JUSTICES' JUSTICE.

Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3, 4 January 1889, Page 2

JUSTICES' JUSTICE.

The assault case, Pinkerton v. Adams, heard before two Justices in the Police Court at the Hutt yesterday, undoubtedly resulted in a serious miscarriage of justice. The fine of £5 5s which was inflicted on the defendant was utterly inadequate as a punishment for the offence, as established in evidence. The assault was a most serious one, and as nnraanlv as it was serious. In all British communities it is felt that the use of the knife is an offenco which demands most exemplary punishment. In this caso the defendant actually throw an open pocket knife at tie head of the person with whom he was having an altercation, The weapon stuck in tho man's nose, inflicting a pretty severe wound. A slight deflection would probably have resulted in the loss of an eye, or the conseqilenoos might even have proved fatal. Yet the Bapient Justices who heard the ease determined that it was not one to send to a jury or deserving of punishment by imprisonment. The idea of letting the perpetrator of an assault of this kind escape with a fino is disgraceful, and the social position of the defendant, instead of being, as the bench soem to have deemed it, a palliation, was undoubtedly an aggravation of his offence, nor would it be any valid excuse for his conduct if he was, as one of the witnesses said he appeared to be, more or le^s under the influence ot liquor at the time. Bespectable hotelkeepers require all the protection the law oan give them, and in any case the use of the knife should involve personal punishment of severe character. The evidence shows that Adams well deserved a considerable torm of imprisonment, and he would probably have got it had the case not, fortunately for him, been heard by local justices. Their mistaken leniency has been made the subject of much unfavourable comment by the public.

On our fourth pa^e to-day will bo found an interesting sketoh on the subject of the Emm Bey Belief Expedition, and letters to the Editor. Our Saturday Supplement to-morrow will contain, among other interesting items of reading matter, the following :— " The Coolest Man in Russia," "Temperance," " An Elephant in a Rage," " Old Saws Reset," "The Sole Survivor," "Te "Whiti and Tohu, the West Coast Fanatics," "After the Christmas Party," "Tit Bita," "The National Emblem of Scotland," '"A Truthful Liar," " Terrible Double Murder." "A Terrible Tale of Tunbridge Wolls," " News in Brief," "An American Indian and his White Bride," " Wit and Humour." Some further decisions nnder the Customs Duties Act are gazetted. Mr. William Christie, of Oamaru, has resigned the Commission of the Peaoe. Most of tho functions of the Public Works Department have from the beginning of tho present week been transferred to other branches of the pnblic servico. The Lands Department has taken over the control of roads and bridges with such portion of the unemployed as are engaged on roads, but the maintenance of public buildings has been handed over to the Defence Department instead of that of the Colonial Secretary as was originally intended. The remnant of the department is still charged with the construction of railways pending whatever definite steps may be taken on tho Railway Commission being set up Mr. Blackett has practically vacated the office of Engineer-in-Chief, though he is still exercising a genoral supervision until matters work into the new grooves. His new appointment of Consulting Engineer to the colony in London dates as from the Ist of April nest. In the course of the last few months about 50 officers have received notice that their services were to be dispensed with, thus reducing the total strength of the official staff that is connected with publio works throughout the colony to about 70, as compared with more than 300 when the Public Works Policy was at its height. Several of the oreditora in the bankrupt estate of William Munro, draper, assembled at the office of the Official Assignee this morning, the meeting having been called at the instance of the bankrupt, to consider the advisability of making him an allowance. The oreditors represented wore Messrs. Blundell Bros, and Edwards, Bennett and Co. (who were each represented by Mr. Jellicoe), Edmondson, Warmington and Co., and W. A. Waters. The debtor was not represented. The meeting passed a resolution declining to grant the debtor an allowance, and also decided that the bankrupt should be publicly examined. Subsequent to the meeting, it transpired that the reason the bankrupt was not represented at the proceedings was in consequence of a misunderstanding as to the hour of meeting. In consequence of thi3, the Aesipnee cancolled the rfsoluHons parsed, and nnoth"r meeting' will take place at a luturo dat-\ Dividend warrants in the Union Fire and Marine Insurance Company are now obtainable from Messrs. Johnston & Co.

