THE CARD SCANDAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8583, 3 June 1891, Page 5

THE CARD SCANDAL.

TRIAL OF THE" LIBEL ACTION. THE PLAINTIFFS EVIDENCE. THE PRINCE TO BE CALLED. Press Association.—Electric Telegraph.—CopyriP* London, June 1. The trial of the baccarat case began this morning. The Court was.crowded with members of the aristocratic classes, among whom was the Prince of Wales. Sir W. Gordon-Cummiiig, the plaintiff, was examined He denied the allegation that he was cheating, but admitted having signed a document undertaking not to touch a card i for the rest of • his life, which he explained was done in order to prevent a scandal. • In cross-examination Sir GordonCumtning admitted having won £225 from the ; Prince of Wales. -He had never sought to confront his' accusers, because his friends had failed to suggest that that was advisable. The second night, (9th September) they were playing, the Prince of Wales, he remembered, expressed a wish that the players would exhibit their stakes clearly. Witness now believed that the advice given him to sign, the declaration of guilt was extremely bad. The Prince of Wales and two of his friends, Lord Coventry and General Ow'in Williams had written to him jointly that in the face of the overwhelming evidence it was useless for him to deny his guilt. - The plaintiff proposes to call the Prince of Wales as a witness. .

The statement of claim set? out that the plaintiff was a baronet of the United Kingdom, and a lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Guards. It said that on the Bth and 9th September, 1890, the plaintiff was staying at Tranby Croft, near Doncaster, as a guest of Mr. Arthur Wilson, the husband of the defendant, Mrs. Arthur Wilson, and on the evening of those two days the game of baccarat was played there, and the plaintiff, among others, took parb in the game. On four separate occasions on the 10th September, 1800, the defendant, Mr. E. Lycett Green, said of the plaintiff:—" My brother-in-law (Mr. A. Stanley Wilson) has told me thftb on the evening of the Bfch Sir W. Gordon-Gumming systematically placed a larger stake on the table after the card had been declared in his favour than he had originally laid down, and when the cards were against him he frequently withdrew a portion of his stake, by these means defrauding the bank. This conduct was also noticed by Mrs. Arthur Wilson, who informed her husband of what she had seen. Mrs. Lycett Green, and Mr. Levetb (two of the defendants) having been also ma'ae acquinted with the facts, it was agreed that .one of the five defendants should all carefully watch the play on the following night, when Sir W. Gordon-Gumming was again observed mos|> distinctly to repeat the eame practice." It was furthed alleged that particulars of the persons to whom the slanders were published are these:—On the first occasion to Mr. Lycett Green, the Earl of Coventry, General Owen Williams, Lord Edward Somerset, the Hon. A. Somerset, the Prince of Wales, and Mr. Reuben Sassoon. There were similar allegations as to slanders having been uttered by the other defendants, and in particular it was said that on September 10 Mrs. .Lycett Green said to the Prince of Wales and others: "I saw Sir William Cumming cheating at baccarat last night. The five paragraphs in the statemenb of claim alleged that each said that each of the defendants had used words which charged the plaintiff with a criminal offence, that of cheating afc cards, and the statement of defence was that the words were not spoken, but in the alternative, if they were spoken, they were true in substance and in fact. That was that they would be able to: prove any words that alleged cheating at. cards. ,