sUPREME COURT. —Wednesday. IN BANCO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4271, 22 July 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

sUPREME COURT. —Wednesday. IN BANCO.

[Before his Honor Mr. .Justice «'in.i.it:s. J Ci.aiikk and win-: v. C isi:v.- Mr. .!. I). Uiis.sc-11 npiicared for tlie defendant m this caw, aud applied for have to set aside tho verdict for the plaintiff, or for a nonsuit. - His Honor ruled that he could have no power to grant a nonsuit, unless leave had been reserved at the time of trial. —(the facts of the ease have already been made public).—Mr. .1. I*. Kussc-11 argued that the imlkhcad in the steamer, through the openin" in which the steam passed, ami which was not in its place at the time of the accident, was not ori.iually placed there lor any possible contingency which might have occurred, but merely as a comfort to the passeiners, and was iio part of the actual o.|iii[)incut nf tlie vessel. —His Honor, in considering tho argument, was of opinion that t,ie removal of the bulkhead showed negligence in so much as evidence hail been given, proviii" that it uas customary to have some protection in vessels of the class in fjiiestion between the boiler and tho cabin. Leave t.i appeal must be refused. Ci.aiikk ash wifk v. 11. L.u'uu:.—Mr. J. B. l'.nssell appeared to apply for a decree for dower in this case. The plaintiff, Clarke, is a mariner, and his wife was the widow of the late James liraiugor. — His Honor granted the decree, the terms to be settled iu Chambers.

HllVlllNSoN ASH ANOTIIKH V. IvAWITI.— Tin's was an action brought to recover clama"es for refusal by the defendant, a wellknown native chief, resident in the Hay of Islands district, to enforce an agreement made by him with the plaintiffs for the sale of gum. The a-reemeut sued upon was as follows : — •• Waiomio, Hay of Islands, December 0, IS7-I. Mcuiorandiim of agreement between lliitchinsiiii and Co., of Uussell. gum-buyers, on the ono part, and Marsh lirowu Kawiti, of Waioinio, aboriginal native, on the other part, llutchins.iiraml Co. hereby agree on I their part to pay the said Marsh Unnvii lu- ', witi, on or bo;ore Christmas Day, IS7I, the 1 sumo: C-MO sterling on the conditions hereafter and herein specified. Also, the sum of C> sterling received i-s hereby acknowledged. And thev further to pay a further sum of t'l'JO stL-r!ii:g so'soon as .~>o tons of lirst .juidity g.uii will have hevu delivered by t!i.-m," or for tlu-iu. to their agent. Mr. Charles Coodhue : for which r>: I tons llutehinsou aud Co. to pay, on tho I'uU from which such ynch gum lias been Marairiaku aud Motatan at the raU of J827 pertou for every ton of lirst ijnality gum— the iirst quality :is liitlierto purchased by Mr. Charles (ioodhue ; and thoy " further agree that for all future parcels of iirst quality they shall not pay less yti the iield than £13 per ton under the price they are at that time paying fur lirst quality gum at Kawakawa, and they also to agree to buy what inferior gum there may be according to value. And Marsh ISrown Kawiti, on his part, hereby agrees to sell to the aforesaid llutchiuson and Co., and to allow to be sold to no one else, tho whole of the gum from Okareke, Horewaewae, Tutaewhea, l'atutnhi, Maramaku aud Motatan in the abovementioned conditions, aud also agreo3 to give to the aforesaid Hutcliinson and Co. delivery of the abovementioned lifty tons within twelve lu.mths from this date. Dated at Waioinio, this itth day of December, IS74.—HfrciilSson ASO Co., M.vui P. Kawiti."—The declaration stated that the plaintiffs had paid the defendant the sum of .t'j, aud had tendered a further sum of f-'O on tho 10th December, 1574, to the defendant, but he then refused to accept it, ami refused to be bound bv tlie agreement. —The defendant pleaded in effect that he was a native, and that the lands mentioned in

the agreement, from which the gum, \va3 to be got were at the time of the making of the agreement anil of the defendant refusal to carry it out "native lands,"' the title to which had not been investigated by the Native Lands Court, .and all the gum mentioned in the agreement was at that time in. and being part of the soil of the land, and that before his refusal to perform the agreement the defendant paid back the t's. To this plea there was a demurrer that notwithstanding the facts alleged., the contract was not affected by any of the powers of the Native Lands Act, ISfS.—Mr. MacCormick, in support of the plea, contended that the contract was a contract affecting native lands, ami came under the provision of section S7 of tin: Native Uimls Act, IST.'!. Tiie le-.u-neil gentlemen cited several cases in support. —Mr. llesketh .submitted that section t>7 of the Native I-auds Act, 157:5, diil not apply in this case, as it was intended to ap|i!v only to contracts purporting to be made by owners of land, and it did not now appear that the defendant was the owner of tlii land.—His Honor remarked it would be unnecessary to call upon conns.-! to ".) further into tiie ease, as liu was o! opinion that the plea was 1,.u1. Hiconsidered the- proper construction to be j.ut n[u>n the contract was that it was a contract to sell the gum mentioned as a chattel: and that it was nut, therefore, a contract atieeting land within the meaning of the Native Lands' Act, 1S~:J. Judgment would be for the plaintilt's. Leave was granted to the defendant to plead upon a point of law within 14 days.—This concluded thebnsiness, and the Court adjourned at 1.'.i0 p.m.

