The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-21 00:00:00

BATHS AND WASHHOUSES FOR

THE LABOURING CLASSES.
(From the Times.)
The meeting at the Mansion-house on Wednesday,
for promoting the establishment of baths and wash-
houses for the labouring classes, will, we can have
little doubt, lead to beneficial consequences to the
poor far beyond the limits of the metropolis. The
scheme, which received so cordial an approbation from
that meeting, has the advantage of being eminently
practical, and, as experience has already shown, de-
cidedly practicable. There is a vile notion enter-
tained by some that " the poor love dirt." A fouler
slander on the poor was never perpetrated. The poor
endure dirt, they exist under the misery of dirt ; but
they do so in those situations, and, as a general rule,
in those situations alone, in which dirt is inevitable.
Step into a cottage in the country, where its tenant
is in the receipt of wages sufficient for his respectable
maintenance, and what is the first thing that strikes
the eve ? The furniture may be scanty, the accom-
modation may be of the homeliest order ; but there is
an air of cleanliness over everything, which will be
sought for in vain in the habitations of far richer men
in large towns. The rural poor, in general, love
cleanliness. They put up with dirt, when they do so,
because they cannot help it ; and it is not till years of
hard necessity have made them forget the delight of
being clean in the anxious daily care of seeking how
they may gain the means of bare existence, that dirt,
rendered less offensive to them by long suffering,
comes to be disregarded. The rich, when they pro-
fess their belief that "the poor love dirt," entirely
forget why they themselves are so much cleaner.
Your fastidious fine gentleman, with his ample supply
of the finest linen, and the most luxurious appliances
of the bath and the toilet, with the necessity upon
him from his position in society of being scru-
pulously clean, and habitually regarding the slightest
want of cleanliness as tarnishing his social reputation,
finds his daily ablutions to be equally a duty and a
pleasure. But condemn him for a single twelvemonth
to hardships in any way approaching those under
which many of the labouring classes constantly suffer,
and how great would not be the change of at any
rate his outward man ! Take, for instance the
House of Lords, probably the cleanest assemblage
of men which could be found ; condemn them to
cold water and no soap, and to wash all their own
clothes with their own hands in their own
drawing-rooms for a single twelvemonth, and how
would they look at its termination ? Isabella-
colour would, we suspect, become fashionable for
shirt fronts, and white would yield to drab of
divers shades. Can there be any doubt on
this point ? Can any one man, whether peer or
commoner, maintain that he, or any other in his
station in life, would make any approach to
his present cleanliness under the state of things
which we have suggested ? The belief that he could
do so, however good his will might be, would be
preposterously absurd. We do not go so far as to assert
that the rich would, under such circumstances, love
dirt; but any man of plain common sense must see
that they would learn to bear a far greater amount
of it than they can now conceive it possible to en-
dure. The necessity which, amidst a choice of evils,
compels dirt to be put up with, must be admitted by
all to be a most important consideration in estimating
the probabilities of the proposed baths and wash-
houses being resorted to by the labouring classes.
Our attention has been called by a correspondent to
the propriety of exposing the fallacy that they
" love dirt ;" but, except as regards those whose ac-
quaintance with the poor is simply theoretical, we
should think more than we have said on the subject a
waste of words. _