Sir Redvers Bnller was, we are glad to say, only killed by the PreSs Association, and not by a railway engine. The officer who alighted on the wrong side of the train at Woolwich, fell on the rails' and was run over by a locomotive, was Lieut. -Colonel Ernest Henry Mallinghain-Buller, a distinguished officer, but not so well known as Six Eedvers Bnller. Lieut.-Colonel Buller was in command of the Rifle Brigade at Woolwich. He entered the army in 1855, and in 1878 he was sent to South Africa on official service, and served in the Zulu war during the following year, being present at the action of Gingindhlovw and relief of Ekowc as staff officer on the relieving column and in the engagement at Ulundi. He was three times mentioned in despatches, and obtained' a medal with clasp. He served under Sir Evelyn Wood in the Boer war of 1881 as Brigade-Major, and was afterwards Deputy Assistant- Adjutant and Quartermaster-Gene-ral at Malta. The new Governor, Earl Onslow, is a Mason of high rank, being a Paßt Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of England, and before lie leaves this doldny he will nrobably be installed as Grand Master of New Zealand under an independent Constitution, as Lord Carrington has become the first Grand Master of New South Wales. The Under-Secretary of the Public Works Department (Mr. C. Y. O'Conor) is at present on an official visit to the Auckland district, and is expected to be absent from Wellington for about a fortnight. Vicomte Jonffray d'Abbans, the Conßul for France in this colony, intends to leave for Europe in March next on a visit which will probably entail nine months' absence. The French Government, not deeming it right that they should be left so long without an official representative in New Zealand, have appointed Dr. do LostalorBachoue, at present Consul at Aden, to be Acting-Consul in this colony during the Vicomto d'Abbans' absence. Dr. de Losta-lor-Bachoue is a medical man of considerable scientific reputation, and a Chevalier do la Legion d'Honneur. He was for three years Consul at Djeddah. He is expected to arrive in Wellington in March. A dinner in connection with the annual meeting of the Council of the New. Zealand Educational Institute is to be held in the Exchange Hall this evening. The Hon. the Minister of Education has consented to preside. The visiting members of the Council are to be entertained at a picnic in M'Nab's Gardens to-morrow by the local representatives. The party are to be convoyed to and from the gardens in 'busses, starting from the Government Printing Office at 10.30 o'clock. Fresh details of New Fear's Eve larrikinism still continue to reach us. The following has come to hand to-day : — In a thickly populated part of Wellington, a house belonging to a poor widow in the Old Country was vacated within the last few weoks, and has remained empty to the present. Not only were 38 panes of glass broken, but 4 sashes, one of which will have to be replaced by a new one. The windows having been repaired, so that the house might be let, panes of glaBS to tb« number of U have again been broken, and another sash will require renewing. The agents, Messrs. Baker Bros., have put the matter in the detectives' hands, that tho culprits may be brought to justice, and made to pay for their larrikinism. The honorary secretary of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club has received information from tho secretary of the New Zealand Athletic Association that in all probability the champion 120 yds hurdle race will in future be run in Wellington. The final arrangements for the club's opening fete on Anniversary Day will be made at the committee meeting- to be held on Wednesday next, at which it is hoped all the committeemen will be present. Those members of the club who require re-instating as amateurs are requested to send in their names at once, enclosing particulars of tho last sports they competed in, '1} as amateurs, (2) as professionals or in which professionals took part and (3) stating what club or clubs (if any) they have belonged to. The manager of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States has received a cable message from the Society's Head Office in New York, stating that their new business for 1888 was £30,250,000, and the income for the year over .£5,400,000. A meeting wai held at Fraser's Rooms, Manners-street, last evening by the bakers of Wellington to take into consideration the holding of a picnic at a future date. Mr. Berg was voted to the chair, and Mr. H. Speakman elected secretary, pro tern. The chairman explained to the meeting that several of the bakers and bakers' carters had raquestcd him to call a mooting to try and get up a picnic at an early date. As there were not many bakers at tho meeting, the undermentioned committee was appointed to wait on the masters and journeymen bakers of Wellington, and use their best endeavours to get up a successful picnic — The Chairman and Secretary, and Messrs. Greeks, Sorensen, and Sovereign. It was resolved to hold a general meeting of the members of the trade on Tuesday, the Bth January, at 8 p.m., at Frasor's Booms, Manners-street, the secretary being instrnoted to insert a notice of tho meeting in the Evening Post on Saturday and Monday. After the usual vote of thanks to the chair the meeting terminated. "Huo and Cry" was performed at the Opera House by Mr. Darroll's Company, for tho third time, last night, to a moderate audience. The