The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-04-04 00:00:00

Mr. Wood, commission-agent, was lit the plaintiff's
shop a few days before the fire, when the stock appeared
to be a large one ; and, judging fitinl his dealings with
the plaintiff, and from what he saw in the shop, he
estimated the value at between £3,000 and £4,000.
To Mr. Sergeant Wilkins : Did not know that the
plaintiff sold goods to pawnbrokers.
Mr. John Pearson, of Manchester, deposed to selling
goods to the amount of £137 19s. 6d. to the plaintiff in
the three months before December.
Mr. Hill was proceeding to call a number of other wit-
nesses to show that, within the three months preceding
the fire, the plaintiff had purchased goods to the amount
of £7,776 19s. 10d., when
Mr. Sergeant Wilkins said he would admit that not
only that amount, but if his learned friend desired it, that
goods to the amount of £50,000 had entered his shop.
Mr. Pring, traveller for Messrs. Jones and Co., creditors
of the plaintiff, deposed that, in August last, he went
through the plaintiff's stock, and found it to be worth
upwards of £4,000. In November he was again in the
shop, and found the stock materially increased.
To Mr. Allerton : In examining the stock we did not
take the goods out of the drawers, merely judging of their
value by the bulk.
This closed the evidence for the plaintiff.

Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, in addressing the jury for the
defence, said he should prove that plaintiff had knowingly
and wilfully prepared himself for the catastrophe to which
he now sought to attribute his ruin, The plaintiff had
stated that he was not interested in the issue of the case,
whereas no one could be more deeply involved in it, while
the witnesses were scarcely less interested, inasmuch as
upon the result dependedtheamountof dividend they would
derive from the estate. The learned sergeant next pro-
ceeded to examine the evidence of the witnesses, two of
whom, he said, had valued the woollen stock at the same
price, £2,500, whereas he should show by the evidence of
respectable appraisers, that those goods were worth only
from £1,700 to £l,BOO. He should further prove, that
the statements as to the quantity of broad cloth contained
in the boxes were grossly exaggerated; and that, in fact,
they would contain only about half the quantity, if even
steam pressure were applied. He would further show
what was the position of the plaintiff before the fire;
and how he had conducted himself then and since.
He should prove that his creditors had become
importunate ; that he had not furnished an accurate state-
ment of his accounts ; that he made an appointment to
meet them on a certain day, but did not, making an ex-
cuse that he overslept himself; that on the night of the
fire he sent his wife out of the way, and that he had given
various excuses for doing so, and made conflicting state-
ments as to where she went. He should show also some
of the modes he adopted on the night before the fire took
place to get rid of a large quantity of stock ; that, on the
night before the fire, he insisted on the payment of certain
money ; that on the night of the fire the plaintiff was
himself the last on the premises, and that if a fire had ac-
cidentally broken out he must have seen it. He had
himself thought much of the case, early in the morning
and late at night, and it had likewise been a cause of
anxiety to him while in bed, and the only conclusion to
which he could arrive was, that the plaintiff had been
guilty of a shocking attempt at fraud.—During the deli-
very of these words, Mr. James, Q.C., smiled significantly ;
whereupon the learned sergeant, with great solemnity,
took him to task for so much frivolity on a matter of such
grave interest; observing that " every dog had his day,"
and that he supposed his learned friend was endeavouring
to make an impression on the jury.—Mr. James thanked
his learned friend for his civility.—Mr. Sergeant Wilkins
concluded his address by stating, that he should satisfy
the jury that this was a fraudulent claim, bolstered up by
misrepresentation and gross exaggeration.
Thomas Place examined.—Said he was in the employ of
Messrs. Arthur and George Holme, and made the model
produced. The fixtures are an exact representation of
those in the shop, the scale being on an inch to the foot.
Mr. Thomas Gray, sub-manager of the Insurance Com-
pany, was next called, when Mr. Hill drew attention to the
fact that he had been in court during part of the case.
Mr. Sergeant Wilkins expressed his surprise, observing
that he did not know Mr. Gray from Mr. Black. His evi-
dence was allowed to be taken. He stated that, on the
morning after the fire, he went on the plaintiff's premises ;
he saw the plaintiff, who told him that he and his shop-
men were the last persons in the shop on the previous
night ; that he had a lighted candle in the shop shortly
before closing ; that he had left bank notes on the counter,
to the value of £25,015, all of which had been destroyed,
as well as all the books and documents. Previously to this
conversation, witness had found a book in a drawer, which
he believed to be a stock-book. On questioning him as to
his receipts, he (plaintiff) said he had taken as much as
£3OO, £4OO, and £soo—in no week less than £5O. He
asked plaintiff if he had made shipments to Australia,
and he replied that he had not. Witness did not supply
the claimant's demand, because the evidence he placed
before him was unsatisfactory.
To Mr. Hill : Had employed detectives to see if they
could find that any portion of the plaintiff's property had
passed into other hands about the time of the fire.—To
the Jury : We have not discovered that any goods were
shipped by the plaintiff to Australia.—His Lordship: That
was a rumour which, no doubt, has given rise to much of
the suspicion against the claimant.
Mr. John Thomas, auctioneer and appraiser, Manchester,
said that, on the 13th of December last, he was employed
by the Royal Insurance Company to value the plaintiff's
salvage stock. He did so, and made a liberal suggestion.
It appeared to the witness, from the appearance of the.
place when he inspected it, " as if the premises had been
set on fire in three places." From what he saw of the
state of the shop, he calculated that, if well stocked, it
would contain from £2,000 to £2,800. In his opinion,
judging from the appearance of the shop, he was convinced
that there was nothing but mufflers. ties, &c. He
did not think that a large stock of woollen goods
had been consumed ; for, in that case, the whole
building must have come down ; nothing .could save
it. Woollen cloths burned very slowly : it would take a
long time to consume £5OO worth. The total amount of
the valuation of the stook, according to the statement of
To'nkins, the shopman, amounted to £2,139 7s. ad. In
his opinion, this was at least 20 per cent. over the real
value.—To Mr. James: Witness was an auctioneer, at Man-
chester, as well as " High-bailiff to the city court." Was
not the "bum-bailiff."—Mr. Sergeant Wilkins : My friend
asks him if he is " bum-bailiff,' because he believes he
may be kicked. (Laughter.)—To Mr. James : The value
of the salvage would be about £3OO. The value of those
goods, before burned, I should say would be from £1,200
to £1,400. He believed that the place was set on fire in
three places.
Thomas Thistle, formerly woollen draper and outfitter,
in St. James's-street, Liverpool, gave similar evidence as
to the value of the stock and the salvage.

At this stage of the case, the court adjourned until 9
o'clock in this morning.

[About three o'clock, Mr. Hill, Q.C., called the atten-
tion of Mr. Baron Platt to the fact that his learned
brother, Mr. Justice Cresswell, had left the court, being
obliged to go to London. There were still a number of
common jury cases to be disposed of, and his lordship
would perhaps take into consideration what arrangements
should be taken to meet the public convenience.—His
Lordship replied that it was most desirable to get through
the common jury cases as speedily as posasible, in order
to dismiss the jury.—lt was ultimately decided that Mr.
Baron Platt should take two common jury cases, in which
Mr. Watson, Q.C., is concerned, the first thing this morn-
ing, and that Mr. Watson should dispose of the remainder
of those cases, to leave the learned judge at liberty to
proceed with those marked for special jury.]