EXETER DISTRICT COURT OF BANKRUPTCY (Before Mr. Commissioner Bere.) THURSDAY, APRIL 24. Re F.W. EMERSON, of Trereife Chemical Works, Penzance, manufacturing chemist. This was a meeting for last examination. – Mr. STOGDON appeared for the bankrupt; and Mr. TURNER for a Mr. ANDREWS, who claimed some property which was found in the bankrupt’s possession by the bankruptcy messenger, and delivered over to the official assignee. The question raised today was whether Mr. ANDREWS was or was not entitled to have the property in question returned to him by the official assignee, and it was understood that if the property was not returned Mr. ANDREWS would take legal proceedings to recover it. – The Bankrupt was examined, and stated that the property which Mr. ANDREWS claimed was carbonate of lead, which was not at his works in a dry state, and ready for manufacture. He (bankrupt) purchased it as suplate of lead, and converted it into the carbonate; the parties of whom he purchased it were Messrs. Smith, of London. – The COMMISSIONER asked why Mr. ANDREWS claim! ed it? The Bankrupt said that in October, 1854, Mr. Andrews advanced him £60, and he sold to him six tons of the carbonate of lead at £10 per ton, with an understanding that he was to redeem it within a certain time by re-payment of the £60. It was afterwards agreed that on the 14th of February, 1855, the bankrupt should convert a quantity of ingredients, which should be sent to him by Mr. Andrews, into “patent white lead” Mr. Andrews accordingly sent him some letharge, ore, acid, sulphate, &c. to be converted. Mr. Andrew’s brother was at the works to be instructed in the art of making “patent white lead,” and while he was so engaged, two tons of the ingredients sent by Mr. Andrews were converted. After being converted, they were sent to Mr. Andrews, who intended to forward them to Messrs. Vaughan and Simmons, of London, to be converted into cash. The remainder of the materials were still in the bankrupt’s works at Penzance. He (the bankrupt) had a license for making “paten! t white lead,” and also held a thirty-second share in the pate! nt; the license for making however expired at his bankruptcy. Mr. TURNER said the goods, having been sent to the bankrupt, and not converted, Mr. ANDREWS was entitled to claim them at the bankruptcy as his property; it was the same as a person sending cloth to his tailor, when, in the event of bankruptcy, it would be monstrous to say the cloth did not belong to the person sending it. The COMMISSIONER thought that it was nevertheless so. The case put by Mr. TURNER, he thought, only applied to watches and books. The bankrupt’s examination was then resumed. He stated that the ingredients sent by Mr. ANDREWS were the only ones of the kind in his works, with the exception of a small quantity of one or two ingredients, and had not Mr. Andrews sent them he should have been obliged to purchase on his own account, in order to keep the works on as they were only adapted for that particular work. The COMMISSIONER said that the point of law in the case in questions was so extremely difficult th! at he should advise the assignee to give up the property to the claimant. The balance sheet commenced on the 13th of September, 1851, and concluded at the date of the petition on the 7th of February, 1856. On the debtor side were debts owing, for which no consideration had been given, £55 18s. 4d.; amount due to creditors holding mortgages, liens, or other securities, £5,283 7s 1d.; all other debts owing £7,554 8s, 7d.; profits of business, sale to G.W. ANDREWS, of shares in Spilbury’s Patent, £4,910; received of T. ANDREWS, for premium with his son, £100; interest on F.G. Spilbury’s mortgage debt, £225 18s, 8d.; capital at the commencement of this balance sheet, £660 2s. 8d.; total £18,789 15s, 4d. On the creditor side were debts owing for which no consideration had been given, £55, 18s, 4d.; good debts, £1,435 2s., 11d.; bad, £1,912 5s. 4d.; property mortgaged, £3,500; all other property, £532 19s, 7d.; losses, £6,766 1s. 7d.; trade expenses, £3,963 1s. 7d.; household ex! penses, £624 6s 2d.; total, £18,780 15s. 4d. Among the credito! rs in Co rnwall are – R.H. Davy, Penzance, £10 0s. 8d.; Walter EDMONDS, Penzance, 7; W.D. MATHEWS, Penzance, £11 9s.2d.; among the large creditors are Mr. S.W. ANDREWS, Brentford, £345 14s.; Glasgow Bank, £423 3s. 10d.; Thomas Harrison, London, £150; HUGHES and STEELE, Newport, £300; London and Westminster Bank, £300; Phillipps, Cardiff, £95 7s 6d.; J. SCOTT, Keswick, 64 4s. 11d.; R.C. SLADE, Newport, £234 7s 6d.; REBECCA SCALE, Cardiff, £515 13s. 6d.; VAUGHAN and SYMONDS, Southwark, London, for goods and cash , £2983 12s. 9d.; for bills accepted, £1225. The mortgage creditors are W.H. FLINTAN, New Kent Road, London, £245 8s 9d.; Gresham Assurance Company, London, £3509; interest thereon, £112 18s. 4d.; and Samuel Gilbert, Bow