The Sun. — 1844-01-29 (London, England)

UNION-HALL. George Kent, a marine-store dealer in Bermondsey, was brought up, charged as the receiver of the brasswork.of a fire engine belonging to St. Olave's parish, under the following circumstances : It appeared that since the destruction of Saint Olave's church byfire, the engine-house having shared the same fate, the engine and its appurtenances were kept locked up in an arch under the Greenwich railway. This place, it seemed, was broken open on Tuesday night, and the engine itself being of too unwieldy a description to carry off without detection, the thieves proceeded to wrench off all the brass-work, together with the copper tubes on the new hose, thus rendering the machine totally useless, in the event of its being required. The following day the prisoner sold the brass-work of the engine to a brass-founder in Shoe-lane, named Payne, the latter of whom, on subsequently being informed of the circumstances of the robbery, gave information of the fact of his purchase from the prisoner, which led to the apprehension of the latter. A portion of the brass-work had "St: Olave's-Parish" marked on it. The prisoner, in accounting, for the possession of the article, said that ,he purchased it all of a man whose namd he did not know but whose person he should again recognise if he .saw him. The MAGISTRATE said that .the prisoner gave a most unsatisfactory account of the manner in which he became possessed of the article, and remanded him. Three men, named 7'ramley, Bent, and Bishop, were charged with furiously driving a cart against the ponyphaeton of Edward Crawley, Esq., of Battersea, throwing that gentleman out, .and smashing the vehicle to pieces. From Mr. Crawley's statement it appeared that on the preceding afternoon, between five and six o'clock, as he was driving his pony phaeton along Kenningtonlane, the three defendants, who were in a cart, came along in the opposite direction on the wrong side, in such a furious manner as to come in collision with the phaeton, which it upset, shattering it to pieces, and he (Mr. C.) was thrown out, and it was miraculous he was not killed ;as it was his arm sustained some injury. The phaeton was not only broken in the way described, but the pony was also very much hurt. The defendants :expressed their regret at what had taken place, and the man who was driving having undertaken to pay for the damage sustained (upwards of 201.) the magistrate, at the intercession of the complainant, consented not to inflict the penalty, at' the same time reprobating in strong terms their conduct in driving in such a reckless manner. Two young women, named Rebecca Jones and Mary Brien, were charged with attempting to commit suicide. Jones, it appeared, was seen at a late hour the preceding night, in the neighbourhood of Bankside, go towards the river, into which she was about to plunge when she was seised by a policeman, who prevented her. It was then observed she was under the influence of liquor, and when questioned by the Magistrate, she said that she was 19 years of age, and that for some time she had been leading a life of prostitution, that her life was one of misery, and that she could no longer survive it. Mr. COTTINGHAM said that there was an excellent institution, called the South London Institution, into which she would be taken if she consented to go. The unfortunate girl said that she would gladly become an inmate, upon which the Magistrate sent a policeman with her to the institution. The other girl, Brien, was observed to ascend the balustrades of Waterloo-bridge, and was prevented by a gentleman from throwing herself into the water. Mr. COTTINGHAM, on finding that she was desirous of reforming her wretched mode of life, that of prostitution, also sent her over to the above institution.