Star.
London, England, 1809-12-26 00:00:00

put fran, Ind to; the half-deck below, without Ot
risk of breaking their limbs, particularly in stormy
weathetv.lratii iieeidents are liable to'happen
the Want
,of smite, rtitliAdoll this Strong..
braid-step ladders Should he furnished b govern,
fnent for each hatchway, aiid the master should be
Weld seriously responsible that they are always inapt
Well secured with Chests, and Lail/tags, and the p4e-
sage well lighted.
To Mini, the aboVe hints and 'observations may
seem Minute and even unimportant : the subject has
been extended to.a considerable length, and is still
uneihaUsted ; but some of the most picinsinent in-.
Stances of abuSe and irregulatity have beep entrie.
rated, ibd it is trusted will be remedied in dtie tittle;
for We feel firmly persnaded; trou iiliterving.t&
collusion exertions of the present Tioara • of Con in*:
sionerS; caused hy their labouit in this department,
that, although loaded with a ihtiltipheity of other
important official avotitions; they haite
.no interest,
nearer at liga/ thati the heath; cotfifort; and con
venience of the Soldiek, ettibarked id the service of
his country:

Ouleelsmonbeemployed with adiantage, tiotonly from
dralir Mg anon effectnallibriferv_e the water.
• dtb also in thah• made to possess
*llditienalashantage of octup g less space, ind
capable abetter stowage than wooded
Might not iron vats or square tanks be use-
(olly employed for this purpose, capable of containing
iir
insie
sesraral tons of water, and combining the two adran-
abOve pointed out of preserving the water and
laving stowage?
.tages
An kinds of provisions, spirits, wine, lemon-juice,
itigii, &c. embarked for the use of the troops, are
usually entrusted, as formerly observed, to the charge
of the Mister of the transport ; and, to cover the
waste and deficiency that might arise from the daily
issue of some of these articles, this ()Meer is granted
by Government a certain proportion of each :article
to himself, amounting to a ninth part, or, in other
words, he is not expected to account for more than
eight parts out of nine of the articles alluded to. When
we consider this very liberal allowance Made to the
Master, in order to secure him against any incidental
loss which might be occasioned by waste or leakage,
for which he might otherwise be held, innocently, .
, . .
Illisponsible, it is hardly credible that under such cir- On Fridai i'esinight, tht itiardaed eciacbaian ofi
snimstances, there could exist any inducement or ex-1 stage-coach, havihg stepped It the Beef-house, In
ease for fraud or peculation on the part of the Master their way between Beirerley and Hall, went into the
Or his instruments; nevertheless, the experience of house, leaving the buries without any persoil , beside'
the past has proved that instances of this nature have them. After standing sonic time, the liorseiiit length
occurred, and this too, often at the expence of the set off at their usual pace, passed several carriagei
poor soldier, whose daily pittance of provisions, it and waggons, came through the nirripiketate at New:
might be supposed, should be issued to him to the land, and intd Prospect-street, Hull, in as regular a
full .extent of his allowance. and should consist of ar- manner as if udder the guidance of the driver: The
ticks of the best quality which the stores on board passengers In the coach, a gentleman and lady, were
can furnish. ' perfectly aware of their situation, but confiding in the
It is not meant here to arraign the scale of the sol- sagacity of the animals, made no attempt to get out,
diers diet on board ship any farther than by observing until the coach was stopped by some gentlemen oppo-
that this calculation is founded pn a very economical site the Infirmary.
principle, and that life and health could scarcely be A. Court Martial was held on Saturday last,, on
supported on a less proportion of aliment than that Lieutenant Joni/ GEORGE NAPS, late Commander of
which forms the ration of the soldier. It is obvious,
the
DEFENDER, for the loss of that brig, near Folkston,
therefore, that this ration can but ill afford to suffer when he was, with his officers, honoitrably acquitted
any diminution from fraud on the part-of those from
An Inquest was taken last Tuesday at Yaxley
whose hands lie receives it.
The following frauds may be committed to the Barracks, on view of the body of Jean Barthelemy
prejudice of the soldier, without the aid of false
Tonhe, a French prisoner of war, who, as he was
wi.ights :
endeavouring to make his escape over the paling of
the prison, was fired at by the centinel on duty, and
t.. Inferior and bowl piste, of Ineat,may be issued to the troops,
while the prime pieces are either reserved for, or previously se- -the ball entering his back, caused his, death shortly
lected by the Muter or his aitents,sshis allowance for waste,&c. afterwards. From the testimony of General Wa.,
2. The sane proceeding may be bad with respect to biscuit, LIAM and others before the Jury, it appears, that of
and thus, a Line, and unfair proportion of each mess of this ar- late the behavour of the prisoners has been most
tide, nay consist of nothing bet bread dust. •
outrageous and insulting, whilst the soldiers have
S. The rations of Writs may be issued in an adulterated state, •
evinced the greatest moderation and forbearance.
or liquor of an inferior quality may b.: substituted. la like man-
ner of various othrr articles. A few nights since a person, apparently of the
