WATERSIDERS CHARGED

Evening Star, Issue 26001, 16 January 1947, Page 6

WATERSIDERS CHARGED

EXTENSIVE PILLAGING ALLEGED CONSTABLE'S DISCOVERY —=— ' , / Charges of extensive pillaging from a vessel lying at . the ltattray ■ street wharf last month were preferred against three waterside workers and a ship’s greaser in the Police Court this morning. • The accused were Edward dames Calder (44},-Phillip James Rumble (31), John Charles McQuarrie (30.), all watersiders, and Raymond Noel Morgan (29) ,' and they were jointly charged with having oil'December 7 stolen 29 bolts of material valued at £362. the ■ property oh the Union (steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd.. • ‘ (Mr J. D. Willis, S.Mi, was on the bench, Chief-detective T. Y. Hall prosecuted, and Mr C. J. L. White appeared for all the accused. Renlery Nicholson Scarlett, warehouse manager, Wellington, gave evidence, regarding a case of 33 pieces of material shipped by his firm to Dunedin by the Waipahi. These pieces comprised jersey silk and fibre glass, and the inscription “Silk Frock House, Dunedin,” had .been written on one of the parcels’by an assistant in Wellington. Witness * described the method adopted by his firm in regard to “ packing slips,” and identified certain bolts of material produced in court as having formed part- oL the consignment. The case in winch the material had been shipped had been securely wired when it left the warehouse. , : Eric Pickering Flaws, departmental manager, - Wellington, gave evidence along similar lines in respect of a consignment of goods by bis firm by the Waipahi to Dunedin. UNLIGHTED CAR. James George Waites, formerly third officer on the Waipahi, described the probedure of receiving, and stowing' cargo at Wellington, and its discharge at Dunedin. Witness went on to say that about 10.25 ip.m. on December 7 he had been told something which caused him to ‘go on to the wharf. Constable O’Sullivan was there,' and witness also saw a motor car parked near the end of the wharf near the stern iff-the ship, and close to the_ firemen’s quarters. There were no lights on (the car. Witness saw some, rolls of material in the car. There were .also a- stack, of and some _ loose'material bv the rail of the ship opposite where the car was standing. Witness then telephoned the Central Police Station, after...which he returned to the ship and, in company with other officers, made an examination of the hatches, and found them closed. The accused, Morgan, who was a donkeyman, was on the ship, also McQuarrie and Rumble,, who were waterside workers. This was about midnight, and these'men were drinking tea , in the firemen’s mess rom, McQuarrie and Rumble being the only non-members ;of the crew on board.

An examination of thp No. 3 ,and No. 4 hatches with Detective Russell, said witness, revealed no evidence of pillage. One the Tuesday . following the arrival of the vessel a case was found from which boards had been removed. Other cases were on top of this. The boards of another case had been sprung. A package of material had previously been found in the after ■peak,, which was .used as a store .room by the .crew. . •' To Mr White: It would:be impossible for the cases to be deliberately broken- in transit, "there- being a considerable quantity of cargo on top of them; ; The pillaging; could Have been done at Wellington. There had been a; watchman only on duty for three or . four hours prior to the discovery of the goods. WHAT CONSTABLE SAW. . Constable Cornelius T. O’Sullivan described how he had seen the unlighted car on the wharf at 10.10 p.m. He saw . two men near the car, and three or more others on fcher stern of the, ship. The men on the-ship were handing-parcels to those on'the wharf, who, in turn, were placing them in the car. Witness shone a. torch, whereupon the men on the wharf jumped on to the ship and those ’ previously there dispersed, two ,of them crawling on hands, and knees.’ Later, two men jumped from the ship to the wharf. The car was an- Erskine sedan,.license number' 151,155. ..Witness counted 11 bolts of material in the-car, in which; he found; two bottles. ■ ; ' ;; 1 To Mr White :' Witness could'not-say exactly how many men were present when he discovered them; there would probably be five or sixi, , . / . Joseph Thomas Horton and Cecil Davie Gunn, business managers, identified certain of the goods produced gs , being consigned to their respective firms, and Hugh Sutherland Valentine, claims clerk for the shipping company, •also gave formal evidence. ; ", . Sergeant, James Wilson deposed that the accused Calder had come; to the Police Station at, 10:40 p.m. on. December?, and reported that his motor, car. an Erskine No. 151,155 had been stolen from where it had been parked in front of his home in Anderson’s Bay road. Calder had first stated that he had not missed the car until he went to put it away for the night, but subsequently amended this to .6.45 p.m. Asked why he had not reported the matter earlier, (Calder had said that he had been walking around the streets in South Dunedin trying to locate the car. He further stated that he had not been near tl;e-wharf since- he had knocked off the ■ previous afternoon. (When Calder overheard the watchhouse keeper .telling witness of the finding of the car near, the Waipahi, he had remarked: M.J’.-wSrk On that boat; -I’m hatchman 'on N 0.3 hatch. -■. It’s funny the car- should be down' there.” He added that- approximately a dozen of his fellow-workers lived within a quarter of a mile. pf his home, but he was not aware of' 1 any who could drive. Calder,. said witness, appeared to bo confused as to the time he had first missed his. car.

(Proceeding.)