and Berrerviexy & Swine, Defendants.
Yves Ce sex ad Fovcnoxe & Ca.
Before E. Besverr, Exq., Consul and Provineinl Judg.
This was an action in which the plaintiff claimed th" return of certain goods in the defendants' godown. The defendants having received notice from exch of the claim: ants that the goods belonged to them respectively issued an interblender sum-anons calling on the claimants to appear and state their respective claims to the goods, alleging that they (the defendants) were quite willing to hand over the goods to the person entitled upon payment of godown ren The trial of the claims on the interpleader summons took place at Chinkiang on the 8: h inst., Mr. 'T. R. Jernigan appearing for Yuen Chu-tsen and Mx, Loftus Jones for China Thompson, the principal of the firm of Fouchong & Ca. Severul witnesses were called and examined and cross-examined at suine length.
After Counsel had dealt fully with the facts and law applicable, judgment was reserved.
The following judgment was subse quently delivered by the Court This is an interpleader summons taken out by the defendants, Butterfield and Swire, in a suit brought against them by T.W.'Bowern to recover possession of cer tain merchandise stored in their godowns, which he alleges to have been wrongfully Temoved from his factory. The claimants who appeared to the simmons are two, one China Thompson, claiming as holder of " Bill of Sale, the other Yuen Chu Tsen, had stored the goods with defendants, lining that they were his own proper-
Tt appears that the claimant Yuen jo jes on business at Chinkiang as a manufacturer of albumen and other egg products, and that he engaged Bowern to act as manager of the factory and to conduct it, under his (Bowern's) name, the lease of the factory being also in Bowern's name and he having in effect the complete control thereof. By the agreement between them Bowern also contracted to take over the whole output of the factory at!'a fixed price and was to receive for his services a monthly salary and percentage on net profits. In his hands was also left the purchase of necessary supplies, such as chemicals for running the works, and he periodically accounted to Yuen for all such expenses, taking credit therefor against j the output for which he had to account. In the course of, business Bowern obtained from China Thompson certain supplies for factory use, for which he did not pay, though he took credit therefor in his accounts with Yuen. Towards the close of last (Chinese) year, he gave China Thompson a Bill of Sale over certain plant then in the factory as a security for the amount due to the latter, and this Bill of Sale, which was duly registered is the instrument under which China.nompson claims possession of the goods in question. These it was elicited are not the actual goods supplied by him, but were obtained elsewhere, and Yuen had paid Bowern for them in the usual way by having them set
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.