The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-12 00:00:00

ADROIT SWINDLING.

A person of respectable, not to say gentlemanly
address, a f w days since presented himself at the count-
ing-house of Messrs. Southam and Evans, merchants,
of this city, and stating that he was about to commence
business as a dealer in guano, at Cardiff, requested to
see samples of the articles which the above firm could
supply to him. Accordingly the request was gratified ;
and the usual preliminaries of business having been
settled to mutual satisfaction, a sale of eighty tons
was effected. The psnedo dealer now solicited the
merchant's assistance in getting the guano shipped ;
and search was made for a button, but unfortunately
(or rather fortunately as it proved in the sequel)
there was no vessel in the port wanting a freight,
much to his disappointment. As it happened, how-
ever, the Henry Southan, steamer, which was on
the point of starting for Swansea, had room f
ten tons of goods, and it was arranged that
that qantity of guano should be put into her
hold for conveyance to Cardiff. This part of the lading
completed, the dock-men asked their employer for some-
thing to drink, a request which he at fir:t put off on the
plea that they should have it when the whole of the
guano was shipped; but apparently on re-consideration,
he changed his mind, and took them to the Trumpet
public-house. There he ordered a plentiful " wet" for
the porters, took a glass of grog himself, and on leaving
the house, told the landlady that he should send the men
there again on the next day, when they had completed
the lading of his goods, and he would then settle the
whole—a promise which was honoured by the grateful
hostess with a low curtsey. From this period he was
lost sight of on land, the merchants, naturally enough,
taking no thought of him while the bulk of his
" purchase" remained at their stores, and never
suspecting that he might, by mere possibility, be
" a land shark." It would appear, however, that the
customer got on board the steamer, and after she had
started on her voyage, got " unco cosy" with the
steward. He eat, drank, and smoked to the top of his
bent, and altogether enjoyed a pleasant voyage to Car-
diff. Arrived there, he unshipped the bags of precious
stuff, which he was about to convert into gold ; and the
weather being cold or wet, the steward, in his simple
good nature, lent his top-coat to the gentleman, who was
so good a customer to the vessel, and the mer-
chants her owners. As for the freight, he intimated
that he had made it " all right" at Gloucester —and
for the charges of the voyage he would settle on his
return. No sooner was the gentleman with the guano
ashore than he sought out an auctioneer, employed the
crier to announce its sale, and in the course of a
very short period it was knocked down to the best
bidder, " without reserve" the purchaser getting fur
forty-seven pounds, goods which had been valued at, and
ought to have cost 801., a few hours before in the Glou
tester docks. The gentleman, still in a hurry, next
contrived to cajole the purchaser out of a cheque for
the purchase-money, forstalling the customary demand
of the auctioneer ; immediately after which he disap-
peared, having diddled. merchants, steamer, steward,
cryer, auctioneer—all lns. Employes in fact ; and he is,
no doubt, now rejoicing n some choice obscurity, with
many golden reasons, in having successfully subdued
.6 that worst of earthly ills,
The inflammation of his weekly bills."
—Gloucestershire Chronicle.

NOVEL EXPEDIENT.—So rapidly do new fences, gates,
and gate-posts disappear in the noighbourhood of Lincoln,
that, in self-defence against the plunderers for firewood, the
owners of property have been compacd to adopt the follow-
ing novel expedient:—Holes with a large diameter are
gouged into the wood, a quantity of gunpowder is then de-
posited in them, and they are carefully plugged up. When
the stolen wood is cut up and placed on the fire, the gun-
powder explodes, and though the thief may not be detected,
the damage inflicted on hia property has a tendency to con-
vince him that honesty is the best policy.
A CANDIDATE FOR TILE W EST RIDING.—We have
heard some conversation in this neighbourhood as to the
man to be proposed at the next general election as the col-
league of Lord Morpeth, end Mr. Cobden's name has been
mentioned. We trust. that this suggestion will find univer-
sal acceptance.— Weed Independent.
On the evening of Monday last, a fire broke out in
Lochend House, the seat of Sir George Warrender, Bart.
It at one time bore a most alapning aspect ; but, happily, by
the prompt measures uses', it was speedily got under, and
finally extinguished. The house was full of cimpany at the
time. The fire seems to have been occasioned by overheating
the flues in the scullery room, and thereby igniting the sur•
rounding lath and other combustible materials.—Edinbzugh
Advertiser.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
HOUSE OF LORDS, March 10.

The House of Lords sat to hear writs of error. The
peers present were the Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham,
and Lord Campbell.

BRANDIO v. BARNETT.

The arguments in this part-heard writ of error, were
resumed and concluded to-day. The case has already
occupied five or six days, and we have refrained enter-
ing into the facts, until the arguments were concluded.
The case came before their Lordships upon an appeal
in the nature of a writ of error, against a decision of the
Exchequer Chamber, (sitting in error), whereby a
judgment of the Court of Common Pleas, given in
favour of the appellant, was reversed.
The facts of the case appear to be be these :—The
appellant is a Portuguese merchant, residing abroad,
and the
previous
ererviesopuosntdo Jan.iet ts arelBb3a7, the appellant. employed ankers in London. For some
time
person named Byrne as his London agent, and he in-
structed him (Byrne) to buy for him, supplying him
with money for that purpose, from time to time, cer-
tain amounts of Exchequer-bills. Byrne accordingly
purchased for the appellant such Exchequer-bills as he
required. Byrne kept at this period an account at the
respondents' (Messrs. Barnetts') bank ; and he also, for
the safe custody of all such securities as he might become
possessed of, kept certain tin boxes at the banking house
of Messrs. Barnett (as is customary with bankers to allow
their customers to do) in which he, from time to time,
deposited his securities, locked up, he ke-ping the keys
himself. As Byrne purchased Exchequer-bills for the
plaintiff he deposited them in one of these boxes, locked
up, keeping the.key himself ; and when it bocAme nee2s-
sary that Ole interest on them should be received, and
that they should be exchanged for new Exchequer-
bills, Byrne requested his bankers to do him the favour
to receive the interest and obtain in exchange new
bills. On those occasions Byrne took the Exchequer-
bills from the tin box, and banded them over to the
bankers for the purpose aforementioned, and as soon
as the bankers had received the interest thereon, and
exchanged the bills fur new ones, these latter were,
it was alleged, handed back to Byrne by the
bankers, and they were again deposited by him and
locked up in the tin box. Byrne had from one period to
another purchased for the plaintiff Exchequer-bills to the
amount of 30,000/., which were deposited in the box,
and taken out occasionally by Byrne, and placed in
Messrs. Barnett's hands for the purpose already stated,
and they were always returned again by them to Byrne,
who re-deposited them in their former custody. In