The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

 

225.   SOLOMAN LEVINE and   EDWARD BEAMOND were indicted for feloniously receiving 6000 yards of calico, value 120l.; and 18 yards of canvas, value 1l.; the goods of   Alexander Forbes and others, wellknowing the said goods to have been stolen; and that Beamond had been before convicted of felony.—2nd COUNT, stating them to be the goods of   Thomas Hosie and others.—3rd COUNT, stating them to be the goods of   George Langster and another.—4th COUNT, stating them to be the goods of   William White and others.—Several other COUNT, stating them to be the goods of various other persons.

MESSRS. CLARKSON and BODKIN conducted the Prosecution.

  EDWARD IRELAND . I am foreman at Miller's-wharf, Thames-street. On

the 9th of October this order was brought to Miller's-wharf by a person, but it was neither of the prisoners—I had seen the man who brought it before and knew his person but not his name—in consequence of the delivery of this order I gave the man who brought it the goods mentioned in it—it was three bales—the marks and numbers were mentioned in the order—he had a cart—I helped to put the bales into the cart, and he drove away.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Do you know the name of the man? A. No—he had been at the wharf four or five times before—there were two men there who are in my master's employ—the man was about my height, and had sandy whiskers.

MR. BODKIN. Q. Look at the prisoners and state whether you will swear it was neither of these men? A. It was neither of these men.

  THOMAS HOSIE . I am one of the persons to whom Miller's-wharf belongs—I have more than one partner.

  JOHN SAYWARD, JUN . I live in Hereford-place, Commercial-road, and keep a linendraper's shop—I know the prisoner Levine—he called on me on Monday morning the 11th of October, I think between ten and eleven o'clock, or between ten and twelve, he brought some small patterns of calico, about quarters of yards—he asked me 5d. a yard for them—I offered him 3 1/2 d.—I ultimately agreed with him for twenty pieces at 4d., a yard—they had stamps on them, one stamp blue and two red I believe—I saw him again that afternoon—he came I think about five or six o'clock—he wanted to know if the calicoes had come—I told him they had not, and that I should like some more with the blue stamps on them—he said he did not know whether he should see the parties that night or not—on the following morning thirty pieces of calicoes came—I was below stairs, and I was called up, I found the goods there and the two prisoners—I had never seen Beamond before, but I had seen Levine—I said I must look at the calicoes to see that the lengths were right, and told them to come again in the evening—they went away and came again in an hour and a half after, about twelve o'clock in the day—I had then examined some of the lengths, and was satisfied that they were right—I paid them at the rate of 4d. a yard for the thirty pieces—I have the bill of parcels here—it was brought to me ready written, and the receipt was written to it in my shop by Levine—I then paid him 29l. 11s.—Beamond was present—I think I saw Levine again that afternoon or evening—he was there alone—I asked him if he should have any more calico—he said he did not know—he brought me four pieces more the next day—he came alone, and I paid him—this is the bill—it was written in my shop I believe, but I will not be positive—I sometimes use blue ink, and this is written in blue ink on the head of one of my bills—I did not see it written, but the probability is it was written there—I paid him for them at 4d. a yard, the same as the first bargain—I afterwards sent twenty-eight of these pieces to Luck and Co., of Bread-street, and gave the other six pieces to Miller the constable—I also gave him another piece which I received from my father.

The bills being ready were headed "Bought of E. Beamond;" and the receipt signed" S. Levine."

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. How long have you known Levine? A. About three years—I frequently bought of him before—I should not have bought of him if I had seen any thing suspicious in his dealings—I gave what I considered a fair price—I have been in the trade twenty years I dare say—I charged Luck and Co. 4 1/4 d. a yard for these calicoes—we consider Luck and Co.'s a very respectable house indeed—I

have known them about twelve months—I think they live in Bread-street, Cheapside—it is a very customary thing indeed in trade for persons to sell what are called cheap lots, and some of the most eminent houses in the City buy them, the largest houses in the trade, persons who are turning hundreds and thousands.

