The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-04 00:00:00

IN RE CALVERT AND CO.

It will be remembered that a short time since a trade
debtor's surn.nons was taken out by Me;srs. Cerrnick and
Co., for a debt,. which v 4 as paid.
Mr. Phitilos low'appliett for the coats of the summons, to
which Mr. Cree, for Messr,i. Calvert and Co., ohj-cted, en
the ground that th sy should have been applied for at the
time the summons 'll as disposed of.
Mr. Phillips said the coats were necessarily incurred in
getting the money. ,'he summons Lad been talt,n out long
before it was returnable and on the Moirday, when the time
expirepi, Messrs. Calvert and C). sizred-an atimfssloi of the
debt, and tork advanrag of the nine days allowed by the
law, paying the debt an h'e Saturday as the time expired
On the Monday,
The Commissioner said the sa questions of coats were left
in the discretion of the Cour, ; he was clearly of opinion be
ought to refuse the applicat:ot, •

INSOLVENT DEBTORV COURT.—Aun. 3.
(Before the Chief Commissioner.)
The learned Commissioner vies red his paper, and the
Court adjourned. lie sat on Mt,n4l:3, night till nearly nine
o'clock, and disposed of several ma 'te:.s. In the case of
William Henry Parker, losfore reported, a
.intignant of six
months was given under Ito: discretion ary clause. He bad
been a mantlemaker in Monkwell- street, City, and was
acquitted at t Se Central Criminal Court un a charge of arson.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Phillips.)
IN nit JAMES ABBOTT—A COLLEGE FOR IDIOTS.
This insolvent, a " 8.A.," described as a canvasser, who
had etetepted to establish a e ,liege for Wets of the higher
classes, 'vas (apsed by A Miss Newman. who had been
matron en' Bartholomew's Mr. Reed supported.
It appet red that the insehr a ba I advertised for a seper-
jnteodeefe f his c I!, ce Laverstock, nrar ilalishury, which
was f r f The kiedier el I.ses, anti also a college which
was to river Oxfard and Cambrldge. Ile failed in his pro-
xi, and Intnye the insolvom.e.
Miss Neaar an cornplalool that bad been induced to
advance Li 50 which she hail saved up, and also raiLing
money on he- 2.eversionary property for another £ISO.
Mr. Comm:se:oner asked some rf the lePried
manse' to take ilia the case for Mb' Newman, and Mr. W.
Denney (ruse's; -A and (\epos, d for her.
Miss Newman .'e. ailed manner in which she had ad-
winced her money ta the insolvent. end the expectation he
held not to her fate• the estal.l.slintent of a college which
was to rival the great mist
Mr. Denney made :an ,nere-etic sieegh, complaining that
he bad heen defrauded of her money.
Mr. Commissioner Philli2s expressed his obligation to
the learned counsel for condecting the case. The poor
woman had Let her money:, and it was a case for the full
extent of the discretionary clause. After commenting on
the conduct of the insolvent, he gave a judgment of six
months.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Murphy.)
IN RP. GEORGE FEATHERSTONE GRIFFIN.
Mr. Dowse opposed for two creditors, on the ground of a
vexatious defence, and
The learned Conimissiocer gave a judgment of six months.
IN nn HERTIERT S. H. CORNEWALL.
The insolvent ho bean atroot four years in prison. His
debts were upwards of £30,000, which were nearly all sc-
oured, and lie gave up property.
Mr. Sargood appeared for two creditors to obtain an
amendment to the schedule, which was set right, and a
consent obtained.
Tho Insolvent was discharged. -

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—NEWCASTLE, AUG. 2.
CIVIL COURT.
(Before Lord CHO' tree Polock.)

HUNTLEY T. THE ST. GEORGE ASSURANCE COMPANY.

