The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-07-29 00:00:00

THE COURT OF PASSAGE.

The sittings on Monday, the 21st instant, of this court
commenced before Charles Crompton, Esq., assessor.

SAUSAGE MANUFACTURE

-FLEET V. BOYD AND WIFE

This was an action brought by the plaintiff, a saU;iiie
manufacturer, for slander spoken by the female defendant,
who it was alleged had accused the plaintiff of having put
diseased meat in his sausages, the effluvium from which
has caused her cows to die. She complained to a clerk in
the sanatory department, who told her to send a note to
the office, which she did, and an inspection was then made.
The defendant had, it was further urged, extensively cir-
culated this report to the great injury of the plaintiff, and
consequently had been compelled to bring the present
action. Mr. Filer opened the proceedings, and Mr. James
stated the case for the plaintiff, after which a number of
witnesses were called to prove that Mr. Fleet's meat was
sound and orthodox, and that no nuisance exist'A on his
premises. Robert Higgins, who had been employed to
inspect the latter, as well as the shippon of Boyd, the de-
fendant, said that he found the premises of Mr. Fleet in
a very clean state, while the shippon of the defendant was
filthy. If any nuisance arose, the inspector said it vas
from the manure in the shippon. Isabella Connor, the
housekeeper to the plaintiff, who acted also as the superin-
tendent of the sausages, averred that no diseased meat
was ever boiled up and put into them. Meat was bought
to give to the pigs, and hung upon the piggery, but when
it went sour or bad it was buried. The defendant's side
of the question was heard on Tuesday, an adjournment
being made. Mr. Blair contended, first, that the state-
ment made by Mrs Boyd was a privileged zonamunication;
and next, that it was founded on fact, and justified by the
kind of cattle purchased bp the plaintiff. Mr. Blair pro-
ceeded to call several witnesses. William Dobson, one
of the witnesses called, averred that the plaintiff had con-
fessed to him that he had used bad meat for pigs' head
and sausage. No man could manage in the sausage trade,
the witness further asserted, without doing so. He him-
self had put "jig" beef into pigs' head and sausages, and
he deemed that a cow which had died of the milk fever
was not bad meat. He had occasionally bought horseflesh
himself too, but alive, and not from the knacker's yard.
William Boyd, son of the defendant, who turned the
plaintiff's machine, and helped to chop the meat, said that
the plaintiff bought all sorts of meat. Several small
calves, very black, were hanging about the kitchen.
These were chopped up for sausages. He had been in the
cellar, and seen bad meat there ; it was very black, and
smelt awful. (Laughter.) This was all mixed up for
sausages. (Laughter.) In March last, he saw hanging
in the plaintiff's shed a fore-quarter of a cow, which was
very bad. He (witness) had sold Fleet a heifer, which
was in an "awful" state. His (witness') parents did not
know of this. The heifer was sold for ss. The heifer
was not fit to give to the pigs, and he (witness) would not
give it to theirs. The heifer was boiled in the pigs' head
boiler. (Laughter.) Counter evidence was called to
show that Boyd had never seen the meat chopped, and had
never assisted at the machine. Some other witnesses
having been examined, Mr. James, at considerable length,
replied upon the whole case. He attempted to account
for the diseased, or indifferent meat, found on the premises
of the plaintiff, by asserting that it was for the purpose of
being forwarded to the aviary of the Earl of Derby, and
that none of it was used for the purpose attributed by the
defandant. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff.
Damages one farthing. Mr. James, before the rising of
the court, moved for a new trial, on the ground that the
damages given constituted an inconsistent finding. The
jury had decided that the libel was false and malicious,
and yet, where the pecuniary damage was so great, they
had not awarded any compensation. The assessor said
the jury, by their verdict, had vindicated the character of
the plaintiff; but the evidence had been such as to almost
induce persons not to eat sausages again. However, he
would take till the next day to consider the matter.