Road, London, £1,200. The property mortgaged was Trereife Chemical Works, Penzance, £3,069 16s 5d.; water course, £104 1s. 6d.; laid out since in plant, machinery, &c., £2,368 0s. 1d.; valued only at the amount due on mortgage to the Gresham Assurance Company,! £3,500. The cause of bankruptcy was stated to be want of sufficient capital to bring his patents and mines into productive working; and in consequence of the pressure in the money market cause by the bank raising their discounts, inability to get capitalists to join him in carrying them out; thereby causing the above losses. THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF LOOE BRIDGE AND MILL. – This was a paper by Mr. JONATHAN COUCH, read by Mr. Tweedy. Now that the ancient and picturesque bridge which has connected the neighbouring towns of East and West Looe was about to disappear, he was desirous of placing on record a few particulars of the early portion of its history. As regarded the earlier portion of his materials, they derived their authenticity from the communication of an antiquary whose name stands pre-eminent in this department of science, but which without his consent he did not consider himself permitted to mention. An incident was related in Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopædia, extracted from one of our ancient chronicles, showing that in the year 1403, in the reign of Henry the Fourth, a roving party of French and Spaniards attacked the town of Chita, as the writer calls it, which undoubtedly was Shuta, still existing as an obscure village, where, as is acknowledged by all, formerly stood the princ! ipal portion of the town now known as East Looe, and an ancient crossing place led to the perhaps still more ancient Port Bigh or Bye-ham, now West Looe. The place contained about three hundred houses, and was very rich, being inhabited wholly by merchants and fishermen. Mr. COUCH went on to give details of the attack upon the town, and remarked that such an attack could not have been made if a bridge had existed. It is certain that the building of this bridge was begun not long afterwards, and as the expense was likely to be great, and partly also because of the injury that had been inflicted by these pirates on the inhabitants of Shuta, in the burning of their dwellings and the destruction of their merchandise, recourse was had to an ecclesiastical indulgence to raise the money. The authority for this indulgence is to be found in Bishop Stafford’s Registrar at Exeter, and is dated 22nd of October, 1411. We cannot explain why it happened that no two arches of this bridge! were alike in their span; but as the triangular recess on one! of the pillars was larger than the others, an intention must have existed in the mind of the builder of devoting it to the use to which it was afterwards appropriated, that of receiving a way-side chapel. And yet this intention was not carried into effect until twenty-five years afterwards. According to the evidence of the Register, vol. 3, fol. 135 “the chapel of St. Anne, the Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that was built and erected in the middle of the said new bridge.” Was licensed by Bishop Lacy the 18th of November, 1426. It is not unlikely that the Barbican or place of defence was erected at the same time with the bridge, as it could not have been of use before, and afterwards it served as a guard to the only part of the town of Shuta – running as it did along the hill – that was open to attack. When the town was transferred to where East Looe now stands, this Barbican ceased to be of use, and nothing beyond the name is now remembered of it. It is proper to state, howev! er, that some portion of the present town of East Looe must have been in existence long before this; although it was, at the time we are speaking of, of less importance and riches than its more ancient neighbour on the top of the hill. At the earliest notice we find of it, a church existed, for in the register of Walter Nornescombe, who was the Bishop of Exeter from the year 1258 to 1280, folio 8, it is recorded that, “ in the year 1259, on Saturday after the feast of St. Denis (October) the Lord Bishop dedicated the Church of St. Mary de Loo.”