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Facts for tech IiATJkeate.—The Beeorder,...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Our Civilisation. The Eastern Counties L...
f & Sr greater a « iaie ( Soitt 6 t'lfeyi » ti viaclhotr THfe is of ¦ great length , ana passes' over the-line . of navigation ¦ between Norwiefc andliowestoft , with a swing bridge iix the middle . In ibis viaduct , ' the piles , braces , oapsills , longitudinal timbers , struts , and groundsills , oh which the latter abut , were in a dangerous state of " decay / ' Work people were "busy at this point making repairs ; but tKe result of their labours is dismissed by the inspecti ng . Colonel with the same criticism which , ne had bestowed upon the improvements in the smaller , openings . One point of the line appears to- have been distinguished by peculiar insecurity ; itftbere consists of a viaduct which passes over what is called Sir ; William Beauehamp'B
Navigation . The original ; timbers are described by Colonel Wynne aabemgj in a state of . utter * rottenness . 'Inmany parts ^ ' he writes > these timbevs covM bzdug out- with a spade * , like , garden mould ; and it is- a matter of astonishment how a structure in such a state , was- able to bear the loads which continually passed over it ;* It is . but fair to add that , according to Colonel Wynne ' s report ; this particular viaduct has been put in a . state of good repair ; but one shudders at the thought of the danger to which the travellers who passed over it were exposed "before the company were driven to do something , lest' their viaducb should , crumble dovm some morning , like garden mould , ' under- the pressure of a passing train ..
'" The result of Colonel Wynne's report is that these branches of the Eastern Counties line are decidedly unsafe , and unfitted for public traffic . " The Board of Trade has sent to the directors of the line a . warning , to place -their line- in- a permanently safe condition .
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Facts For Tech Iiatjkeate.—The Beeorder,...
Facts for tech IiATJkeate . —The Beeorder , in addressing the Ghrand Jury , ' at the opening of the March session of the Central Criminal Court , observed : — ¦** During the last twelvemonths , after having for forty . years enjoyed the blessings of peace , - we have Tieen familiarised with all the" horrors of-war , and there is no ddubt that during the same period the most heinous crimes have "been committed by persona of high station ., "by persons also holding a high position in the commercial and banking community , and also by persona in a more humble position of life ; and in this court there haS certainly been a most unusual number of cases involving the destruction of Human life . " If peace be really a " canker , " its removal does not cause the disappearance of a great many other cankers . **
Aixeqed Embezzlement . —George Sandford Key-JXLOV was cliargea ax the Central Criminal Court yf ith embezzling various sums of money from his employers , Messrs . Chambers and Ellwood , wine-merchants , in the city . It waa alleged that he was to act as town traveller and collector , at a salary of £ 10 amonth . In 1 B 53 , he -was a defaulter to the amount of £ 472 ; but xo criminal proceedings 1 were taken at the time ; the amount was written off as a debt ; two bills were dra wn on tbe accused for the amount , and Hi was agreed "that his salary should be raised to £ 30 a-month . In the course of last August , it was
discovered that other sums of money besides the £ 472 were not accounted for , and proceedings were at length taken . On cross-examination , it appeared that the prosecutors kept their books very badly ; and that they had at different times stated variously the amount of Keymer ' s defalcations . Mr . Ballantyne , for the defence urged that it had been agreed on between Keymer and his employers that the former should have half the profit of all the business he brought to the firm , and that the prosecution originated from « pjte . The jury brought in a verdiot of Not Guilty , and the accused was discharged .
Delirium Trembns . — - Elizabeth Webster , the wdman charged on her own confession with tbe murder of her infant , has been dismissed , as it appears that there is no foundation for her story . She seema to be suffering froia delirium , tremens , and while in gaol she made an attempt to strangle herself . Before < bhe magistrate she promised toleavo off drinking . Robberies jtuom Jewei / ubbs' Windows . —Three cases of robbery from jewellers' and silversmiths ' windows came before the magistrates on Monday . The first case was brought forward at
Marlborough-« t * eet . The robbery had been committed at the shop of Messrs . Lambert and Co ., Coventry-street , about nve o ' clock in the afternoon , and the smash of broken glass , first called attention to the foot . The man who committed tho outrage appeared to bo throwing the goods on tho pavement ; and not to bo carrying them off . Ho was committed for trial . —Tho second case was heard at the Thames-office , whore William Coofce , a noted thief , and supposed to be a tiokot-of-loavo man . Five silvor watohos -were al > - atrootod . On tho oveniug of the day ( which waB aa
long ago aetlie 31 st ot last December ) , Cooko returned to his homo iu a registered common < lodging-house with one hand severely out , and , in answer to the landlord , Thomas Flinn , he said ho had da shed hia hand through a pane of glass in a jeweller ' s shop , and had robbed the shop , but had only got one watch . Aftor a ooneidorftblo time ho waa nrrostod
anidT has been committed . '—The third rdbfeerjr was committed on the 21 st of January , in the Commercialroad East , and here again Flinn was called to , substantiate the case , which he did , with the same result as in the preceding cases . A . Miser ' s Death . —An old man , named' Howe , has died in . a house at Hoxton from sheer starvation , though possessed of about two hundred pounds . He was found in articulo mortis by the police , lying on a mattress swarming with vermin . Just before his death , he raved about his gold . Four of tie rooms of the house were filled with books from , floor to ceiling , the worth of which , though covered ^ vith cobweb , is , at a rough guess , about £ 800 , and numerous oil paintings hung against the walls .