This was an action on a policy of life assurance, effected
In the St. Get,rge Assurance Company, of London, on the
life of the late Mr. George Hantley, surgeon, of
llowlon, near- Newcastle, for X 2,000, and in which hi,
widow, as hip representative, was the plaintiff.
The defendants pleaded that the deceased was not a man
of sober habits, that he had 13right's disease of the kidre3s
and !ran disease at the time %tarn he effected the 3 i ',tilt. •
that ha was as are that be bad tl;ese disetaez and .'
fraudu-
lently elneestled this kettcyledge from the cotnnanc.
Mr. noggins, Q.C., Mr. Whee'er, and Mr. Weal appeared
fur the plaintiff ;
and Mr. Athertos, Q, C., Edarci
James, Q.C., an•l Mr. Ilopwoed fir the defendants.
It appeared from the statement of the learned csunscl for
the,plaintiff, and from the evidence of the various wi,nesses
called, that the deceased was a surgeon in very exte,isivr
practice at Ilowdon, near Newcastle, bring surgeon to
everal institutions, collieries, and large iron foundtries, in
addition to his private practice. He was 54 yelps of
Wind up to the time when he insu-ed his life, en the I.2th of
1857, was known as a remarkably healthy, robust,
ruchly-complexioned, active man, subject to no ailments,
road of shoe.ting and dancing, and who took a great deal of
exercise. ne was a vegetarian, seldom took any animal
foad, and then only a very little roast beef, and was in other
respects a remarkably solsr and et Irtetnions man. sever 11
;Tells ft" rival insttrince e. tires 1-rt,i frequently applied to
him as tang are as 1351 tO ins,:re his life; in their rill=s,
but until the presentpolic vrts effected his reply had beep
that he could not afford rite psrt of the plainttff re-
spectable persons in the tti rlibourhood where deceased
had lived were called, who pr., 4. that they had known Hin
for '2O years, and that his ehsrieter was 119 above staid.
A publican cf his town was called, who proved that, ex-
cept tlitrine. a period cf three called,
when he was in at-
tend:wet. daily on a oil '
10 V, who heal had hie foot " who
was 'taNing at hfs
andcrushel by a rails ay w, ggoo,
lie never was in the bons.r drank anything
E its the case the plea chantey' there.
the deceased was not of
tiober habits was abandoned by the counsel for the defend-
ants. Mr. Preatm, a can.in of 1.41,
_a surgeon at Newcastle,
had been on terms of intimacy
17 years, and never knew him wwanutbaillat_ fur the last
qUently !Pt tarn Pr 660111 Of game, and iiiirt?r. Ha ire-
l+wayel

.troy he was very fond of shooting, and thatlhe would fee_
weutly be out six or seven hours shooting. A lady rf his
Fpoke to heving teen at a
.party: with
let Chi
ist-
-es, 1856, and that he danced a Scotca r7ed eau her ith
e"eat spirit, aid that in the ceurse of the mall she wel zed
and danced a polka with him. A surgeon named Milnr, to
whom he had mentioned hew much he had enjoyed the
dancing at the party, told hiin he thought he had better
leave dancing to younger peeple. Befere the policy was
effected, on the 9th of April, 1857, Dr. Davison, the medical
referee of tin employ, tenoned that the deceased was in
aetind health, that he ha-t no affection of the heart, lungs,
or kidneys, that his chest teas remarkably well develdped,
aed that his was in all respects a desirable life to insure.
His brother, who resid d with him for 12 months imme-
diately preceding the insurance, said that during that time
he had nothing the matter with him, but that shortly before
the insurance be complained ef not feeling quite to well and
went to Crofts, a watering-niece, for three weeks. It also
appeared that on the B,li of March, a month preceding the
date of the policy, he was called up in the night to atterd a
woman in her confinement ar.d walked a quarter of a mile
about 11 o'clock at night to where she lived, and remained
attending her till 3 o'clock in the morning. It was vehet t' e
witnesses termed a " very eearse" itcy, eed elf et
fallin -, lie ant wet in poi: gto this house, and sat in his 1
t cletlus end shoes while he stayed there. It was after
this teat he complained off elirg unwell and went to Crofts.
in May—a month after the policy had been effected—he
eal:rd is Sir John Fife, an eminent practitioner in New-
castle, to attend him. Sir John Fife f Mat very little
altered. He was ruddy, robust-looking, neck muscular, his
eyes bright and full. His breathing was itregular, his pulse
quick and not firm. Ile examined him with the stethescope
carefully and fennel no ti ace of either heart or lung disease.
He had watery swelling of the extremities and he made
two punctures on each side cf the tendon Achilles, from
which a considerable amcurt of serous fluid escaped. Ile
examined his urine, which was small in quantity, datk-
eeloured, and of intense acidity as tested by litmus paper.
Ile then applied nitric acid and heat to it to test it for alba-
' men, and lee eculd discover no trace of albumen, and he had
great hope of the case. Ile mentioned to the deceased that
he could diSCON't rno albumenuria to reassure him. II ad he
discovered traces of albumen in the urine along with the
other symptoms, he should have thought the case hopeless.
In his opinion, he was then suffering from subacute infl.m-
mation and congestion of the kidneys. The disorder was
functional, and there was no organic disease, and. in his
opinion, no chronic inflammation. Exposure to cold on a
raw, windy, wet night would be very likely to ',ranee such
symptoms in any man. The presence of albumen in the urine
was not always indicative cf Bright's disease of the kidneys;
an attack of dyspepsia or other causes of disorder of the sys-
tem might produce it. Bright's disease producad pallor and
emaciation, and he never saw any man exhibit sytrpt ems so
entirely opposite. He was one of the finest specimens of a
healthy, robust, middle-sized man he ever saw of middle age.
This was the plaintiff's case, iu no way shaken on cress:-
examis ation.

