MAYOR’S COURT.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2609, 28 June 1871, Page 2

MAYOR’S COURT.

This Day, (Before his Worship the Mayor and the Hon. Dr. Buchanan, J.P.) THE PRINCES STREET FIRE. The hearing of the charge preferred against F. W. Reichclt, was resumed. M. W. Hawkins, accountant, stated he had examined the remains of Roichelt’s books. In the journal he found entries under the head of March, 1871 —“Goods account. Dr. to B. Schreib.r, to value of 11 cases goods, per Jas. N. Fleming, L 1275 4s and “ Ditto, goods per Otago, L 682 4s fid; total, L 1957 8s fid.” Further back, under the month September, 1870, he found —“ Goods account., Dr, to Bernard Schreiher, goods per Achilles, as per invoice ; arrived July, 1870, $3120 90c„ at 6 5-fiths, £ stg. L 457 I9s ” In the next line “ Goods per E. P. Bouverie, August, 1870,' $597 Ifics, at 6-56ths, athe rath of exchange per £ sterling, LB7 19a.” Following that--“Ditto. William Davie, September, 1870, §231 80c, at 6 5-fiths, L 33 175.” The previous entries were under date January, 1870, as follows:—“ Goods account. Dr. to Bernard Schreiber. To goods per Otago, 4 cases, 5 37ths, 23 at 3a ex., LBO 13a ; invoice, L 77 12s 9d ; total, LISB 5s 2d. French Goods, per Christian M‘Analand, . 475f, 70c., equal to Ll9 3a 9d. Added together, L 177 9s fid.” In the latest entry of goods per J. N. Fleming and Otago, the figures were not carried out, and there were no German figures. Assuming the 1275 to represent dollars instead of pounds sterling, the value of that invoice, reckoning 3a to the dollar, would be LI9I ss. In making his calculations he had taken as his basis the figures iu the books to ascertain the approximate value of Reichelt’s stock, and the conclusions he arrived at were :—First, assuming the last entries were correct, he estimated the approximate value of the stock on March 31, 1871, to be L 2822 18s 9d, and estimating the decrease of -stock for the period between March 31 and the day of the fire at Reichelt’s average transactions during the previous five months, he estimated the approximate value of the stock on the day of the lire to be L 3522 18 s 9d. He allowed for no purcha»cs_ since March, because there were no entries in the books produced beyond that date. On the second assumption he deducted from the value of the goods by the J. N. I leming the difference between LIOB3 Ills and that sum, taking the entry of that amount to mean dollars, and assumed that the goods per Otago had no existence ; and arrived at the approximate value of the stock on the day of the fire as being LIOSG 15s 3,1. „ There was a shipment by the Achilles, which he assumed to be over-estimated; and taking its value at only L 135, instead of L 457 19s, the value set down in the journal, the approximate value of the stock on June 12 was L77316s 3d.

John Tennant, Custom House clerk, stated that the ship Achilles arrived iu July, 1870. Mr ffamaan, Heichelt’s agent, passed entries "for five cfts»;s hy that vessel, of the declared value of L 133, The J, N, Filming arrived on October 26, 1870; Hamam passed entries for eleven case, the contents of which were said to be fancy goods, the declared value of which was L2OO. The Otago was reported on December 15, 1870. No entries wire passed by the prisoner for that vessel. There were no other goods than those he had mentioned for which entries were passed on account of the prisoner. Fancy goods are dutiable. The Christian M'Ausland was reported on January 24, 1871. An entry was uassed by Hamaau for one case of toys, of the declared value of L2O ; in the same case was drapery of the value of L 5 10s. The E. F. Bouvcrie’s date of arrival was August 10, 1870 ; by her prisoner received five cases, for which entries were passed by Ilamaan. Three cases contained lamps of the declared value of LBO ; one contained fancy goods valued at L2O; and one contained toys valued at 1 2) ; the total declared value of the five cases was Ll2O, The William Davie was reported on September 8, 1870 ; entries •werg passed for one case for Reichelt ;it contained toys of th§ declared value of LSO. John Hamaau, Custom House agent, said he acted in that capacity for I'eiohelt for three years. He passed no entries for go Ms by the Otago in 1870. In September last he had some conversations with him. He stated he had been disappointed, as his goods had been stopped in Hamburg -through the war. When passing entries for goods witness merely made out their value according to what merchants told him. Hu had not the least doubt that the prisoner told him that the declared value of the goods per James N. Fleming was L2OO. Witness now believed that to be an incorrect value. By Mr Smith : Ho founded his opinion as to the incorrect pegs of the declared value of the goods on the evidence givpp at the inquest, which ho had read. "Wfiep ihP prisoner WftS asked by witness as to the value of a shipipcnN he generally stated it In thalers, which witness reduced to pounds sterling. Told prisoner the amount of pounds sterling, although bo knew as well as witness the equivalent in pounds sterling of any given number of thalers. In reference to the Fleming’s shipment, prisoner spokp t.O witness iu German when declaring the value of them. Ho it to he 1,200 thalers. He knew the equiva’ent in English money. Johli Schoeficld stated be made up the prisoner’s books on three occasions the first time about June last year. He then posted up the books from the time of the death of the prisoner’s partner up to that time. He recognised the books produced as the ledger, journal, and cash hook. The second occasion was at the end of the same year—rabppt November—and the third in April lagt. ‘ He pasted the books from the invoices, which he had" handed tp him. The prices in the invoices were in thalers, which he converted into pounds sterling. One of the invoices was in English money, and bis impression was that it was for English goods. Another was in French money, and he believed it was for French goods. He had all Schreiber’s invoices in his hands. If any of the invoices purporting to bo from Schreiber bad beep digsijnilar in form and writing, he would have’pdtlped jit, All the invoices had a lithographed heading; out it'might have been possible one had lie such heading—at the same time he would have noticed any such dissimilarity. The entries in the jour-

nal were in witness’s handwriting. His fiiyl; estimate of the stock amounted to L92L ; if; April last the books showed thq. stock to ht: worth nearly L.WOp.jplt might-have beer more, but certainly hot X>2o less. ■ He nrrived at that conclusion, thiswise: he bar the stock when last tqken, and the good received since, and from them he deducted the amount of sales less 40 per cent, foi profit. His explanation for not making tlu last entries of goods per J. N. Fleming am l Otago in German dollars, was that he mad the entries in a hurry, mainly for the sak< of having an account of goods received from Sehrelber, and in order to give Reicholt ar approximate value of his stock. [Left sitting.]