The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-29 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

BUNN V. LIND.—On Tugday, in the Court of Queen's
Bench, Mr. Bunn recovered £2,500 damages from Jenny
Lind. for breach of her contract to sing at Drury Lane.
The Commissioners of Stamps have stated that proxies
used at a general meeting of a charitable institution are
liable to a stamp duty of 30s.

VINCENT HIGGINS AND SONS V. DUNLOP WILSON.—
This case, in which it will be recollected the question was
"course of post," has been on appeal in the House of
Lords. Their lordships, on Thursday, confirmed the ver-
dict, in favour of the plaintiffs.
A weekly paper says, that the question as to the confir-
mation of Dr. Hampden is to be carried by petition to the
House of Lords. Sir F. Kelly and Mr. Baddeley have
r'commended this course, as no appeal will lie from the
Court of Queen's Bench either to the Exchequer Chamber
or to the Priv Council on the present question.
The case of Pilbrow v. the Atmospheric Railway Com-
pany,—an action brought against the Earl of Besborough,
the Earl of Essex, and others, to recover £15,000 for the
exclusive use of a patent,—occupied the Court of Com-
mon Pleas on Monday and Tuesday. The defence was,
that the invention was useless, and Pilbrow knew it to be
so at the time of the contract. Several scientific men
disparaged the invention, and Mr. Cooper, of King's
College, designated it " the egregious mistake of an in-
genious man." The jury found for the defendants—
thereby pronouncing the invention useless.
Dr. Addams has been called on by the bar of the Civil
Court to apologize for some expressions derogatory to
them, which he used in the case of " Geils v. Geils, tried
in the Ecclesiastical Court. By the advice of his friends,
Dr. Addams disclaimed any idea of treating the bar ge-
nerally with disrespect, but be declared that the language
found fault with was provoked by the offensive language
of the opposite counsel, and that ho ooa.iderpd himself
fully justified as far as regards them personally. The
apology was accepted, but the bar declared that the prac-
tice of an advocate drawing pleadings, allegations, &c.,
which had been practised by Dr. Addams, was unpro-
fessional.
Ltw OF GARDENS.—Some parties, when leaving the
piaci, finding they could not remove the trees and shrubs,
have cut them down ; but they were actionable ; for the
law prohibits waste, with any malevolent intentions. The
decision given in the case of Buckland v. Butterfield
.es-
tablishes this point; for "a tenant is liable to pay for the
waste if he cuts down or destroys," &c., And it has also
been decided by Lord Denman, Mr. Justice Littledale,
and Mr. Justice Parke, that a tenant could not remove a
border of box, planted in the garden by himself, but that
it belonged to the landlord, in the absence of any agree-
ment made to the contrary. In the course of the argu-
ment, the counsel for the tenant asked, " Could not the
tenant removeflowerswhich he had planted in the ground ?"
Mr. Justice Littledale instantly said, " No." We think
all our floricultural readers will agree with us, that if this
is the law (which it undoubtedly is), the sooner the law
of tenant-right is altered the better.—From the _Midland
Florist.

A LAWYER'S WILL."—It is an extraordinary circum-
stance that the Vice-Chancellor's Court, London, has
been occupied by a question arising out of the will of Sir
David Pollock, late Chief-Justice of Bombay ; and that
the subtlety to be solved was, whether the learned knight
intended to bequeath one-eighth or seven-eighths of-his
estate to his six sons and one daughter. This ambiguity
the ViceXhancellor solved by saying that the six sons
took one-eighth each, and not, as was contended on the
other side, that they were to divide one-eighth amongst
theni. The words of the will are these :—" And as to the
rest of my estate, my will is, thatt he same shall be divided
into eight parts, one of such to be the property and to be
paid over to my six sons, and one other such part shall
be paid to my daughter, Julia Louisa Pollock, on her
attaining her age of twenty-one years." The will clearly
says that the six sons were to have one part amongst
them, but Sir David no doubt meant that the• six sons
should have six parts.

RAIL I

-4--

The proprietors of the Hull and Selby met to pass their
half-yearly Report, recommending dividends of £2 95 Gd
per £5O share, and £1 4s 9d per £25 share, being at the
rate of £9 18s per cent.
Arrangements are being made to start an express train
between London and Edinburgh and Glasgow. The train
will commence running on the Ist of March, starting from
London and Glasgow at nine o'clock in the morning, to
reach each terminus at ten o'clock at night.

The prospects of the Blackwall give satisfactory pro-
mise. After declaring a dividend of 3s. per share, clear
of income-tax, the Report states that satisfactory arrange-
ments had been agreed upon with the Eastern Counties,
and East and West India Docks and Birmingham Junc-
tion Companies, for the use of the line.
The floating of the Conway Tube to its destined posi-
tion has ndt yet taken place. The Chester Courant
declarea that-it could not be attempted during the present
spring tides. The ground under the pontoons not being
sufficiently levelled, no effort could be made to accomplish
the experitnent. The officers of the Great Britain and
about forty sailors from the Sailors' Home, Liverpool,
are employed on the necessary preparations.
A New Locomotive called " Lablache," in honour of
the great buffo, and constructed by Messrs. Wilson, of
Leeds, has lately been performing some very remarkable
feats of power on the Midland Railway. It has -been
running between Rugby and Leicester with three car-
riages at an average speed of 75 miles per hour. The
same engine has taken a load of 400 tons at an average
speed of 30 miles per hour, which is even a still more
remarkable feet.

