The Express.
London, England, 1853-04-02 00:00:00

CHARGE OF FELONY AGAINST A
MERCHANT AND OTHERS.

Wilkinson and Co. had lost any yr;merty, and no proof
that any of the property produced was theirs.
Vie magistrates thought there was sufficient evidence to
prove that a felon had been committed, but this charge
applied to Spink White alone.
Mr. Barr said the others wet-, charged with receiving
this property, with a guilty ltnewledge.
Mr. Ferns contended that there was no preat of suppres-
Sion, or anything else, from which to inter a guilty know-
ledge ; on the contrary, in the mast open manner possible
it had been admitted that Steel received three bobbins of
an old friend, and Mr. Bisenstuck told Mr. Ludolph of it.
They might have acted imprudenly, but not criminally.
Mr. Nelson said if it was admitted that these parties had
acted imprudently, it was not for the justices hut for • jury
to say where imprudence ended and crime commenced.
Then the flu was in an unsaleable state, and had been ob•
rained in a surreptitious manner from wcrkruen. As to the
openings of the transaction, Mr. Liseartuele had only told
h:s own agent.
The Justices, after giving the matter a good deal of con-
sideration, said they were not then prepared to give a deci-
sion upon the points submitted, hut would a 'jcuin tha exa-
mination uu,il 10 o'clock ou the follewing morning, to
which hour the prisoners would he remanded.
Mr. Ferns applied far bai, but the
justices dec ined to accede to the application, and the pri-
soners were removed in custody.
On Thursday morning the prisoners were again placed in
the prisoners' dock, before the same ra ig'.strates as sat on
Wednesday. No further evidence wa, taken, but each of
the pr.sonera was asked, in the usual cautionary form, if
they wished to say anything.
The prisoner White said Mr. Steel sent me u note down
last week to say he wished to see me. I was to uat him at
the Central Market Hotel about 9 ...'elock. I went and saw
him there, and he said he was come over ::ere to Lords to
order some machinery for tine spinning, and asked my
opinion upon some to spin from lad to 240 L 3. I toll Lim
I though Mach a ay.d Marsh w, re file best spinners goii.g,
that we were working by their mac :incry at present, and
upon the old plea again. that is with a bobbin running
uoon a thin washer; And that we did away with the drag-
hand. Steel said to me I should like to sec ono or two. I
told him we were spinning very tine sorts and i would brit.'
him one or two different sorts to la.ik at, if he would lel