„ .•
That old habits of tolerance of dirt can easily be
broken ; that men whose whole day is devoted to
slaving for meat and drink, and who can scarcely find
a spare copper once a-month for anything like an
indulgence, will throng to the proposed baths from
admiration of cleanliness in the abstract; or, that the
evil consequences of long neglect of the poor by the
rich can suddenly be remedied, we do not believe,
and we should be far from readily anticipating; but
that it is the duty of the rich, whose luxuries are the
result of the poor men's needs, to make every effort
towards mitigating the wretchedness under which
they pine, we strenuously maintain.; and because we
entertain a confident expectation that no endeavour
to benefit them, which proceeds on an accurate ac-
quaintance with their wants, and is reasonably calcu-
lated to meet them, can fail of producing some good,
we give our suffrage in favour of the establishment
of the proposed baths and washhouses. But let not
the gentlemen who are engaged in promoting their
establishment flatter themselves that they are doing
anything worth a name for the very abject poor. So
long as the belly is pinched, the condition of the skin
is a matter of mere secondary importance. The man
who is half-starved will not give up twopennyworth
of potatoes for the sake of a warm bath. The family
which has nothing but rags to cover, and, perhaps,
scarcely cover their nakedness, will give little trouble
to what the Committee call washhouses,” but for
which we think they would do well to substitute the
far less equivocal, and equally well-known name,
" laundries." By degrees, but working downwards
in the scale of society, the practice of bathing may
extend. At first, we can have little doubt, the baths
will be resorted to principally by mechanics whose
wages allow them to indulge in some trifling super-
fluities.
Still, to such men, pent up in the midst of al
large city, and deprived of many of the facilities for
cleanliness which can be enjoyed by the country, a
cheap warm bath once or twice a-week will be a
great comfort ; and, even if no others should avail
themselves of the establishment, for their sakes it
would be worth founding.
The " laundries," as we beg permission to call them,
may afford temptation to a more numerous class.
The cost of firing for a washing day, and the trouble,
and frequently the expense of obtaining the needful
supply of water—to the rich perhaps apparently
light, but to the poor really heavy evils; but, above
all, the constant serious inconvenience, and, according
to the reports on the health of the poor, often the
danger to health occasioned by all the processes of
washing being performed in the one close room in
which the poor man's family too frequently dwell—
these distresses will, in all probability, send a far
larger proportion of poor women to the laundries
than of men, women, and children, to the baths. Even
at the small and inconvenient establishment in Liver-
pool it appears that more than 305,000 articles of
clothing and domestic use have been washed in the
course of the year; and the applicants at that esta-
blishment are so much increasing that another is about
to be formed in a different quarter of the town.

We augur well from the spirit with which the
matter has been taken up in the City. There was
something far better in the meeting on Wednesday
than we can find in the run of meetings for consider-
ing the condition of the poor which have been held
in the country. There was no talk of driving the poor
to emigration with a bell-wether of " a clever farmer's
son" at their head. Instead of telling them to go to
Canada and wash in Lake Erie, it was determined
that means should be provided by the rich for enabling
the poor to wash and make themselves more comfort-
able at home, and a handsome subscription was imme-
diately set on foot. Cheques for ten and twenty gui-
neas were immediately handed in by bankers, mer-
chants, clergymen, aldermen, and common council-
men, instead of wordy resolutions by magistrates, de-
puty-lieutenants, and sporting country gentlemen.
The City meeting was held for doing, and not for mere
palaver, and we shall rejoice to see the example set
by men of business widely followed out of London by
those who have equal means and more time at their
command. For the erection of the four baths and
laundries which the Committee propose to establish in
the metropolis—three in Middlesex and one on the
Surrey side of the Thames—large funds will of course
be required, but we cannot anticipate that any diffi-
culty will be found in raising them.
Why should not the Fleet Prison be converted into
one ? The street is of such ample width there that
the opposite residents would not be exposed to any
perceptible annoyance, and the gift of such a building
would greatly facilitate the progress of the scheme.

FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE MANCHESTER AND
LEEDS RAILWAY.—On Friday an inquest was held
before Mr. Chapman, at the Atlas Hotel, Oxford-
road, Manchester, on the body of James Carse, a
map dealer, of Mount Pleasant, Rochdale, whose
death resulted from the injuries received on the Old-
ham branch of the Manchester and Leeds Railway.
It appeared from the evidence of Elizabeth, wife of
William Leigh, hatter, of Rochdale, that she and Carse
got into a railway train at Oldham, on Wednesday even-
ing, and were going to Rochdale, but on the arrival of
the train at the Middleton junction, Cape opened the
door of the carriage, which was a third-class, as the train
was slackening its pace, and tried to get out, when his
foot slipped, and he fell across the rail. The off-wheel
(if the succeeding waggon passed over the unfortunate
I man's thighs' and he was removed to the Manchester infir-
mary within half an hour of the accident, but be survived
the injury only till Thursday night, when he died about
half.past seven o'clock. The witness stated that de-
ceased was in liquor at the time of the accident, and the
fault was entirely his own. The jury found a verdict of
" Accidental death."—Manchester Courier.
A splendid brown horse, rising 5 years old, has
been purchased from Mr. Joseph Clay, of this town, by
Mr. Reynolds, groom to her Majesty the Queen
Dowager, by orders of Earl Howe, her Majesty's Cham-
berlain. This beautiful animal is intended by her Ma-
jesty as a present to his Royal Highness the Duke of
Saxe Weimar, and was yesterday sent off to Witley
Court, Worcestershire, for her Majesty's inspection
previous to its being forwarded to Germany.—Shrewsbury
Chronicle.

