The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-06 00:00:00

Mr. Hunt, for Vaughan, cross-examined the com-
plainant, but elicited nothing at all centradictory to
the statement made by the injured party.
It was proved by another witness that Vaughan
kicked the complainant, as well as called upon the
mob to kill him.

Mr. Cornelius Smith, of 56, Gracechurch-street,
surgeon, stated that he attended the complainant on
Monday (his assistant having attended the com-
plainant on Saturday) , and found him suffering from
internal injuries about the chest and body, and from
both external and internal injuries of the head and face.
The injuries were of a severe character. The com-
plainant complained of spitting of blood and difficulty
of breathing. He was improving, but not yet free
from danger.
Alderman \\Timor; refused to take bail for any one
of the prisoners, and stated that it was his determina-
tion to send them all for trial for the felony at the
Central Criminal Court.

The prisoners were committed for trial.
An immense crowd, in the midst of which it was
evident there were several smugglers, attended to hear
the examination of William Slack, a stoker on board
the Ocean steam-vessel, from Rotterdam, who was
charged upon an information with having been found
on board that vessel in the port of London, the same
vessel having concealed in her one hundered and forty
pounds weight of tobacco, upon which the duty had
not been paid.
The Lord Mayor-and Alderman Wilson sat to ad-
judicate, and very great interest was excited. The
prisoner had been brought up on Monday, when he was
by mistake mentioned as the steward of the vessel.
The Solicitor for the Customs attended to prose-
cute. A solicitor also attended for the prisoner.
Coleby Atkinson Davis, officer of the Customs,
stated that in consequence of information which he
had received that a quantity of
.tobacco had been
brought to the river by the Ocean from Rotterdam,
he proceeded on board that vessel at Blackwall. He
and a brother officer had waited her arrival, and she
came into the river, not in consequence of stress of
weather, but in the regular course of business, bring-
ing her Majesty's mails. Witness proceeded directly
to the prisoner Slack's berth, and asked him to pro-
duce all the tobacco he had in his berth, or concealed
near his berth. The prisoner produced three pounds
of tobacco and a small quantity of spirits from the
back of his berth, and said that was all he had.
Witness told him that if that was all he could produce
he should suffer no hurt, for that was but a small
quantity, but he (witness) was sure a large quantity
was concealed in that vicinity. Witness told the
prisoner to stop and wait the issue, for no harm could
come to him for what he had produced, and proceeded
to take up the flooring boards adjoining the engine.
The prisoner started up the other ladder as quickly
as he could, left the vessel, and went on to the pier,
but witness halloed " Stop," after him, pursued, over-
took, and brought him back, and told him he must
wait the issue of the search. The vessel then, having
landed her mails and passengers, went on to London,
and witness proceeded with the search. After about
three hours' search he found, on the starboard side,

•
above the prisoner's berth, that a piece of board had
been, with great art, made th• means of concealment.
Behind the two planks which passed up to the beam of
the engine-room a piece of timber was fitted in, and
puttied and painted over like th• rest. That piece,
which appeared to the eye to be part of the solid mass,
was capable of being removed by the application of
a screw. Upon the removal of that little door, the
timbers of the vessel were to be seen, and between

the timbers was a hollow space, leading down to the
bilge ' • a string was attached, from which a great
number of packages were suspended, encased with
lead, in such perfect security that they might lie in
the bilge water without sustaining the slightest
damage. The contents were tobacco, and from the
manner in which it was deposited it equally defied
injury from steam or salt water. Some of the pack-
ages were lying between the timbers to a depth of
ten, others to the depth of eleven feet, in the space,
and some were four pound, and others six pound
packages. There was no possibility of discovery that
tobacco was in the vicinity of the place of conceal-
ment, for the encasement was not only impenetrable,
but the cord attached to each package, and communi-
cating with the beam, was strongly impregnated with
pitch or tar.
The LORD MAYOR observed that the time occupied
in preparing and depositing the contraband articles
must have been considerable.
The witness said there could be no doubt of that, as
after he had found out the place of concealment, he
was occupied two hours and a half in removing the
packages. They had been wedged in by a forcing in-
strument. He found the screw which opened the
secret door upon closely searching one of the berths