Resident Magistrate's Court.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 83, 10 February 1876, Page 5

Resident Magistrate's Court.

Wednesday, 9th February, 1876. (Before J. P. Maitland, Esq., R.M.)

Sutherland v. Hughan.

Walter Taylor, Esq., for defendant. . This was an action brought by the plaintiff for recovery of a saddle value £4 lOs, ho had lent defendant. It appeared from the evidence that tho plaintiff had originally sold a saddle, and that he had received payment for Ijhe same, although he had not given possession. After he. had sold the saddle the defendant came to him to borrow it, and he, the plaintiff, stated that he could not lend the saddle as it did not belong to -him,, but if the owner would give him permission he might have it. This the owner did, and an understanding had been entered into, by which the defendant was to return the saddle. Instead of the saddle being returned, another had been substituted, and hence the action.

Mr Taylor contended that the present plaintiff ' could not bring the action, inasmuch as he was not the owner, but that the owner must appear as plaintiff in the case. : ' After some discussion between the Bench and counsel, his Worship nonsuited the plaintiff.. ' Cramond v. A. Bain - . D. Reid, Esq., for defendant, stated that since the opening of the Court, the defendant had admitted the -claim. The' case had been allowed to come into Court by the defendant, in tjie belief that a contra claim would be allowed by the Court. Judgment confessed ; 'costs allowed, 15a, in addition to professional fee. , ■ Stewart & Gow v. Maher. . Same v. Lattimorb. Same v. Tnolis. . . , D. Reid, Esq., for plaintiffs. There -.was, no appearance , of defendants in either of these cases,- and on the .application of Mr Reid they were adjourned for a week. Rkgina v. Samuel Carswel'l. This was a case in which the prisoner was charged with stealing one dozen Crimean shirts, valued £7 lOsthe property of Messrs Scobie Brothers, storekeepers, Cliuton. ..... ' Walter Taylor, Esq., "for the presecution, and D. Reid, Esq., on behalf of the prisoner. Robert Scobie, storekeeper, of, the firm of Scobie Brothers, Clinton, being sworn —examined by Mr Taylor- -deposed that he knew the accused who had been in their emplay as principal salesman for the last thirteen months. Was a customer of the firm of Bing, Harris, and Co., Dunedin. during the time the accused was in their employ. In June last he personally bought cer-, tain goods at their warehouse in Dunediii, and amongst the order "were various kinds of shirts, particularly a large check, arid heavy twilled; shirt, of which there were six ordered black and whito shepherd pattern, and six red and white! Rob Roy pattern. ' The shirts produced were! shown to witness who stated that they were of the same description as those he purchased in Dunedin. He could not say that he had ever s-en the shirts he bought in their store at Clinton. He received the invoice froni .Bing, Harris and Co. of the goods purchased, which was .produced, : and on being shewn entry recognised them as the--same description of shirts he purchased in June. Did not personally receive 'the consignment of goods or unpack them. ,HOjknew that the rest; of the goods invoiced were received. ' which ' he ! found out subsequent to the arrival of the ; goods. , He usually.marked.off .the goods himself. In! the present case he checked the goods with the ; invoice and. did not find the one dozen shirts ', amongst the goods. He did not usually open the cases himself. . It was part of the duty of. the ; accused tc receive and. open the various consign- • xnsnts of goods as they' arri vedA He made enquiries more than once ,oi the accused as to the missing parcel, and whether he had seen it, or come across it in looking over tlie other goods. The accused said he had not seen them. He then wrote to Bing, Harris, yand Ce. to ask them to allow for them, but they were so positive as to the shirts having been, forwaedrd, that up to tbe present time they had declined to allow'any-thing-for. them. When. he found that Bing, Harris, and -Co. were so positive, he. repeatedly made enquiries of the accused,' and requested him" to 'make further searchf After he' had done so, the report was, they were still missing. rSome time ago- he received information which led him to have a conversation with the accused last Saturday evening, when he asked him: what he had done with thermal! bale he had'under the counter. ' At 'first he did not. appear, willing to give , him any information, but afterwards he admitted having removed the bale outside, but' did no^. state when. Upon being questioned as to, where the parcel could be found,. he' after isomehesija^ tion stated that it was atMrßankins the tailor. He thcujWcrit with the accused, and four others,, two of whom were in his employ to Kankin's house. A,

. At this stage of the proceedings all witnesses were ordered out of Court.