The rate in Christ. Church, Blackfriars, has been
carried by a majority of 129.
EASTRItIi U 211027 RAILWAL—The works on this
line have been commenced at Great Bentley; where
there aro about 100 men at work, the operations extend-
ing to nearly a mile.—Suffolh Chronicle.
A block of porphyry, weighing upwards of
50,000 lbs., has been taken from the quarries at Morlaix,
to be used for the sarcophagus of the Emperor Napoleon.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
7ROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
GLOBE.—The Government organs evince con-
siderable uneasiness on the subject of Irish politics.
The state of the Tories is one of conscious danger—
with this additional source of alarm, that they are
ignorant of the quarter whence the shock will come.
Bewilderment is thus superadded to fear. It is
plainly seen that the ensuing session will prove
pregnant with embarrassment to Ministers. Their
criminal neglect of means for improving the
condition of the Irish people since they en-
tered upon office, has deepened and widened the dis-
affection with which the people of that country be-
held their assumption:of rule. Protestants, in whom
the love of country is not wholly extinct, now
openly avow their conviction that some organic
change in the existing order of things is neces-
sary ; and manifest a disposition to merge
their former differences with their Catholic fellow-
countrymen in a confederation, by which a
radical change in the Constitution may be effected ;
hoping that thus something may be effecte3
for their common interests. This state of feeling in
those who were wont to deprecate agitation, and to
eschew all desire to meddle with established institu-
tions, is among the most significant indications of
danger to the Government. All confidence in
the ability all hope from the wisdom of her
Majesty's present advisers have passsed away,
even from those who were most disposed to
regard Sir Robert Peel's accession to power
as fraught with promise of peace and security to Ire-
land. To a certain extent the vocation of O'Connell
has ceased. Agitation for repeal—as a definite pro-
position for procuring for the suffering masses of Ire-
land a redress for public grievances, and a relief
from the physical and social evils which per-
vade the great mass of the community is
no longer in that state of fervid activity
which lately seemed to defy opposition, and
spurned all milder schemes as futile and treacherous.
This stilling of the waves is accounted for on prin-
ciples which bode anything but peace or stability to
the Government. 1 he great Agitator has retired
from the stage to the repose of the domestic scene.
But it is to avail himself of the quietude of seclusion
to observe events as they arise, and to prepare, with
more perfect adaptation to their objects, his own
schemes of action. The party which has hitherto
agreed to denounce and oppose the power of O'Con-
nell, and which has been actuated by one common
effort to neutralise his influence and to extirpate his
projects, is now divided. A manifest inclination
to fraternize with him, in order to obtain from the
Legislature a modification of his own scheme, is now
evinced. The policy of O'Connell, under such cir-
cumstances, is obvious. Federalism is but repeal
under another name—a duodecimo edition of the
larger work. It will, therefore, gratify the ever
varying taste of the Irish people ; and flatter the
personal vanity of those who have broached the
new delusion. To keep up the agitation for re-
peal while the new project is yet before the multi-
tude, with all the attractions of novelty fresh upon it,
would be only to bring federalists and repealer& into
angry collision, and thus weaken and eventually
destroy both. Coalition is O'Connell's obvious desire.
lle will pare down repeal to the dimensions of
federalism ; if, by so doing, he can effect a junction
of the disaffected Protestants with his followers.
The sagacity for which Mr. O'Connell has been
ever distinguished will not desert him now, when he
most needs it. He sees, with intuitive perception,
the bearings of his new position, and is per-
fectly content to shape his course in accord-
ance with the views of the federalists, if by so
doing he can advance his own. The greater the num-
bers which can be brought to act upon the Govern-
ment, will press out of it the greatest amount of con-
cession to their claims. Repeal and federalism are
alike impracticable as ultimate objects. Either may,
however, be employed as paeans to an end. Agitation,
under whatever name, is merely symptomatic of de-
rangement in the body-politic. Remove the cause
of the disease, and the symptoms which indicate
the presence of the varied maladies will disappear.
The coalition which Sir Robert Peel will have to
meet in the next session, and from which he and his
adherents may well shrink with dread, will be a union
of all who are are anxious to bring back the estranged
affection of the Irish people to a reasonable and firm
attachment to England—and English connexion,
as the source of their own security and prosperity.
To effect this, every nerve must be strained, both
in and out of Parliament, to force remedial mea-
sures from or upon the Government ; or, in the
event of refusal or resistance, to drive Ministers
from their posts. The necessity is urgent, for the
dangers of delay are great. The people of England
are determined to maintain the union intact and in-
violate. They know, also, that this can only be done
by making it manifest that the benefits of the union
shall be felt by the people of Ireland, as
well as talked of by their rulers. We have
reason to believe that the Liberals will com-
mence the coming session with demanding from
the Government an announcement of the mea-
sures they intend to submit with reference to Ireland.
If Ministers have no specific measures in readiness,
the Opposition wiil be ready to propose their plans;
and thereon issue will be joined. What the result
will be to the Government we cannot predict. That
a very considerable amount of substantial benefits,
tending to conciliate the affections of the Irish nation,
and consolidate the scattered elements of Ireland's
strength, will be the consequence, we feel assured.
STANDARD.—If we were not well aware of the
indisposition, not to say inability, of our order gene-
rally to deal with any subject upon comprehensive
principles, we should be at a loss to understand the
purpose of the leading article which we have copied
from the Times of this day. On the 19th of October
our Contemporary goes back to a discussion and
decision at the end of June, the results of which dis-
cussion and decision are now unalterable, with no
purpose that we can conceive but to raise a sneer
at the reasoning of the Prime Minister. This
purpose will, however, fail ; for the reasoning of
Sir Robert Peel, whether the Times can understand
it or not, will be perfectly satisfactory to all intelli-
gent men. The British empire is composed of many
parts variously circumstanced, but all equally en-
titled to the protection and favour of the Government.
The Queen's Government would not, however, act
impartially towards all the Queen's subjects, were
it to give to any one portion of them advantages
at the expense of the rest. These are propositions,
we suppose, open to no objection ; and the
simple, clear, and satisfactory application of them
in Sir Robert Peel's argument upon the sugar
question is perfectly obvious. The population of our
sugar colonies, whatever their colour or rank
are entitled to the same care and protection
with the population of Ike British islands, or of
any other part of the empire, but no more. Now,
protecting the population of the British colonies
from the competition with the slave population of
the Brazils and Cuba, gives to our own colonies
that protection which they have a right to claim, at
the same time maintaining the honour of the
British empire—happily bound up with the sup-
pression of slavery and vindicating the liberty
of the human race. To protect the British sugar
colonies from competition with the slave popula-
tion of the Brazils and Cuba was, besides
being a consistent, philanthropic, and religious act,
the discharge of a just debt to the colonists, from
whom we had taken the power to compete with
slaveholders ; but to protect the British sugar
colonists from competition with other free sugar
colonies by more than a moderate duty would
be an act of gross injustice to the consumers of
sugar in Great Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere
through the Queen's dominions, without ultimately
benefiting the British sugar colonies themselves.
In considering the comparative claims of different
portions of the empire, we must! take into account
the claims of the aggregate population of each por-
tion, not the claims of any particular class in it. The
question, therefore, lies between the social condition
of the British islands and the sugar colonies, each in
integro, and it comes to this—are the mass of the British
population in so much better a condition than the mass
of the population of the sugar colonies, that it is just
to raise prices, or to sustain high prices, against
the former, for the benefit of the latter ? ought
we to require from the British labourer, for
example, who rarely commands 12s. a week, a
high price for one of the necessaries of life (for
such sugar has now become), in order to pam-
per the West Indian negro, who can command
245. a week, and who resides in a country where
the demands of house-rent, fuel, clothing, and even
food, do not, on the whole, amount to one-half of
these demands in England ? This is the plain
ttquestion,bioant
oift t hi
is
and
hn
ontuehsceaelai
unnecessary
rn saywr
teti
firo to it is so very plain,
egs go
y intow h i
et
hh the
veexraymbi
high
protecting duty, operating against the produce of
many countries, might be and would be evaded.
I If any one objects that it is not the con-
dition of the negroes but that of the planters we are
to take into the comparison, our answer is that in the
present state of the West India sugar colonies, the
negroes are so completely masters of the market,
that whatever advantage is conceded to the colo-
nies, must devolve to them, and to them ex-
clusively. The supply of labour is notoriously
deficient, and they who are to furnish that
supply can, therefore, command the terms ; but
they will, of course, adopt no other measure of
wages but the ability of the employers to pay, an
whatever is given to the employers, by consequence,
comes to them in the end. This is the explanation
of the monstrous rate of wages at present in the
West India colonies generally an abuse which
operates more than any other cause to ruin these
colonies, and which, if some corrective be not
applied, must go on aggravating itself until
the colonies shall be ruined irrecoverably. In con-
sidering the sugar colonies, we must constantly re- J

