The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-09
THE JURY OUT ALL NIGHT
ONE JUROR DIsAGREEs IN THE
BATTERsBY WILL SUIT.

The Eleven Others Were in Favor of
Verdict for the Defendant Under
the Charge of the Court, Which
Was Strongly in the Defendants
Favor-Under the VIII II Appeared
That the Company Had the Right
TO Deal with Mai. Hartridge as the
Sole Executor or Trustee in Amer
lea.
The jury in the case Of J. B. Duckworth
and others. executors and trustees Of the
will Of William Battersby, against the
Ocean Steamship Company will probably
be found in the Jury room this morning
when the superior court convenes.
The jury was charged by Judge Falligant
yesterday morning and from the charge
of the court which seemed to bring out
the law so clearly in the Defendants IA
vor, it was thought that a verdict would
be returned that way within a few min
utes.
The jury, however was peculiarly con-
sttuted, and after remaining out for
some time it came down to be recharged
upon points connected with the 24th para
graph of the Battersby will which was
in part the basis of the suit The jury
then returned to consider the case and a
o'clock last night was still considering.
Judge Falligant left word that If an agree
ment was reached during the night they
might return a sealed verdict and the
jury was then left in charge of a deputy
sheriff
II seems that the jury was hung up by
one dissenting voice, that of Mr.. Charles
r. Clarkson, manager Of the Savannah
Cotton Mills, who refused to consent to
a verdict in the defendants favor al
though the eleven others had come to that
conclusion, which had seemed inevitable
under the charge of the court. In open
ing his charge to the jury Judge Falligant
said
The gravamen of the case is this: That
the defendant changed the registry of
certain bonds owned and held by the pc
TONERS as trustees, such bonds being reg
istered in the name of the estate of Will
liam Battersby. and thus put it in the pow
er of a party named to convert and dis
pose of those bonds, and that the estate
of Battersby thereby suffer loss, for which
they claim this defendant company should
compensate them in damages"
In charging the jury Judge Falllgant
said it was for it to determine in the light
of the facts given in evidence whether at
the time of the transfer of the bonds the
Ocean Steamship Company was put upon
such notice as should have imposed upon
it the knowledge that this property was
held in trust, not by the executors as ex-
ecutors, but by the trustees as trustees.
The question was as to whether there had
ever been transfer of the property to
the trustees as trustees, as those named
in the will to have charge of the property
were named both as executors and trus-
tees
1t was an admitted fact that at the time
the transfer was made Maj. Hartridge
was the only resident executor in Amer
lea, and Judge Falligant charged that if
the company had the right to deal with him
as executor under the facts in the case
there was no reason why it should not have
made the transfer at the request of such
executor.
Unless something in the status of the
case put the company on notice of an in
tended wrong doing on the part of the
executor, the property being in his hands.
and he being the sole resident executor
in America, and it was found that the
company had the right, under the facts to
deal with him as such executor, then the
company he said, could not be held res
ponsible.
With regard to the resignation of Mai
Hartridge as executor Judge Falligant
said the company could not be bound by
that until they had constructive notice
said was constructive notice, but it was
not recorded here until Oct "a, whereas
the transfer was made on Oct g. 1890 If
the parties in charge of the property were
in charge as trustees, Maj. Hartridge be-
ing one of them, his powers as trustee it
was charged, must be determined by the
will, in which case the liability of the
company turned on the construction of the
twenty-fourth item. AS a general prin-
ciple, where parties hold property in trust
they must all act in any conveyance or
change of status of that property, but
the instrument creating the trust is the
law of the trustees in such matters
Judge Falligant then cited the twenty
fourth item of the will, the principle
clause of which, so far as the case made
out by the company was concerned is "and
that all purchasers and others may deal
with such trustees or trustee respectively
alone" The item then goes on to make
a provision that this shall not have the
effect of excluding the other trustees
from such management, and this is the
portion of the will on which the case Of
the plaintiff was partially based.
If Mr.. Duckworth, previous to this
change of registration, moved his resi-
dence to England, and Mr.. Hartridge was
the sole trustee in America, Judge Falli-
giant charged that the company had the
right to deal with him under this sec
ton of the will, as it had the right to as
sumo, that the trustees resident in Eng
land had left that management Of that
portion of the property in this country
in his hands.
If the defendant were found liable
Judge Falligant said the plaintiffs would
value principal and interest as was
proven This would amount to about