The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-15 00:00:00

THE RATAN AFFAIR.

The Stewards have, we understand, appointed to-
morrow morning, at nine o'clock, for entering upon the
investigation of the supposed malpractices in the case of
the late Mr. Crockford's horse Ratan, of which all
parties have received notice. The parties stated to be
implicated are Sam Rogers, the jockey by whom the
horse was ridden (being trained in his father's stable), a
person of the name of Braham, a friend of Sam Rogers's,
residing at Newmarket, and certain professional betting
men, who laid against the horse to a large amount.
There are various contradictory stories afloat, which
it would be premature to publish. Sam Rogers's first
voluntary statement to Mr. Crockford, junior, and Lord
George Bentmck was, that he had been induced by
strong solicitations to bet against the horse with the
view of securing his defeat, but with the full inten-
tion of riding honestly, and frustrating the views
of his seducers ; declaring, at the same time,
he never meant to receive the proffered bribe. It was
subsequently discovered, however, that he did not
adhere to his pledge not to receive any portion of the
proceeds of defeat, but actually pocketed 1,660 k This
created just suspicions of his honesty and veracity, and
he was suspended from riding for the Duke of Richmond
and Lord G. Bentinck ; and the latter nobleman, pur-
suing his inquiries, learnt that Braham had been the
agent by whom bets were laid against the horse, as he
said, at Sam Rogers's suggestion, from a belief on the
part of the latter that the horse could not win the Derby
—and it was further alleged that this course was
merely prompted by a desire on his part to hedge to the
large sum he was sure of winning if the horse should
win. Braham, it would seem, played his own game, and
laid against the horse on his own account, and employed
certain 'commissioners to carry out his views. Rogers
subsequently discovered that the horse improved, and
was better, than he anticipated, and, repenting of what
he had done, he employed other commissioners to back
tha horse, thus putting one set of agents to operate against
the movements of the others. In this way he involved
himself in a maze of difficulties, and, like all wrong-doers,
had recourse to falsehood to cover his delinquencies.
His conduct throughout will, of course, form one portion
of the proposed investigation, and then will come the
important que,tion, whether temptation was held out to
him to betray his trust, or whether the betting against
the horse was not the suggestion of his own mind, influ-
enced, in some measure, by his friend Braham. Of
course, if any class of betting men did hold out pecuniary
temptation to him to act dishonestly towards his em-
ployer, their conduct admits of but one construction;
but if, on the contrary, it shall appear they were sent for
and employed by him, however unjustifiable it may have
been in them to bet for a jockey against
a horse over which that jockey had control,
still this was a course unfortunately too consistent
with precedent, and therefore the less exposing
them to 'censure—in the minds of betting men, at
least, who deem " all fair in war," and who see nothing
wrong iri taking advantage of any private information
which they may obtain to make money, and " pick up"
those who may be in the dark. This we believe to be
the gist of the questions at issue, but we think there are
various ramifications which throw ,impediments in the
way of anything like a clear elucidation. There will,
no doubt, be a great deal of contradictory evidence—
much of truth and much of falsehood. The Stewards,
or possibly the Club—for it is not settled whether the
inquiry shall be before them or the body of the Club=
we anticipate will have great difficulty in sifting the
corn from the chaff ; and, after all, we shall not be sur-
prised if they will be placed in the position of only adopt-
inc, swine declaratory resolution or law, with respect to
jockeys, trainers, and commissioners, which will tend to
repress similar practices in future.

THE CORPORATION OF LONDON AND MR. DAVID
SALOMONS.—This day Mr. David Salomons will attend
the Court of Aldermen in order to be sworn in as Al-
derman of the ward of Portsoken. It is expected that
the court will be much crowded, the proceedings having
created a vast deal of interest in the metropolis. It is,
we believe, the intention of Mr. Salomons to address the
court himself.