member that we are considering regions in which
the sustenance of mere animal life hardly de-
mands a moment's care. When, however, you
throw high wages into the hands of the igno-
rant population of such regions, it is plain that
you give them more money, much more money, than
it is possible for them to consume in satisfying their
moderate wants ; this money must therefore be
expended in excesses fatal to health and morals,
or hoarded with a view to obviate the necessity of
future toil; but it is hard to say which of the two
processes is the more efficacious in diminishing
a labouring population, that is, in exasperating
the disease by which the sugar colonies are already
sinking. This is a subject of deep importance, to
which we have often before referred, and to which
we shall again refer fully ; at present, however, we
allude to it only to show that it is not by high pro-
tecting duties the sugar colonies can be saved.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
SHERIFFS' COURT, Oct. 19.
THE LUMBER TROOP.-ROUS V. GOODMAN.
This was an action brought by Mr. Rous, the proprie-
tor of White Conduit House, against the defendant, who
was styled " Colonel" Goodman, of " the Ancient and
Honourable Lumber Troop, for the recovery of the
sum of 181. 19s. 10d., for goods sold and delivered in the
summer of the year 1842, when the " Troop" dined at
the plaintiff's house. A number of the troop had formed
ticket. themselves into a committee, and saw Mr. Rous, when it
was agreed that he should supply a dinner in three days
diafterwards,nn dinner
and each. person h
fora
wwi
wino
iekeet. paying" Colonel" Draper 7s. 6d. for hi
o came
was to preside, but in his absence the defendant took
the chair, and thus, it was contended, made himself
liable for wine to the amount claimed, which had been
drunk over and above the amount of wine tickets which
had been delivered up.
Mr. Lush appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Ryland
for the defence.
Samuel Fisher was the first witness called.—He said
he was clerk in the employment of Mr. Rous. The
stewards of the dinner to be bad by the Lumber troop
agreed to pay 7s. 6d. per head for dinner, and ss. for
tickets, which, upon being handed to the attendants, a
bottle of wine *as brought to the owner of a ticket. All
the stewards and " Colonel" Goodman desired that no
credit might be given without the sanction of the chair-
man. Two persons were placed at the door of the dinner
room, one Mr. Nicholson, the secretary, on the part of
the troop, and the other a person named Seaton, for the
plaintiff. " Colonel" Draper was to have taken the chair;
but not being in attendance up to the latest moment, the
defendant took his plate.
James Seaton deposed that he admitted the parties,
upon being told by the secretary that all was right.
Thomas Higgs, who acted as toast-master, stated that
a quantity of wine was given on credit, but not one
bottle without an order from the chairman.
Several other witnesses having been called in support
of the plaintiff's case,
Mr. Elmo's]) addressed the jury for the defence, and
contended that Mr. Goodman was not liable, inasmuch
as to enable him to perform his duties as chairman
efficiently, a gentleman named Fellowes sat beside him
to attend to all the details of charging the wine, &c.
Although in the decision on the celebrated ".rump and
dozen" case, one was liable for the whole, yet there was
no reliance in this, because it was stipulated that no
credit was to be given. The Learned Counsel called a
number of witnesses for the defence.
John Ireland, proprietor of the Falcon Tavern, Fetter-
lane, who described himself as the " Suttler" to the
troop, said he was one of the committee who made the
preliminary arrangements for the supper, and he con-
sidered that if Mr. Rous had adhered to the agreement
he would have suffered no loss.
Several other witnesses having been called, who gave
similar evidence,
Mr. Lusx addressed the jury for the plaintiff, and
the Learned Judge having summed up,
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages
61. 18s.
The Court was crowded with licensed victuallers and
person connected with the " troop," the former to hear
the decision, which was considered rather important so
far as they were concerned.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(SATURDAY.)
GUILDHALL.
James Thomas Hamatty, a clerk at Messrs. Morri-
son, Dillon, and Co.'s, the haberdashers, Fore-street,
was brought before Mr. Alderman Kelly, charged
with embezzling 1301. Mr. Humphreys and Mr.
Ashurst attended on behalf of the prosecutors.
Mr. Humphreys explained the nature of the charge,
and said he was apprehensive the case he should make
out that day was not the only one, and he should re-
quire time for further inquiry.
Mr. Edmett, a linendraper at Maidstone, proved
that he sent the sum of 1301. in notes, by halves, for-
warded on the 23d and 24th of September to Messrs.
Morrison and Co. He received a letter acknowledg-
ing the receipt of the money, which he produced.
Mr. Dillon said the letter acknowledging the receipt
was partly printed, but filled up in manuscript and
signed by the prisoner. It should have been signed
by witness, and then he should have seen that the
money was entered in the cash book. The prisoner
had entered the receipt in the memorandum book
upon receiving the first halves, but he had omitted to
account in the cash book upon receiving the counter-
parts of the notes. It was his duty to have entered
it in the cash book.

