POLICE COURT.—Monday. [Before Thomas Beckham, Esq., R.M.]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4658, 30 July 1872, Page 3

POLICE COURT.— Monday. [Before Thomas Beckham, Esq., R.M.]

[ Drunkenness. — For this offence eight persons were each fined in the usual manner. Habitual Dktjnkard. — Samuel Watson for being a habitual drunkard was ordered ! to be imprisoned for three months with hard labour.

Assault. — A. charge of assault was at the request of the prosecutor discharged. Forgery. — William Race alias Eose was charged with haviug forged and uttered a cheque on the) Bankof New Zealand for £3 l7s. Gd. purporting to be signed by T. B. Kenderdine. — Remanded till Friday next.

Assault. — John Holmes was charged by G. M. Seed with having assaulted him on July 24 on board the p.s. ' Enterprise No. I. 1 —The case was withdrawn on Mr. Holmes apologising and promising that he would behave in a civil manner to Mr. Reid in future.

The Green 1 Harp Case. — The case against Thomas Howe, William "Walsh, Thomas Sheehan, James Gleeson, James Cummins, Eugene O'Reilly, James Forguson, and Mark Sheehy, was again resumed yesterday. Mr. Brookseld and Mr. Hesketh for the prosecution j and Mr. Rees and Mr. Joy for the defence. — Riohard H. Hunt, being sworn, said : I came from the Waikato on July 16. I then heard that my brother had laid an information against the defendants for this conspiracy. I saw a Mr. Pigeon. We went to see O'Reilly and Howe, at the Victoria Hotel, on the 19bh. I saw Howe, and we had some conversation about the Green Harp case. Howe said ho would like to settle it. (Mr. Rees here objected to the evidence, on the ground that no conspiracy had yet been proved against the defendants. — Mr. Brookfield replied. — The Court, after hearing some long argument on the subject, ordered the evidence to be proceeded with. } An arrangement was made to meet him (Howe) and O'Reilly in the afternoon. Pidgeon was also present. I j said I had heard that my brother had laid j an information against the Green Harp men. j (Mr. Rees asked leave that a note might be made of the objection raised by Mr. Joy to the admission of the evidence now being ' given. — Leave granted. ) I said as Pidgeon had told me he would like the matter settled | I had come to see them. Howe and O'Reilly were present. I then asked them, as they all seemed willing to sottle it, what they would do. They did not seem inclined to offer terms. I said, "Will you take back the shares bought by my brother from O'Reilly, and givt> him back their cost (some £500), and a bill for £275, it I on my part induce my brother to stay proceedings, and also give me a letter of indemnity not to take proceedings against him for prosecuting them ?" They would not agree to this. (Mr. Rees objected to the evidence, quoting authorities to uphold his argument. — The objection was not allowed.) Pidgeon suggested that the bill be given up to O'Reilly, and said he would agree to that provided that the other men in the charge would each pay to him the sixth share of , the promissory note. Howe said he was willing to do that, and he could answer for his mate. O'Reilly also said he could answer for his mate. Howe added he could almost answer for the other men. Pidgeon offered to give £25 out of his own pocket, in addition to the bill. I then left to consult my solicitor. 1 saw them again the next day. The same offer was repeated. Mr. Hay was present. Mr. Pidgeon suggested, and they adopted. — To Mr. Ptees : I was not iutroduced to Mr. Pidgeon to open negotiations with Howe and party, because my brother told me ho would not settle the case. I was nob aware that my brother changed his mind till the evening before the new prosecution was opened here. I don't know what made him change his mind. He told mo an indemnity had been signed by Messrs. Stannus Jones, W. Morrin, and others, in relation to the case. l The indemnity had been got from him again by some who had signed it. This was before 1 came from the Waikato. My brother told mo that he would not settle the case, and introduced ma to Mr. Pidgeon, who wished the case Bettled. I had previously told my brother that I would settle it. (Mr. Reoa here drew the attention of the Crown Prosecutor to tho fact the witness had just been guilty of a misdemeanour. — Tho Crown Prosecutor replied that he failed to see it ) I believe Mr. Hay made an offer for settling for £100 less. Mr. Hay had seen ray brother, who still would not settle. O'Reilly said if it was not for his mates he would not settle at all. The bill held by O'Reilly is due on August 4. I neror asked them to give up the bill. The language used was, " Would you agree to thc39 terms 1" My offers could hardly be termed offers. I had nothing to do with this except to get ray brother out of a scrape. I told O'Reilly if he sued on the bill my brother would have to go through the Court. — Charles Wallace Hall deposed : I reside at Coromaudel. I hare had information about the mine from Sheehy, the mine manager. The crushing commenced about June 20. The next evening I saw O'Reilly and Walsh. I asked them how the crushing was going on. They said it was going on splendidly, and they had to stop repeatedly to take the amalgam off the plates, f cannot possibly give the words used. (Objectiens were raised by Mr. Joy and Mr. Rees to the evidence, the witoess not being able to give the words used. — Objection overruled.) The yield I was told would be about 20oz. to the ton. Next day I saw Walsh and Barry. On July 3, I saw a report in the Coroviandel Mail with reference to some amalgam. I saw Walsh the same day. I asked if the report of 4350z. was true. He aaid no ; hut that it was nearly 2,0000z. I afterwards saw Barry at the battery. He said,- "We have nearly 2,0000z., but it is not all weighed." He said he could not show it me. When the crushing was nearly finished I met Howe and Moran. I asked Howe if they had only 5350z. He aaid, u I hope you have not circulated the report." He said, " It is another of those lies which are being circulated about the claim ; to-morrow if the furnaces are ready I will give you the correct amount." I met Howe the next day, and he said the furnaces were not ready. — By Mr.> Joy : I have reported to the Herald upoD the Green Harp for 18 months. I have, always reported what I thought to be the truth. A. great deal of. what 1 have written has been based upon my personal observations of the mine, which I viaited frequently. I have.seen gold in the mine and the specimens therefrom, and have always considered"' it to be a firat-class mind, and have always 90 represented it to the public through the Herald. I have seou similar reports to my own in the other paperß. I have given full, repeated, and continuous reports in the JHttrhlcli praising up and writing np the mine. These reports were based upon my own observations, I cannot* say whether the other reporters adopted the- same course as I did. No one of the, defendants has aver given me direct instructions tp f communicate anything to the press, nor am* I aware that any paragraph in any paper has emanated from any of the defendmt* fn^rftfemnna . fca^the,.mine..^JLalwayji had every oppoHunity.for, investigating, tbe mine myself. 1^ Any aUteinente >6t opinions about the mine expressed to m« by the defendants ,tftUiefl wtti my own e*P««« Qce of the mine/ JMy rtipovp x>n the, 6th of Joly WMtbated on *,»Utement;of MkTKMV, tiw agMfert the<le&al m»n*g»>; Mr/ Davies'but thatiSport? dtd I ™*' appear,' 'having' Wed altered. I «houl4 think IJuvve contributed .''.'* • * * ' m '