He asked Mr Bankin if a bale," "box, parcel, or trusshad been brought to "his house by accused. At first, Rankin. who, had. been in bed ; seemed .aston?" ished, but afterwards said " oh, yes ; is that it,"' ' pointing ,to a parcel, which he took out from un- : der his cutting table.' The accused was present at.-the time.. The parcel was closely aiid; care: fully sewn up as if intended for a long journey. ( It had no address on at tho time he saw it. , He identified the wrapper produced as the' same her saw at Rankin's house.,. He opened the -parcel at . Rankin's and found it contained twelve^ shirts, , the same as those produced. .' He recognised the ; shir ta ,as - being, similar /toi those missing f rem f 'Bing, Harris,. and Co.'s -fionsignment.y He. oxtj, pressed^liis dissatisfaction 1 at finding them,there,A and Valid -he should put it?' in ' the hands/iof the' police to investigate.. IReforGhei^wontt'dTißiinkin'i the accused told himthat the. parcel contained, the missing shirtß from'- Bipg, ' Harris, ' and Cof,";i and.stated that he was leaving. Clinton,- tiahdi .in- i tended to r real.se, upon them atid remit jthe .mosey^ to him. l Tile accused repeated thcstatement . to' ihim after they had left; Rankin's, ; and as- 'they* were;parting.' A 'Upon ; .being asked- what .reasonlhe? had for taking jthis step, \he gave;, none, neither,,, any 'explication; . X .X "AA .y\-, •";,-.' In reply to 'a,questionvfrdih Afche; Bench* -as] '-jjo'

, whether it was usual, fofyqung-mea in his store to do such things, and- as , to ?auy, remark that were made by witness to the accused,- he said he was ; so . thoroughly out. of -temper that he called him a scoundrel, and charged him with a breach of faith, haying been placed in such a responsible position. '•."',' . i Examination i 'continued : —This conversation preceded the remarks made to me by the accused 'astorealikirig on the shirts. ?He gave no reason 'fort'aking them. He,- (the witness,) had never received any allowance from' Bing, Harris, and ■Co.', andif he had the accused should, know as he kept the books'..' He never gave the accused authority at any time to take the shirts. to. Rankin's rior had he sold the shirts to accused. He had never given him authority to take goods out of the store and deduct the value of the same' from his salary, or to realize upon the shirts away from the store and remit him the money. The accused had arranged to leave his employ, but ho definite time had been fixed '; be was to leave as soon as, the young man who had come in his place had got used to the work '•; he told, witness he was going to Melbourne., He lived and. slept in witness' house, and all his clothes and other things were there. ■ Witness communicated with the Police, on Sunday morning, and accused was arrested by Constable Strain the same evening.

