Star.
London, England, 1826-05-17 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH. WESTMINSTER.
TUFTS V. ST. KATMARINI DOCK COMPANY.
Mr. ADAM and Mr. PLATT were heard in answer to,
a rule obtained by Mr. Brougham, to sbew cause why
a mandamus should not issue at the instance of a Mr.
Tuffs, the leaseholder and occupier of a certain public.
house, situated in Upper East Smithfield (which pro-
mises would be required for the purposes of the act, the
freehold of whith having already been purchased), to.
compel the Dock Company to complete the purchase
of such leasehold interest forthwith ; they having del
dined doing so at present, alleging that the premisesl
in question would not be required for one or two
years to come.
Mr. ADAM contended, on the part of the Dock Com-
pany, that there was nothing in the act which made it
imperative upon them W complete such purchase forth-
with. It was further urged, that no pretence existed
for charging the Dock Company with unreasonable,
delay, as they hadalready made purehises'tb the extent
of upwards of 800.0001. and had contracted for the
execution of the works connected with. the construction
of the entrance, the basin, and the docks, and were pro.
ceeding to carry the act into effect with every possible
dispatch. That the monies raised, and to be railed by
periodical calls, must be preferably appropriated to the
payment of such purchases, and of such further our-
chases as should be found requisite to clear the ground for
the due execution of the works already contracted for,
as also in satisfaction of the engagements entered into.
with the contractor, and that, as the act required that
a carriage road must be made, communicating between
Bt. Katharine, Thames-street, and Lower East Smith-
field, the Dock Company, by the provisions of the act,
were compelled to complete that work before they could
stop up Butcher-row, which divides so much of the site
in the precinct of St. Katharine from that which is si-
tuated in the parish of St. Botolph, Aidgate. That the
Dock Company had made the necessary arrangements
for so doing, whilst the premises of Tuffs, being on the
east side of Butcher-row, would not be wanted
until so much of the works, before named, had been
finished, when the Dock Company would be ready to
complete the purchase in question.
Mr. iIIOVSHAII was beard in reply.
Mr, Justice BAYLZY—We think the mandamus ought
to gO, and then the Dock Company will make such re-
turn as. under. the circumstances, they are capable of
making. We shall then have a full and convenient
opportunity of canvassing and discussing all the clauses
of this Act, and it may be on that return an action may
be brought, so as to have the judgment of a superior
Court upon it.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER.--Tumnar. ,
THS kING V. nester TITO.
Sir. WALVIS 'peeled the pleadings, by stating that this was a
proceeding ea a bond given to his Majesty by the defendant,
Henry Pete, and the bend appears to he tanditionally on the
part of Mr. Pete and another person (Mr. Miles), now deceased,
'that a new Custern-house show be built in the City of London,
according to certain plans end specifications. It has been said that-
the conditions of ibis bond have not been complied with, partly in
the piling of the said new Custort.house. These plies were to
have been drivels two feet deep into a stratum of gravel, which was
twelve feet below the water. and which Mr. Pete undertook to rhi.
The first tamer given by Mr. Pete, is, that such piles could not be
driven into the two feet of gravel, as there was ant such gravel to
be found. To this it was replied, that such greed was to be
found. Air. Pete also defends himself by averring. five be eonn.
plied with the direction of Mr. Laing, dip surveyeeombe was
appointed by the Commissioners of Custom* to superintend the
builiiiug. To this it was replied by thi Goverarnermehat Mr.
La* was not invested with sack power or siaberity, aa4 was am
appointed surveyor in the meaner and form pleaded by Mr. Pete,
and that if Mr. Laing was appointed suck Siuveyer, Mr. Pete dill
not comply with the directions given by Mr. Laing. It was also
alleged that the spandrels of the arches were filled in with rubbish,
lama of good brick-work. To this Mr. Pet. answered, that Mr.
Laing toW him to 11l diem up with rubbish. The Crows then
west ea to charge Mr. Pete and Mr. Laing with fraud and collu-
sion in filling up the spandrels with rubbiah, with a view to defraud
the Government.
