Police.
The Times, 1824-08-26T00:00:00

;nAWSTO- HrOUSE.-'-The solicitor to the assignees of a bankrupt who had contracted to excavate at the new Post-office, applied to th2 LORD AIAYost to autborize the removal of a quantity of scaffblling, of consilerablc value, from t,e p)rcutises. The presence of'the police, he believed, would be absolutely necessary to enforce the orcer, ao there wereno less than 200 Irish concerned in detaining the property, and those persons were disposed to fight for it with pick-axes and any; other desperate weapons they could lay hold of. The LOTtD MAYORn asked whether the 1-ishmen had any claim upon the scaffoldingl? The solicitor declared theylhad not the slightest colour ot' demand upon the asnignees. The contractor for the new butilding lhad cul- I ployed the bankrttpt to supply certain materials to assist in the excU- vation. On Friday last tte act of bankruptcy was comnmitted. The excavator, who was in tihe habit of paying the men weekly, was sriv. plied with the money to pay them as usual; but they complained now that their week s labour was not paid for, and theietore insisted j ttpon detaining the scaffolding, which they swore they would not I permilt to be taken from the premises without the order of the Lord Mllayor, who, they thought, would take care to do them justice. The Loatn hlAYoR asked whether the assignees could have any rational objection to pay the poor men for v.work which certainly had boeen done by thlem, and which they certainly could not afford to give gratuitously ?I The solicitor repeatedl that the bankrapt's property wavs not liable for the week's pay, although he had appropriated to his own pur- pose that w hich should have been given to the men.. The Lottn MAYO1R said the course which he should adopt, if he were one of (he assignees, would be to pay these men for their la- bour4 and to trtist to the commissioners for an equitable arrangement afterwards,and he was sure that nothing would be lost by the appeal. The solicitor urged, that the assignees were metely bound to take posscssion of whatever property the bankrupt had, in order to convert it to the benefit of all the creditors. The LORD MIAYOR observed, that the case was very hardl utonI the poor hart-workintg Irishmen, most of whomn probably had fami- iNs to support, and not one of whom could aftord to lose the value of' a daiy's labour. lie conSidered their claim upon the assignees a l very strong one, anti hoped their very dependent and laborious cotn- ditton would induce those gentlemen to remunerate them at once. The credit of the establishment, in fact, required that this course should be adopted. The solicitor said the bankrupt's property was not resoonsible, as the mroney had been appropriated since he had failed: Th pro. perty of which the Irishmen had possession, was now the property of the creditors, who were recognIzed under the statute. If the Lord Mlayor would not order the removal, a most serious breach of te i peace was likely to ensue, as the assignees were determined to take away whatever the creditors had a claim to. The LORD MAY01t said, that the assignees must look to the consequences of aly itreach of lthe peace they might sanction. His I,ordship then refused to autbtlorize the removal of the proPerty, but sent ofticers to prevent any breach of the peace on either side.l STE -Sat.OAT NAVIGAT5ON.-.A gentleman requested that the LOUtD .MAYOs would interfere for the protection of the lives of the, public, which were endangered by the conduct of those who super- I intended steam-vessels. Ile stated, that ie and a friend were i coming up the river from Gravesend in a largc boat, wlien the Graves- end steam-vessel, called Tile Lonidome, approached with great ra- pidity. The river being crowded, andl the passage narrows, the wa- terman ofthe conaplainant's boat found it impossible to get completely out of the way, and perceiving that the danger waas imminent, called out to the commander of the steam-vessel to moderate his speed. Their dntreaties were Ineffectual. The packet passed impetuously, I and the swell was so great, thathad not the most skilful management 1 been exercised the boat must have swamped. Notwithstanding all I that had been done, however, all in the boat were drenched with the water which burst over the sides. The complainant submitted to the l,ord layor, that if some m teasures were not taken to regulate the speed of those vessels when proceeding through such parts of the river, lives would undoubtedly be lost; and unde- this impression, he had thought it necessary to apply to his Lordship to know 'she- ther he, as coaservatorof the river Thames, could take cognizance of the case. The LORD MAYOR said he was oot aware that the steam-boat in question came within his jurisdiction. The Gravesend sailing-boats wereunder the control of the rulersof