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At the outset Mr. Stephens took an objection to the 50 cents stamp that covered the docn- ment on which was the promissory note as well as the guarantee; the proper stamp for the guarantee was a 5 cents one. The promissory note was not stumped at all; moreover, no name was mentioped in it, it being simply payable to bearer:
Mr. Thompson said that the 50 cents stamp referred to the promissory note.
His Lordship pointed out that in that case the guarantee could not be stamped.
Mr. Thompson-That does not prevent my suing.
His Lordship-No, but you will have to pay the penalty.
Mr. Thompson-Quite so. His Lordship-The penalty is ten times the amount.
Mr. Stephens again submitted that the stamp referred to the guarantee.
His Lordship-It is very extraordinary that & 50 cents stamp is put on when a 5 cents stamp would do. I am prepared, however, to hold that the stamp must apply to the promissory note only. The document was stamped on the 5th April and the money lent on the 12th April. The plaintiff gets this thing as part of his stock-in-trade. He has many of them in his pocket now, probably.
Mr. Stephens-I contend that as the law says the promissory note must bear a certain stamp, that stamp, and not one of a higher value, should have been used. You cannot use a stamp of extra value.
His Lordship-You try the Treasurer. (Laughter.) I know very well how the men work. They get a lot of blank stamped papers and fill them in as they are required.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
13th July.
[July 15, 1897.
There was no service in SAD DEATH OF MR. D. K. SLIMAN. | the Monument the deceased's friends joined
the procession. the Church, the coffin being borne direct to the grave, near which was a harmonium, which was played by Mr. Ward, the Cathedral Organist. During the service, which was con- ducted by the Rev. R. F. Cobbold, the choir, in addition to the psalm, sang the following hymns-"Christ will gather in His own,
·Peace, perfect peace," and "On the Resurrec- The body was committed to the tion morning.' grave by the following representatives of Messrs. Irving, Mr. A. P. MacEwen, Mr. K. McK. Jardine, Matheson & Co-Hon. J. J. Bell- Ross, Mr. C. W. Richards, Mr. G. T. Veitch, Mr. J. Barton, Mr. D. Landale, and Mr. C. H. Ross.
We were shocked on Saturday forenoon by the rumour of the death by drowning of Mr. D. K. Sliman, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co.'s Agent in Swatow, and on enquiry at the office were much grieved to have the rumour confirmed. At the time of going to press par- ticulars of the sad affair are not to hand further than that the casualty occurred while the de- ceased was bathing off Masu, adjacent to the locality commonly known to Swatow residents as" Double Island."
Mr. Sliman, after some years' service with Messrs. Matheson & Co., in London, came to the East between fire and six years ago as an assistant to Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. On arrival he went to Shanghai, but shortly afterwards returned to the Hongkong office, ser- ving subsequently in Fooohow and Swatow, both of which branches he was in charge of at in- tervals.
Being naturally of a retiring disposition Mr. Shiman was for some time comparatively un- known except to his messmates in the hong and a few immediate friends. His sterling quali ties, however, could not for long be hidden un- der a bushel, and it was soon found that in ad- dition to his well-known capacity for business he was an expert musician, possessed of a tenor voice the equal of which is seldom He joined the Amateur heard out here. Dramatic Club and may be remembered in the productions of "Princess Toto" and 'Les Cloches de Corneville; " but it is not of that we would altogether treat now, but rather of the whole-heartedness which prompted him during his leisure to ungrudgingly put forth his best vocal efforts, whether in the Cathedral
The body arrived in Hongkong from Swatow on Tuesday afternoon by the Douglas steamer Namoa, which was flying her flag half mast, and was at once taken to East Point. By this steamer Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. received the account of the sad accident. On the 9th July Mr. Sliman and four friends went for a swim off Double Island. After being in the water for about ten minutes Mr. Sliman, who had probably become faint through exhaustion, was ob- served by two of his friends to suddenly raise his arms and disappear below the surface. That something grave had happened was not realised at the moment, but when it was seen that Mr. Sliman did not rise to the surface his four one of whom was Mr. C.-H. friends, Ross, at once hastened to the spot and dived under the
attempt to find the body. Their efforts were in vain and even with the assistance of drags the body could not be found. About four hours after the sad occurrence Mr. Sliman's body was thereupon removed to the chapel at Kakchau. On the following day an inquest was held, a verdict of accidental death being recorded.
to water
Therefore I do not see how the stamp can pos- choir, in the City Hall to an applanding audience, washed up on the shore at Masu and it was
sibly apply to the guarantee,
The objection was therefore over-ruled. Mr. Thompson then explained the facts of the case. In April, 1895. tlo father of the two defen- dants, Fanny Lawrence and Emily Morphew, borrowed $200 on a promissory note from the defendant, and his daughters signed underneath a guarantee to pay the money back. Interest at the rate of two per cent, per month was paid until January last, when Joseph Lawrence, the father, died, and the payments were stopped. Com- plainant now sned on the guarantee for the principal.
