Page 4 Advertisements Column 3

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXLVI, Issue 4286, 22 July 1899, Page 4

So voters with children, brothers, or ' fcitnds, ] Think we'l ero you go the poll, Then show very plain that you look with disdain On the gospel according to " Paul." Normanby. ttf <Ja-iTS« to Sh.ow-" » " The Banjo," in the Australasian Pastora-, lists Review. The town of Kiley's Grossing was not exactly a happy hunting ground for lawyers. The surrounding country was rugged and mountainous, the soil was , poor, and the inhabitants of the district 1 had plenty of ways of getting rid of their money without- spending it in court. Thus it came that for many years ol 1 Considine -was the sole representative of his profession in the town. Like most country attorneys, lie had forgotten what little law he ever knew," and, as his brand of law dated back to the very early days, he recognised that it would be a hopelesß struggle to try and catch up with all the modern improvements. He just plodded along the best way that lie could with the aid of a library consisting of a copy of tho Crown Land Acts, the " Miners' Handbook," and an aged, mouse-eaten volume called " Bam on Facts," that he had picked up cheap at a sale on one of his (visits to Sydney. He was an honorable old fellow, and people trusted him implicitly, and if he did now and then overlook a defect in the title to a piece of landwell, no one ever discovered it, as on the next dealing the title always came back to him again, and was, of course, duly inj vestigated and accepted. But it was in I court that he shone particularly. He always appeared before the Police Magistrate who visited Kiley's once a month. This magistrate had originally > been a country storekeeper, and had been given this judicial position as a reward for political services. He knew less law than old Gonsidine, but he was a fine, big, fat man, with a lot of dignity, and the simple country folk considered him a perfect champion of a magistrate. The fact was that he and old Gonsidine knew every man. woman, and child in the district ; they knew who could be relied on to tell the truth and whose ways were crooked and devious, and between them 'they dispensed a very fair brand of rough justice. If any one came forward with an unjust claim, old Oonsidine had one great case that he was supposed to have discovered in " Bam on Fact," and which was dragged in to settle all sorts of points. This, as quoted by old Considine, was " the one great case Dunn v. Dockerty — the 'orse outside the 'ouse. " What the 'orse did to the 'ouse or vice versa no one ever knew ; doubt 3 have been freely expressed whether there ever was such a case at all, and certainly, if it covered all the ground that old Considine stretched it over, it was a wonderful decision. However, genuine or not, whenever a swindle seemed likely to succeed, old Considine would rise to his feet and urbanely inform the bench that under the " well-known case of Dunn and Dockerty — case that your worship of course knows — case of the 'orse outside the 'ouse," this claim must fail ; "and fail it accordingly did, to the promotion of justice and honesty. This satisfactory state of things had gone on for years, and might be going on yet only for the arrival at Kiley's of a young lawyer from Sydney, a terrible fellow, foil of legal lore ; he slept with digests and law reports; he openly ridiculed old Considine's opinions.' He promoted discord and quarrels, with the result that on the first court day after his arrival there was quite a iittlecrop of cases, with a lawyer* on each side— an unprecedented thing in the annals of each Kiley's Grossing. In olden days one side or other had gone to old Considine, and if he found that the man who came to him was in the wrong, he made him settle the case. If he was in the right, he promised to secure him the verdict, which he always did with the assistance of ' Bam on Facts ' and the 'orse outside the 'ouse." Now, however, all was changed. The new man struggled into court with an armful of books that simply struck terror to the heart i of the P.M. as he took his seat on the bench. All the idle men of the district came into court to see how the old man would hold his own with the new arrival. It should be explained that the bush people look on a law case as a mere trial of wits between the lawyers and the witnesses and the bench, and the lawyer who can insult his. opponent most in a given time is always the best in their eyes. They never take much notice of who wins the case, as that is supposed to rest on the decision o£ that foul fiend, the law, whose vagaries no man may control or tmder- , stand. So, when the young lawyer got up and said he appeared for the plaintiff in the first case, and old Considine appeared for the defendant, there was a pleased sigh in court, and the audience sat back contentedly on their hard benches to view the forensic battle. This case 'was simple enough. A calf belonging to the widow O'Brien had strayed into Mns Hafferty's back yard and eaten a lot of washing off the line. There was ample The calf had been seen by several people to run out of the yard with a half-svmllowed shirt hanging out of its mouth. There was absolutely no defence, and in the old days the case would have bee.v settled by payment of a few shillings, but here the young lawyer claimed damages for trespass to reality, damages for trover aud conversion of personality, damages for aetinue, and a lot of other terrible things that no one had ever heard of. Ho had law books to back it all up, too. He opened the case in style, stating his authorities and defying his learned friend to contradict him, while the old P.M. shuffled uneasy on thebench, and the reputation of old Considine in Kiley's Crossing hung trembling in the balance. When the old man rose to speak he played a bold strokp. He said, patronisingly, that Jiis youthful friend had, no doubt, stated the law correctly, but he seemed to h&ve overlooked one little thing. When he w as more experienced he would no doubt lie more wary. (Sensation in court.) He relied upon a plea which his young friei id no doubt overlooked, and that was a plea of "cause to show." "I rely upon that plea," he said, "and of course you x Worship knows the effect of that plea." Then he sat down amid the ill-suppre' jsed admiration of the audience. The yo nng lawyer, confronted with this extraordi nary manoeuvre, simply raged furiously.. He asserted (which is quite true) that 1 there is no such plea known to the law « it this or any other country as an absolute defence to a claim for a calf eating washing off a line, or any other claim, for that matter. He was proceeding to expound the law relating to trespass when tfie older man interrupted him. " M .y learned friend says that he never heard .of such a defence," he said, pityingly. "It hink that I need hardly remind your Won ship that that very plea was successfully raised as a defence in the well-known case iof Dunn v. Dockerty, the case of the 'orset outside of the 'ouse." " Yes," said the Branch, anxious to display his legal kne jv&ledge, " that ccasee — cr — is reported in 'Piaai on Facts,' isn't it?" "Well, it ie n? .enti oned there your Worship," said the 0 Id m an, " and I don't think that even mj "/oun(; friend's assurance will lead him sc far as to question so old and well-affirmed a decision 1 " But his young friend's assurance did lead him that far, in faot, a good deal further. He quoted decisions by the score on every conceivable point but after at least balf-an-hour of spirited! talk, the bench pityingly informed him that he had not quoted any cases bearing on the plea of " cause to show," and founc a verdict for the defendant. The young man jgave notice of appeal and of prohi 1 bitions and so forth r but his prestige wa< gone in Kiley's. The audience filed out of court, fceeb 1 expressing the opinion that he was " 2 regular fool of a bloke; old Considim stood him on his head proper with thi plea of ' cause to show,' and so help mi 1 goodness, he'd never even heard of it !" WALL PAPEBS ! 1 WALL PAPEBS I ! Just Landed 6 bales Wall Papers. Thest . i papers are specially imported direct fron the manufacturers. A very fine variety o beautiful shades in plain tints. The selec i- tion of new and fashionable designs ii sanitaries and gold is really splendid. A j these papers are bought for cash they wil be sold for cash at greatly reduced price to reduce the stock, Prices from 4tl to B 3 Gdroll. luspection invited. —F.J WmoLEi High street, Uawera.