MAGISTRATE'S COURT. This Day.

Evening Post, Volume LIV, Issue 20, 23 July 1897, Page 6

MAGISTRATE'S COURT. This Day.

(Before Mr. H. Eyre Kenny, S.M.) When the cases against the Syrians Geor David, Bouzaid, Khouri, and Zalloum, charging them wifh fraudulent evasion of Customs duties and with making fajse declarations, were called on,. Mr. Gully announced that the costs in the Supreme Court actions were waived, and that each of the defendants, except Zalloum, was to pay a certain sum of money to the Customs, and plead Guilty on one information. In the meantime the informations would be adjourned sine die. As the defendants were not paying the amount in cash the informations would not be dismissed at once. The case against Zalloum was withdrawn at onco, and the cases against the others would be dismissed when the sum agreed on was paid. •Tames Crawford, licenseee of the Imperial Hotel, was charged with selling or allowing to be sold to Mary Browett, a child under 13 years of age, a bottle of beer to be consumed off the premises. Mr. Gully prosecuted, and Mr. Jellicoe appeared for the defendant. The fact that the liquor was sold to the child was admitted, and the case ( argued upon the law points. Mr. Jellicoe, for the defence, contended that the liquor beiug sold without defendant's knowledge he could not, in law, be held responsible. On the other hand. Mr. Gully argued that the law said " no ** liquor should be sold to a person under 13/ years of age, and it did not matter whether

