named Frederick Crowe, was charged with stealing a
truck: he had pretended to hire the truck, and then
tried to sell it for 2s. He did not deny the act, but
pleaded that distress drove him to it,—he wanted to get
food for his sick mother, his sister, his wife and child,
and himself, who were starving. When two policemen
went to arrest him, they were horrified at the condition
in which they found the family; they humanely
purchased food and fuel for them, and induced the
neighbours to subscribe for their relief. Crowe told the
magistrate that he was a bird-cage maker, but he could
get no work at that nor anything else, except making
canvass jackets, for which he and his family received a
miserable payment. The magistrate hesitated how to
act, but at length discharged the prisoner, observing
that the owner of the truck, no doubt, had no desire to
consign the miserable man to a prison. The magistrate
then directed the chief usher to inquire into the
condition of the family. That officer gave this report:—

"No. 1, Union Place, Stepney Green:—I found Alice Cracknell,
who says she is forty-seven years of age, dressed in a
petticoat; the upper part of her body covered with canvass
coats, which she was making. Her mind seemed much affected,
and she appeared to be nearly starved to death. Her arms are
like those of a child three years of age. Eliza Cracknell, the
daughter of the above, dressed the same as the mother; a fine
girl, aged sixteen years, suffering from illness and want of food.
Harriet Crowe and child; the mother only eighteen years old,
had nothing but an old frock on, the only frock in the house.
She also appeared to be suffering from her close confinement in
a small and badly-ventilated room, and the want of food. In the
room there was part of a bench, which is used as a table during
the day, and a bed for the man Crowe at night. The three
women and the man make jackets; and by working hard all day,
and until two o'clock in the morning, and all day of Sunday,
they can earn 7s. per week. They all said they had not tasted
food since Friday morning, until the time that Police-Sergeant
Smith went and gave them a few pence out of his own pocket,
and a neighbour has given them some old clothes to cover the
child. They pay 2s. 6d. per week for the two rooms, about five
feet wide and ten feet long each; one room has nothing in it at
all. The man says he could make a living if he could get a set
of tools, which would cost about £21. 10s. He could make cages
and sell about the streets. The family have been relieved by the
parish with one loaf and a pound of oatmeal. Found lying in
one corner of the room the remains of a mattress or blanket,
which was the only thing in the room except an old box used to
sit upon."

The magistrate directed that a pound should be
appropriated from the poor-box for the relief of the
family.

A daring Garotte Robbery was committed in the
Strand, on Saturday night, the 13th inst. As Mr.
Chalmers, of Cambridge-street, Golden-square, was
passing through Agar-street, Strand, he was attacked
by a man of herculean frame, who, seizing him by the
neck, cut the guard-chain of his watch, and, throwing
him violently from him, decamped with his booty
towards Covent-garden Market. Several persons, who
witnessed the struggles of Mr. Chalmers, gathered
round; and, as soon as he recovered himself sufficiently
to explain that he had been robbed, went in pursuit.
The robber, however, who was joined by another in the
market, got clear away with his booty.

