The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-15 00:00:00

A Horse-Trainer Charged with Libel.

Yesterday a writ of inquiry was executed at the Town
Hall Croydon, by the Under Sheriff of Surrey, Mr. C. Ab-
bot', to assess the damages in an action for libel brought
by Mr. Sydney Jacobs, an owner of race-horses, and who
is well known upon the turf, against Robert I'Anson, the
trainer, in which judgment was allowed to go by default.
Mr, Joyce was counsel for the plaintiff; and Mr. Robin-
son for the defendant.
In the beginning . bJeogyicneandgdressed the jury, and said that the plain-
tiff had been for many years connected with racing matters,
and the defendant was well known as a trainer, and brother
to a more celebrated man residing in the north of England.
of the year the defendant had the care of
two race-horses belonging to the plaintiff called Passion
and Duchess of Rent; but in February the latter sold them
to a gentleman named Simons, but they still remained at
the defendant's stables. After they had been there some
time, Mr. Simons was desirous to remove them, and on the
10th of June he went down to Mickleham for the purpose
of doing so. The defendant was not at home, and his wife
objected to the horses being taken away, and he was there-
fore obliged to return without them. On the following
day he received the letter that was the subject of the ac.
tion. The learned counsel read the letter, which contained
the following passages—" I am not surprised that you
should have come down to Mickleham to remove the
horses, at a time when you knew I was away. . . .
• • • . I wonder you can allow yourself to play into
the hands of that thief Jacobs, and do his dirty work for
him." This was the portion which was the subject of the
libel ; but the letter went on to charge Jacobs with having
attempted to bribe the boys about the stables, and stated
that the horses should not be removed until the defendant
had been paid what Jacobs owed him, adding that he did
not care so much about himself as the poor people about
Mickleham, to whom the plaintiff owed money. The
plain-
learned counsel said he did not ask for vindictive damages,
but the defendant had admitted the libel, and they ought
to award such an amount as would clear his character in
the eyesmr.
Ho. f,i.the
Simons
ra world,o n s and
w a shows th
ethen
that
examined, there
thdnhooesr
msaeihd.alsoliHe
e
founda-
tion for the serious charge that had been made against him
he purchased two horses of hivtihemotuhwtehich were at
for that
took
aanmiendtiecraelst miannraperinacgtimsiantgteirns. WHalowokrntebw, and he
tiff as being connected with the turf, and in the beginning
of the year
the time in training with the defendant, Mr. I'Anson. At
subjectrof of the
the request a Mr. Jacobs he continued ttohekeepthe horses
at Mickleharn after he had purchased them, but about the
month of June, for reasons which it was not necessaryafuodr
hh
ei
mw te
on
went
d mention,owvreenc::
ahet
ndhe
detwhahese defendant'sd
ce
letterasin
aroeu ea
which
wtoa remove
stables mawso
was not at home, and his wife objected to the
ehorsesss purposei
o n,; .
ined : Witness was a surgeon by
but he
libel,a beingftcerwo
asranser.dmde
afterwards received
it to the plaintiff."
but he combined a little racing with it at times.P He had
only followed racing regularly for a few months since he
had purchased these horses. He had known Jacobs a good
many
years. He was not related either to himself or his
wife ; but he was aware that he knew a good deal about
racing matters, and he therefore consulted him. The de-
fendant, he believed, had been his trainer for a consider-
able time.
Mr. Robinson asked the witness whether he had not
heard that at the time these horses were sought to be re-
moved, Jacobs owed I'Anson
a considerable sum?
Mr. Joyce the
question b
objected to being put; but the
Under-Sheriff ruled that it was
admissible.
The witness then said he might have
knew nothing shout it. He Was awaree heard so, bat he
took place on the 10th June; b that Hampton Races
ly on. that day t u he did not go down
toparticular fetch the horses
thought the defendant would be at , because he
heard that the defendant had sent the races. He had
an
the solicitor for the Plailttiff, but he neverapology in writing to
the horses, Passion, Was
dead; but saw it. One of
lioth run defendant had given
since they had been wit-
up the other. They had
ness's property. Passion ran at Epsom, and the Duchess
of Kent at Reigate, and the latter
was
in the Oaks the fol-
lowing year. The horse ran in th
which was a name suggested by Mr. Jacobs
name of Madeleine,
Jacobs on account of
its being an uncommon one. r .
He acted under the advice of
Mr. Jacobs in all matters relating to racing. Witness had
brought an action against
the defendant to recover £3OO,
the value of the horses, and for l neg ect in training them.
upon one occasion the s tvitne
a horse called Volunteer, a s accepted an engagement for
and became responsible for the
amount of the stakes, and he did so at the request of Mr
Jacobs.