ALLEGED SLANDER-HARGREAVES V. SMITH

This was an action to recover damages for slanderous
expressions uttered by the defendant to the injury of the
plaintiff. Mr. Simon, in opening the case, said that the
plaintiff, Hannah Hargreaves, was a young woman who
supported herself and her aged parents respectably, by
carrying on the trade of a butcher, at Edge-hill. The
defendant, Mr. John Smith, was a carcase butcher and
slaughter-house keeper, in this town. The brother of the
plaintiff, who is in the habit of making purchases for his
sister, bought two calves from a man named Hayes, at the
defendant's slaughter-house, when the defendant told
Hayes that if he delivered them he would never get a far-
thing of the money. He also said (alluding to the brother
and sister), " They are a set of rogues and thieves ; one
buys the stock, and the other swindles the seller out of his
money." At this time the witness had one of the calves'
heads in his hand, and Hayes was about to give him the
other; but, after the plaintiff had made use of these
expressions, which he repeated several times, Hayes
refused to deliver the calves, and took the head from him.
There were a number of persons standing by who heard
the expressions, and his sister's business had fallen off in
consequence.— Mr. Atkinson addressed the jury, and con-
tended that the expressions made use of amounted to
nothing more than what the law called a " privileged
communication," which one tradesmanwas quite at liberty
to make to another when asked his opinion on such an
occasion.—After the assessor had summed up, the jury
immediately returned a verdict for the defendant.

SINGULAR CASE OF FALSE IMPRISONMENT-HANNIBAL

V. WILLIAMS

This was an action for faiS;in;rlsonment, the damages
being laid at £l9. The plaintiff was foreman to a block-
maker in this town, and had held his situation for the last
sixteen years. On Sunday evening, the 27th of April,
the plaintiff and defendant met together in the parlour of
the Globe Inn, in St. James's-street; and, whilst they
were taking their pipe and glass together, the plaintiff, in
course of conversation, made use of the word " dissolve."
The defendant told the plaintiff he did not understand
the meaning of the word. The plaintiff denied the asser-
tion ; and, to " back his argument," offered to bet the
defendant half a-crown that he could give the proper
meaning of the word, at the same time " posting" his
money on the table. Tne defendant as readily covered
the deposit with another half-crown, and the plaintiff
proceeded to give his definition of the word—what that
was, unfortunately, did not appear. However, it was
deemed satisfactory by the defendant, as well as the rest
of the company, which consisted of a sailor and a black-
smith. The plaintiff then pocketed his own half-crown,
and proposed to spend the other. To this proposal the
company, of course, made no objection ; and the defen-
dant very philosophically partook of a glass of ale and a
pipe of tobacco as his share. But the soothing influence
of the " fragrant weed" had not its usual effect—the loss
of the half-crown was too much for his equanimity ; and,
when the plaintiff retired from the house the defendant
followed Lim, and demanded his money back. This, of
course, was refused—it was gone—spent—the plaintiff had
not got It. Nothing but the money, however, would
satisfy him, and to such an extent did he carry his deter-
mination, that on a policeman coming up he gave the
plaintiff into custody for stealing half-a-crown from him.
They proceeded together to the bridewell, where the

defendant insisted on having the charge booked, and the
plaintiff was accordingly locked up. The next morning
he was taken before the magistrates •, but, as the party
charging did not appear, he was discharged. When the
policeman called upon the defendant the following morn-
ing, to tell him to come to the court, he said, " 1 shan't
appear ; I only want my half-crown back."—Mr. James
addressed the jury in mitigation of damages. and the jury
returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages 40s.
IMPORTANT TO RAILWAY PASSENGERS.-WELCH V. THE
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY.
This was an action brought by the plaintiff to recover
the value of a package containing 18 lbs. of cigars, under
the following circumstances :

The plaintiff drove to the railway station, and was too
late for the train. One of the company's porters took his
iuggage into the yard, placed it on the platform, and
promised to " have an eye" to it until the next train
started. When the plaintiff returned to go by the next
train, he said that one of the p .ckages he had left, that
containing cigars, was missing.
It was proved that the value of the cigars was upwards
of £7 odd, but there was conflicting evidence whether the
package was ever delivered to the porter. The porter
positively swore that he never saw it. It also came out,
on cross-examination of the plaintiff's witnesses, that
there was a depot set apart by the company for passengers'
luggage, on payment of 2d., and that there was a notice
up that the compeny would not be responsible for luggage
left for the convenience of passengers, unless placed in the
depot.

