The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1879-09-02 00:00:00

TUE LATE
_WENT OF ENGLAND BANK.

_
The hearing of the summonses agautst the directors of
the lata West of Eng'and and South Wales District
Bank commenced on Tuesday. at the before
Mews. E. S. Robinson, W. Pethick. and S. Willa The
defendants are Mr. Jerom Moreb. Mr. Geo,r, Her
leonowd, Mr. Joseph reeks. Mr. Alexander Allen, Mf.
4:lenient 1.4 w Mr. John Mai:week Selwyn Payne. the
Her. Hereford Menke Geor,:e (directors). awl My John
pomeroy Gilbert (ienei al manager of the bank): awl
they are charged. generally speaking, with consplracy
and misdemeanour in relation to ildu Cr awl Company.
and with publishing false balance slieetsa the Altaire of
the bank feint the years 157.1 to PC'S inchisi.e. Mr.
Collins, 41. C., and Kr. Kellar appear to prwecute on
lehalf of the Trcesery, find all the defensiony, were
represented by compel. Mr. Cailin. a:lent:4 Vie coo, it
great lengt •, and hid not finished his seerch at the rising
of the court.

TIII: SCENE IN COVRT.

The greatest, and in its issues by far the mod impot-
ent. case beard before the local magistrates within the
present generation -the promeution of the direetors of the
tote West of lingbnil and South Wales INetnet Wank—
opened quieVy eleingh on Tuesday. In front of the Guild-
hall. where the hearing ook Ware. there was notes,,,, the
crowd one sir l lest' ly sees roileetivl gin a SeSeion Or .Imize
day. A solitary four-whoel sub before the central entreaty,
Its Drimilniteset. u.s the only milsestion that somebody
had arrived there at en early hour dese tc the rain Even
this vehicle might have lawn ne...1 by ti, 'le-itor for the
prosecution, who we bear Wu taken offices in the Guild.
,all for three weeks, with the option of an extension of
time -an incident full of unwelcome portent lo anyone
engage" in the big case, and if one "night judge
from the bulky correspondence referred to in the
opening speech for the prosecution. and the Wazon loads
of books that are said to be stored in warehouses
and piled in cellars in the vicinity of the court, the cam
will dra: its slow length along, at any rate, for more than
a fortnight. Within the Crown-court, at twenty mieutes
to eleven o'clock—the hour fixed for the heanng —there
wax as little excitement ao there was outside The
reporters had mostly taken the thirty gents at oriel then,;
and of representatis es bodies they, indeed, seemed to have
been the most punctual, though to reach the court at that
hour they must save come through the drenching stones
which hail mule down mercilessly all the morning. The
reporters alone would have filled the ordinary court where
the magistrates daily oit to administer jmitice. The
magistrates' clerk. Mr. Thom. Holmes GOre, who with
knit forethought awl courtesy tail 'lone so much to provide
ample aceieniuoilation for eveiyone, was also seen amongst
the early arrivals, as he entered the court to give a rapid
glance around, as if to ascertain whether his
careful arrangements had been properly carried out.
There also were the representative. of Moon. Chem'.
end Davis, the shorthand 'writers, who have been engaged
to take full notes for Mr. denim Murch. the chairman of
the late bank. A solitary lady occupies! the centre of one
of the aide galleries set apart for those of the gentler sex
who might wish to witness the proceedings. (Inc or two
solicitors appeared in the business part of the court—
the arena where ono has so often seen the tug of letal war
amongst the lag wigs, and in the public portion of the
court there were a few strazffers, some of them reading
newspapers, others posing thenimlves in the most comfort.
able pooitiono which the hard lienehes would admit or,
preparatory to • "long slai's sitting." 'Their numbers
were increased as the hour of II o'clock was reached, but
even then there were plenty of empty seats, and at nu
time during the bearing wag the court eniwiled. tkrupying
oneof the (roamed; was Mr. Hare (of the firm of Hammel
Fellb solicitors for the promeution—his calm, thoughtful
face looking as little excited over the coming event as
though its owner were an extreme outsider and had little
or nothing to do with the proceedings. Presently Mr.
Alexander Allen, accompanied by one of his solicitors,
Mr. Jenne North entering in conversation with an
intimate friend, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Geo. Hare Leonard, the
Rev. Hereford George, and others snivel. The defendants
took their seats by the side of their solicitors at different ,
points of the business pert of the court and thus promis-
cuously distributed, intermixed with counsel and
solicitors and friends, they retained the positions they had
"settled down in" on entering the court. They neither !
appeared excited nor over anxious, though they evidenty
listened with deep interest to every word that fell from
Mr. Collins in his speech of teeny hours. The place !
usually styled" the dock" was fitted up for the use of any ,
officials in ease of a pressure in the business section of the '
*met, and an effort had apparently been med. to
rem, mute any occupant for temporary loss of dignity by
fitting up the place with tempting cushioned mats. The
only formality observed with regard to the personal
premium of the defendants was the willing over of their
naine• by the magiotrates clerk. They all •wistered but
one, who happened to step out of court for a moment just
before the magistrates entered, but his solicitor expained
that he would be in •ttendance in a moment, and
the chance of one solitary incident to redeem the
liruceediugs from the utter lack of excitement nutuifested
passed away as the absentee entered and "duly answered
to his name." The magistrates were two of them who
heard the application for summonses, Mr. K S. Robinson
and Mr. W. Pethick and Mr. Samuel Will., in place of
Mr. W. K. Wait. MP. In the course of the hearing other
magistrates entered and took meats on the bench—Mew's,
H. Thomas and Christopher Godwin—and there were also
one or two Town Councillors present The ladies
galleries also hail more occupants', but they scareell
numbered a dooen. During the adjournment the magi..
trate* appeared te Wive dismissesl the emu+s of procedure,
awl then the niurt resumed there wore not • few who
were glad to hoar Mr. K Robinson, the presiding
justice, intinteM that at the clime of that day's bearing
they would adjourn till Wednesday, and sit on that day
and Thursday awl Friday from ten to four o'clock,
adjourning from Friday to Monday, thus wit sitting on
the Satunlay. The magistrate' woe"' alai :I not Is, ahle to
pit on Wednesday week. The hearing then proceeded
without incident, mve a mistake or two which Mr. Collins
met with in the copies of lettters and iloCUMentA. There
menial to be withieg capable of throwing anything like
keen interest into the hearing. The allusion of the learned
counael to the feit that sonic of the defendants might
even he tita persubal friend, of the wattle:awn sitting at
that mo'insem,t en the bench only awakened a pasaing
tholight as to the unusual character of the cue, but the
undixturheil appeamnee of "the gentlemen hereinafter
termed the said accused" soon &aliened this. Even Mr.
Coffins felt his apeech dragging, as he pulled up in the
midst of the bulky correspondence and, leasing over page
after page, picket out a few leading point, instead
.reading the whole. Ile continued till twenty
minutes to four o'clock, when evidently feeling fatigued
with his labour of the 'lay, he suggested an
suljoumment, And, the magistrates suasentin" everyone
present—defendants included—gladly prepared to leave
the court. Mr. Collins was understood to ask the magis-
trates what course would tie adopted with regard to the
defendants, but he only conveyed it by an inquiring
glance at the accused gentlemen and then to the reagie
trate., with the utterance of the words, "The defendants r
The magiur 'tea' clerk, holding out a paper with the
defendants' signatures attaches!, intimated that Mr.
Collins's requirement had leer; provided for; and they
hail severally signed an undertaking to re-appear at the
court on the ml:owi rig inornin4. Mr. Collins lqoked for a
mmeent egrprilyeal, and then quietly observed, "The
responsibility will rest with the limiffsteatee" The
detendanto then left without iriVine any formal
reeur.isenres, and the e Ant was rapidly clearest, and
soon hail little traces left of the first day's proceedings,
which were as dull as the weather outside and that was
so rloomy that at one time it was thought the court
attendant would have to light the gas to enable those
within the building to see to read or write.