about 100 repoi ta about the value of the ™1.£2E8 PWJS^JTnatd. _Oathe Green Harp crushing has been commenced, ami is one of the best I have yet aeen on the field." I also wrote, " The amalgam is half an inch thick on the plates, and the stamperbox is full of coarse gold. The stone will fully equal the expectations entertained of it from the first." On the 27th I wrote ; ''The crushing of tha Green Harp is going on Well, and the plate looks splendid." I believe those statements to bo true. On July 4, I was on the mine previous to writing the repori of that date, which states, " The Green Harp crushing is still going on satisfactorily, and when I was there there was a good show of amalgam." On May 23rd, I wrote :—"I: — "I had no idsa the stone was half so good as I find it is after I visited the mine. There are about two tons of stone taken out, and every stone broken shows half gold. The extraordinary find has caused great excitement, and the stock in that and the adjoining mine has men in consequence." I forwarded those reports to the proprietor of the Serald for ■ insertion in the pnblic press. There were copies of the Herald circulated at Ooromandel, and the public might have contradicted it if they had thought the statement incorrect. I have heard the merits of tho Green Harp freely discussed anongst miners at Coromandel, and its gold-bearing qualities have been matters of notorioty. There baa been great diversity of opinion about the mine amongst miners. The letter produced, dated July 33, is in my handwriting, and refers to my report in the Herald on the Green Harp on May 23. (The letter stated that the report was written from personal observation, and the specimens were pointed out to witness on the heap by Mr. Sheehy.)— Re-examined by Mr. Hesketh : The report on July 4 was based on what Sheehy and Barry told me. My reports were generally founded on my own observations, and information I received from the battery and mine managers. The 601b. of amalgam mentioned in my report of Juae 24 were not taken off in my presence, but I was so informed by the battery manager. It was also the manager who informed me that the atamper-boxes were full, I saw no portion of the amalgam of July 25 referred to in my report, except that on the plates. I have b.ecn at the mine on some occasions when the manager \rith a pick took a piece of stone from the foot or face of the drive, and tho stone contained gold. On two occasions Mr. Howe did this. I was down the shaft where it is said the specimens were taken from twice, but not since the shaft got very wet. Many people at CoromandeT believed that the Green Harp mine was rich, and others did not, notwithstanding the reports of specimen finds, and crushing. — The Court was then adjourned until this morning.