HOUSEBREAKING.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 125, 25 November 1908, Page 8

HOUSEBREAKING.

ALLEGED WHOLESALE BUR- ! GLARY. A SERIES OF FIFTEEN CHARGES. 1 Fifteen charges of breaking and entering and theft were preferred against a young man, Milford William Burgess, alias John Williams, at the Police Court to-day. Mr W. G. Riadell, S.M., was on the bench. Chief-detective M'Grath appeared for the prosecution. JLhe occu- , piers of places visited, the dates, and the amount of each theft are as ioilow : john Mitchell, Wellington, 19th October, jewellery, etc. , valued at £6 ss ; W. E. Williams, Brooklyn, on 28th September, ' jewellery and money valued at £14 2s 6d ; John Olive Shorlam, Wellington, on 28th September, jewellery and money valued at £46 10s; Percy Stacey, Lower Hutt, on 10th October, jewellery and money valued at £32 7s 6d; Thomas Bryant, Wellington, on 24th September, jewellery, etc., valued at £3 ss; Martha Mason, Wellington, on 22nd September, jewellery valued at £6 10s; Francis Johnson, Wellington, on 24th Septem- ' t bar, jewellery valued at £7 ss; Patrick ■ J. Moran, Island Bay, on' 21st October, jewellery, etc., valued at £10 17s 6d ; Edward Willis, Wellington, on Bth October, money and jewellery valued at £17 10s ; Athol William Waters, Wellington, on 16th October, jewellery, etc., valued at £2 3s ; Wm. Wilson, Welling- , ton, on 26th October, jewellery, etc., .valued at £16 13s : Francis Henry Coate, Wellington, on 25th September, jewellery and money vaiued at £17 ; Henry George Wilton, Upper iiutt, on 26th Octobe*, jewellery and money valued at £8; Charles Burgess Mann, Karori, on 2oth October, jewellery and money valued at £7 10s; John William Bell, Brooklyn, on 19th October, jewellery and money valued at £7 17s 6d. The total amount I involved is over £200. Arthur Edwin Andrews, acting-detec- j tive, stated that on 30th October, in company with Detective Lewis, he saw accused leave for Sydney by the Moe- j 1 raid. On 3rd November accused was ar- j rested in Sydney, and on the 12th of j the same month he saw Burgess at the ; Darlinghurst Gaol, Sydney. Accused ' was charged at the Water) Police Court, Sydney, with five charges of housebreak- ' ing and theft, and committed to Welling- ' ton, whither witness escorted him. The ' jewellery mentioned in the charges was produced at the court at Sydney, and . included some of the jewellery now produced. While in the dock at Sydney accused called witnesb over to the dock and --said, " I admit that the jewellery was fpund on me, and I'll tell you all about it on the way back to Wellington. I got it from another man. I have been having a ' _ crook ' time here, and I'm glad that you have come for me, as I 1 want to get back and get this off my mind." On reaching Wellington accused told him, amongst other things, that the night before he left for Sydney he met a man who asked him if he wpuld sell some stuff for him in Sydney. Accused agreed to do so, and the man gave him the jewellery, telling him it was "crook." Witness knew the man referred to ; there was a warrant out for his arrest for wife desertion, but it was still unexecuted. This man, who is well ftnown in Wellington, and known also to accused, to witness's knowledge had not been in kveamgtorl sine© January last The chisel produced was found among the property of Burgess, who admitted that it was his property, and said he was a carpenter by trade. Various 'windows of the houses entered bore 1 marks corresponding to the width of the chisel. ( A. G. Quartermain, expert, fingerprint branch of the Police Department, giving evidence on the eighth charge, stated that a finger-print on a bottle (produced) was identical with the impression of accused's right thumb. On the eighth count — the offence at Island Bay — after the evidence accused pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. The police this afternoon decided to withdraw three of tho charges in respect to the alleged thefts from the premises of Messrs. Shorland, Mason and Johnson.

A message received by Mr. G. H. Scales states that merino and crossbred have advanced 10 per cent., and coarse crossbred 15 per cent. The Hon. R. M'Nab expects to leave for the South on Monday next. He is now busily engaged -finishing up departmental and private business. Yesterday he received a telegram from his ' supporters at Gore regretting his defeat, and expressing the hope that he would not leave political life. He sent* Ihe following reply : "Convey to those who were present my tKanks for the kind ' expression of opinion in regard to myself personally and in regard to my future prospects I shall always remember my thirteen and a half years' connection with the Mataura electorate and the many friends I have made throughout that period, and shall take care that the abrupt termination of the relationship of members shall not break any friendships that have been created during that period. It is my earnest wish that in regard to the future, all electors of Mataura should join together and assist the new member in the onerous duties cast upon him, and not to let any soreness exist in the hour of defeat or stand in the way of goo;l work being done for the Malaura electorate by the representative of the people. What the future has in store for myself time will only show." A sale of Dutch bulbs will be held tomorrow aitemoon by Messrs. A. L. Wilson and Co. It is pointed out that the ixias, Tritonias, Spanish iris, apartixu will flower

Mr. J. A. Hanan, M.P. for Invercargill, arrived from the South to-day. Mr. W. Pryor, secretary of the Employers' Federation, who has been conducting the cases for the employers regarding the Otira tunnel and Blackball Coal Company's disputes, returned to Wellington this morning. This morning Mr. Martin Beck, of Wellington, received a letter from Bahia Blanca, in the Argentine, giving particulars of the death of his younger brother, Mr. Albert Beck, in that district about threo months ago. The writer states that tho deceased, who was manager for Mr. WiJHam Palmer, a Victorian settler in the Argentine, was travelling by train when he fell between two of the carriages and was killed instantly. Mr. Beck was much thought of by Mr. Palmer, who has erected a headstone oh the grave. The unfortunate tram conductor, Wm. Levers, who had his leg cut off by a tramcar on Monday evening, is reported to be making satisfactory progress towards recovery. Elections of delegates to the Wellington Hospital Board and the Wellington and Wairarapa Charitable Aid Board took place to-day. For the Wellington Hospital Board, Mr. C. J. Crawford, Mayor of Miramar, was elected by the Onslow, Karori, Eastbourne, and Miramar Borough Councils. Mr. A. Coles (Petone) was re-elected to represent the Onslow, Karori, Eastbourne, Miramar, Petone, and Lower Hutt Borough Councils on the Wellington and Wairarap^ Charitable Aid Boards. The representatives of the Hutt County Council, Horowhenua County Council, and the Levin Borough Council elected Mr. R. C. Kirk to represent them on the Charitable Aid Board. Mr. Galloway was appointed representative of the Hult County Council, arid Mr. J. W. M'Ewan (of the Petone and Hutt Councils) on the Hospital Board. j Nurse — "Yes, we Kept you alive for ' three weeks 011 milk punches and brandy." Patient— "Just my luck; and 1 was unconscious all that time."