The prisoner, who offered no: defence, was re.
manded till the 30th instant.

:BOW-STREET.
young man, named Daniel Grachey was brought
before Mr. Twyford, charged with assaulting Mr. Skard,
an officer of a Temperance Society, meeting in St. Mar-
tin's-lane.
Mr. Skard came into the witness-box and said that he
was one of the Committee of the Temperance Society
in St. Martin's-lane. For some time past they had been
annoyed by young men, who came to ridicule the pro-
ceedings of the Society.
Mr. TWYFORD..—IB any body allowed to speak besides
the Committee at these meetings ? Witness—Oh ! only
those who have been reclaimed, like myself, from the
paths of drunkenness, are allowed to speak.
Mr. TWYFORD—Can any get up and advocate the
cause of gin and water ?—(Laughter.) Witness, with
dignity—Oh no, Sir, we are not a debating society.
Mr. TWYFORD—Dear me, then it is a sort of preach-
ing society.
The witness then stated that the prisoner was ridi-
culing the proceedings last night, and upon being re.
monstrated with, he struck the witness.
The prisoner denied that he struck the witness. He
and a friend went into the room, and because they
laughed they were given into custody.
Mr. TWYFORD said the prisoner must be fined 10s., or
go to prison for ten days.—The fine was immediately
paid.