Tiiian D.v.—Dullness reigned supreme in the court on
Thursday. The reeding of the minutes, with which the
last hour of the court on Wetinevlay was taken up, wax
about to be resumed, when an objection was taken by
Mr. Mortimer, who represents the I;ev. li. Lib tjeorge.
that the minute book from which Mr. McKellar, one of
the counsel for the prueecytion, was reading extracta, wee
legally not evidence, and the objection 4-41 supported 14
Mr. roole and gr. Norris. and after some argument
hetweett the legal gentlemen, in the course of which 4
reimark of Mr Poole/ was characterised by Mr. Callum es
• " bit of clap-trap," Ur. John Dexter. the late guseral
manager of the hank, Was put up in the withers-box, and
gave testimony %Inch satisfied the point raised by the
0011114 Ci for the defenoe. Almost directly afterwards there
was another interruption, it being contended by the
representatives of the defendants that it Wlll4 meat
i ineortant that the whole of the minutes should be read.
Thu contention was reunited by Mr. McKellar, but the
Ilench ruled in favour of the argotuent* of Mr. Buokuill
and other counsel emaciated with him. The peruse' of
the minutes ououptel the court for the remainder of the
day, and the proceeding. were of a most dull and un-
interesting character. The attendance of the public was
very limited, there being only about Al present when the
court opened, and the public gallery was never at any
time occupied by more than • hundred persona