'Or Verniinlit

In the Court of Common Council, on Tuesday, a motion to reduce the Recorder's salary from 3000/. a year to 2500/. a year was negatived, after debate, by thirty-five votes to twenty-four. The salary will in future be -30001. a year, "in full of all fees, emoluments, and advantages, hereto- fore received by the Recorder."

The candidates now in the field are Mr. Montague Chambers, Q.C., Mr. Russell Gurney, Q.C., recently appointed City Commissioner, Mr. Sergeant Merewether, City Town-Clerk, Mr. Bullock, the Common Ser- geant, and Mr. Bodkin of the Old Bailey bar.

The revision of the Parliamentary voting-lists is now in progress under Mr. Thomas Young M‘Christie. There are 665 objections and 140 claims made by the Liberals, and 744 objections and 8 claims by the Con- servatives.

At the Central Criminal Court, on Wednesday, James Darville, the labourer who killed his wife near Harrow by striking her on the head with a scithe, was tried for the homicide. The couple had been drinking; they quarrelled, and Darville hit the woman with the seithe ; bramble was twisted round the blade of the instrument, but this guard seems to have elipped aside when the blow was struck. The man appeared very sorry when he saw the effect of the fatal blow. He was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment.

Bragwell and Wren, two young men, were convicted of attempting to ex- tort money from an old gentleman by threats of accusing him of abominable conduct. They seem to be part of a gang. The Judge, observing that such atrocious attempts must be checked by severe punishment, sentenced them to twenty years' transportation.

On Thursday, John Gould was tried for the manslaughter of a child named Towers. The evidence showed that it was a homicide by misadventure. Gould, an old soldier, decorated with two medals, is tollman in the Vauxhall Bridge Road ; a window of the toll-house overlooks a lane, apparently little frequented; Gould had been washing a basin with boiling water, and he emptied it out of the window, having no reason to believe at that time that any one was passing. Unfortunately, two children had wandered thither ; the scalding water fell upon Towers, and eventually caused his death. Gould offered all the reparation in his power to the parents. Officers in the Army gave him an excellent character. He was at once acquitted and discharged.

Howard Augustine Styles pleaded guilty to a charge of uttering a forged bill of exchange for 300/. He deposited it at the London and County Bank, and get credit on the strength of it. Yesterday he was sentenced to be -transported for life.

Archer and Delis were convicted of robbing the clerk of Sanders and Co., at Bruakside. Sentence, fifteen years' transportation.

James Cole was tried for complicity in stealing a large sum of money from Mr. Thwaites, a Covent Garden salesman. This was the case where the preen robbed was supposed to have been drugged in a public-house before he was rifled. The prisoner was convicted, and ordered to be transported for seven years.

Crosby, the clever rogue who swindled people in the guise of "Captain Crosby, R.N.," pleaded guilty to obtaining money by false pretences, and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment.

Yesterday, William Edward Bike, convicted of stealing a debenture for 2000/. from the South-western Railway Company, was sentenced to be trans- ported for seven years.

