrival
of the Caledonia at Horselydovvn from Hamburgb, on
Tuesday, he rummaged the vessel, and on removing
one of the lockers in the forecastle, on the larboard bow,
he found a place of concealment in the lining of the
vessel. It was painted over, and the officer had to
remove a board before he could discover the con-
cealment, and he then bad to draw up the tobacco,
to which pieces of string were attached, and glued
to the back of the board. It was the most skilful con-
cealment of smuggled goods ever known. The officer
requested the captain and mate to muster the crew,
which was done, and the question was put to each of
them, who " concealed the tobacco.' They all denied
any knowledge of it. They were asked what it belonged
to, and they said they did not know. Mr. Harding gave
them several hours to consider of the matter, and to
give up the name of the party to whom the tobacco be-
longed, but not one would impeach his shipmate, and, in
consequence of instructions from the Board of Customs,
the whole crew were arrested, every mats on board
being liable.

James Evans, who was the first called upon pleaded
not guilty, and Mr. Harding gave evidence at length to
the above effect, and added that the Caledonia was not
driven into this port by stress of weather or unavoid-
able causes, and that the tobacco was liable to a duty of
93.5 d. per lb. The forecastle was the men's place of
living, and the tobacco could not be concealed withou t
their knowledge.
Mr. Smith made a long address in favour of the men,
and condemned the conduct of the Board of Customs in
selecting the crew fur prosecution only, acd not pro-
ceeding against the captain and mate, who were more
Jikely to smuggle than the foremast hands. He also
said that a more disgraceful prosecution he never
heard of.

Mr. liicnax could not go along with Mr. Smith in
what ho said, and did not think it probable the captain
and mate concealed the tobacco or bad anything to do
with the transaction. He bad no doubt whatever the
defendant or one of his skipmates put the tobacco in the
place where it was found, and that all had a guilty
knowledge of it. He fined the defendant MI, and in
default of payment, sentenced him to be imprisoned for
six calendar months.

The other defendants were then separately charged,
and the evidence was repeated in each case, which pro-
longed the sitting of the magistrate until a late huur.
All the defendants protested their innocence. They
were all convicte I (with the exception of Hudson),
and in default of paying 100/. sentenced to six months,
imprisonment in Kingston House of Correction. It
appelred that Hudson was not on board when the seizure
was made, and the magistrate decided that he was nut
liable.