POLICE COriiT. —Wkh.vk.shav. [Before Dr. lloliNK ami C. N. M.\l;.S!I M.1., Justices.] iMtrsK ami Disoi:j>Ki:i.Y. — Frederick Charles Wannsiadt, and Uavi.l Murray, were each lined I'Os. ami costs, or an alternative of 48 hours' iniprisonient with hard labour. Kakcksv.—lolui Hamilton was charged with stealing a pair of boats, value I ."is., the property of Frcderiek William Howard, on l.oardtiie s.s. 'Star of the South' on the high sc;is on tlie 17lh inst. On the application of .Mr. JJroham, prisoner was remanded till this morning, bail being allowed him.self in £20, and two securities of .€lO each.

Lahcknv. — Henry IV-terscm was charged with stealing two blankets, value l.'is., the property of Christopher Ilutchinson, on or alvmt Uie IGtii July, 1875. I Yisoncr pleaded guilty, ami was sentenced to 7 days' imprisonment with hard labour.

William Clark was charged to contribute towards the support of his child, an inmate of the Xaval Training School. Mr. liroham said the man had sent a letter to the Court excusing his absence, and as he was a poor man he would ask the Court to make an order for 2s. od. a week, which was granted.

Win: bKSKI.'IIoN.--.Matthew Moore was charged with deserting hi* wife, and leaving her without means of support, on the l.'ith March, 1875. The defendant not putting in au appearance, a warrant was ordered to be issued for liis arrest. ALLKfiED AItSUX CASK. Susan Coiiley was brought up on remand, charged with wilfully and feloniously setting lire to a certain dwelling-house, the property of James Conley, sen., with intent to defraud the Now Zealand Insurance Company, at Auckland, on the Gth of July.—Mr. lirookiiield appeared for prosecution and Mr. Joy fiir defence.

Mr. \V, J. Cawkwell deposeil : I am a merchant' carrying on business in Auckland. Kuow the house in Jermyn srreet which was occupied by l.'onley. 1 and Mr. il. Kraser liad a mortgage on the house for £'JOO, Was aware the lire took place on the litli July. The mortgage was dated on the 17th AugtiMt, 1872, and expired on tlie 17th August, 157."). Tlie property w:ts insured in tlie Xt-w Zealand Insurance Company for the aum of £'200. The pulicy produced was the policy of the insurance, which expired on the 17th August next. The house was insured in Mr. leaser's name and mine. In the case of the house bciny burnt down the insurance wotdd cover tlie mortgage. William Kitcbie, a baker, carrying on business in Jermyn-street, deposed that lie knew the prisoner and the house that she lives in. Recollected prisoner saying that she thought of selling the place as aoou as her husband carue out of gaol.

(.'eorge. Walker, a fo'.indryman, working at I'r.is-jr and i'inne's, depo3cd that, about !) o'clock on the Sth July, he was going clown the lull ; passed Wynyard House, in Kdon Crescent, when he saw the reflection of a lire, which appeared to be either at prisoner's house, or at the bake-house adjoining. Kan down the hill to see what it was. Found it was in Conley's house. liiinselt and others shoved the front door open ; could not say it was fastened. Went into the back room, where the lire was. The lire was in a corner of the house, and seemed to have originated in a box. The box produced witness believed to be the same. It was near the ledge, and was open. The lire then bad hold of the wall aud the roof. Witness helped to extiu-

