The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-04 00:00:00

CITY POLICE COMMITTEE.

Mr. Allison, jun., of the Black Boy and Camel public
house and booking-office, in Leadenhall-street, City,
was summoned before Sir J. Duke, M. P: the sitting Al-
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derman, for allowing persons to meet in his house on
Sunday morning last, before the hours allowed by Act
of Parliament, and also for unlawfully serving beer and
spirits, &c., to which he pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Deputy Mitchell, of Lime-street Ward, attended
for the purpose of describing the character of the house.
From the evidence brought forward on the part of the
prosecution, it appeared that on Sunday morning last,
at about ten minutes to eleven o'clock, the police-con-
stable on duty in Leadenhall-street; in passing the de-
fendant's house, saw the door open, which induced
him to go in, and in the parlour and tap he counted no
fewer than nine persons, all males.
Mr. Newman, the clerk, inquired what character of
persons they were, and if they appeared to be travellers?
Those in the tap-room were not drinking, but others,
who were standing in part of the bar and in the parlour,
were served with gin and ale. Ile had frequently be-
fore seen the door opened on a Sunday morning, but this
was his first visit.
The defendant, in answer to the charge, said the house
being a booking-office for coaches to all parts of the me-
tropolis and adjacent country, he was compelled to open
it on a Sunday morning, and had done so for a consider-
able period past. He did dot deny serving customers on
list Sunday morning, but the circumstances were, hav-
ing to open the door to receive three parcels which had
been brought by the carrier from the Great Western
Railway, two gentlemen, who had come from Chelsea in
an omnibus, and were going to Blackwall, asked him if
they could be accommodated with some refreshment.
Considering them travellers, he assented, and, while-
serving Shen], other omnibuses drew up to the door, and
the conductors and driven; came in, whom he was serv-
ing also, when the police-constable made his appearance.
lie assured the Alderman he would not have served any
of them but for the impression he entertained that they
were travellers.
Mr. Deputy Mitchell said the house was the most re-
spectably conducted in his ward.
Sir JAMES DUKE observed that in consequence of the
good character of the house, he would not enforce a
penalty, but directed the defendant to pay the amount
of the summons' expenses.
(A few weeks since a similar case was heard at this
Court, wherein the Blue Posts booking-office in Hol-
born was concerned, and the magistrates dismissed it on
the grounds that they considered « an omnibus conductor
and driver, who had come with an omnibus from High-
gate before eleven o'clock in the morning, were, to all
intents and purposes, travellers to the full extent of the
wording of the Act.of Parliament.")
BOW-STREET.

Eliza Smith and Maria Acoch, keepers of two houses
of ill-fame, Nos. 1 and 3, Strand-lane, were placed at
the bar before Mr. Twyford, Wing brought up on bench
warrants, for the purpose of entering into sureties to be
of good behaviour until the next lvliddlesex Sessions,
when they would be tried together with no less than 17
other females, keepers of infamous houses of a like de-
scription, of which the parishioners of St. Clement's
Dan es residing in the neighbourhood had made great
complaints as being public nuisances.
Mr Corder, Clerk to the Board of Guardians of the
Strand Union, attended to watch the cases, and to exa-
mine the persons who offered themselves as bail. The
bail being respectable publicans, Mr. Corder said he was
satisfied as to their solvency, and could see no objection
to their being admitted as sureties.
The females were then discharged.
Mr. Corder informed the Magistrate that the guar-
dians of the poor, acting upon the representations of
several respectable householders in the various locali-
ties, had determined to root out all the dens of iniquity
in the several parishes belonging to the Strand Union,
and that the females who had been brought before him
on various occasions formed but a very small portion of
the gang against whom the union intended to proceed.
Mr. TWYFORD replied that he was very glad to hear
this, as he was sure that the property in the neighbour-
hood of such houses must be much deteriorated in value,
and he hoped the efforts of the guardians would be at-
tended with success.
Mr. Corder then withdrew
_ CLERKENWELL.'