At Lambeth Police Office, Lieutenant Frederick Rice Stack has twice ap- peared to answer a charge of stealing a bill of exchange for 1501. On Sa- turday, Mr. Norton gave his decision in the matter, recapitulating the facts of the case. An advertisement appeared from "Captain Wilson,' offering to advance money to military gentlemen; Lieutenant Stack wanted some cash, and made inquiries about Wilson ; the upshot was, that a person called on the Lieutenant representing himself to be Wilson's clerk. In conversa- tion about a loan, he told Mr. Stack that it would be necessary on the part of Captain Wilson to have some authority or power to act on his behalf, and with a number of parchments produced a stamp, which he said it would be necessary to sign. Mr. Stack, supposing that he was dealing with respectable parties, wrote his name across the stamp, which was the position in which the clerk placed it ; and having asked him if he had any objection to accept the services of Captain Wilson, and Lieu- tenant any replying in the negative, he desired that gentleman to write the word "accepted' over his name. This done he took away the papers. As soon as Mr. Stack discovered how he had been tricked, he inserted adver- tisements in the papers warning the public. against using the bill. When next Lieutenant Stack saw the stamped piece of paper, it was presented to him filled up as a bill of exchange for 1501.; he felt justified in snatching it from the hanclaf the clerk, and destroying it ; audit was with this action that he was now.abassed crimun.aliy. It was Mr. Merton's opinion that the bill was, hi point. law, formery. Mr. John Alexander Jones, from whose clerk the bill was allege 11.have been stolen, was challenged to produce a "dlr. Hart" who was add le be the bond fide holder of the bill, he having given a consideratiou„fer it. But Mr. Hart was not produced ; and it was urged by Mr. Stack's solicitor that the said Hart was no other than the clerk to "Captain Wilson." There was a good deal of discussion be- tween the solicitors on each side, but the result was. only to strengthen the Magistrate's view of the case • and he finally • the charge, as he did not think there was anything like a felonious taking in the matter.

At Bow Street Police Office/ on Saturday, Antonio Molteni, a native of Como, was charged with having in his possession 3000 forged notes of the National Bank of Vienna ; the notes were copies of those intended for circu- lation in Lombardy, and were for five lire each—about 3s. 41. English. JOhn Forrester arrested the foreigner as he came from the shop of Mr. Lee, an 'en- graver in Holborn, whom Molteni had employed to print the notes from a plate. When arrested, he said he lived in Brook Street, and dealt in glass and china Before the Magistrate, he professed not to understand English; and stated through an interpreter, that a . gentleman he had met in France had employed him to get the notes printed. Molteni was remanded. It is said that he had large quantities of forged paper in preparation : the notes foutotrnyhim . were good imitations, well calculated to deceive the Italian pea Two middle-aged men were accused of atteninting to commit a robbery in Holborn. They broke the window of a jeweller's shop, and had their hands

on the property when they were seized. They made no attempt to run

away, but, confessed their guilt : they were starving, they said ; they were resolved, not to go into the workhouse, and attempted the robbery that they

might be transported. One of them, John Deed, said he had until lately got a living -for himself and his family by selling goods on a truck in the New Cut, Lambeth ; but the Police had driven him away, and his family were reduced to the greatest distress. [The Police have been very busy of late in clearing the New Out of itinerant dealers.] The candidates for transporta- tion were committed for trial.

At the Thames Police Office, on Wednesday, Jelm Murphy was charged with being in the Hutchison's Arms public-house, Devonport Street, witii

intent to commit a felony. The curious point in the case was the discovery of the rogue by a eat. Murphy was supposed to have left the taproom late at night; the cat was noticed to be uneasy—rushing at the fireplace, mewing,. purring, and exhibiting anger. This induced the publican to look up the chimney; whence he succeeded in drawing down Murphy by the heels : a candle and lucifer-matches were found upon him. It would seem that in other cases the prisoner had robbed public-houses by concealing himself in the chimney at night. Be was sent to prison for three mouths for his con- cealment at the Hutchision's Arms.

One of the practices of cabmen is to shun fares for a short distance as giv- ing them less opportunity for extortion. Alderman Gibbs has administered a warning to them on the point. Mr. Nicholls, of Bethlehem Hospital, landed from a steamer at London Bridge, and got into an empty cab; John Smith, the driver, refused to take Mr. Nicholls to Bethlehem Hospital for less than half-a-crown—the proper fare being at most sixteenpence; and he was very reluctant to show his badge. Two summonses having been treated with nee* by John Smith, he was eventually taken into custody and produced at the

Manaionhouse. There. he attempted to escape by coining a number of lies. Alderman Gibbe fined him forty shillings, with a month's imprisonment in default of payment.

Souse cabmen have adopted a trick of oonlassling one of the numbers of their badges; when they offend, the aggrieved parties take their number ; the

cabman answering to that number on the register is summoned, and then it ap- pears that the wrong man has been proceeded against. Several oases of this kind have recently oceinved.

