The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-11 00:00:00

Rain fntentgence.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.-YEareltDaT.
Barone Ma. COMMON= ClO% mar.
Ix KE 11•Nsram.
This was the last examination meeting in the ease of W.
T. Herism, wine and spirit merchant, of Brighton. Ti.e
accounts, prepared by Messrs. Harding and Pullein, of
Guildhall-chambers extended over 16 months prior to the
failure is November last, commencing, at the termer period,
with a deficiency of s*-'91., and showing an amount due to
wessand ("editors of 4,2561., with 8941. to creditors
wheel ere partially secured, and 6641. of liabilities. The
Mete were put down at 4891. in good debts, and property
estimated at 4461. The property held by creditors as secu-
rity was 5581. Profits, 5211.; trade expenses, 1,5891.;
law charges, 1701.; interest, 1821.; domestic, 6331.;
losses, 8911.
Mr. Nicholson, the official assignee, reported that various
items were otatticit from the cash-book, amongst others an
, advance from Mr. Fingey, of Regent-street, on the deposit
of some wines and spirits. There had been a loss of 1001.
I on sales of wine by auction, and a further loss of 5801. had
been incurred in the realisation of the property by the
assignees. The books, especially the cash-book, had been
imperfectly kept ; but since the failure, the bankrupt had
rendered every assistance to the assignees.
Mr. Bagley, and Messrs. Dimmock and Barbey, opposed
for the assignees, and for two other creditors-Messrs.
Omelet and Co. and Messrs. Seeger and Evans. Mr. A.
Linklater supported.
The bankrupt, in examination, stated, that on the 7th
October he had come before the court under the arrange-
ment clauses. By a statement of his affairs in May ere-
-1 ceding, he showed himself to have a capital of 7701. That
was a false statement ; as was an item of 9001. as profits.
His debts were put down in that statement at 3,0001. to
Messrs. Hooper, his principal creditors, and 4301. to other
creditors. Beside that, he owed other debts, including
2001. to Mr. Fingey, and 901. to the English and
Cambrian Life Office. He had collected 241. of his debts,
after petitioning the court. ninny and other creditors held
geode of his as *moray. Hie first transaction with Fingey
Imes VNovember, 1851 ; he discounted witness a bill of
1 M., charging 255. for the discount. He was in the habit
of charging 20 per cent., bat it differed according to the
time the bill had to run. Besides this large discount wit-
ness also gave him some wino warrants at .ecnrity. These
twill/actions went nn tilt '!"! It of May last, when he de-
tra;nted 2001. worth of goods with Fingey. The subse-
quent transactions were only renewals. Altogether there
WON four or five transactions ; on ono three bills were
&wanted. Received in all about 6001. from him, and
ispasited more than that value of goods. Fingey had a
warehouse for the deposit of goods taken by him as secu-
rity. On the acceptance for 2001. he charged the usual dis-
count of 20 per cent., and took a deposit of four pipes of
wine, which witness had bought from Messrs. 'Hooper
two or three days before. He bought the wine in
the ordinary course of trade; three of the pipes
went to his premises at Brighton, the others to
11r. Fingcy, for the purpose of raising money,
and one was afterwards returned to Fingey. Witness had
'previously asked how much he could borrow on four pipes
lof wine. When he bought the wine he meant to send it to
Piney, if ho would lend the 2001. With 1201. of the money
received from Mr. Fingey he took up one of Messrs.
Hooper's bills for goods received four or six months before.
The entries in his ledger, with reference to the transactions
1 with Fingey, had been made siuce the bankruptcy, as had
those in his cash book. Messrs. Hooper discovered, almost
hawediately after, that the wines had been transferred to
lime!, and called upon bankrupt for a statement of his
edishi. After that he tried to get a partner, and proposed
to refer any one to Messrs. Ilooper. Mr. Hooper told him
that it would be necessary to have his books looked into,
and he sent Messrs. Harding and Butler for that purpose.
A balance-sheet and statement of affairs were made out,
which showed a deficiency of 3001. or 4001. That was a very
different statement from the one in his balance-sheet.
He was in negotiation for a partnership with Mr.
Alexander, and referred to the first balance-sheet, without
suggesting that it was incorrect at all. Afterwards he went
before the Lord Mayor of London, and declared to a state-
ment of affairs as true, which showed his unsecured credi-
tors to be 4,0421. ; in his balance-sheet they now appeared
as 4,2561. Ilia good debtors were given before the Lord
Mayor at 5731. ; in his present balance-sheet at 4891. The
difference in the former was owing to accounts that bad
since come in, and some debts which he had considered
good had turned out very doubtful.
Mr. Edmund Harding, accountant, proved that the ori-
ginal statement of affairs was made out correctly from the
bankrupt's books.
Mr. Bagley asked for an adjournment sine die.
Mr. Linklater assented to a short adjournment, for the
purpose of removing some of the discrepancies that appeared
on the balance-sheet.
His Honour granted an adjournment generally till
Thursday.
Ix as ROIL-TEE SKITTLE CAUL
The bankrupt was an upholsterer at Islington. This wee
the adjourned last examination meeting. The case stood
for his Honour's judgment on the question of the bankrupt's
accounts, especially in reference to an item of 1201. put
down as losses by skittle playing.
The Commissioner said there appeared to have best alto
liberate intention on the part of this man to 001.1121 g errs of I
his property, and to account for it by fictitious lames. Then
mild be no question that such was his intention. He bad
been assisted by a very able counsel, but who eventually
gave up the else, in consequence of the man telling stories
which were quite at variance with those he first told ; and,
from an examination of the proceedings, it was really diffi-
cult to tell which of the stories was to be believed-they
varied so much that they were evidently got up at the moment,
and for the purposes of the moment, without the least consi-
deration hew they would bear on whathe had said at first.
Ins himself admitted, on one occasion, that he had ex-
] aggerated in his phrase, and on another that he had spoken
1 falsely. He had done this for the very purpose pointed out
and specified by the act of parliament as criminal-namely,
to give to a creditor, Mr. Hwiugs, a Glee and exaggerated
statement of his affairs. He admitted having written a
false letter-one that was evidently untrue ; and he did not
disguise the purpose for which ho had written it, to deceive',
his creditors. As to his losing 1201. by skittle-playing, it
was true he had produced people who saw him play ; but 1
what corroboration was that of his having lost 1201. ? Nose
whatever. Could the court believe such an incredible
statement from a man who admitted that he told falselloode
when it suited him, and told them for the purpose ter de-
ceiving his creditors? He was not a man without in-
tellect, but a man of understanding, and a quick
man, and a nun very ready at facts - only,
like all people who were ready at untrue facts,
he did not always see how they quite bore against him.
It was not to be supposed that he was such a child in the
knowlege and ways of the world as to goon playing and los-
ing for aoonsiderable period,until he had lost all this money.
This story was so incredible that the court would only re-
gard it as ono of the many, many shifts, to which bank-
rupts had recourse when pressed for a true account of their
property, and by which they sought to impose upon the
court. The account was untrue, and the case must be ad-
journed sine die. The next question was, whether the court
might, at this stage of the proceedings, to state on the re.
seed that the bankrupt came within one of the clauses of
the mid section (the 255th). Undoubtedly he did ; but
the emit had always been unwilling to take that step,
which prevented protection being ever afterwards granted
to a bankrupt. The certificate meeting seemed the proper
time for putting a statement of that kind on the record ;
then, if the bankrupt were dissatisfied, he could appeal to a
higher tribunal. Under these circumstances the examina-
tion would be eimply'adjourned without day, and protection
refused, on tke ground that the story told by the bankrupt
was wilfully untrue.
The Bankrupt-I still maintain that what I have attested
the truth.
The