Alfred Beevis and James Beevis (brothers), and John
Murray,; were finally examined on a charge, of attempt-
ing to murder Mr. Neville, a boot and shoemaker of
St. John-street, while they were endeavouring to steal
the goods in his warehouse.
The prosecutor, an elderly man, who appeared very
ill, and had his head bound up, stated that between six
and seven o'clock on the morning of the 7th of last
month, he was awoke by his wife, who said that she
fancied that there was a movement of chairs in his shop.
He 'immediately left his bed and encountered in his
warehouse three men, two of whom he could positively
identify—they were Alfred Beevis and John Murray.
He had a doubt about James Beevis. On seeing Alfred
Beevis, whom he knew well, he said "For God's sake
what do you do here?" Murray immediately struck
him on his head with an instrument loaded with lead,
until he fell from the loss of blood from the severe
. wounds inflicted, after which the prisoners escaped. The
prisoners were seen by a policeman running away from
the complainant's house.
'An application was made that James Beevis might
be admitted to bail, which Mr. Greenwood allowed, and
two sureties in 100/. each were accepted.
Alfred Beevis, in his defence, said as I was a party
concerned, I must tell you that my brother had nothing
to do with it. The prisoner Murray reserved his de-
fence. They were committed for trial.
On Saturday Edward Thompson and William Green
were finally examined on various charges of burglary
and robbery in dwelling-houses.
Mr. Wolff appeared for the prisoner Green.
On Saturday, the 3d ult., police-constable Williams,
31 E, being on duty at King's-cross, between six and
seven in the evening, saw the prisoner Thompson run-
ning out of the house, No. 2, Chesterfield-street, Gray's
Inn-road, with a quantity of wearing apparel on his
shoulders. The officer arrested him, and the property
was found • to belong to the Rev. Mr. Barton, who re-
sided there. At the prisoner's residence, No. 3, Sea
Lion-place, Lambeth, were found fifty-seven duplicates
relating to various descriptions of valuable property,
which had been pawned by both the prisoners. tinder
a floor board in Thompson's sleeping apartment were
found a crowbar, twenty .seven skeleton-keys, and
thirteen picklocks. On the Friday night immediately
preceding Thompson's arrest the house of Mr. Shirwall,
a professor of music, residing in Stamfo-id-street;-Black-
friars, was entered in the night time, and a considerable
amount of property abstracted, and amongst other things
found in Sea Lion- place the writing-desk, dressing-case,
and chimney ornaments were identified by Mr. Shirwall
as his, property. The prisoner Green was in the em-
ployment of Mr. Evans, a boot and shoemaker, re-
siding in Paddington-street, Marylebone, but was
discharged about a fortnight ago. On the night
after his departure, the house of Mr. Evans was
burglariously entered, and a very large quantity, of
shoes and boots stolen. In a day or two after the bur-
glary Green was arrested in endeavouring to dispose of
a portion of the plunder. In Green's residence at Drum-
mond-crescent, numerous duplicates were found, and
most of them related to property which had been stolen
from the house of Mrs. Rathbone, a lady residing in
Swan-street, Stoke Newington, where a most daring
robbery had been committed. In the middle of the open
day two well-dressed men drove up in a. cab to the
house, which was furnished but uninhabited, and stripped
it of every valuable article it contained, beds and bed-
ding, chimney and toilet glasses, carpets, rugs, fenders,
&c., to the value of 3201. They forced open the street-
door by a crow-bar, and the bar found in Thompson's
house exactly corresponds with the marks in Mrs.
Rathbone's door ; they were seen going into the house
by several, but as no one could imagine that at such a
time and place they could be engaged in such a purpose,
they were suffered to carry off their booty unmolested.
Forty yards of the carpeting had been sold to a trades-
man by the prisoner Green, which Mrs. Rathbone iden-
tified. The looking-glasses and the other things were
feusd in the shops of various pawnbrokers, who produced
them in Court, and were likewise identified. Thompson,
it was proved, had been convicted at the Surrey Sessions,
under the name of Peter Munro, and sentenced to 12
months' imprisonment, which he underwent.
The prisoners, who reserved their, defence, were fully
committed for trial.