The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-26 00:00:00

A MILITARY SWINDLER:

At the Guildhall, on Friday. Miall Meagher, a respect'
ably dressed young man, described in the police sheet se I
soldier, attached to the W‘trley Barracks, Brentwood, n'a°
charged with obtaining, by forged orders, goods to the
value of about £35 with intent to defraud Me=srs ICerr
and Scott, wholesale warehousemen, of Cannon street,
West. Thomas Kilner said :lam in the employ of Meesrl
Kerr and Scott, of 58, Cannon street West. On the 15th
of the present month our firm rec ived the following letter
by port, addressed to them :
" Leeds 1857. Meesrs Keen andirlcott, Cannon street
West. Leeds,
J. H. Moore will be in yolied
markets on the 15th or 16th Met, when we trust he n 2;
do some trade with you. Yours respectfully, R. and
SMEETON. P.S.—This is Mr. Moore's first visit to t°,6,
markets, and we hope any transactions he may open Wit;
you will lead to a good trade between us.—R. and R. J. S
We have done business with Messrs. Smeeton, of Lee
but not until lately. The prisoner called on Friday, but
cannot swear to him positively, as I did not see him long'
enough to notice his features. In consequence of some
saspicioo we had relative to the genuineness of the letter'
I directed a telegraphic message to Messrs. Smeeton at L'ed4
and received a reply confirming our susoicions. J°ll2
Patridkson said: I am assistant in the employ of Mesita'
and Scott, of 58, Cannon street. The prisoner
came to our warehouse on Friday lost, and asked Mr'
Forster for (me of the firm. Mr. Forster having IP
certained who the prisoner represented himself et
brought him to me and said in his presence, "Thy
gentleman is from Messrs. Smeeton, of Leeds," and their
prisoner said he wanted to see some shawls. I took him
upstairs to the shawl department, and he selected seven
shawls, value £32 103 which he desired might be sent t°
Paul's coffee-house, addressed to Messrs. Smeeton, of Lend!:
per favour of Mr. Pearson, who was staying there, and troll
convey them free of charge. He also selected one rug all*
a Scotch plaid, value 6s 6d, to be sent to the same
place, addressed to Mr. Moore, of Leeds. The remainder
of goods he selected, amounting in all to about £74, were to
be forwarded to Messrs. Smeeton, by the luggage train ; an
he directed the seven shawls, the rug, and, the plaid to be
packed and sent as requested, and the invoice sent by P°5„,4
to Messrs Smeeton, of Leeds. Thomas Richards, the offer'
in the case, said, I took the prisoner into custody in another,
case, and on searching him, I found thirteen pawnbrokers,
duplicates, referring to property in pledge, to the amount
of nearly £5O. 1 also found a number of letters and paperer
and among them two lists of warehousemen, carrying °s
''
business in the city. Thomas Kilner recalled, said :On tu
15th of this month, a letter was sent to our warehour6
addressed to Mr. J. H. Moore, of Leeds, in care of Messrl
Kerr and Scott. When the prisoner called on the 16th,
gave him that letter, and he opened it in my presence. 1111
following is a copy :
" Leeds, 14th Jan. 1857. ,
" Dear Sire—We have duly advised Messrs Kerr and
Co, of your being in London, and likely to call and make,
few purchases. Mr. Robert has desired that you will be
cautious in any purchases you make, and that you will o_ll,
no account exceed your quantum, as the season has so f6'
passed. You will also please to bring all the goods you/
by the train, to save time as well as expense.—With kind
wishes, yours, very truly, " R. SMEETON.
" Mr. J. H. Moore."

