The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-25 00:00:00

OLIRLY V. DUNBAR.

This was an action upon a policy of insurance, tried before Lord
Denman at the London sittings, in which a verdict was had for the
plaintiff. A rule for a new trial had been subsequently obtained, on the
ground of the verdict having been aga'nst evidence.

Sir W. Follett and Mr. Alexander having been yesterday heard
against the rule,

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL (with whom was Mr. Maule) now appeared
in support of the rule absolute, reminding the Court that not less than
56 actions depended upon its decision in the present case. It appeared
that the steam-ship the Pylades, upon which the insurance had be.n
effected to the amount of 27,0001., by the Netherlands Steam Corn.
pany, to whom she belonged, had been originally built in 1827.
She was then sold to the Dutch Government along with another
ship, the Orestes, built by the same Company. Having been found
unserviceable by the Dutch Government, from being infected with
the dry-rot, she was put up to auction, and again purchased by
the Netherlands Steam Company. They repaired her fully, and
she was again launched in December, 1833, for another destination.
That history which so materially affected the character of the Pylades
had been concealed from the underwriters in London, when the applica-
tion was made to effect a policy of insurance upon the ♦essel. The
letter of Van Hobbican and Co., the plaintiff's agents, to the broker in
London, dated December 2, 1834, contained these words—" she is quite
new, having been run off the stocks last winter ;" and in a subsequent
letter, of the 9th of December, after repeating that statement, it was
added, " this description and statement appear to us to make this a very
desirable risk for the underwriters." The insurance was effected, and
the vessel sailed on her voyage from Rotterdam to Java in the beginning
of January. She proceeded down the river, crossed the bar, and al-
though there was no wind, and nothing more than the ordinary
swell, she immediately began to leak from various quarters, and
the engine which was capable of discharging three tons of water
per minute, being unable to keep her free, she sunk. The
Learned Counsel proceeded to show from the evidence of the wit.
news at the trial, that the representation that the vessel was " quite
new" was false—several of the plaintiff's witnesses having admitted that
part of the timbers, frame work, and deck of the old Pylades remained,
when she was hauled up in August, 1833 ; and although there was no
evidence of fraud, it was quite clear that there was such a false repre-
sentation as vitiated the insurance. For the defence five of the car-
penters and shipwrights who had worked upon the Pylades when she
had been thus repaired, deposed that all the timber infected with the dry_
rot had been removed—that she had been screwed up from stem to stern
for the purpose of altering her curvature, and nothing was more pro-
bable than that when she was subjected to the swell of the sea, she
settled back to her original shape, by which her frame-work was
loosened, and hence the general leaking and subsequent loss of the
vessel. Looking at the large sum of 27,0001. which the decision of the
Court involved, he submitted that he had established sufficient grounds
from misrepresentations and unseaworthiness to entitle him to a new
trial.

The case Is likely to occupy the Court a considerable time.

BAIL COURT-(THIS DAY.)

(Before Mr. Justice PArrrsoN.)
I111;XICIPAL CORPORATION ACT.

Mr. ALEXANDER moved for a certiorari to bring into this Court an
order of the Court of Sessions at Worcester. It appeared that a person
named Baylis, who was Town Clerk of the Borough of Evcsham, had
contumaciously refused to deliver up certain papers belonging to the
Corporation, for which they summoned him before a Magistrate, by
whom he was committed to Worcester gaol; the course of pro.
seeding directed in such cases by the provisions of the 7Alunicipal
Corporation Act. The defendant treated his commitment as a
summary conviction, and accordingly appealed against it. It would be
found on reference to the 101st clause of the Act that an
appeal lay
only from a summary conviction, and not from a commitment, and as
the commitment was not before the Court of Quarter Sessions, they
hat no right to interfere. The magistrates, however, treated the mu;
mitment as a conviction, quashed it, and re:eased Mr. Baylis. The
Learned Gentleman submitted that as the magistrates had no record
before them, they had nothing I. act upon, and consequently that the
whole proceeding was illegal.

COURT—Take a rule to chew cause.
On the motion of Mr. ALEXANDER, a similar rule was granted in the
case of Kniglit, the town crier.

COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY )

GATCLIFFE V. DOURO.
In this case an action was tried before Lord Chief Justice Tindal,
in which a nonsuit was entered, on the ground that certain
Irish bills of lading given in evidence by the plaintiff were
not receivable, as they were unstamped. The plaintiff then
moved for a new trial, contending that though by the Irish stamp
law, unstamped bills of lading were not receivable in evidence in Irish
Courts of Law, in the English Courts they were.
On the part of the defendant it was maintained, that documents of
any kind, not valid in the country in which they were drawn, could trot
be considered so in any other country.
The COURT appearing to incline to the view taken by the plaintiff, it
was agreed that a new trial should take place Costs reserved.