play passed off as successfully as on former occasions, and additional amusement was furnished to the audience by the behaviour of an eccentric gentleman in the front row of the orchestral stalls, who gesticulated and shouted in token of his appreciation of the performance, showed unmistakable sympathy with the injured innocence and disapproval of the vice depicted on the stage, and capped all by throwing down several silver coins, evidently aa a tribute to the ability of the actors "Hue and Cry" will again be produced to-night and to-morrow, and on Monday it will give place to a sensational drama by Frank Soudamore, entitled "First Class," one feature of whioh is the rescue of a drowning man. In mounting the principal -cone a novelty in stage management will be introduced by the use of real water to the extent of nearly 20 tons, into whioh Mr. Darrell will plunge. Tho effeot should be wonderfully realistic. Friends wishing to join the teachers' picnic in connection with the Educational Institute are requested to meet at the Government Printing Office to-morrow, at 10.30 a.m., when tickets can be procured from the committee. In order to suit the convenience of the country players, it has been arranged that the baseball match between the Hutt and Wellington clubs shall he played at Petone to-morrow afternoon, the town men going out by the 2.5 train. The Hutt team will bo chosen from tho following : — M'Nab, Pell, Pringle (2), Fletcher, Chuck, Wilford. Jones, Death, Eeid and Anstice. The Wellington team will be composed as follows : —Henderson (captain), first base ; Moorhonse, second base ; Liddle, third base ; Palmer, short stop ; Scutt, left field ; Pagni, right field ; Hubble, centre field ; Chegwidden, pitcher ; Mills, catcher. Emergency men, Weston, Kissel, Cornwall, M'lntyre ; umpire, C. AVebb ; scorer, G. Crichton. The following new patents have been applied for .- — James Kelman, of Alexandra, Otago, for Kelman's safety stirrup ; George Louis Schneider, Melbourne, hairdresser, Albert Manvers, of Melbourne, musioian, and Archimedes Litherland Cunard, of Melbourne aforesaid, theatrical manager, for improvements in apparatus for exhibiting illuminated advertisements ; Henry Claude Walker, of Surrey, England, a member of the firm of B. Waygood and Co., of the same place, engineers, for improvements in the construction of hydraulic lifts or elevators ; Andrew Lamborton, of Lanark, Scotland, engineer, for improvements in machinery or apparatus for grinding or pulverising substances ; Alfred Leman, of Auckland, for Leman's patent pulveriser, for the treatment of tailings ; Thomas Walter Tarrall, of Nelson, tinsmith, for the novelty spraying pump with agitator; John Clare and Henry Fellowes Horrocks, both of Auckland, manufacturing chemists, for grinding, &c, to be called " The Acme Reducer" ; Robert Henry Elliotte, of Feather ston, engineer, and William Toogood, of tho same place, storekeeper, partners in flax-dressing, for Elliotte and Toogood 1 s high- water pressure flax or fibre-washing machine; John Kennedy Jameson and John William Jameson, of Invercargill,. engineers, for raising and forcing water or other liquids, to be called " Jameson's Patent Quadruple Lifting and Force Pump;" Charles M'Queen, of Dunedin, engineer, for an improved standard for wire fencing, to bePknown as " M'Qneen's Patent Notched Standard," and for improvement in dredging-machinos, to be known as " M'Queen's Patent Dredger," purposely to reduce cost of constrnction, and to work to greater depths, even on dredgers already at work ; George Ainley, engineer, and Guiseppe Garibaldi Turri, patent agent, both of Melbourne, for an improved apparatus for automatically delivering liquids in exchange for coin or the like ; Archibald Campbell Ponton, of Dorset, architect, for improvements in tho manufacture of artificial stones, marbles, and concrete; Edward Alexander yon Schmidt, of Melbourne, civil engineer, for improvements in and relating to dredgingmachines; Robert George Stayely, of Port Underwood, sheep farmer, for killing rabbits by poisoned paste, to be known as " Stavely'a Rabbit-paste." Tho Star of Wellington Lodge, 1.0. G.T., hold its usual weekly Bession last evening at the Foresters' Hall, Lambton-quay, under the presidency of the General Superintendent of Juveniles, Bro. W. Johnson, the attendance of members and visitors being large. Two gentlemen and a lady were initiated and added to the roll as full members, while a fourth was restored to membership. Several candidates were also proposed. The delegate to the District Committee reported that the preparations for the demonstration to be held on the anniversary of the colony were being proceeded with, and that it would be necessary to appoint a banner committee. It was urged also that the members wear a rosette or regalia on that occasion. The Lodge Deputy read a circular whioh dwelt upon the utility of members using their influence to extend the order. Several addresses were given by Bros. Carson, Taylor, Gowler, Johnson, and Hall on the good of the order. The concluding ceremonies brought a successful meeting to a termination. At the half-yearly meeting of the Excelsior Lodge of Druids, the following officers were elected for ' the current term : — S. Barker, A.D. ; F. Pullen, V.A.D. ; T. Boon, Seoretary (re-elected) ; T. Elliott, Treasurer (re-elected) ; W. Walker, I.G. (re-elected) ; J. Bew, 0.G. ; H. Manz and F. G. King A.D. Bards ; B. Gardner and J. Hills, V. A. Bards ; B. Gardner, Auditor ; J. T. Leppcr, Minute Secretary ; T. Elliott, District President ; W. K. Bishop, Grand Lodge Representative. The balance-sheet for the half-year was read, also the auditor's report, which congratulated tho mpmhprs on *be =tc:uly li.iit'rc— • f'i r- 'it,'!' k uu'.ir.i-. Tin' Vni:g i zb<> >• 11)3 d,i i.u.i <i> 1 'oi'i lion. ll*-. itt'-iars, with a oredit balance of £1200. The nsual vote of thanks was passed to the retiring officers.,