it was sold with or without the licensee's personal knowledge. If it was sold at all, it was an offence. His Worship held with Mr. Gully's contention that the law was absolutely prohibitory in regard to the sale of liquor to a person under 13 years of age to be consumed off the premises, and that, therefore, although the licensee, as in this case, might be quite ignorant of the sale, still he was liable for it. He, ; therefore, fined the defendant 40s with costs. As the case is^one of considerable importance, his Worship allowed leave to appeal. No endorsement was made on the license. George Y. Dennis, licensee of the Waverley Hotel, Newtown, was then charged with selling liquor to be consumed off the premises to Ada Stockbridge, a girl of 13 years of age. After calling several witnesses Mr. Gully said he could not press the case, and it was accordingly dismissed. A similar case against F. J. Preston, of the Newtown Hotel, was withdrawn. Percival W. Emeny was sued by Edith Wilson for the maintenance of her illegitimate child. Mr. Wilford appeared for the applicant and Mr. Skerrett for the defendant. An order for 4s per week was made. (Before Messrs. O'Connor, M'llroyd, O'Meara, and M'Ardle, Justices.) Two first offenders received the usual treatment. George Ashley, charged with stealing a quantity of fancy goods, valued at £4, the property of Frederick March, was remanded till Monday. William Frederick Morris, a youth of 16 or 17 years of age, was charged with a criminal assault upon his sister, a child not qnite 10 years of age. The evidence showed that several of the children of the family, including the accused and his sister, slept together. Accused simply denied being guilty of the crime, and was committed for trial. Three women named Madam Meller, Clara Sinclair, and Clara Thompson, charged on separate informations with undertaking to' tell fortunes, had their cases adjourned until the Stipendiary Magistrate is able to deal with them.^ A charge against Mrs. Davis of stealiug two law books, valued at £5, the property of Thos. U. Mabin, was dismissed, there being no appearance of the prosecutor. Mr. Skerrett, who appeared for Mrs. Davis, explained that the whole charge *ias utterly without foundation, the books being left at Mrs. Davis's boarding-house by Mabin. The Coroner is to conduct au inquest at the Porirua Asylum to-morrow on the body of a late patient named Margaret Golder, aged 44. This afternoon the Coroner is holding an inquest on the body of John M'Keown, who was found dead on the Kaiwarra road yesterday. At last night's meeting of the Seamen's Federated Union a discussion took place as to an amendment in the constitution of the Union to bring it into conformity with the rules and regulations under the Conciliation and Arbitration ,Act. The matter was eventually left over for further consideration. The Social Committee reported very satisfactory progress in connection with the Union s first annual ball next month. The second point raised by Mr. Gully yesterday afternoon, in relation to the Brunner mine diasster claims, was in the case of Anderson v. the Greymouth-Point Elizabeth Railna}' and Coal Company, the first of a series ol cases governed by similar circumstances. He moved to set aside the writ on the ground that the capacity in which the plaintiff sued was not sufficiently disclosed — that it should have been shown that plaintiff was suing as the personal representative of the deceased, or on behalf of the parties entitled to compensation. The Chief Justice, however, dismissed the motion without calling on Mr. Jellicoe to reply, and allowed £10 10s costs. Other law points are still pending. An interesting question of law was determined by the Stipendiary Magistrate yesterday in the case ot the Commercial Agency v. Dealy, and .1 cross action Dealy v the Commercial Agency and Emeny. The mam 1 point in dispute between the parties was as j to the right of a contractor to remove old material in the course of alterations to a, building, the Magistrate holding that the contractor had no such rigat, the chattels severed from the building remaining the property of the building-owner. The first action was a claim of £23 for work done, which was admitted by the defendant, who counterclaimed in the second action for £13, the value of materials taken away by the contractor, and paid £10 into Court in satisfaction of the claim in the first action. Judgment was given for the plaintiff in the first action for the £23 claimed, and admitted by the defendant, and for the plaintiff in the cross action for £7, the value of the material taken by the contractor. Mr. Youug appeared for the Commercial Agency, and Mr. Treadwell for Dealy. A statement of the receipts and expenditure of the Consolidated Fund for the quarter endcl the 30tli June shows the amoimfc of the fund to be £949,407 9s s']. The ordinary revenue account amounts to £820,038 ]5s 9d, and is made up as follows :— Ordinary revenue account, cash £122,033 14s 4d ; advances, £294,005 Is 5d • and investments, £409,400. The State forests account totals £13,425 9s 4d, made up of— Cash, £12,275 9s 4d ; and advances, £1150. The accounts of local bodies show— Cash, £17,797 5s 8d; advances, £5315 12s 3d. The deposit account is made up of £63,791 14s9d in cash and £23,098 11s 8d in advances. The Public Works Fund totals £142,6^,5 17s 7d, and" is 1 composed of £28,317 14s 5d in cash and £114,338 3s 2d in advances. The Land for Settlements account shows— Cash, £17,262 8s 7d ; advances, £1491 5s 7d; total, £18,753 14s 2d. The Lands Improvement account amounts to £119 627 2s 4d, made up of— Cash, £5S 3 611 15s 7d • advances, £36,015 6s- 9d ; investments, £25,000. These, together with other accounts show a total of £1,536,143 11s lOd, o£ which £287,985 Is is in cash, £514,958 10s lOd in advances, and £733,200 in investments. The box plau for the Matsa Vaudeville Company's season, which commences at the Opera House on Monday, was opened at Holliday's to-day. Owing to the very large quantity of goods to be i oftorod, Messrs. G. Thomas & Co have ™ j l \ n ? ceßaa *y to alter tlie place of Wednesday s sale of hardware, &0., from the irnit Market, Harris-street, to Thomas's Jiaii, Oustomhouse-quay. Messrs. Francis Sidey& Co. sell by auction to-morrow, in their now rooms, MannersStreet, furniture, £c. ! , The principal attraction in Cuba-street ]ust now 18 Mr. C. Smith's great clearing sale. Every article in the Bhop has been . reduced from 25 to 75 per cent. The followuig are a few quotations :— Ladies toques, ii 0 ™ ls 5 children's beaver hats, from Is 6d; children s granny bonnets, from ls ; ladies' S? r °i n Y m 6d ; ladi °s' muslin aprons, from od ; ladies corsets, from ls ; ladies' trimmed bometa from 2s lid; ladies' jackets, from 5s lid ; ladies' dressing jackets, from 5s lid; ladios mackintoshes, from 5s lid; ladies' u'sters, 2s lid ; ladies' costumes, half-price. Baskets lull of remnants almost given away at C. Smith's, tho Cash Draper, Cuba-street. — Advt.