The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-24 00:00:00

EVENING,

.' would go with me that afternoon to the Ordnance-
office and I should receive it there and then. He at
that time said that be had 600/. or 7001. to receive,
and he bad a further order to the amount of 300/. to
execute for the same department. Half-past two
o'clock was the time appointed for our meeting at my
house, from which I was to accompany him to the
Ordnance-office to receive the money. He never
came, but my solicitor received a letter from him
next day, dated 30th July. I never received the
money.
The LORD MAYOR—Prisoner, this is a charge of a
serious nature. Have you any legal assistance ? The
prisoner—l can protect myself, my Lord. I have
been treated very uncerimoniously in this business,
for my papers have been all taken from me, and I was
conveyed from West Ham on Saturday to prison.
Die Loan MAYOR—Has the prisoner ever been a
Government contractor ? Mr. Hall—l do not know.
I have here a letter from the Board of Ordnance,
denying that he has any claim there, or that ha is
' executing any contract.
The Lome Maron—At what time were the goods
delivered to the prisoner ? Mr. lllll—On the Ist
of July.
The prisoner—No such thing. They were never
delivered till the 17th of July.
M e. Hall—l saw the prisoner on the 2d of July,
and ho told me he had received the goods on the day
before, and ha was very much pleased with there.
Teo prisoner, who said he would show the matter
in quite a different light, was then remanded.
It appeared, from correspondence found in the pos-
session of the prisoner, that his wife and family had
sailed for Australia, and that he was to remain be-
hind to make some arrangements.
Patrick Higgins, Owen Biggins, Peter Beszvick,
and John Fillis, men in the employment of Messrs.
Kebble and Co., of All Hallows-lane, Thames-street,
lead-merchants, were charged with having stolen a
quantity of old iron, the property of the firm, in
whose service Patrick Higgins bad been engaged a
great many years.
A policeman had, in consequence
of information, watched the premises, and he ascer-
tained that at seven o'clock in the evening, when the
' regular business of the establishment was finished for
the day, the prisoners brought down a marine-store-
dealer named Beale, who lived in the immediate
neighbourhood of the warehouse, and sold to him 4
cwt. lqr. 241 b. of old iron, which lay in the place,
Far 4Y_ ..7, di .
Beale said that one of the prisoners called at his
shop, and asked him whether he bought old iron ?
He said yes, and he went, by invitation, down to Mr.
Kebble's warehouse, where he was told' the iron lay,
► weighed it in Mr. Kebble's scales, and paid for it to
the prisoners, at the rate of ls. per cwt.
John Thompson, a person in the employment of
Messrs. Kebble and Co., proved that the iron had
been on the premises on the previous morning, and
was worth about 10s.
Patrick Higgins said that neither he nor any of the
other men had any idea of stealing. The fact was,
the old iron had been knocking about, for 14 or 15
years, and some of it had been actually on the pre-
mises of his employers for 26 years, and he had looked
upon it as his perquisite for a great length of time.
One of the other men said to him that the old iron
would fetch some beer, as they might get a farthing
a pound for it ; and he said they might take it. He
had no thought, after being in the employment for
so many years, of acting dishonestly.
The prisoners were committed for trial.
GUILDHALL.
-11'1° Jaques Anne, Marie Salamon de Gaeton, a
French gentleman residing at 103, Mount-street,
Grosvenor-square, was placed at the leer, before Sir
James Duke, charged with stealing a large quantity
of shares belonging to the Le Mineur Anglo-Franco-
Californian Gold Mining Company, from the office of
their branch establishment, in King's Arms-yard,
Moorgate-street.
Mr. Clarkson, instructed by Mr. Nobler, appeared
on behalf of the French company, for the prosecution;
and Mr. Dearsley, of the bar, defended the prisoner.
Mr. Clarkson said the charge against the prisoner
was one of taking from the office of the branch of Le
I,lineur, a French joint-stock company for working
the gold mines in California, a great many shares,
and other things belonging to the company. About
50,0001. in English money had been subscribed in
France, with which to establish a branch company in
London, and the prisoner was appointed the servant
of the directors to carry out their object, which was
to facilitate the disposal of the shares. M. Vachon,
the managing director, gave the prisoner his instruc-
tions, and shares to the amount of 70,000/. to nego-
tiate in Londoe, togetherewith nearly 1,0001. to defray
all preliminary expenses. The prisoner accordingly
came over and took offices in King's Arms-yard,
Moorgate-street ; and having disposed of both mo-
ney and shares, the company, not receiving any ac-
count from the prisoner, sent over M. Vachon, the ma-
nager, who, on inquiry, found prisoner had taken apart-
ments in Mount-street, Grosvenor-square, in conjunc-
tion with a woman, to which place he had ascertained
the prisoner bad conveyed the shares and other pro-
