The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-11 00:00:00

UNION-HALL.

Yesterday Edward Perkins and John Skitter, two
young men of respectabli; appearance, were brought be-
fore Mr. Traill, charged with causing a disturbance in
the Surrey Theatre on Saturday night.
It appeared that the defendants occupied a privatts
box on a level with the stage at the prompter's side of the
Surrey Theatre on the night in question, and that during
the performance of the pantomime they conducted.
themselves in such a manner as to attract much at—
tention, and interrupt the performance. One of the,
defendants (Shuter) commenced by throwing his hat.
on the stage to impede the actors, and when the,
figurantes came on both the defendants tried to catc'n
hold of their dresses as they passed near the box :;,n
which they were. The extraordinary manner in which
the defendants went on caused a good deal of uproa r
in the house, which was increased when Perkins jumpe d
on the stage, and ran across into the opposite box, wren
he was secured by the constable who attends the theatt e.
The other defendant subsequently attempted to resca e
his companion, but he was also taken into custody, ant'
they were both conveyed to the station-house, when or-
der was at length restored in the theatre.
The defendants, who said nothing in their defence,
were ordered to enter into their recognizances to keep
the peace for six months.
William Yates, the notorious begging-letter writer,

was brought up for re-examination, charged with obtain-
ing money of different charitable institutions by means
of forged cheques.
In addition to the cases already brought forward
against the prisoner, the following were entered into :
The Rev. Mr. Brockenbury stated that he was Secre-
tary to the Magdalen Asylum, and that the prisoner
called at the institution with a note, purporting to have
been written by Sir Matthew Filmer, of Langley Priory,
near Maidstone, enclosing a cheque for 5/. The writer
expressed a, desire to become a subscriber, and men-
tioned that he and Ladj' Filmer had forwarded four gui-
neas to be appropriated -lo the benefit of the charity.
The prisoner, when questioned By the Secretary, said.
that he was steward to Sir Natthew, and when it was
remarked that it was Sir Edmond Filmer who lived at
Langley Priory, the prisoner immediately said that Sir
Edmond was dead, and that Sir klatthew, his successor,
was the present Baronet. This assertion of the prisoner
threw the Rev. Gentleman off his' guard, and the pri-
soner having hinted that he was to receive the 165., the
difference of the donation and the cheque, it was handed
over to him, and he departed. Whet the cheque was
subsequently presented for payment, :it was discovered
to be a forgery, and that the individurd whose signature
was attached, had been dead for some 'length of time.
The Secretary of the Blind School also detailed a case
against the prisoner.
Mr. Knevitt, the Secretary of the Memii:city Society,
stated that the prisoner had been convictod on several
occasions by means of the Society, for writing begging
letters, at which he was an experienced hand ; and that
he could only have been out of gaol a day or two ago,
when he altered his plan of " doing business." •
Mr. TRAILL said that it would be desirable if 21, ossible
to make out a charge of forgery against the prison Pr, to
send him out of the country, for the punishment of im-
prisonment had not the least effect in preventing ,him
from pursuing his old practices. The Magistrate th en
remanded the prisoner for a week.
WORSHIP-STREET.

James Orridge, the driver of one of Barber's Hackney
omnibuses, was charged with having driven over an aged
woman named Louisa Gardiner, and thereby caused her
death.
Several witnesses were examined, from whose evidence
it appeared that at about eight o'clock on Saturday even-
ing, the defendant was driving his omnibus along High-
street, Shoreilitch, when the unfortunate woman was in
the act of crossing the road, and although the prisoner
called out three times to apprise her of her danger, and
endeavoured ineffectually to pull up his horses, she made
no effort to get out of the way, and was knocked down
under one of the fore wheels of the omnibus, which
passed over her neck. She was picked up in an inani-
mate state, and on being taken to the shop of Mr. French,
a chemist, in the street, it was found that she was dead.
All the witnesses represented the occurrence as having
been purely accidental, and said that after it took pl4ne
the prisoner cried bitterly, and rendered, all the assist=
ante that the deplorable result enabled him to do.
Tho prisoner was discharged.
U CROYDON POLICE.

A young. men, having the appearance of a gipsy,
named Wm—Davidson, was brought before Messrs.
Currie and Sutherland upon two charges of stealing a
donkey and a pony. The proceedings adopted by the pri-
soner to avoid discovery were of rather a novel character.
A young man named Popjoy proved that on the 16th
of December his mother lost a donkey off the Common
at Streatham, and that he afterwards heard the prisoner
had been seen in possession of an animal answering the
description of the one that had been stolen.
William Wilson, a pot-boy to a public-house at
Brixton, said, that a day or tw( after the robbery the
prisoner, whom he had known before, came to him, and
after they had had some beer together, he asked him
whether he had heard about old mother Popjoy losing
her ass. He then went on to tell him that he and
another drove the donkey into the prisoner's shed, and
that they clipped him, gave him some corn, and stained
his nose, which before was white, a dark colour, and
then took him up to Smithfield, and sold him. He also
said, that what they did to the " moke" so altered his
appearance, that if the old woman had seen it she would
not have known her ass again.
Inspector Collier said that some clue was obtained to

.
the stolen donkey, but having ascertained that the don-
key sold by the prisoner was not a white-faced one, this
for a time, put a stop to the inquiry. The stolen ani-
mal was so disfigured that its own father would not have
known it again.—(Laughter.)
The MAGISTRATES said they thought that, under the
circumstances, time ought to be given for further in-
quiry, and they remanded the prisoner upon this charge.
The prisoner was then charged with stealing a pony
from Clapham Common.

