CHIMNEY ON FIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 121, 24 May 1935, Page 8

CHIMNEY ON FIRE.

"SUFFERED" BY OWNER?

MAGISTRATE'S QUERY.

A fine point was raised by Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in the Police Court thin morning, when a woman was charged with "suffering a chimney to catch (ire." Sub-Inspe \m: Fit explained lli.it the l.r'pade had lu-e.'i (ailed to final with tliu chimney flrn Defendsii't was the owner of tl.e ptviuiies, one room, where the chimney .';: : occurred, bJii-.r )e> to a ter.ant. }Ji\ Wils > i gnict it soeme.l a strange cf.fnce under '-■'•-• by-law. "The defen!i nt did not ;kvh it it t,> catch fire," lie said, "What is 'suffering , it to be on lire? It does not mean suffering in the sense of 'enduring , or 'permiil in : ' " Sub-Inspector Fox quoted an authority on the point and said that the matter had been discussed in a previous case. where a person had been charged with permitting stock to wander. "it was held that if the word 'knowingly' had been put in the Act, then the onus would have been on the prosecution to prove, but otherwise it was not," he said. The magistrate said the by-law was meant to reach persons who did not keep their chimneys clean. Defendant was the owner of the premises. When she let the room she parted with the control of the chimney. It would be sufficient if she were ordered to pay Court costs 13/ and witness' expenses V.