perty from the offices in the City. In consequence of
this information the prisoner was given into custody,
and on searching his apartments shares to the value
of 25,0001. were found concealed within the stuffing
of the sofa and beneath the flooring of a bed-room in
the same house. The Learned Counsel then went on
to say that he would prove that it was the prisoner's
duty, as the servant of the company, to keep posses-
sion of their property, but only at their offices in
Moorgate-street; that he was seen removing these
shares, and that they were afterwards found concealed
in apartments occupied by him and a woman with
whom he was given to understand the prisoner co-
habited.
Me. Dearsley wished that his Learned Friend
would go into the evidence to prove what he bad
alleged he should be able, as he (Mr. Dearsley) con-
tended that the prisoner was not the servant of the
Company,but a partner; and in fact, as far as the
company in England WAS concerned, the company
itself.
RI. Jean Louis Alethurin Sebastian Napoleon
Vachon, jun., was thed sworn, and with the assistance
of Mr. Catty, who kindly acted as interpreter, the
following evidence was elicited :—I live at 23, Ben-
tinck-street, Manchester-square, and came to London
on the 7th of the present month. I am the managing
director of the company in France called " Le
Mineur," established there under the laws of France,
and enrolled on the 27th of April, 1850. It was
established in the names of Messrs. Vachon, jun.,
Xavier Van de Castelli and Co. The proprietary of
shares established in France was about 50,000/.
English. The branch company in London was formed
eight months ago, and the prisoner was recommended
to me, not as
an officer of the company, but as the
agent only in London. He was appointed by me
and verbally d
in writing. He is not the proprietor of
any shares.
Ts is the deed of agreement between
the prigmer and myself on the part of the company.
Mr. Dearsley objected to the deed being received
as evidence, unless it was proved in the proper form,
as the law of France required not only that the deed
should be stamped,
but that it should also be re-
gistered.
Sir Jess DUKE said the deed appeared to be
stamped, and he should.Jee not, therefore, at this stage of
t to receive the document as
the proceedings object
evidence,
Witness continued—The company is registered, as
of agreement,although, according to
is also the deed r ,
y necessary. suchis not anecessary. I
the French laws,
Aprisoner to form a branch company in En -
K
4th
of last February, and gave Ice
land, on the
toi
8,724 f. in French money, and after-
wards,im
350/., equalhis representations that more money w, as
upon
carry out the company's operations aI
required to
further advance of 400/. This was 'on
or him a
g h of May last. In consequence on
or about the 2 t
I received I came to England
certain information
and the prisoner hon
nth saw at the office
the ed of this me'
I had before demanded his ace
three days after.
could not get them. On the fol-
lowingl4thoun from him, but
requested him to deliver use his ac-
count:, .1. again ynsted the Monday following f and he app
on
Monday, and requested- the
accounts so doing. I calledr
v day until the Thursday, When'-
accounts again every
off altogether for a considerable
he ultimately
receivedpa
information subsequently whiche
time. I 1 for the assistance of the policet
induced me to use:
the prisoner lived in Mount°
watch the house in which
The shares were not --
re.
street, Grosvenor-square. g
se France, givenbecausethea
to the prisoner before 1
re forwarded t him "
they we n in
were not ready, but
time to time. The shares pro-
duced parcels from
the prisoner had e° authority
duced are the same, ana
from the office in King '
from me to remove them ,
hes. He
gave
mes
Arms-yard to his private.
alinnyn'
shares, and if h© has
sold of the disposal of
Nava received no coranuntic7
sold 120 1/. shares we t .
t I asked him on -se-'
tion from him to that elide
sold any shares, and he
replied week last if he
had
ten shares. I understande
replied that he had sold only shares than he has
he has sold a great ninny more gave him into
acknowledged to, and, therefore,
acted as bank CUS-
tody. Several firms in London
but Sir C P • bankers to
C. nee and
the Le Mineur branch conapanY,
Co. were the last. .
IA ate Alderman's attention
Mr. Dearsley here Cele- by „f produced the to a part of the agreement teat
.1 ell profits arising
wit-
ness,
in which it apenare"
and all sums above fironl,;x"l3lol2:6 on London, the prisoner and
par,
z'"111 be equally divided between
expenses incurred
ner and
the company, after deducting the . in 1
Os the sixth clause of the ,
such transactions.. This l'7l
that would prove the
agreement, end one of several.
in the property of the
prisoner was a participator
company.
arranged that in case
Witness continued—lt wag six months,, the company did not go on at the end of
its losses were to be met, to a certain extent, by the
prisoner repaying half of the
tat is to
amount advanced
of by
the company in the first instance, h
.
company say,
went the
two sums of 350/. and 4001., but If the
On there would be no losses at all. The prisoner was

