The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-22 00:00:00

CRIMINAL COURT-(T.11-1$ DAT)

Share' Railways.

Paid. Price: i
Closing Business
Done.

OLD COURT.

INQUIRY-•(THIS DAY.)

Antwerp & Rotterdam
Ardennes •
Bali.&S.Fran:,Lim.7p,c.
BelOan East. Junction
Demers to Graissessac
Carmeaux Mine & Rail
Dutch Rhenish
Eastern of France
Euphrates Valley
Great Central of France
Gt. Luxem., Con. elts
Italian Jimction
Lake Constance & Yale
Lierre and Turnhout
Lombardo Venetian
Lucca & Pistoja, 57.c.pf
Lyons and Geneva
Maria Antonia

5.1

(Before Mr. Baron Watson and Mr. Justice Hill.)

-.-PI

ar
24 2
4 3
294 30

FORGING A BILT, OF LADING.

Otto Frederick Hoineyer, a foreigner, whose case was
postponed from last session, was indicted for forging and
uttering a receipt for'goods, viz., a bill, of lading.
Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Sleigh appeared for the prosecution;
the prisoner was defended by Mr. Robinson.
Mr. Bodkin said the offence With which the prisoner
stood charged was one of great importance to commercial
men. It was the forging and uttering of documents whfeh
purported to be a bill of lading. It appears that the prisoner
is a native of Prussia, and had, previous to the commission

-- -p
81 81

5 511,1

254 264

Do. do. New
Namur and Liege
Do. do. 6 p. c. Pref
Northern of France
Do. New Shares
Norwegian Trunk I'ref
Ottoman, gua. 6 per cent
Paris,Lyons, and Medit.
Paris and Orleans

9k 91
39211 21a
1 391

of the offence with which he stood charged, traded with
a gentleman named Theidman, 'at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
In June last Mr. Theidman received a letter from the pr;-
ioncr, telling him he had shipped a cargo of wheat,
and had enclosed in that letter 'the bill of lading signed
by Captain Kell. The document affirmed that the cargo of
wheat had been received on board ship. Mr. Theidman,
in consequence of this, communicated with the prisoner,
and the result was that the prisoner drew from the Union
Bank of London £2,400 upon bills of exchange, solely upon
the statement that the bill of lading which Mr. Theidman
had received was a genuine document ; it, however, turned
out to be a forgery. Captain Kell, who would be called
before the jury, would state that ho knew nothing of the
matter.

-9
—IOP
3 Id
34f 34f
56 57
i i P

Recife& S. Fran. (Fern.)
gua. 7p. ct. (Lim.)
Riga and Dunaburg
Rome and Frascati
Royal Danish
Royal Swedish
Do. 7 per cent. Pref.
Sambre and Meuse.

Do. 54 per cent. Pref.
Southern of-France
West Flanders

9 9
23,7, 24
5 • 5
9 • 9
25} 26

Do. 54 p. c. Preference .
W. & N.W. of France
Western of Austria
Western of Switzerland
Wiesbaden
Do 8 per cent. Pref..
Zealand.....

Mr. Theidman, examined by Mr. Sleigh, said--I am a
merchant, residing at .Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I have cor-
respondents at Wolgast, in Prussia. I have had business
transactions with the ptisoner. About the 12th of June I
received a letter from the prisoner. I have not aeon him
write.

Mr. Sleigh—l will prove the handwriting.
Frederick Kell—l am captain of the Arrow. I believe
the signature of the letter to be in the handwriting of the
prisoner. I have seen him write frequently.
The letter was here read ; it asked for credit for a cargo
of wheat.

Mr. Theidman's examination continued—l answered the
letter, and shortly after I received another letter from the
prisoner, in which was indorsed a bill of lading.
The document purported to be signed by Captain-Kell,
affirming that he had received on board his vessel a cargo of
wheat from the prisoner consigned to Mr. Theidman. The
six bills for £2,400 put into my hand are in the prisoner's
handwriting. Theriveris rieepfe'd by the Union Bank of
London on my account.

Cross-examined—l never asked the prisoner to tell me all
about the forgery, as it would:be better for him. lam sure
I never did so. In the course of the conversation I had
with the prisoner he said he had forged the document, and
he was sorry for it. I knew him at one time to be a mer-
chant of great respectability at Wolgast.

