The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-29 00:00:00

hour to put the pipe in order. One of Mr. Smith's servants
had passed under the pipe, and pushed it up with his back in
order to break it or put it so out of order as to prevent the
e periment,

To Mr. MAnTIN—Does not know the name of the man
who acted in that way. Believes that Mr. Smith was pre-
sent. Could swear to the man if he saw him.

The LORD Cusar Binox—lf the man is to be produced,
Mr. Martin, he ought to be brought into Court.
Mr. MARTI): said that all the men in Mr. Smith's employ-
ment would be produced.
Cross-examination resumed—The loss spirits upon the
experiment was, apparently, 100 gallons, but the real loss
was not more than 40 gallons. The apparent loss was al-
ways greater than the real when the quantity of water
mixed with the spirits was increased. The spirits might
have been re-distilled and there woull have been no loss.
The quantity of spirits was 700 gallons, and the water
2,700 gallons. When the liquor passed over vat No. 17, it
was five minutes or more before witness could taste the
spirits. There were seven or eight officers of Excise engaged in
the experiment. Several of Mr. Smith's men were about, but he
could not say how many. Before witness was sent to Mr. Smith's
he had been five years at Bromley. Had also been employed
for the Excise in the distillery of Buchan and Co., near
Edinburgh. Left that place when his time was up, and for
no other cause. In Scotland the distillers were allowed to
work at a lower gravity than in England. But they must
give notice of the gravity they choose to work at, but they
will be charged upon the amount of their notice at the end
of the year, whether they produce the quantity or not.
Mr. MARTIN would ask one more question. Did you put
a puddling of clay round the opening in the top of the re-
ceiver when yea took the drip? Witness-1 did, to prevent
water flowing in.

Mr. MAI:TIN—Did you ever know that to be done before?
—Never.
Mr. MARTIN—Why did you do so in this case ?—To pre.
vent the water coming in.
The re-examination of the witness by the Solicitor-General
elicited nothing of the least moment.

By a Juror—The water passed through the pipes from one
house to the other by the pressure of the body of water in
the tank ; but the spirits passed upon the principle of the
syphon, which required the pipes to be air-tight.
By the Courcr—The looseness of the cocks, which re-
quired to be stopped with tow and putty, was occasioned by
frequent working.
The previous witness, Drinkwater, recalled, and examined
by the Somorroa-GxNERAL---The pipe which I suspected to
communicate between the two distilleries was that which
one of Mr. Smith's workmen attempted to break. The man
made the attempt maliciously, to prevent the experiment.
It was quite plain that lie did so. I complained of it at the
time. Mr. Smith was not present, to the best of my recol-
lection ; but Mr. Gill was.

