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which we cannot doubt, as all on board testify to it, there is no excuse for not having seen her in time to have avoided the disaster. We consider the case a very plain one of fault on the part of the steamer. As to the damages, we agree with the court below that the libellant was entitled to recover on the basis of a total loss. The injury to the vessel and cargo was so great-and both submerged near the middle of the Sound, which, at the place of collision, was some sixteen miles wide-he was not under obligation to encounter the hazard and expense of attempting their rescue, or to save anything from the wreck. If the attempt had resulted in the increase of his loss, which it probably would, the dents would not have been liable for it. Decree affirmed.

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RAIL-ROADS.

Where two corporations, chartered respectively by the States of Michigan and Indiana, with power to each to build and operate a railroad within its own State, have united in the business of transporting passengers over a third road in the State of Illinois, beyond the limits authorized by the charter of either, such corporations are jointly liable for injuries to a passenger resulting from the negligence of their employees. (BISSELL VS. THE MICHIGAN SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN INDIANA R. R. Co. N. Y. Court of Appeals.)

THE NEW BRITISH LAW ON BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY.

The following is a summary of the most important changes made in the law of bankruptcy by the bill which received the royal assent on July 6th. In regard to the merits of this bill the London Times says:

"There can scarcely be a doubt that these alterations in the law will not only greatly lessen the expenses attending bankruptcy proceedings, but will be most acceptable to the mercantile classes, releasing them from the official trammels with which those proceedings have hitherto been invested. It is believed that a bill will be brought in, next session, to consolidate the law in one statute."

Non-traders are to be liable to the bankruptcy laws in respect of future debts. The seizure and sale of the goods of a debtor, under an execution for debt above fifty pounds, will be an act of bankruptcy, and all such sales must be by public auction, duly advertised. Per centages are no longer to be taken from bankrupts' estates, and the official assignees and messengers are to be greatly reduced in number, and paid by fixed

salaries.

At the first meeting under a bankruptcy the creditors may remove the proceedings to any county court, or, if they think fit, determine to wind up the estate under a private arrangement, and also decide whether the bankrupt shall have any and what allowance for support. The official assignee is to collect the debts not exceeding ten pounds, and the court is to order in whose custody the books and papers belonging to the estate shall be deposited. The creditors are to determine whether the estate shall be realized by an official assignee or assignees chosen by themselves, and, in the latter case, may allow them the assistance of a paid manager. All moneys received by the assignees are to be forthwith

paid into the Bank of England, to the account of the accountant in bankruptcy, and in country districts, where there shall be no branch of the Bank of England, then into such other bank as the court shall direct.

The creditors' assignee must, every three months, submit a statement of his accounts, with vouchers, to the official assignee for examination, and, after such accounts have been passed, the official assignee is to send a printed copy thereof, or a statement showing the nature and result of the transactions and accounts of the assignee, to every creditor who has proved under the bankruptcy.

The proof of debts may be made by sending to the assignees, through the general post, a statement of such debt and of the account, if any, between the creditor and the bankrupt, together with a declaration, signed by the creditor, that such statement is a full, true and complete statement of account between them. False declaration is to be a misdemeanor. All statements of account are to be compared with the books and papers of the bankrupt by the assignees.

The classification of certificates is abolished, and the bankrupt, after passing his last examination, is to be entitled to an order of discharge. Very stringent penal clauses are provided, and for a variety of offences the court may summarily order imprisonment for any period not exceeding one year, and may refuse or suspend the order of discharge, or attach conditions thereto as to future property. For offences made misdemeanors under the act, bankrupts may be tried in the court, with or without a jury, at the option of the bankrupt, and, on conviction, may be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years, and be liable to any greater punishment attached to the offence by any existing statute. The court may direct the creditors' assignees, official assignee or any creditor to act as prosecutor, and the costs of such prosecution will be borne in the same manner as the expenses of prosecutions for felonies are now borne; and other costs incurred by such prosecutor, not so defrayed, are to be paid out of the accountant-general's fund.