For the defern'ant it was submitted that the answers of
the deceased to the inquiries made " Had he heart disease,"
" Had he Bright's disease of the kidneys," to which he an-
swered in:the negative, were the bases of the contract entered
into with him, and that if he knew he had these diseases
and concealed his knowledge of these facts from the com-
p:nay, then by the terms of the contract the policy was void.
To show that he had both these diseases and khew it when
he made the policy the fact that he himself was an expe-
rienced surgeon was relied on, and Dr. Charlton, of New;
castle, was called, who proved that as early a April, 1855,
the decca,:ed consulted him professionally and cemplained
that something was amiss with him. He then examined him
carefully with the stethescope, and found that he had heart
disease and lung disease, and he advised him to avoid ex-
posure to cold and wet, and to keep himself quiet in the
pursuit of his profession. In November or December of
1836 the deceiver; and his wife called upon Lim and he ex-
amined him again, and he found him in exactly the same
condition—neither better nor worse—and told him what his
stnte was. Dr. Ernbleton, of Newcastle, stated that in
January, 18.37, he was consulted by the deceased, and he
then carefully examined hint, and made him strip. lie
fiend that he had heart disease, disease of the lungs and
liver, and watery swellings of the ]cgs. On the 7th of
April, the day after the deceased had made proposals to the
defendants' company to insure with them, the deceased sent
him a bottle of his urine to examine. He then tested it
with heat, and with nitric acid, and with them both, and
detected the presence of a large quantity of albumen. He
informed the deceased that lie was sorry to say that he bad
discovered albumen in his urine. He forebore to say more
to him, can that as a medical man he would draw
his own conclusions from this, and wished not to distress
him; but be informed his wife, the present plaintiff, fully of
what be considered the deceased's state, which he considered
to be a very dangerous one. On cress-examination the
witness stated that other causes than Bright's decease of
the kidneys tn'ght produce albumen in the urine. A vege-
table diet, if the blood got very thin, would be likely to pro-
duce it.
'shi, -In -It - then, if the dee'

His Lordship—ln a,. pt.( y, deceased
had eateii animal food and takeu a little wine he would
have been alive and well now? •

Witness—Very likely.
His Lordship—l should advise insurance companies in
future to put r.mong their questions to the insured, " Are
you a vegetarian?"
The deceased died on the 17th of June, 1857.
In summing up, Mr. Atherton relied upon this evNence
as showing beyond doubt that the deceased had concealed
from the defendants facts regarding his own health which
showed him toblt labouring uner dangerous di tense at the
time when he effected the policy, and that be was, in fact,
Ishouring under lirleht's disease and heart disease, and
knew it at the time.

Mr. Hoggins, in reply, commented strongly on the fact
that the defendants had not dared to call their own medical
referee, and relied upon the body of evidence he had called
for the plaintiff as :homing that up to the time when the
deceased attended the midwifery case in March, 1857, he
was a strong, robust, healthy, ruddy-complexioned, active
man; that the report of the defendants' referee on the 9th
of April, 1857, immediately before the pol!cy was effected,
entirely bore out this evidence, and showed that at that lime
he had neither heart disease nor Bright's disease, and this
report was corroborated by the evidence of Sir John Fife,
given a month afterwards on the return of the deceased from
Crof s.

His lordship, to summing up, told the jury that the issues
were rarrowed to three, whether the deceased had heart
disease, whether he had Bight's disease, and whether he
knew this, and concealed his knowledge from the company,
which would be a fraud upon them. The circumstance of the
deceased haring died within three months aft, r the policy
was effected justified the closest inquiry, With regard to
the evidence for the defence be said the deceased might well
not Inhere that be bad • disease of the heart, for
ha went a shooting, he danced, and took much exer-
cise. had Le that disease nature herself world tell him
be mid not do such things, and as to heart
disease he might well say " that is a mistake."
As to Bright's disease, he was told that he had albutnectuda,
hut that was ro certain indication of Bright's disease, and
might eri,e from other causes, and from living on an en-
tirety vPge•able diet. The facts were, however, for the
jury, and he left it to them to say whether the deceased
knew at the time when he effrc,ed the policy whether he
had either or b th of the dii;ewcs mentioned, and whether on
the evidence he ha I, in point of fact, either of those disease.%
If they found these issues in the affirmative they must find
fir the defendant, if in the negative for the plaintiff.
The jury retired, and of er a short absence returned with
a verdict for the pininiiff, damae.es ,C 2,000, less the amount
of the half-yearly premiiinn, £33. They also found as a fact
that the deceased did not know that he had either of these
disca! and that, in point of fAct, he bad neither.

CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Bann Martin.)