  MR. FRANCIS HOBLER . I have acted for a great number of years as clerk to the Justice-room at the Mansion-house. I remember on the 16th of October Mr. Alderman Pirie sitting for the then Lord Mayor—the two prisoners were under examination—after certain statements had been made, and several hearings, the Magistrate remitted the case to the County—I have a note of what was stated by the witnesses and the prisoners on that occasion.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Are these the original notes? A. Yes—I will not undertake to say I took every thing down they said—I cannot say that—I should think Beamond was not three minutes in making his statement, or not two minutes perhaps—I did not take it all down—here is the essence of what was said—here are a great many contractions in it I—I do not recollect whether Beamond was cautioned before he spoke, that what he said would be given in evidence—that has sometimes been done at the Mansion-house, but there is no fixed rule of any kind.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. Do you, or do you not, interfere with the prisoner to prevent his making any voluntary statement? A. Very seldom—(reads)—"Edward Beamond and Solomon Levine being sworn, Levine says, On Sunday, while I was out, Beamond came, and wanted to see me at St. Thomas-the-Apostle—he asked if I could do any thing in calicoes—I went to Whitecross-street with him—Mr. Sayward offered 4d.—I have known Beamond eleven months—Mr. Manning only offered 3d.—I received the money of Sayward, and gave the money to Beamond.'"

"Beamond says, 'Two men came to me on Sunday, to know if I would buy goods—I said I had no money—they said they would bring samples—one was a short man in black.'"

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Will you be good enough to attend to what I read—(reads)—"On Sunday, whilst I was out, Beamond came, and wanted to see me at St. Thomas-the-Apostle—he asked if I would do any thing in calicoes—I went to Whitecross-street with him." Do you mean by that note, that Levine represented that he went out on the Sunday with him, or the Monday? Witness. Immediately I suppose—I will not undertake to swear that he did not say it was on the Monday he went to Whitecross-street.

  SADLER SPEAKMAN . I am a linendraper, and live at Shadwell. I remember the 14th of October very well—in the early part of that week, Levine called on me, and said he had got some calicoes to dispose of—he said he had sold some to Mr. Hallett, and he would call on me the next morning in his way down—on the 14th he came with Beamond, and brought two pieces of calico with him—he asked 4d. a yard for them—I said I should not buy them, I did not want them—I said if I took twelve pieces, they would take something less—Beamond then said 3 3/4 d.—I said if they would take an eighth off I would—I bought twelve pieces of one quality, at 3 1/2 d. and an eighth, that is 3 5/8 d., and they brought them down in the afternoon—I remember seeing the pieces on the counter, and the two prisoners were there—the lengths were taken, and I paid the money down to Levine—I wanted 2 1/2 per cent, off for cash, and he gave

me half-a-crown—I required an invoice—he came down the following day, and made the invoice out in my shop, on the back of one of my bills—this is it—he has given me discharge, "by cash, 10l. 11s."—this was on Friday, the 15th—he was without Beamond then—the inspector called on me, and nine whole pieces and three short lengths were given up to the police, but not in my presence—a part of them had been sold—I know them.

Cross-examined by MR. HUDDLESTONE. Q. How long have you known Levine? A. I think four or five months—I have known him as dealing in articles of this description—he gave me his own address, but not Bermond's—I did not ask him any thing about Beamond—I should think I gave a fair price for them—I sold them at 3 3/4 d. a yard—Levine told me he was the agent.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. What have you known about Levine? A. Nothing more than as a commission agent—he called on me with goods, and referred me to parties in the neighbourhood, to Mr. Cadman, an iron monger, next door, and several others, whose names I did not notice.

  EDMUND MANNING . I live in Aldgate High-street, and am a linen-draper. On the 13th of October, I purchased twenty-four pieces of calico of the prisoner Levine—I first saw him about them on Tuesday, the 12th, I believe—he told me he had some calico to sell, and he brought two piece the same day—he asked 4 1/2 d.—a yard for them—I declined to give that price for them—he asked me what I would give—I told him I did not want them, and would rather not have them—at least I said I would not give more than 3 1/2 d.—he turned round to Beamond who was with him, and they talked a little, and Beamond said, "Well, I shall get a farthing a yard"—then Levine said, "Very well, you shall have them"—he asked me how many I would have, whether I would have ninety pieces—I said no, I would have twenty pieces—I ultimately agreed to buy twenty pieces—they then went away—twenty-four pieces of calico came the next day, the 13th—I did not see who brought them—I saw a bale lying in the shop—I afterwards saw the prisoners on the same day—I said there were more than I ordered—one of the prisoners said, "Well, I suppose you will take them?"—I said, very well, as they were brought to me I would—I told Levine if he would make out an invoice and leave it, I would see if they were right—he then wrote out this invoice, and left it—Levine called in the afternoon—I paid him—Levine wrote this receipt—(read)—"Received 20l. 11s. as per account, S. L. Levine"—I did not see Beamond when I paid the money—nothing was said about the ownership of the goods—seventeen of the pieces were ultimately given to the policeman—the rest went into my stock, and have been sold.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. How long had you known Levine? A. About fifteen years—in the course of that time I have had many transactions with him as a commission-agent I never knew any thing likely to excite suspicion—I should not have dealt with him if I had—it is very common to sell in that way—some of the highest houses in London deal in that way, in cheap lots—I gave what I considered a fair price—I sold seven pieces at 4 1/4 d., and some at 4 1/2 d.—I should not have thought of giving 5d. for them—the goods were left with me some time, as I wished to be certain all was right—I did not know where Levine lived—I asked him to put his address on the invoices, and he put "No. 116, Lucas-street, Commercial-road," readily on my requesting him.

