LAW AND POLICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4404, 24 December 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

LAW AND POLICE.

SUPREME COURT.—Ix Bahkruptc*. Thursday, December 23. [Before His Honor Mr. Justice Gillies.] The ordinary monthly sitting in bankruptcy jurisdiction was held to-day, and the following business disposed of :— . Re F. B. Baiotes.—Mr. Hughes appeared for the bankrupt, who was described as a tide-waiter. The liabilities were set down as £140, assets nil. Having deposed to the correctness of his schedule, the bsnkrupt passed his last examination, and was discharged. Re T. G. Browneix.—Mr. J. B. Rußsell appeared for the bankrupt. The petitioner in this case, who had been before the Court a_ previous sitting, passed his last examination, and received his final order, Dischorged. Re Richabd Kpottan.—The petitioner in this case was a large shareholder in the lately prosperous gold mine known as the Bright Smile Gold Mining Company. Some ~ time since the company collapsed, and but : ' for what happened the petitioner would : have had no necetsity to come before t3t& ■

.'tfts liabilities in November did not ] . — -wrfigfed £l£lLa3ji; his assets iwould.have had ; amounting to £5967,! 'assets over liabilites """"" •»quad',' to - £5805. The petitioner :having deposed to the correctness; of ; his. schedule, phased.his last examinationr.and.was discharged... ■ . , ' -. "'i.7 -Re Thomas Wklls,(Deed oe mkmt). —-Mr. S. Hughes said .that there was one seenred creditor -who had not declared his assent. / All the other statutory, requisites had been fulfilled. His Honor made an • order declaring, the -complete execution of subject, however, to an affidavit by the secured creditor that he issatisfied with his security. Re E. P. Gibbons (Deed of Arrangement);i —Mr. Hesketh appeared for the arranging debtor. There were two statements of assets in this case ; the first shewing his liabilities to be £12,843 7s 7d, and the second, or amended statement, shewing them to oe £12,348 4s 9d. The assets under the nrst statement were computed ati £4055; an under the second, at £3265. The deed was a deed of absolute assignment of the eßtate. By the deed power was given to the trustee, to dispose of the estate. The estate had been sold to Mr. J. S. Macfarlane for £250, upon the understanding that he was not to rank as a creditor. His claim agnmst the estate amounted to a sum of £10,000. Mr. Macfarlane at the same time agreed to pay the wages claims, and these had been paid with the exception of wages men, who ranked against the estate as creditors. All the prescribed forms of the statute had been complied with.—His Honor granted the order declaring the complete execution of the deed. • POLICE COtXRT. —Thursday. TBefore R. C. Barstow, Esq., R.M.] Drunkenness. — Two persons for this offence were dealt with according to law. Vagrancy.—Jane Smith, for having no lawful visible means of support, was sent to gaol for three months. TheeateningLanoo'age.—The case against William Kirby, for using threatening language towards James Bain, 1 was withdrawn upon his promising not to interfere again with the complainant. Mr. Hesketh appeared for the complainant, and Mr. Joy for the defendant. Assault. —Charles F. Eggarte was charged -with assaulting a Maori woman named Mary Annie on the 21st inst. Mr. Brown acted' as interpreter. The chaTge was proved by the prosecutrix'and Constable Allen. The prisoner stated that the assault was purely accidental, haaving at the tiihe of passing,' the woman slipped with his right foot; and' he put his hand, out to save himself. Fined: 20s and costs, or the alternative of fourteen days' imprisoment, with hard labour. Vagrancy.—-Elizabeth Nelson was brought upon remand charged with having no visible lawful means' of support. A remand had been granted, to enable the accused to prove that she Was in receipt of remittances from home. The witness called by the prisoner, however, made her case worse than before." The Bench took a merciful view of the 1 case and discharged the woman, warning her at the same time not to" appear before him again. " . " Alleged Larceny.—John Earle, brought up upon a charge of stealing a shawl, was discharged, Inspector Broham intimating that'he did'not wish to'proceed with the case. Education Rate.—A number of sum-, mona cases were called against defaulters in payment of the education rate. Several of these having been-settled were struck out,' arid the remainder were adjourned until the 28th January, with the exception of two cases in'which judgment was given. 'Alleged Incendiarism.—George Strong was brought up on remand, and Margaret Strong, his wife, surrendered to her bail, both charged With having wilfully set fire to the- dwelling-house of Mr. Andrew Fernandez, Railway Terminus Hotel,' Official Bay, on-the 13th December. Mr. Brookfield, Crown Prosecutor, appeared for the prosecution. 