Edgar Eldrake examined by Mr. JARVIS—Was a surveyor
of Excise. In consequence, of differences between Mr. Smith
and the officer in charge of the premises, respecting the dip
of the receiver, witness and another officer went on Monday,
the 30th March, to test the dip. He found nearly a tenth
more than Drink water and Batten had found. Mr. Smith
accounted for the increase, by the dripping of water into the
receiver. Witness tried by holding a quart jug under the
pipe when the water dripped back, to ascertain whether the
fact might be as Mr. Smith had represented. Found that the
jug was full in seven minutes, and that would allow the whole
quantity in the pipe to drip back in six or seven hours.
Cross-examined by Mr. KELLY—Found that there was a
reduction of the strength of the spirits from Saturday to
Monday. The difference was equal to seventeen gallons on
the whole. The Excise did not make any allowance on that
account. They adhered to the dip as found by Batten on
Saturday.
Re-examined by Mr. JARVIS—The Excise put an addi-
tional cock on the receiver to prevent the trader from running
in water and working of spirit, The difference of seventeen
gallons of spirit would be fully accounted for by evaporation
between Saturday and Monday.
Tho Mas Frankish, examined by Mr. WILDE :—Was a sur-
veyor of Excise. In March, 1844, went to Mr. Smith's dis-
tillery with the officers, Cameron, Drinkwater, and Batten.
I saw Mr. George Smith, when ameron asked him if there
was not communication between the distillery and the recti-
fying-house ? Cameron added. that no doubt Mr. James
Smith had told him what he (Cameron) had said the pre-
vious day. Mr. Smith said, that Cameron had no right to
assume that his brother :had told him anything. Cameron
again asked, was there any communication between the two
premises. Mr. Smith said there was, for water, which supplied
the whole neighbourhood, by pipes connected with the Com-
pany's main. Witness was present at the experiment men-
tioned by the other witnesses. He saw the spirits passed
from the vat No. 8 in the distillery to the vat No. 17 in the
rectifying-house. On a subsequent day witness examined
the Water Company's pipes, and found that they had no
connexion with the pipes in Mr. Smith's premises.
Cross. examined by Mr. 111Artrix—When Mr. Smith said
to Cameron that the pipes communicating between the two
premises was for the conveyance of water, Smith went away
with Cameron, but witness did not know it was for the purpose
of showing him the course of the pipes. When the experi-
ment was made upon the pipe, it commenced at one o'clock.
The first trial was with water. That was procured from the
tank at the top of the house. They did not think them-
selves ready for the experiment with spirits until five o'clock.
They made those experiments with spirits, of which two
were failures. The third experiment, which was success-
ful, did not commence until eight o'clock. Did not know
whether any material repairs were made upon the
cocks from five o'clock to eight, for he was not
present. He was chiefly in the rectifying-house. When
the water came into the vat No. 17, it ran for five or six
minutes. The spirits then came over and continued running
for about 25 minutes. The officers then ran about 1,100

gallons of water to clear the pipes of all the spirit. That was
done for the satisfaction of all parties, that there might be no
doubt that the spirits had all been driven out. Witness has
been a long time in the Excise, and has often found great
variation in the dip of the receiver. Surveys Muir and Co.'s
distillery, and sometimes, but not often, finds a variation in
the dip.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL—DO you find a variation of so
much as two-tenths.

The Lonn CIIIEF BARON—Mr. Solicitor, you had better
not go into that, which, for aught we know, will be another
issue for trial.—(A laugh.) It is enough to take his an-
swer, that he does find variations. _ _

By the Coma—They found an apparent loss of more than
100 gallons of spirits after the experiment. But that was
accounted for by the imperfect indications of the hygrometer
at the low strength of the spirits, mixed with so much
water. Made several experiments subsequently to
ascertain what the apparent loss would be on
spirits mixed with water in various proportions.
The result of this was, to account satisfactorily for the ap-
parent loss. It was also found that there was lime in the vat,
and that would prevent the hygrometer from acting rightly.
If mud or dregs were mixed with the spirit, the action of the
hygrometer would be disturbed. That instrument acts with
certainty only upon pure spirit, and for that reason it is
never used upon the worts. It is the saccharometer that is
used upon worts. Drinkwater and witness afterwards made
an experiment upon the contents of the vat, which accounted
fully for the decrease.
Their Lordships and the jury then retired for refreshment.
When the Court resumed, the SOLICITOR-GENERAL called
Cameron, who deposed to the same statements as those
which had been made by the previous witnesses as to the
conversation with Mr. Smith, and the experiment upon the
ipe
p
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said he had only called the wit-
ness to give the Learned Counsel for the defence an oppor-
tunity of cross examination.
Mr. WATSON then asked the witness whether he had made
any notes?—He had, but they contained nothing but dates.
He had them not with him, but they were is a place at a
short distance from the Court. [The witness was then told
to produce the notes, and he withdrew for the purpose.]
The LORD CHIEF BARON—Mr. Watson, if you produce
the notes, you must put them in evidence, for the witness
has not used them here as vouchers.
Mr. WATSON declined to make the notes evidence, and, on
the witness's return, proceeded to cross-examine him—Wit-
ness believed that he commenced the experiment with water,
at five o'clock, and not at one ; but he would not swear that
any one who stated that the experiment was commenced at
one o'clock bad stated a falsehood. He had a very good me-
mory, and he believed that he did not commence until five
o'clock ; but he would not swear to it.
Mr. Milne, civil engineer to the New River Company
examined by the:Somorron• GENERAL—Had made a survey of
the premises belonging to Mr. Smith in company with a per-
son named Fox. The model in court is a correct representa-
tion of the premises, on a scale of an eighth of an inch to the
foot. The witness then described, with the aid of the model,

