The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-10 00:00:00

CRYSTAL PALACE COMPANY.

The third ordinary general meeting of this company
was held yesterday at the Bridge House Hotel, Lon-
don-bridge, for the reception of the report, &c., of the
directors, and also for the purpose of authorising the
conversion of the share capital into stock, and for rati-
fying an agreement with the West End and Crystal
Palace Railway Company. Mr. Laing, M.P., the
chairman of the company, presided.
There was a numerous attendance of proprietors.
The SECRETARY (Mr. G. Grove) having read the re-
port of the directors and the financial statement, which
have already been published in Tire Sum,

The CHAIRMAN moved their reception and adoption by
the shareholders, and was about to proceed, when
Mr. LYON called the attention of the meeting to the
fact that the accounts and books of the company
had not been taken forty-two days before the day of
meeting before the auditors according to the char-
ter. The accounts ought to have been ready
for the inspection of the shareholders 14 days before the
meeting ; but, on his going to the Palace, on the 2d
August, he found the accounts were not ready, and he
received uncourteous treatment from the official at that
place. He complained of the revenue-book not being
forthcoming, as it ought to have been, and characterised
the accounts as being in a bad state—(hear)—neither
showing the whole of the receipts nor payments of the
Company. (Hear, hear.) He thought a committee
should be appointed to investigate the accounts.
(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN interrupted Mr. Lyon, by reminding
him he was not in order. (Hear, and hisses.) The
proper mode was for him (the chairman) to make his
statement, and then Mr. Lyon, or any proprietor,
could address the meeting. (Hear, hear, and dis-
approbation.)
Mr. LYON having assented to this course,
The CHAIRMAN said this was the first time he had
heard anything against the period at which the accounts
and books should be sent before the auditors. It was
true that by the charter the accounts and books should
be sent before the auditors 42 days before the day of
meeting ; but as it was thought desirable the accounts
of the company, like those of railway companies, should
be made up to the 30th June, it was impossible to send
the books and accounts before the auditors 42 days be-
fore the day of meeting, unless an adjournment of the
day of meeting took place for that purpose. He knew
nothing about the audit except that he found a certificate,
signed by Mr. Whitmore and Mr. Fletcher, the auditors,
respectable gentlemen, stating they had examined the
accounts and found them correct, and, as to the inspec-
tion of the books, the shareholders bad a right to do so
by the terms of the charter. The directors had never en-
tertained the idea of keeping back information from the
shareholders, nor were they such fools as to do so,
knowing that when the shareholders had had access to
the books there would ho nothing found that could re-
coil on their heads. (Hear, hear.) The directors could
now say that the construction of the great undertaking
was practically at an end, the only portions which now
awaited entire completion being the great range of lower
fountains—(hear, hear)—the upper ones having been
completed and played with success, without interruption,
during the summer. The upper range of fountains
being substantially completed, the only question for the
consideration of the directors was the policy of their per-
mitting them to he played now or keep them for addi-
tional attraction for the ensuing year. (Hear.) As a
work of art the Crystal Palace had been most successful,
and he stated deliberately, after a journey of businees
through most of the great capitals of Europe, where he
had lied an opportunity of refreshing his memory with a
sight of a great many monuments and works of art, that
he had seen nothing so great and beautiful in itself as a
work of art as the Crystal Palace ; and in future years
when they looked back on the names of Paxton, the
Presiding genius and Digby Wyatt, and Owen Jones,
gentlemen who had carried out those beautiful courts
which they all admired, a halo would surround their
names, and they would rank as high as any of the great
Italian artists of the middle ages, not excepting Raphael
or Michael Angelo. (Applause.) Its success as a public
and national undertaking had no doubt depended much
on the manner in which certain great ceremonies and
fetes had been carried out, such as the opening cere-
mony by the Queen and the Royal family, and the visit
of the Emperor and Empress of the French. The Crystal
Palace now assumed a national character, which had been
worthily carried out, for he hoped nothing had
been done in the direction of the undertaking
to derogate from that character, but that they had rather
been actuated on all occasions with a desire to give ad-
ditional eclat to it, and make it a means of instruction
and innocent recreation for the masses of the people--
(hear)—and the palace having been visited by upwards
of 1,300,000 persons none could deny but that great
good must have been effected. (Hear.) As to its cone-
, mercial object he apprehended the high expectations
they entertained at the early period of the undertaking
had not been realised. The figures before the meeting
showing the result for the first year were, considering
all circumstances, very favourable. All their expenses
had been discharged, and a dividend of 5 per cent. had
been paid, and a considerable surplus carried over.
They had now entered their second year, when it
might be expected the attracton of its novelty might
be abated, but he was happy to state that the number
of visitors on which they mainly depended bad fully
answered their expectations, the numbers for the past
week being equal to that of the corresponding period of
last year, which was a remarkable fact, when they con-
sidered the attraction of novelty must have abated, and
when the excursion and pleasure traffic of the railways
of -the kingdom had considerably fallen off from the high
price of provisions and the expenses of the war. After
adverting to the imperfect means of communication to the
Crystal Palace, which was likely soon to be remedied
by the railway now in course of prosecution, which he
hoped would have the means of keeping up the average
number of visitors to the Crystal Palace, and give the
shareholders a fair remuneration for the outlay, he
said the applications for space up to the present time
for exhibition in the building had been a fail-
ure, but he hoped in future years it would
turn out a source of profit when its value as an
advertising medium was more fully appreciated.
(Hear.) A suggestion had been made for converting
shares into life tickets of admission, which had been sup-
ported by some and objected to by others, and his only
object in then mentioning it was that he thought it
should not be tried until the result of their undertaking
had been more clearly ascertained. They were now
arrived at that part of the undertaking when the con-
struction account having been wound up a new
era of management opened. The Crystal Palace
required more than any undertaking he was
acquainted with men of extraordinary talent and
ability to successfully manage its affairs, and the princi-
pal director required to be almost a walking cyclopedia,
and he acquainted with everything under the sure He
should be able to enter into all the details of expendi-
ture, and devise novelties of attraction for the public, so
as to draw a large number to the palace. (Hear.) He
(the chairman) must decline undertaking the duties of chair-
man of their direction any longer, not having time to devote
to it, as he had been compelled to that of others. Mr.
Calvert and Mr. Lushington had resigned from the same
cause, and Mr. Fuller having gone out of the direction
on the question of life tickets, there were now four va-
cancies in the direction. Seeing so many vacancies, and
feeling it necessary there should be a re-organisation of
tl,e management of the undertaking, he proposed the
appointment of a committee to consult with the remain-
ing directors 'as to the best persons to be nominated di-
rectors ; and also to consult with them relative to a plan
for the future management. After some other general
remarks, the chairman moved the adoption of the report
and the accounts.
Mr. ANDERSON seconded the motion.

