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Leader (1850-1860), 20th June 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 9

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      ^^^^^ fiATHEBINGS FROM THE LAW AND ^ POLICE COURTS . Thb case of Thomas Mansell , the man now lying under sentence of death for the murder of a fellow-soldier at Maidstone , was brought before the Exchequer Chamber last Saturday on a writ of error granted on , the fiat of the Attorney-General . The questions were the same as those already discussed in the Court of Queen ' s Bench and decided against the prisoner ; but the Atto rney-General is desirous of having a further opinion . The proceedings on Saturday were merely preliminary , and the case wa 3 adjourned to Monday , when it was decided that the arguments shall be heard next Tues-S Messrs . Fairrie , sugar-refiners , of Whitechapel , were indicted in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , last Saturday , for creating a nuisance . Mr . Serjeant Byles ( who appeared for the prosecution ) stated that thd defendants are gentlemen of great respectability , and he -fras not instructed to say a word derogatory to their character . The prosecution had been instituted by the Whitechapel Board of Works in discharge of a public dutyi The business of a sugar-refiner is in itself perfectly innocuous , but in the course of the process the syrup which has been produced by boiling down the coarse sugar is passed through vessels filled with animal charcoal , in order to purify it . The effect is that the liquid , which before is the colour of porter , becomes perfectly pellucid and limpid . Animal charcoal is used , as it discharges the impurities of the sugar more completely than wood charcoal . After the charcoal has been once used , it . becomes necessary to burn it to get rid of the impurities collected from the sugar . This is a most noxious process ; it was formerly a separate business , but the sugar-refiners have lately commenced to . do it for themselves , and Messrs . Fairrie , whose refinery is in Churchlane , have taken premises in Back Church-lane for the purpose . The quantity burnt is about one hundred and thirty or one hundred and forty tons a week . In the course of the process , some most noxious gases , among others carbonic oxide , are evolved . The effects produced on the persons in the neighbourhood are prostration of the vital powers , loss of appetite , sickness , and nausea ; and the meat in the butchers' shops becomes tainted . The district is very thickly populated , but the people are of a class unable to help themselves , and nothing was done until the district board was constituted . The board gave directions to have the defendants summoned before the magistrates at Arbour-square . They were convicted in a small penalty ; but , as the nuisance still continued , the present prosecution was instituted . — Thirty witnesses were examined in support of this statement , and the case was then adjourned . It was resumed on Monday , when more witnesses for the proaecution were examined . Mr . Bovill then entered on the defence . He denied that the process was m any way offensive , and urged that , if the jury gave their verdict against the Messrs . Fairrie , the business of those eentlemen would be ruined , and many working men would be thrown out of employ . " It might be , said Mr Bovill , " that this trade , if carried on in a fashionable district , would be a great unpleasantness ; but in the metropolis there are districts of a very different character , in which it would not be considered a nuisance . He then called Dr . William Odling , Professor of Practical Chemistry at Guy ' s Hospital , and Officer . of Health for Lambeth , who denied that there was anything prejudicial to health in the process complained of . Mr . Brando , Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution , and Doctors Ward , Richardson , and Tripe , gave evidence to the same effect ; and the case was then again adjourned . —On Tuesday , several other witnesses ( including various persons employed in the factory ) were examined , to show that no disagreeable results ensued from the process ; but the jury found a verdict of Guilty . It appears that improvements have been made within the last few weeks . A similar case was postponed till after Michaelmas term . .

      An inscrutable mystery sometimes appears m mo Court of Bankruptcy , and the other law courts , in the shape of some anonymous gentleman who ia simply known to the public as . ' The affairs of a merchant prince , thus delicately shrouded from the public curiosity * were on Monday inquired into bofore Mr Commissioner Goulburn In the Bankruptcy Court . A he occasion was a trader debtor summons , the object being to obtain from tho debtor a bond giving security toi 7000 / ., tho amount claimed by tho creditor in an aotior now ponding . For tho creditor it wus urged that , th « debtor being a foreign merchant , who had dishonoured t bill for 7000 / ., and who , nevertheless , was living in tu < moat coatly stylo , Laving a mansion at Twwkenban ( wnt 750 / . a year ) , apartments In Oxford-torraco ai 160 / . a year , and a phaeton and eight or ton horaos , » was only reasonable that security should be given . iu < debt was for wlno of the choicest and most costly olasa For tho debtor it was urged that ho was one of tho Hrs merohanta in tho City ( hia tranatictlona being moaaurcc almoat by milUona ); that tho wlno had been ordered fa tho pumoso . of obtaining security for a claim upon tin creditor s that tho bill of 7000 / . referred to hod beei paid or liquidated In enah « nd gooda ; and that iti dishonour waa not from want of funds , but with ai object . Tho Commissioner aald tho dobtor would appea to bo living in tho stylo of ( K , quasi prlnoo , and , an n