- Mr. Robinson then addressed the jury on behalf of the de-
fendant in mitigation of damages. He said he did not dis-
pute that the defendant had acted improperly in writing the
letter, but immediately afterwards he had made all the re-
paration in his power, and he submitted that this was all
that could be expected, and that the present action ought
never to have been brought against him, the only object of
which was to gratify a feeling of vindictiveness and saddle
him with expenses and law charges. He commented upon
the absence of the plaintiff, and said if he had been called as
a witness, he should have been enabled to have elicited from
him whether there was any truth in the suggestion that at
the time the attempt was made to remove the horses Jacobs
was indebted to defendant a considerable sum for training
and other expenses. He said, h.)wever, that, as the case
stood at present, he thought the jury could not entertain
any doubt of this fact • and it was clear that the defend-
ant was under the 'impression that the pretended sale of
the horses to Simons
was merely a juggle to shift the
ownership, and enable the latter to obtain possession
of the horses, which he considered he was entitled to
keep until the lien which he had upon them was dis-
charged.
lie went on to contend that it was very natural
for the defendant to be under such an impression, and
he should think that advantage had been taken of
also that ,
knowing that he would be at the Hampton Races to go to
his stables during his absence and carry cut the project, and
that, upon
his return at night, finding this to be the case,
and probably a little excited from having been at the races,
he wrote the letter in question. He had, however, apolo-
gised immediately • and he submitted, in conclusion, that
the plaintiff had in' reality sustained no damage whatever,
and he hoped the jury would say so by their verdict.
the plaintiff, one farthing. The effect of this ver-
dict The jury, after a short deliberation, returned a verdict for
will be that damageseach party pays his own costs.

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MURDER IN WOLVERHAMPTON.

WOLVERHAMPTON, Aug. 14

A terrible crime has been committed in this town. In
Bilston -street there is a wide court known as the Barracks,
but correctly as No. 4 Court. It contains about eight houses,
tenanted at 2s. 3d. a week. On the occupancy of one of
these there entered five or six weeks ago a young man and
woman, who seemed to obtain a livelihood by making and
selling forks and skewers of iron ware. On the Monday
evening, about a month ago, the woman locked the house
door and told a next-door neighbour that she was going out,
and asked her to say if any one called that she was gone
to the country. A few days after her departure a respect,
able-looking woman came from Willenhall, a neighbouring
township, and enquired for Mr. Williams, her son,who was
alledged to be the tenant of the house and who had passed
as the husband of the woman referred to. The message left
by the woman was delivered,and old Mrs. Williams desired
that her son should be told to write to his mother,as she wished
to bear from him. Whether or not the woman rho made
the inquiries was the person she alleged herself to be has
not yet transpired. After that time no one called, and the
house remained closed. An offensive smell, however; for
some days back has been noticed to proceed from the house,
and this morning the neighbour with whom the message
had been delivered by the woman-tenant began to suspect
that something was wrong. At her request, a neighbour
named Mary Lees procured a key and opened the door.
The smell then became very strong. Lees, however, went
upstairs,and saw a dead body lying in the front room. She
called out to a neighbour named Smith for assistance, and
they both entered the room. On the floor lay a mattress,
and upon it there was stretched, covered with a sheet and
coverlet, what was evidently the corpse of a man, it isneed-
less to say, in a horrible state of decomposition. The mur-
dered man, for such the deceased would seem to be, wore,as
he lay in bed, only a shirt and waistcoat ; and there is no
doubt that some hand must have tended him after he was
unable to do anythiag for himself. This is clear from the
manner in which his head was covered 'kith the bed clothes.
These were fastened over the face tight enough to secure
suffocation, if death had not previously taken place. The
colour of the hair and other circumstances convinced them
that the deceased was the young man Williams.
The inquest was held yesterday afternoon, Before the in-
quiry commenced a woman present volunteered a statement
to the effect that, some time since, she had known the de-
ceased by the name of Bill, and she now remembered his
name to be William Williams. She was able to identify
bim by his trousers,which on one occasion she had mended.
His mother lived at Portobello, a small town near Wolver-
hampton. A letter addressed to him had once been left at
her house, and she had known him when he lived in Bir-
mingham. He was not married, but had lived with a
woman named Rose. This woman she had not seen for
more than three weeks. She had a very bad character.