" P.S.—I wrote to the hotel and had no answer. IDl6i
you received my letters ? Lest you should not have Pe
ceived my last letter, I again eeclose a pattern of the 08i
dresses you will buy for Miss Wilketts. Yon can get them
at Cooke's or Ellis's, Newington.—R. S.
Thomas Forster said : I am in Messrs. Kerr and Seot„,a
employ. On the 16th of January, when the prisoner en
to our warehouse he asked for elle of the firm ; he told 0
he was Mr. Moore, of Leeds John Patrickson recalled]
When I showed the prisoner the goods, I male three ticked
and placed them upon those he selected. He wished nl
goods to be at Paul's coffee house by five o'clock. I silif o
him again that day, and he then told me the goods had 00i
too late for Mr. Pearson to take them, but he (prisoner) b7t
taken a cab and driven to one of the stations, and so g:
them forwarded. Several men in the employ of Mess
Kerr and Scott were then called, and their evidence take:
with a view to trace the goods selected by the prisoner Al
Messrs, Kerr's premises fo the delivery of them to 1111".
Sarah Lapp said : I am barmaid at Paul's coffee hogs;
On Thursday, the 15th July last, a man brought a jetty
addressed to Mr. Pawson, and I told him we had no silo
person in the house. He returned in a short time wl
tho prisoner, who took the letter from the man and gas
it to me, saying that Mr. Pawson would be there in
rouse of the day. He also said his name was Moore, a 4,
that he expected, besides Mr. Pawson, a couple of parcS
one addressed to Mr. Pawson, and one to Mr. Movf
When the parcels came, she sent to inform the prisose;
and he came out and ordered a cab, and took the pail?
away, for the purpose of going to the Euston static
Mr. Richard John Ward Smeeton : I am a draper;
Leeds, carrying on business with my uncle under the 6,ri
of R. and R. J. Smeeton at Leeds. I do not knout the
prisoner. He was never in our employ as traveller of
te
any other capacity. Tho letter produced, aPeresseuii,
Messrs. Kerr and Scott, and that addressed to Mr. ..
Moore, are not in my handwriting, nor of any one in utif
firm or employ. Neither have they been written by
authority or sanction. Mr. Humphrey said he was P. 058
pared with the evidence of the pawnbrokers in What"
possession some of these goods were found; but be'„'-§$
calling them he proposed opening two other cases again
the the prisoner, Mr. John Bradbury said : am a part flO
iu the firm of Bradbury, Greatrex, and Beale wholes,"r
warehousemen, of Aldermanbury. On Thursday 10°;,,e
ing, the 15th of January last, received a letter by' P"
of which the following is a copy
" Leeds, 14th January, 1857:ie
" Messrs. Bradbury and Co., Aldermanbury.—GeT
men—As below, and oblige, yours respectfully, R. acid g,
J. Smeeton.—R. S. 1 piece of rich black Bros. 2 qtli
lengths of the enclosed style and good. We could do ri'ip
a few flounced silks, if really good. Our Mr. Moore is
town, though not in the market, and he will give instrl°,
tions for forwarding the goods. We hope this order ins" lead to a future trade.—R.S."
tY
The small piece of silk produced was enclosed ill
letter. About half-past two o'clock on Saturday siter
,41$
noon, the prisoner called at our warehouse and hroub
the following letter. which I opened in his presence
nio
Gentlemen—An "Friday afternoo
y goods you may have ready for M'Jaresia
R. and R. J. Smeeton, of Leeds, please forward to kg,
and Scott, this evening for enclosure, and oblige. Pao
Smeeton himself will be in town next week, and we 1361 r
may open something with you.—Yours respectfully,
"J. H. 111°00'
" Messrs. Bradbury and Co., Aldermanbury."
We have not done business very lately with Messrs'Smeeton. I asked the prisoner if he required any ansWeei
and he said he did not know. I then asked him if he'll,.
with Kerr and Scott, and if he brought that letter 1174
them. He said " Yes." I asked him to wait while I long
for onr order, and while doing so, I heard a scuffle and eroe
Mr. Beall collar the prisoner. We had received informatroii
about the prieoner from Kerr and Scott on Saturday 01°cia
ing. Richard Beall said : lam a partner in the firm of 15 A
bury and Co., and on hearing the conversation bet"' vi
the last witness and the prisoner, I left my desk.,
advanced towards them. While Mr. Bradbury eY'esf;'°4/1
for Messrs. Smeeton's order, the prisoner sat d, 4`kpei
close early this afternoon—l have two or t.),ree
places to call at; send the goods in for enol,nsure," .ad
was about leaving when I seized him by
'she collar,
said, " You shall not go till Mr. Bradbury brings gefisool
Smeeton's order." He replied, " Good God, I am d
rie
for." Ile ws
Ivorye much agitated, red the remorksael
male were, a
" been a de-4e, a
'Cool, and comp I
to do it." I detained him tin a poncernan came,
e ;
gave him into custody. Mr. Bradbury recalled, sai,ieti
produce an envelope containing a letter, which was hanto
to me on Saturday, the 17th of January. It bears t`
stamp or die belonging to Messrs. Kerr and Siavvert
Mr. Hugh Fair lam in the employ of Messrs. Poe
and Scott. The prisoner called at our warehouse on
16th of January. He asked me for a sheet of paper a
ll
an envelope, and that which I then rave him was precisv
similar to that produced by Mr. Bradbury. Mr. Virtast
Greatorex said: I opened the letter which came by r
on the 15th of January, and which contained the ordereed
question. Mr. R. J. Smeeton said : The letter prodnoe
is not in my handwriting, neither is it written with
authority of any person in our firm. Mr. HumPhriod
said. the next case was one in which the prisoner ot
obtained a quantity of silk goods from Messrs. Leaf, be
Co., of Old Change, under similar circumstances; /AI ad
intended to apply for a remand in the other cases, and to
the next occasion he would probably be able to coo3P'
them all. The prisoner was then remanded.

THE SUPERANNUATION TAX.—GLASGOW PrrrilerV„o,
petition from the officers of customs at the port o f GlaSrdie
against the superannuation tax, has been r:Laced in li,
hands of Mr. Alexander Ifastie, the hle&-e'r for the,,,Zlie
for preiertation to Parliament. M. Alexander vii-oif
of Lanark, has also promised lo
Cochrane, of Lataiingten, the new nattr,iber for the c°-,
support for the repeal of the olair
THE MILFORD ROUTE ,XiOns tax.—Civil °I
Ga z We. ',end his influence Sep
too 3
is de"- il°
that the new postal arramt,
come into opera,tion. --,- :inents for the delivery of will
Is") IRELAND.—It un _,,
to and from the south ei Ireland via Milford flaYettirao
steamers to be emplo 'on the first of February. cit;
ed are the Malakhoff and the not
of Paris, and from .
bfreopmerLfoornnado&lli t
they are fully ad-
ose The entire dist'llll
their superior construction and 5`.0C9
opted to the purp •
... iod ..e,
posted in Pon' r t11
0 Watertord and the south o f ire ~,,,,o ,
shire and, t"
North in' -. in one day, and letters lO 0
tie south-west portion of Wales in time„,e la._,
morhir ail will be delivered at Waterford early t.",,,011!
th. .g, and vice versa. This will effect a great
,7, for,
• nal,' di
°t.,t oe in the interchange of correspondence to and ISt'
k , south of Ireland ; the inconvenience previo
felt it
10
ig in this respect having been materially feiL__ „LOA
commercial portion of South Wales. The mails vvf fOr
on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, returawb
Waterford each alternate day.

TUE

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