The Express.
London, England, 1862-08-28 00:00:00

THE DARDANELLES.

(From the Skipping and Merauttik accette.)

A moat extraordinary but deep laid scheme has
recently been discloeed, in which suspicion attaches to no
less a person than Mr. Calvert, her Majesty's consul at the
Dardanelles, and rub-agent to Lloyd's (who has since
absconded). The accusation is, that in the early part of last
year Mr. Calvert wrote to Mr. W. Abbott, carrying oa
business in London, and a relative by marriage, to effect
an insurance at Lloyd's for a friend of his (Mr. Calvert)
at Constantinople, whom he named Hussein Aga, for
12,000/. on a Turkish ship, the Possidhon, lying in
Turkish waters, loadiog with oil for Falmouth or Cork,
and directing him to raise money (2,5001.1 on the bills
of lading to be remitted to hint, sad afterwards
• further advance of 1,000!. on another bill of lading for the
remainder of the cargo ; and that afterwards he, acting is
the capacity of sub-agent to Lloyd's, telegraphed to Lloyd's
that • large ship had been seen M flames off the coast of
Lemnos. The Pomidlion not afterwards being beard of, he
made • representation that it must have been the Poeddltaa
that was sow is &may and seat Op neeealan tkreunnenis,
and certificates, with the official seals of the consul, to esta-
blish the claun against the underwriters for the total loss of
the Puesidhoo. Circumstance' occurring of • suspicious
character, induced the salvage committee connected with
Lloyd's to make inquiries at Constantinople, and the result
proved that neither the Posaidhou nor cargo ever existed ; that
there was no such penes. as Hussein Aga ; and that theist's
of lading, clearance papers, certificates, and documents were
all fictitious. The affair, it will be seen, has been brought
before the government by the salvage committee, and Earl
Russell has dismissed the consul, and another gentleman
has been appointed to the office. The case is semewbat
complicated, but the subjoined details, being extracts of
letters written by Mr. Calvert, will explain all the circum-
stances:

" Dardanelles, Jan. 23, 1861.

" A Turkish friend, wbo has the management of some ex.
&moire olive groves near Adramytti, which belong to several'
of the great paellas at Constantinople, is at present on
the point of shipping a cargo of oil, which he has
requested me to address for role to some person
in England in whose integrity I can repose Im-
plicit confidence, and with whom his many would be
safe when encashed. Ile will require but very moderate
advances, and only after the bills of lading are placed in my
possession. I feel, therefore, that I could not do better
than confide the business to you, kc. . . For the present,
however, the brig Yossidhon, • new vessel, built in the
Denube, is 'boot to begin loading the cargo of oil in ques-
tion, and will take from 200 to 230 tons weight of oil, to be
delivered in any port in the United Kingdom, this vessel
calling at Falmouth or Cork for orders. You had better,
therefore, insure at once in your name, and at their market
vslue, 200 tons of olive oil, to be shipped as above men-
tioned in the Gulf Adramytti ; and when you receive the
bills of Lading you may then insure the rest of the cargo. I
trust you will have sufficient funds in baud to enable you
to do this ; and as soon as you get the bills of lading you can
obtain au advance on them from • broker, and replace the
money whenever it may suit. (Signed)
" To W. Abbott, Fay." " W. CitrititT.

" Dardanelles, Much 6,186 L

" I have just heard from Hussein Aga about the cargo
oil per Poesidhon. It appears that he ban not been able to
complete the cargo as soon as he expected, and it will pro-
bably be another fortnight before the vessel starts. In the
meantime be has sent you a bill of lading for the portion of
cargo already on board, and has drawn on you for 2,5001.,
and sent the bills to me to negotiate. In the present state of
the money market there is not the slightest chance of my
being able to do so, but I have already advanced him 5001.
which I borrowed, and shall do my best to get him a further
supply to matisfy him for the present, and in the meanwhile
shall bold his bills on you. I hope that you will be able to
get an advance of 2,5001. on the bill of lading, which you
should semi me in cash as soon as you can ; and when you
get the bill of lading for the balance you would get
1,0001. more alined, whsoli would enable you to replace
the money paid for insurance policy, pay freight, and
anticipate, if requisite, on your commission. . . Please to
telegraph to me when you are certain of being able to send
out specie for Hussein Aga only, as all messages which ar-
rive here by telegraph are known shortly after all over the
tow n. You need not be very explicit. You might say, for
example—' Have obtained amount (or whatever portion of
it), and will forward same (specifying the day.'
"To W. Abbott, E.q." (Signed) "W. CALVIET.

