The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-06 00:00:00

FINN VALLEY.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held at Strabane on Thursday; Lord Lifford in the
chair.

The SECRETARY read the report, which stated that
since the last meeting the contractors had been
put in possession of land, and were at work at the
Stranorlar end of the line. In the cases in which
the directors could not effect the purchase of the
requisite land by amicable settlement the Govern-
ment arbitrator had made his valuation, and had
fixed Dec. 6 and 7 for hearing objections to it. The
directors would be able to deliver to the contrac-
tors all the lands required for the line without
delay to the progress of the works. The directors
had entered into a contract with the directors of
the Dundalk and Londonderry line to work the
railway for 10 years after its completion for 35 per
cent. of the traffic receipts; the Dundalk Company
were to provide rolling stock and to pay all working
charges. The capital account showed that £14,773
had been received, and £9,727 expended, leaving
a balance of £5,046.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, congratulated the shareholders on the pro-
spect of completing the line and works within the
estimate by the end of July next.
Mr. MACKY seconded the motion.

Mr. BOWER, the engineer, said that he had esti-
mated that the probable return on the outlay would
not be leas than 44 per cent., and that 8 per cent.
might be realised under the working arrangement.
The report was unanimously adopted, and a vote
of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceed-
ings.

DERIVATION OF Bench or
Form in the open air, on
our day expose their wares for
chs
sale,
humbler hucksters of
counter which, in older and simpler representsl the table or
the shop of traders of all degrees,
times, constituted
used them—as still in the East—tobees Bankers
even
conduct
their
business in the public places, seated enfo
a bench (baneus,ban,co, whence `," bank, banker") before
them, on which. to count out cash to customers, When
e
a trader became insolvent,. it accorded with the unsophisti-
cated procedure of the middle ages, that the authorities
should manifest the insolvency to his brother-traders and
to the community, by breaking up his bench. Hence the
term baneus ruptus, through the Italian banco sotto, and
its French adaptation banque route, all alike signifying
broken bench, has added to our vocabulary the word bank-
rupt—"denoting thereby," as Blackstone expounds, "one
whose shop or place is broken and gone, "—.The Gazette of
I3mikruptcy,

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—Nov. 5.

COURT OF PROBATE AND DIVORCE.
(Before Sir C. Cresswell.)
ALLEGED COLLUSION.

The Attorney-General:obtained leave to intervene
in the cases of Pollack v. Pollack and others, and
Hotine v. Hotine and Foxall, which have been
fully reported, on the ground of collusion.

WALKER V. WALKER, NICOL, CRAIG AND ANOTHER.
In this case the petitioner was the husband, and
sued for a dissolution of marriage with his wife on
the ground of her adultery with the two co-respon-
dents Nicol and Craig, and another person not
known. The case was heard last July before a
special Jury, and occupied the court two days, when
a verdict was found for the petitioner on all the
issues.

From the evidence adduced at the trial, it ap-
peared that all the parties lived in Liverpool, and
that Mr. Nicol was a builder and Mr. Craig a medi-
cal man. Various acts of familiarity were deposed
to on the part of Mrs. Walker with the co-respon-
dents, and, inter atia, it was alleged that she had
admitted Mr. Nicol into her house during the ab-
sence of her husband, and had been locked in
the dining-room, and that he had been frequently
seen to leave the house, the door being opened
to him by Mrs. Walker. Notes were also
read which, although not of an amatory cha-
racter, showed that a very close intimacy sub-
sisted between Mrs. Walker and Nicol ; but it was
attempted to be shown that these had reference to
business transactions. Mr. Nicol admitted having
written these epistles, and also that he and his wife
were on very friendly terms with Mrs. Walker,
even subsequently to his having heard that her
husband accused her of impropriety with him.
Mr. Coleridge, Q.C., on behalf of Mr. Nicol, now
moved for a rule calling on the petitioner to show
cause why there should not be a new trial, on the
ground that the verdict was against evidence. He
stated that Mr. Craig had also filed an application
for a new trial, but he did not appear on the pre-
sent occasion. The learned counsel then went
through the evidence in detail, and contended that
there were discrepancies in the testimony of the
principal witnesses which fully justified the applica-
tion. He also produced a plan of the house where
Mrs. Walker resided, to show that the evidence of
one of the females examined, a servant, who de-
posed to having seen Mr. Nicol leave the house on
one occasion, was not to be relied on, as she stated
that she witnessed the occurrence from the kitchen,
which was considerably below the surface of the
ground outside, and rendered it improbable that
any person could see who entered or left the house.
Sir C. Cresswell One pane of the window in the
basement story is above the surface, and a person,
by mounting on a chair, could see who left the
house. When female curiosity is excited there is
nothing improbable in its being gratified in a case
like the present, when the servant might have
known or suspected that there was a gentleman in
the house. (Laughter.) I will consider before de-
ciding on the application.
Dr. Phillimore, Q.C., on the part of the petitioner,
applied to have the decree nisi pronounced, as there
was sufficient proof of the respondent's adultery,
even if it had not been established against Mr.
Nicol.

- .
Sir C. Cresswell said he must decide the appli
cation on the other side before making any;such de.
cree.

COMPTON V. COMPTON AND BARING.

In this case, which has been fully reported in this
journal, the husband obtained a verdict and £6OO
damages, and the Court pronounced the decree nisi
dissolving the marriage, on the ground of the wife's
adultery with the co-respondent, who holds the
rank of captain in the English army.