'Mr. Joy appeared to watch the case on behalf of the prisoners. Mr. Brookfield, having opened the case, called the following witnesses : —Thomas B. Cameron proved preparing a plan of the premises where the fire occurred. (Plan produced.). He also described the building occupied by the prisoners as a wooden structure formed partly of paling and partly of timber, the retaining wall against the street being brick, Mr. Fernandez's house also being of timber. Only.a wooden partition separated the two' houses. Charles Williamson, manager of the Daily Southern Cross Newspaper Company, proved that he held a mortgage for £250 over the premises of the accused. The date of the deed was 22nd June, 1875. The parties to theaame were .George Strong and wife, and himself. The mortgage bore interest at the rate of 8 per cent, per annum.' The first quarter's interest was paid in September. Witness further held a deed of. conveyance, dated 21st June, 1875, of the': property from the prisoner Strong to his* wife. The houses on that property were sured for £200 in the South British Insurance office (policy -produced). This policy was renewed by witness on the 29th October last, at Miss Strong's request, witness advancing a portion of the premium which, since these proceedings commenced, had | been repaired by her. The' quarter's interest on the mortgage was due now. Ad Irew Fargie, carpenter and builder, proved having valued the.premisesoccupied bythe prisoner. He considered'4heniV worth £130 to £135. Had -the fire in T Mr. Fernandez's ; extended, nothing could have saved Strong's premises. "Witness- Was'foreman of the Fire Brigade, an,d knew something about fires. Was eni gSged' in' Eernandez's premises, and was at work on'the Saturday previous to the fire up tijl 4 o'clock. Had left in' the room 'where tfiefiie"was,' a carpenter's bench, some tdbls, softie ' short lengths of 1 timber, also a few shavings.. No baskets were in the room when' witness left. The basket now produced was Mt there. Returned to wbrk at nine o'clock, oh the Monday. The bench' was partly burnt and had fallen down, and some of the tools were burnt, . also a large hole in the floor.' George T. Chapman deposed as follows : —l' reside inVEden Cres-' cent. From the verandah of niyhoiise I look down upon the back premises of the Railway Terminus HoteL ,On the morning of the 13th December, at about ten minutes past one o'clock,' ,'I was on" my verandah looking round. I saw a flickering in what I supposed to be Fernandez's, near" Strong's yard, which I considered'unusual ; thought it might be something thrown' out into the yard from the bakery. Not feeling satisfied I- left my house "and walked, down Short-street, and tried to look in'at the gate in Jermyn-strcet~ 'but' could" see nothing. I went up Jermyn ; street and again looked from the high ground, and, Seeing nothing, went home, where, from the verandah I again saw the fire, wliigh I found! to: be: in-: side the building, the same as shewn on the plan. '1 he flame was'about 18 inches high. I, therefore, at once rain doWn Eden Crescent and met Mr. A. E. Isaacs. ■ We went.toi gether to the; hotel and alarmed-Fernaiidez. by calling out "Fire I" -Ho- opened the window above, and asked what ..was the matter. I told, him there.was.a.fireiin the adjoining, house. He shut down, the .window,■ and'l heardiiim.arousing the lodgers. ." Not opening the. door,. Mr. Isaacs and myself went round; to the yard gate and forced-it: open. We went in and saw two or.;three! persons getting water, from .the well.; There was a fire in the room, (marked ■. in: the plan): ■underneath; the carpenters' .bench. Fernandez and his lodge?s extinguiehed the fire. The i floor was, bnrnt through: j /Mr.:lsaacsi took "up the basket produced from close, to where.the ,fire was and :gaveiit iintH iny charge-, It r wa? fajl, pf tMngs which/ we aftern wards j examined. , : -;We[also,.examined -the; floor," .and.vMr-T. Isaacs ; : ,prdlpd.: outMiSe'veral; piece? flfjjploth'., from,' the, hole. msde üby-ithe .aiso.isw a ,tinj'ofi;tfir,iWithjßome. shavmgs,on4t. r down to' the Police Office and handed them A

ovet to Detective Jeffrey; went down'' Sh'ort- street 'f'sa oheabou t.; It' was 1 'a*clear' night; Since - ■ irigs Mra;'Strong -stopped-me • street and asked me not . to be hard oir Mr: Strong, as he was an innocent man: I did not thenknow who she-was.- By the "Bench: When I first saw ( Mr. ylsaacsj .was; coming down Eden Crescent" from the direction of St. Paul's;'"-m" was not coming from-.: the direction;.' ■ .o£ •; • the • _nre. Andrew Fernandez, proprietor of the Railway Terminus Hotel," Short-street, deposed: I am the owner of the property I reside in. I I have' recently taken ' possession of the buildings adjoining my premises, and added them to the hotel. The prisoners .ocoupied the two buildings adjoinining the premises lately added to'the hotel. There is no other entrance to my yard except the gate in' Jermyn-street.. There is a hole in the fence between my 1 yard and Strong's, against which a board was leaning, and close to where the fire was. There was room enough for a person to get between. Alterations were going on in my premises early in December, more particularly; in the room marked "Fire" in'the plan. On Sunday, the 12th inst., I was several times in that ; room. The carpenters' bench was there, but no baskets of any description. There were, however, rome carpenter a tools and a kerosene tin full of tar used by the carpenters,' and some shavings and a few ends of boards. The only entrance to this room is from the yard by a double door, ■ At midnight on Sunday I went round my premises. I locked the yard-gate. I went into the room and shut the door. I had a light with me. There was no basket there then. I fastened tha door with a pieee of canvas tied to a nail. No one else was'present besides myself. I went to bed soon afterwards, but was aroused by Mr. Isaacs at about half-past 1 o'clock, by the cry of fire/ Finding the passage full of smoke, I roused' the lodgers. I went downstairs and into the. room- formerly occupied as a bakers' shop; which was now thrown into the hotel, thinking the