MASTERTON.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 204, 22 May 1908, Page 3

MASTERTON.

DISTRICT COURT SITTINGS. The racehorse Gaelic was 'the subject of litigation hero yesterday, a claim being made before.tho District Court by A. F. Smith, son of, and the executor in the estate of the late S. T. Smith, for either possession of the horse or its value, £300, and £100 for alloged wrongful detention. The defendant was J. Cress, licensee of the Empire Hotel. Mr. Dolan, for the plaintiff, set up; that a receipt had been' found among " deceased's papers for the purchase of Gaelic from H. Nee, and defendant, who now had possession of Gaelic, refused to give the horse up, alleging that he owned a half sharo, but no receipt was found, nor .was there any, for the payment by Cross of such a half share. The defence, conducted by Mr. Pownall, set up verbal admissions of half ownership by deceased before death, and that defendant, being an old friend of Smith, postponed acceptance of the receipt, when lie paid tho half share, till a moro convenient time to write one out, but Smith died very shortly after. The hearing lasted over four hours, the jury finding for defendant. The alleged slander case, in which A. J. Geango sued T. H. Jones, of Taparae, for £100 damages, was taken, but at tho opening,, Mr. Pownall, for the plaintiff, agreed to a nonsuit, as Mr., Hollings, for defendant, would not agree to a.material alteration in words set out as slanderous. . The case is likely to come up again at the next sitting of' the Court.. . A sitting of the Conciliation Board' was held here yesterday, Mr. A. H. Cooper prosiding. The sitting was in connection with the tailors' dispute. Mr. W. Easthope, secretary of the Wairarapa-Employers' Association, said the employers did now intend to appear, as thoy had decided to take the case direct to the Arbitration Court. Ho said there had already been various abortive conferences between the parties. Mr. P. Muir represented the Union, and said, from what he had ascertained, there was littio antagonism in tho country to tho demands of the Union. No evidonco was taken on either side, and the Board adjourned. !