– At that part of the Looe river where it is divided in to two nearly equal branches, is the Millpool which, as being an enclosed portion of the current, was the subject of an action at law. Mr. Couch here gave a long account of this ancient trial, which tool place at the county assizes, between Sir John Banks, Knight, as Attorney-General for the Crown, and Thomas Arundel, Esq., defendant. He observed that the Millpool must have bee! n greatly enlarged soon after the trial, for instead of two ac! res it i s now full thirteen acres in extent. STONE CIRCLES. – A letter from Mr. Mac Lauchlan to Mr. Tweedy was read by Dr. Barham. Referring to the notice at the last annual meeting of the Institution, of stone circles found by Mr. Whitley on Dartmoor, Mr. MacLauchlan observes: – Professor John Phillips in his “Rivers and Hills of Yorkshire” has written on these circles, and I have seen them frequently, particularly on Ingleborough, in Yorkshire, and Carn-engles near Newport in Pembrokeshire. These are two of the strongest hill camps in the kingdom perhaps, and from their name containing the world engle or ingle (fire in British) may be fairly supposed of British origin, particularly the latter.” – Mr. MacLauchlan stated from his own observation that these stone circles are widel diffused over the kingdom, and that they are probably of early origin. He thought they were a primitive way of making a shelter; sticking up poles, tying them together perhaps at the top, and putting turf or other warm covering as a! shelter from the wet and cold. He believed the doors were generally to the south, or on the lowest side; and he had generally found the circles from twenty-five to thirty feet in diameter. – Mr. MacLauchlan also says: – “ I read the account of the opening of they Veryan barrow with great satisfaction, as I had often seen it in my walks by the Cornish shore, and pondered on what it might probably contain. It is not often that suggestion from early history meet with so probable an elucidation of Gerennius; and perhaps you could not find a better reason for opening these barrows, to which some people objected, than the success attending your excavation in Cornwall. ROYAL INSTITUTION OF CORNWALL. A Meeting of the members was held on the 29th ult., the Mayor of Truro, Mr. Stokes, presiding, and there was a numerous and respectable attendance. Dr. Barham drew attention to a very fine specimen of coral, presented by Mr. Augustus Smith, of Tresco Abbey, Scilly; which had been brought from the South Seas by a master of a vessel. Mr. Tweedy presented from Mrs. Taunton several telescopes and other optical instruments. Besides there intrinsic worth, they will be regarded with interest as a memorial of Dr. Taunton’s long and valuable connection with the institution. Dr. Barham exhibited several of the specimens which had been received from the Commissioners of the Great Exhibition, illustrative of various operations in arts and manufacturers. The CORNISH MOTTO. – A letter was ready by Dr. Barham from Mr. Charles Fox, inclosing a note from Mr. Robert Walker Childs, of London, who said – “I have read with great interest our communication to the Royal Institution of Cornwall, with reference to the Sidonian inscription. Beloythe or Bolitho is the name of a place near Liskeard, as well as the name of a family. I think many traces of the ancient intercourse between Cornwall and Phœnicia yet remain for discovery. It has sometimes occurred to me that the Cornish motto “One and all” was undoubtedly a religious formula of the Egyptians and Phœnicians, expressing the unity and universality of the Deity; and Ammon, or Bel, was also called by the Greeks Hen (one). I have never heard of any satisfactory explanation of the Cornish motto; it has usually been attributed to the clannish feeling among the Cornish; but I should think it has a more ancient origin; and as your attention has been directed to our connexion with Phœnicia! , you will, I am sure, excuse my troubling you withthis idea.” – Mr. Charles Fox remarks: “If we could recover the Cornish language, as spoken before the christian era, we should probably fine many evidences, in Hebra-Phœnician words, of early intercourse. That no coins (as I suppose) have been found, may perhaps be attributed to their direct intercourse with Cornwall having almost ceased before their subjection to the Greeks. No Phœnician coins of an earlier date than that, are extant. Mr. Fox’s note had also reference to a donation which it accompanied of a photographic copy of the head of the Sidonian King, the inscription on whose sarcophagus was presented at the meeting of the institution in February. Mr. Fox says: – “I can now send the copy (which I obtained in Syria) of the head of the Sidonian King. I do not know what accuracy there may be in the outline of the lower end of the sarcophagus lid, as represented in the copy of the inscription which I sent to the institution; but on connecting the two parts (the head and inscription) one may observe how nearly, if not exactly, the lid resembles that form of Pthah, or Vulcan, particularly worshipped at Memphis, excepting the Scarrabæus with the sun and asps, which are not figured in the breast of the Sidonian King. The necklace with its two extremities, each surmounted by a hawk’s head, especially belonged to Pthah Sokari. The inscription occupies the usual place of the hieroglyphics. Although! the lid is eight feet in length, there is a stunted form in the outline (according to my copy) which entirely agrees with Sir G. Wilkinson’s figure of the sarcophagus of the dwarf deity at Memphis. TEREDO NAVALIS. – Mr. OSLER gave a description of the Ship-worm, of which notices have appeared in the Newspapers as ingesting the harbour at Sebastopol, and destroying the Russian ships sunk in that harbour. He exhibited specimens from the museum, and said the descriptions in newspapers were very inaccurate. It is not a worm, but a shell fish; it does not feed upon timber, but bores in it for its habitation. The Teredo Navalis is found in all warm climates, but has long been extinct in these northern seas. NATURAL HISTORY.