The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1866. LOCAL NEWS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 68, 23 May 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1866. LOCAL NEWS.

SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL SITTING. [Before His Honor Mb. Justice Johnston - /] Tuesday, May 22. sheep stealing. Hans Fanzelow pleaded not guilty to an information charging him with this offence. Mr. Adams conducted the case for the crown. Mr. Pitt defended the prisoner. The following is the conclusion of the trial. Mr. Wiesenhavern said, I occupy the Tophouse run. The prisoner was formerly in my employ ; he was afterwards scab inspector, and occupied a whare on my run with the permission of the Government. He was not scab inspector in February last. He had leave from me to occupy the whare till the end of last year. He had sheep running by permission near my run. He had some on waste land, which is now a crown reserve, for which I hold a license. Government gave him notice to remove his sheep and I did also. I came to Nelson in February last and returned early in March. I went to the Wairau Gorge with Mr. Bolton and my man Martin. I found 44 sheep there in the first opening on the road towards Tarndale. We took them to my yard except four rams. I noticed the ear-marks on the sheep. Two of them I could safely recognise as being my old earmark, which is a slit and part of the ear cut off. Two sheep were marked in this way, bearing my old ea_mark, and a fork on the off ear. This was prisoner's mark. One of the sheep had this mark, and another a slit on the off ear. I recognised my sheep, by my mark on the near ear. Prisoner's ear-mark seemed newly cut. If I buy a sheep with another ear-mark I put on my own without destroying the former unless I am compelled. I never sold any sheep with my mark. In conversation with the prisoner at the pen in telling him my men said he had brought sheep from the Red Hill, had shorn them, and removed them up the Gorge, he said the sheep were the same that were in the Gorge then. I said I had brought them back, examined them and taken copies of the ear-marks. I told him some of the earmarks were mine and some Jeffries'. I asked him if he claimed the sheep as his property. He said he did. I said I' would lay an information against him. I gave the sheep in charge to Patrick Martin. I found 22 sheep with prisoner's mark and two lambs. The skin of a sheep Avas brought into court and Mr. Wiesenhavern said he recognised his old ear-mark. The off ear bore a fork, a mark of F"anzelow*s. To Mr. Pitt : my old ear-mark is not registered ; mj r new one is. I have used this ear-mark for seven years at the Tophouse. In 1863 or 1864 I bought some sheep from Birch Hill. The ears of those sheep were marked with a fork. I think I did not mark them all. I think it possible I stopped marking because the ears were so defaced. I sold all the sheep I could get in to Messrs. Saxton and Daly on terms. 1 received a stipulated number back in September last with Saxton and Daly's mark on them. A great many had my ear-mark. Ido not know if the Birch Hill sheep were marked on both ears. [The witness was subjected to a rigid examination by Mr. Pitt as to the nature of his mark.] The place where the sheep were found was a fiat through which the high road to Canterbury ran as well as the road to the Wairau. Prisoner told me he had permission from Government to depasture his sheep on a portion of the Red Hills. In December he had notice to remove them. When prisoner removed these he told me he should return and remove the rest. Thomas Andrews, a constable proved that he took charge of 12 sheep handed to him by Mr. Wiesenhavern, two of which he skinned and brought the skins to Nelson. Constable John Sherwood proved that he received from the last witness the sheepskins now produced. Mr. Pitt addressed the Court in behalf of the prisoner, and contended that no case of larceny had been made out. There was no evidence of the identity of the sheep alleged to be stolen, or to prove that the prisoner was in possession of prosecutor's property ivith felonious intention. His Honor read the evidence that appeared to point to an opposite conclusion, and specified the points that he would have to put to the jury. Mr. Pitt then addressed the jury at considerable length, mentioning all the facts, he deemed conclusive of the innocence of the prisoner, and which he promised to substantiate in evidence. James Clapham said in 1863 I was in the employ of Mr. Wiesenhavern, who had previously got some