" Dardanelles, April 3.
" Yours of the 21st of March is duly at band. The en-
closure for Hussein Aga has been sent to him, with • trans-
lation. You have, however, made • mistake in ac-
knowledging the receipt of the bills of lading for 1,020
quintals of oil, whereas it should be 3,020. 1 have therefore
rectified the error in the original. . . . . I am in hopir
that the bills of lading for the balance of the Pouidhou s
cargo will be forwarded to. you by this mail, but I have not
yet heard of the arrival in town of Howie Age's clerk.
After writing to you to obtain advances on the cargo of the
Possidhoo, I vory soon came to the conclusion that it would
sot be possible for you to succeed in doing anything that
army ; and Dow that you confirm my expectations, I have
sent word to Hussein Aga that if he requires funds he must
negotiate his own drafts to the extent for which he has
value on you, but that I can give him no further assistance
beyond 5001. already advancod, and for which I will make
shift, as I hest eau, till you can make me a remittance.
"To W. Abbott, Eaq." (Signed) "W. CALVERT.
Another letter inetructa Mr. Abbott to effect an insurance
on the oil for 12,0001. The bills of lading were sent shortly
afterwards, and the insurances were effected. The pre-
miums became due on the 11th of May, and on the Bth of
May Mr. Abbott obtained an advance of 1,500/. from Messrs.
Bevao, Cole, and Harris, oil brokers, on deposit of the bills
of ladingeand policies of insurance. The premiums were paid
at the proper time out of the money so advanced.
On the 4th April Mr. Calvert issued • clean bill of health
(which is the same as a Custom-house clearance in England)
of the Poseidhon, and it was there specified that the vessel
sailed from Adramytti on the 6th April. On the 28th of the
same month Mr. Calvert, who also filled the post of sub-
agent to Lloyd's, sent to Mr. Black, Lloyd's agent for Con-
stantinople, a loss, in order that it might be telegraphed to
Lloyd's. It was as follows: "On the night of the Bth
April, a vessel bad been seen, 40 miles off the Island of
Lemma, furiously burning, a heavy gale of wind blowing
at the time."

The Puesidhon not arriving in England when she became
due, and Mr. Abbott being pressed by Messrs. Bevan, Cole,
and Co.. who had made the advances, wrote to Mr. Calvert
on the subject. In due time a reply was received ; it was
as follows:

"Dardanelles, Aug. 8, 1881.

" You seem to be expecting news of the Posaiiihon from
me, wbilat I am expecting to bear of her from you • but, as
you say, her remaining out so long is beginning to become a
serious matter. Strange to say, Ilhesr nothing of Hussein
Aga, who is somewhere between this and Syria, I believe,
but do not know the precise locality.
"To W. Abbott, Esq." (Signed) "W. CALverr.
"Dardanelles, Aug. 28, 1861.

" I have not • word yet from Hussein Aga, which livery
provoking, to say the least, and all I can do for you at
present in this matter is to send you a certificate (for
which please to credit me rm.) showing the date of
the l'oesidboe's clearance. She did not, however, start till
the t:th of April, but as she has not been heard of since,
I must confess that I begin to entertain very serious
apprehensions on her account. In fact I now fear
that she will be identified with a vessel which was
met at sea on the night of the Bth of April last, 40 miles off
Lemnos, burning furiously, whilst a heavy gale of wind was
blowing at the time, so that it was feared that all hands on
beard must have perished, and this may account for no
tidings having been heard of the vessel. As I had always
been under the,impresaion that the!strong, fair wind which
blew for some time after the Poseidhou left bad carried
her a long way down the Mediterranean, I did not
even give a thought about her when I first heard of a
ship having been seen on fire, so that the subject was dia.
nu.sed feint my thoughts in a few days after the .'Bth of
April, when I made my report on the subject to Mr. Black,
who will, no doubt, have forwarded it to Lloyd's. Now,
however, the more I thiukof the matter, the more I am led
to fear that the very worst has happened to the unfortunate
vessel I shall do my best to make further inquiries on the
subject, and let you know the result. In the meanwhile,
allow me to say that I really think that you Sr. taking a very
extreme view of the case, IA imagining that anybody can
possibly think bad of you on account of what has taken place.
I sincerely feel confident that the result will plainly show
quite the contrary ; but even supposing for • moment that
it filially appears that the captain had actually committed
an act of barratry? how could any blame be possibly attached
to you for his sets, which are wholly without your coutrol,
and which if I mistake not, form one of the risks which the
underwriters expressly guarantee you against, and, now I
remember it, made the grounds for enacting a heavier rate
of premium from you. I have no time to write at greater
length to-day, but will mums the subject neat leek if say
new idea strikes !0411. Of if any fact comes to mytknowledge
respecting the musing vellia which is likely to prove of in-
terest to you.