the course of the pipe communicating from the distillery to
the ractifyinm•house, and explained that by stopping off cer-
tain cocks and inserting others, the water might be turned
off, and wash could be transmitted from the distillery
to the rectifying-house. That after those orifices had
been closed the wash might be drawn out by
syphons, which would draw out the wash by
side orifices. There was a screw on No. 8, to which a screw
might be attached ; and opposite to this there was an orifice,
to which there was also a screw attached, and these screws
corresponded, one being a male and the other a female screw.
There were three nozzles in the premises, one over the
sink, one over the cistern, and one over the pip.
to which he had alluded. There was a commu-
nication on the vat No. 8, which might be entirely
emptied through the pipe which lie had described as commu-
nicating between one part of the premises and another.
There was a communication between the sink and the recti-

fying 'house, but a longer nozzle would be required than now
exists. There is a communication also between the vat
under the sink and the cistern, by the attachment of a
longer nozzle, and the spirit could also be drawn from the
r were
ffapplied
et ox t
etnhte
of• p3i pooes, g
atlhl
eenr ea
awnodulidf t bee
other vats as from the vat No. 8. If the principle of a
syphonwater
longer leg of the syphon were applied to the spirit and the
shorter to the water, the spirit would immediately
follow after the water had been drawn off, and this spirit
might be pumped into any of the vats. There was what
was called a dead pipe, there being no outlet at the end of it,
but there were several flanges on the side of the
pipe to which pipes might be applied, and he
conceived that the branch pipes were old and the
flanges of recent origin comparatively. There was no con-
nexion between the East London Waterworks Company,
and the pipe which ran between the distillery and the rec-
tifying premises, and there was nothing between the main
in Buck's-row and the rectifying premises.
To a question from the CHIEF BARON, the witness replied
that there was no communication between the East London
Water-works Company's main and the distillery premises.
Knowing the premises, he believed that the whole of
the water required for the rectifying premises could
be supplied to the ti hole of the works, except for the
still heads through the trough in the middle, but by
raising the trough eight feet, the whole of the water might
be poured into the still head.
To the inquiries of Mr. F. KELLY, Mr. Milne replied that
he was aware that a large cistern—one that could supply
many thousand gallons—would be required to be
erected, and that there was no tank on the premises
that could possibly supply the requirement at present.
There were three tanks on the premises, and two establish-
ments were required to supply the premises, and the whole
of the water must come from the main of the Water-works
Company,: &c. The tanks on the premises were supplied
from the main, and it would be necessary to make great
alterations to put machinery on the trough so as to draw off the
water. In order to supply the still heads, there must be pipes
thepip e
wash which i
nentered
h
e
rectifying-house, which entered the reservoir very nearservoir he
t
from the trough through the worm tube to the still heads and
the cistern must be enlarged in order to render this commu-
nication available, but if this communication were to be made
efficient, the whole of the premises might be supplied. The
large reservoir was only made last year, the top of the old
reservoir being three feet lower than the trough. At the
couldhe There
convey was
a
present time there was no part of the premises suppllied from
the trough, except that which passed into the worm-tube, and
thethe remaindere
reservoir,
r o
which
waste.
top, and it would be necessary to have- the re • the
top, the supply could be made to the rectiful g• house ;but
the pipe went to the bottom of the reservoir, and 3 be conceived
that the power of suction would draw up the
wash from the
lower level. There was a gas pipe which
ran on a corre-
sponding level with this pipe, but he '
pipe supplied. did not know what this
Mr. Charles Fox, • • • a civil engineer upon the Birmingham
Railway, had taken the levelof the premises •
with Mr. Milne.