  JOHN SAYWARD re-examined. I buy my Scotch goods where I can get

them cheapest—I have some similar to what they brought, but not with the same stamp on them.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. What do you mean by similar? A. Goods got up in a similar way to these, of the same width—we buy them in 30inch, 32inch, and 34inch.

  JOHN SAYWARD . I am the last witness's father, and live in New Road, St. George's. In October I purchased two pieces of calico of Levine—I had this bill and receipt—I gave 4d. a yard—I said, "Make out a bill and receipt, I will pay you;" which he did—both the prisoners were together—(bill read)—"October 12, 1841. Mr. Sayward to S. L. Levine, 116, Lucas-street, Commercial-road, 2 pieces of calico, 120 yards and a half, at 4d., 2l. 0s. 2d. Received, S. L. LEVINE."—I delivered one of them to Miller, and the other my son had.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. How long have you been in business? A. Thirty years—I gave a fair price for these goods—I have known Levine some years, by being about the neighbourhood, and buying of him—he is a commission-agent—I saw nothing unfair in the transaction in any way—I got no profit on the piece I sold to my son.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. When did your son have it? A. The next day—I did not want these goods particularly—they brought them in for a sample—I have bought goods with this mark on it, but it is two or three years ago—I bought them of a wholesale house.

— WILLIS (examined by MR. PHILLIPS,) I saw the person who came to take away the calico from Miller's Wharf, the man that came in a cart—only one man came after them—he was rather a tallish man, about five feet eight or nine inches—he was an elderly man, I should think about thirty-five—he was dressed in a dark frockcoat, I think a black coat—he came in the morning before with another man, whom I knew—his name was Richard Styles—Caywood was with me—I and he have not been talking about it on the road—I was not told to describe the man who came for the calico.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. Was he either of the two prisoners? A. No.

  GEORGE CAYWOOD (examined by MR. PHILLIPS.) I saw the man who came for the calico—I think he had a black coat on—I am quite sure it was neither of the prisoners.

  HARRIET SLEGG . I am unmarried, and live at No. 116, Lucas-street, Commercial-road. I know Levine—he came to lodge at my house on the 9th of August—I have seen Beamond at my house—he came to see Levine—I might have seen him at the latter end of August, or the beginning of September—Beamond came to my house on the 13th of October—Levine was not at home—Beamond asked for him—he brought two parcels of calico in a cart—one had the appearance of a bale, the other was in a bag—I told him Levine was not at home—he asked if he might leave the goods, and I gave him permission—he left two packages, a sort of bale and a bag—the bale was in paper—they were placed in my wash-house—I saw Levine about an hour afterwards, when he came to the door, and Beamond with him—Levine asked if there was any thing left for him—I said, "This gentleman has left two packages"—they went into the wash-house, and looked at the two parcels—I believe they took two pieces out of one of them at that time, and went out—the whole of the goods were taken away the next day, the Thursday, in a cab there were four pieces left behind, which I think must have come out of the bag—I do not think

the bale was opened at all—they took them away together—I am a dress-maker—there is no shop at my house—Levine asked me if I would like to purchase a piece—the four pieces were left in the wash-house before purchased one—I removed them from the wash-house, on account of the dampness, and put them in Levine's bed-room—I purchased one piece between myself and two friends—I gave 4 1/2 d. a yard for it—they came back together about five o'clock—they then took the three remaining pieces away—the bag was in the back parlour at the time they took that away with them.

Cross-examined by MR. HUDDLESTON. Q. What business has Levine been carrying on? A. I considered him a commission-agent, and he sold goods for various persons—I know several he sold goods to.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. When did Beamond first come to your place? A. About the latter end of August—I should think Levine had then been there a fortnight—Beamond brought a large quantity of lard with him —it was left at my house, and remained there four or five days—it came in a bag—it was taken away in smaller parcels—I saw no one take it but the two prisoners.

