CONSPIRACY CHARGE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 104, 4 May 1911, Page 8

CONSPIRACY CHARGE.

♦ BOWROHS OF BERMONDSEY. ANOTHER REMAND. COUNSEL MAKES A STATEMENT. Bj Telegraph —l-rrjgi Association.— Copyiiglit. (Received May 4, 10 a.m.) LONDON, 3rd May. John A. Boy/ron and Sydney Bowrou (partners in the firm of Bowron Bros., of' Bermondsey, leather merchants), and Thomas Knight (wlio had been In, Bowron Bros', employ for twenty years), charged with conspiracy to defraud the firm, of Booth and Co., appeared at the • I'omi- to-day; and - were - remanded^* ■ Mr. Humphreys-, counsel for the Treasury, amiounced thot there would ■, be evidence given of elaborate fraud, LJioiving J .a..suin_oi' one hundred, thousand i pounds, on other firms' in the skin trade ■besides the victims the accused were ,» charged with consjnring to defraud. A LEATHER FAILURE. A TRADE SENSATION. •fiaOM-OUE OWN COBUESPONDEKT.] ' LONDON, 24th Marcn. Something of a sensation was caused ■,in the leather trade this week by the , disclosure of the financial position*- of P the world-famed firm of leather manu~ j facturers, Messrs. Bowruu Brothers, of | Crayford and' Bermondsey. A, private meeting of creditors was held oh Monday, and the. lacts of the failure are understood, according to the ; journal Shoe and Leather Record to be ;as follows, the figures given by the •auditor of the debtors showing an apparent deficit of £283,000 :— Liabilities.

ENFORCING SECURITY. The events which led up to the meeting were that on the previous Monday (18th March) Messrs. Scriven Brothers aaid Co., who had advanced money to the debtors on the security of goode said to^ be stored at the Phoenix Wharf, applied to khe wharf for delivery. They were told that the goode would not be sent because the. delivery orders had been cancelled. They immediately took steps to enforce their security, and the i following day Mr. Justice Bucknill granted injunction to restrain the wharf irom parting with any of the goods specified. The summons was made returnable for Friday last, 17th March. I In the meantime other claimants for goods eaid to be stored at the wharf applied for delivery, and in two cases succeeded in obtaining them. When the summons came on for hearing on Friday last, before Mr. Justice Darling, it was alleged that some of the goods collected by these firms really belonged to parcels earmarked for Messrs. Scriven*. Mr. H. W. Freshwater was appointed receiver of all goods at the wharf pending an inveetigation. Representatives of the press were excluded from the meeting on Monday. It was explained that the London County and "Westminster Bank held first charge upon the Crayford property, and that there was a further contingent liability of about £1000 in ■ respect of bills current. According to the Shoe and Leather Record the following ta-ble shows the profits and losses rrnde by the firm for the years 1902-1909:-— 1902 (loss) £12.500 1903 (profit) 11,488 1904 (profit) 4,890 1905 (loss) 590 1906 (profit) 22,600 1907 (less) ...' 5,800 1908 (loss) 74,600 1909 (loss) 22,200 The accounts for 1910 haA'e not been completed. s

3ank (secured) 5,860 Creditors (partly secured) ... 274,640 Unsecured creditors ... ... 11.240 Sowroh Bros., Ltd., N.Z. ... 45.180 336.920 Gfebtor's four children ... 32.000 . Total liabilities 368,920 Assets. 3ash in hand ... ... ..'. 2 Book debts 600 t*lanfc and premicefi, Ciayford... 39,150 siock (estimated) ' 87.850 tnlerest in farm ... 3,000 » 130,602 Apparent deficit ... .... 238,318' Liabilities as above „.. 368,920