THE COURTS.

Lake County Press, Issue 1068, 11 June 1903, Page 4

THE COURTS.

MAGISTRATES COURT, QUEENSTOWN. Monday, June Ist. 1903. (Before F. J. Burgess, Esq, S.M.) J. Bordeau v. tho chairman, cooßcilora, ami inhabitants o: Lake County. Claim tor £3O balance due on contract 187, £4 deposit money, and an alternative claim, for £3O damages for breach of warranty (the plan" aud specifications being defective). Mr Evans for plaintiff ; Mr R. fl.'Turton for defendant. " '■>■'. . After outlining the case, Mi Bvaus called Percy B. Macdonald, authorised surveyor, lesiding at Gore, who gave the following evi 'ence :—Knew the ro*d in dispute. Made a survey of it on March 25th (plan produoedk When he weut to make the survey* h*

found four pegs, Nos. 18. J 28. as ?bnwn on ooutr.*ct. < Ok, —• uir - : -. .' .-. shewn him m the oiul of the contract. J ook his survey from tho bottom aud wen. up. Saw tlie other work do«« t..0 inc the gully to the entrance point oi ,<ordean'd contract, from pee 13 ro 23 Iho gradrwould be one in 7*B. If Mr Black sny* tna. from peg 13 to pes; 23 ft gnvde of i in 9 could bo get, witness was prepared bo contradict him. If Bordeau had cominonc.ii at peg 23 aucl formed a road down at a grade of_l in 0 there would bo an embankment of sft on the next section. If he had started at peg 13 and gone up at a grade of 1 in 9 ho would b« oft below the peg No, 23, and 'here would be a perpendicular drop of oft. If Mr Black had iuacie a grade of 1 in 9 from peg 13 up, peg 16 would bo oft too high or aonve the grade of I in 9, pog 19 would bs 1 at, pec; 22 would bo 14ft, anil peg 23 would be 9sft. Supposing the grade had boon taken from peg 23 down, on a trade of 1 in 8 p''\4 22 would be sft above tho line, pog 19 won;d bo Bft, and peg 16 would be 34ft bo low. Coming down from tho culvert to Sainebury's p«g 12, there would bs a drop of sft; peg 13 would bo below lOfi tho gra*o of lin 9 coming down. If the pegs ho saw were in their original pooitton there could not be a grade of 1 in 9. The average gn.de as the road is now is 1 in 69. The grade from 13 to 16 is a fair grade, and assuming that peg 16 i» iu itu original position, Bordeau had cut hi 3 road correctly. The actual grade between pecs 16 and 19 is nearly 1 in 6 and, assuming that pega 18 aud 19 are in their original positions, tho actual grade Bordeau could got could only be 1 iu 6\S, except about 25 links, and that would be 1 in 3, and from there to half-n-ohain of peg 23 was a grade of liu 16. The actual possible srade from peg 19 to pog 22 was about lin 12. He could not find either peg 2t) or 21 and could not say the position of these pegs. Tho road is cut practically to the pegs IG, 19, 22 and 23. The work is firat-claea road work. The grade of the other con tracts —Scott'a and Sainsbcry's—were 1 in 8, and 1 in 9 aud if Mr Black paid the grade was 1 in 19, witness world contradict him. He did not see an elbow or sharp angle near peg 23, that would obstruot the road. From the nature of the County, it would bo impossible to make a ilg gag, as tho distance was too short. The work done was equally as good as on the other contract* of Soott and Sainubury. Mr Turton cross-examined wlfnoss, but without materially altering his evidence. Messrs Soott, Saiusbury, Cockburn, Dunlop, Mulhollaud, and the plaintiff gave evidence which listed until 5 o'olook, and thin closed the plaintiff'case. For the defendant*, Mr J. Black, County Engineer, repeated much oi the evidence given in tho former oaao. Fresh facta elicited were thp.t Stephenson and Simmers wero with him when he laid off tho road. If tbeso men put the pegs in exactly ns no directed them they must have been in their correct positions; as to interference with tho pegs afterwards ho could not vouch for this. From peg oto 12 tho grade is lin 10, and from peg 13 to 23 it is lin 9. No mistake could be made about this. Ue had an accessible bench Mark at tho bottom, near peg 13, by which he was able to produce a facsimile of tho original plan (plan produced). Witness never visited Lour- \ deau's contract without finding something going wrong. He complained of the grading , of the road from start to finish and ordered , the rebuilding of the retaining and parapet ! walls. The alteration made in the Skippers Sluicing Go's pipes was done with the consent of the Council and saved Bordeau a great deal of trouble. Peg 16 was the crucial point in the whole contract and there was no doubt but that someone had interfered with it. The work here wait in solid rock and ho was satisfied with it except att to grade. Stephenson w&a told to attend to the work as it went along and if anything cropped up to refer to him. Be- I tween pegs 12 and % 13 the contractor lost about 4ft as the pitched channel is not built J up to the level of peg 12. If this bad beer. ) done the grade would have been about I in ! 1). On the 25* hj March witness made a special survey of the road, and tho fresh plan showed the original vvo'ce and the present read ay n«ifvo<puatvuoted. He would swear that the Hew plan was correct, The.Magistrate aeked wituraa- how the] water Wat* 40 flow over the "culvert if it vnw built four ov five feet high, and he rapiied that the first Hood would fill tho apaeo up with debris. Cross-examined : He wan quite prepared to show Mr Macdonald his beach marks. The road waa laid off with an Abney lovol, then with a 5 inch level, and was cheeked up and down. Witness did not carry out the instructions of tho Council n carrying out of tho contract after last lawsuit on account of notices having been lodged af a rehearing of the case, lie could not find the plan prepared for last cum ae it was mislaid among his pnpera when a change of offices toot placa in the Council Chambers. He never went to Skippers for the oxprosa purpose of procuring data for a fresh plan ; he happened to be up there on some other work. The alteration in the pipes aavod the 1 the necessity of building a wall. Mr J Corbcct of the Skippers Sluicing Co. had nu~ limited discretion as t«» whem the knee for j same was to be put j this was at pog 20, but j he would not admit that it was at tho right | level although tho work wa3 passed by the j Council. There has been interference with { the pegs. The peg<i now iu the ground arc approximately on a lev*l with the road. Peg 19 ib Bft din abfl«e tho lino of the road I he laid off, 20 is 10ft above, 21 is 4ft 6in j aboTe, 22 u> about 3ft abnv«, ;iad 10 is 3it ! above the odtjiual Ur.«. Found tneae vrere out for certain on March 25, but did ne>4 j discover same on the 28th January before first case ; some wera off the liue. I Salisbury's contract was Sit W>o loir at peg j 12 and consequently ihe pitched crossing ! was also low. Dunlop was wrong whsn he stated that the pitched crossing w-.v> lovol with pegs 12 aud 13. Owing to the late hour of sitting nud the 1 improbableness of finishing ihe csiko th.it ! night, the aourt hers adjourned till Monday, j 15th June. I WARDEN'S COURT, QUEENSTOWN. ! (Before F. J. Burgeso, Esq., Warden.) 1 P. T. Lynch and party, special river • claim, Sandhills.—Surveyor's report being favorable, raoommendai to Minister of i Mines for approval. Jamea Matthewson, special quartz churn, ! Rees Rtver.—lnspector's report favorably, j recommended to Miuister of Mines for J approval > O. H. Constable, surrender of spocial j alluvial Arthur's Greek.—Adjourned j for production of title. j E. Wocdbou3e, 6 mouths' protection j quartz olaim, Joining's Gully, Skipp<jti.— J, Granted. Jamea M'KinVy, surrender ordinary j alluvial claim, Upper Shotover.— License ( cancelled as from Jane Ist. Alex. Gibson, G months' protection for I special quartz claim, Rees River, Head of Lake.—Granted. W. M'Leod, renewal of j '■ Cpper Shotover.—Referred to Land Board ] R. Scott, 0 month.;' protection for special I quarts claim, adjoining the Old Gallant } Tipperary, Upper Shotover. —Adjouraed for I an affidavit bo be filled as to cans«a tor j which protection was required. Thos. Hope, 3 months' protection of water | ; race, Seven Mile. Objected to by I nomas . Allen, on the ground that the application asked for was for speculation purposes, and I for shepherding the same. Mr Kvaus f.,,• j t applicant; Mr Turton for objector. After , hearing the evidence, the Warden granted j , the application, with 10s professional foe j against the objector.