The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-12 00:00:00

EXTENSIVE SEIZURE OF ILLICIT

SPIRITS OF NITRE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD.

have communicated to my client the letter of
your solicitor of the 6th instant, in reply to a letter from
me addressed to you of the 4th of the same month, re-
quiring from you a refutation of an imputation upon the
character of my client, Mr. Philip ll,rris, of Birming-
ham, chemist, contained in an article in your paper of
the 13th of November last, headed, " Further extensive
seizure of illicit spirits of nitre," in which letter yeur so-
licitor stated that the columns of the Morning Herald
are open to the contradiction, under my hand, of any
mis-statement or error which may have appeared
therein ; and in compliance with this offer, and on be-
half of my client, I beg to make the following statement,
as communicated by him to me, the truth of which, from
evidence laid before me, I have not the least reason to
doubt :

You state that, from orders given at this place
(meaning, I suppose, London), it was ascertained
that a large stock of the same description of spirits
had been sent by canal to Birmingham by
order of Bailey himself, and that the Birmingham
officers of Excise, acting upon inftbmation they had
received, proceeded to the premises of my client, and
found no difficulty in discovering the object of their
search, and pronounced the stock of spirits there found
to be part of the goods manufactured in the illicit dis-
tillery in the Globe-road, and sent by the carriers to
Birmingham. This, sir, is perfectly correct, and n)
difficulty could be experienced, for each of the carboys
of spirits at the carriers in London were directed to my
client in Birmingham, and were sent to him at his
warehouse at Birmingham, without the least attempt
at concealment, and which directions were found on
the carboys in his possession, so that no fraud could
have been anticipated or thought of by Mr. Harris in
the transaction ; and so fully were the officers of Ex-
ci,e aware of the bond fide nature of the transaction
on his part, that upon bring shown the invoices and
other document, sent by Bailey and Company'
to him, they did not remove the goods from the ware-
house, where they have remained until a few days ago.
With! espect to the price paid for the article in ques-
tion, that at which my client purchased was the then
market price, deducting about 21per cent, for immediate
payment.
And further with respect to the quantity, except one
carboy sent as a sample, only nine carboys were ordered
by him, being the quantity seized—a small quantity
compared to that which he is in the habit of buying in
the ordinary course of his business.

As the goods had only arrived in the possession of Mr.
Harris two days prior to the visitation of the officers et
Excise, and they had not then been paid for, he had no
motive for disputing the seizure, as no pecuniary loss
could accrue to him in consequence, and he is advised to
leave this question to be settled between Messrs. Bailey
Brothers and the Excise.—l am, Sir, your obedient ser-
vant, SAMUEL DANKS,
Dec. 9, 1845. 3, Waterloo-street, Birmingham.

ON THE PATRONAGE OF RAIL-

WAYS IN FRANCE.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
It is worthy of remark that, in France, the value of
railway shares is not based on the importance of the
line, or on the length of lease granted, but more invari-
ably on the reputation and credit of the banker or pro-
jector of the Company. When, therefore, a new line is
proposed, persons seek first to inform themselves who is
the projector. This observation is not applicable to the
Orleans, Rouen, or St. Germain Railways, the daily re-
turns of which are ascertained.

Patronage is then of great weight in France. As
proof of this, we may cite the example of what occurs
on the Versailles right line (rive droite), the Versailles
left line (rive gauche), and that from Strasbourg to
Basle. The shares of the left line (rive gauche) are
worth 295 francs (11/. 15s. 2d.) ; it has, notwith-
standing, a debt of four millions, and has not, as yet,
made the least return to its shareholders. The right
line (rive droite), the shares of which are worth 455
francs (181.), produces less return than that from Stras-
bourg to Basle, which has a far fairer prospect of ul-
timate success, although its shares are only 245 francs
(lot). The line of railway from Paris to Strasbourg, of
which the works are in active operation, that from
Dijon to Mulhouse, from Zurich to Basle, from Stras-
bourg to Lauterbourg, opening a communication with
Belgium and Holland, will be shortly in progress, and
will constitute the future prospect of the line from Stras-
bourg to Basle, which will join the main lines, whilst the
railways in the vicinity of Paris will deteriorate in value
in proportion as other lines are established. The divi-
dends, in 1844, were very large, a result to be attri-
buted to the federal games (du fer) ; this year, they
promise to realise as much as in 1843, notwithstanding
the disturbances in Switzerland, which have exercised a
baneful influence on the receipts.
Whence, then, arises the difference in the prosperity
of this railway compared with others ? It is to be
traced to the influence of patronage, it being well known
that the Council of Administration for the line from
Strasbourg to Basle receives no pay, excepts no indem-
nification, and does not endeavour to force the sale of
, the shares?

Asa last example of the power of patronage, we may
quote the Northern line, the shares of which, in the
commencement, were at 380 francs premium. This
enormous difference is only to be accounted for by its
being assigned to the Princes of France ; in other hands
the premiums would have been inconsiderable.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TAT fERSALL'S—YESTERDAY.
THE DERBY.
The only bets laid in the room were 7 to 1 agst Sting to
100/. (8 to 1 also laid, decidedly a point above the market
price); 500 to 20 and 300 to 10 agst Malcolm ; and 500 to
15 agst Traverser. In the course of the day the following
bets were made at one of the club houses :-400 to 10 agst
Humdrum ; 600 to 15 agst Iloorrah ; and 1,000 to 20, and
1,000 to 25 agst Tug-net
CHESTER CUP.
500 to 10 &Kit The Baron—taken.
ThQ Duke of Bedford's Prologue, by Camel, died a few
days ago.

I? EATH IN A WORKHOUSE FROM OVER-EATING.
—Yesterday, Mr. Waklev, M.P., held an inquest in the St.
Marylebone Workhouse, 'New-road, on the body of James
Geohagan, aged ten years, an inmate from infancy. It ap-
peared that on Sunday last deceased went to take tea with
his sister in the girl's ward of the workhouse. In the
evening he returned and went to bed, and about midnight
was seized with eholic. He was taken to the sick ward and
attended by Mr. Allen, one of the resident surgeons, but he
died at half-past three on the Monday morning. Mr. Allen
deposed that he had opened the body and found the stomach
full of food partly digested. A small piece of potato, not
digested, blocked up the passage that leads from the stomach
into the abdomen, and the result was rupture of the stomach
and death. The witness said that he had been informed that
deceased had eaten very heartily the day preceding his
death. He was au invalid, and was allowed a mutton chop
for dinner every day. Mr. Wakley said it was a very unusual
thing for the inmate of a workhouse to die from excess of
food. The sister of deceased, a fine girl of thirteen, said her,
brother never complained of any sort of ill-treatment, and
that his nurse and the doctor allowed him in the shape of food
everything he required. She also was most kindly treated.
Mr. Wakley remarked that it must be most satisfactory to
the rate-payers to hear that their money was to humanely
expended. Verdict.—" Death from rupture if the stomach."
'The Rev. W. Marshall, a clergyman of the Esta-
blished Church, was last week received into the Roman
Catholic communion at Oscott. Mr. Marshall was curate to
Archdeacon R. Wilberforce, and is the second person of the
same name who has lately left the Establishment.—Post.