At the close of the plaintiff's case, Mr. James, on behalf
of the defendants, submitted that there was no case ; that
the special contract declared upon was not made out ; and,
if it had been, that the porter could not bind the company;
and that, in fact, the plaintiff had never taken his ticket,
and that there was no contract to carry either him or his
luggage.

Mr: Aspinall, on behalf of the plaintiff, contended that
he had made out the case, and quoted certain decisions.
The Assessor said there was clearly no case ; that the
porter could not bind the company ; that no ticket had
ever been taken ; and that the contract was not made out.
Plaintiff was non-suited.
_ _

Mr. Aspinall said it was a very shabby thing for the
company to defend the action.

Mr. James said that the reason why the company had
defended the action was, that the plaintiff had demanded
£24, nearly four times the value of the cigars ; and it
would never do for the company to admit that their com-
mon porters could make special contracts on their behalf.

ACTION FOR AN ASSAULT.-WALIUSLEY AND WIFE V

BIRTHS

On the 20th instant, at Tarbat-house, Ross-shire, the Mar-
chioness of Stafford, of a son.
On the 21st instant, at Aigburth, the lady of Robert Single-
burst, Esq., of a son.

intshire, the wife

On the 21. st instant, at Llw
of H. Raikes, Esq., of a daug...,..
On the 22d instant, the wife of Car
street, Toxteth-park, of a daughter.
On the 23d instant, in Pitt-street, Mrs. Joseph M. Taylor, of
twin sins.
On the 23d instant, Mrs. Win. Kiiner, of High Park. street,
Toxteth-park, of a son.
On the 23,1 instant, at Huyton, Mrs. R. H. Sherlock, of a
daughter.
On the 23d instant, at Carden-park, Cheshire, the lady of J.
H. Lecke, Esq., of a daughter.
On the 23rd inst., at Edge-lane, Mrs. J. Henry Dickinson,
of a (laughter.
On the 25th instant, at Wootton,
Esq., of a son.
On the 26th instant, in Cumberland-street, the wife of James
Thomas, pilot, of a daughter.

n John Ellis, of Bedford-

the wife of Archibald Tod,

MARRIED.
On the 3d instant, by special license, at St. Helier, by the
Rev. W. C. Le Breton, Dean of Jersey, John Hutton, Esq., of
Netherfield-road North, Eve, ton, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter
of the late Mr. James Morris. of East Grinstead, Sussex.
On the 15th instant, at St. Bride's Church, James, eldest son
of James Knight, Esq., to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Mr.
Peter Fisher.
On the 16th instant, at Manorhamilton, by the Rev. Mr.
Hamilton, Mr. John Kerr, merchant, late of this town, to
Isabella, youngest daughter of Thomas Corscadden, Esq., of
Manorhamilton.
On the 17th instant, at Holy Trinity Church, Walton-breck,
Everton, by the Rev. J. comas, Mr. Thomas Barnes, of
Wigton, to Miss M. A. N. Hill, of Hampstead, London.
On the 17th instant, at Childwall Church, William, son of the
late Williata Thomas, of Rainhill, end former;y of Neston, to
Eliza, daughter of the late Edward Hunter, of Iluyton-quarry.
On the 18th instant, by the Registrar of the Bootle District.
Mr. Ily. Robinson, joiner, aged 65, to Miss Hughes, confec-
tioner, Bootle, aged CO.
On the 19th instant, at St. Phil'-'
Scafte, of Denmark, to Ann, daughte,
bootmaker.
On the 19th instant, in London, John Forbt
James Clark, Bart., attache to her ro-'
to Charlotte, only daughter of the
On the 19th instant, at St. Jam a, Westminster, Lieut.-
Col. J. E. W. Inglis, of her Majesty's 32d Regiment, and son
of the late Bishop of Nova Scotia, to Julia Selina, daughter of
Sir Frederick Thesiger, M.P.
On the 20th instant, at St Mary's Church, Edge-hill, by the
Rev. Mr. Barker, Mr. W. F Dockrall, of her Majesty's Cus-
toms at this port, to Emil]: daughter of Mr. James
Moor, late tide-surveyor at
On the 21st inst., at Ch,
Mr. George Warren, of Corfu, .
the late Mr. John Recktess, of this town.
On the 21st instant, Mr. T. Edwards, of Prince Edwin-street,
to Margaret, daughter of the late Mr. Wm. Mercer, Maghull.
On the 21st instant, at St. Alban's Church, Limekiln-lane, by
the Rev. F. A. Power, M.A.,
Elizabeth Cross.
On the 21st instant,
Mr. John Brown, of Birke,.
Hatchet), Esq., Priory, Rail.