sheep from Birch Hill. He had not marked the sheep with his ear mark. Their ears were very much disfigured, so much so, that it would have been difficult to mark tliem. I assisted him to mark a few and left off because the ears were so much disfigured. The mark we put on was a half-bayonet, on the right ear. A piece was taken off at the top of three sides. The triangle extended half way down. The mark in question is not on the sheep's head produced. The bayonet on the near ear is not the mark I described, the slit extends further. To Mr. Adam : Ido not remember if the sheep I marked, were all ewes. The slits are not all the same depth. Henry Cooper Daniell, Commissioner of Crown Lands said : I recollect Fanzelow making application for a portion of the Red Hills. .In May 18G4 he had permission from Mr. Richmond to depasture sheep on a portion of the Eedllills, while his claim to a run

was pending. After this he received notice to remove his sheep from the Tophouse Reserve. I do j not know the place where his whare is situated. A portion of the reserve is used for public purposes. John Daly : lam manager of a run at tne Rainbow, Wairau Valley. I manage Mr. Saxton'srun in the Wairau Gorge. I gave prisoner leave to put his sheep there at shearing time in February last, on the first flat going inwards. He said he wanted to put sheep there previous to removal to another country he said he had taken up. He was to muster and draft the sheep before taking any away, and I was to assist him. The country he was said to have taken up was a considerable distance in the interior towards Lake Dennison. The boundaries of the runs on the Wairau Gorge are supposed to be kept by shepherds. Nothing was easier than for sheep to stray at this time. It is usual and compulsory to give notice of a muster before doing it, that people may attend to take their sheep away when they are yarded. Sheep come through from the Wairau to Nelson, and some are lost on the Avay. Henry Williams : I have had 13 years experience in sheep-farming, and ear-marking. It is not easy to tell from an ear-mark how recently it has been • made. If it had been made for a week or a fortnight, I could not judge, perhaps, I could for a week. A scab near the mark would indicate whether it was recent or not. I have known sheep with scabby ears for years, not the diseased scab. The Tophouse Reserve is on the road from the Wairau to Nelson. Sheep are frequently lost on the road, chiefly fat wethers. There are two or three intermediate runs. The custom in respect to mustering is, if no one comes for the sheep they are treated like the owner's till sent for. To Mr. Adams : There is no Act in Marlborough province requiring notice to be given previous to a muster. Frederick Natten : In mustering Fanzelow's sheep in December last, his representative gave notice of the muster to Mr. Wiesenhavern. Mr. Jeffries also got notice from myself, but he did not come to take his sheep away. To Mr. Adams: This was in December. I know nothing of the muster in February. Robert Hooker: In December, 1860, 1 sold the prisoner sheep marked with different marks. Some were marked on the near ear with a slit and half-halfpenny ; others with two nicks on the near ear the size of a sixpence. Ido not recollect hearing Fanzelow tell Wiesenhavern he was going to muster in February. I met them on Kerr's Hill, heard them in conversation and rode ou. To Mr. Adams : The mark on the sheepskin now produced is not mine. At half-past 1 the Court adjourned till 2 o'clock. When the Judge caused the Court to be adjourned he said, Let it be adjourned for half an hour. He then added, Not later than two o'clock. At ten minutes before this time our reporter presented himself and was refused admission by a policeman, who said he was instructed to refuse admission to everyone who attempted to enter. The other representatives of the Press found themselves in the same predicament. At five minutes to 3 the doors were unlocked and the jury were in the act of retiring. Our reporter was informed that the Judge had addressed the jury, but he has no other knowledge of the fact. After an absence of five minutes the jury returned a, verdict of acquittal. The Crown offered no evidence on the second indictment, and the jury gave a verdict of acquittal. His Honor suggested that some means should be devised for protecting the property of sheep owners, and told Fanzelow he was at liberty. The jury were then discharged, after having been complimented on their punctual attendance. The Court was adjourned till Friday next, at 10 o'clock.