The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-31 00:00:00

THE CASE OF LEANDER.
TO TEE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—ln consequence of remarks which appeared in your
papers of Monday, yesterday, and this day, headed "Lean-
der and his Jaw," I hope that, in justification of my con-
duct and in justice to my feelings, you will insert the folloiv-
ing plain statement of facts, which will, I trust, entirely
exonerate me in the minds of all honourable men, whose
good opinion alone I covet, and to the truth of which state-
ment I am willing to be sworn :—During the Goodwood
race week of 1842 the Messrs. Lichtwald sent three horses to
my stables to be broken in and trained, with their pedigrees
written and signed by themselves ; they were the following,
viz., br. f. by Muley Moloch, out of Barbara, since named
Julia ; ab. c. by Scamander, out of sister to Mussulman,
since named Leander ; and a b. c/ by Velocipede, out of Fair
Jane ; accordingly they were broken in, and in due time
commenced their training. Owing to my being detained in
town during the early part of the winter by ilrhealth, I did
not see the horses until the eud of December following, when
I pronounced the Scamander colt to possess the appearance
and points of a racehorse. He had an engagement at Ascot,
for which he was prepared, andcwhich he won. Some obser-
vations were mad a on the race-course about his being a very
big horse, and looking more like a 3 or even a 4-year old
than a 2-year old, and some short time afterwards' Messrs.
Lichtwald went down to Mitchell-grove, and my son
took the opportunity of stating what he had heard,
and further said that these remarks were very unplea-
sant to his and my feelings, and that if there were
anything wrong abOut the horse he should not remain at
my stables. They both protested to him that he was the
right age; that they bred him and had the certificate of hi,-
age, and that he need not annoy himself on that head. The
horse afterwards ran twice at Goodwood, but owing to his
having been amiss, and in consequence not fully prepared, he
lost both races. He went on better some time afterwards,
when I tried him, and found him to be an extraordinary
good horse, but owing to his being an uncertain horse, and
having been several times lame, I strongly adviqed the
Messrs. Lichtwald not to back him for the Derby, but to let
him get through the winter. He was then intended to run
for the Criterion Stakes at Newmarket, but ran away with
the boy and fell lame in the hock the very day before he was
to have started ; the post-homes, which had already arrived,
to convey him in the van, were. consequently sent back, and
my son wrote to -me at NeWtharket, and went up to town
himself to see the Messrs. Lichtwald; they had backed their
horse, and they told him that if he was not very bad indeed
he should go, and they returned to Mitchell-grove with him
to see the horse. They then determined, against his and my
head man's advice, that he- should go, and they started him
on their own responsibility the next morning. On my road
from Newmarket to London I met the van, and on exa-
mining the horse and finding him to be very lame, I ordered
the postboy to return to Hockeril, and went up to town
to state to the Messrs. Lichtwald that it would be ruination
to their horse if their ran him. In consequence of that
apinion ho was sent back to Mitchell-grove ; he then, wen 4
on in gentle work during the ivinter, and in the month of
January, owing to there still existfug some doubt as to his
soundness, I wished to have Mr. Wood's opinion, and after
consulting together we agreed that he should be blistered in
the stifle and hock. Soon after, for my own satisfaction, and
in consequence of unpleasant rumours that I had heard, and
reports that I had seen in the newspapers about the correct-
ness of the horse's age, I took an opportunity one day of ask-
ing him to look into the horse's mouth and tell ma his age;
he did so, and told me that he was a 3-year old, and I have
an impression that he further said he had a very backward
3-year old mouth, as I told my son so when he came over the
next day. After this opinion I felt satisfied in my own mind,
and paid no attention to the ungenerous remarks which were
constantly made in the sporting papers. From this time,
after being blistered, the horse went on straightforward and
well in his work up to the day of his running. My son, in
the early part of the present month, happening to be in town,
saw the Messrs. Lichtwald, and spoke to them of the un-
pleasant remarks which were continually made in the weekly
sporting papers relative to the horse's age, and said that they
ought.t o put a stop to them, as they had it in their power to
do so. They then declared to him that they could swear he
was the right age, and, before several persons, showed him
the German stud-book, which appeared to be perfectly cor-
rect; and it was his opinion, as well as mine, that the Messrs.
Lichtwald knew their horse to be a 3-year old, and could
prove it, otherwise I would not have trained him.
. _

In your report of the case in Monday's paper, it is stated
that I said "I had been grossly imposed upon by the Messrs.
Lichtwald, and that it was only the vicious temper of the
horse that had prevented an earlier discovery of the fraud
&c." I beg to say that this is erroneous. I should not be
justified in saying that I had been imposed upon by the
:‘lessrs. Lichtwald until I am convinced that he was a
4-year old, and that they knew him to be so, and I certainly
sin not at present convinced on that head, and most sincerely
hope they will yet send over a complete refutation of the
charges brought against them ; and with regard to the vicious
temper of the horse, &c., and the subsequent remark, " that
it is strange so experienced a trainer should have been so
slow in satisfying himself upon the point," I must.observe,
that his temper was not at all vicious, and that he would
have allowed any person to look at his mouth ; but I contend
that it is not the duty of a trainer to examine the mouth of
any horse that is sent to his stables, but merely to manage
him and to train him to the best of his abilities, and that this
is the only instance in my life of my sending for a veterinary
surgeon to examine a horse's mouth belonging to another
party, and I even go so far as to say that I exceeded my duty
in this instance, and my only excuse is, that I did so, in cr.n-
sequence of remarks most annoying to my feelings which
had from time to time appeared in the newspapers.
In your paper of this day there appears to be a doubt en-
tertained whether Mr. Wood examined the identical Leander,
or an animal prefessedly Leander. To &ear up any such
doubt, I herewith send a copy of a declaration made by me
this day before Mr. Hardwick, magistrate of Marlborough-
street Police-office. _ _

