The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-21 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

ILLTREATING A WIFE AND rAIIILY.—At the Greenwich
Police-court, before Mr. Maude, Thomas Owen, a young
man described as a law-writer, and who appeared him.
self to be well nourished, was brought up on a warrant
charged with that, being of sufficient ability to maintain
his wife and five children, he had allowed them to
become chargeable to the Greenwich Union. He
was also charged on a summons with assaulting
his wife. The relieving officer, from inquiries he bad
made, proceeded to the house, where he found everything
in a very destitute condition, and the whole of the children
were almost in a state of nudity, having only an old gar.
ment on them. He inquired of the wife respecting her
husband, and she said he was a law-writer, having
three " seats " at an office in Serle's-place,
fields, where he employed others to work, and that his
earnings were from three to four guineas per week. He
at once relieved the wife and children, and on bringing
her case before the board of guardians relief was ordered
to the extent of 2s. 6d. and three loaves of bread per week,
his instructions being to summon the husband, and failing
‘o appear to which a warrant was issued for his apprehen-
h;oll. The day after the relief was given he again visited
the house, and found that two of the three loaves had been
taken to another house for safety, as the prisoner had
threatened to throw anything away that was obtained
from the " parish." A more shocking case bad never come
under his notice, and on asking the eldest of the children,
a boy of eight years of age, if he could read, he replied
that he could not. The accused was remanded.
TIIE HALIFAX GAS CASE.—It was stated that Mr.
2ohn Firth, of Halifax, had been found guilty, at the
West Riding sessions at Wakefield, of stealing gas, the
property of the Halifax corporation. On the application
of Mr. Serjeant Tindal Atkinson the court granted a
case for the Court of Criminal Appeal, as to whether
the taking of gas was a continuous taking, as alleged by
the prosecution. Mr. Firth was released on bail, he
finding two sureties in £lOO to come up for judgment in
the event of the Court of Criminal Appeal sustaining the
conviction.

GROSS BRUTALITY BY A COLLIER.—At the Liverpool
Assizes, Anthony Fillingham was found guilty of the
manslaughter of Phillis Hayes, a woman with whom he
cohabited. He had behaved with the most atrocious
brutality, had beaten her about the head with a poker,
had kicked her from room to room, and at last had
thrown a bar of iron at her which stuck in her forehead
like an arrow. He was sentenced to penal servitude for
iife.

MAGISTRATES AND MAGISTRATES.—A few days ago a
sergeant of the B division charged a young man at the
Westminster Poliet-court with having been drunk ; but
t',e defendant produced testimony which appeared to
prove, not only that the charge was unfounded, but that
he had been violently assaulted by the officer. Mr. Selfe
was so convinced that the defendant's version of the case
was a true one, that he dismissed the charge,
stigmatised the sergeant as a man utterly un-
worthy of belief, expressed an opinion that he
ought not to remain in the force, and recommended
the young man whom he had arrested to prosecute him
for an assault. This has been done, and the matter was
again investigated on Thursday, but with a very different
result. Mr. Ingham, who presided, declared that the
evidence for the complainant had failed, and that the
sergeant's statement of the case was the correct one. There
had been no want of discretion, and the officer had simply
done his duty. The summons was dismissed, the com-
plainant to pay a guinea costs.

Sir Bernard Burke is, it is stated, rapidly recover•
itg from his illness.

The Prime Minister, on the part of the Crown,
has nominated the Rev. W. H. Thompson, M.A., to the
vicarage of Exmoor, Somerset, vacant by the preferment
of the Rev. Morton Drummond, M.A.

ACCLIMATISATION OF BEES IN RUSSIA. —An
exhibition of bees has just been opened at Moscow, under
the auspices of the Acclimatisation Society of that city.
It comprises a collection of hives of all times and all
^•ountries, of instruments and utensils employed in apicul•
lure, and of the perfumed honey furnished by the bees
which suck the plants known popularly by the names of
Ivan-tchai and Koporski-tchai. The honey and the wax
are shown in all their stages, from their appearance in the
comb to that which they present when variously prepared
for commerce.

THE FATAL ACCIDENT AT CHAMOITNIX. —The
statement that Miss Stevens, the young lady who recently
lost her life on the Mer de Glace, was climbing a mountain
at the time, and was crushed by the rolling down of a large
rock which she had loosened with her staff, is contradicted.
A correspondent says that she was sitting with her sister
at the side of the Avegron, when a small stone was started
from its place by the slight but constant movement of the
glacier, rolled down to the lowest point, from which it
bounded, striking Miss Stevens upon the top of the head
and instantly killing her.

EMPLOYMENT DURING CASUAL DISTRESS.—A
prize of 12.5 is offered by Mr. W. R. Lloyd, for the paper
containing the best and most feasible plan for the tempo-
rary employment of operatives in casual' distress. The
paper is to be read at the forthcoming Congress of the
Social Science. Association at Birmingham. The prize will
be adjudged by the council, and the name of the successful
author will be announced at the opening meeting. Papers
competing for this prize must be sent to the general secre-
tary, at the office of the association, 1, Adam-street,
Adclphi, not later than the 21st of September.
THE POLISH MONUMENT.—The inuaguration
of the Polish monument at Rapperschwyl, in the canton
of St. Call, Switzerland, took place on the 16th instant.
The proceedings were opened with an eloquent address
delivered by Count Platen. The chairman of the
Municipal Council of Rapperschwyl, the Landman of
St. Gall, Herr Kinkel, and M. Anatole de la Forge, of
the SWle, also spoke. At the dinner in the evening, at
which there were three hundred present, Count Platen
read letters from eminent men in all parts of Europe,
wishing well to the cause of Poland. Communications
were also received from the working men's associations of
England, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, and
Holland. Speeches were delivered by General Perczel,
M. Henri Martin, the French historian, Herr
Kinkel, and the American consul at Zurich. There
was enthusiastic applause when the consul protested
against any oppressive alliance between the United
States and t'w. persecuting Government of Russia. The
following is an extract from Count Platen's opening ad-
dress :--" The international character of this day's cele-
bration, which is intended to perpetuate, by a monument,
the memory of Poland's long-continued struggle, and
the presence of so many eminent men of different
countries and of representatives of Poland, gives great
significance to this demonstration. Poland decimated,
despoiled, blood-stained to-day as it was a hundred years
back, only awaits an opportunity to enforce her right,
for right is the basis of modern societies. What would
become of Europe if the Mongol-Muscovite ideas were
substituted for European ideas ; that is to say, if the right
of the strongest were substituted for that by virtue of
which peoples preserye their traditional nationality and
independence 1" • -