      ha * not explained in a straightforward manner the dishonour of the bill , a bond would be required . Fourteen days would be allowed to appeal . Reuben Walker and Charles Letchford , firemen to the Ceres steamer , from Rotterdam , were on Monday charged at the Mansion House with having smuggled a quantity of tobacco and one hundred cigars . The offence , it appears , is of frequent occurrence ; and the prisoners were therefore sent to prison for six months , in default of paying a fine of 100 / . each . A meeting in connexion with the affairs of W . J . Robson , the Crystal Palace forger , took place last Saturday in the Court of Bankruptcy , for the purpose of examining Mr ; Edward T . Smith , lessee of Drury Lane Theatre , respecti ng some transactions with the bankrupt . Mr . Smith was not present in obedience to a summons of the court , and on the application of Mr . Bagley a warrant was issued for his apprehension . On Thursday , Mr . Smith appeared , and said he had mistaken the day for his examination , or he should have been present on the previous occasion . He engaged to produce his books , and his examination was fixed for the 30 th inst . _ . ' .., .... Bristol

      A certificate was refused , in tne . jaansrupt ^ Court , on Monday , to George Worrall Jones , banker , Crickhowell . In giving judgment , Mr . Commissioner Hill observed that the Bankrupt Law was not meant to hold out its benefits to persons who systematically set at nought all the safeguards against ruin which honest traders have devised for their own protection and that ot their creditors , and which now form the established usages of commerce . In this case it was quite clear that the bankrupt had neglected these safeguards , and he must therefore now bear the consequences of the conduct he had pursued . His claim to a certificate was disallowed : but , in consideration of his advanced age , and that his services would be required in realizing the estate , protection would be granted , liable to Its discontinuance on its being shown to the court that it was no longer deserved . The deficiency apparent on the bankrupt ' s balance-sheet is little short of 40 , 000 ? ., and the dividend is not expected to be more than Is . 6 d . or 2 s . in the pound . . . , Vice-Cliancellor Stewart , last Saturday , gave judgment in the case of Robson v . the Earl of Devon . Accordin-tothe plaintiff ' s case , in April , 1852 , the Earl of Devon and certain others of the defendants assisted in the formation of a scheme to establish a mining association on the cost-book principle for raising gold and other metals in Australia , to be called the ' Melbourne Gold and General Mining Association . ' This company received by way of deposit on the allotment of shares the sum of 1918 / . only . The managing committee nevertheless determined to proceed with their scheme , and to effect that object they were desirous of obtaining a loan on the security of the company ' s shares , and also the quotation of those shares in the official list of the Stock Exchange , as well as the appointment of a settling day for the shares . They therefore employed one Robert George Moore as their agent to effect these purposes ; and Moore , in concert with one Edwin Howard Tripp , a sharebroker , devised a scheme which was embodied in a letter dated May 3 , 1852 , and addressed to the Earl of Devon . In order that the shares might be quoted in the Stock Exchange share-list , it was necessary to satisfy the committee of the Stock Exchange that two-thirds of the shares of the company were allotted , and the deposit thereon paid . The main features of Moore ' s alleged scheme were directed to satisfying the requirements of the committee of the Stock Exchange , and it was described by him to be of such a nature as that it would " involve no money payment on the part of tho company , and " only a limited risk of shares , which , " ho added , " was not unreasonable for the service proposed to be rendered . " It was further alleged to bo a part of Moore ' s scheme to rig the market , ' a process by which an apparent demand for shares in a company is created , so as to give thorn a fictitious value . On the faith of representations made to him by Moore and another , Mr . Robson , the plaintiff , advanced i 500 / . on tho security of one thousand shares , but it was now alleged by Mr . Robson that the shares were not tho property of Moore and bis coadjutor , one Soottlkorn , » though it was said they were so . Mr . Kobson was also . induced , under a belief that tho transactions were bonA > fide , to purchase shares for Moore ; but ho was not ro-- paid , and ho contended that this was a fraudulent r Kn action in pursuance of tho schema of the 8 rd of i May , 1852 . He therefore prayed for restitution of the 3 money ho had expended , tho shores he had purchased to i bo given up by him . On the other hand , all theiroora-) bora of tlio committee deny having any recollection of the letter of tho flrd of May , 1852 or that they eve t gave authority to Moore or any other person U » carry t outaiioh a scheme as was there suggested- Iho Vice-Chancellor gave crodonco to this assertion , and observed « atThoro was no proof to tho contrary . Besides , the I ITopLl contained in tho letter did not «»«« ' "' J 1 fraud , nor did it betray any moral turpitude , though t was not In tho ordinary and legitimate course of busiu noss The plaintiff , too , hud not acted with aufflolont ! udonco , and he had mnde himself , party toJthat vary a * rijnriiur' of tho markot of which ho complained . I he . i bill was accordingly dlsmleaed , with coat * against all r the dofondanta , not excepting Mooro and Tripp . q ' The wearisome caoo of Mr . Dyco Sombro w < w TO 8 W 8-

