The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-17 00:00:00

The trust deed was put in appointing the plain-
tiffs trustees of Pearce and Countz.
Mr. Countze said—l was a coach-builder in
Long-acre. In 1864 the defendant c ;me to my
shop. She wanted a brougham with very handsome
curtains, lamps to be chased and mounted with
horses running and rampant ; panels bordered
round with foliage in gold, wheels to be picked out
with gold foliage, white, and bands with white and
gilding round the fellies of the wheels ; chased
handles to correspond, and her monogram and crest,
viz., a rampant horse, on the panels ; round the
roof handsame chased ornaments and foliage, and
a rampant horse at each corner, solid works, silver
plated nails to the wheels, everything else to corre-
spond. The defendant suggested how it was to be
done. There were cigar pockets inside ; the har-
ness mounted elaborately, silver crest embossed,
four sets of bells, two for each horse ; one
set of silver for the day time, another set for night ;
a sat of horse blankets. The price was £3OB.
£lOO was paid off before the carriage went home,
and £2O was paid on account sent in in December,
1864, or January, 1865. £l4O has been paid, leav-
ing a balance of £l7O 14s. Repairs were done to
the carriage from time to time. There was a very
handsome whip with silver ferrules. The order was
for cash. On several occasions I waited on defen-
dant., but did not get a payment. I charged her
£lO interest in July, 1867. She went to America
in that mouth. She returned in September. 1 saw
Mi. Pender with reference to her affairs, on her re-
turn, about the account. lie was her agent. In
September an account was sent in for £127. Other
sums had been paid in the meantime. I could not
then see the defendant at her house in Thurloe-
square, but I saw Pender. The carriage remained
with us during her stay in America, and an ()icier
for its delivery came from Fender, who after-
wards called upon us, and in consequence of what
passed I drew two bills, which he took away, and
they were returned, one accepted. The defendant
sent us a £2O cheque from Liverpool on the 2d of
June. After the 26th September I received two
letters from Fender, and had. previously drawn on
the defendant two bills for £33 ss. 6d. each, and
they were returned accepted by the defendant, and
on one of those this action is brought. Altogether
there had been £122 paid. Iu October, 1865, re-
pairs were done to the brougham. £8 15s. On the
14tb December, 1865, I received a letter from Mr.
Pender :—" My desire is to pay what is due. Let
me know the amount of repairs to be done. The
long list frightens me." On the 22d March, 1866 :
—" Miss nenken, on account of the illness of Capt.
Barclay, has been obliged to go to America, but
hopes soon to return, &c. (from Pender)."

Cross.-examined—Mr. E. T. Smith is a friend of
mine, and has introduced customers. I don't know
that he ordered the carriage. It was ordered of my
partner. Our first charge was £296. The first
charge was £220 for the brougham ; the harness
£42. The second charge was for painting mono-
gram, &c., £1 10s. ; other charges £l3 Bs. 4d., har-
ness £l6 95., making £296 2s. ; additions making
£3BO. I received orders from the defendant about
some repairs. Never heard that the rain came
through the roof. No complaint was ever made to
me about the carriage or harness.

In the course of the examination of the witness
Mr. Sergeant Parry said the defence was that the
defendant had been induced to accept the bill on a
representation that she owed a larger amount than
she had paid, whereas, in truth, she had paid the
full amount due.
At four o'clock the CLief Juatice said it would
be impossible to finish the case that night, and
therefore he should adjourn to Monday, but the
Court would not sit before 12 o'clock.

Miss AdaMenken appeared in court, and was at-
tired in a green silk dress of the prevailing fashion
set off on the shoulders with elaborately wrought
costly lace. She was " the c)nosure of all admir-
ing eyes."

The further hearing of the case was resumed this

morning.