the Watermen's Company, but whether that company had authority over steam-boats he could not tell. Probably they had not, as the act which gave them their powers had passedantecedently to the build.ng of stcam-packets. Tht public were, however, much indebted to the gentlentan who made the coni- plaint, as the evil wascertainlya most serious one, and a remedy was likely to springoutof the exposure. The Court of Aldermen, hhe believ- ed, had something in contemplation on the subject. HisL Lordship then directed the water-bailiff, and the other officers connected with the conservancy of the river, to attend him on the subject. Anothergentleman complained that the speed at which the steam- vessels to Richmond went up and came down the river was quite as dangerous as that of the vessels below bridge. The pleasure-boats above bridge were exceedingly light and shallow, and, for the greater part, in the hands of unskilful persone. When the steam-boats passed at full speed the danger was excessive. He was a few days ago in a perilous situation in the river, while an unskilful friend was rowing. The swell of the iteam-vesscl almost overturned them. The LORD 5MAYOR ordered that minutes should be taken of the case, in order that proceedings may be aedopted upon it. M ARtLBOROUGH-STRE ET.-AIaryr CarrUll, agood-looking wo- man, was proceeded against, before Mtfessrs. DYER and. COwANT, Magistrates, by the officers of St. George's parish, Hanover-square, under an act of Parliament seldom put into operation of late years- namely, that " for the puhishment of lewd womeni." One of the overseers of the parish stated 2 that in Mlarch, 1823, this woman was delivered of an illegitimate child ir, their parish, the fa. tlher of which she did not, she said, know and consequently the pa- rish was bound to maintain her and her child, which they continued to do until she came one morning to the workhouse, and received S. ; and on that very night she left her child, two months old, on the steps of' Lord Sidney's haUl-door, where it was found by a watch. man and taken to the workhouse, where It died in the coarse of a few aays: the unnatural mother had absconded, ard had not since been heard of, until she now camne forward, and brought anotber child to be supported by the parish; and she swore that she could not even guess as to wbo was the f'ther. An officer of St. James's parish also came forward, and said, that about three years age this woman left a child upon their hands, u.- dcr nearly sinilat circumstances, and for the support of which they were at this moment paving Ss. a week. The prionet saild notihing in ber defence, but abused the parish officerrs for their interference and officiousness, as she called it. Those of St. George's pa3ish said, that so unwilling was the parish to proceed under thi5 act, that had it not been for the circumstance of the prisoner's havitig so inhumanly exposed her child, which no doubt caueed its death, they would not even now press the charge against her. The Magistrates said, that they ;ere happy to say they seldom had occasion to put this act in force, but thev never knew a case more deserving of punishment tinder it than the present, and com- mitted the prisoner to the House of Correction for six weeks. I hNIOsg-uALa. Yesserday a boy. of not more than 10 yeqrs of age, named Skntndr.igtoer,Was brought up in the custody of . aiseay, a constablet oefure L. e . A L.LEN, Esq., charged wi.h halOng comrn mittet the lown g daring sobbery M illiam Johnson. shopinan to Air. Jones, asilk.m3ercer, rfd .lTgh- street. Borough, stated, that aboat % e olk that morzing, asie was engaged belxind titS counter, he heard a noise proceed fom: thte window, and on looking to it, saw a hand within one of the panes of glass, grasping a valntble shawl and a piece of Bandana hand- kerchiefs He instantly jumped actoss the counter and -saw the prisoner pass the articles to a ruan, who instantly 1' bolted," and escaped with the tbings. The prisoner, however, was secared on the spot, but none of tho property found upon him. The witness was convinced that it was the prisoner's bana be saw take the shawl and piece of handkerchie' aut of the window. The pane of glsa appenrod to have been cut with a glazier's diamond. rieuyong thief, on hedring the evidence against hira, surprised every body in the office by the ingenious manner in whicb he ex- amined the witness on the improbability of the story he had jtsst told agaitiet him. Prisoner.-How can you swear it was my hand you saw in your shop-window ? If I was ihe tliief, would not the instrument that cut the glass have been found in my possession when you were search- ng me ? No; neither the shawl, handkerchief, or any thing clms of suspicion was tbund upon my person; besides, is it likely that I should " do the thing," that can earn an honest living by my trade. I did not even attgnpt to run, after the robbery. The Alagistrate asked him what his trade was? Prisoner.