I am, Sir, your very obedient, humble servant,
240, Oxford-street, May 29. JOHN FORTH.
(Copy of Declaration.)
I, John Forth, of Mitchell-grove, in the county of Sussex,
do hereby solemnly declare that in the month of February
last,' in consequence of certain rumours as to the age of the
colt Leander, the property of Mr. Lichtwald, which I then
had in training for the Derby, I caused the said cold to be
examined by Mr. Wood, the veterinary surgeon, of Arundel,
in the said county of Sussex, and that the colt which Mr.
Wood did examine and alluded to in the annexed certificate,
was the same colt Leander that ran for the Derby in the
present year; and I do further declare that in Consequence
of the said rumours I questioned Mr. Lichtwald as to the
fact of the said colt's age, and he always positively asserted
that the said colt was no more than three years old, and that
there would be no difficulty whatever in proving the same:
and I do hereby further declare, that I believed the asser-
tions so made by the said Mr. Litchtwald to be true, and I
make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the
same to be true, and by
.virtue of the provisions of an Act
made and passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late
Majesty King William IV., entitled 'An Act to repeal an
Act of the present session of Parliament, entitled, "An Act
for the more effectual Abolition of Oaths and Affirmations,
taken and made in various departments of the State, and to
substitute declarations in lieu thereof, and for the more en-
tire suppression of voluntary and extra-judicial oaths and
affidavits, and, to make other provisions for the abolition of
unnecessary oaths." "JOHN FORTH.
" Declared at the Police-court, Great Marlborough-
street, this 29th day of May, 1844, before me,
" J. HARDWICK,
"Magistrate for the Metropolitan Police District."
(Copy of Certificate.)

"Arundel, May 27.
"I hereby certify, that in the month of February last I
examined privately at Mr. Forth's request the horse Leander,
and pronounced him to be three years' old; at that time he
had a decided three-year old mouth, and the tushes had not
shown themselves.

"J. WOOD.
"S. T. HARMAN."

INCEND lARI SIII-.

It will be recollected that at the Kingston Spring
Assizes, a young man named George Elderfield was
charged with an act of incendiarism, committed id
the neighbourhood.of Guildford, of which town he
was a resident. As is usual in cases of this descrip-
tion, the evidence was entirely • circumstantial, and
consisted of proof that the prisoner was seen near the
barn that was fired immediately before the fire was
discovered, and that when the alarm was given he
was seen running away from the spot. It was like--
wise proved that a day or two before the fire Elder-
field purchased two boxes of lucifer matches; but
when he was apprehended he denied having done so.
There was no such evidence against him however, and
at the close of the case for the prosecution, Mr.
Baron Alderson, who was sitting in the Crown Court,
expressed his opinion that there was not sufficient
evidence to go to the jury, and therefore directed an
acquittal. The prisoner, upon his being set at liberty,
returned to Guildford; but in consequence of the
strong impression which prevailed that he was the guilty
party, a watch was kept upon his movements. A few
nights back the town of Guildford and the neigbour-
hood were again alarmed, by a. fire breaking out in
the farm-yard of Mr. Bicknell, an extensive farmer,
residing near the town of Guildford. Fortunately,
assistance speedily arrived, and two large ponds of
water being upon the premises, the dwelling-house
was saved, but a barn, which contained a large quan-
tity of wheat, beans, and oats, a stable, and some
sheds, with three fine calves, which it was found im-
possible to rescue, were wholly destroyed. Suspicion
at once fell upon Llderfield as the author of the fire,
and upon the police making inquiries at the house of
the old woman where he lodged, it was found that he
had been absent from home during the whole night
on which the fire took place, and he was immediately
sought for, and taken into custody: After having
undergone one or two private examinations, in the
course of which no material evidence was brought
forward to inculpate him, the prisoner voluntarily
confessed his guilt to the officers who had'him in
charge, and by the direction of the magistrates he
was taken to the spot, and he then showed the con-
stab!e where he had concealed himself during the
evening of the fire, and said that he lighted the stack
by means of a lucifer match ; that the first he tried
went out without doing any mischief, but a second
one put it in a blaze. The prisoner is a young man
of weak intellect., and upon the former trial it was
proved that his mind was continually wandering, and
that he frequently talked in a most incoherent manner
about fires, and he had several times disturbed his
landlady in the night by giving an alarm of fire,
which turned out to have
no foundation. When
before the 'magistrates Elderfield repeated his confes-
sion; hut he did not assign any motive for the corn-
mission of the desperate act, or appear to feel any
dread for the consequences. The magistrates, after
careful investigation, resolved upon committing the
prisoner to take his trial at the summer assizes, and
he was accordingly conveyed to the, county gaol.

On Wednesday 31r. Baker held an inquest at
the London Hospital, on the body of Sussanah Day, aged 86,
a widow, residing at 24, Skinner. street, Bishopsgate. Her
son said that she was very much afflicted with spasms in the
stomach, and that at times they were so painful as to drive
her to distraction: On Friday morning. he went out with
some work he had finished, leaving her in bed. On his re-
turn, to his great surprise, he found her sitting o a chair
covered with blood, and on close examination he found that
she had severed her throat with his razor. He procured as-
sistance, and she was promptly taken to that hospital. Mr.
D. Carter, house-surgeon, said deceased .was. admitted with a
wound in the throat, four inches long and two deep, and
completely dividing the wind-pipe and gullet. It was nil
possible for her to survive, and she died in a few hours.
Verdict, " Tswportuy