SUPREME COURT.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 127, 25 November 1904, Page 6

SUPREME COURT.

CRIMINAL SITTINGS. (Before his Honour Mr. Justice Cooper.) CHARGE OF PERJURY. The jury whicb heard the case of Thos. Wilmot Johnson, a gunner in the Royal New Zealand Artillery, charged with having committed perjury in an affiliation ca^e, was unable to agree. After having been locked up for nearly seven hours yesterday, his Honour sent for the jury, and as there appealed no chance of agreement- discharged - them. A -new trial was granted for Monday next. CHARGE OF SHEEP STEALING. James Richard Williams and Benjamin Thos. Willianis surrendered to their bail on an indictment charging them with having, on the 26th July, stolen thirtythree ewes and two rams, at Kaiwahrai, near Featherston. Mr. Skerrett appeared for Ja-s. Williams and Mr. Pownall for Benjamin Williams, both of whom pleaded Not Guilty. Tho Crown Prosecutor (Mr. Myers), in opening the case for the Crown, said the property of Mr. Fuge, whose sheep were alleged to have been stolen, adjoined the property of the prisoner Jas. Williams, while the property of t':o prisoner Benjamin Williams' was tonic eight mil^ away. On the 28th July, Air. Fuge ought to have had about 407 sheep iv the paddock ndjoining J. Williams, who was mustering. On that same day between thirty and forty ewes in lamb were removed from J. Williams's place, towards nightfall, and taken in the direction of Benjamin Williams's place. On the 29th, Mr. Fuge found he was from thirty to forty sheep short, and found them at Benjamin Williams's place. The Crown suggested that these were the sheep which had been driven from James's to Benjamin's place on the 26th, and that the brands were known at any rate to Jas. Williams. Cross-examined by Mr. Skerrett, the prosecutor, Robert W. Fuge, admitted that fences between his land and that of James Williams were in a defective state, J and it was practically impossible to re- j pair them in winter, owing to the I swampy nature of some of the ground. ! He denied having stated, when he went to Benjamin Williams's place on the 31st July, that he had nine sheep too many, or having said : " You take them, Jim, and we'll call it square." His sheep had been branded with a paint brand when the wool was long, and had been out in the paddock for four months. Some of the sheep had other brands, which were indistinct. Archibald luge, son of the prosecutor, said that his father's sheep used to get on Williams's land, owing to defective fences. The case had not concluded when the Court rose for the day. TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. Mr. Skerrett, in opening the defence for Jas. Williams, urged that the brands on Fugc's sheep were not distinguishable, and that there was ample room for honest mistake. Tho samo colour of brand was on both Fuge's and Williams's sheep, and they could not have conditions more likely to cause confusion and honest mistake. He also made a point of the fact that two months elapsed beforo the informations were laid, and that during the whole of that time the sheep belonging to Fuge and Jas. Williams were practically running in common. If prisoners had intended to steal these sheep, it was not reasonable to suppose that they would have been kept separate in a front paddock, where they could easily be observed. Tho removal of these sheep by Benjamin Williams was, he urged, an unfortunate mistake, and not in the least degree a criminal act. Mr. Pownall, on behalf of Benjamin Williams, urged that the sheep were removed from his brother's property to his own for the purpose of strengthening his own, not for submission to a dealer. Fuge knew where the sheep were going, and when they arrived they were put in a front paddock, where they could easily be seen. A i notice in another column conveys an intimation that copies of Captain Jackson Barry's book dealing with the history of the Australian Colonies and New Zealand can now be obtained at all booksellers. The work contains the interesting reminiscences of Captain Barry, who has been three-quarters of a century in the colonies, and there are notes upon leading colonists. The book is illustrated with reproductions of photographs. Messrs. Seaton and Sladden are making good progress with the survey of the block of land at Trentham which the Wellington Racing Club has purchased for the purposes of a racecourse. When the firm has completed the work the -club will call for .tenders for clearing the ground and" preparing it for the various buildings which are to be erected. The. club hopes to be able to hold its first meeting on the "new course on Anniversary Day, 1906. [ "A Trip Through the Model Factory of the World," the subject of an interesting illustrated lecture in connection with the National Cash Register business, is to be reheated in Victoria Hall this evening. The lecture is free. The Dresden Company advertise Bohm oianoß in this issue.