I guish the lire, and afterwards examined the I l>ox, in which he saw some articles of clothing. These he lifted up to see if anything was I smouldering, and, as he did so, some party be-hindsaid,-'There'sastrongsmell cfkt.-rosine.' - Witness did not perceive tho smell himself then, or at any time. There was tire on ,t chest of drawers at the end of the box. The things on lire there were books, papers, ifco. They might have caught lire from the box. A smell Mould havo to bo very strong for him to perceive. Thomas tlmhaui, Inspector of Armed Constabulary in Auckland, recollected hearing tho lire-bulls ring about !) o'clock on the (ith July. l'roeecded to tho prisoner's house in Jermyu-street. The tire was then extinguished, and the rooms were full of people. The room had boon deeply chaired. The box produced stood in the south-east corner of the room in which the lire had ovidelitly originated. Tlie contents of the box were the Miuie as now in Court—? lot of rubbish. There was a strong smell of turpentine all over the house. Tlie things iu the box were saturated with turpentine. The lire on the drawers was totallv separate from that in the I box. The things on'tliedi-awei-swore also satn- [ rated with turpentine. The tow produced was [Hilled out of the wall about two feet above the top of the drawers, by one of the I'iie lirigade. Souu afterwards 1 saw Constable -Mulville pull out from a shelf in tin; kitchen a lot <>| sticks, rags, .Mo., saturated with tiiipcntine. The shelf itself was saturated. The kitchen is not the same room in which tho box was found. Tho tow produced was found by Constable MulviiJo in tlie ceiling, over one of the front looms. It was not saturated with turpentine. There must have been at least a ijuart of turpentine u=cd to produce the saturation and smell. It was the narrowest escape of total destruction by lire witness had ever seen. Witness searched the house, and found no clothing anywhere. The furniture in the house witness took a list of. lu the sittingroom the was one chair and one small table, one large empty chest, one colonial sofa, and au old mattrass, a sheet, and two blankets. In the bedroom there was a wooden bedstead, nu old mattrass, a small table, a blanket, aud a counterpane. Tlie kitchen contained one table, a. dresser, ami a fewplates. In the other room ,au empty { stretcher, without any bedding, and an old I chest of drawers. Tlie whole lot was not worth more than £10. The house looked cjuite deserted. Witness spoke.to prisoner ( at tlie time, mid asked her if she could j account for tho lire and the smell of the turpentine, and she »aid she could uot in any way. Witness pointed out where the two lircs had occurred. Prisoner said they never used turpentine or kerosene. She ■ accounted for the absence of all her family. Her husband had gone to the North Shore at 5 o'clock, aud was not to return that night. Witness has ascertained that to be true. She said her son, the boy who waa charged iu this Court, had gone i to look after tho cows at seven ''

o'clock ; that a little girl "roily," who w.is stopping with her had gone to f'arncll about the same hour ; that she herself had gone down to Mr. Haddrill's bctwoen .seven and half-past, which was about ISO yards away. .She said she had remained there until the alarm had been given. She also said sho wxs the last to leave the house, and when she left she had pulled the front door to so as to bolt it, and shut the hack door, but did not lock it.—To Mr. Joy : I caused four persons to be arrested at lirst, three of them have been discharged without being prosecuted. There was no clock in the house. The girl Harriett Holton, who is "I'olly," was one of those arrested. She made a statement. (Mr. Urooklield objected to that statement being given by witness.) Mrs. Conley had been at Mrs. Hadrill'a house that evening, but not all the time she [stated. She did not tell me that she had been at the chemists.

tieorge JeflVey, detective, deposed to having examined the house about half-past ton alter the lire, lie corroborated the evidence oi'the last witness as to the appearance of the house and furniture. Witness is well acquainted with the house, and noticed that nearly all the furniture had been removed. Nil broker would give £:i for the furniture that was left. On the following morning witness and Detective (irace made a further Bi-areh. <hi a clothesline, and partly on a hedge they found a quantity of incus and boys' clothing, .ill thrown' together in a lump in the garden, and a large 1-ijian cloth. The clothing was similar to what, witness had known Conley and his sun to wear for years pa-st. They were twelve or tifteeii yards from the house. On the Stli, witness searched two rooms in a house at I'arnell, occupied by Mrs. l.ue.s. The rooms were occupied by two daughters of the prisoner, whom witness had known to be living I'm about live years past with the prisoner. Detective Grace and witness took an inventory of the furniture and etl'eets there. The inventory was riad in Court. Sumu of tins articles witnesv; could identify as having been in the house in .lermyiistreet. There was an old-fashioned chest of drawers, a pair of carved horns, a curved box, and other tilings. In a hat-box witness found an envelope addressed to .lames Conley, and a letter from the Harb.iur U >ard to him ; two watermen's licenses to .lames C'onlev, a naval volunteer's irtU-book, a saving's bank book of .lames Conley'm. (l'risoner : "That's mine, 1 beg your pardon.") The house, previous to the 'lire, had been well furnished.-To Mr. Joy : I am aware that Mrs. llassel had removed from the house to I'aruell. Mrs. llassel is prisoner's daughter. The things 1 saw at l'arnell were in the house she occupied. Mrs. IFassell says that her mother gave her all the things of rvhio'i I hive made mention. .So far us 1 am aware 1 don't know that Mrs. Hassell is going to be called for the prosecution. Mrs. llassell told me that her mother took her house, and sent the things to it. She could not give me the name of the carter that conveyed the things to I'arnell. The little girl Polly told me that a strange man came to the door to bring a message to Conley, and wanted to tell him that the detectives were after some man. This was in front of the house.