An important decision on the subject of Railway Cabs,
was given on the 15th by Mr. A'Beckett, the Southwark
Police Magistrate. Hall, a cab-driver, was summoned
for plying tor hire in an unlicensed place—to wit, within
the terminus of the Brighton Railway at London Bridge.
There was no denial that the place had not been
appointed a standing by the Commissioners of Police.
Mr. A'Beckett remarked at the outset, that the Railway
Company had taken advantage of the delay he had
granted to obtain the opinions of the Solicitor-General
and Mr. Bovill, which were adverse to the judgment he
was about to give; but, of course, a magistrate must
decide for himself, and could not be led by such
"opinions." In the present case, he pointed out how
he thought the learned gentlemen had made a great
mistake in the application of a particular decision
respecting hackney-carriages. Mr. A'Beckett pronounced
that Hall, acting under the company's sanction, had
clearly violated the law. It was urged that railway
companies made these illegal regulations to promote the
convenience of the public; but he held that it was not
at all desirable that a certain number of privileged
vehicles should thus be withdrawn from the control of
the Police Commissioners, as the railway companies
were under no responsibility to the public with respect
to these cabs. Some of the regulations were misleading
to the public; railway numbers were placed on cabs
different from the legal numbers, and this had frequently
led to the summoning of innocent drivers, while the
guilty escaped; the aggrieved passengers having
mistaken the railway for the police number. Mr. A'Beckett
had communicated with Sir Richard Mayne, who
expressed his willingness to appoint a stand within the
terminus, and even to adopt any regulations suggested
by the company that appeared useful; but instead of
taking advantage of this opportunity, the company had
used the time in the endeavour to find means of evading
the law. He inflicted on Hall the nominal fine of one
shilling. Morrish, another driver, was convicted of refusing
to take a fare within the terminus. He said it was
not his "turn," and that he should be fined five shillings
by the company if he broke their regulations. A gentleman
from the railway announced that this regulation
had been abrogated since the last decision on the point.
Mr. A'Beckett fined the driver forty shillings.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on the 15th, John Morris,
aged fourteen, pleaded guilty to Stealing a Till containing
2s. 5d. The lad was old in crime: he had been
summarily convicted eleven times. Mr. Sergeant Adams
said, in this case he had not the power to transport the
culprit. The prisoner—"I want to be transported."
The Assistant-Judge—"I dare say you do; but I am
sorry to say you cannot be gratified at present."
Prisoner—"Oh, very well; I shall go on the same game
again when I'm out, till I do get transported, though."
The Assistant-Judge—"Well, I promise you that the
next time you come here you shall be transported, if
guilty. Now, mind that." He then sentenced the
prisoner to nine months' hard labour.

The capital sentence passed on Cannon the Sweep, for
attempting to murder Policeman Dwyer, has been
commuted to transportation for life.

In the Court of Bankruptcy on the 20th, Jonathan
Streeter, corn-merchant, of Brighton, applied for his
certificate. It appeared that he had been in business for
twenty-eight years; that he had been in a partnership
in a corn-mill; and that it was in respect of a liability
incurred on account of that partnership, and which he
would not pay to the detriment of his other creditors,
that he had preferred to become a bankrupt. It was
also shown that his books had been regularly kept, and
that his whole conduct had been blameless. Mr.
Commissioner Goulburn said that the bankrupt was clearly
entitled to quit the court without imputation of any kind
whatever on his character, and it was the duty as well
as the pleasure of the court to award him a first-class
certificate. Much had recently been said by commercial
men about the wisdom or otherwise of the legislature in
directing the classification of certificates into first,
second, and third; and it had been the practice of the
bankruptcy courts to watch very closely the distinction
given by a first-class certificate, in order that its worth
might not be destroyed by being made too common. The
effect of a first-class certificate was to state to the world
that from unforeseen misfortune only, such as might
happen to the most honest man in trade, the bankrupt
had been compelled to come into that court, and have
his affairs wound up, and his assets equally distributed.
Such a man was entitled to quit that court with the
commendation of the court, the good-will of all his creditors,
and their best wishes for his future success, as Mr.
Streeter was sure to do.

In the Insolvent Debtor's Court on the 20th, a New
and Important Question, under the Protection Act, was
discussed. The insolvent, James Fry, who was a miller
at Sunbury, was heard in April last, under the Protection
Act, and no day was named for the final order, on
the ground of fraud. Permission was given to apply in
three months for a protecting order. In the interval he
was arrested by Mr. Impey, and committed to Maidstone
Gaol. He subsequently applied to the court for a
protecting order, and for his discharge from prison, both of
which were granted. The opposing creditor finding
him, to his surprise, out of prison, discovered that he
had obtained the protecting order and discharge without