Cross-examined: by Mr Reid: -There was a large consignment' of goods at the time this from Bing, Harris, and Co. came in, and he instructed the accused to look carefully, through all the parcels for the.missing one. He wrote several times to Dunedin, .and repeatedly spoke to accused about theparcel, who always denied any knowledge of, the same. On Wednesday the 2nd inst. he was told that the parcel was under the counter the previous day. Mrs Scobie was frequently in the store assisting them. . Did not .see the parcel himself . .Many things were kept under the counter. Did' not know the ' reason why the accused removed : the ' parcel. After he found his confidence had been misplaced he got in a temper finding ,out what the accused had done. He was perfectly' clear upon' the point that the accused told him he would remit the money when he had realised. Accused- went with him to Bankin's house without any hesita- . tion. Had had acoused in his employ 13 months and had placed every confidence in him, , leaving' him in full charge of the store, including the;' till and all monetary transactions. , Believed if. accused, had been so disposed, he might have taken money out of the till without his witness knowledge. When he returned from .Rankin's i house, accused was some distance behind him, and he left witness' .house the same night. Bing, Harris, and Co. had never allowed him one' farthing for the missing parcel, but he under-, stood they would allow him for them if they did . not turn up. Tie. had not this, in- writing, but only had their word to ( a certain extent.. Did not know of any paper on the file, at Clinton, crediting him with the. amount. Did not know the exact size of the shirts produced. They were always bought assorted. ■ A Re- examined by Mr' Taylor :— -Goods such as these produced were easily saleable. ] Had.never given any, authority to accused to .return the same to Bing, Harris, and .Co., if at any time they turned up. *- It was the duty > of ' accused : to acquaint him if they had turned up. at any time. Peter Rankin deposed, that he was a- tailor living at Clinton; saw the accused on Wednesday last. He brought a parcel to his .house the morning after Mr Scobie returned from Dunedin, about half past seven. Accused told witness it was a parcelof his things he was going to send by coach. Did hot say where to. ; Did not know if .it had any direction on. The prisoner put the parcel on a table which was under the one he • used for cutting on. lt laid there till he pulled it out on Saturday, when Mr Seobie, Donald Grant, Mr Murray, Mr Young, Richard Ormsby, and accused came to his house. He had no doubt . the parcel produced was the one accused brought to his house.. Witness left them spread out on the kitchen fleor, until Sunday morning, when his wife' wrapned 'them up and put them where they had originally been placed by the accused, where they remained till they were delivered, to the Constalla, oh Sunday evening last. Witness saw the parcel opened, which contained the 1 12 shirts produced; Richard Steele .Ormsby examined by Mr Tay- . lor, deposed— "That he resided at Clinton, in the employ of Messrs Scobie Brothers, as assistant in the store. Had been there Six months. Was not there when the consignment. of goods arrived from Bing, Harris and Co. On Tuesday morning last he noticed a small bale underneath the counter in the store. Ifc was a small bale covered with a pack sheet similar to the one produced. There was a label ori the outside' with the name of "S. Carswell" on it. ' Tbat was the name of accused. Did not know any other .of the same name. The next time he saw . the bale was in Mr Rankin's house, on Saturday last. Mr Scobie came home on Tuesday-evening last, the" evening of tho same day on which he first saw the parcel. He accompanied Mr Scobie to Rankin's house, and saw the parcel; opened. It had no.label on then. Had no doubt the bale produced was the same he saw under the counter. He knew it again by its' size and the way in wliich it was made up, being sewed at each end 'and oh the top. Heard no conversation between Mr Scobie and accused. Walked with accused to Rankin's, house, hut did not return' with him. Theparcel was loft at Rankin's. ... .. • ; , Crbss-examihad by Mr Reid--Murray walked with.him and accused to Rankin's- Knew that they kept jjewellery and, fine silk : handkerchiefs, also drapery and millinery, iii stock. Believed that £5 worth^of more'valuable goods than shirts could be put. into a parcelof much less bulk than the bale, produced. -. . „ . ..,,.. ,' : , . ., • ! , Re-exaimhed by Mr Taylor— The stock had pot. ,beeh taken in the siore since he had been there. I If; parcels! of -more,; valuable goods: were taken they would be easily; missed, as there was. a good' "demandand a ready sale. ; _ * } ;, • ' ' .'. A -Michael' Rbbertsdn, salesman "in the' eniploy-of Messrs ;Bing;, Harris, and Co.,' deposed— That Mr .Scobie was a customer of thefirm.. Hehad been ;in thehabit'bf 'supplying Shirts to Mr, .Scobie, similar jbp.those- produced, .'but '.hob to any. other firm in Clinton. ; He, was. able to recognise the shirts .produced as 'their manufacture. f The; material "rt-as .'specially^ celected Am "Eriglaiid by their hujrev>,and M-iorted by.ithem. ; There wstsj no particular markoii these . shirts, t by which ( he! could identify, ttieiiu '•;''. l . ;; -'' :!j ' ; ; a ;','"" 7 j . Cross-examined by Mr-Reid— Mi* Graham ; was the manager. ; of the? !bookee]>ing, departpiepfc for, the firm, of Bihg," J Harris 'Co, .Witness had ; nothing to do wiihthem^ J but ; WM-'onlyJehipldyedas salesman. .' " . i^AA^AAyiyvoA hiixyA>'Jn :0 . William Strain, MquntedGonstable. of iihe,BalcluthaV division', of ?j^dlice,'. ! ( depbs^d--That'from instructions he received f ;he -|>ro6eeded(tj6 f Clidtou and arrested the; accused on^unaay/jlast.^fjl^e look him first 'to Rankin's where, t wje property! was! He,(the accused) madeno"statei^^t'.^l?S^i said he would reserve Aanythingw he Jiad >td'isay. j The, parcel -produced, ; same.;aa that»dej15vefed to 'huh ' by ' Ranking It •' confined" six" 1 black' 'add* white ycheck -slitftsj ~arid'Bi_c ? red r ahd : white fcheck shirts, yjhose *pyoducedi]were:*the. same. He : brought i accused. to thetpolice f ;station; with the parcel, whicli. had since' been' locked up in the station. «;? •' '-■■■ AAfn r.iU' X '««■??*>■ -,_,»•- . Mr" Scobie was H^e^r^eaUedjl^Vl&^J^i^j^pd stated that he had beehr |n.,^.A^*?ny : >bei*yeeh five'andsix years— that' he^cam'eVout'ii^the'.shlii RoDdtiHeiklersonias-ariiinter**^ ' : and that he had, been; in^-asines^since^hejland^lij ; ' Considerable; dißCUss.ion between Voefeplace - as io" the' ,r reief aney-^^oft''Certain ! qfie^6iohs ; which the icourisel jfprJ^He ,pri6^her3.put jfti'ttlfc • witness. j3ut, f H|s,;^orship > fdefcicledi that*. such?, questions'were ri6t/nec"essary.*at s ti^ Mr Reid herd^advired^the .pris6yer?^ioAfeSke; , any statement he >might. wishjt asd paving obefa) duly cautioned Ijy his Worship^nAhevasuJd^jrpa, t -^Simuel Carswett^tated^tl^ ;employ of Scobie f thirreehthLlionthstf ago? ! 'as^ salesman and'gene*ralf.s^^ trusted with the goods', T'e^iying^^h*, md grant-r ing feceipts'for r the;sainel* sJ '§oi^6 Wmonths-agb 1 : they reeeiveda large oonsi^mentioffcgoddslrparlg ,i of which i was,fr,om Bing,, Hfprrii/^a^ { |edin;aud on 1 opening, up 'the same. *and } them oW -from the* invoice,,^^^his^paicel^of^sliirlirr i Was missed.,!, He i^.^skeditOfseM^thelpJjJW^ i and see if it could hotbejfojradin the/storejldHik- 'i did so "and- coirtdy'iiot J fintl Hhjjm *sHw,t£'V§£ ■ Bing, Harris; and Co/ were vfatt»%MM§fopM<s ? ,that they hftd been sent^-withjvthi^tp^hei^jgo^ ; He wias aeked- io starch a^in^/and-didlsoi'siilt ? Wthth-e'sam'e^M^He tpia^Po«fiaf l&f | had searcbedthe.place ihrSugh? .and h^ib^ieTedJ the shirts had|*ao.J! begn^ent. jC^rl^^fflwe^^r^ / resp6haehc'e' ! 't66Jc place Detwe^nßingfßarrw, , '&~. > Co,?and Scobie