this pOit
•ist Chur

Church, Mr. C. H

Itlr. James Parker,

jesty's Erut
Mr. Justic

rnly son of Sir
)assy at Paris,
T Coltman.

Marylebone, London,
y Gertrude, only child of

r. Evan Bisset, mariner, to Jane

at Whitech

On the 21st instant, iirHi
Lascelles, third son of the Ear
Murray, only daughter of the
On the 22d instant, at St.
Pollock, M.A., Captain von
Prussian service, to Anne, y
Purdie, Esq., of Edinburgh
On the 20,1 ;-- '

_ A 4,1 instant, at St.
C. Cowan, Patrick Merne tc
On the 22d instant, at E.
teth•park, Mr. Joseph Joni
Toxteth-park.

bte Rev. . Barton
)liyneh, daughtSer of Geo

rate Church, the Hon. C. E.
f Harewood, to Lady Louisa
1 of fansfield.

le Rev. \V

".. ,wrassiers
'ter of the late Robt

,drew's Church, by t
Gregson.

Rev. T.

Baptist's Church, Tox-
Esther Po‘s ell, both of

On the instant, at M(._.
Mr. John Cralloner, of this town, to 3
hall, near Mold.
On the 23d instant, at Thar
Rev. Philip Homan, 8.A.,
Eland Birch, Esq., Dublin,
Rev. John Fish, Rector of
the late Colonel Mossotn, M.P.,
Kilkenny

Clough,

Church, (

s Trou

11, eldest- son of
of the
hter of

nd granadaL,,
ount Eland, county

On the 23d instant, at Tixall, Sts
Webb. ALA., Wiliam Henderson, I
youngest daughter of the late Th(
Gerard's Bromley-hall, Staftordshir

rdshire, by the Rev. W
[., of this town, to Bessy

On the 23d instant, at St. Aug.
Duckworth, builder, to Mrs. Ma
On the 24th instant, at St. B
D. Stewart, John Henry, sem
R.N., of Falmouth, to Anne,
Farrer, ESQ., of Botanic-view, it
On the 24th instant, at St. Jc
teth-park, by the Rev. J. Hassa

Lorthouse, Esq:, a

'eh, Mr. Jonathan

hurch, by the Rev. D.

ndson of Wm. Greer

George Robins, Esq., of Di
the late Captain W. Kelly,
On the 24th instant, at th_
Park-road, by the Rev. J. I. _.__
Miss Jane Garner, both of Chester
On the 24th instant, at the Rolm
lane, Birkenhead, Mr. Michael 1
Johnson, druggist, to Miss Eli:
both of the same place.
On the 24th instant, at the Path
the Rev. Edward J. Cordner, Thor
Eastfield, Aigburth, third son of tl

to M-ary

Church, Tox-
no of the late
d daughter of

Connexion Chapel,
n, Mr. Henry Williams to

Catholic CI

shopina
th Brown, dr

of Mount county Ar
William Irian], Esq., of R
of the late W. Brook, Esq.,

!hurch, Huddersfield, by
Hastings Irwin Esq., of