PACKING OF WOOL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 77, 13 March 1934, Page 7

PACKING OF WOOL

Sequel to Timaru Incident FARMER ON FRAUD CHARGE ! By Telegraph—Press Association TIMARU, March 12. A case of considerable interest to sheep-fanners and. stock and station agency firms was heard in i the Magistrate’s Cpurt to-day, I when John Simmons, a fanner, of I Makikihi, was charged that on or | about February 7 with intent to ; defraud by false pretences and by j representation that the wool in 13 I bales branded SS, which actually ' contained several classes of wool, was halfbred ewe wool, which rep- | resentation was known to be false i and made to certain prospective ’ buyers with fraudulent intent to induce buyer.. to act upon it. A son of tho accused gave lengthy evidence as to the method employed in handling the sheep and the disposal of the wool after shearing, asserting that all hands in the shed, including his father., helped to place the wool in the packs. In the course of cross-examination be stated that it was possible that some inferior wool got into the packs, but he could not say that this had been done deliberately. He denied making a statement to an agent of the firm which handled the wool that his father had done the packing. The Magistrate, Mr C. R. OrrI Walker, asked witness if, as it was alj leged that the fine wool was on the outj side pf tho bales and the coarse wool ; was in the centre, could this have hap- : pened accidentally? Witness: It may have. | Would this not have had to be done j purposely by some one?—l could not I say that it had been done deliberately, j It would have been a strange coinj cidence for such a thing to have hap- | pened in the case of 13 bales?—Yes. [ Frederick Cecil May, who was in charge of the auction wool department of the 0.F.C.A., said that the accused had 39 bales in the February sale. He saw a number of the bales opened up on the first day that the buyers arrived. There was finer wool on tho top and bottom of 13 bales. There was about a foot of fine wool at each end, that in the centre being coarser wool, chiefly crossbred and partly threequarter bred. There was a decided difference in the value of the w'Ooi. The finer wool he valued at about 21d and the coarser wool he valued at 9d to lOd. Quite half the w'ool in the packs was inferior wool. When he saw the packs the inferior wool was wholly hidden, and there appeared to be a dividing line, Edwin Milnes, wool buyer, of Christchurch, said that when valuing the wool in the C.F.C.A. stores prior to the sale another buyer called attention to the fact that the wool in the centre of the bales in one lot was not equal to the wool displayed on the outside. Witness added that, not being satisfied that the centres of the bales were equal to the ends, he climbed on top of the bales and cut several, so that the insides could be examined. He found the wool on the inside was of lower quality than outside. He had already examined the accused's lot, which had .shown nothing but fine wool. When valuing he had gone deeper into the I bale than the other buyers and found i some of the wool of low quality. Wit ness valued the fine woo? at 21 Id. and the coarse wool at 9Jd, There was every possibility that the wool would have been purchased on the basis of the better wool displayed. Accused was committed for trial at the next session of the Supreme Court, at Timaru, bail being in a personal security of £lOO.