CLERKEIV WELL.
A little boy, named Bran, living in Fox-court, Gray's
Inn-lane, was charged with exposing goods for sale on
the footway, and obstructing the public passage.
Police-constable, 72 E, took the prisoner into custody
upon the charge of a tradesman in Holborn.
The evidence of both constable and tradesman went
no further than to prove, that the little boy, who was
aged about twelve years, was in the habit of crying
his fruit in a very loud voice.
The tradesman said he was greatly annoyed by it; he
was the complainant on this occasion.
Mr. COMBE—Annoyed by what ? Complainant—By
the cries.
Mr. CoMBE—I do not see why that should annoy you.
Complainant—Well, I do not wish to punish him.
Mr. COMBE—But the question is, what right you had
to give the child into custody at all ?
The boy cried bitterly. The contents of his basket,
which were not worth twopence, was all he possessed in
the world.

Mr. COMBE—WeII, really it seems very hard that
this boy should be imprisoned. Why, you might as
well imprison all those who cry " Cresses," vegetables,
and all manner of things in the street., and which the
Act of Parliament, though very stringent and specific,
does not say one word about. Discharge the boy.

WORSHIP -STREET.
Samuel Edge, a tall, thin personage, and Charlotte
Edge, his wife, were brought before the Magistrate
by Sergeant Dubois, and charged with being part of
the very numerous gang of swindlers who have de-
frauded tradespeople to an almost incredible extent in
all parts of the metropolis and environs, and two
parties, of whom seven or eight in numbhr are al-
ready in custody, at this Couri, upon many charges,
The female prisoner was first charged with having
been concerned with Henry Miller and Sarah Dewar,
alias Miller, his reputed wife, in obtaining no less than
seventeen very expensive bonnets, from Mr. Peats, a
tradesman at Hammersmith. •
Miller and the woman Dewar, who passed as his
wife, had hired one of a set of cottages in that neigh-
bourhood, called Peter's- cottages, for three years cer-
tain, but after a few weeks' occupation, during which
they kept up a dashing appearance, and gave extensive
orders to all the neighbouring tradespeople, they shut
up the house and removed away clandestinely in the
night4ime, and afterwards sent the keys to the lodg-
ing by another of the gang named Smith, jun., who
had the impudence to demand a sovereign for his
trouble in delivering them, but was given into custody
and the keys taken from him. The day before they
so disappeared they obtained the seventeen bonnets
from the shop of Mr. Peat, and upon their apprehen-
sion- lately in Harvey-street, Hoxton, two of the
bonnets were found in their possession, together with
a variety of silk and other dresses, false fronts and
ringlets, &c., in which the females of the gang were
in the habit of disguising themselves in their preda-
tory visits to the different tradespeople whom they
victimised.
Mary Anne Gibbing, shopwoman to Mr. Peat,
identified the female prisoner now at the bar as having
enacted the part of servant to the others at Peter's-
cottages, and received the bonnets.
The two prisoners were then charged with having
been concerned with the others in defrauding Mr.
Mussared, at Hammersmith, of boots and shoes.
Miller and the male prisoner, whom he introduced
as his nephew, first ordered boots and shoes for them-
selves, and when they were taken to the cottage fur-
ther orders were given for the females of the family,
and a number of pairs of boots and shoes supplied,
after which another order was given for some more,
which were to be delivered_ by a particular day, but

before the time arrived the whole party had dis-
appeared.
Mr. BROUGIITON remanded the two prisoners for
re-examination with the others.