Complainant, a gunner in the Asiatic Ar'il- lery, gave evidence in support of the opening statement.
The defence was that the security was a sub- stituted one and that a co-surety in the former security did not sign the present one. surety was a brother of the defendants, his age at the present time being 17.
The co-
His Lordship said he could not believe that the defendants, intended that their brother should sign as a co-surety. His Lordship was very sorry for the defendants, but judgment must be given against them for the full amount of the claim with costs.
On the application of Mr. Stephens His Lordship ordered the money to be paid in monthly instalments of $25.
THE POLICE SCANDAL.
OFFICERS SUSPENDED.
-
On Tuesday Hon. F. H. May (Captain Super- intendent of Police) suspended the following officers from duty pending further inquiries: Detective Inspector Stanton, Detective In- spector Quincey, Inspector Baker, and Detec. tive Sergeant Holt. These suspensions were made in consequence of an inquiry held by Mr. May concerning the alleged acceptance of bribes in the Hongkong Police Force. Two Chinese detectives have been arrested under banishment warrants in connection with the affair.
The officers suspended are amongst the oldest and most respected in the Police Force and we are sure that everyone sincerely trusts that the further inquiries which are to be instituted will result in the exoneration of all of them, but of course the matter is too serions a one to admit of any indulgence should the offence be brought home to them.
in the room of a friend laid low by sickness, assisting at an entertainment to those of our compatriots who through force of circumstances for the time being become inmates of the Sailors' Home, or at the annual Christmas musical entertainment to the patients at the Govern- ment Civil Hospital. He was always willing and no request that at any time was made to him, compatible with his duty to the firm, was refused.
DEATH OF MR. L. PÕESNECKER.
It is with much regret we learn that Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg and Co. on 11th inst. received a telegram from London announcing the sudden death of one of the oldest partners in the firm, the resident partner of the firm in Hongkong for many years and was well known and popular both in business and social circles. He went home in 1892, after a residence of over twenty years in the Far East, spent almost entirely in this colony, and left behind him a large circle of friends, to whom his death will cause sincere sorrow. When the news became known the flags of many of the hongs and that of the German Club were lowered to half-mast.
The last time we saw Mr. Sliman in Hongr. Lorenz Poesnecker. Mr. Poesnecker was kong was little more than a fortnight ago, when he obtained leave to visit this port for the Jubilee Celebration. He then sang at the Cathedral Service with much effect the solo interpolated by Mr. Ward into the anthem, and took part in the songs of praise at the Happy Valley on the 22nd June. After the celebrations he returned to his post in Swatow in the best of health and spirits, looking for- ward to a trip home in the near future.
We are informed that the remains are to be brought to Hongkong for interment, which arrangement has been considerately made by Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., much to the satisfaction of the late Mr. Sliman's friends here. We are sure the graceful act will be highly appreciated by the sorrowing relatives at home and at the same time we feel confident that our Swatow friends can but approve the tribute Hongkong wishes to pay to one of their departed.
Touching allusion to the sad event was made by the Rev. R. F. Cobbold in his sermon at the Cathedral on Sunday morning. The hymns also were selected with reference to it, and at the conclusion of the service the "Dead March was played.
+
THE FUNERAL.
On Tuesday afternoon the remains of the late
.
Mr. D. K. Sliman were interred at the Happy Valley. The scene at the graveside, where the whole service, which was choral, was con- Here ducted, was a solemnly impressive one. were gathered the deceased's many sorrowing friends, the representatives of perhaps every European firm in the colony, and the Cathedral choir, which has lost so sweet a singer, while His Excellency the Governor was represented by, Captain Phillips, A.D.C. The hearse containing the coffin, which was covered with numerous beautiful wreaths, one of which was in the form of a harp, was followed from East Point by the members of the firm of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. and the staffs of the various departments, and at
THE RECORD TRANS-PACIFIC
VOYAGE.
10 DAYS AND 3 HOURS VANCOUVER TO YOKOHAMA,
The C. P. R. Company's steamer Empress of Japan, which left Vancouver, B.C., on Satur- day p.m., 26th June, five days late, arrived at Yokohama at 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, the 7th instant, having made the voyage from port to port in the remarkable time of 10 days and 3 hours actual steaming, thus breaking by 14 hours, and 40 mins. homeward bound, made hours her previous record voyage of 10 days; 17 in August, 1891, when her Yokohama mails were delivered in the London Post Office inside
of 21 days. She left Yokohams on the 7th late departure from Vancouver, arrived at at 9 p.m. and, notwithstanding her five days' Hongkong on time, on Wednesday, the 14th inst.
Yesterday was the day fixed for the hearing of the motion for appeal by the plaintiff in the case W. Jackson v. E. Priddle, but it was ar- e remembered ranged to take the case before the full Court, probably to-morrow. It will be that the plaintiff sued for the recovery of a bull terrier dog, which has recently been lost. He lost the action and having obtained further evi- dence in his favour he is moving for the deci- sion of the Puisne Judge to be reversed.
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