Dr. Spinks applied to-the Court to make the
decree absolute, and also that the damages should
be paid to the petitioner. . _ _

Icfr. R. Searle said he was instructed on behalf
of Mrs. Compton to apply to the Court to direct
some provision to be made to her out of the money
in question.
Sir C. Cresswell—l cannot direct that she should
derive any advantage from her prostitution. I
think the husband is entitled to the decree being
made absolute, and also to the damages being de-
livered to him.

CITY SHERIFFS' COURT.
(Before Mr. Sergeant Wheeler.)
PEARSON V. MUGGERIDGE.

At the conclusion of the examination of witnesses
in this case,
The jury, without a moment's hesitation, found
a verdict for the defendant.

The learned Judge said the other applicants
would have their remedy against Mr. Acland.
Defendant's counsel waived costs.

DESERTION BEFORE TilE ENEMY.

CHATHAM, Nov. 5.

The members of the General Court-martial re-
sumed their sitting at 10 a.m., this day, in the Gene-
ral Court-martial-room, Chatham Barracks, for
the trial of Henry Warner, 17th Lancers, No. 1,224,
for having deserted from his regiment when in front
of the enemy at Kadikoi, in the_Crimea,•on the Bth
of August, 1855.
Captain Congrave, Brigade Major at Chatham,
officiated as Deputy Judge-Advocate; and Colonel
R. N. Phillips, commanding 2d Depot Battalion,
was president.
The charge having been read,
The prisoner, who was dressed as a sailor, was
asked by the President whether he pleaded guilty
or not, and replied, in a firm voice, " Guilty.'
Staff Captain William Miller, from the Cavalry
Depot, Maidstone, was the prosecutor. _ _

The first witness examined was Sergeant John
Penn, 17th Lancers. He knew the prisoner, who
deserted from the regiment in August, 1855, when
the regiment was in active service at Kadikoi. The
prisoner was not seen again until he was in the
guard-room at the Cavalry Depot, Maidstone.
By the Prisoner—What state of mind and body
was I in when I deserted?

Sergeant Penn replied that he knew the prisoner
to have been in hospital a day or two before he
deserted, but could not say the disease he was
suffering from.
Sergeant William Pervis 17th Lancers, was the
° sevreant of the guard on the 10th of Ociober last
at Maidstone Barracks, when the prisoner was
handed over to Lim by a military escort.
Captain Miller said he had no more evidence to
offer.

The prisoner then handed to the Court a written
defence, throwing himself on the merciful consi-
deration of the Court. At the lime of his desertion
he was labouring under an afflicted mind, in
consequence of receiving a letter from his mother,
giving an account of his father's death ; and being
just released from hospital, he wandered about for
two days, and did not like to return to his regi-
ment ; he therefore concealed himself on board Her
Majesty's ship Colossus, and subsequently served
on board as a stoker up to 1856, when the ship was
taken into dock at Portsmouth. He then gave
himself up to Sergeant Irish, Royal Marine Artil-
lery, as a deserter from the 17th Lancers. He was
then placed in irons in the cockpit of the Colossus,
by order of Captain Turner, and there kept in irons
for 10 weeks and three days. He was released by
Captain Turner, who had him up on the quarter-
deck and told him that he had written to the Horse
Guards, and also to Colonel Benson, commanding
the regiment, which was then in Ireland, and they
disowned him. He was therefore set at liberty.
He also served on board three others of Her Ma-
jesty's ships and on being paid off from the last he
was sent to the Fisgard, at Woolwich, and after-
wards transferred to the Cumberland. Having
obtained a pass to see his friends in the beginning of
October last, he was going from the London-bridge
station, when he was taken as a deserter from the
17th Lancers. The prisoner then called Captain
Turner and put several questions to him. Captain
Turner said that he was in command of Her Majes-
ty's ship Colossus in 1856. He did not recollect the
prisoner joining that ship, neither did he recollect
the prisoner being brought to him on the quarter-deck
by Sergeant Irish, Marine Artillery, nor yet the
circumstance of Mr. Griffin, the master-at-arms, re-
leasing the prisoner, and having the prisoner before
him on the quarter-deck and saying that he had
written to the commanding officer of the prisoner's
regiment and he refused to claim him. Nor did he
recollect any correspondence having been entered
into on the subject of the prisoner by himself to any
one.

By the Court—Do you recognise the prisoner as
having served on board the Colossus in 1856?—I do.
By the Court—For what length of time in 1856
did the prisoner serve ? I cannot say. I know he
served in that ship.
By the Court—Was he a prisoner during any
part of the time he was on board the Colossus P—l
do not recollect.

By the Court—Could the circumstances have oc-
curred on board the ship of which you were the
commander which have been mentioned by the pri-
soner,--of his being delivered over to you as a de-
serter, and you having placed him irons, and your
having written to the commanding officer of the
17th Lancers and having released him, without
wbel
uoe
‘.l'
rgl t e. . . .
.h?
a—cv
eoTunhi i
rtc
ehi
ere
oc
pul l mre
ic
sst
oti ano nne
rc
oef t
s have might
con-
fined on board your ship for ten
irons and released • h your knowled
out knowledge ?—I
cannot recollect. enorei
i without
The Court asked Captain Turner 'whether he
could, on application to the Admiralty, obtain the
information as alleged by the prisoner, of his having
been put into irons on board the Colossus and after-
wards liberated, And other records concerning the