OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 333, 21 October 1908, Page 9

OUR AUSTRALIAN LETTER

NEWS AND NOTES ON THE WEEK. THE BRAYBROOK DISASTER. (ntou'OUß SPECIAL CORUESrONDENT.) Sydney, October 10. As the outcome of, tho terrible railway disaster at Braybrook Junction on Easter Monday night, Leonard Milburn and Gilbert Dolman, drivers of the first and second engines of tho Bendigo express, which ran into the Ballarat train, and caused the damage, were put upon their trial in Melbourne on charges of manslaughter. This trial, which lasted for 13 days, was concluded yesterday, when both men wero acquitted. The Chief Justice, Sir John Madden, in summing lip to the jury, said he thought that 50 miles an hour was . too great a speed at which to pass the distance signal. _ If, as Guard Darcy said, the speed passing tho home signal was from 35 to 40 miles an hour, it' was hopeless to pull up in. time. The jury would have to make up their owii minds as to what the pace was, and even if they considered it was 40 miles an hour, as. Milburn said, they would then , have to consider whether that was excessive. The case against Driver Dolman rested on regulation 174, wliick provided that when there were two engines on a train, the - driver of the first was responsible for the .observance of the signals and tlio conduct of the train, but that the driver of the second, was not relieved from observance of the signals and other duties. As it was for his : Honour to interpret this regulation, he held that _it implied that-tho driver of the second engine must watch and act in an emergency. Personally, he would not have left Dolman's case to the jury, 'but as a matter of law would havo directed them to acquit him. "If I were in your place," said he, "I would acquit Dolman, and I advise you to do so; but the question of fact is for you to determine." The defence available to Dolman was not available to Milburn. It was said that Milburn went into this danger area at 50 miles an hour, and he himself said 40 miles an hour,'but railway officers declared that either of these speeds was far too high. There could be no plea of error/of judgment on Milburn's part. Ho knew.his speed, and all the responsibilities upon him. He probably thought that he would be able to pull up; but he took the risk, .and having, done so, must stand the consequences. ' Whilst his defence was that the brake did not act, the Crown maintained-that the brakes wero all right, but that he thought tlie signals'against him would be. taken off; that for-some reason he was anxious to get in quickly,; and that' he dashed into the danger zono, and did .not use the brakes until he saw .the Ballarat train, staring him in the face. If lie did this, he was guilty of These were risks that he had dared to face, if this theory were correct; and if he failed in doing so, he must take the consequences. When his Honour's summing up had concluded,, the jury asked to bo allowed to reassemble on the following morning to consider their verdict. Sir John, Madden consulted some of the other Judges before.decicjing this application. When ho returned into Court, he announced that ho was glad, to say that his brother Judges whom ho had seen regarded the particular law on this point as a technical one, which might bo technically observed.' He therefore asked the jury to reassemble in the morning. - , The jury noxt day ; after a retirement of four hours and 35 minutes, returned with a verdict_ of "not. guilty," and the two men were, discharged. ~ , ,v. ■

; A number of. friends .sitting ; behind them hastened-'to; congratulate'-them': '-"The 1 solicitude they- exhibited- -was too Imuch jor.?Milbtirn, who has felt, his .position keenly all through; and he burst'into tears. He was assisted out of Court, and left in tho company of his friends. ' • THE ADMINISTRATION OF ;THE . • .. ... CHARITIES. I An unpleasant .squabble,vin.-which two offibers of, tho New South iiWales,Public Service ha;ve been engaged, has been rovealed by'the report of the_ Public Sorvico Board, .concerning tho administration • of' various- charitios.These two officers; are -E: Brodio, ; . Inspector-General ; of< Charities for- the past few years (and now appointed to temporarily perform tho duties of Commissioner of Taxation during. Mr. Spiller's absence on leave), and Dr. J. A. Beattie, tho surgeonsuperintendent, of the Liverpool Asylum for ■the. Infirm. A number of complaints were made '• some;' time ' ago by 'the InspectorGeneral against tho surgeon superintendent, Dr. Beattie, and also against the matr.onsuperintendentj' and these liav'eiiebn inquired into' by tho Public Service' Board, whose inivestigatibrfS -took fthe. forhiVof-'anjinquiry' '.relating to such questions as the granting-of-cash gratuities- to inmates'who-work "about the institution, tho issue of free drugs to the officials, the efficiency- or; otherwise of the staff .of attendants and nurses, the alleged unsuitability of tho buildings at Liverpool through overcrowding, and the extent to which' these conditions:will, be ameliorated by the transfer^ of consumptive patients to the new sanatorium afj Waterfall. The Public Service Board, in its report, finds that in the main the complaints made by Mr. Brodio against Dr. Beattie'have not been substantiated. One. matter inquired; into was the claim of Dr. Beattie for fees'for death certificates for insurance societies. On this point the'board thinks that tho decision ,of the Minister at the' head "of . the Department two years ago, that > remunerative - private practice is not permissible, must apply to this claim, and adds, "Dr. Beattie should respect the Minister's decision." With regard to cash gratuities, it is found that the amounts: paid in this way in the, Liverpool Asylum are slightly greater than those given in benevolent institutions in other States ; ,but in .view of the fact that this asylum.' has.-become a hospital for incurables-as well as for destitute men,- the board considers that tho gratuities previously paid were not excessive, considering that the duties performed were very unpleasant. Without these small payments, it is pointed ..out,, the' inmates ■ would not willingly do the work, and paid attendants would have to be supplied at a much greater' cost. The board finds that Dr. Beattie. has performed his duties in a satisfactory, manner, and'that many of Mr. Brodie's communications to him, considering their relative positions, have been written in' a. discourteous and dictatorial manner. The report adds :— "It is evident that strained relations.between these two officers have existed for somo time, and as such a-state of affairs is calculated to seriously prejudico the proper conduct and working of this particular institution, steps must'be taken at ohco' to' provent a recurrence of-the unseemly disputes which havo arisen in the past betwoen two officers holding high and responsible position: in the Public Service." ' That feeling ran' high between' the two officers is unhappily evident. . Dr. Beattie, in his reply to Mr. Brodie's complaints, claimed to be'defending his character, .which, "for the first timo in a period of 30. years' service, had been charged falsely, and slanderously calumniated." Ho termed it a "life and death struggle," and alleged that the objective of his accuser was his "official obliteration." Tho-Public Service Board, which entirely controls all appointments to the sorvice, without the least interference from Ministers', has reappointed Dr. Beattio for a further period of five years to the Liverpool Asylum, where lie has been for tho past 22 years. Mr. Brodie, as lias been said, goes to the Taxation Department, and will bo succecded at tho head of the charities by a medical man, Dr. Paton. "CHARITY SATURDAY." ' There aro a number of charitable institutions in Sydney—about forty, it is estimated—which do not share in the benefits from tho annual "Hospital Saturday" collection, and to assist these it has been' decided to have an annual "Charities Saturday." Saturday last was tho first. Tho collection was" organised on the lines of that made for the hospitals, with stalls at'the corners of tlie streets, and girls with collecting-boxes busily raking in subscriptions from passofsby. Tho cause is an excellent one, but the movoment is not yet so well known as the other one, and as it had been organised somewhat hurriedly, the total amount collected was only £1129 lGs. sd.—a very poor result for a city like Sydney. .The officers say they regard it as very satisfactory, in view of the inadequate time allowed to prepare for the collodion, and that the publia