A long and stormy discussion took place relative to
the management, in the course of which Mr. Tyrrell,
Mr. Lyon, Mr. Slack, Mr. Etches, Mr. Farquhart, the
Chairman, Mr. Sotheby, and others took part, a variety
of resolutions being proposed relative to the objects
sought by the appointment of a committee for the pur-
poses mentioned by the Chairman. Ultimately the
following gentlemen were appointed :—Messrs Jouadies,
F. Fuller, D. Price, D. Oglevie, H. Waite, S. Court-
hall, J. Etches, H. J. Slack, H. Lowe, and S. Beale,
who were also to examine tlke accounts and booics, and
report at a future special meeting.
Mr. FELLER, who said he was satisfied with the con-
duct of the directors, but whose only fault was that they
legislated more liberally for the public than the share-
holders, wished to see the capital account reduced by the
issue of life or terminal tickets— the shareholders to have
an advantage over the public. He was opposed to the
reduction of the season tickets from two guineas to
one guinea, and hoped the ss. day would be
altered to some other day than Saturday, now the
Saturday holiday movement had been so extensive in
London. Ho wished to see the grounds open to share.
holders on Sunday, where refreshments should be sup-
plied at a moderato price, but no intoxicating beverages
sold.
The subject was referred to the committee above ap-
pointed.
Mr. Anderson and Mr. Scott Russell were re-elected
directors.
Mr, J. Ball (of the firm of Quilter and Ball) was

elected auditor in the room of Mr. Whitmore, resigned.
A unanimous request WM made to Mr. Laing to con-
tinue Chairman of the Company, but he said he was
compelled respectfully, though reluctantly, to decline
complying with their request.
The other purposes for which the meeting was called
having been agreed to, a vote of thanks was accorded
to the Chairman, and the meeting separated.
The meeting occupied three hours and a half.

ASSIZE .INTELLNENCE.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.-BRISTOL, AUG. 9.

The commission was opened by Mr. Justice Williams.
There were only 16 causes entered.

CIVIL COURT.-BARWICK V. HAWKER.

