HUTT VALLEY NEWS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 33, 2 November 1933, Page 2

HUTT VALLEY NEWS

. District Notes of Current Interest I

During September the s.s. Cobar ran 145 trips and burned 58 tons of coal. The average consumption per round trip was .40 tons..

Fines of £1 and costs were imposed by Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M., in the Lower Hutti Police Court yesterday on F. B. ■Lewis, who was charged with driving a inotor-car with one beadlamp unlighted, and failing to produce, a driver’s license on request. Two young men were convicted and ordered" to pay. costs by Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M-, in the Lower Hutt Police Court yesterday on charges of casting offensive .matter in Birch Street, Lower Hutt. The magistrate agreqd to suppress, their "names, remarking that a report of the incident should J>e published in view of previous complaipts, although the publication of their names would be out of proportion in regard to punishment. RADIO PROSECUTIONS Not for Recovery of Debt Emphasis that prosecutions for having unlicensed radio sets were not brought for the recovery of debt was made by Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M., in the Lower Hutt Police Court yesterday, when dealing with several eases of "this nature. An. unusual aspect arose in one of the prosecutions, when a defendant stated that he thought that the action was brought for the recovery of debt. “The public should understand that the prosecutions are not being brought for the recovery of debt, but for failing to comply with the law and for keeping a set unlicensed in defiance of the law,” observed Mr. J. S. Barton. It was further explained that all persons operating wireless sets were required to obtain licenses before the sets were actually operated. Defendant was fined £1 and costs; HUTT VALLEY CRICKETMeeting of Association The decision to play matches set down for last week next Saturday was made at a meeting of the management committee of the Hutt Valley Cricket Association on Tuesday evening. Mr. H. Goldie presided. Mr. Goldie and Mr. Scott were appointed to. represent the association in investigating the position regarding the wicket at Waiwetn School. It was reported that the association had procured good soil for the , new wickets at North’ Park, work on which would begin next jyeek. It was decided to write to the Koro Koto Cricket Club regarding the condition of the wicket at McEwan Park. For playing an unregistered player in the match with Meadows on October 21. Randwick were penalised, a threepoint loss being registered ' against them. HUMOUR IN COURT ; 1,: International Relations Court proceedings are not always devoid of humour, and a bright interlude occurred in. the Lower Hutt' Police Court yestbrday, when Mr. E. P.’Bunny made his (introductory remarks to a case in-which a Chinamhnhad brought an action against a Maori woman claiming possession of a chattel and damages for its detention. .'. Mr. Burihy said he believed that it the first case- of its type-in the Pacific, add suggested smilingly that it might be referred to the League of Nations. > ■'.. : - In the same vein, the magistrate, Mr. J. S; Barton, S.M., agreed; adding that it could be referred to one of the delegates of the Institute of Pacific Relations. r : “Let’s hope that the relations will be pacific afterward,” remarked Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, the other counsel engaged in the case. UNLAWFULLY IN HOUSE Young Man Sent to Gaol Found in a bedroom of a house at Koro Koro on Tuesday evening, John Robertson Campbell, labourer and grocer, aged 26, was sentenced to three months’ Imprisonment with hard labour by Messrs. Thomas Potts aud W. Pere, J.P.’s, in the Petone Police Court yesterday on a charge of being unlawfully in a dwelling-house. ’ Detective W. McLennan said that accused should have been charged under the Crimes Act with breaking and entering, but the charge had been reduced to one of being unlawfully on enclosed premises. The Bench observed that accused should have gone to the Supreme Courr. He had other convictions against him, and had got off very lightly.

FIXTURE OR NOT?

Building on Leased Land

PERMANENCY QUESTION

Whether a shed which a lessee had built on a section was a fixture or was removable was a question which Mr. J. 8. Barton, S.M., was asked to decide in the Lower Hutt . Police Court vesterday, when George Chong,'market .gardener, the lessee, .brought an action against Piribiri Karena, a Maori woman. ■ ■

. In his statement of claim . Chong asked lor possession of the shed, or, alternatively, £75, being, its estimated value, damages amounting, to £lO for tlie detention of the building, and the costs of the action. Decision was reserved. ’ '. ■ , , Mr C. A. L. Treadwell represented the plaintiff, and. Mr, .E. P. Bunny the defendant. . Mr. Treadwell said that Chong had brought the action against defendant, who bad prevented the removal of the chattel. On May 18, 1931, a documbut leasing the land to. plaintiff was drawn up by a layman named Wilson, but was hopelessly- invalid. Chong wanted’a place in which to live, and as defendant said she did not have sufficient money to build a house, plaintiff suggested-that he put up a shed which he would take away,when he vacated the place. " Defendant agreed, and Chong arranged for the shed to be. erected, with the deliberate intention.that it should be taken away. The building'was screwed to the piles, and nothing was attached by nails. In the witness box, Chong said that he did not tell defendant that he was going to take the shed away, but he intended .to do so. When he left, defendant had informed him through her solicitors that he must not take the shed away. ■■ "■ -’ ! William H. Willoughby, carpenter, said he had examined’ the 'sited' and had found it to bo screwed down. It could quite easily be taken away by unscrewing the bolts, and it would not be necessary to take the building to pieces. He considered the building would be worth about £7s—perhaps a little less. r - . " Herbert Alfred Walker, general labourer, gave evidence that he had laid "the foundations, put tlie plates down, aud helped to pub up the frame. The shed was bolted to the piles, which was not usual for permanent buildings. There was no permanent fixing of the shed to the piles. Mr. Bunny submitted that the building was a permanent structure, incapable of being moved without) being taken to pieces. Chong had admitted that when he suggested erecting the shed he did not tell defendant that he was going to move it "at the termination of the lease. The question was largely one of fact, and the only point upon which counsel for plaintiff, could rely in support ef -his contention that the building could be moved was the fact that coach screws wei-e used for the fixing of the sleepers. Frank Wilson, carpenter, said he had finished the outside, and bad put on the lloor and the-roof. He'did not consider that the shed was a temporary building, and he'cijiuld not see how it could be moved without being taken to pieces. Joseph. Fletcher, building inspector to the Lower Hutt; Borough Council, said he remembered Chong applying for a building permit two years ago, but he could not say whether it was to be temporary. The building was not capable of; being sledged off, It could be moved by sawing off the: tops of the piles and putting It on runners. Evidence on the-structure of the shed Was .also given by George Smith, chief overseer and director of the Go-vef-nment (voricsnops at Wellington.