_ -
Captain Kell—l reside at Wolgast. lam master of the
ship Arrow. The prisoner had formerly been part owner of
the vessel. Ho had been in the habit of finding a cargo for
hor. In the spring I took a cargo of wheat to Scot-
land for him. I returned to Wolgast and found the
prisoner there. I arrived at Wolgast in June and re-
mained there till July, when the Arrow sailed for Dantzic
in ballast. She went on the voyage on my account. The
prisoner asked me to 'wait for a cargo for Belgium, but I
refused. The bills of lading put into my hands are not in
my writing. I gave no directions to sign such bills, and I
never had the cargo on board.

Cross-examined by Mr. Robinson—l have signed a bill
of lading before I received a cargo. Not more than once.
I don't know whether the cargo was bought when I signed
it. The cargo was put on board and delivered according to
the terms of the bill of lading. The prisoner asked me two
or three times to wait, before I sailed to Dantzic, for a cargo
to Belgium, but I refused.

Mr. Cantor said—l am an interpreter. Jones, who ar-
rested the prisoner, could not speak the German language.
I was with him when he took him into custody. When
Jarvis told the prisoner he arrested him for forging a bill of
lading, prisoner said, lam not the man." He afterwards
said he hoped they would not hurt him, as he had a wife
and child. He said he had no money, as he had paid his
debts with it.

Mr. Robinson contended that there had been no proof of
forging in this country, and, therefore, the case had failed.
Mr. Baron Watson—What with respect to the uttering ?
Mr. Robinson said if it could not bo proved that a docu-
ment was forged in this country, then there could be no
offence committed in uttering it.

Mr. Baron Watson—I differ with you entirely. I have
no doubt on the subject. I think there is evidence that he
uttered the instrument, knowing it to be forged.
Mr. Robinson having addressed the jury for theprisoner,
Mr. Baron Watson summed up the evidence.
The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the prisoner
was sentenced to eight years' penal servitude.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—(TMs Day.)

rnE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 22, 1858.

The Royal Commissioners appointed to inquire into the
state of the stores and clothing depots at Weedon, Wool-
wich, and the Tower, resumed their investigations this day,
in No. 11 Committee Room of the House of Commons.
Mr. Selfe, the magistrate of the Thames Police, occupied
the chair; the Commissioners present were Mr. Turner,
M.P. for Manchester, and Col. French, of the War-office.
The first witness examined this morning was
Mr. Gilpin, of the firm of Gilpin and Co., Northumber-
land-street, army contractors. He said—l am the head of
the firm. We have been in the habit of taking army
oontracts—not army accoutremen is—no greatcoats. We
have been contractors under the old and new system. We
have had less since the trade was thrown open. We have
had some militia clothing but nothing like the orders we
received. In the year 1856, finding it was impossible to
act honestly to the Government, we gave up the contracts.
We should have had to grind the :poor to make the
prices pay. In July and September we had three contracts,
one of them was for making for the medical staffcorps cloth-
ing, we wished to furnish the cloth as under the old system
but we did not do so. In Oct., 1857, we had a contract of
10,000 yards of drummers' red. It was subjected to in-
spection. We have had a contract with Government for
the clothing of 20 regiments. 'We have supplied the gar-
ment for five of them at the establishment in Mark-lane.
We have had no occasion to call upon manufacturers to take
back cloth which the Government had rejected. If the
cloth is passed, I consider the responsibility of the manu-
facturer ceases. I have nothing specially to complain about
goods having been returned for trifling faults. I have
nothing to complain about delay in getting our bills paid.
We have been threatened with fines lately. I have never
found that bribery prevailed at Weedon. I have heard it
rumoured, but I don't know of my own knowledge. I have
no reason to complain. I cannot refer you to anybody who
could give information on the point. I have not troubled

myself much about machines for testing cloth. Our profits
under the new system, are considerably less than under the
old, because we get our payments earlier. That is the only
thing that has occasioned us any loss. The interest of the
money being less, and this causes our receipts to be less.
Since the throwing open of the trade the pro-
fits are less. The public, therefore, get the ad-
vantage. I think that if the Government
kept large stores of clothing it would be highly detrimental.
It would get moth-eaten and worthless. I would not like
to keep a large stock. Another thing is the patterns might
alter. We are never sure of that for a moment. I differ
from Captain Gordon, if he says it is advisable to keep up a
large store of clothing. I think it very unfair to give the
old houses short notices of contracts. I think if lamto be
employed in 1859 that I ought to have notice in January.
By Mr. Turner—lt is a benefit to manufacturers to have
early notice of being required. Wool manufacturers would
supply
the material at a cheaper rate. If I received due
notice I should supply the articles required cheaper—that
is, if I received due notice. The Government would reap an
advantage also. I have bought Oxford grey, but never
under price. I have bought cloth which I afterwards found
out had been rejected, as the Governmenr mark was on it.
It was about two years ago. I did not buy it of the Go-
vernment.

