The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-08-11 00:00:00

roLICE.

• • I
Horst, Auto. 10—Mr. J. Pitcairn, a tradesman or
residing in the City, was charged with basing .ille- I
bills to the amount of WOl., the property of a person I
, Tigou.
.r. Tigou stated, that the bills, which had been futeibly detain.l
ed, were drawn upon the Minerva Mining Company, and that he
negotiated with the defendant tor a divideno of half a crown in the
pound, to be paid him on his foregoing all claim upon them. The
terms were agreed to, and the defendant signed an agreement to pay
the money. He then asked to look at the bills, and on getting
them into his possession, be refused to give them up.
On the complainant's cross-examination by fillr. Harmer, who
'attended for the defendant, he refused to state how or from whom
he got the hills. lie had, he admitted, been recently a prisoner in
the King's Bench prison.
Mr. HARMER said, that a partner in the Minerva Mining Com.
party had become insolvent, and was now in the King's Bench pri-
son. Fro n thence he sent forth bills, which had been paid tor. and
which were understood to be dead, in order to tutee Mr. Hunt,
who was a solvent partner and a gentleman of property, to pay
than! ever again. Such was the allegation of Mr. Hunt to
Yin Pitcairn, who was his friend, and who had proposed to rid
Was of the annoyance of a lawsuit, by compromising with the
peen holders, and inducing them to forego all claim upon them,
es atanorideration of 2s. lid. in the pound being given. The com-
gilislant no sooner got the agreement is his possession than he de-
*Ml it intention not to give up the bills. Mr. Pitcairn, who
Media in his hands, refused to part with them, and thought
Mouse* tally justified in detaining them from a person who would
give tie account how he got them.
The complainant said he only agreed to forego his claim upon
the bills, but he never intended to hive up i ossession of them. lie
WWI lea/ to return the agreement.
Mr. an M E R.—So then other persons were to have them, and
get money upon them in the same manner !
The LORD M AY° n said that as the complainant had not legally
given up possession of the bills they still belonged to him. and
ought to be restored. No improper motive could, however, he im_
pored to Mr.:Pitcairn, who had acted in the best manner for the
protection of Mr. Hunt.
111 r. Pitcairn slid he readily yielded to his Lordship's opinion,
and he gave up the bills to the complainant, who put theist into his
pocket, and was about to leave the office, when Mr. Harmer re.
minded him that he bud forgotten to give up the agreement.
The complainant coolly replied, that he bad not got it about
him.
The LORD MAYOR—How CAO you, sir, tell such a falsehood ?
but this minute you said you *ere ready to give it up. It must be
produced before you quit the room.
The complainant then produced it, and gave it up. Ile apolo-
gised, by saying he was not aware he had it about him.

JEWELLERS' GOLD.
GUILDHALL, AUGUST IO.—A curious expo* well worthy
the attention of the public, and which may tend to hellish some
information as to the value and quality of the various showy-look-
ing articles, such as seals, rings, &c., purporting to be gold, with
which many of the jewellers' shops abound, occurred at this office
this day, before 31e. Alderman Cox.
One George 1(1•31ullan, a countryman by his appearance, In
walking through Barbican a few days ago, was attracted by the
appearance of two seals and a watch-key on a split ring, the whole
of which were marked as fine gold, second hand, et the low price
of 365. Four such articles, all tine gold, certainly would have
been, what 31•3Iullan thought they were, a great bargain at 365.,
but, knowing that the London shopkeepers are pretty much in
the habit -of abating in the prices they originally ask, andde-
termined to make assurance doubly sure, haggled for some time,
and at length purchased the bargain fur thirty shillings. On ex.
hibiting, however, his purchase subsequently to his friends, the
genuineness of the articles were doubted, end on applying to them
the usual test, aquafortis, it acted upon the fine goad seals in pre.
cisely the same manner as it would have done had they been cop-
per; and upon applying the tile to them, it appeared that they
were principally solder, with a very thin coating of inferior g dd.
Application was in consequence made to the shopkeeper, Mr.
Tyers, who readily allowed the articles were not line gold, and
would have been willing enough to have exchanged them for any
other article; but that by the experiments tried upon them they
were now wholly unsaleable, and 31 `Mullen seeing no likelihood of
obtaining any redress, sought the assistance of the Magistrate, and
a sumn o s was accordingly issuea against Mr. Tvers for the al-
leged fraud, and thus the affair came before Mr. Alderman Cox.
With regard to the facts of the case the parties were agreed, and
Mr. Tyers, to explanation, said, that as far as related to any profit
he had got upon the article, he had in tact made none; for his
sister, who sold them to the complainant, by the abatement she had
made, had actually reduced them below what they cost him ; in
confirmation of which lie produced his invoice from Mr. George
Carrirgton, the manufacturer at Birmingham, in which the seals
were charged at Iffit. each. He knew the quality of the articles—he
knew, as indeed every body else might have known from their
• that they were not line gold, and he also knew that they
not solid. Indeed, there was scarcely such a thing to be met
in London as a solid gold seal, whatever might be its cost, and
..dy gentleman in the room would try his seal, he would find he
would soon come to the solder, nearly all the gold seals manufac-
teed being merely cased. hese articles, however, he begged it
observed, were cased and not washed ; seals merely gilt of
this description he could buy at 3s. a dozen. As an excuse for
dealing in such articles, Is uaid. that when be commenced business
he determined to sell only goods of a genuine description ; but the
prices he was obliged to mark them at were so high in comparison
with those displayed in the windows of other jewellers. the great
majority of whom dealt in these Birmingham goods, that he found
he could get no customers, which, together with his finding himself
laughed at by his friends for his hottest intentions, compelled him
to traffic in the Birmingham articles, as well as his neighbours.
Mr. Alderman Cox, who, front his previous knowledge of the
trade, was aware of the great injury done to the London makers by
these fraudulent manufactures, and was exceedingly desirous,
possible, to put a stop to such practices, by a criminal prosecution,
had in the interim, alter granting the summon*, caused the articles
in question to belsasayed at Goldsmiths' Hall, and had ascertained
that the proportion of gold in the casing war to the copper as one
thy. of gold to one pound of copper, and that the value of all the
gold contained in the four articles did not exceed one shilling.
On consulting, however, with the City Solicitor, he was of opi-
nion, that the circumstances of the transaction were not of a nature
to warrant the interference of the magistrate, as a case of fraud.
The Alderman recommended Mr. Tyers, in common justice, to
make reparation to the complainant. and to pay hint for his loss of
time in prosecuting the inquiry, to which that gentleman appeared
to as•ent.• The complainant, however, shortly alterwards returned
to the office, and informed the Magistrate that Mr. Tyers reemed
only to laugh at hint, and he leered had no ineentien to comply
with the Magistrate's reconimendatioo.
Mr. Alderman Cox directed him to apply again formally to Mr.
Tyers at his house, snail he should still refuse, he (the Alderman)
would adopt further proceedicga against him.
It is, however, to be feared, that with all the good intentions of
the Magistrate, the complainant's only remedy can be by an action
at law.