Mary Lees, the woman who first found the body, and the
first witness called, said,—l last saw Williams alive on
Monday thiee weeks at the bottom of the court, and he then
appeared to be in good health. On the evening of the same
day I saw the woman with whom he lived go to the top at
the back of the building for some water. After filling her
kettle she returned to the house, and I have not seen her
since. The witness then stated what the woman had said
before going to the oountry, and the manner in which the
body had been discovered.
A policeman who went to the house soon after the dis-
covery said that a pair of trousers was found under the
deceased's body. He added that in the house there were
some articles found which he could prove belonged to the

woman Rose,
Rachel Barry corroborated the last witness in some par.
ticulaz s.

The inquiry was then adjourned until the last day of this
month. Dr. Gibbons, the surreon, in the meantime, was
instructed to make a careful postmortem examination of tho
body.

The Loss of the Channel Steamer Paris.

Yesterday morning an official investigation, instituted by
direction of the Board of Trade, took place at the Green-
wich Police-court before Mr, Traill, police magistrate, into
the circumitances attending the total loss of tho steamer
Paris, Hemmings, master, one of the Maples' Channel
Line, which was wrecked off Jersey on the morning of the
28th July last.
Mr. F H. Hamel, barrister, attended to conduct the case,
and having briefly narrated the facts as disclosed in evi-
dence, called

John P. Manger, of Guernsey, who said he held a certi-
ficate of competency as master in the home trade, dated
July, 1859, and was chief mate of the Paris. The vessel left
St. Malo about six o'clock on the morning of July 28, with
a crew of 23 (including the master and pilot), and 20 pas-
sengers. She was well found and properly equipped, and
the weather on leaving St. Malo was fine, bright, and calm.
At half-past 8, after rounding the west end of the Miniquit
he went on to the bridge and spoke to the captain and pilot.
The captain told him to go aft and give the course to haul
the ship up from N. to N.E. i N. He (witness) remarked
to the pilot that the marks on the middle passage, two flag-
posts, were not clear, and the pilot handed him the glasses
to see whether the flag- posts were one, whichwould be right
for the middle passage. The vessel was then four or five
miles from the Grunot rocks, and witness could not soe
whether the flag posts were in two or one. A quarter of an
hour after he left the bridge, and went forward to get the
anchor ready, The vessel was then entering on the Silliette
passage, the marks of which were open, the western mar-
tello tower being to the eastward. On looking ahead of the
vessel he saw the Grunot rocks about 10 or 15 yards from
the ship on the port bow, and exclaimed to one of the
crew, "My God, we are going on the rocks." At the same
moment she struck heavily on the rocks and passed over.
The engineer called out from below, " Get out your boats,
you have not a moment to lose," and the captain gave orders
to lower the boats and the engines to be stopped. The boats
were immediately lowered, and about seven minutes after,
as they were leaving with the passengers and crew, the
stewardess was seen to come out of the cabin, The captain
got out of the boat, but as the ship was then sinking he called
to the stewardess to jump into the sea, and he would pick her
up. She did so, and a Frenchman jumped out of the lifeboat
and held her up until they succeeded in getting her into the
boat. The ship went down immediately afterwards.

Thomas Avis, an able seaman, said he was at the wheel
at the time the vessel struck. At the moment she struck

the pilot called out "hard a-port," and the captain called
out " hard a-starboard." They both called out the same order
again, and witness was baffled, and put the helm hard
a-starboard. After she passed over the rocks witness found
the vessel would
.not answer her helm, and he got into the
lifeboat.