By Mr. Selfe—There are constantly large sales of Go-
vernment articles at the Tower. I cannot recollect how
much of this rejected cloth was bought. My partner, Mr.
Tanner, will be able to furnish the dates and particulars.
By Mr. Turner—The rejected cloth was made up for the
militia clothing, and for regiments going out suddenly not
subject to inspection.
Mr. Turner—Do you know the difference of price paid ?
Mr. Gilpin—l really don't ;my partner knows more
about that than I do.

Mr. Selfe—We will keep this subject as distinct as pos-
sible. We should like to have your partner in attendance,
it is necessary that this cloth should be traced.
Mr. Gilpin—l will write to him to-night.
By Mr. Selfe—l think there ought to be an appeal from
the decisions of the inspectors when they condemn goods,
because we don't know who the inspectors are, or whether
they are good judges of the article. I don't think things
ought to be condemned as a whole without appeal.
The person for such a post should be a competent
judge. It mattered very little whether he was a Govern-
ment officer or not. I never found a Government
inspector incompetent: We have had very little to do
with them, but we shall have more this year.
By Mr. Turner—l should not like to do business with a
large wholesale house on the same terms as Government,
if they rejected goods without appeal.
By Colonel French—l never under the old system heard
of collusion between the colonels when they had the sup-
plying of their regiments and the clothier.
By Mr. Turner—l don't think Government could ever
successfully manufacture any article in competition with
private individuals. (Laughter.)
Mr. Bonneau, of the War-office, examined by Mr. Selfe
—We shall be able to get the ledgers ready for the accountants
of the commission on Friday. Until the stock of good
th, - - -

Lat remain on hand is compared with the sums in the
books we cannot bring the ledgers to a satisfactory state.
Commissary-General Adams has been engaged in this busi-
neaa for the last twe months.

Mr. Turner—You will see that Mr. Jay, our accountant,
has proper accommodation during his examination of the
books, as he will represent the commission.
Witness—Yes.
Mr. Hunt, examined by Mr. Selfe—We carry on business
as tunnufacturers of army cloth. We have been it the habit
of furnishing army cloth to the clothiers under the old sys-
tem. We have also supplied cloth at Weedon in very large.
quantities. We have had no reason to complain
of the severity of the • inspection. Our rejections
at the commencement of 1856 and 1857, were rather
large, but since that time not near so
largo There have been cases in which cloth
has been !finally rejected, from causes that could
not be repaired. I have never been to Weedon ; but one
of our clerks has been there. He saw Mr. Elliott about
some rejected cloths, some were put in order and sent back.
I have no complaint to make of the inspectors. Our con-
tracts were by tender. We have been fortunate. I think
our cloth has always been superior to the patterns. The
patterns now in use I believe to be mostly ours. I have
no reason to doubt the competency of the inspectors.

By Mr. Turner—The only thing we had to do with the
cloth when it was sent back was to repress it. I have never
seen the inspectors at our own place. I know of a machine
for testing cloth. There is no shoddy in the cloth supplied
by us to Government. We have those machines on our
premises. The two shoddy machines cost us—one £4O and
the other M. I don't know of any corruption existing at
Weedon. On the part of our house, I deny it altogether.
A manufacturer—Mr. Oliver Bird—told me that something
of the sort existed, but merely as gossip. Our clerk did not
buy the shoddy machine when he visited Weedon. It was
bought subsequently. We have bought another machine
of Mr Hebden's for folding and weighing cloths. It is a
very useful one, and will no doubt come into general use.
By Mr. Selfe—We have no cause to complain of our re-
jections.' iWe have had none of any moment. We have
never complained of delay in the inspection of our goods.
By Colonel French—We were accepted as contractors
by Mr. Howell. After the goods aro passed and we get an
intimation from the Accountant-General's-office that the
amount will be paid.
By Mr. Turner—We don't frequently enter into compe-
tition with the Yorkshire manufacturers.
By Mr. Solfe—Our prices are about the same since open
competition, but the quality of the goods is a little lower.
Mr. Webb, of Coleman-street, woollen manufacturer,
was under examination when the committee adjourned.

THE STORE AND Cif; OTHING DEPOTS
AT WE EDON.