not responsible in any way for the success of the
company or its losses.
Cross-examined by Mr. Dearsley—The prisoner
was to account to me or the company in France. I
had no authority to dispose of any portion of the
40,000 shares delivered to the prisoner, and the 20,000
shares I disposed of to M. Damberger were a new
issue that were sent to England to receive the English
stamp, and were then returned to France and handed
over to M. Damberger. The company in France and
the branch in England are not totally distinct compa-
nies. The title of the French company is "Le
Mineur," and that of the branch in London, "le
Mineur de France et Anglice." Tae prisoner was
not the director of the latter, but merely an agent to
construct the branch for the French company. The
prisoner has signed shares when I have been ill, but
they have been countersigned by me. I attached the
balance now lying at the bankers in the name of
Messre. Vachon, jun., X. Van de Castelli and Co.
Sir JAMES DUKE asked if the prisoner was not
meant to ha included in the word "Company."
Witness, after much difficulty in giving a straight-
forward answer, said he was not.
Richard Turner, 188 C of the metropolitan police,
said—Oa Saturday night last I went to 103, Mount-
street, Grosvenor-square, rind after waiting three
hours I saw the prisoner drive up in a cab. This was
about half-past eight o'clock. I took him into cus-
tody, and then examined the house. In the third
floor front bed-room I removed the carpet and raised
three of the floor boards, and found concealed
beneath 41 packages of shares, and one package
containing a banker's account-book, in the pocket
of which some cheques, drawn by the prisoner
in his own name on behalf of the company,
were discovered. I then proceeded to the front draw-
ing-room on the first floor, when I found secreted
between the spring stuffing and the webbing of the
sofa 17 other packages of shares, which I took pos-
session of as soon as I had lodged the prisoner in the
station. I went again on Sunday morning, about
eleven o'clock, and found about 800 shares in two
packages in the drawing-room chimney, five share-
covers in a rubbish basket in the kitchen passage,
and two loose shares in a drawer in Madame Detour's
room. Madame Detour left the house on Saturday
morning, and I was told she was the woman the pri-
soner was living with.
Cross-examined—M. -Vachon, jun., and anotber
gentleman were with me when I went to the prisoner's
house on Saturday. I received my instructions
from the acting inspector on the same afternoon.
The prisoner was not present when the property was
found.

Mr. Clarkson said the Alderman had the evidence
before him as to the shares, which- for the sake of this
prosecution he should call so many pieces of paper,
having been stealthily removed from the offices and
concealed in the prisoner's apartments, he having
been the agent of the company, and refusing to give
any account of his transactions previously. It would,
therefore, rest with the Alderman to say whether a
prima facie case had been made out for a remand.
Mr. Dearsley said this was a most serious case as far
as the prisoner was concerned. It was a well-known
principle in law that no person could be charged with
felony where there was a supposed right on the part
of the cccused to detain property alleged to have been
stolen. Thera were documents in the possession of
the parties for the prosecution, which if they had put
in would have shown the real position of the prisoner
with regard to the company. However, it was enough
for his purpose to know that no casehad been made out
to enable the magistrate to remand the prisoner, who,
knowing the character of M. Vachon, and that he
would take possession of this property by force, as a
matter of security removed it to his own house, where
he concealed iot. He had no intention of denying that
fact ; but he thought the proceedings here were un-
necessary and harsh, as the prisoner had already been
summoned to appear at the Mansion House, and was
fully prepared to meet the case there in its proper
form.

Sir JAMES DUKE said there was nothing at all
against the prisoner as yet ; but he considered a prima
facie case had been made out to enable him to adjourn
the inquiry, but not to detain the prisoner in custody.
He would therefore take his own recognizsnces in
501. to appear at the next examination.
The prisoner requested permission to explain one
or two circumstances omitted in his counsel's instruc-
tions, in the course of which we understood him to
assert that the English branch of Le Mineur was
established with the view of its ultimately advancing
a loan of 40,000/. to the parent company in Paris.
Sir JAMES DUKE said that one good would cer-
tainly result from this investigation—the public would
benefit by it if no one else did.
The prisoner quite concurred with the alderman in
his last remark; and the shares, money, books, and
memorandums having been ordered to be detained in
the custody of the officer, the prisoner's recognizances
were then taken, and he was liberated, having been
locked up in the station cell from Saturday night till
Monday morning.