David Simpson, chief engineer, also gave evidence of
feeling the vessel go over the rocks, and described the shock
as if she had grated across something. The water imme-
diately rushed into the engine-room, and having eased the
valves, to prevent an explosion occurring, he left the vessel
in the boat.

De la Cour, the pilot in charge of the vessel, was the next
witness. He said he belonged to Jersey, and had held a
pilot's certificate of competency four years, but the authori-
ties at Jersey had deprived him of it since the present occur-
rence. He was engaged at Jersey by the agent of the com-
pany to which the Paris steamer belonged to go on board
as pilot, the agreement being that he was to be paid 355.
per week for his services. On going on board, and before
leaving the harbour at Jersey, the captaia told him to go
and hide himself, as he thought a pilot named Finnie was
coming on board. Witness went and secreted himself in
the fore-cabin, and as Finnie did not come on board he
came from the fore-cabin on the vessel getting away from
the pier heads, and piloted the vessel to St. Malo. Wit •
new had no other duty to perform, and when the marks
of passages were visible then he considered his duties as
pilot commenced. On the morning of the wreck the captain
said the marks of the Silliette Passage were just open, and
he (witness) gave orders for the vessel to be kept to the
southward ; but the captain said, " No, let her go towards
the Ruandiere," a reef with a buoy on it. The vessel struck
in about two minutes after he gave the order to keep her to
the southward, and on hearing the captain's order he be.
came thunderstruck, and said nothing. After the vessel
struck, the captain, addressing him, said, "You are a
pretty fellow;" and witness replied, " If you had done as
I told you this would not have happened." The captain
made no answer. When five or six miles from where the
vessel struck, the captain asked him what passage he meant
to take, and he told him the middle passage. The captain,
on asking him this question, said " Cut it as short as possible
to-day, and let us be in first," moiling thereby not to let
the Wonder steamer, which left St Malo about five minutes
after the Paris, and which had been in sight nearly all the
way, got before them. Witness replied that the middle
passage was the shortest and safest, and he should take
that passage. He never told the captain that he should
take the Silliette Passage.

Captain Hemmings here said that the witness distinctly
told him he should take the Silliette Passage, and that on
the vessel sinking on the rocks he (De la, Cour) stamped
twice on the deck and exclaimed, " Silliette I Silliette !"
meaning thereby that he thought the vessel was upon the
Silliette rocks.

The witness De la Cour denied this statement in tote.
Captain Hemmings, in answer to the Court, said that the
pilotage dues for the Paris would amount to £3 178 per
week, and these duties were to be performed by De la Cour.
Captain Harris remarked that, had the vessel been in-
sured, which he understood was not the case, the entering
into such an engagement would have prevented the com-
pany recovering the amount of insurance.

Mr. Traill said such a proceeding wawa direct evasion of
the pilot laws, as De la Cour, being so engaged, was to
all intents and purposes ono of the crew, and although called
a pilot he had not that authority, as he was under the cap-
tain's order. His (Mr, Traill's) opinion was that the
duties of a pilot had been most abominably performed—
that nothing could have been worse, and that the cabin-
boy could not have been more inefficient.

The witness Manger was recalled, and stated that he un-
derstood from the captain that Do la Cour was to act in the
capacity of pilot and second mate. Witness had been five
months on board the Paris, and never knew a pilot taken
on board before in their passage to the eastward.

Captain Harris expressed surprise at this admission, and
asked whether the pilotage dues were not payable, notwith-
standing the services of a pilot were not rendered.
Captain Hemmings replied in the negative, and handed

in a long written statement ac to the circumstances attend
ing the loss of the ship, alleging that De la Cour, as pilot
was wholly responsible.
The Court having consulted together for some time,

Mr•. Traill said the inquiry was most important, and the
tniFcenduct of the captain so gross, in leaving the pilot
De la Ceur in the manner described, that it would be a ques-
tion whether the Court would not feel themselves called
upon to deal with his certificate. The case required very
serious consideration, and in order to consider their decision
the inquiry would stand adjourned.