  WILLIAM LAST . I am traveller to Luck and Co., of Bread-street, and live in Spencer-street, Goswell-road. They sell Gordon and Barren's Scotch goods—our cloth is stamped in red, but it is a particular stamp of our own—all our goods are delivered through Messrs. Sangster—I remember, six or weeks ago, calling on Mr. Sayward, junior—I saw there some pieces of calico like these that are here—they attracted my attention—I knew then as Gordon and Barron's factory—I went back to my employers, and told them I had seen them—I wrote a note to Sayward, and purchased the whole of them, twenty eight pieces, at 4 1/4 d. a yard—we sell them at 5d. and 5 1/2 d., and have a commission out of that—my attention was attracted by the lowness of the price in comparison with what we pay—a communication was made to the house of Oliver, Dear, and Co., and to Sangster's—we have never sold so many as twenty-two pieces to any one person in town—one or two pieces of a width is the general quantity—they are sold at a list price.

Cross-examined by MR. HUDDLESTON. Q. This is not the crest on your goods? A. No—ours is a lion—we are in the habit of sending these goods into the country—we have not had them above two months in the house—during that time 150 to 200 pieces have passed through our house.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. But you never sold any with the dove on them, or the stag like these? A. No.

  HUGH RUSSELL . I am clerk in the house of George Sangster and Co., in Queen-street, Cheapside—they are agents to G. Forbes and Co.—there are two partners—I received, on the 15th of September, invoices for Oliver, Dear, and Co., Luck, and others, by post, that these things were to come—the bale marked "O. D. and Co.," was consigned to Sangster and Co., to be applied to the exclusive sale of Oliver, Dear, and Co.—those for Luck and the other, to whom they were directed—I have examined the whole of the pieces found—sixty-five "pieces—they are marked on the invoice "G. G. and P.," "O. D. and Co.," and bear the stamp peculiar to these marks—the goods are of the same description as those in the invoice in every respect—the bale marked "O. D. and Co." is No. 349, containing forty pieces thirty-two inches, hard finished—it corresponds in

all particulars with those which have been found—those marked "W. and G." correspond with those which have been found—they are hard finished—" G.G. and P." are called soft finished, and so are the goods—the width and the seal correspond exactly, and the general number that they pack is thirty in one bale, but "O. D. and Co." are packed forty; and of that mark here are thirtythree pieces found, which are three more than are usually supplied to any house but Oliver, Dear, and Co.—the signature, "John Russell, for George Sangster and Co.," on this order, is not my handwriting—it is altogether a forgery—the marks in this order and the numbers correspond with the marks in the invoices which were duly remitted to us, so that the person who forged the order must have had access to that invoice—inquiries were instituted by my principals into this matter, in consequence of information from Luck and Co., and on my going to the wharf I found this order—the printing is like our orders, but they have put the number of the premises 85, and our house is No. 5—(read)—" London, October 9, 1841. Mr. Hosie, Miller's Wharf, please to deliver R. Steynes the undermentioned goods, 21—40—84, 3 bales for G. Sangster and Co. H. RUSSELL."

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. What number of these kind of goods are annually remitted from Scotland to your house? A. I cannot say—the dealings are very large—to the amount of some thousand pieces, and they are all marked as these are—they are sold to all the houses whose particular marks they bear, and sold at what they call a list price—they go into the country parts of England—I should say, under the circumstances, that these goods have not travelled about—I will not say that some of them have not been in the country.

MR. CLARKSON. Q. How do you know these? A. I have been round to the witnesses and found the goods to agree exactly with those missing, and I found from the persons I have been to that they could give me accounts of all they had been dealing with.

  JAMES BROWN . I live at Aberdeen, and am in the employ of Alexander Forbes and others—they trade under the name of Gordon, Barron, and others. On the 27th of February, 1841, I packed three bales for Miller's-wharf, consigned to Sangster and Co.—I have got my book, in which I entered the goods as I packed them—one bale is entered in my own handwriting—they are marked with "O. D. and Co.," which I put on a bale forwarded for Oliver, Dear, and Co.—it was stamped with a dove in red—this piece corresponds with the quality, and finish, and the width, and the dove—about thirty pieces were marked with my own mark.

Q. Now look on the next occasion on which there was a package made up marked "G. G. P?" A. Yes—here it is—it is not in my own handwriting—I looked in the book and checked the packages as they were packed—about the 14th of September there were thirty pieces packed marked with a stag in red, the Aberdeen Arms, and Gordon, Barron, and Co.—this piece—(looking at one)—corresponds in all respects—this is soft-finished—the goods which were packed that day were soft-finished—about four of these are marked with my own handwriting—Mr. Forbes's name is Alexander, and there are several other partners.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. How many thousands of these are consigned from your house to London in the course of a year? About nine or ten thousand, on many of which I write figures—a great many of

them with these stags on them, and the Aberdeen Arms—there are thousands of pieces of soft-finish and of this width made up—I will not swear—I these came in the bales—they are similar—one piece is like another piece suppose twenty thousand have been marked with my figures in the last three years.