A case of considerable importance and interest
ieecupnd the attention of the Leeds Justices for more then
four hours on Wednesday, when three parties were charted,
the one with stealing from the flax mill of Messrs. Wi:kin-
, len and Co., at Heusi...l, a quantity of bob! ins with flax yarn
thereon, and the others with feloniously receiving the Paine,
l' knowing them to have been stolen. The person charged
with stealing the property is Smirk White, an ovorlooker,
in the employment of Messrs. Wilkinson and Co., and the
reagens charged with feloniously reecieing the property are
iMr. Bernard Eisenstuck and Mr. Thomas S eel. Mr. E.sen-
stuck is a member of the firm of Messrs. Oldenhove, Eisen-
stuck, nod Co., eateu.ive yarn merchants and flax spinners,
who carry on business at Bruss. le, and have flax mills at
Florivale, near Louvaine. The firm alluded to Is of the
highest respectability and standing, carrying on a large
business, Mr. Oalenhove being the Hanoverian eons& at
Fs:tassels. The prisoner Steel is the manager uf tae winks
at Florivale, and was formerly in the employment of Messrs.
Holdsworth and B , flax spinners, Benito, and there-
fore would probably be acquainted with the hands of Messrs.
Wilkinson and Co,
The circumstances out of which this chug. has arisen are
as follow. About three weeks ago, Mr. Eisenstuck and
his manager, Mr. Thomas Steel,came to Leeds, Vie former
taking up his quarters at the Golden Lion Inn, Brief-
g ite, and the latter going to lodgo with his sister-in-law,
Mrs. Kay, of Wneeleestreet, Bank. During his
stay In Leeds, .Me. Eisenstuck frequently com-
municated with Mr. Henry Ludolph, merchant, of
this town, who is the ccere Lied Leeds cerresteinilent
of the firm, and on on' oeceeion desired the
I eter to procure him samples of ft ix yarns of various kinds.
Mr. Ludolph declined to get what was asked for in conse-
quence of the wide range of samples require', which he felt
sure the spinet rs would object to, but he uid get sonic
ramp es. Mr. Eisenstuck on one occasion mentioned that
he had seen some of Messrs. Wilkinson and Co.'s flex,
which he liked better than any other, aid on Monday last
he told Mr. Ludolph that he had obtained through the
working department of Messrs. Wilkinson and Co.'s mill,
the eemples which Mr. Luiloleh had not pr cured for him.
Immediately after he had left Mr. Ludelph's counting-
bowie, Mr. %Wilkinson accidentally walked in, and in the
course of converretien, Mr. Lad olph congratulated him on
what he but heard, this• his dem manufactared the best
flax peril in Leeds. Mr. Wilkinson asked him where he had
heard that. when Mr. Ludolph stated that hie infurmaat
was Mr. Eisenetuck. This led to an explanation, and Mr.
Wilkinson, finding on inquiry that three gametes h been
obtained by improper means, immediately mile an affidavit
before the magistrates, obtained a warrant hir the appre-
hension of the parties, anti entrusted it to the chief con-
stable to execute ; and that officer, assisted by Mr. Super-
intendent Greenlee, apprehended the three prisoners en
Tuesday and Wednesday last.
The ea:amino:ion* were taken before D. W. Nell and
Wil.iam Pewee's, Bops.
Mr. Geo. Brook Nels,o, solicitor, appeared for the pro-
secution, and Mr. Ferns, s oliciter, defended the prisoners.
The following is an abstract of the evidence taken against
the prisoners:
Mr. Edward Read, chief constable, said, on Tuesday he
received a search warrant, and proceeded, along with Mr.
Superintendent °earthen, to search the baggage of Mr. Ber-
nard Eisenstuck, who was then at the Golden Liao Inn. A
portmanteau, in his lodging room, was veered by a lock-
smith, and iti it he found a paper parcel, which on being
ualoosed. was found to contain tierce small bobbins, each
having flax yarn wound thereon, being wrapped up in
white paper, on the outside of which was written the
memo of Mr. Wilkinson, also some figurer, and the names
of M,s-rs. Maelea and March, and Messrs. Lawson and Co.
(machine maker.). Besides there he found two other bob-
bins loose in the portmanteau, one a large and the other a
small bobbin. These thirteen bobbins he produced. Aoout
nine o'clock the same evening, ho went to the Midland
Station, aud there mat Seperintendent Greuhan, who was
in the company of the prisoner Steel, and on their getting
out of a carriage be apprehended Steel and 'auk him to
the police office, where he read over the warrant issued
for his apprehension. Steel, on hearing the warrant read,
said he had not stolen any bobbins from Messrs. Wilkinson
and Co.'s; that the bobbins were given to him by Spink
White; and that he would tell all he knew about ir, with-
out any lies. In answer to a question put to hien, he far-
ther said that Mr. Eisenstuck was then at Hull, hot would
return to Leeds on the following morning. About an hour
after this, he and Mr. Orauhan, accompanied by Mr. Thomas
Briggs, the foreman to Messrs. Wilkinson and Co., went in
search of the prisoner Spink White. Mr. Br.egs found
him at the Turk's Head Inn, Briggate, and he was put into
a cab and :owned to the police-utfice. Whilst in the cab,
he was observed to take something out of his pocket, which
on examination proved to be a small panicle three bobbins,
one labelled " 210 leas, Medea and Maroh,two-inch pitch,"
another "80 leas," and the third " 110 leas." He asked
the prisoner what he had to say about them, and he replied,
" I have nothing to say about there."
Mr. Superintendent Grauban said that acting under the
Instructions of the chief constable, he on Tuesday proceeded
IS the house of Mrs. Kay, in Wheeler-street, the sister-in-
law of the prisoner Steel, and searched some luggage which
be found there belonging to him. In a hoz he Gland four
bobbins, and on a table in the same lodging-room, three
ether bobbins and four " flyers," which he now produced.
After this he SiSist,d Mr. Read to search the luggage of
Mr. Eisenstuck, at tire Golden Lien, and at night went to
the Castleford station to meet the Hull train, expecting that
the prisoner would come by it. On the arrival of the train
le found the prisoner S:eel in one of the carriages, and got
into it, but said nothing to Steel until he arrived at Leeds,
where they were met by Mr. Read, chief constable,
who held the warrant for his apprehensi n. At four
o'clock that (Wednesday) morning he proceeded
to Hull, and there he found Mr. Bernard Eisen-
stack at the Railway Hotel, whom he took into custody on
the aateority of a warrant, which he read over to him. Mr.
Eisenstuck, on hearing the charge, raid that one day last
week a man named Speak White came to the Golden Lion
coffee room, when he and Steel were there, and gave the
latter a small quantity of bobbins, with flax yarn upon them,
and that Steel gave them to him. lie also said that he was
not aware that White had stolen them ; that Steel, who was
his manager, had had no orders to procure him any bobbins
from Me-srs. Wilkinson's workpeople, but if he had done so
it was no doubt done for the benefit of his employers. He
also said that he had ordered 4,0001. or 5,0001. worth of flax
machinery, and that as Steel had given him those bobbins
bethought he would take care of them, to see if they would
fit the machinery he had so ordered. lie then brought Mr.
Eisenstuck to Leeds.
Mr. Thomas Briggs, principal overlooker for Messrs.
Wilkinson and Co., said he knew the prisoner Steel when
IN worked at the adjoining mill, Messrs. lioldsworth and
Co.'s, but he had not latterly known him to reside in
Leeds. The prisoner Spink White had been employed by
Messrs. Wilkinson and Co. as overloeker for about four
years, and had the superintendence of one of the principal ,
spinning rooms. The bobbins produced by Mr. Read were
like what were used at Messrs. Wilkinson and Co.'s mill,
and the yarn upon them was such as they spun. Oa the
ClL%in which the bobbins were now wrapped was writ-
technical names of the spinning frames ash se they
a*
_the figures denoting the size of the yarns. Meet di
OM bobbins were made of hoz-aood, some of Meet bift
der peenliar shape, and only introduced into their mill
dinsleshrthe last thew or four weeks • they were manufac.
Mimi Messrs. Wilkinson and Co. by Messrs. J. Brown
sal Mss. From the appearance of the yarn on the bob-
bin had been wound upon them within a week, not
big gibs dry. The yarn on the bobbins found in the
Nadi when White was apprehended was of the same kind,
but rather more wet. The bobbins prodkeed by Mr. Gran-
k= wets also similar to those used in the mill, but not of
the sew pattern. The yarn upon these bobbins was not in
selesble state.
Join Barker, bobbin maker in the employment of
Messrs. J. Brown and Sons, said they had made bobbins
of the new shape foe Messrs. Wilkinson and Co., but only
within the last two or three weeks, and that the bad not
made any of the same shape for anybody else. He had no
doubt but those produced were part of what Mesas.
Brown and Sons had made for Messrs. Wilkinson
and Co.