The Arroanar.thuttam. then addressed the Jury, and stated the
We at great length. By the contract, Mr. Pete was bound to
complete the building of the Custom House for 165,0001. reclusive
▪ the charge of 12,0061. which be was entitled to make for the
Oleg of the building. The building commenced in 1813—it was
meapleted in 1617 ot 1816—and the charge of building, including
discharge for piling. amounted to 37111,0001.—s charge mere than
doable the amount that Mr. Veto contracted to execute the
Mahn for; and of this, 24,0001. was charged for piliog. The
Culeadavisustrs were extremely dissatisfied with these charges ;
they she thought they bad reamn to complain of Mr. Laing,
drib' Surveyor; and, after h.v ng paid upwards of three bun.,

Bred thousand pounds, they thought they could not, with justice to
the public, pay Mr. Peto any farther sum of money. Mr. Peto
commenced some proceedings against the Commissioners; but
krone these were concluded, the walls of the Custom House
cracked id several places, aid at length the greater pert tthe build-
int fell. • The site was formerly a part of the bed c the. river
, Thames, but it rested upon a solid Stratum of hard gravel, at the
depth of twelve feet, and into which it was necessary that piles
should be driven, far the support of a building of such weight and
magnitude as the New Custom House. When the contract was
entered into, the manner in which the building was to be erected
was explained to Mr. Pet*, and also the manner of the piling, and
the Learned Gentleman contended that the piles used by Mr. Peto
were not of the length stated in the ',reification. and that they did
nut teach the bed of gravel. The Commissioners had also com-
menced actions against Mr. Laing, the surveyor, with whose con
duct they were dissatisfied. The spandrels of the arches were to
have beerf filled in with brick work, but instead of which Mr. Peto
thought proper to fill them up with rubbish, and grouted it in by
pouring thcliquid mortar upon it, and for which he made s charge
of e. 500/. as if the maid brick-work had actually been performed.—
He had another complaint to make against Mr. Peto for the impro.
per mode in which he laid on the roof of the huilding. The ma-
terials for the roof were to have been of the best quality ; but it'
seemed as if Mr. Peto bad collected all the old boards he could find
in London. Sonie •of those boards were ornamented with play.'
bill and other papers, and some were pieces of old boards, and in a
very decayed state. He also begged to call the attention of the
Jury to the flooring of the Long Room, and which was charged as
six-inch stone. It was certainly aix inch round the skirting-hoard,
where it could have been detected if the boards had been removed,
but some of the flooring was only five inches thick, and some three
inches. This would make a deficiency in the charge for the floor-
ing of 11001. These facts he should prove to the satisfaction of the
Jury, and he trusted that when the case was closed, the Jury would
decide upon it according to-its merits, and according to the evidence
which would be laid before them.
The bond and specifications having been produced,
' Mr. Robert Smirke, the Architect, was called and examined by
the Arroemer GLIIMAL.—In December 1824, witness examined
the Custom Moose. The specification described that there should
be pine piles Under each pier, and every architect would draw that
.conclusion from the drawings which had been made. Had examined
'several parts Of the building, and found a stratum of hard gravel ;
all the piers were a little sunk, and soon after two of them fell
in i- under one of the piers found only two piles; in his judgment
it was utterly impassible the building could stand on such piles.'
—'Not one of the piles penetrated 'two feet into the gravel;
all of them did not reach the gravel; the piling under the walls wail
ofihe same description, not reaching the gravel, very crooked, sad
in several instances the pile did not reach the sleeper, and in that
cased piece of wood was put in to fill up the deficiency. There
were 78 of the piles less than sir feet long, and it is surprising bow
they supported the building se long ; 1,247 were taken up, four
under the walls and' piers; 764 were not 11 feet long; 75 were
under six feet-Aim& and some of them were only three and four fist
long ; only
one pile was 16 feet 7 inches long, and the ot
which here under that size, did not go into the gravel,hea
coaki not be of the smallest service. Contrived, that if the
dhections in the• specifications bad .been followed, there Weald
hay. been a safe and solid foundation • thought the -charge of
14;0001. for the piling more than animism had 'itemised the
spandrels of the arches, and found them Ailed with lime neb-
bish, grouted in, and covered suenetimei with one or two stir.
faces of brick. About 2504 was suilkient for' that week as
it was dene--vrhereas, if it had been filled up with brick work, the
charge would have been .16001. He had examined the boarding
under the slating oa the roof; it was of old materials, and some of
it quite decayed. • -.
Cross-examined by Mr. Scantier r —Wheats found meat opera-
Lions were necessary in the construction of the building from the
origiasi plans, which would be an additional emetic* tothe builder.
It appeared to him that Mr. Peto must have acted under the dim-
don of the architect.
. Re-examined by Mr. Arroaner Gmeaset,--The builder was
directed to bore to ascertain the distance of the gravel, and to
drive the piles two feet into that gravel:
Mr. George Rennioexamined by Mr.. Soucrros GEIIIRAL.—I
am an engineer, and attended at the Caton House to examine the
piling under the piers that had given way. The-number of piles
was uet sufficient to sustain a building of that weight and magni-
tude. I saw some of the piles after they were taken up. The
pilling was not executed in a proper workmanlike manner. I attri-
bute the falling of the pier to the badness of the piling. - •
14. John Walker confirmed the statement of the former
wit-
nessed, as to the inefficient state of the piling, and which, be said,
was **occasion of the falling of the building.