Evidence having been given to show that the pony was
seen on the Common,

John Steadman, who described himself as helper to
his uncle, who, he said, was a horse-dealer, was ex-
amined, and he said he had a string of horses at the
World Upside Down, in the Kent-road, where he saw
the prisoner with a Chesnut pony, and it kept getting
loose, and seemed very hungry ; and he asked the priso-
ner what he wanted for it, and he replied that 'it was a
" stunning pony," and he must have thirty bob for it.
" I axed him," proceeded the witness, " if it was sound ?"
" Sound I" says he, " ah, as the day ven it vos folded."
" Vy," says I, it's got a dreadful pair of broken knees."
" Vell," says he, " barrin that, and its broken-vinded
and blind, I considers it sound." The witness proceeded
to state that after some bargaining he gave the prisoner
twenty-three " bobs" for the pony, which he afterwards
took to Smithfield, and sold.
_ _

Mr. CunntF.—(To the witness)—What sort of a pony
was this ? Witness—A regular boiler.—(Laughter.) It
wasn't lit for nuffin but the knacker.
The prisoner, who said nothing in his defence, was then
remanded upon both charges.

ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB.—
A general meeting of the members of the above charity
was held yesterday, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-
street, to receive the report, and to elect 30 children as
inmates of the Asylum, from a list of 72 candidates.
Alderman Gibbs, one of the Vice-Presidents, was voted
Chairman. The Secretary read the Report. It appeared
that the Society had already been the means of giving, in
the establishment in the Kent road, instruction to up-
wards of 1,800 children, who, without the assistance of
that particular charity, must have remained useless and
burthensome to themselves, to their friends, and to their
country. The greater number were now, through the in-
strumentality of the Association, enabled to par-
ticipate in the general intellectual advantages of
mankind, to communicate their thoughts as social
and intelligent members of the community ; to
understand what was written and expressed by
those with whom they associated, and to read the
Scriptures. The annual subscriptions from members
amounted to 2,3771. Os. 6d., the life subscriptions to
4361. 175., which with the dividend on stock, legacies,
the balanle from the last year, &c., made the receipts
amount t 11,5761. 7s. 6d. The board and tuition of two
hundred and seventy-two children was 3,891/. 19s. 3d. ;
and the entire expenditure left a balance of 802/. 4s. 9d.
in the hands of the banker. The report was adopted,
after which her Royal Highness the Duchess of Glou-
cester was appointed Patroness, and the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the MarquiS of Bristol, the Earl of Zetland,
Lord Viscount Sidmouth, Lord Calthorpe, Lord Rolle,
Lord —Bexley, Sir Wm. Ashburnham, Bart., and nine
others, were re-elected Vice-Presidents. The meeting
next proceeded with the election of children as inmates,
and at three o'clock the thirty successful candidates were
announced. Thanks were voted to the Chairman, and
the meeting brokeup.
DISTRESS IN THE METROPOLIS.—It is a
melancholy circumstance that the number of applica-
tions for relief at the principal charitable institutions of
the metropolis has been much greater this season than
the last, notwithstanding
,its less severity. Up to Sun-
day night the number of applications from persons who
were completely destitute, at the Refuge for the House-
less, in Playhouse-yard, Whitecross-street, was 1,762,
being 457 more than during the corresponding number
of nights last year. Oh the first night of last year the
number admitted was 40, whilst on the first of the pre-
sent season they were 112. The nightly average num-
ber of inmates has been about 360, and on the last day
of the year they were 393. The great majority of the
applicants are strangers to London, having no claim
upon any parish, and each inmate receives a ration of
half a pound of bread night and morning. At the West-
ern Refuge for the Houseless, in Market-street, Edgware-
road, where admission is obtained only by tickets from
subsyribers, the. number of applicants has been much
more numerous than in previous years, and although
nightly accommodation is only provided for 100, on one
night last week no less than 136 were admitted. The ac-
commodation here is of a superior order, as straw beds
with a blanket and two rugs are provided for the inmates
who are admitted, two to each bed. Each evening they
are supplied with bread and soup, and in the morning
with bread and milk. The applications at the Destitute
Sailors' Asylum, Dock-street, Wellclose-square, the
other remaining institution for the reception of the house-
less, have been less this season than for some years past,
on account of thesirtdemand for seamen for the navy
and commercial service.