were not fully awaro of tho wide scope of tho distribution of th 6 money. -However, next year no doubt tho result will be very much better, for these charities are just as deserving of assistance as tho hospitals—in fact, some of them are in greater need of money than somo hospitals. THE CRICK ESTATE. ■ Is it not strango to read of a lawyer dying intestate? This is what has happened.in the caso of W. I'. Crick, who destroyed one will in July last, and set out to make another, but never completed the task. As ho therefore died intestate, tho only persons entitled to share in his estate are his widow, and Mr. William Crick, his father. Tlio , gross value of the estate has been sworn at £15,942, tlio real estate being estimated at £7600, and certain debentures at £6500. Tho debts are £6042 45., including £2353 to the Bank of Now South Wales, and £1241 to tho Crown in respect of certain conditional purchases. The live stock is vajued at £1185, and includes tho jacehorses which ho owned, and 2400 sheep, Tunning at Kangaroo Mount, Gundagai. Tho net value of the estate for stamp duty purposes is £9900. The real estate consists of property at Randwick, valued at £4500, and the Kangaroo Mount proportv. Mrs. Crick will take £5200, and Mr. William Crick £4700. A DEFAULTING TREASURER. ■ Montague Livingstone, J. C. Williamson's late treasurer, who was sent to prison on Wednesday' for the theft of his employer's money, is a young man only 24 years of ago, enjoying bright prospects until this trouble befell him. Ho had the responsible position of treasurer to the firm for the two Sydney theatres, Her Majesty's and the Theatre Royal, and it was his duty in this position to bank the takings every day from the performances of tho previous night. IJho evidence showed that instead of taking the money to the regular bank he. would tako it across to one on,the other side of the street, and pay it into his own account, then giving a cheque to the regular bank from his own account at the other one. At night ho would havo tho takings of the theatres to meet that cheque. Livingstone admitted to the detectives who arrested him that he had kept on at this system until ho got tangled up, and .the climax came. Ho stated that he had'been allowing his widowed mother and his invalid sister £2 a week, while trying also to keep a home going for himself and his wife, and had thus got into trouble. At the Court of Quarter Sessions on Wednesday, Detectivo Fullerton said tho frauds had been found to have been accomplished-by means of : photography. Livingstone's wife brought :somo papers to the theatre which she found at her, house, and by this means : the frauds were revealed. These showed that the name of an agent • who was authorised to sell tickets for the theatre had been forged by tho aid of the camera. Tho accused had managed his domestic affa' r 5 very badly. He had been supporting his- mother in a separate home, when, there was no need for them to live apart, and he had allowed his wife to believe that liis mother had an income. Mr. Williamson had said that ,if Livingstone had come to him when he first got into difficulties ho would havo helped him out. The Crown Prosecutor stated that ono member of tho firm estimated that tho defalcations amounted to between £5000 and £6000. Judgo Rogers, "in passing sentence upon Liviugstone, who pleaded guilty to tho charge of ■ stealing £103 19s. 6d., said he could not understand how a man's constitutioncould stand tho anxiety of substituting, ono cheque for another. Ho sentenced tho prisoner to three years and months' imprisonment in Goulburn Gaol, with hard labour;; but as ho understood the sura of £500 was to be repaid, ho reduced the sen-tence'to-two'. years on sureties being entered into for the restitution of that amount. :