Mr. Pearce said—l formerly carried on business
with Mr. Countz, in Long-acre ; we had been in
business there thirty years. I saw Miss Menken
and gave her the estimate for the carriage in qt.vs-
don ; it amounted to £250. It was a reasonable
price, as we only cleared 12i per cent. by it. The
other articles supplied were also charged at the
same reasonable price. I received the first cheque
for £lOO, but when the bargain was made it was
to be for ready money. Until the present action
I had no idea that the price would be disputed.
Cross-examined—l am acquainted with Mr. E.
F. Smith ; he introduced Miss Menken to me, but
he never gave me any orders about the brougham.
He made some suggestions which Miss Menken
adopted. I don't know that it was at his suggestion
that the rampant horses were ordered. I think the
only alteration he spoke of was the oval lights at the
back. I cannot say that he suggested anything else.
I didn't know that Miss Menkeu has paid £306. I
cannot say how long the brougham was left with us
when Miss Menken went to America. It was not
used during her absence from England. I don't
know that there was any complaint about the build-
ing of the brougham. He never heard that the rain
came in at the roof of the carriage until Saturday
last, nor that the silver ornaments turned black very
shortly after they had been exposed to the air. If
we had been made acquainted with such a circum-
stance it would have at once been attended to.
Mr. Sergeant Perry, in stating the case for the
defendant, said the lady was an actress of re-
putation, and in the pursuit of her profes-
sional duty she was called upon to travel
in various parts of the world, and from that
circumstance it was not surprising she did not keep
any books. He would not say that such was a
judicious proceeding, but it was a very common
one with actresses. He contended that the real
person responsible for the cost of the brougham was
Mr. E. T. Smith, and he very much regretted that
it was not now iu his power to produce the carriage
A charged for.
Tand to
that h
to show to practical men, in order to support his
assertion
d, inmerica,
ar rui
sa
eg alone e thatw a si
now,t
must
u s twashe
bextravagantlybelieved,
e eve
attributed his inability to
show it. He should show that the brougham was en-
tirely the suggestion of Mr. Smith, and that he knew
very well that it would be a great advertisement
for his theatre. Mr. Smith knew the great attrac-
tion it would cause to Astley's Theatre to have the
lady go about the metropolis with rings on her
fingers and bells on her horses' heads. (Laughter.)
He should also show that plaintiffs charged not
only an extravagant, but a merciless price. The
carriage was delivered on the 22d November, and
as soon as the 3d December no less a sum than
nearly £l4 was charged for alterations and repairs.
Miss Menken never knew, until the writ was issued,
that she had paid in all £306 for the carriage, but
finding that to be the case she thought that she
had paid sufficient for the carriage, and he hoped
that the jury would be of the same mind.
Without wishing to say any more than was neces-
sary about the carriage, he could not refrain from
saying that, when she used it one day, the rain came
through the roof, and of course that had at once to
be seen to. Miss Nleuken treated the carriage with
the utmost tenderness, but notwithstanding that,
when she at length took the carriage to America,
she was charged no less than £6O for repairs, show-
ing that there were coachinakera in America how

Examination continued—l know nothing of the
item, " Interest as arranged 110 7s. 6d." I never
agreed to such a charge. I never injured the
brougham in any way. I took extra care of it, and
eagaged another carriage to use in its place on bad
nights. I went to America in 1865, and after an
absence of seven weeks returned to England, when
the brougham wanted repair, as usual. (Laughter.)
The bill of exchange, the subject of the present
action, was said to be transacted through Mr.
Pinder, but he was only my agent for
theatrical affairs, and had no right to pledge my
credit to otheraffairs, and when I signed the bill now
in court I really believed that I owed the money. As
regards the details of the repairs to the carriage I
have never had an account from the plaintiff.
When on my second visit to America I took extra
care of the brougham, and had it packed in a box
filled up with straw. When I got to America
washad again
topay for repairs, but the brougham
ultimately sold in American for £4O.

The Lord Chief Justice—That may be a very im
provident price. The broughain, you know, had
to cross the Atlantic.

Mr. Murphy objected to the examination of the
plaintiff on that point.
Sergeant Parry—l think I ought to be allowed
to show what the matters were in America.

The Lord Chief Justice—Well, you can take it
that the brougham, after £6O had been spent, sold
for £4O.