me have them bask again. I did so, and took him several
sorts. We then left the Central M- rket Hotel, and I let
him look at them. I did not see him any more that night,
but I was to see him again ou Monday night, when 1 was
to have them returned to me. Tha is 11l 1 have Lissy. It
was at the (laden Lon where I let Steel look at the bob-
bins. When I sent to John Lee fur a 133bbiu I tcld hint I
would return them back in a day or two. 1 did nut take
them with any intention to defraud Mr. Wiltinsou, but
merely to let Steel look at them. I was to see him again
on Monday night, and I went to look fur hint, but he wu
not there ; I was informed that he had gone out of town
somewhere. I intended on Tuesday night to go to Ice him,
to let hitt look at the other three bobOins' which were of a
different sort; and L expected to take the rut bug with
me, but Mr. Read and Mr. Thomas Briggs came to me,
and toll me Mr. Wilkinson wanted to see me II: the Turk's
Ileadiard; and when I got there they told me what
there was to do. I said nothing t 3 it there ; they then got
a coach and brought me down here. This other gentleman,
Mr. Eisenstuek, had nothing to do with it.
Thomas Steel said—l I:cline to say naythiog at present.
Mr. Eisenstuck stated as foilowa—l never thought, nor
could I think to do any harm by accepting from Mr. S;cel
some bobbins with fine yarns he offered me. My purpose
in going over to Leeds was to get machinery to spin arch
fine numbers, and to e:ive orders to a machine maker toe
such machinery to ?Juin and Marsh ; I know that such a
machine maker had made machints fur several first-rate
mills in the town of Leeds, and conirguently it was of late-
re.d to me to know if the mulling maker could make the
same machines fur me. I never gave any order to any one
in the world, nor took any step to get such yarns in any
way through lower people; that is a fact, on whin I can
swear._ . . . . . . .