NEWHAVEN: OCT. 11.—FORTUNATE DELIVERANCE.
—We are happy in announcing the safe arrival in Eng-
land of Captain Northwood, whose capture and deten-
tion by the Moors of the island of Arquin, on the coast
of Africa, has lately appeared prominently in several of
the public journals. Mr. Northwood is a native, of this
town, and brother to Mrs. Smith, of the Bridge Inn. He
sailed from London in the barque Margaret for Africa,
for guano, in April last, taking with him his wife and
family ; John Sims, son of Mr. Sims, of the revenue
cruizer Tartar, and Alfred Smith, son of Mr. George
Smith, of this town, Whilst in search of guano, on the
island of Arquin, the Moors gave chase to them, and
shot poor Sims through the head. The boat capsized
and sunk, and they were all made prisoners, with the ex-
ception of one man, who was drowned. After ten weeks'
captivity, they were ransomed by Captain Isemonger, of
the brig Africanus, whose humanity and zealous exer-
tions saved them from being sent into the interior, where,
in all probability, they would hive been slaves all their
lives. Mrs. Northwood and the remainder of the crew
proceeded with the ship to her destination, believing the
captain 'to have been drowned. Letters have been re-
ceived from her, dated Angra Pequina, stating that they
were loading rapidly, and expect to be in England about
the latter end of next month. She is still in deep afflic-
tion, believing Captain Northwood to be drowned.—
Brighton Herald.
FOUNTAINS OF PARIS—THE FRENCH VISIT.—Our
wide-awake neighbours seem disposed to make the royal
visit to our Queen useful to them in more ways than
one. A French engineer arrived on Wednesday at the
Queen's Hotel, and proceeded to Messrs. Ireland and Co.'s
foundry to examine the filters now being made by them
under Stuckey's patent. He obtained a beautiful model
made w ithiu two days, and in the meantime visited Mr.
Cross's bleach-works at Bolton, where he saw one of the
o.lterirtonly,,,but fiip feet in ..l.eqgshorodnpisig,4oo it
.gaßfr livTlYfoLitheiepow diantittitag2B.B,4oo
ll ug-,obtaised,-a--eeprof the-
report of Dr. Ure; as to a cheap and t ffirctual-mode of
getting rid of the glutinous and adhesive matter occa-
sionally arising from the much used waters of the Lever
and the Medlock, and which sometimes obstructed the
self-cleansing machinery of the filters, he returned to
Paris via London yesterday. It transpired that General
the Marquis de Rumimuy, who is now with Louis
Philippe at the British Court, is one of the chief proprie-
tors of the French Filtration Company, and as it is
known that all the public fountains of Paris are con-
tracted to be filtered under Stuckey's patent, the con •
nexion of pleasure and business, the visit to Windsor
Castle, and to our Lancashire manufactories is tolerably
self-evident.—Manchester Courier.

PLYMOUTH CITADEL.—CoIoneI Sir George Hoste,
Sir Thomas Hastings, and others, are expected here very
shortly to survey the citadel and the surrounding
heights, preparatory to the direction of fortifications to
defend the cost.—Devonport Independent.
SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY.—The railroad works
are proceeding in the neighbourhood of Dawlish mit!)
great.celerity. The miners in the tunnel work day and
night, and a most animated scene presents itself all along
the coast, fr Langstone Cliff to Smugglers' Hole, the
cliffs of which latter place are the scene of the tunnel.
The work of blasting the cliff is carried on with great
daring to the astonishment of the natives. On Saturday
last one of the most interesting and extensive explosions
"came off" ander the auspices of Mr. Glennie, who is
Mr. Brunel's chief lieutenant : 1,550 pounds weight of
gunpowder was exploded in three separate charges. The
miners had made three chambers in the cliff, one a short
distance from the head, another near the centre, and the
third near the base • the heaviest charge was on the top.
The charges were dred by a safety fuse, each being ex.'
ploded one minute later than the preceding. The first
charge took off the head of the cliff, upheaving the great
mass with resistless force, and tumbling it into the sea:
The headings were made in the cliff immediately to the
westward of Mr. Phillott's beautiful little cove, which it
is intended to cross by making two short tunnels through
the projected headlands. The face of the cliff to be
blown down was about 120 feet high, and tFe chambers
contained altogether about 1,5501b5. weight of powder,
the highest being about 650, the next 550, and the
lowest 'about 350 ; another headland was also loaded
with about 3001bs. The time fixed was 10 A. 31.; the
morning turned out favourable, and there was about .S 0
, or 60 parties present, amongst whim were T. B. Short,
Esq., of Bickham, and friends, several ladies, Mr. Har-
rison, Mr. Dymond, Mr. Dawson, and other gentlemen
connected with the railway. On the water were several ,
boats, which kept at a very respectful distance. • As the
time drew on, the natives,•,•4llre seen ascending and
descending their hanging .1 der, and diving into the '
headings and their insecurity, and just that undefined
feeling of possible danger, combined to give a very pleas-
in.. interest to the whole. Soon after 10, Mr. Glennie,
thee engineer, gave the signal, and the fusees were lighted,
and then might be seen a little movement, and shifting
of places, and more distant positions were thought near
enough to see well. After the lapse of eight minutes, the
top charge 'exploded, and, heaved up the surface with 'a
deep stifled sound, and down it rushed, in thundering
masses, to the beach. The second followeditht he
same effect ; and then the third, which. was
fragments
bedded in
the rock, rang out like a ship's broadsideblowing the
heading out to sea, and shakin„, down huge
that the two first had loosened. It was calculated that
about 15,000 tons fell, and quite as much more remained
sustainedroybabl apparently by two points, and which has most
ere this followed. The last blast was now
probably
; the part to be blown down was a projecting
angle in Mr.'Peniell's down, and the result was perfectly
successful. The ground heaved up several feet, and then
toppled to the beach, where it will form the platform of
the railway. The whole sight was magnificent to the
spectator, and highly gratifying to the engineer, as testi-
fying the correctness of his judgment and calculation.
Smugglers' Hole is a most romantic spot—the property of
I Luke Pennell, Esq.—Western Times.