The Disgraceful State of Tachbboox-stbeet , VauxhalIi . —Mr . Thomas Brodgers , a gentleman living in this street , was wakened a few nights ago by a scratching at his street door . Examining the door , he found his name written on it , coupled with a disgraceful epithet . He went out into the street , and saw a Mr . William Duncan , described aa a merchant in the borough , wliom he had seen jusfc before quitting the door-step , and who now advanced , and repeated the offensive expression , threatening to punch Mr . Brodgers ' s head . The cause of this animosity results from Mr . Brodgers having interested himself to suppress the disreputable Houses in the Btreet , at
the-windows of which women may at times be seen in a state of semi-nudity . At one of these houses Mi * . Duncan lived , and he seems to have resented the interference . : Mr ; Brodgers stated to the magistrate before whom Mr . Duncan was brought that sometimes men would drive up in cabs to his and other houses in mistake . Only a , few days ago , a drunken , person , having the appearance of a gentleman , entered his house in the daytime , and began m & wling his servant about , but , ascertaining the mistake , he had the decency to stammer out an apology . A fine of forty sMlling 3 was imposed on Mr . Duncan , and the magistrate directed the police to take immediate steps to put down- the nuisance .
The Matfen Murder . —James Conroy , 26 , basketmaker ; Michael Allen , otherwise Anderson , 23 , hawker ; Isabella Allen , Otherwise Anderson , 55 , hawker ; Jane Anderson , 18 , hawker ; Eleanor Anderson , 15 , hawker ; and Elizabeth Conroy , wife of James Conroy , none of whom * . could either read or write , were charged at the Newcastle Assizes with the wilful murder of Dorothy Bewicke , at the parish of Stamfordham , on the 21 st of October last . On being charged , they pleaded not guilty . The murder , it will be recollected , was conxmi + ** "q i ~ - _„ " , J _ , , , * —«••> wC % UU cl * U VIU
« wiaou irvmg in a hut in a seeluded part of the country frequented in the summer "by personB engaged in- broom-making and chair-mending . Th « hut had been broken into afrnight , apparently for the purpose of robbery , and the old woman was killed . A stick , the handle of a hammer , a strap used to tie the legs of the poor creature , and some other fragments left behind by the murderers , which corresponded with similar articles possessed by the accused , seemed to fix suspicion on them ; and one witness ( who had
turned Queen ' s evidence ) stated that Michael Allen slept with him in a barn part oi the night of the murder , but was absent another part . For the defence , it was contended that the evidence was not sufficient to convict ; and a complaint waa made of the prisoners having been subjected to the spy system , and prevented from conversing freely with their counsel—a complaint the faimesB of which the judge admitted in his summing-up . The jury declared all the prisoners Not Guilty .
A Disreputable Case . —Some amusement and much disgust was created in the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday , by the trial of John Sturb , Sophia Sturt , Thomas Dowsett , Charles Dowsett , and David Hart , on a charge of conspiring to defraud . It appeared that tho prosecutor , James William Spokes , was connected with " a loan and discount society ;" and that he advanced a loan to Sturt , on the security of a bill of sale on some furniture . He waa afterwards informed by Mrs . Sturt that an oxecutiou had been put into hei * husband ' s house by some upholsterers , and she called on him to protect the goods under hia bill of sale . He therefore put in another execution , under charge of Thomas Dowsett ; but ultimately it appeared that Dowaett ( with whoso transactions his brother Charles aud David Hart seem
to have mixed up ) had paid the rent , and thwefore claimed the goods . An appeal to tho police , and liftorwaxds to the magistrates , producod uo > result . In cross-examination , Spokes said : —" I am n bookseller by trado . I do not follow it . I am an auotionoor , houso-agent , and manager of a loan society . I doclino to say who constitute the society- This waa a private affair of my own . There arc other monxbors of tho loan society , but 1 will not give any names . I was a bankrupt in 1847 . I did not oommouoo money-lending directly . Some yoara elapsed . I kuew that tho houaoa kept by Sturt wore tenanted and weed by gay women . I do not call that a Uoubo of ill-fnmo . 1 have taken toa there , but not gin-andwator . I did not take Mra . Sturt to Canterbury-hall . I did not propose to do bo ; who ia not to my taato , " ( Laughter . )
In farther cross-examination it was elicited that , upon two bills for £ 50 each at three months , Spokes had charged £ 20 interest , and could only account for £ 120 given to Stui * t , although he held security for £ 191 . Mr . Ballantyne , for tbe defence , denounced the disreputable character of the proceedings ; and the Recorder said that Spokes was one of those disgraceful men trading as a loan society , and that the criminal law had . been stretched to try a civil right . The defendants were- acquitted ; A Poaohtitg CSse , — ¦ James Tburgood , William Thurgood , Thomas Tlurgood ( brothers ) , and James Guiver—all athletic young naen-r-were tried at the Chelms & rd Assizes , on a charge of murdering William
