The Press. — 1855-02-17 (London, England)

158  monition from the Bishop of London, addressed to the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Liddell, the incumbent of the church, at the instance of Mr. Charles Westerton, directing that the high altar in that church shall he removed, and a decent communiontable substituted.  3,ttibtnts ad Cantu.  THE PERPETRATION OF ♦ SERIOUS AND DARING BANE ROBBERY at Ballarat has been communicated to the London police authorities by the last overland mail from Melbourne, it being suspected that the robbers had escaped to England. The robbery was effected on the 2nd of November, when four men, supposed to be from the gang who hau,it the diggings, and have often committed the most fearful atrocities, entered the Victoria Branch Bank in broad daylight, but with their faces concealed by masks. Each was armed with a revolver. The villains seized Mr. Buckley, the manager, and Mr. Marshall, the chief clerk, the only two who were in the bank at the time, and, having bound them with cords, rifled the establishment of all it contained, and decamped, previously threatening the lives of those above named if they dared to move. The Police Gazette of Sydney furnishes a full description of the thieves, with a partial list of the bank-notes and gold stolen. Among them were four hundred 10/. Victoria Bank notes, Melbourne issue. The value of the notes stolen is nearly 17,1.001. Several bags of gold, in the whole amounting to 17,0001., were among the plunder. The Colonial Government have offered 1,6001. for the apprehension of the offenders.  A FIRE broke out on Tuesday evening in the house No. 3, Pleydell•street, Bouverie-street, Fleet-street, occupied by Mr. Thorburn, bookseller. The two lower shops, belonging to Mr. Thorburn, were nearly burnt out, and the building severely damaged. The contents were insured in the Sun and Unity Fireoffices. The adjoining premises of Mr. Adams, publisher of Bradshaw's Railway Guide, were also damaged by fire and water. The fire is said to have been caused by the gas•buiners.  AN INQUEST was held on Monday at the Charingcross Hospital, touching the death of Mr. Charles •I' Proctor, the proprietor of 0 liver's• hotel, Westminster... road, who committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol in Smith's Rifle•gallery, 398, Strand, on Saturday last. The jury returned a verdict of " Temporary insanity." A HOUSE in the Lower-road, Islington, which seems to have been ill-built rather than old, fell down piecemeal on Sunday night. The premises were situated over a gateway, the walls and roof of which gave way first and buried several persons beneath a mass of rubbish. Assistance was quickly on the spot, and while efforts were being made to disengage the sufferers a further portion of the house tumbled down, and an unfortunate police constable named Stoker, who was actively aiding in the work of humanity, was himself buried and killed by the falling materials. It was not until next day that the adjoining walls were propped up and the dhbris safely removed. In the end six bodies besides that of the policeman were discovered. The names of the victims were:—Thos. Hodges, aged 14 years ; George Hodges, 8; Joseph Glover, 26, a married man ; Jane Glover, 30, the wife of the former ; Joseph Glover, 4, the son of the before-named; and Sarah Lane, aged 40 years. THE BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN ROME are on the look-out for two English swindlers, named Davidson and Gordon, besides a host of aliases, who have made away with the genteel sum of 500,(1001., chiefly by forgeries of dock warrants, and have been traced to Genoa and Civita Vecchia. ON Saturday an inquest was held near Rochester on the body of a man named William Salmon, who was found frozen to death the previous morning. The deceased, a married man, with a large family, had been partaking pretty freely of liquor on Thursday afternoon, and between five and six o'clock proceeded about a mile from his house to purchase some coals. Having executed his errand, he was returning to his residence, when he was overtaken by that severe storm of snow with which we were visited on that day, his road home taking him across some open fields where there was no shelter, and all traces of the footpath effaced. He appears to have battled with the storm for some time, until at length he was obliged to take shelter near a haystack. Here he was seen by some men who were passing that way between seven and eight o'clock that evening, and these he informed that he could not get along. They thought he was joking with them, and, after persuading him to make another trial, left him and passed on. As he did not return to his home that night, his family became alarmed, and a search was instituted for him, when, early on Friday morning, his dead body was found at the spot near which he was seen by the men, and near him the coals he had purchased. When found, the body was quite rigid. 

Article type: Incident