ORIGIN OF CLAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 253, 26 October 1938, Page 13

ORIGIN OF CLAY.

ARGUED IN COURT. THEFT FROM POST OFFICES. MONEY AND STAMPS MISSED. Thr geogrn I'liii'ii 1 location ~f n . rue,, of i'lii y .I'lii :i in re niul minute 1 11.4 \vll 4 iibefore Mi-, Justice I .I:mihl II jury (it tli Supreme Court \ i .-ii'i-il.i v . \\ lit-ii iiino i-li.iconnected «nli l"i!'-Ini i'"-> ;it tlir.'i* Auckland en nil rv post olliccs were preferred .1. i "i-t Ait lint* 1 >Mminic I'lunkctt. a iil'cl :!!t. There was a further »11 1 1' l"'* mf ha \ illin lii 4 possessien on I 'ci- I. ill \\ ellington. it i|uantity "i .cjiiit c « it'u ii i t "lit. to commit a • • : iiiI lie |> ■-»t offices concerned in the i li.i c.-- were i iliincwai. liinuera and A l-.iny, and ill addition to the charge* .■ i '''leaking and entering the offices in • '11 l.c. July and August, and of stealing in - i and stamps; accused was also (l.i _ed all cilia I i velv with reee iv i iI ,T ni"iicy and gooil* which lie knew t<> be d - "iv<">t Iv iild a incil. Mi. (i. S. I\. Meredith appeared for the I ri'wn. and Mr. Ackins represented ac n-rd. I * idencp m'ih given by the officials of (ilniiewai. Ilinuera and Albany Post (Mice* as io the burulnrie" and the mi'ci ia I stolen, and when the case re--iii I'd yesterday afternoon, Claude M "nt a vile |-ianeis. police |'hot ogra pher H lid liiigcr-ptint expert, testified to findi" -_T 11"' po«t ollice safe at Ohinewai blown open by exp'osivC4 on .Tune 28, and the \lhflnv post office «n fe blown mj»'ii on \ll rrll t Tn both cases pieces of gelignite and fuse Mere on the floor. Rare Fossils in Clay. Ken net i| Ma--ev (Iriffin. Covernnient analyst at \ i iik In niT. said lie hail received fi"''in tlic police a pair of sandshoes. a pair "I til-users and a coat, as we'll as a I>m\ of clay taken from Albany. Th • sn "ip Ics of clay, on examination, seeme l r\ icily similar in chemical analysis and mi'iM-copic appearance. Roth samples contained a minute fossil—one of the fru'iuaninifera. These shells were very rnre in clay and would give good evidcin •of its origin, T i Mr. Ackins witness admitted that he cuiild not say that it ws only at Alb-iny that such clay was found, but lie thought it improbable that it was found elsewhere. Octci'tive Hav. nf Wellington, gave evidence in connection with an interview with th<> accused on the Wa nga nella at Wellington on September I. when he admitted selling stamps at the Wellington post. office. naying that he had received them in payment of a debt. Accused had also accounted for gelignite and fuse in his possesion by saying ho had received them from the man who had given him the stamps. That man not. the thief, hut the man who had originally »tolen them wan in prison. Verdict of Jury. Corroborative e\idence was given bv Detective Lou?, of Wellington, who produced a pair of shoes, a coat and a pair "ft runners. found in the possession of • i i used. The shoe* were covered in i 1 i > and these effects had been forwarded to the Auckland police. Mr. Ackins called no evidence and the ji'i'iiscd made a brief statement from t'i • dock in which he denied his guilt. After a lengthy retirement the jury returned ft verdict of guilty on the t'u-ee theft charges, hut found accused not, guilty of breaking or entering or ot receiving. A verdict of not guiltv v ,i.4 also returned in regard to the i 1 i ;'L*e involving the unlawful possession •:c!ignite. Accused was remanded for ••lit cnce.