Mr. H. T. Cole was counsel for the plaintiff, and Mr.
Serjeant Kinglake and Mr. Barstow for the defendant.
This was an action upon a bill of exchange for 38/. The
defendant pleaded that the bill had been given for a bet
which had been won at horse racing.
The plaintiff having put in the bill,
The defendant was called, and said—l know the plain-
tiff. I became acquainted with him in 1819 or 1850,
through a Mr. Herbert. I had bets with him on the
Northamptonshire Stakes aad the Chester Cup in 1850.
The bill was given for bets on those two races. My
affairs are in the Court of Chancery.
Cross-examined--I shall he 61 years of age next Sep-
tember. I have betted for 25 years. I took 35/. to 5/.
upon the Northamptonshire Stakes. I betted many
times with Mr. Barwick, and I dare say I paid him, but
I did not pay him this 51. bet. I cannot find in my
book an entry for the bet on the Chester Cup. The fact
is, I was careless about my books. When I made the
bets I anticipated either paying or receiving. I don't
know whether the plaintiff is a wine merchant: I read
the bill before I signed it. (The bill was for value received
in wine.) I never had any wine from the plaintiff. The
plaintiff told me it was necessary I should pay a Mr.
King the bets I owed him. This is the only bill the
plaintiff ever had of me. (A letter was then put in from
the defendant's attorney to the plaintiff, in which he
stated that he enclosed him a 38/. bill of the defendant's,
and begged him to return the former bill.) I do not re-
collect ever having given the plaintiff any other bill than
the present.

Ike-examined.—The bill was given for bets, and no-
thing else.

Ar. Cole said that when his learned friend had opened
his case, and talked about the Court of Chancery, he
fully expected to see the defendant, when put In the box,
appear to be a ward in Chancery, who had been fleeced
by the plaintiff, a "verdant green," instead of which he
turned out to be an " old rook" of 61, who had indulged
in betting for 25 years, and this bill had been given as a
renewal of a former bill, which had been given months
before either the Northamptonshire Stakes or the Chester
Cup bad been run for. The fact was, the bill had been
given to cover an account for wine, &c., fur which he
was indebted to the plaintiff.
Barwick.—l am the plaintiff, and first became
acquainted with the defendant in 1850. I had bets with
him, but never to more than 101. at a time. Every bet
he lost to me he paid. I don't recollect the bet of 351.
to Si. The bets were seldom more than 2/. I was a
wine merchant, and supplied King, a publican in Far-
ringdon-street.. I think he also was a betting man. I
introduced the defendant to him. The defendant used
to drink a deal of wine there, and gave dinners there. I
told the defendant that it was excessively unpleasant to
me, having introduced the defendant to King, that he
should owe him money, and King said ho should like to
have an arrangement if I would draw a bill on the de-
fendant and give King credit for it, and accordingly, in
January, 1850, I drew a bill for 351. upon Hawker. The
bill was dishonoured, and I received letters from the de-
fendant promising to pay money on account, but an
arrangement was made for giving the present bill and
having the old one returned, and I sent back the old bill
to Hawker. The 381. did not include a single shilling
for a bet. I don't think I ever betted with him at all
before I drew the first bill.

Cross-examined.—l have had very little to do with bet-
ting during the last 10 years. I became acquainted with
Hawker at Herbert's table, who is the solicitor of Haw-
ker. There was a betting list at King's house, kept by
one Baines. It was scarcely possible to go into a pub-
lic-house in London at that time without finding a bet-
ting list. Mr. King owed me 701. or 80/, when this bill
was given, and Hawker owed King 331. I very likely
kept a betting book, but it was very small ; it was not
a regular betting book. The following letter was put in
written by the witness to the defendant :
" Dear Sir,—l called at King's this morning, where they
gave me a letter received from you yesterday, where you
expressed a wish to back some animals for the Chester
Cup. They are not able to lay against those you want ;
but, as I have a 1001. book on the event, you can have the
following odds from me if you say ' done.'—Yours,

_
" W. BARWICK.
80 to 20 agst Essedarius
Herbert, self, and one or
70 20 Malton
two more have a bit of a
50 —2O John Cosser
dinner at King's on Fri-
-100 30 Little Isett
123 —2O Mark Tapley day. Come up.
" Mr. G. Hawker."
The figures in that letter have been altered. The noughts
to the figures are not mine. It should be 80 to 2, not
20. There was not a notice sent to me from Chancery
to send in my claim. There was one sent to Mr. Powell,
who was my solicitor.
Mr. Serjeant Kinglake then, for the defendant,
said that it was manifest that the plaintiff and defendant
could not both have spoken the trt.th ; but he urged
that the defendant had given the true account of the
transaction, and was entitled to the verdict.