From official returns it appears that the amount of
traffic for the last week, on upwards of 3,518 miles of
railway, was £148,553, thus accounted for :—£68,079 for
the conveyance of passengers only, £43,698 for the car-
riage of goods, and a remainder of £36,776 for passen-
gers and goods together, not respectively apportioned ;
being an increase of £26,288 over the corresponding week
of last year, when the mileage was 2,711. The average
earnings per mile last week were £42, whilst in 1847 they
ware £45.

AMBERGATE, NOTTINGHAM, AND BOSTON RAILWAY
COMPANY.—At the half-yearly meeting of this company,
held at Nottingham on Friday, a report was presented,
which stated- that the directors have concentrated their
efforts to complete the line from Nottingham to Grantham
—which they hope to open in the spring of 1849. The
Railway Commissioners have granted an extension of two
years for the completion of the line. The report was
adopted, and a committee of five shareholders and five
directors appointed to investigate the affairs of the
Company.
ACCIDENT UPON THE CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.—On
Thursday evening last, the mail train from Edinburgh to
London, met with a serious accident. The late floods
had undermined an embankment, seventeen miles north
of Carlisle, and when the train arrived at that point the
embankment fell in, and many parties in the train were
severely injured. The guard was picked up much hurt,
and has since died. The stoker also lies in a dangerous
state, having had his arm broken, and been otherwise se-
verely injured. Of course the trains upon the Caledonian
line were delayed for a considerable time. '
THE EASTERN COUNTIES' RAILWAY.—The financial
statement shows a revenue of £323,856 for the half-year
January 4, against working expenses amounted to
£131,381 ; the balance being £192,475. The interest to
be' paid on the Extension Stock, 1 and 2, amounts to
£48,000, and that to the Northern and Eastern Railway
Company, £32,702, constituting, with an arrear of £196,
after paying the July dividend, a total of £80,897, which,
deducted from the above balance, leaves a sum of £111,577
applicable for a dividend. Upon the £258,986. Consoli-
dated Stock, this would amount to about Bs. 6d. per
share.
SHREWSBURY AND HEREFORD RAILWAY.—At the
'half yearly meeting held on Tuesday at Chester the di-
.l-c.tora vocommorazipai the diceontinuaneo for the Present
of the allowance of interest on calls. They had reduced
the expenses of the office establishment by removal to
Chester. The question of taking legal proceedings against
defaulters was under the consideration of the board, and
the meeting recommended that stringent measures should
bo adopted to secure the payment of all calls. The ope-
rations were confined to the works at the Shrewsbury
station, includitg the bridge over the Severn and the
portion of the line adjoining thereto.

EXPRESS FROM LONDON TO EDINBURGH AND GaAs-
Gow.—This special express, which was arranged by Messrs.
W. H. Smith and Sons, newsvenders, Strand, left Lon-
don at 5 35 a.m. with the newspapers of the day, con-
taining Lord John Russell's financial statement and the
debates in Parliament of the preceding evening, and
reached Glasgow at 3 57 p.m., completing the journey of
4721 in the incredibly short space of 10h. 22m. The
detentions amounted to fifty minutes, including eight
minutes occupied in passing from Gateshead to the New-
castle station at BerNiiek, thus reducing the actual railway
travelling to 9h. 32m., being at the rate of 50 miles an
hour ! Not the least amusing circumstance connected
with this express is that it arrived in Edinburgh an hour
and a half, and in Glasgow two hours, before the mails
which left London the preceeding evening. The total
number of miles run by Messrs. Smith's expresses on
that day was 655
SHREWSBURY AND CHESTER RAILWAY.—At the half-
yearly meeting held on Tuesday at Chester, it was stated,
that the opening of the line to Shrewsbury, and of the
branch to Oswestry, may be expected to take place early
in the autumn of the present year. A considerable in-
crease is expected to take place in the traffic on the open-
ing of the line throughout. That of £577,100 called up
there was an arrear due, on the 31st of December, of
£39;774. This arrear was now reduced to £22,481. The
company have borrowed £249,800. It was stated that it
would be necessary to raise £BO,OOO, besides the calls al-
ready made before the Ist day of August. The revenue
for the half year amounted to £14,510, and after making
all necessary deductions there remained a balance suffi-
cient for a dividend, which the directors recommend, of
10s. per share on the original £2O shares—£l6 paid ; and
ss. per share on the £lO shares—£B paid. The Chair-
man stated, that they were under no guarantee or
obliga-
tion to any other company, and they trusted to their own
resources,