that they received a credit note! for thp missing parcel, though whether that wad condit onal, he' could not say. . That credit note he had ;en on' thefi eat Clinton, aud he believed he h d shew.i' the same to Mr Scobie, but could not s-y pnsi* tively. No more was heard of the ah:rts till lately, when clearing out under the counter hefound the parcel. He thought'at first he would take them to Mr Scobie, but on second thoughts, knowing it was certain he would be in Dunadin very soon ; he also knew that if he told Mr Scubie the later would persue his usual policy, nn 1 thai; he would be be blamed for so* much carelessn ess, and be subjected to a lot of abusive lungu.i<ra which was generally tho case, and which w a not fit to listen to. .' Knowing all this, he nv>d'> up the shirts into a parcel, : ready to take into Dunedin and restore to Bing, Harris, and Co., the rightful owners,"and so relieve anyone in tho houso who might have got into ■ trouble ih ,the matter, The assertion that Mr Scobie had made with reference to his (the accused) wishing to realise on the shirts and remit the money to him he denied most emphatically. He then thanked his Worship for the patient hearing he had given nim-

After Mr Reid had spoken on behalf of Ihe prisoner, his Worship signified that Mr Tuylor had no heed to' address the Court, and briefly summed up.in which he stated that he felt hia own responsibility in a case of this nabure, aud after having given it his most careful c insider*" tiohi he felt it his duty to commit the prisoner to the District Court at Tokomairiro, to be held ori the 19fch-inst.

On the application of Mr Reid bail was admitted in two sureties, £25 each, and hiniielf in. £50.