The Bey. «f. Berry will deliver a, New Year's address to young men, and maidens next Sunday moimrig at 0.45, under the auspices of the Wellington Evangelisation Society, at Baker Bros' Auction Mart. The Bervice will conclude at 10 30, so as to allow those present to attend their respective churches. Constable O'Rourke, of Otaki, thi3 morning brought down a man named William Ford, sentenced by the Otaki Court to 14 days' imprisonment with hard labour, for obscene language. The Pacific Lodge, U.A.0.D., held its half-yearly summoned meeting at Bowley's Rooms, Cuba-street, last evening. There was a good attendance of members and , visiting brethren, and A. D. Scott presided. The balance-sheet for the past term showed tha lodge to be in a good financial position. The election of officers was then proceeded with, and resulted in the return of Bro. Geo. SnaJdon as A.D. ; Thoß. E. Adams, V.A. ; Wm. Jones and W. Chambers, A.D. Bards; Wm Burnett and Geo. Syton, V.A. Bards ; Thos. Dnrfant, Treasurer (reelected) j Thos. Crispe, Secretary ', J. B. Peyman, Inner Guard} C. H. Colnett, Auditor; H. Le Creu, Minute Secretary. C. Hasjem, P.A., was nominated as D.P. The officers were installed into their respective positions by the retiring D.P., Bro. S. J. Dyer, who received a vote of thanks for his attendance and services. Bro. W. K. Bishop was re-elected district representative to the Grand Lodge. Three new members having been proposed and votes of thanks passed to the scrutineers, Bros. Lepper and Haslam, and the retiring officers, the lodge was closed in due form. The address recently presented to Bro. W. K. Bishop, Past District President, by the Excelsior Lodge of Druids, on the eve of his departure for Melbourne, where he hai entered into business, is being illnminated by Mr. W. R. Bock. The text of the address is as follows :—": — " From the officers and members of the Excelsior Lodge, No. 97, U. A.O.D. To Bro. W. K. Bishop, P.D.P. On the occasion of your leaving New Zealand for the sister colony of Victoria, we desire to acknowledge the valuable services you have rendered the Order in general, but more especially in this portion of the colony. The loss of a Bro. who has ever been so prominent and zealous in his energetic endeavours in the furtherance of the welfare of our society will be deeply regretted, not only by those more immediately associated with you, but, we feel assured, by the fraternity as a body. Not only does the Excelsior Lodge, but nearly the whole of the lodges in this island, mainly owe both their existence and subsequent prosperity and well-being to your praiseworthy exertions, directed by the energy, ability, and zeal which you have invariably displayed, and whiob. so well merit tbe sincere gratitude we now beg to express. Our regret at your departure is somewhat tempered by the reflection that you are about to rsmove to a more extended sphere of action, where your influence will, beyond doubt, be as widely and beneficially exercised as it has been among ourselves. On taking leaving of us we beg of you to accept our assurances of the warmest regard, and our heartfelt wishes for your future success and happiness. (Signed on behalf of the lodge), Thos. G. Boon, Secretary." Laery & Co. will sell to-morrow, fruit, &c. Francis Mdey & Co. will sell to-morrow, furniture, &c. George Thomas & Co. will Bell to-morrow, fruit, produce, &c. Noble Campbell & Co. will sell to-morrow, fruit, horses, traps, &c. During the past month our showroom wa3 daily attended by large numbers of ladies intent on inspecting and purchasing the attractive items in the millinery and mantle departments at To Aro House. In millinery we were fortunate in being able to exactly suit the taste of our patrons, and for style, fashion, and the harmonious blending colours, we are as yet unrivalled in the city. Wo have still the same ability and means at our command, and during the present month shall show some special novelties in ladies' trimmed hats, millinery, bonnets, and untrimmed hats, at Te Aro House. Ooit mantle and costume department has also been the scene of great activity. We have sold an amazing nuirbor of ladies' jackets and mantles of the most fashionable description, and our costumes have been the subjects of much admiration at Te Aro House. We have a very choice lot of ladies' costumes, in all descriptions of fabiios.and in a great variety of fashionable stylos, oomprising prints, zephyrs, satoen broche, Swiss opibroidered, veilings, Pongee and Liberty silks, ranging from 5s 6d to six guineas, at Te Aro House. We cordially invite auy_ visitors from the country who may be staying for a while in the city to visit our showroom when every attention and civility will bo shown, without attempting to pres3 purchases, at Te Aro House. — Adtt. Baxter's Lung Preserver has ginned great popularity in this district as a speedy and effectual remedy in the treatment of Coughs, Colds, Bronchitis, and other chest and throat oomplaints. — Advt.