Mr. "'swoon then said that the bench intended to ad-
journ the final hearing of this case until ten o'clock on
Saturday morninog ; and in the meantime they would con-
sent to liberate Mr. Eisrcstuck and Thomas Steel on bail;
but they should not accept bail fur Whi:e, who must re-
main in custody. They should require Mr. Eiseastuck to
enter into his own moul-Antes in the sum of 500/., and
find one or two other sureties in the like sum ; Mr. Steel
they should require to enter into the like recognisanc a,
himself in the sum of 1001., and one or two other sureties in
the same sum. _ . . .

In the course of the morning Mr. Henry Ludolph,
merchant, and Mr. Thomas Greenwood, machine•maker, a
partner in the firm of Mcur•. P. Fairbairo and Co.. of
Leeds, were offered sad accepted as sureties ; and the bail
baring been completed, the two prisoners were liberated.

--- - -.
Richard Dickinson, another overlooker in the prosecu-
tors' mill. produced • note he received last week from the
prisoner Whits, salting him fur bobbins of two or three
kinds of yarn, which he sent to him by • boy named Chas.
Baker.
Mr. Henry Ludolph said he was a merchant in Leeds,
and dealt in flax, yarn, and other articles. He was ac-
quinted with Mr. Eisenstack and Thomas Steel—the former
being the partner of Mr. Francis Oldenhove, the Hance.
varies' Consul in Brussels, and the latter the manager at
their mill. The firm had a place of business in Brussels,
and mills at Florivale, near Louvain. He (Mr. L.) was
the correspondent of the firm at Leeds, and did their busi-
ness there. He had received letters from Mr. Eisenstadt,
and in that way had become acquainted with his hand-
writing; his belief was that the writing on the paper in
which the bohhine produced were wrapped, was Mr.
Eisenstuck's, but he generals y wrote better. Mr.
Eisenstuck hid called upon him many times since
hi
be came to Leeds, and had asked m to get
him samples of yarn for sale is Belgium. Hs
accordingly wrote for some, whish he got and sent to
him. Last Monday Mr. Eisenstadt called at his counting-
house, and while speaking about some samples of yarn
which he had wished toobtain through him, he said he had
seas some yarn spun at Mr. Wilkinson's establishment
which pleased him better than any other he had seen. lie
said he hat seen some bobbins with the yarn upon them.
By Mr. Nelson—Before this Mr. Eisenstuck had desired
him to get some samples of yarn fram the spinners here,
but he declined, in consequence of the extensive range of 1
the samples required, as he knew the spinners would not
like the trouble. Afterwards he (Mr. L.) agreed to get
samples in smaller quantities, and applied to Mr. Wilkinson
by letter fur some. There was no other information which
the prisoner wished me to get which I declined. lie
said he had got some of Mr. Wilkinson's yarn.
Ile said he received them from the working department,
from the lower orders. lie seemed glad to have got the
information, but I don't remember his saying anything
about it being worth 2001. to him. I sh.uld wish to give
this explanation. After he left my counting-house on Mon-
day, Mr. Wilkinson came in. I referred to what had
posed just before, and congratulated hint that according to
what I had heard, he was spinning the best yarn in
Leeds, meaning the finest. Ile ixquired how I gat my
infants:len, and this led to the explanation that I had
received it from Mr. Est n,tur!.. I know the firm of which
he is • member to ha of :he I.:. lest ruspeetAlnlity, and I am
quite pers•..t.kd if Mr. iii,,,..1:1,!. li,cl supposed he was
doing wrong, he wou:d not has.; tikm the step he has

done.
DUr was the rase for the prosecution.
Mr. Ferns said Ciern had bean to proof that Means.

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING. APRIL 2, 1853