– A description of a peculiar kind of fungus, (written by Mr. W. Tweedy), was read by Mr. Tweedy. It belonged to the genious Geaster or Earth-star, and was found in a hollow elm tree at Truro Ve?. Mr. Edward Parfitt, of Exeter, believed it to be the Fornlectus(?) of Hudson and other authors; but Mr. W. Tweedy dissented from that opinion. – After the reading of this paper, Dr. Barham congratulated the society on an occasion of juvenile labourers, and spoke of the useful operations of the Natural History class last year. GEOLOGY. – A section of curious rocks at Bude as present by Mr. Whitley; and Mr. Tweedy and Mr. Whitley made some observations thereon. Mr. Whitley thought the rocks had been peculiarly twisted through having been pressed up between the large masses of granite on either side. – Dr. Barham then read a note from Professor Sedgwick, in which he inquires “Has anything been done lately with the older palæozoic beds of Cornwall? I mean the beds south of St. Austell, which have what I call true old Cambrian fossils. It is a question of sections rather than of fossils; and the stratigraphical points are not (or were not) very easy to settle.” INSCRIBED STONE. – A sketch was presented by Mr. WHITLEY, of an inscribed stone about five feet high, of granite, at the mowhay gate, Nanscowe, in St. Brenck. The inscription was as follows: – VLCAGNIFIL: SEVER, which being a combination of British and Roman, Mr. Whitley suggested that it afforded proof that intermarriages took place in ancient times between the noble Romans and the ladies of Britain, the fame of whose beauty, as in modern times, reached to distant parts of the world. – Mr. TWEEDY referred to other instances in Cornwall of stones inscribed with combined British and Roman names, for example the stone at St. Clement, inscribed ISNIOC VITAL: Such combination of British and Roman names carried us back to the very early date when the Romans had not entirely abandoned this country – Some other such instances were mentioned by Dr. BARHAM, especial one at Madron. – Mr. Thomas Kent, of Padstow, member of the British Archaeological Association, had writte! n to Mr. Whitley, that a similar sketch to that now present was communicated by him (Mr. Kent) to MR. Charles Roach Smith, the secretary of the British Archaeological Society, and was published in their journal for March, 1845. Mr. Kent supposed the inscription should be read – “Ulcagnius filius Seceri.” METEOR. – A note was read by Dr. BARHAM from the Rev. T. Phillpotts, of Porthgwidden, giving the following account of the meteor of January last, as seen by Mr. Enys and himself: – “It was, I think, on the 7th of January, and as near as I could note it, thirty-five minutes past four, when we were crossing in a boat from Point to Restronguot, that we were startled by the appearance of a bright stream of light, similar to a falling star, but much larger, and although it was still daylight, very intense. Our position was abreast of the Carnon mine shaft, and the meteor appeared nearly due east. The light was at first very vivid, and in a direct line, marking the rapid fall of some luminous body. This lasted two or three seconds only, and was succeeded by a whitish streak occupying the same position, which gave me the idea of a severance in the cloud by the rapid passage of the meteor. This continued for several minutes, probably eight or ten; It Gradually lost the re! gularity of its outline, and became somewhat serpentine in its form, which became gradually more and more disturbed, till, as it appeared, the cloud closed together again, and resumed its uniform appearance. It was seen very distinctly by both Mr. Enys and myself, as well as by some of my family who were passing in a carriage by Killiganoon at the time. – Dr. Barham, by means of a map of the South Coast of England, and a diagram by Mr. Rickard of the Mining School, exhibited the bearings as it was stated to have been seen from various places, and deduced that its positions must have been not far from Cherbourg. The point at which it started must have been at an elevation of about sixty miles; it fell about fifteen degrees, and then exploded something like a sky-rocket. The motion of the body lasted only about two seconds, but the train of light remained about fifteen minutes. He then made some observations