Jos. Johnsod, 28, Richard Sayer, 33, John Sloan, 30,
Andrew ihrtrant, 44, and James Cameron, 32, were
severally charged with the manslaughter of one John Cain,
on the ZlOth of M ay

Mr. Overend, Q.C., Mr. Seymour, and Mr. Fowler ap-
peAre.l for Vie to os,eution; ti'e prisoners tvcre defended by
the lion. A. Liddill end Mr. Da?ison.

I t appears that a bum; er r f penons had been in a
" atwankcy-house"—i e., a house fir the ssle of small beer,
in the suburbs of ill's town, cn tte 2.91 i of Ma
,y,
ar
ac-
cording to their sta'etnents, which were of a very contradic-
tory and confused nature, they all left together, and, on
pa'sing the Ellison's Arens, where come men were standing,
a central row rock place, in which the eeceased, John Cain,
received such St Ye• C acunds as caused his death. The five
prisoners were Protest an,s, ar.d the principal wi• news Irish
Catholics,. a fact which gave the whole matter the com-
plexion of an Change row. In course
aonidt hher i fighte
k b a t as
:cwoearl
rake, a shovel, a peke-, a knife, a
e
freely used, and anyth:ng in the nature of a weapon which
came handy. Cain, the deceasetl, was seen down on his
back, and the prisoners beating and stabbing him.
Several witnesses were called by the prosecution to show
that the prisoners Joheso,;, Bertram, and Camere4 were
present, with Sloan and Sayers, engaged in this attack on
the deceased. One cf these spoke of the row as being a
general one, in which both sides took part. A pistol, which
bad been recently fired off, was found at the prisoner John-
son's house. Mr. Lewndes, surgeon, proved that there were
some severe stabs on John Cain's body, one of which had
entered his lungs, and was eufliient to cause his death.
There was also another wound ha the neck, which would
have caused his death.
This closed the case-for the prosecution.
After an able speech from the learned counset:for the de-
fence, who contended that there was an absence of common
purpese and design in tie prisoners to attack the deceased,
and that the witnesses were all Catholics, and, as it ap-
peared, were armed with some kind of weapons, left it to
the jury to say whether this wrs not a general row, -and
contended that in the conflict of statements the charge was
not brought home to the prisoners, on whose behalf he called
several witnesses to show that they were quiet and inoflen-
sive men.
'llls Lordship, after remarking that a great deal had been
said about Catholics and Protestants, which he tres•rel the
jery would dismiss from their mirth:, then summed up the
evidence with great ea: e.
"The jury retired for about three-quarters of an hour.and
I eturned a verdict cf guilty as against Sayer and Sloan, and
goatsnot against Johnson, Bertram, and Cameron.
inn and Sayer were recommended to mercy by the
jury on account of the want of evidence as to the cause of
provocation.
Sentence was deferred.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—BonmtN, AUG. 2.
The commission 'for fhe minty of Cornwall wai opened
in this rosin on Sa..t.rday everting by Mr. Baron Charm,'
Yesterday thejudies attenoird Divirre service at the church,
sod rhfor .motniog the husiueirs rommereed, Mr. Baron.
Wa,son presiding In the Crown court and Mr. Baron Chan-
nell at Nisi Prins. There are only four cases in
the cause list, but they are expected to occupy the whole of
the time allowed here. There arc 21 prisoners in the calen-
dar, 1,1;1 the Ohm; are of a trifling character; there I.
one charge of infanticic:c, but the learned Baron,
in his charge to the grand jury, suggested to them that the
evidence was very nnsaii4act,ry, and be thought it rely
1:1c-ly that they would conslder it right to throw out the
bill. There is a case of burglary; the prosecutor and his
family were in London, and the servantr, taking advaniagr
of the absence of the family,. west to a dance at a public-
lions.' and on their return they found that t'e house hart
been broken into, anti all the plate bad beer; taken. Thr
only evidence against the prisoner was that be was in nos-
of a pair of pincers, and the police thought the ifontee
had been bro!ica into with p;nctre, and the other pee of
evideroce was, that the prisoner had a tahacco-b-x, and a
tohneco-box was found near the hoase, but %shether it was
tire prironer's or not did no t appear. As regarded that tin
!corned judge told the grand jury tkat he thought the ea I-
dace very u:2atisfacfory.

CIVIL. SIDE.
fure Mr. Baron Channell.)
COLLINS V. SYMONS.

Mr. Collier and Mr. Coleridge were coansel for the plain-
tiff; and Mr. 11. T. Cole was counsel for the defendant.
Tois was an action upon an apprenticeship bond, brought
by Mr. Collins, who u as a carpenter at Wadtbridge, against
the defendant, who is the fat Ler of a boy who had been ap-
prenticed to the plaintiff, and had ran away before emu.
pleting his time.
The defence setup was that the plaintiff NO 1117troated