The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-07-10 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

OVERLOADING OMNIBUSES.—On Friday, Mr. Frey-
berg, for overloading his West Derby omnibus, contrary

to the act, was fined £5.
On Wednesday, several householders were fined 203. and
costs for allowing a number of persons to iodge in their

houses against the Sanitary Act.
On Wednesday, Hugh M'Wade, marine store-dealer,
had his license revoked, besides being sent to prison for
one month, for receiving cotton said to be stolen.
On Saturday a man and woman were sent to gaol for
two months for robbing an old man of a tobacco-box con-
taining £3 7s. The robbery took place whilst the prose-
cutor was asleep in a field in Wavertree-lane.
AN IMPUDENT NEGRO.—On Saturday William Jordan,
a negro, was charged with having asaulted a policeman,
and attempted to extort money by threats. He was de-
manding sixpence from a third party when an officer came
up. He refused to go away when ordered, and knocked
the constable down. He was fined twenty shillings for

the assault—a, month's imprisonment in default.

On Thursday, Harriet Seldon and Margaret Morrison
were charged with robbing Mr. William Barlow of a gold
watch, and a purse containing eleven sovereigns, in
Poynton-street. The case was clearly proved, and Seldon
was committed for trial; Morrison was remanded.
Several shopkeepers were fined 20s. and costs for hang-
ing goods outside their doors and windows. Mr. Rushton
said that it was a great temptation to crime, and he was
determined to put a stop to it.
SWEETENED WINES.—On Tuesday, Mr. James Clark,
of Crown-street, was fined in the penalty of £5O for sell-
ing sweetened wines without a license. Mr. Rushton
said he would not mitigate the amount owing to there
having been brought forward a witness for the defence
who had perjured himself.
A HOPELESS CASE.—An old woman, apparently about
seventy years of age, was fined five shillings and costs, on
Tuesday, for being drunk and disorderly. She pleaded
that she had not tasted a drop, and was a stranger ; but,
unfortunately, the old lady's name had appeared in the
bridewell books upwards of fifty times for the same
offence. _ _ _

RossErtY.—A young man, named Peter Goodman, was
charged by Mr. Heelis, 107, Scotland-road, with having
stolen from the till of his shop, on Sunday last, while he
was at church, £6 and ss. in copper. Two witnesses ap-
peared, who stated that they saw the prisoner and another
man coming out of Mr. Heelis' premises, and the prisoner
was carrying something which looked like a five shilling
packet of copper. Mr. Rushton committed him for trial.
STEALING A SOVEREIGN.—Mr.
_Naylor, 25, Church-

