The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-08-24 00:00:00

SOUTH LANCASHIRE SUMMER ASSIZES.

CROWN COURT.—FrIDAY.
(Before Lord Chief Justice DENMAN.)
His Lordship took kis seat at nine o'clock.
STEALING A FOST LETTER.

William Davies, a respectably-attired younn• man, was in-
dicted for stealing a post letter directed to Ralph Waller and
anchester, containing two bills of exchange, the one
for C0.,:£35 7s, the other for £35 9s, and a bank note for £lO,
the property of the Postmaster-General. There was another
count in the indictment, stating the bills of exchange and
note to be the property of Waller and others.
The Attorney-General for the County, assisted by Messrs.
Adolphus and Pollock, conducted the prosecution ; Mr. Wil-
kins defended the prisoner.
The particulars of the case, as detailed by the Attorney-
General, which were substantiated by the examination of
witnesses, arc the following :—ln Manchester there is a firm
called Waller and Co., cotton-spinners. This firm have in
their employment a traveller of the name of Wadman, who,
in the month of July last, being at the time on his Welsh
round, transmitted from Gloucester to his principals in Man-
chester a £lO note and two bills of exchange for the respec-
tive amounts stated in the indictment. These bills and note
he enclosed in a letter addressed to his employers, and posted
it at Gloucester on Saturday, the 17th of July. According
to the course of the post, the letter would have arrived in
Manchester the following day, the 18th. It is the custom of
the firm of Waller and Co. not to send for their letters on
Sundays ; but their book-keeper, on Sunday, when on his
way to church, looked into the post-office, and observed that
there were several letters in the box belonging to his employ-
ers. On Monday morning, a little before nine o'clock, the
book-keeper in question, when on his way to the office of his
employers, again looked into the box at the post-office, and
observed that the number of letters was increased. About
twenty minutes after nine o'clock, one of the firm of Waller
and Co. went to the post-office, for the purpose of fetching
away the letters ; but on arriving there, he found that there
were none, and upon inquiry lie learned that the letters had
been taken away by some person not authorised, and that
they had not been delivered at the factory. The prisoner
had been in the employment of Messrs. Waller, and was,
therefore, acquainted with the habits of the house and their
mode of carrying on business. Shortly before the day in.
question, the prisoner had been in considerable distress, and
the very week before the matter occurred (the Saturday on
which the letter was posted at Gloucester), he applied to
Messrs. Waller to receive him again into their employment,
and was requested' to call again on Monday, when, probably,
his wish would be complied with. Ile did not call, nor was
he again seen by Messrs. Waller and Co., until he was appre-
hended, some days afterwards. Three or four days after the
letter was missing, a letter was sent by some one who signed
himself H. S. Marshall, dated Abergavenny, to the Manches-
ter and London Joint Stock Banking Company, Prince's-
street, Loudon, the bank upon which the Gloucester house
had drawn, containing a bill of exchange for £35 7s, which.
the writer requested to have discounted, stating as his reason
for making the request, that he had no banking account at
Abergavenny. The amount he requested should be for-
warded to him in bank notes, at the post-office, Abergavenny.
Information having been given to the London house of the
letter containing the bills of exchange having been stolen, the
bill sent to be discounted was returned to the Abergavenny
house. On the Monday morning on which the letter was
stolen, the prisoner bought a new pair of boots, for which he
paid
,17s, and a new hat, for which he paid half a sovereign,
and it was observed by the person receiving payment, that he
had several sovereigns in his purse. He also called at the
house of a person with whom he formerly lodged, and paid
LI Bs, a balance due for his board. Several persons ac-
quainted with the prisoner's handwriting were called, and de-
posed that it was their conviction that the letter received at
the banking-house in London, requesting to have the bill of
exchange discounted, and also two endorsements on the bill,
were in the handwriting of the prisoner.

Mr. WILKINS made au eloquent appeal to the jury in be-
half of the prisoner, in which he contended that the evidence
was not sufficient to show that the prisoner was the party
who had stolen the letter,—it hi equally probable that the
offence might have been committed 117 some other person.
The jury, after being absent from court above half an hour,
returned a verdict of Guilty. Sentence deferred.