Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1886-01-30 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

UNFORTUNATE SPECULATION. On Saturday in the Queen's Bench Divison dlr. Justice Mathew gave judgm.qit in a singular action, in which Mr. W. E. Mirehouse' a barrister, sought to recover from Mr. Edward Easton, a civil engineer, £2,386 as the principal and interest of an advance of £2,000 made by the plaintiff to the defendant in November, 1880, to develop and ultimately purchase an estate (Brede-chin, in Egypt), with the view to the formation of a public company.—The defendant denied his liability, and set up a count « r claim for £250, as money lent to plaintiff —The plaintiff, in suppcat of his case, stated that in October, 1880, he was introduced to the defendant, who stated that he proposed to purchase Irom a Mr. Francis Solhaune a valuable estate which th 3 latter possessed about 10 miles from Cairo, and that he proposed to lay out about £50,000 in irrigating and developing the property, which comprised 13,000 nen s. For the purpose of creating a public company, the rental was to b 3 paid towsids the purchase of the estate for £300,000, this being the Egyptian custom, and this being done he would sell it to the company. The defendant further stated that the Duke of Sutherland had advanced £l,OOO towards the undertaking, and that Sir Arthur Kemball (the Duke's stewaid) Sir Henry Green, Mr. Grantham, Q.C. (now Mr. Justice Grantham), and other gentlemen of position had advanced large sums, on which representations the plaintiff ultimately advanced to the defendant £2,000, the arrangement being that he was to receive 6 per cent. for his money until the company was formed, and then to be repaid in fully paid-up shares. At this time he understood that Mr. Easton, who was an eminent water engineer, was a very wealthy man, and the latter told him that the Bredeschin Company would be equally a success with the Alexandria Waterworks Company which he had carried out, and referred witness to Mr. Chandos Leigh, one of the directors. Mr. Easton also said that the qualifications of the directors of the Bredeschin Company would be £2,000, as they would then have a substantial interest in it. Subsequently Mr. Easton informed him that there were difficulties in carrying out the company, which was a gold mine company, and ultimately the property was seized by the Egyptian States Dominion for arrears of lent due by Solhaune. The outbreak at Alexandria having occurred, the whole project fell through, and witness bad not received a shilling of his £2,000, although the defendant had had the interest on his money for two months in 1880 and the whole of 1881. As to Mr. Easton's counter claim for £250, the plaintiff stated that he had given him his I 0 U for that amount in settlement of sums due to him for director's fees.—Mr. Justice Grantham and General Sir Arther Kenaball gave evidence in corroboration. —Mr. Justice Mathew decided that the plaintiff had failed in the main question of his claim, but gave his judgment for the interest on his advances, without costs on either side.  A fire broke out on Saturday morning in Colmorerow, Birmingham, in the music warehouse of Messrs. Sabin and Stockley. Before the arrival of the fireengines the great block of buildings was in a bldze, and in pouring water on the fire the firemen did great damage to the valuable contents of the premises. Three firemen were severely injured. A remarkable death has occurred at Stockport. The other evening a farm labourer, named Michael Dyers, aged 64, called on a shopkeeper he knew and told him that he should be dead in an hour. Dyers proceeded home, sat down on a chair, complained to a lodger of pain in his chest, and died almost immediately. Ile was quite sober and rational before death; and it is not thought that he committed suicide by poisoning.  THE DUTCTI TLIDN,e_PPING