While hints are thus offered, to protect the soldier Royal Navy, who said his name was WitionT, wilted
against the frauds and impositions which may be into the George Inn, at Sittingbourne, and ordered
practised upon him by knavish masters, it is abut jug- dinner ; when he had dined, he inquired if there were
nee to say that there are honest and conscientious any company in the house ; and being infortneci there
masters, who would hold such inhuman practices in was a single gentleman (Captain SANDERSON), he de-
otter abhorrence, and whom these observation* do not sired the waiter would go and request • the favour of
itt all affect, being only directed against the shameless his company to take a glass of wine with him. The
and rapacious few. invitation was accepted, and in a short time Captain
The writer of this article lately heard an instance SANDERSON became inebriated, and went tobed, under
related of a master of a transport, who, having re- the immediate care of his new "acquaintance, Mr
turned with his ship from abroad, found himself, be- WRIGHT, who contrived to pick his pocket of a ten
sides other articles, unaccountably possessed of more pound, and three one pound Bank of England notes.
than 100 gallons of spirits, of the same flavour, and Captain SANDERSON did not miss his money until the
quality with that which had been laid in for the morning, when to his surprise he found his cornea-
doops. On being unexpectedly'brdered to proceed -nion had decamped with bit booty, leaving his bill
up the river to Deptford, where he might become unpaid at the Inn. The ten pound note was exchanged
subject to the scrutiny of the officers of the Transport at Messrs. SMITH and Son's, before he left the place.
Board, this wary and prudent officer adopted the Sunday the 17th inst. as two young men of the
previous resolution of sparing himself the mortifica- name of Parker were taking a horse across the r:ve-
tion of a passible discovery, by pumping the liquor Lagan, near Belfast, the fields being much inunda
tie horse stumbled on a drain, by which the younl
into the sea. The method that appeared to have
been practised by this transport Captain to obtain men, who were on his back, fell over. They how.
this liquor was to adulterate the spirits with water, in 1 ever found ground, and went through the dead tearer
1 for some time without knowing their way, but unfor-
the spirit-room, previoac to its being served out to
tunately they fell into the Lagims and were swept off
the soldiers. This was more easily effected by the i
precaution which he had observed of introducing and , bylhe current. Their remains %vete found near the
stowing water along with the spirit casks, in the first .; place they fellin ,having been stopped by a tree at tl r
instance, so that the iniquitous reduction of the strength
of the liquor could be occasionally practised upon the ' water's edge.
~
Monday se'nnight,. came on at Edinbergh, the
troops, without much risk of detection. Thus the
. of Alnea
helpless soldier, oppressed with unquenchable thirst,
triil
Octobersr ors
l oast, wmder Campbell, accused of robbing sew
hen tfound the Prisoner
Jury found il the road between Perth and Cneff,
produced by the constant use of salted provisions, or
rd persons
the heat of a sultry climate, eagerly seizes, and•
quaffs the faulty beverage, often without being sensi-
Guilty, but reosnunended him to mercy in conse-
ble of the trick which is played upon him. , quence of the weaknes; of his. intellect's.—The Court
' Frau.'is of this nature have not been solely confined deferred pronouncing sentence.
On Tuesday morning seVeral rolls of lead, weigh-
to spirits, but have even been extended to wine, por- '
ling more than 981 ..discovered in a tomb,
bs were
ter, lime-juice, vinegar, and, in short, to every other
the Cathedral Church, Winchester, by some boys
article capable of being sophisticated. Indeed these
instances are sometimes so glaring as to snake it ap- , who were playing there.
pear unaccountable that so many opportunities should • John Dummett, servant to Mr. Rolm, of Cossing,
be afforded for the perpetration of such iniquitous ton, is committed to Ivelchester gaol, charged wiat
practices, since store-rooms or lazarettoes might be so steiling Bank notes from his mater, value i1?158:
conveniently built and appropriated for the security Sunday evening some villains entered the house ,
Mrs. Joitesoe, in Penton-place, Walworth, and stole
of provisions, &c. on board transports, has been
hefeee tecommended, and placed under the protec- ; a gold watch, a silver tea-pot, Ind 14 guineas. •-;
tion of the military commanding officer. This, at 1 On Friday night some thieves broke into Baldwin'
least, might be done with the articles which are not 1 Garden's,- in St. George's-fields, near the Obelisk,
i and cut away the lead water-pipe's belonging to al-
often required to be regularly issued daily, such as
wine, porter, lime-juice, vine6r, sugar, &c. &c. most -'1 the houses of that row. They broke down
A regulation hat long been in existence, in the the paling, and cut the pipes even up to the main, •
transport service, though ill calculated to provide
and most likely would have committed other depre-
a
dations, had they not been deterred by observing
supply of various articles required for the use of
troops on board transports, which, it appears, do not some persons washing at the house of a Mrs. Brown,
come under the designation of charter-party stores, which caused them to decatnp with the lead they had
for instance, dishes, spoons, brooms, buckets, candles, already collected.