Sergeant Parry—l only wished to show what
the carriage brought when it was sold.
The Lord Chief Justice —Many a person buys a
toy dear, and sells it very cheap.
Sergeant Parry—Quite so, my lord.
Cross-examined, by Mr. Murhpy—Alr. Pender
was in the habit of receiving moneys for me in
theatrical matters. He had no directions to pay
money for other matters. I may have handed him
a tradesman's account to see whether it was correct
or no, but that was not his business. I may have
sent him to Messrs. Pearce with a message, but I
don't recollect sending him. I did not send him
with the cheques to them. He brought some
cheques to me to sign,and I wrote my name to them
as a matter of course. I don't know anything
about bills or figures.
The Lord Chief Justice—But do you mean to
say you did not know that you were signing a bill.
That is your signature, is it not ?
Wi tn ess—Y es .

The Lord Chief Justice—Did you write your
name across bills like that without knowing the
importance pf so doing ?
Witness—lf I had been asked to do so by a per-
son in whom I had confidence, I should do so. I
have done so once, and the present will be a lesson
to me.

that, in
Cross-examination continued—l have no know-
ledgeto Messrs. Pearce, telling them to come to Astley's
Theatre and render the amount of the bill. I recol-
November, 1865, Mr. Fender wrote
recol-
lect the curtains of the carriage being changed from
crimson to blue. I know it was done by direction
of Mr. E. T. Smith and at his suggestion. I can-
not recollect how the matter was done, but I know
111 r. E. T. Smith had the full management of the
affair. I don't recollect giving Mr. Countze the
order to alter the colour of the curtains per-
sonally. I will not pledge my oath I did
not do so. I never gave directions to
Mr. Fender to settle with Messrs. Pearce and
Countze. I was several times applied to for money
for repairs to the carriage, but never for the actual
payment of the carriage.
Mr. Sergeant Parry—Will my friend tell me
what was charged for changing the curtains from
crimson to blue ?

Mr. Murphy-1 cannot say that lean. The item
in which it occurs is an estimate, and the whole is
charged for, viz., ill some odd shillings.
Mr. Sergeant Parry—was anything allowed for
the rich crimson silk curtains removed to make
room for the blue ones ?

Mr. Murphy made no reply, but simply smiled at
the learned counsel's question.
Miss Suzette Ellington said—l have been Miss
Menken's companion since April, 1865. I have
ridden in the brougham in question frequently. At
those times I have complained to Miss Menken of
my dress being damaged by the rain coming in
through the windows. The silver-plated harness
always appeared black. The brougham was con-
tinually wanting repairs. 1 have heard Miss Men-
ken tell Mr. Countze that the brougham was not in
such a state as a new brougham ought to be, and that
she should send it back if the defects were not
remedied. The complaints were made by Miss
Menken previous to her first departure for America
in August, 1865.
Sergeant Parry said dahhde cwoiuthld
tnhoet
acadmllietehieencofarcehm-
inthaenCowunhso waselrom the other side, that money to the
amount of £306 had been paid on account of the
brougham, he would conclude his case.
Mr. Countze was then called into the box to give
an explanation of the charges which made up the
bill of £306.

The Lord Chief Justice--There was one thing
that in the whole course of my life I have never
been able to understand, and that is a coachmaker's
bill. (Laughter.)
The plaintiff then went through his charges book,
and at its conclusion said, in answer to Sergeant
Parry, that up to the 10th of July £2lO had been
paid, and that the charge for the silk curtains would
be about six guineas. With respect to rain enter-
ing the carriage, it was an exceedingly difficult
thing to make the quarter lights of carriages weather
proof. had Miss Menken sent the brougham back
when the defect arose, it would have been remedied
immediately.
This closed the evidence for the defence.

Mr. Sergeant Parry addressed the jury for the
defendant. He said he hoped the jury would
be of opinion that Miss Meuken had paid in all
£309 9s. for a brougham, the original price of
which was £220 ; the had paid enough. His client
had been charged by the coachmakers just
whatever they pleased, but he hoped the jury
would act as taxing masters, and that they
would serve the bill as those on attorneys when