The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-02 00:00:00

ASSIZE IN TELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—KINGSTON, March 31.
(Before Lord Chief Justice Erie and a Special Jury,
WHITMORE AND OTHERS Y. LLOYD—EXTRA-

ORDINARY TRIAL.
This action was commenced on Friday, and ad-
journed until this morning. The action was brought
to. recover a sum of £2,000, the value of a cargo of
corn that had been sold to a merchant at Cork, and
which had been seized by the plaintiffs under the
authority of the Court of Bankruptcy, as the assig-
nees of a Greek merchant named Antonio Demetrio.
Mr. Bovill, Q.C., Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, and
Mr. Honeyman were for the plaintiffs ; Mr. Lush,
Q.C., Mr. J. Browne, and Mr. Digby were for the
defendant.'
The case was opened to the jury by the counsel
for the plaintiff as one of a very extraordinary and
unusual character. It appeared that the father of
the bankrupt AntonioDemetrio, had for many years
carried on business as a merchant in London, and
after his death his son carried on the business under
the same title of Demetrio and Sons, he being the
principal and his brother Nicholas assisting him.
It appeared tha; they were very large speculators
in corn, and in August last year Antonio Demetrio
was made a bankrupt upon his own petition, and
his debts were proved to amount to over £60,000,
there not being a single farthing of assets for the
creditors. It seemed to be admitted that Antonio
and Nicholas Demetrio had given great dissatisfac-
tion to their creditors, and it appeared that just
before their bankruptcy they hired four counting-
houses in different parts of the City, where they
passed by the names of John Lamb and Co.,
Dalga and Co., De Bous and Co., and it seemed
that another similar firm was established at
Leghorn, under the style of Merrys and Co. ;
and bills were drawn and accepted one upon the
other, and shipments of corn were obtained from
tv i......:Luately be-
fore the bankruptcy it seemed that two cargoes of
corn were conveyed from a Russian port to the bank-
rupt, which arrived in two vessels, called the Bou-
verie and the Gloria, and it was with reference to
the cargo of the latter vessel that the present action
was instituted. It appeared that the cargo of this
vessel was purchased by Mr. Hall, an extensive
corn merchant at Cork, of a lady named Martin, at
the end of August, and after the bankruptcy of
Demetrio, and she handed him the bill of lading
and the other papers connected with the cargo, and
received a sum of nearly £2,000 ; and the case on
the part of the plaintiffs was that this proceeding
was to prevent the creditors from obtaining the
smallest vestige of property. The explanation
given by Miss Martin of the mode in which she
became possessed of the cargo was,rthat a gentle-
man named Lambe introduced her to a foreign gen-
tleman named De Bons, and that she purchased
both the cargoes of the Gloria and the Bouverie as
a speculation. In order to rebut this supposition
it was shown that Antonio Demetrio had adver-
tised for lads to occupy the situation of clerks at
the counting-houses that were taken by him, and
no one but himself and his brother Nicholas were
ever seen, and that after the bankruptcy only a per-
son came forward who was represented to be De
Bous, but who was in reality believed to be another
brother : and it was proved that the bill of lading
relating to the Gloria was in this person's posses-
sion after the bankruptcy of Antonio Demetrio,
and he has never since been seen. It also appeared
that Nicholas Demetrio had lived in the house of a
lady named Westbrook, at Kensington, where Miss
Martin had lived a considerable time ; and it also
appeared that the husband of Mrs. Westbrook was
ordered by him to go to Liverpool and establish a
mercantile firm there under the title of Westbrook
and Co., Nicholas Demetrio himself being in reality
the principal, and that during his absence an inti-
macy took place between him and Mrs. Westbrook
which was made the subject of an inquiry in the
Divorce Court. It appeared that since the bank-
rupty both brothers have left this country, and
the main question involved in the present
inquiry was, whether the alleged purchase
of-the cargoes by Miss Martin was a genuine
transaction, whether the property was really
purchased with her own money, or whether
the transaction was part of the scheme concocted
by the bankrupt Antonio Demetrio and his brother
Nicholas. It should be explained that Mr. Lloyd
was merely a nominal defendant, he having joined
in a guarantee bond to pay the value of the cargo
of the Gloria to the plaintiffs, in case the verdict in
the present action should be in their favour.
A good many witnesses were examined on behalf
of the plaintiffs, and their evidence left no doubt
that Antonio Demetrio had been guilty of the
grossest conduct. It was also proved that Miss
Martin had lived for a considerable time in the same
boarding-house with Nicholas Demetrio, and that
she was aware that the cargoes of corn had been
consigned to the bankrupt Antonio Demetrio, and
that he had been declared a bankrupt at the time
she made the. alleged purchase. There was also
evidence that all the various signatures of Lambe,
Dalga, De Bous, and others that appeared upon
various documents, were all in the handwriting of
either Demetrio, the bankrupt, or his brother; and
it was stated that they were in the habit of disguis-
ing their handwriting by using quills and steel-
pens to make the various signatures.
Mr. Lush made a most able and forcible address
to the jury on behalf of the defendant, who, he
said, was a merchant of high honour and respecta-
Unity, and he said he should be able, he hoped, to
convince them there was not the slightest ground
for believing that they had acted in any other than
art honourable and straightforward manner in this
transaction. He said he should not deny that
Demetrio, the bankrupt, and his brother had ob-
tained large quantities of grain from abroad imme-
diately before their bankruptcy for the purpose of
raising money, and that the cargoes by the Gloria
and the Bouverie were obtained for that purpose.
Mr. Hall, however, had !lathing to do with this.
He had purchased the property openly of Miss Mar-
tin, and he should be able to prove that Lambe and
De Bous were actually in existence, and that Miss
Martin had purchased the cargoes of them with her
own money.
Mr. Hall was then examined, and he proved that
he purchased the cargo of the Gloria, through the
agent for Lloyd's, at Cork, on the usual terms, and
that he paid rather more than the market price at
the time for it. He also proved that the moment
the cargo was seized by the messenger in bankruptcy
Miss Martin handed over £BOO of the money she
had received, and that she placed the bill of lading
relating to the Bouverie in his hands, as further
security that he should not sustain any loss.
Mr. Walker, a solicitor, proved that he was eon-