&c. These articles are expected to be supplied by
the master, who is granted an allowance, in money,
for that purpose, amounting to about four shillings
per diem for every hundred men einbarked.
Owing to over delicacy on the part of the military
officers, many of these necessaries are not exacted,
and, too often, the master, notwithstanding the libe-
ral allowance made to him lay Government, on this
score, neglects to furnish himself with the requisite
proportion of articles, and wilfully puts to sea with a
scanty supply.
To remedy this neglect it might be preferable for
government to furnish each transport with a due pro-
portion of the above-mentioned articles, and to ten-
der the master strictly responsible for the actual ex-'
penditure of them ; a certificate whereof he should be
required to produce from the military officer com-
manding on board. This, at least, would have the
effect of securing a good supply on the departure of
the ship on her voyage.
Before we conclude, it is proper to advert to ano-
ther point, which, though seemingly unimportant in
itself, if not attended to, may be followed by bad
consequences. We here allude to the supply, and
security, of proper ladders to enable the soldiers to

Saturday night, about eight o'clock, fame: Leeson,
representing himself to be a labourer from Bucking-
hamshire, went to the House of Mr. Boswell, gardener,
at Enfield Chace, and asked for a glass of water.;
while in the act of doing so, he drew a pistol on Mr.
Boswell, which flashed in the pan; he drew a seconds
which also flashed in the pan, and all the while de-
manding the money of Mr. Boswell, who knocked the
desperado down with a chair, and with the assistance
of his wife secured the fellow, tied his hands behind
him, and kept guard over him till Sunday, when be
was brought in a chaise to Clerkenwell Prison.
A most daring robbery was attempted lately on
Mr. Frith, of Mitchehtown. 2--A
low entered the room
and presented a pistol at
out his brains, if he did ,
had. Mr. Frith told the
ney about him, hut that
the house, and immediar
being alai med, fired at
ceived no serious injury,
escape, at his side was •
creant, finding he had .._
him on the head with the

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ri y WAS futempteu lately 011
town, county of Cork:--A fela
that Mr. Frith was sitting in,
at him, and said he would Bloat il
d not give him what money he
he villain, that he had no tnn.
it he should have what waq its
ately rang the bell ; the villain
t Mr. Frith; fortunately he re.
ry, though he had 4 narrow
grazed by the ball ; the nais.
not effected his purpos-. struct
the pistol, and made off. '-
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