The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-06
TO RECOVER A HEAVY SUM.
THE OCEAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY
SUED FOR a COOL HUNDRED
THOUSAND.

/ feFred From the Buttersby Estate
to BeGrer-The Trustees for the
BatteFsby Estate Claim the Trans
fer Was Unauthorized and Illegal.
The Company Holds Ii Made the
Transfer at the Request of a Com
petent Authority.
! The case of J. B. Duckworth, VIM.
Battersby and VIM. Warburton, trus-
! tees of the estate of William Battersby,
/ in which they are seeking to recover
/ $4,000 Of the first mortgage bonds of
the Ocean Steamship Company of the
/ issue of 1852, which are alleged to have
| been Illegally transferred to the bearer
on the books of the company, on appli-
cation of Mai. A L. Hartridge. who was
at that time one of the trustees of the
Battersby estate, came up in the superior
/ court yesterday.
The petition sets forth that the Ocean
| Steamship Company in 1882 issued $780,
0CO first mortgage bonds Of the denomina-
ton of $1,000 each, paya-
bic to the order of John
Roach, with interest at c per cent, and
due Jan. 1. 1892. These. it is stated, were
vided among other things that the bonds
might be registered at the option of
the holder and thereafter at any
time registered and made payable
to bearer, and they would then be pay
able only to such person as on the bond
should appear from time to time to be
| the last registered transferee or owner.
The trustees state that there came into
their possession seventy-nine of these
bonds with the coupons attached of the
value of $4,000 or more, which were
duly registered as the property of the
| estate of William Battersby, by which
they became due and payable TO the pc
| utio2ers as his trustees. The bonds, the
petition states, were transferable only
on the order of the trustees or on the
order of their agent or attorney, duly
authorized to make such a transfer, and
| IL became the duty Of the Ocean Steam
ship Company to refuse to transfer the
bonds except on such an order.
In October. $780, the petition states, not
withstanding the registry of the bonds
and not regarding its duty, the company
| illegally and without the authority or
assent Of the petitioners, at the instance
/ Of one A. L. Aartridge, transferred the
| bonds to bearer, and did illegally and with
Out llSlI dSStlll uGllNCI me JULIUS ~ SeliN
Hartridge who did convert the same to
his own use. whereby they became totally
lost to your petitioners to their damage
as aforesaid.
The next paragraph of the petition is
similar in effect to that just stated, it be-
ing asserted that the bonds were trans
ferred to parties unknown to the petit
TONERS without their consent or authority
from them, and that such parties con-
verted them to their own use and they
| became totally lost to the trustees Of the
Battersby estate.
The suit is brought for 100000 which
includes the value of the bonds $4,000,
and the accrued interest as represented
! by the coupons attached to them. After
argument to a demurrer to the suit the
plaintiffs amended their petition bringing
the suit only in the capacity Of trustees
| instead of as trustees and executors, too.
The trial of the suit was then proceeded
with yesterday.
The plaintiffs were represented by Mr..
George w. Owens and Messrs Saussy &
Saussy. Messrs. Lawton & Cunningham
appeared for the steamship company.
The only witnesses on the stand We're
those called by the plaintiffs as the fact
! that the bonds were transferred to bearer
on request of Maj. Hartridge, was ad-
mitted by the company whose case was
| based on a matter of law and the con-
struction of the will of William Batters-
Dy. Inc cause IN the Will on winch the
defense bases its case is as follows: "All
| purchasers and others may deal with
| such trustees or trustee respectively
alone"
Mr. r. NJ. Demere was first put on the
witness stand to prove the value of the
bonds He was asked what was their value
about Oct. 6, 1890, at the time the transfer
was made.
LAS near as I can remember he re-
piled, they were worth between 102 and
l02l2"
After he had refreshed his memory by
reference to the files of the Morning
| News, Mr.. Demere said:
Il find that 101 was bid and 1O2 asked
| for the bonds. The quotatio is from the
Morning News Of Oct. Z, 1890, which gives
the markets for Oct. g.
Mr. J. B. Duckworth was placed on the
| stand at the conclusion of Mr.. Demere's
| testimony.
Mr.. Owens made the claim that under
| the powers set forth in the Battersby will
the trustees in England must give their
| consent for the American trustees z to
transfer stock and bonds in America Mai
"a. l.. Hartridge was a trustee under the
will in America.
was any such agreement made be-
tween the trustees in England and Amer
lear" Mr.. Owens asked.
NO, no such agreement was ever made"
Mr.. Duckworth replied. mo authority
was given for the transfer of bonds"
According to Mr.. Duckworth's testi-
mony, Maj. Hartridge signed the renun-
citation of his trust and sent it to the trus>
tees in England before the transfer of the
bonds was made on the books Of the COM
| pany. The trustees in England. however,
did not sign this remuneration until after
oct 6, 1880. the day the bonds were trans.
ferred, and this paper was not received
here until Oct "a. Mr.. Lawton claimed
that until the Ocean Steamship Company
had knowledge of Maj. Hartridge's resig-
nation, it was entitled to transfer the
bonds on his authority and would be pro-
tected in dealing with him alone.
The bonds, Mr.. Duckworth stated. were
bought by himself and Maj. Hartridge
out of the income of some American and
English securities. and the reason why he
had them registered in the name of the
estate of Battersby, he said, was because
he did not want them taken He testi-
fed that the bonds were placed in a safety
| deposit box, to which both he and Mai
/ Hartridge had a key. As Mai. Hartridra
/ had sent to the trustees in England the
/ proceeds of the January, 1891. coupons
/ Mr. Duckworth said, they had no lnowl