Hales , a gamekeeper on Sir John Tyrrell ' s estate , oa the 18 tH ult . The evidence bore chiefly against James Thurgood . It appeared from the statement o * Ebenezer Chalk , an accomplice in the poaching , who turned Queen's evidence , that on sallying forth James Thurgood said he would not be taken , as he would shoot any one who opposed him . The affray , took place in a wood ; the murdered man was a little ia advance of his comrade 3 , and . oo one actually saw the shot fired , though the report was heard ; but- James Thurgood was the nearest to the dead body , and lie was seized , his companions for the . time escaping . The shot taken from the neck of Hales corresponded , with that in the possession of the accused , the others
being totally different , and there were other points of circumstantial evidence . The jury found James Thurgood guilty of being accessory to the murder ; but they were not satisfied that he had actually discharged the gun . The other prisoners were acquitted of the charge of murder , but found guilty of another charge of poaching , and were sentenced each to four years' penal servitude . James Thurgood was sentenced to death , the , law regarding the being accessory to murder as tantamount to murder itself ; but the Judge said he Would make a representation of the opinion of the jury . On hearing this , James Thurgood , who was not in the least affected , said— - " Thank you , sir . God bless you all i" .
Tbce Servant anv her Tale of Kobbeby . — Lucy Constable has been examined at Lambeth on a charge arising out of ; the strange tale of burglary at her master ' s house in Sutherland-square , Walworfch , which we mentioned in our last week ' s paper . SJhe was remanded for a week . Alleged Mctbdeb op a Child By a Box . —A . 'boy of twelve years of age , named William Sopp , was charged at the * Reading . Assizes with the murder of a ehjld of four years old . Sopp had been out with the mtf ~ i ^« r """" hosier , on the downs , cutting furze . ; httle boy , au * ., ~ i . > * Civ of the child but he returned alone , and tne tieau u ~* -j waB afterwards discovered in a pit , with its head hacked in several places . Suspicion falling on Sopp *
he was taken into custody ; and he then said to the ^ constable : —" When , we got to the downs , I began to cut furze , and the billhook , came out of the handle and hit the poor little fellow about the head and knocked him down . He tumbled and rolled about on the ground , and I was afraid , if people thought I had tried to do it , I should go to gaol ; and I killed him . " There was no apparent motive for the boy wilfully murdering the child ; and , considering that Sopp , according tofche interpretation of the law , was not of an age to have a ' * mischievous discretion , " the jury leant leant to a merciful , considerai 4 on , ' on the ground that the death , might have been the result of accident , and acquitted the youth .
Self-Betbay . Aii op a BuBaLAB . — A notorious thief , named Charles Morris , "was charged at the Lambeth police-office , together with a " ticket-of leave" man , with having committed a burglary at the house of Mr . Stow , a- jeweller and silversmith , living at Camberwell-green . In the course of last November , one of the turnkeys of the House of Correction , where Morris was then confined , having overheard him say to a fellow-prisoner that , when he was released , he meant to break into Mr . Stow's shop , the
governor of the prison communicated this intelligence to Sir Itiohard Mayne , who informed Mr . Stow of Morris ' s intention , and warned him to be on hia guard . Mr . Stow , therefore , had escfcra fastonings put on to the doors leading to lus shop , eo that when the two men broke into 1 mb premises , although they succeeded in getting through tlje outer door of the house into the kitchen , from which they etolo a few silver , spoona and other property , they could not get beyond it . Both tho thieves were apprehended next morning at the lodging of Morris . They were remanded .
Assize Cases . —William Henry May , James May , and Homy Phillips wore indicted at 'Winchester for burglar iously brealting into tho liouso of Messrs . Emnnuol , jeweller , ot Portsmouth , aud stealing a large quantity of jewolleiy . Tho facts of tho robbery have already appeared iu this journal . Tho dinoovory _ was apparently brought about by William May leaving a box in his room while on a visit to London , and toll ing hin Bister that tliere was something in it whiolx he should not like anyone to sec . The sister , like Blueboord ' H wifu , immediately determined to look , and found Bomo jewellery and watches , of which she ultimately took some . It appears also that some one oloo ub » tractod part of tho property , aud James Mivy
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 8, 1856, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08031856/page/7/
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