      Tuesday , with reference to objections urged by Mrs . - Dvce Sombre to the taxing of the bill of costs by the registrar . One of the objections was that the registrar had improperly allowed the fees of Sir Alexander Cockburn , when the fees of only two counsel should have been allowed . Their Lordships did not agree with _ this view , and Dr . Lushington consequently dismissed Mrs . Dyce Sombre ' s appeal , with costs . A solicitor , named Hall , brought an action on Tuesday in the Court of Queen ' Bench against Mr . Revans , the Hon Sec . of the Administrative Reform Association , for 161 L 18 s ., alleged to be due to him for services -performed in connexion with that body . He introduced himself by letter , about a year ago , to Mr . Roebuck , soliciting to be employed in a legal and literary capacity by the Association . In this letter Mr . Hall said he did not now despair of seeing Mr . Roebuck where he ought to have been ldng since , and where he would be as a matter of course if the people were truly represented—at the head of the Government . Mr . Hall was ultimately engaged at a salary of 2 / . 2 s . a week , -tie was told , according to the case as stated by himself , that the chief part of his duty would be in conducting Parliamentary contests and supporting or opposing election petitions . In this way , he might fairly calculate on an income of 1000 / . a year . He did a good deal of work for the Association , including part of a gazetteer of the constituencies , setting forth the electoral statistics of the whole of th e United Kingdom . " Mr . Revans , said Mr . Hall in his evidence , " suggested that I should address certain letters to Mr . Roebuck on real ° r imaginary grievances . " ( Laughter . ) At his ( Mr . Hall s ) suggestion , these proposed letters took the form of a pamphlet , called The House of Commons for the People . Mr Roebuck , with a few exceptions , approved of this production ; but Mr . Hall printed it at his own expense . The only money he received from the Association was 23 / . He was suddenly dismissed , and so was his son , whom he had taken from the Custom House to act as his clerk . The case for the defence was that the action was an attempt to extort money ; that Mr . Hall almost gave Mr . Revans to understand that ^ he nfeant to act for nothing ; that he was paid at the rate of 21 . 2 s . a week ; that he had no authority to employ a clerk ; that tuere was no engagement with Mr . Hall for a definite term ; that no such promises were made to him with respect to election petitions as he had sworn to in his evidence ; that he was told . the Association would have nothing to do with his pamphlet , but that he still went on with it ; and that , when informed that the views of the Association and his own did not agree , and that therefore they had better part , he replied , " Well , then , I will leave next Saturday . " Two guineas were paid into court by Mr . Revand , in whose favour the jury found theiC verdict . ...... . , _ . __ .. _ counts

      An information containing tnirty , cnargiug Alfred Allen with penalties to the extent of 375 , 000 / ., for various alleged infractions of the Excise laws in relation to his business as a maltster , came before the Court of Exchequer on Tuesday . Mr . Allen has for many years carried on the malting trude in Sussex , and last April he occupied three extensive malting premises at Worthing , Mulsey , and Horsham . On the 3 rd of April , the officers engaged in the survey of the firstnamed premises observed certain appearances of a suspicious character in the malt then in the course of workin " . The malt had evidently been pressed down by feet in order to present a gauge unfair to the revenue , and the bulk appeared to be composed of barley which had germinated unequally . These circumstances led to a strict examination of the premises , and in tho course of their search tho officers discovered a trap door opening into an underground passage , at the end of which wore two vaults completely fitted up with malting cisterns and couch frames of a capacity nearly equal to those above . Tho cisterns bore marks of having been recently and continuously used , tho means of supplying them with barley and water being afforded by secret sho 6 ta und pipes communicating with the upper premises . Tho jury found that each of the illegal promises had been used ninety days . The Solicitor-General said , that tho Crown would be entitled , on this finding , to enter a verdict for 216 , 000 / . ; but ho would consent to reduce that amount to 100 , 000 / . Tho verdict was accordingly entered for tho Crown for tho sum of 100 000 / . Verdicts woro then taken by consent for the Grown In throe other informations for tho forfeiture of tho malt , & c , seized at each of tho premiaoa of the same defendant . ...,.. _* « „_„««! oi tno ironwumi * j -

      Mr . Crawahuy , - , «««» -.. » -, Thames-street , was summoned before Alderman Sidney for refusing to pay 19 / . 5 s , the amount of a churchrate assessed upon hia wharf and promises . Mr . Miller , tho collector , produced tho rate-book , and amd tliut tho promises woro aasoaaod in fivo portions , at ilia rate ot ( Jd in tho pound . Alderman Sidney , after inspecting tho ratebook , said this rato appeared to bo rawed lor tho purpose of tho ropaira and amendments of the «»> ur ° » of St , Mary , Somoraot , and tho aum required was V * t . is ^ jssttS ^ - " ¦ rgK S 3 & IIU ' I ^ M 5 ? - « ™ '" wuil ' -ra % ? Oo « " n ... »! .. « . » s » to •«¦» ' ¦»* ' '"«

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 20, 1857, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20061857/page/9/