Most important facilities are afforded to enable a debtor and his creditors to effect private arrangements under trust or composition deeds. A majority of creditors in number, including three-fourths in value, may, on execution of a deed of arrangement, and registering it in the court, bind a minority, and are to have the use of the court in all cases in which they shall require its assistance to decide questions as to disputed claims, or any difference that may arise between the parties interested in the debtor's estate. The court is not, however, to interfere in any manner, except its aid is invoked by some person having a direct interest in the matter. Every deed of composition must be registered.

RAIL-ROAD MORTGAGES.

A question of considerable importance in relation to rail-road mortgages was decided on the 21st October, in the United States Circuit Court at Chicago, before Judge DRUMMOND, in a suit upon a mortgage on the Peoria and Oquawka Rail-Road. The Chicago Journal gives this report:

"A bill having been filed to foreclose the second mortgage upon all that part of the rail-road of that company lying west of Peoria, and its appurtenances, revenues and income, after filing a cross-bill and several

amendments thereto, a petition was again filed for leave to file a further amended bill (cross and supplement) by the company, setting forth that the rail-road of said company extended across the State to its east line, and was completed through and extending, by its eastern connections, to the Atlantic cities; and that upon the eastern portion of the road were other mortgages amounting to two millions two hundred thousand dollars, which would be ruined and rendered worthless if the road west of Peoria could be sold separately, under the mortgage upon it; while if it could be kept together as one road, it would, as was alleged, earn money enough to pay the interest on all its mortgages, and ultimately the principal debt; and also setting forth that the lessees of a part of the road, HESS, HARDING & Co., were obligated, as lessees, to pay the interest upon the mortgage bonds by the terms of the agreement, and that interest had been paid, and that there were fraudulent and collusive arrangements between HESS, HARDING & Co., and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Rail-Road Company, to procure the sale and separation of the road west of Peoria from that east of that point, &c., &c., and praying a decree so shaped that the road mortgaged should not be sold separately, except upon condition to protect the interests of the bondholders on lines east of Peoria in the preservation of the road as an uninterrupted and single line, and Moss & COMPANY's interest should be first sold and the proceeds applied to pay the interest. His Honor, Judge DRUMMOND, after a very full discussion by the respective counsel, decided that for the purpose of enabling counsel fairly to raise the question in the Supreme Court, if they desired the allegation that the road was built to the east line of the State, and that it was mortgaged, as alleged, might be incorporated in the pleadings, but stating that the road, when sold, must be sold as mortgaged, and that no condition could, in his judgment, be inserted in the decree for the benefit of the eastern extension or the mortgagees thereof.

"That the mortgagees took a mortgage of the road and of the franchises, at least to some extent, and took it, therefore, subject to such rights as the public might have in the operation and management of the road; that when it should be sold it would be sold charged with the same rights, of course, but that those rights could not be defined by the court now nor settled by a decree; that if the purchasers at the mortgage sale did not live up to and discharge those duties, whether to the public directly or the rest of the line, the matter would become a subject for the interposition of the proper courts of equity or law, as the case might be, at the time when any question of that nature might arise. On these points he stated his judgment to be very firm.

"He held, also, that no proof was admissible to show that the road, if well managed and under one management, would earn money enough to pay the interest or principal of its debts. That was a matter susceptible of no satisfactory proof, and was not pertinent to the merits of the case, and that if in future it could possibly be the case that the road would turn out to be prosperous, it could be no answer to the claim of its credi

tors now.

"He therefore ordered that only so much of the allegations as related to the construction of the road to the east line of the State, and the mortgages thereon, and as related to the payment of the interest since the filing of the original cross-bill, and as related to the earlier filing or ask

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ing to file the amendment, only be allowed to go on file, and that all the other allegations be struck out after the proposed amended bill.

"This is the first case of a mortgage of a part of a rail-road that has ever come before the courts, though it is understood that there may be many such in this State."

"MOSAICS," &c., are not "PRECIOUS STONES."

