The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-27 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

Yesterday was appginted specially for hearing ap-
peals, of which thirty stand upon the list.
Out of the thirty cases which stood upon the list, no
fewer than twenty-eight were appeals between several
parishes, one against the other, with regard to the set-
tlement of casual paupers, the support of illegitimate
children, most of which were quashed in consequence
o' technical informalities. The sums expended upon
these appeals, including attorneys' costs, lawyers' fees,
and the attendance of agents and witnesses, must have
baen enormous ; and if even they had not been
quashed, one or other of the parishes must have taken
the burden of the pauper, and thus the rate-layers'
pockets suffer for the litigation.
Henry Smith, of the White Hart, Catherine-street,
Strand, appealed against a conviction by David Jardine,
Esq., of Bow-street Police-court, which concerned the
convenience of a large body of men, whose business-
hours were those when others were at rest—namely,
the newspaper compositors.
The first witness called was Mr. Inspector Mullins
of the F division. Ile stated that on the night of the
27th of May, he entered the appellant's house, and on
entering a parlour where there was no light he found
four or five men and two women ; one woman and two
of the men were lying asleep on the bench. The par-
ties inside the bar, and .in attendance, professed igno-
rance of any person being in the room at the time,
and said they always closod it at twelve o'clock. Mr.
Smith had gone over to the Morning Post newspaper
office, to receive his weekly payments for the retresh-
meats supplied to the printers of that establishment, at
the time. Several prostitutes were' in front of the bar
when he (the inspector) first entered the house. The
waiter at once brought in a light when it was called
for. He believed it was a house where a great many
printers connected with the Morning Chronicle, the
Morning Post, and most of the weekly papers, were in
the habit of going to' have refreshment after their
respective papers were " made up."
Mr. BODKIN, for the appellant, said he thought the
Bench should, taking even the wording of the convic-
tion, quash it. It said the house was disorderly, and,
in support of that, stated that some men and women
were asleep, but it stated nothing about intoxication or
riot.

The CHAIRMAN said that this decision would press
hard upon a landlord. Surely they could not designate
a sleeping person as disorderly.—(A laugh.)
Several witnesses were called, who proved that the
room in question was always closed shortly after the
theatres, and not opened again until seven o'clock in
the morning. On the morning in question Mr. Smith
had gone over to the Morning Post office to get his
weekly accounts from the printers, and at that time
several persons were outside the bar, so that individuals
might have entered this room unperceived by those in-
side the bar. It was proved also that the coffee-room
was frequented by a number of printers from the Post
and other morning papers, who were never done work
before four or five o'clock in the morning.
The CHAIRMAN said it was the unpleasant lot of a
most useful and valuable set of men to be compelled to
stop up all night in their honest and respectable voca-
tion. It would be most unfair to prevent them from
having some place where they could get refreshment,
both during and after their working hours. Such being
his opinion, and also that the premises upon which the
conviction had been made were ill-founded, he should,
with the concurrence of his brother magistrates, order
the conviction to be quashed.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(YESTERDAY.)
GUILDHALL.

Yesterday John Davis and John White were re-ex-
amined, the former charged with receiving, and the latter
with stealing an ingot of brass, the property of Mr.
Payne, of No. 68, Shoe-lane, brass-worker.
Mr. Ballantine, the barrister, conducted the prosecu-
tion, and Mr. Humphreys attended on behalf of White,
and Mr. Wolfe on the part of Davis.
Mr. Ballantine stated that the prosecutor employed a
number of hands, and it was evident he was being robbed
to a considerable extent; as, in addition to the prisoners,
two charges were pending at Union-hall, of having un-.
lawful possession of his property. He, therefore, in
self-defence, felt bound to seek that the law should be
carried to extremity. White was in the habit of coming
into Mr. Payne's foundry several times a day, and he
had the means of either stealing the property himself, or
carrying it out for some of Mr. Payne's workmen.
White came as the servant of a respectable firm in the
neighbourhood, in whose employ he had been many
years.
The evidence already taken was read over, to the effect
that on Monday last Wardle and Barnes, two City po-
licemen were watching in plain clothes, and they saw
White leave a small parcel at the bar of the Black Dog,
in Shoe-lane, about five in the evening. About eight
o'clock Davis went to the bar and asked if his foreman
had left anything for him. The barmaid gave him the
parcel. He was stopped outside the house, and the
parcel was found to contain an ingot of brass, worth 3s.
The barmaid identified the prisoners as having left and
received the parcel. White was in the habit of leaving
parcels for Davis.
Mr. Ballantine now called Mr. Payne to identify
the ingot. He said it was cast in a mould peculiar to
his concern, and he never sold brass in the shape of
ingots.
Mr. Wolfe urged that no part of Davis's conduct be-
trayed a guilty knowledge, and he could show under
what representations he received the property.
Mr. Alderman Hoorn thought the proof of a guilty
knowledge had not been made out against Davis, and he
should, therefore, discharge him. He should commit
White for stealing, but he would be remanded till the
next day that the depositions may be prepared.
A donation to the poor-box of 21. was received from
George Woodfall and Son.
BOW-STREET.

Seven young girls were brought up from St. Giles's
workhouse, charged with creating a disturbance. They
were all about 14 years of age.
The Governor of the workhouse said he had had
two very comfortable rooms fitted up, and good fires
kept, for these girls. Last night they broke the locks
oft the door, pulled open the skylight, and got on to the
roof of the workhouse ; and after having blackened their
faces with the soot, they commenced dancing, and
making a great noise.
The prisoner Knight said the Governor had locked
them in two rooms, so small, that they were obliged to
sit on each other's knees, and so they were determined
to get out. They were half starved in the workhouse,
for they got but a pint of water and a pound of bread
a-day. (The prisoners looked very plump and fat.) She
said she liked the prison, where she - had often been,
better than the workhouse, for it was much more airy
there, and they had fine open yards to walk about in.
They got good food there and plenty of dinner. For
her part, she liked the country house much better than
the town house ; and when she left the country house
for town, she always felt her health decline.--(Laughter.)
Mr. JARDINE said it was evident that such a girl
would corrupt all the rest.
Knight-1 am as quiet as a lamb ;so are we all.

Mr..JArturgE sentenced five of the prisoners to three
weeks' imprisonment, and the other two, Donovan and
Hickey, who were young, to be sent back to the work-
house.

The prisoners, when they left the bar, set up a loud
hurra, and Knight expressed her regret that the sen-
tence was not three months.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.
Mr. Hardwick on entering the Court yesterday, had
the usual packet of letters from poor persons asking for
pecuniary assistance, placed in his hands.
Mr. HARDWICK told Clements, the chief usher, that
the magistrates had been compelled to come to the de-
termination to receive no letters unless the statements
in them were properly authenticated. The number of
letters received during the present week alone, amounted
to upwards of 100. It was quite impossible that these
letters could all be attended to and the cases receive
proper investigation. Besides, if some stop were not
put to this letter-writing system, the Magistrates,
instead of doing good by giving small sums away to
the poor, would be creating a great evil, for they
would unavoidably be the means of bringing into active
operation the host of begging-letter writers, the idle
and the profligate, who abounded in some quarters
within the jurisdiction of this Court. Applicants, there-
fore, must distinctly understand that their written state-
ments must be accompanied by vouchers from respect-
able housekeepers and tradesmen to whom they were
known, and that if this condition be not complied with
their application will not be noticed. It must further be
understood that recommendations will not be received
from the landlords of the applicants, or from small shop-
k?epers to whom they may be indebted.
MARY LEBONE.

Yesterday a wretChedly-attired, but apparently Strong