  HUGH MCKENZIE . I am a bleacher in the employ of Gordon, Barron, and Co.—I have a book in which I enter the bleaching of their calico— this piece "O. D. and Co," with a stag on it, was bleached on the 18th of April, 1840—this piece, "No. 195," on the 1st of February, 1840—the whole of these marked "O. D. and Co." were bleached from September 14, 1839, to April 18—these marked "G. G. and P." were all bleached between the 1st of May, 1841, and the 22nd of the same month—on the 15th of September, 1841, I assisted in packing a bale for Miller's-Wharf, containing thirty pieces of thirty-two inch width and soft-finish, marked "G. G. and P."—these pieces which are here correspond in all particulars with the pieces I so packed—on the 1st of February, 1841, I assisted in packing a bale marked "W. G. and Co."—it contained thirty pieces of thirty inches wide, and hard-finish, what we call beetlings—some of the pieces here produced correspond in all particulars with them—no goods are sent to London with a dove on them, except to Oliver, Dear, and Co., nor any with a stag on them except to Grant, Grant, and Phillips.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. How many thousands of pieces are sent in the course of twelve months to these different houses? A. About ten thousand—these pieces which are here correspond in all respects with hundreds and thousands which are sent to London—I will not venture to say when these pieces came into this country.

  WILLIAM NICOL (police-constable K 177.) I was called to the house of Mr. Speakman on the 15th of October—I found Levine there—he was given into custody—I told him he was charged on suspicion of stealing these goods, or being concerned with others in stealing them—he said, "I did not steal them, I was employed to sell them on commission"—I said, "For whom?"—he said "For a man name Beamond in Little St. Thomas Apostle"—he told me he did not exactly know the name of the man—after taking him to the station, in consequence of something he said to me, I went to a public-house in Whitecross-street, and took him with me—that was where he said the man would be found—we waited nearly an hour, and could find no man—I then went to Little St. Thomas Apostle and found Beamond there in the top back room in bed—there was only one bed and two or three chairs in the room—it was a very small room—Levine went in with me—he said to Beamond, "They have taken me about the calico"—Beamond said, "You did not sell it for me"—Levine said, "But I sold it with you"—Beamond then got up and I took him away—Levine told me previously that he had sold some to Mr. Manning—I went there and received seventeen pieces of calico—Levine said he would tell all when he got before the Magistrate.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Levine was giving you an account of the pieces he had sold? A. Yes—he said he had sold twenty or twenty-four pieces to Mr. Manning—he told me voluntarily about Mr. Manning.

MR. BODKIN. Q. Did you give the pieces of goods you received to Miller? A. I did.

  ELIAS MILLER (City police-constable No. 408.) I have produced sixty-five

pieces of calico—I received twenty-eight of them at the house of Luck and Co., seven from Sayward the younger, one from the father, twelve from Speakman, and seventeen from Manning.

  GEORGE GILBERT . I am in the employ of Oliver, Dear, and Co. Mr. Dear's name is James—Mr. Oliver is deceased—there are others—they are consignees of all the calico that comes from the house of Gordon, Barron, and Co., marked with the dove—it is not a common occurrence to sell as many as thirty pieces to one purchaser.

Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Do you speak from your own recollection or from books? A. From both—I have referred to the books to be perfectly certain—I could trust to my memory, but this was so singular a circumstance that I referred to the books.

MR. BODKIN. Q. For the last four years have you sold forty pieces to one person? A. Yes. on the 12th of December, 1840, to Mr. Amos, of Bristol—that is the only instance in which forty pieces have been sold to one customer these four years.

MR. PHILLIPS. Q. How many pieces do you dispose of in the course of a year with the dove on? A. I do not know—I will not swear that we have not distributed twenty thousand through England in the last three years—we are the only persons who receive those with the dove on them, and we distribute them—there are but few sold in London—I should think not thirty pieces in a year.

  JOHN BRAND (City police-constable, No. 316.) I produce a certificate of the prisoner Beamond's former conviction, which I got from Mr. Clark's office—(read)—he is the man who was then tried and convicted.

(Benjamin Dudfield, a custom-house broker; Moses Cohen, a merchant;—Emanuel, watchmaker, of the Minories;—Poland, a tailor; and Morris Simmonds, of Prescott-street; gave Levine a good character.)

LEVINE— GUILTY . Aged 52.— Transported for Fourteen Years.

BEAMOND— GUILTY . Aged 40.— Transported for Twenty Years.