MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 176, 12 July 1911, Page 5

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

NAPIER. (Before Mr. S. E. McCarthy, S.M ) WEDNESDAY, JULY 12th. ! ALLEGED OPIUM SMOKING. Gum. Say Fun, and Fong Tong,, were charged this morning with having opium in their possession: suitable for smoking. Mr. Brabazon appeared for the: police, and Mr. Dolan for the ac-I cused. > Sergeant Cummings, sworn, de-! posed that on July Ist (Saturday); at about 10.20 p.m. he searched the; premises of Fong Tong in Dickens' street for opium, saw him and asked if he were the occupier of the premises. Fong Tong said “Yes,”; and declared he had no opium. Witness said he was going to search, and Fong said lie could do so. Acting-Detective Mason. Con-; stables Hendry and Rosanoski were; all present, and searched. Witness i found in Fong Tong’s bedroom’ “opium seconds” (produced) neat-j ly wrapped up in oil cloth. Both! Gum and Fong, who slept in the! same room, denied owning the; opium. Opium was found in every; room. Two curious looking old| pipes (produced) were found by Mason, also the lamps and other; articles. In some clothes claimed; by Say Fun they found a tin of: opium suitable for smoking. Gum:

! got excited and said someone must ■ have been wearing them. ! To Mr. Brabazon : The coat was la small one. Say Fun admitted I owning the pipes. i To Mr. Dolan : Got two separate ! pieces of opium. Saw opium taken out of Gum’s coat. The pipes were found by Acting-Detective Mason in a little cupboard behind the laundry room.! None of the three Chinamen had opium on their person. "When th’e police entered they were sitting round the stove, and all denied: owning the opium. Witness knew something about opium, and had seen it smoked. The specimens: produced were suitable for smoking. Witness explained the! method adopted by the Chinamen when smoking. Mr. Dolan asked if lhe opium; produced were not treacle. Wit-, ness said it was not. Mr. Dolan! smelled the substance, and said it was like burnt sugar. ; Michael Mason, Acting-Detective; in Napier, deposed that at 10.15 on! July Ist he in company with other!

police officials made a raid on Fong Tong’s premises. Evidence similar to that already given by Sergeant Cummings was elicited. To Mr. Dolan: The tin containing the liquid opium was found by Constable Hendry. Witness was present. He had seen opium smoked several times, but had not seen the process continued very long. Witness ' would that the liquid was opium, and suitable for’smoking. Had seen opium smoked. Did not know the process for converting opium ‘seconds’ into good smokeable opium. One of the Chinamen were found smoking, and no opium was found on Say. Gum admitted that he owned the opium, and on showing him the ash he called it “ opium seconds.” Constable Rosanoski deposed that he assisted in raiding the premises. In the back room of the house witness found an opium pipe hid away among clothes. Saw Dete Mason take from some clothes on the wall opium seconds. Saw Sergeant Cummings and Constable Hendry make similar discoveries. To Mr. Dolan : Only knew from hearsay whether the opium was suitable for smoking or not. Constable Hendry corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. To Mr. Dolan: Say Fun said that

the substance in the tin was opium, and had been there a long time. Did not say his heart was weak and he used opium for that purpose. This closed the case for the prosecution. Mr. Dolan stated that a fine of £5O could be inflicted for this offence. The evidence of Sergeant Cummings was purely unscientific. The acting-detective’s evidence was not worth much. The other constables knew nothing about, opiumsmoking. Such evidence was not sufficient to put the accused people on their defence. His Worship: I think there is a case. Fong Tong, after blowing out a match, deposed that he had lived, in Dickens street three years. Say! Fun had only lived there a week. Say Fun came from Hastings. Had no opium, and did not smoke it. Did not know whether Say Fun had any. A man who used to work with witness left the opium pipes. Never knew there was opium in the house. To Mr. Brabazon : There were no other Chinamen besides Gun living in his house. He only knew the pipes belonged to Ah King, who had gone to China, after the police found them.

Gum, sworn, deposed he worked in the laundry in Dickens street, and had been there about one year. Witness never smoked opium, and had seen no one else smoking opium. The coat in which the ash was found belonged to witness. He put it on the wall, and had not used it since. Did not know there was opium under the oilcloth. To Mr. Brabazon: There were two coats in each room. He owned one, but did not know who owned the other. Witness told the police that only one coat belonged to him. To his Worship: Say Fun was with witness for a week, and saw him every day. Had never seen him smoking opium. Say Fun, of Hastings, stayed a week with Fong Tong. He had been in gaol for three months for opium smoking. This was about 16 months ago. The opium produced belonged to witness. He did not smoke it: he had knocked itolf. Fle nsed it for his heart, and then only by putting it into water and drinking it. The substance produced was ash, not seconds, and was no good for smoking. The sticks produced were not suitable for smoking. Witness (biting a piece in half): “It is not opium; it is only ash.” This closed the case for the defence. Mr. Dolan said that possession must be an exclusive and not a mixed one. Each defendant mustbe proved knowingly to be in possession of opium.

His Worship said that opium waa found in every room and in some clothes. When asked to whom it belonged, the accused told the police one thing, and now in the witness box another. The story that a confirmed opium smoker had taken no opium, and had not been seen smoking by the men with whom he lived, was incredible. He would convict Say Fun and fine him £5O, and 7/6 costs, in default three months’ imprisonment. The other two defendants were each fined £lO, and 7/6 costs, in default one month’s imprisonment. Hist Worship pointed out that the fines were inflicted for unlawfully having opium in their possession, and asno further evidence could be given, of smoking it, the other charges would be withdrawn. The curious medley of instruments suitable for opium smoking were confiscated. Mr. Dolan notified his intention to apply for prohibition, as the accused had not been given the option of trial by jury.

KEEPING A GAMING HOUSE. A Chinaman named Ah Oug, was charged under Section 4 of the “Gaming Act. 1908” with keeping a common gamin ghouse. Inspector Dwyer appeared forth©; police and Mr. Dolan for the defence. The Inspector said the house was. situated at the corner of Dalton and Dickens streets. It had apparently been specially prepared for gam- . ing purposes. A watch had been ; kept on the place and as a result ChinameiF were seen to be gathered there playing some times up to ! 5 o’clock in the morning. On Sunday night last, at 7.30, a raid, headI p d by Acting-Detective Mason, accompanied by Sergeant Cumming 1 and a number of policemen, was ! made on the place, which was sur--1 rounded and an entry effected. I In his evidence the detective exi plained that he had seen six or ; seven Chinamen seated round a ! table gambling with dice. Silver ; was on the table. The Chinamen ; made a grab for what was on the : table,b ut dominoes, counters and Chinese money were secured by the , police and one dice was taken from ; a Chinaman’s hand. After searching the Chinamen, ; they found £2B/7/o|, mostly in small silver on their persons.