The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-12 00:00:00

SERIOUS CHARG t; OP CONSPIRACY.

At the Guildhall, on Friday, John Hind May, of
Huggin-lane, City, and Stanley-street, rirelieo, and Wm.
Taylor. of No. 1, therch passage, Oresham-street, were
?Rain brought up—the latter on bail—before Alderman
Hutnphery, to answer the charge of conspiring, to defraud
Mr. Gorman. of Lurgan, of a quantity of Cambric
handkerchiefs, to the value of £5OO, and ,ir. Lawson, a
manufacturer of the same place, of similar goods to the
amount of £6OO. The evidence take_,h at the openieg of this
case on the Saturday previous was read ovr by Mr. Martin,
the chief clerk. The facts of which it may be as well to
briefly state as follows :—lt appeared that Mr. Gorman,
a cambric handkerchief manufacturer, of Lurgan, county
of Armagh, Ireland, having a quantity of goods on hand,
applied to Taylor to dispose of them for him, and he
agreed to do so at a commission of 21 per cent. Mr.
Gorman returned to Ireland, leaving the samples with
Taylor, who, oa the_sl.h_of March last, wrote, asking
him if he could make up a parcel of handkerchiefs of a
different quality to sell with the lot of which he had a
sample, as the market had been glutted by other mane-
facturers, from Lurgan. Oa the lath of March Taylor
wrote again, stating that Mae had offered to purchase the
goods at a discount of 221 off part, and 271 off the rest.
The terms, half cash in one month, and the other half by
a 60 days' lei! at bankers, and that the Lurgan bankers
knew May's bills. But Gorman made enquiries which
induced him to decline May's offer, and on the 19th of
March Taylor wrote acairt, saying that Myers and. Co.,
.late of 45, Ludgate.-hill, would buy the goods at• 273 off
nett, and give cash claque for .4100 on delivery, and the
rest in three or four bills, having from 30 to 60 days to
ran, and endorsed G. Myers and Co. lie also stated that
Myers and C0.,-were good for 810,000 withlut asking a
question, and referred Mr. German to several persons in
Belfast, to satisfy himself with regard to Myers's respon-
sibility. Upon these representations Mr Gorman aCcepted
the offer, end forwarded the goods on receiving Taylor's
instructions, under date the 22d March. The invoice
amounted to -taB93 Bs. 6d., less 271 per cent. diScount,
amounting to 43245 13s. 10d.. leavin . k the balance
£647 14s. Bd. On the 4th of April Taylor wrote to
acknowledge the delivery of the good-s, and said he had
agreed to let Myers have some of them at 12:2. 9d, and 13 t.
per dozen, which, although a very low price, he assured
Mr. Gorman it was not so low as ether goods he was
sealing. On the 7th of April Mr. German received a
letter from Taylor to the following effect Sir, I had
sent to me on Saturday afternoon ,a check from Myer's
and Co. for £Bl 10s., and gold £lB 10s.. by May, the
party who sold the handkerchiefs for Myer's and Co. and
thinking it strange that Me. Myers did not come, I wrote
to his private house to say 1 was surprised he had not
called with the cash and bills himself. He has been here,
and Y find that May is an out and out villain. He has
intercepted the goods, sold them in his own name. and it is
said received the cash, pocketed the money, with a lot
more, and has bolted. I had no idea in the world that
Myers had not seen the goods ' • he says he has never seen
them, and did not know they had been delivered. I have
ever found May honourable, &c. On the 9th of April,
Mr. Gorman received another letter from Taylor, enclos-
ing a cheque from Myers for £lOO and stating that May
was very • ill in bed and unable to leave London, and
expressing his own conviction that Myers was responsible
for the goods—as the instructions given to Myers for
their delivery had been carried out to the letter. On the
10th of April, Mr. Gorman came to London, and asked
Taylor why he let May have his goods, and he replied
that May obtained them when he was out. Several other
interviews took place between Mr. Gorman, Taylor, and
Mr. Turner, the solicitor, to consider what means there
was of obtaining redress, and the result w:4B that May and
Taylor were given into custody. Woodward,'one of Mr.
Charles Meeking's buyers, deposed that he purchased
these goods of May on two different days, amounting to
e 354 I4s 6d, and .4'593-3 6d, and that he paid for them in
two cheques, 'one for £250, and another for the balance,
payable to May. On Friday a long investigation ,took
place, in which theAkove facts were further elucidated.
Mr. Bodkin attended-on behalf of Mr. Meeking, whose
conduct in having bought the goods at a discount of more
than 50 per cent, had been commented upon by the worthy
Alderman. In the course of the proceedings Myers was
taken into custody. At the close of the examination the
.prisoners were remanded, bail being accepted for each of
thelprisoners in two sureties of £250, and their own
recognisances in £5OO. with the exception of May, whose
bail was rejected, and who was consequently conveyed
back to Newgate in the prison van. Taylor and Myers
having put in the required sureties were liberated at
once.