The Learned Judge having summed up,
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for 471, 10s,

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE.—Edward Foley, the proprietor
of the Griffin public-house, No. 99, Shoreditch, formerly
called the Carlisle Arms, was brought before the Lord
Mayor on the charge of having feloniously received a
Bank of England note for 20/., knowing that it had
been stolen.

Mr. \Vontner appeared for the prosecution ; Mr.
Hobler for the prisoner.
Mr. Wontuer said the case presented some curious
circumstances. The lady who was robbed upon this
occasion had been followed by three persons of her own
sex, one of whom was a little girl, through whose un-
suspected instrumentality the other two contrived to get
possession of her pocket-book, containing 551., part of
which was the 201.-note in question. The prisoner kept
a house which had been notorious for the entertainment
of swell mobsmen, skittle sharps, card sharps, and thieves
of a great variety of degrees and descriptions, and he had
acted in such a manner in the transaction, which would
be represented by the evidence as having taken place at
his house, as to leave no doubt of his knowledge of the
way in which those he assisted had obtained possession
of the property.
Evidence having been adduced,

The Lord Mayor remanded the prisoner, but said he
would accept two good bail in the sum of 50!. each, upon
24 hours' notice to Mr. %Vontner.

GUILDHALL.—Sir Peter Laurie said he had re-
ceived another circular enclosed in a letter, of which the
following is a copy, from a Mr. Adshead, of the Strand
" 53, Strand, Aug. 7.
" Sir,—The enclosed circular from Mr. Mark,'
whose attempts to extort money from the unwary you
have already so properly exposed, was received here ye-
terclay morning. is. was paid for the postage, and my
reason for troubling you with it is that you may make it
as public as possible, which is the only way to put a
check to the imposition.

"Please to observe that the date varies a little, being
the 21st of July, and not the 13th, as in the former
eases.

"I am, sir, with great respect, your most obedient
servant. " EBENEZER ADSHEAD.
_ . _

"Sir Peter Laurie, &e."

Mr. Martin, the chief clerk, said he had also received
a similar circular from Mr. Henry Adams, of 18, Ches-
ter-street, Kennington-lane.
Sir P. Laurie said he perceived that, as in all the
other cases in which the Yankee Joseph Ady sought to
swindle London tradesmen, the postage was unpaid until
the circulars were taken in by those to whom they were
addressed. The blue official-looking seal on the envelope
would be quite sufficient, after these exposures, to in-
form the public of the contents of such letters, and he
was not sure that a good result would not ensue from an
application made by those who had been victimised to
the Postmaster-General for the return of the postage on
these circulars ; but lie considered the most effectual
means of punishing the man " Mark" were in the hands
of the Post-office authorities, who, he thought, had the
power to refuse payment of the postage to the American
authorities.

BOW-STREET. —ll tzry Aan Church, who has been
convicted of felony at least 50 times, was charged with
robbing a foreign gentleman, named Roder, of half-a-
cro Vl7n.
Mr. Hall—Were you sober, sir ?
Prosecutor—Yes, certainly.
Mr. Hall—You must be a foreigner, then?
Prosecutor—l am a German.
Mr. Hall—Ab, that accounts for it. If you bad been
an Englishman you would have been drunk, for a cer-
tainty. (A laugh.)
Prosecutor (smiling)—The Germans get drunk some-
times, I fear.
Mr. Hall—Yes, after they have resided any time in
this country. They acquire our English habits.
(Laughter.)
The prisoner was committed for trial.

MARLBOROUGII-STREET.---Entma Eppelein, wife
of the porter of the Prussian Minister, was brought be-
fore Mr. Bingham, charged with stealing a diamond
ear-ring of the alleged value of 6,000 dollars.
The complainant, a little foreign woman of shabby ap-
pearance, said, about three weeks ago she went to the
residence of the Prussian Minister to ask for some assist-
ance. She saw the porter, husband of the prisoner, and
told him her errand. In the course of conversation she
mentioned that she had a diamond ear-ring, a sort of
heirloom, with her, which she had vainly attempted to
dispose of to the Baroness Rothschild. She showed the
jewel to the porter, and the porter said, as she had such
a valuable piece of property with her, she had
better go with him and remain with his wife until
she could finish her business. Complainant consented
to that arrangement, and she slept with the prisoner for
several nights. The prisoner was informed of her pos-
session of the ear-ring, and knew where it was. The
jewel was in a pocket-book, which she always kept in
a pocket in her dress. On Saturday last the prisoner
pretended to doubt that she had shown the ear-ring to
the Baroness Rothschild, and the complainant said she
would satisfy her in' the morning. Complainant did
produce to the prisoner a certificate to that eaoFte and