The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-17 00:00:00

THAMES POLICE.

Yesterday, Mr. Sharpe, proprietor of the North
Briton public-house, Stepney, appeared to answer the
charge of permitting riotous and disorderly conduct in
his house.
A woman of the town, whose name our reporter did not
catch, deposed that she was in the house when a scuffle
took place. A man named Miles insulted another named
Andrews very much, and then a scuffle ensued in front of
the bar. There were four rounds, after which some per-
son asked was not that enough ? to which Miles
answered, " No." They then set to again, when Miles
fell and cut his head. The landlord was inside the bar.
Some persons, and among others the witness, tried to go
inside the bar, but the landlord pushed them out. lie
objected to their fighting, and said, " We'll have no
more of this." He did not come between them, having
enough to do to keep the people from the bar.
Mr. Pelham, for the defence, said the North Briton
was what is commonly called a night-house, and was
open to an early hour in the morning for the purpose of
affor3ing refreshments to persons frequenting the Pavi-
lion Theatre, the principal place of amusement to those
residing at the eastern end of the metropolis. It could
not be expected that persons frequenting the bar of such
an establishment should be the most respectable, but for
a house of the kind the landlord had, for a considerable
time, conducted it in a highly creditable manner. The
parlour was frequented by gentlemen and tradesmen for
the purpose of social entertainment. (Some of whom
he called to speak to the transaction, and to show that
the defendant did all be could to check the disturbance.)

After hearing them,

Mr. BALLANTINE said, that though well disposed to
make every allowance for that kind of house, it was clear
that a serious disturbance had taken place. There were
prostitutes and other disorderly persons at the bar, in
addition to which a man had been seriously wounded,
and none of the respectable tradesmen and gentlemen
looked after him, a poor wretched prostitute being the
only person who looked after him, by going fur a cab
and taking him under her care to the hospital. He would
mark his sense of the proceeding by inflicting the highest
penalty, namely 51.

The-defendaitt, through Mr. Pelham, gave notice of
appeal.
Mr. John William Gray, plumber in the Commercial-
road, was charged with assaulting a lad named Christo-
pher James Lewis, who had been bound to him from the
parish of Limehouse.

Lewis stated, that on Monday last his master charged
him with idleness, and took up a rope, with which he
beat him in a most cruel manner. His back was sore

ever since.

Douglas, the warrant officer, examined the boy's back,
which was nearly black all over. His arms were also
black, and he seemed to have been punished cruelly.
Daniel Murphy, in the employment of the defendant,
said the boy was idle and negligent. He was sent with a
mesaage on the previous Tuesday, and stayed away so
long that he was fined 2a., being at the rate of 3d. an
hour.

The lad said he was ill and obliged to go home. He
had already suffered for his illness by the tine.
Murphy added, that besides being idle and negligent,
he was also very insolent.
Mr. BALLANTINE said that did not warrant such ex-
treme ill-usage. It was evident that the boy had been
very cruelly beaten, and the defendant must pay a fine
of 40s.
The money was instantly paid.

SURREY QUARTER SESSIONS.
KINGSTON, Oct. 16.
(Before E. PENHRYN, Esq., Chairman; J. TROTTER,
Esq., B. lawns, Esq., M.P., Colonel CHAU-.
LONER, T. PUCKLE, Esq., &c.)
The Court this day proceeded to hear applications
for licenses for music and dancing.
Mr. WALLINGER made an application on behalf of
Mr. Joseph Key, of the Southampton Railway Ta-
vern, at the Kingston station, for a license to have
music and dancing at that establishment. The ap-
plication was signed by the churchwardens and parish
officers, and there was no opposition to it by any
party. The license was accordingly granted.
Mr. LOCKE applied for a renewal of the license for
Vauxhall Gardens in the name of William Fowler.—
Granted.
The licenses for the Bower Saloon, the St. Helena
Gardens, Rotherhithe, and the Castle Hotel, Rich-
mond, were also renewed without any observation.
An application was then made by Mr. Richard
Preece, of the Grapes, Great Suffolk-street, for a
license to have music and dancing.
Mr. Knapp and Mr. Corner supported the applica-
tion, and it was opposed by Mr. Striven.
Mr. KNAPP, in support of the application, put in a
memorial, signed by the churchwardens, overseers,
and guardians of the poor of Southwark, testifying to
the respectability of the applicant, and the excellent
manner in which his house had been conducted.
There were also the signatures of 286 persons of
respectability residing in the immediate neighbour-
hood, all of whom expressed their opinion that if the
license was granted, it would be the means of afford-
ing innocent recreation to the poorer inhabitants of
the neighbourhood. The Learned Counsel, in the
course of his address, said that the application had
been made last year, and was refused, but he trusted
that on the present occasion it would be more suc-
cessful.
Mr.
Knight was then called to prove the signatures
to the petition. He said that he was himself formerly
a member of the Board of Guardians, and that during
the time he had known Mr. Preece the house had
always been very respectably conducted.
Cross-examined—Witness had been to the per-
formances at the applicant's house three times. The
words " Grand Harmonic Hall" were written over
the door. He was not aware that the condition upon
which Mr. Preece received his spirit license on the
last occasion was, that he should take down a stage
that was erected, and discontinue the perform-
ances in his house. He believed that money was
taken at the doors. There was a stage at present
in the room, and persons danced and sang upon it.
Threepence was the sum charged for admission, and
the performers were dressed in the same way as they
were at the theatres.
Re-examined—He never saw any indecent con-
duct, and the style of dancing was not a bit more in-
decent than might be seen at the Opera.—(A laugh.)
Mr. Yates, an inspector of the metropolitan police,
deposed that the house in question had been conducted