In the Supreme Court, Circuit, New-York City, before Justice BARNARD, there was tried recently a suit of BALL, BLACK & COMPANY VS. THE LIVERPOOL, NEW-YORK AND PHILADELPHIA STEAMSHIP COMPANY. The plaintiffs sued to recover of the defendants a box of mosaics and malachites, which were delivered to defendants at Liverpool to be carried to New-York. The box appears to have been lost, when or where was not shown. The defendants claimed that they were not liable, under a clause in their bill of lading that they would not be liable for boxes containing jewelry, precious stones, paintings or metals, unless the contents were stated at the time of the shipment by the shippers and extra freight paid. It appears that in this case no declaration was made, and defendants were kept ignorant of the contents of the box, and did not take any special care thereof, as they would otherwise have done, having a person on board for that purpose. The plaintiffs contended that technically the words "jewelry" and "precious stones" do not include either malachites or Florentine mosaics, because they were not set and ready for immediate

use.

The jury rendered a verdict for the plaintiffs for $907 50. This verdict, as far as it goes, establishes that unset mosaics and malachites are not precious stones or jewelry. The court granted an allowance to plaintiffs' counsel of five per cent. on the verdict, and allowed the defendants twenty days to make up a case for appeal to the General Term.

PLAYING CARDS AN ARTICLE OF Merchandise.

The Cincinnati Commercial, of 23d ult., furnishes the following report of a suit in the Superior Court in that city:

S. HART vs. MARIENTHAL, LEHMAN & COMPANY. This case was before Judge HOADLEY, on a demurrer to the answer. The suit was on a promissory note. The defence admitted the execution of the note, but averred that the consideration consisted of playing-cards manufactured by the plaintiff, and made for the purpose of gambling, the sale whereof was illegal; and it was urged that, therefore, the note was given without legal consideration, and that the plaintiff ought not to recover a judgment.

The court would not say that this answer may not be good, if it were alleged as a fact that playing-cards could not be used for any legal purpose; but as it is known that they are used for legal and even a laudable purpose-the amusement of parties sitting down at a whist-table, or in other games in which there was no betting-the court was not at all disposed to say the answer was good. The demurrer must be sustained, and, unless a good defence is presented, the plaintiff will receive a judg

ment.

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF WORKS OF INDUSTRY AND ART,

TO BE HELD AT LONDON IN MAY, 1862.

THE undersigned, having been appointed by the President of the United States, under the authority of Congress, commissioners to represent the interests of such American citizens as may desire to become exhibiters at the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations, to be held in London, 1862, invite the co-operation of their fellow-citizens in carrying out the objects of their appointment.

The articles exhibited will be divided into the following classes:

Class.

SECTION I.

1. Mining, Quarrying, Metallurgy and Mineral Products.

2. Chemical Substances, and Products and Pharmaceutical Processes. 3. Substances used for Food, including Wines.

4. Animal and Vegetable Substances used in Manufactures.

SECTION II.

5. Railway Plans, including Locomotives, Engines and Carriages. 6. Carriages not connected with Rail or Tram Roads.

7. Manufacturing Machines and Tools.

8. Machinery in general.

9. Agricultural and Horticultural Machines and Implements.

10. Civil Engineering, Architectural and Building Contrivances.

11. Military Engineering, Armor and Accoutrements, Ordnance and Small Arms.

12. Naval Architecture, Ships' Tackle.

13. Philosophical Instruments and processes depending upon their use. 14. Photographic Apparatus and Photography.

15. Horological Instruments.

16. Musical Instruments.

17. Surgical Instruments and Appliances.

18. Cotton.

19. Flax and Hemp.

20. Silk and Velvet.

SECTION III.

21. Woollen and Worsted, including Mixed Fabrics generally.

22. Carpets,

23. Woven, Spun, Felted and Laid Fabrics, when shown as specimens

of Printing or Dyeing.

24. Tapestry, Lace and Embroidery.

25. Skins, Fur, Feathers and Hair.

26. Leather, including Saddlery and Harness.

27. Articles of Clothing.

28. Paper, Stationery, Printing and Bookbinding.

29. Educational Works and Appliances.

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