Krederika lladrill, wife of Ebene/.er Hndrill, reporter, residing in .Jermyn-.street, deposed that she lived some little distance from prisoner's house, near Judge Fentoii's. On the night of the lire Mm. Conley was at her house. 'She came about S or half-past, :i!id remained half an Jhour more or less. She did not remain in the house the whole time. She went to the gite twice, and returned twice. .She went away a third time, and did not return. Witness did not hear the alarm of lire-bells. To Mr. Joy : The lire could not have been seen from my gate. Mrs. Conley was away only a few minutes. She »ai.l it was to look after the cows. I have seen her cows about her at times. She was to clean witnesses house out.

Lydia Lucas, widow, residing at I'anicll, I recollected the prisoner coming to her house • on tlie Mtli of June, to look at two rooms j wh'ich she had to jet. Prisoner took them. They were unfurnished. They me occupied j by one of prisoner's daughters. Another ■ sleeps there. They moved into these rooms on the following Monday. Tlie rooms have been furnished by the (laughter, who came to reside on Thursday, the 'Jlth June. The furniture- was brought about .-six o'clock in tlie evening just before dark.—To Mr. .Joy : 1 1 know prisoner's daughter as Mrs. Hxssdl. The prisoner has called to see her daughter, but has net stopped there. The daughter uays me the rent. Willh.m Mosßop, a carter, residing at Parnell, recollected removing some furniture on the 21st June, from prisoner's house to

Mrs. Lucas's, in Parneli. He did so by prisoner's instructions. It was between live and six. There were a chest of drawers, an iron bedstead, a table, and some carpeting. The prisoner paid witness, who delivered them to Mis- Hasaell. There was not a load.

Harriet Koltoti, It years o lil, deposed, that her father was living at the Tliames. lteeollected Couley's house being on lire. Hail lived there for about one inuiith. Was sent on tho night of the tiro to Mrs, Hassell's house. AVitncss took a sofa-mattress fur Mrs. J las sell. .Slil- was told to t:tke it some time on following day, l.ut took it then because she wanted to see the baby. Mrs. C'onley, tho little boy, and Mrs. ltassell were in the house -when she t >ok tho mattrass away. It wan nearly S o'clock when she returned to prisoner's house. She was told to go hack to Mr*. Hassell's by Mr. Ilassoll. Witness took a frying-pan in a kit. >fi-s. Hassell overtook* her with a parcel of clothing at Cinstitution Hill. The little hoy went with witness each time. Having left the kit at Mrs. Haasell's, witness returned to prisoner's house at once. The second time witness returned the front di>or was pulled to, and the back door w:is right open. A man followed her, and asked her did she know where there was a widow woman who liiul a big daughter. Witness did not know any such person, when the man went over to Mrs. McConochie's, on the opposite side of the road. The man then said, perhaps this is the house, meaning Mrs. C'onley's. Witness gaid it is not. Sho went into tho house hy the front door, which she pushed open, as it was not latched. The man did not come into the house. Witness stood at the door talking to the man. Afterwards she shut ami fastened the door, and went into the kitchen to get a tow..], and then saw the lire in the hack bedroom. It was in tha box produced. The man pushed his way in at the front door as far as the nassa"i\ and witness asked him to help her. He said, " Let mi- go, let me go." Witness was in front of him. He ran out of the front itoor. He did not go into the Kick room Witness had Ken in that room hefore she went to Mrs. HasselV The box was then standing in the same place. There was achest of drawers there on which there was nothing but a few clean clothe:). Witness was in the kitehen all the afternoon. On tho shelf in the kitehi n there was nothing when the witness left except a dish. The man ran up towards I'.iitonmrt. Witness ran out of the front door, which she pulled-to after her, ami went up to Mr. Fernandez's, thinking she might liud Mrs. Cmley then , .' 1 did not see Mrs. Oonly" there, but Mr. Fernandez asked what was the matter. Witness told him the placo was on (ire, when I'Vrnandc/. called out lire, and told her to ring the bell. Witness sat down in the house for a short time, then went out to tho front of the door. After the lire was out saw Mrs. Conloy coming down the hill. This was the evidence for the prosecution. Mr. Joy addressed, the Bench, and asked for the prisoner to be liberated, as there was not sufficient evidence to commit her for trial. The ifciich committed her to take her trial at the next criminal sittings of tho Supreme Court, bail being allowed, namely, herself in £400, and two sureties of JC'JOO each. LrXAcv. —On the testimony of Drs. Hooper and Kllis, .Tokn Heinan was sent to the Lunatic Asylum. —This was all the business.