•Mr. Mee said, in February lad March last he went with Mr.
Smiske to examine the foundation of the custom House, none of
the piles reached the gravel ; they were nos of an uniform height,
and wore totally unfit to sustain the great weight.
Mr. Morriss said, that he saw eight of the piles taken up from
under one pier, and they averaged 12 feet long.
Mr. Baker saw the place cleared out from under the Long Room,
and discovered the bed of gravel was from 10 to 11 feet below the
planking; the arches were sound, good brick-work, and well con-
structed,; the defect was in the foundation.
Mr. Austin said there were 1,247 piles taken up ; they were,
upon an'average, 10 feet long, and not proper to sustain 'a build-
ing of the kind ; there was only one pile 17 feet 6 inches; there
were about 80,..piles under six teet ; 764 were under 11 feet; 121
were 13 feet 6 inches; 71 were under 6 feet, and the others varied
from that size to 2 feet 6 inches.—Mr. J. Glanville, a carpenter,
examined the gutter,* roof of the new Custom-house ; the board-
ing under the slates was composed of old boards.
Mr. John Atkins, a carpenter, gave a similar statement.
Mr. James Askew Assistant Clerk to the Survepor, at the
time the work was going on, proved that the plans and drasvinp
which have been produced and examined by the Jury are those
plans and drawing which Mr. Pete and others concerned in the
building had tonstaat access to.
The receipt of Mr. l'etn for 12,8001. for the piling having been
produced and read, the case for the Crown elected.
Mr. &Atmore rose for the defence; and 'complained that the
Attorney-General bad introduced much irrelevant matter in eider
to raise a prejudice against the defendant. He contended that no
blame attached to Mr. l'eto, who if he had erred as to the piles, it
was merely an error if judgment. But, be that as it might, he
would argue, that no blame whatever could be attached to Mr.
Peto; for hir. Peto was merely the builder on this occasion, and
was bound to follow the directions of the Government Agents ;
and had, in point of fact, done so to the letter. Mr. Pete was not
the architect In this matter, and nothing had been left to kis dis-
cretion. Mr. Pete bad executed a bond under lea', and the coose.
quence of its *being under seal was, that, in strict law, no deviation
from its conditions could be allowed, notwithstanding any directions
to the contrary. Suppose Mr. Pets could prove that he had
different instructions, yet they said, on the other side, " No mat.
ter •we will have our bond enforced." But, surely, such a pro-
ceeding was anything but equitable, and he trusted that they
would fail in their attempt to take advantige of this practice.
—The Learned Gentleman contended at peat length that Mr.
Peto had strictly adhered to his instructions ; that the piles, of which
nothing was said as to the lengtli, virre driven in a manner which
appeared to the Government Inspectors satisfactory. With regard
to the spandrels of the arches, there was do stipulation that they
should be filled up with brickwork, and they were indeed done In
the most substantial way they Could be dine. Then, as to the ma-
teriale of the roof, they were approved of by the Government Ar-
ohne and Inspector; the boards had been used during the progress
uf the building, and were better than perfectly new boards, for they
were seasoned by the weather. He contended, in conclusion, that
Mr. Peto was clear of aU blame ; and that when he should have
proved the ease, h(would look with confidence for a verdict in his
client's favour. '
The further heads( was then adjourned, and was continued this
day, when Mr. Scasixr: resumed his argument for the defence,
which he did not conclude until half-past twelve o'clock. Ile then
called several witnesses to rebut the evidence for the prosecution,
who were examined-by Mr. Denstait. The trial was not expected
to be concluded Wine the evening.

His Grace the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND has given
.500 i. towards the extreme of building a Church at Hounslow.
Lord COCHRANE has been st nushinß, examining the
construction of the steam frigates building in the arswal ; one of
which is the largest that has ever been framed for such purpose,
being 80 feet longer than an ordinary ship of war.
The Gazette of last night contains an Older of Coun-
cil, placing the commerce of Prussia with this country upon the same
reciprocal footing of freedom as that of the must favoured outran.
His Majesty's ship LouctsTen, in tow of a steam
boat, no sails set, was off Sizewttl, in Suffolk, on the morning of
dm 15th instant, wind and tide contrary. At two P.M. the ship
was just to be perceived, with top gallant masts above the horizon,
steeling about Rest by North, fine weather and Moods water.
Saturday THOMAS GultNIY, a child aged seven years,
fell into the pool at Abbot's Mill, near Canterbury, Mid was un-
fortunately drowned. • It appeared that the little fellow, with a
playmate about his own age, was looking at the Sahel, and holding
by the tailing, which broke, and he was precipitated into the rivet.