-Which? The first, the last, or the

middle one ?
The Bankrupt—The whole.
The Commissioner—l don't know which story you mean
is true ; they are all three different. 1 had rather not
argue the matter with you.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.—YEsTeaDAT.
The sittings of the court for the January Quarter Session
were resumed yesterday morning at the Guildhall, West-
minster, by adjournment teem Clerkenwell, before Mr.
Serjeant Adams, Assistant Judge, and a bench of magis-
trates. The calendar gives the names of 72 prisoners for
trial, 65 for felon, and 7 for misdemeanor.
The Assistant Judge, in his charge to the grand jury, ad-
verted to a provision in an act of parliament with reference
to the summoning of jurors to these sessions. Re said—The
change, by which the sessions were held at Westminster as
well as at Clerkenwell, had been of great convenience to
the county generally, and as the business of the county was
divided between the two sessions, it was intended, when
the change took place, that the jurors on one side of the
county should be summoned to the ono sessions, ie.,
Clerkenwell, and those on the other side to the other ses-
sions at Westminster, and had this been carried out, a very
fair proportion of jurors would have bees summoned from
each district, which would have been but fair and reason-
able. But instead of this a clause which the high bailiff
got inverted in an act of parliament gave him, the high
bailiff, the sole power of summoning jurors to the West-
minster Sessions, and as his jurisdiction was limited
to Westminster, the consequence was that West-
minster jurors only could be summoned, and as
they had to do the general business of the county,
it was a hardship upon them. The parish of St. Margaret
interfered in the matter, and it was singular that as yet no
jurors had been summoned from that parish, although there
had been from every other. It was probable that during
the present session of parliament a bill would bo iotroduced
for the purpose of doing away with grand juries in the me-
tropolitan district, and a clause might be introduced into it
(riving the sheriffs of the county the power to summon
jurors to that court, and taking it away from the high
bailiff, which would have the effect of relieving the inhabi-
tants of Westminster from being required to do more than
their fair share of work, and then instead of the duty falling
upon but between 3,000 and 4,000 persons, it would be ex-
tended to about 15,000. After some observations on the
duty the grand jury had to discharge, the Assistant Judge
11 dismissed them to their room.

---
Daniel Fitzgerald and Henry Nichols, aged respectively
17 and 29, were indicted for stealing on the highway a
purse and 101. 2s. 61, from the person of Emma Jago.
Mr. M. Prendergast prosecuted, Mr. O'Brien appeared
for the planers.
The prowcutrix was a widow lady residing at Ealing,
and on the 23rd of December she was hustled by a gang of
five or six, amongst them the prisoners, who were taken.
She was robbed at her purse by some one. They gave false
addientee, and in *newer to questions put to them in the