on the present theory concerning meteors, that they were nebulous m! atter passing through space, and condensing, with combustion, ! as they came into our atmosphere. – Mr. HODGE, of the Mining School said, meteoric stones generally, though not always, consist of metallic iron containing nickel diffused through it in a peculirar manner; for bodies of this class when acted upon by nitric aci, which affects the iron more readily than the nickel, leave a porous skeleton of this latter metal, affording evidence that the nickel is not alloyed with the iron, but for the most part diffused through its mass in a regular manner. Now, iron may be prepared in the laboratory in a finely-divided and pyrophoric form, inflaming even at ordinary temperatures, on bringing it in contact with the air. He suggested the possibility that iron, forming, perhaps, at one time, part of the missing planet between Mars and Jupiter, may exist in space in a volatilized condition – that would most probably assume a spongy form, – and that the paricles of the nickel and iron being during this condensation subjected to the magnetic and other inf! luences, might be expected to arrange themselves in a definite manner. A spongy mass of this kind coming into the earth’s atmosphere, would necessarily give rise to the production of heat; sufficient, doubtless, under the circumstances to cause at least its partial fusion. He thought that the cause of the combustion of meteors and the train of light that followed them, might be thus explained; and although it may appear likely that a very considerable proportion of oxide of iron ought to be found in meteorites as the result of such confbustion (paper error), it is surely not impossible, that at so great and elevation, the iron may, as is the case with copper, absorb oxygen at a high, and again give it out at a lower temperature; this sudden disengagement of oxygen in part accounting for the frequent explosions which occur during the passage of these bodies through our atmosphere. This concluded the proceedings of the meeting. Legal Intelligence. EXETER DISTRICT COURT OF BANKRUPTCY (Before Mr. Commissioner Bere.) MONDAY, APRIL 6. REFUSAL TO ANNUL A BANKRUPTCY. Re. J.B. LOCK, of Truro – In this case, Mr. STOGDON appeared for the bankrupt, and Mr. VENN, for the petitioning creditor, Mr. Gard, a merchant at Exeter. The sitting was adjourned from the 29th ult., when it will be remembered an application was made to annul the bankruptcy, – for the production of the books of Mr. James Escott, of Dunster, Somerset, the brother-in-las of Locke, in order to see if they corresponded with the books kept by bankrupt. At former sittings witnesses were examined in support of the application, and to-day the COMMISSIONER, after inspecting the books of the bankrupt and those of Mr. ESCOTT, said he could not annul the petition, and considering the conflicting evidence he declined to give any opinion, as it might prejudice some party if he did so. If was a question, which excited a great deal of suspicion, and the bankrupt, if he pleased, could go before a jury. If the case was heard in a superior Court he (the Commissioner) was sure the L! ord Chancellor would say it was a case to go to a jury. Mr. STOGDON said, that being his Honor’s decision the bankrupt would take time to consider what course he would adopt. The COMMISSIONER said, under these circumstances he would suspend the usual advertisement for a week. WEDNESDAY, MAY 7. Re EDWARD ROWE and EDWARD WOES, the younger, stationers, of Penzance. This was sitting for a choice of assignees. Mr. HEAD (of the firm of Head and Venn, solicitors, Exeter,) tendered the following proofs of debts, to the amount of £1,114 1s. 7d., which were admitted. – Messrs. Longman and Co., booksellers, London, £790 8s. 3d.; Thomas Waller and Mary Waller, news-agents, Lilipot Lane, London, £141 19s. 3d.; George B. Kirkman and William Thackray, Doctors’ Commons, London, stationers, £78 11s. 2d.; Thomas Piper, William Stephenson, and Joseph Spence, Paternoster Row, London, booksellers, £36 4s. 4d.; Alexander Cowan and Co., Cannon Street, London, £33 11s. 9d.; David Bogue, Fleet Street, London, bookseller, £22 8s. 1d.; and Edward Butt, bookseller, Paternoster Row, London, £12 18s 9d. Mr HEAD, proposed that Mr. Bevis Ellerby Green, of Paternoster Row, London, (of the firm of Longmans and Co.,) should be chosen assignee, and there being no opposition he was accordi! ngly appointed. Mr. Head afterwards applied for an allowance for the bankrupts; and the official assignee having reported to the Court on the state of the bankrupts’ estate, his HONOR granted an allowance of £2 a week to the father, and£ £1 a week to the son. ____________________________________________________________ NetZero now offers 4G mobile broadband. Sign up now. http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=NZINTISP0512T4GOUT1