street, charged a young lad, named Robert Wilson, with
having stolen a sovereign from him. Mr. Naylor stated
that he had several times missed money, and suspecting
the prisoner, he had marked a sovereign, and put it in the
drawer. Shortly after he went out, and on his return he
found the sovereign was gone. He immediately procured
a policeman, who found the money on the prisoner. Mr.
Rushton committed him for trial.
A CHARACTER.—A woman, named Mary Anne Murphy,
was committed for trial on Tuesday, for stealing a neck
of mutton in St. John's Market. In addition to shorter
periods of imprisonment, the prisoner had been twice
transported—once for fourteen, and once for seven years;
but her sentence had been commuted to short imprison-
ments in each case. She assured the magistrate that she
was as innocent as his worship ; the mutton, however,
being found under her shawl, the assertion went for
nothing.
QUIBBLING AND BRIBERY.—On Wednesday, Robert
Kelly, a shopkeeper, of Scotland-road, was fined 20s. and
costs for obstructing the footpath by placing boxes of
potatoes upon it. The officer who supported the informa-
tion stated that Kelly had offered him a shilling not to
report him. The defendant in reply said that the officer
had taken two false oaths—first, he (the policeman) said
that the boxes contained potatoes—they held butter; and
he offered the policeman sixpence, not a shilling. Mr.
Rushton severely reprimanded Kelly for his quibbling,
and for endeavouring to tamper with a public officer in the
discharge of his duty.
IMPORTANT TO OWNERS OF OMNIBUSES.—Mr. Bulmer
and Mr. Freyberg appeared on Thursday, in answer to
summonses charging them with overloading their omni-
buses, which ply between this town and West Derby.
The officer who made the charge said that, in one in-
stance, the qmnibus contained forty persons; the people
being literally wedged inside, and sitting on each other's
knees. After some little difficulty it was found impossible
to prove the case against the parties.—Mr. Rushton : I
am tired of hearing complaints from all sorts of people. I
will fine in the full penalty in every case which is proved,
for I am determined to put a stop to this cruelty and
robbery.
A HINT FOR KEEPERS OF SINGING SALOONS.—After
the hearing of a case on Friday about an altercation in a
public-house, in which a third party rented a room for a
singing gallery, Mr. Rushton said : " We have abundant
proof of one fact, which I shall most certainly take care
to bring before the notice of the licensing magistrates at
their next session. Such scenes as these are grossly
against the tenor of your license, and this kind of thing
is going on throughout the town of Liverpool. He gives
you £4 per week for one room. and engages ten or twelve
male and female singers, at salaries ranging from £2 12s.
to Bs. per week. These places are leading to the most
abominable disorder. I can tell you if this is cantinued
it will not be a public-house long."
STEALING WEARING APPAREL.—A woman, named
Elizabeth Fleming, was charged, on Friday, by Captain
Drought, an officer in the 62nd Regiment, now staying in
this town, with having, stolen a large quantity, of shirts,
and other articles of wearing apparel, belonging to him.
Captain Drought stated that the prisoner is wife to one of
the soldiers, and that she washed clothes. Every article
was marked with his name. The prisoner had
pawned them at Mr. Smith's, in Richmond-row. Mr.
Rushton strongly censured the conduct of the pawn-
broker in taking the things from the prisoner, when he
saw that they were all marked with Captain Drought's
name. Several pawn-tickets were found on the prisoner.
She was fined 17s. 7d. and £5, or to be imprisoned three
months.
THE ROBBERY OF £4o.—Margaret O'Neill, who had
been remanded from Saturday week, charged with having
robbed a seaman cf £4O at a house of bad character in
Banastre-street, was again brought up on Saturday.
There was but little additional evidence. It appeared
that the £4O was the savings of the prosecutor from the
hard earnings of six years' service, and that the money
had been rifled from a belt worn round his middle whilst
he was asleep. Mr. Rushton told him he was a foolish
fellow to carry so much money about him, when he might
have deposited it at the Sailors' Home. £2 9s. 7d. had
been found upon the prisoner, and a number of new
dresses and bonnets that she had just purchased were
produced. Mr. Rushton ordered the money and all the
fine clothes to be given up to the seaman, telling him to
make the best market he could of the latter. The priso-
ner was sent to gaol for three months.
BURGLARY.—At an early hour on Wednesday morning,
Bank Hall, Bootle-road, in the occupation of Mr. Michael
Ashcroft, was broken into, and almost every apartment
entered and ransacked. The whole of the family had re-
tired to rest about half-past twelve o'clock, and all was
safe when the policee-officer went his round shortly after
two o'clock. The thieves were evidently disturbed, as
several drawers had been broken open and things placed
ready to be carried away. A pair of old shoes and stocli.
ings were left in the house in exchange for some of a better
sort belonging to a farm servant. A quantity of bread
and meat, and a large pocket-knife belonging to Mr. Ash-
croft, were missing. In the front parlour a case of knives
had been broken open and the contents scattered about
in all directions. A bottle of wine had been removed from
the back parlour to a cupboard in the kitchen. The
scoundrels had also had the audacity to enter a bed-room
occupied by Mr. Ashcroft's niece, where they opened
drawers, and turned her pocket inside out. Miss
Ashcroft was not disturbed by this impudent intrusion,
being sound asleep, or, had it been otherwise, she might
not have heard them, as she is rather deaf. At five o'clock
the same morning, two men, named James Doyle and
Thomas Farley, were observed by police-constables 42 and
62 coming out of a hut in the neighbourhood, and they
were taken into custody on suspicion of being concerned
in the burglary. On Farley's feet were found the missing
shoes and stockings, and in his pocket the knife. On
searching the hut the stolen provisions were found. The
prisoners were committed for trial at the next assizes.
THE MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ACT.—OR Saturday, a case
of more than usual interest, as regards shipowners, was
heard at the Police-court, before Mr. Rushton and Mr.
W. Rathbone. It was an information against Mr. Hugh
Dixon, for having permitted one of his ships to sail with
upwards of one hundred passengers, without having a
surgeon on board. Mr. Brooks appeared for the Com-
missioners of Customs, and Mr. Holden for the defend-
ant. The former stated that the vessel was the Crosland,
which had sailed in July last from this port, and had
arrived in the River Plate, with passengers in such a state
as to cause a complaint to come to this country. The in-
formation was founded on the Merchant Seamen's and
also the Passengers' Act, which provided that every vessel
having upwards of one hundred persons on board should
be bound to carry a surgeon, physician, or apothecary : if
the voyage were one that would in all probability exceed
twelve weeks, and there were fifty persons on board, it
was also obligatory to carry a surgeon, and the penalty for
non-compliance was £lOO, which the magistrate has the
power of reducing to one-third.—Mr. Holden, for the de-
fence, stated that Mr. Dixon was resident at Sunderland
when the vessel sailed ; that he had chartered her to mer-
chants here, who bad subsequently let part of her (the
between decks) to a broker, for the reception of passen-
gers.—Lieut. Hodder said he had officially inspected the
ship, :and had certified that, as regarded the number of
passengers (116. but reckoned at only 921, as there were
eight infants), all the requirements of the act bad been
complied with. It was admitted that no surgeon was on
board. An argument arose as to the meaning of the
word " person' in the act.—Mr. RusMon ruled that the
word applied to every one on board, passengers and crew.
lle could easily conceive the extreme pressure of the case
upon Mr. Dixon, who was called to account for infrac-
tions committed by others, but the law held the owner of
the ship liable in every instance. He felt more and more
every day the necessity that existed for consolidating all
the acts for regulating the merchant service into one law,
and had often had occasion to regret the apparent con-
tradictions that existed. The law ought to be so plain
that a seaman as lie ran might read it. He agreed that
Mr. Dixon was not morally to blame in the matter ; the
blame rested, if any existed, on the gentleman who char-
tered the ship. They had, probably, through inadvert-
ence, thought that a surgeon was not necessary ; but it
showed the caution that was necessary in such a matter.
He would mitigate the penalty to its lowest amount—one-
third of £lOO. Nominal costs only of 20s were allowed
to the prosecutors, and the payment of the fine being
arranged the parties left the court.