-I goes about curing warts; and if any gentleman in the ffice has warts or bun)yons, I will cure him of the worEt kind in 'ess than a wveek, that is, if he pays me. The M1agistrate desired hisn to tell exactly the truth, and give ur7 the name of his companion *but- neitler threats or persuasions could indece him to do either. ie positively declared that he knew no- thing at all about the business ' he was had tfp for," farther than seeing a ulan thrust something into his breast and run off witlh it. kHc was asked whether he was ever - siad upl" to an-v office be- fore ? "Lord blessyoni I me? I don't know what it is to be inside a prison; I am as innocent as the child unborn." Mr. .Joncs's shopman, being posiive as o the identity of the pri- soner. Mr. ALLEN observed, that he never yet baw a boy in a sorer road to the g-llows tinan lie wat. It was evident. from the slang terms he had made use of, that he was not a novice at his bnsiness 4 snd there was very little doubt that he was known to the police at the other side of the water. Under these circumstances, he shoald now be counniitted tbr trial. A respectable and wcalthy butchler, named Rafphc, residing id Wslworth, appeared betbre the sitting magistrate to answer the fi); lowing comptaint :-A gentleman, who was a customer of the de- fenda-t'st stated, that on Saturday evening he went to tbe shiop for the purpose of purchasing a 3oint. He took out hit purse, which contained a 5L notc anrd sotne silver, and paid for the meat with a part of the silver. After which he left the shop, and on the londay following, having occasion for some nmoney out of the purse, he immrediately missed the 51. note. It at once occurred to him th,t lie must have dropped the note in thedefendant's shop, when he was pacying for the meat on the Saturday, arid Lhat it would be restored to him on application. Intttis, however, he was disappointed ; for on stacing his loss to the defendant, in the presence of his wife, both of thetn declared that the note had not been dropped in their ,hop. and that they knew niothing about iL Time complainant, however, was so satishfed of lIaving lost the note in the way suated, that he insLtntly set abont an inquirY, and traced it to thc possession of AIr. Patten, of Leadenhsll.mar'ket, whose clerk he ascertained had taken it that morning from Mr. Ralphe. (Hcre the cotnilainant stated the num- ber and the cndorsetnents on the note.) He went back to the de- fendant'ti shop, ated iaiFortned him and his wife of the circumostance saving that lie hajd no inclination to otrsue the business atny further, It thev consentemto make good his loss. They refused, however, to listen to any such proposition. antI he vas treated with great imper- tinetlce, particularlY by the defendant's wife, who insisted that she had taken the note, which was given to Patten, from a customer. The complainant required the naiFe of tbat etistomer to be given ay to himt; anti on making inq5uiries of the individual mentioned, ascer- tained that she had not given the note in question either to the de. fendant or his wife. Under these circumstances, lie (the calmplai- nant) considered that the case tsas o2ie that should come before a magistrate. Mr. AL.LENT here inquired particularly whether the complai"ait was certain that be hatl secn the 51. n",te in his purse si short tirner preYious to his ettenring the defendant's shop, atd also of his nof hmoviltt pulled out the purse froim the time he left the shop until thre Monta!y following ? Tie complainant declared most positively, that he had seen tlte note In his purse five minutes before he went to the defendant's shop, an(l after having aid for the rneat, he did not puU out the purse agai until MoDnday. Mr. Pa ten's clerk attended, and stated th2t he had taker the note in queotion frotn AMr. Ralphie in the course of Saturday. Tite cor.- ilainant had been at their house the Monday iollowing, and de- scribed the number of the note, as well as the endorsements upton it. The defendant here exclaimed-"- I assure your Worship I know nothiing about this note; I never take money myself on a Saturday in the shdop. A vl mistress always attends to the receiving of money from the customers and I again declare I do not kno-w hovw or from whort myv wifee took it." Alr. ALLEN observed that the case was as clear as possible; the note was traced to have been in tie possession of the defendant, who, could nor give the slightest satisfactory account of the manner ir which lie had become possessedof it. If the note was nort delivered up to Cite gentleman by Wednesday, serious consequences would arise. ie., however, hoped that there woatlt bc no necessitv for adopting harsh measures, by the restoration of the note to its owner. POLICE.