Captain Aaron Smith's fracas at Waterloo Bridge, and the Bow Street Ma- gistrate's suggestion in dealing with the case, seem to have effected an im- provement for foot-passengers on the bridge : the toll is now taken on either side of the road, thus diminishing the delay and pressure when many person_ arrive at the same time.

Great destruction of houses and other property has been inffieted by fire, in the near neighbourhood of the Corn Exchange, and the Exchange itself did not altogether escape. The fire broke out early on Thursday morning, in a house in Mark Lane, occupied by several firms; thence it spread to Seething Lane, taking firm hold of the extensive premises of Hayter and Howell, army-packers ; the roof of the Corn Exchange Caught the flames5 and half a dozen more buildings were fired. When the Fire Brigade arrived, they devoted their efforts to save the Exchange and those houses on which the flames had not much hold, and in this they succeeded; but the house in Mark Lane and Ilayter and Howell's were destroyed. The loss of property has been estimated at 100,000/. The premises in which the fire commenced were very extensive having been formerly used as the town residence of one of the foreign ambassadors. It was erected after designs by Sir Christopher Wren, and presented .en example of the magnificence of the-early City man- sions. Every room was beautifully panelled ; the staircase which was up- wards of six feet wide, was formed of carved oak ; and splendid specimens or scroll-work adorned the various ceilings. At the rear of the house stood what was formerly the ambassador's private chapel, but of late years it ha& been converted into a warehouse.

A destructive firework-explosion occurred in Spitalfields at noon on Mon- day. Mr. Clithero, of 13 Weaver Street, had an extensive factory at the rear of his house ; the place was divided into compartments—the mixing- house, the filling-room, and the store-house. Mr. Clithero was employed with John Wheeler in the mixing-home, when, by some means unknown, the combustibles took fire - there was a violent explosion, and the two men were blown out of the building into the yard, terribly burnt. Presently there was a second explosion, the fire having reached the filling-room ; and after that the store-house exploded, with a crash and concussion far surpass- ing the preceding shocks. Houses in every direction were more or less shat- tered—windows and roofs driven in, and the furniture greatly damaged. The personal casualties were less serious than might have been expected, consist- ing only of braises and slight cuts from broken glass. The Fire Brigade report mentions thirty-eight " houses specifically as laving suffered; All Saints Church and National School had nearly all the windows smashed ; and the greater portion of the large sheets of plate glass in the goods-depOt of the Eastern Counties Railway, a long distance off, were demolished. The firemen prevented the flames from spreading beyond the rains of the factory. While one of the engines was hastening to the place, a youth was knocked down opposite the Mansionhouse, and the wheels went over his head and neck ; he was removed to the hospital, where he died soon after.

Mr. Allen, a shoemaker of Sloane Square, has perished in attempting to save life. While at Milbank with his wife, a boy fell from a log of timber into the river ; Mr. Allen got on to the timber, it turned over, and he too fell into the stream : both man and boy sank. In two other cases bravery has met with more success. M. Milan, a Captain in the National Guard of St. Pierre lea Calais, now on a visit to London, has rescued two children from the bottom of the canal at Kingsland. The same gentleman has saved no fewer than twenty-two persons from drowning.

Moore, a man employed at the Surrey 'Canal Docks, recently jumped into the water after a boy who had fallen from a barge and brought him out from under the vessel. Moore has saved five persons from drowning in the docks, and three in other places. In the last case, the boy was insensible when brought to land ; Moore's wife happened to be washing, and she immediately placed him in a tub of warm water, and thus restored him before medical aid arrived.

Some children picked up pieces of lemon-peel opposite a fruiterer's shop in Tooley Street, and ate them ; they were taken ill, and one died ; a post-mor- tem examination showed that death had been caused by a poisonous corn- 'pound of copper. It seems that the peel had been used to clean copper scales, and then thrown into the street.