fire might be there. I had placed a lot of spirits in this room on the previous day. I found' the floor too hot for. my feet. I had no shoes on. I then-went' below and into the yard,-and took'a bucket, of water. I found the fire was in'the' room adjoining the kitchen. I -threw the water over the flames. With the assistance i of my lodgers I extinguished the'fire. T afterwards'saw Mr. Isaacs pick up the basket, which was standing about three feet from the end of the fire near to the ( wall- I - examined the place where the r ' fire' was, and i found a lot of thicknesses of burnt cloth and I and rags : (produced). The carpenter's bench i was burnt in - the legs,- and ' broken down I from the action of the fire.! ; A few days before the lire I saw the female prisoner in my backyards I was going.round my premises, about midnight as usual, and saw a female make a run across the yard towards, the bole in. the fence. I halloed , ,to her, but received no reply. 1- stooped down and; picked up a piece of wood, when .'she .suid, "It is me,—Mrs. strong.',' : She, was then standing close to whore "the fence was broken down. She told me that she had', come to see if Mr. Strong was in.iny house.. This is not the usual or proper, entrance to my house. She hii3 before called for her husband, but always came the proper way. when X first discovered the fire, .cue of the half-doors of the room was open and the other shut. ".My premises'are uninsured. By the Court.' I.have had no. quarrel with either of the accused. I have lived in the hotel five and a-half years. I was hot liviiig there when Strong's house was burnt down previously. On the' Court resuming, Alfred Joseph Strong was called, and deposed as follows : I am'the son of the two, prisoners, and reside with them in Short-street. Was residing with them on the 12th December.' Went to bed on the evening of that date about 9 or 10 o'clock. Slept in the house' with the brick front, along with my little brother. My father and mother, and my brother Edward, slept in the wooden house. He did not get up or lie' awake that night, and rose the next morning ! about C.30. The wicker basket produced belongs to my father and mother. The last time I saw it was two or three days-before the fire; it was then lying outside the house. It had-just been used by my father for fishing, and was then empty. There was no particular place for keeping it. It was used for various purposes. The vest and . tortoise-shell ring produced are my property. I have not used the waistcoat since we came up from the bush, about eighteen months'ago. The remainder,of the:articles, with the exception of a piece of "cahvasj were identified by the witness. To. the Bench: I have been living in Short-street for the last 18 months. Frederick Septimus Strong, j II years of age, was called, but'began cry-I ingr-and-was ordered to stand down. G'eojrg&J Jeffrey, detective officer, deposed: On the J 13th"instant Messrs. Isaacs and Chapman gave i •me the basket of charred articles produced. I After: locking up those things I proceeded to j ,the scene *f the fir. Examined the place ' where the fire had been, and found a good-' j sized hole in the centre of the floor. The j pieces of board produced were' part of the flooring. Part of a carpenter's bench was burnt away. T afterwards'made a careful examination'of the contents of the b'asket. The. list produced is the one I made out. Detective. Grace'and I searched the prisoner's, house the same' 'day, and found several' articles in' the, house corresponding with j those in the basket. [The various articles i were the witness.] I About 7 o'clock that morning I charged Mrs. j Strong with the offence. She 'was . then lying in bed in the wooden house. She denied the charge, and said she had been in bed all night' and did not know of the fire' until that, morning. 1 told her l had a basket'of articles, which from her house. I described the basket'. She said, " Ob, I can account for that basket; I gave it to my husband a fe-v days' ago to throw over the bank in' front ci' Con'-., ley's house, in Jermyn-street." Strong was' in bed, but he then got.upj and I'charged , him also: He said he had been in bed all the night, and knew nothing about it. The, female prisoner said to her husband,' 1 Strong, don't you remember me giving you a,'.basket | a . few. days ago to throw oyer the.J)ank f'He considered, but made no'answer."*'We then took them to. the' station'. 1 " I sheared the , male prisoner the basket and contents, arid , asked him if he. could account for'them.'. He said, " That woman's going'out of her jnind ; she never gave 'me those things over the bank." She eame in", prisoner asked her how those things got into Fernandez's place., She replied , thit','the , children must have picked thegn. .up. and brought them .in there.. Strong said, ?',That's, •the basket 1 picked up in the stream,'and I\ had it out fishing the other "day." 'jfU I was then turning" the things' about* I picked up . the piece. ,of. tarpaulin,; and Strong said, ' That is the piji'ce of canvas that was in the pellar on Sunday. The" cellar adjoins the ■ place- where the -fire was, -'jnst • by the ppening.j -in. . the fence. - Mrs;'-- . Strong'| said;:: -Well, : I.i don't - know' "how: they' j got' there... rTbe accused was afters that'! pronglit; before the Bench .and admitted to' bail; C)n".the afternoon: of' the;l4th, I went to prisoner's .house 'to remove some boxes; ' and asvn Mrs. Strong there.-' • She, addressed pie,,saying, K\ li!can account'for. that: basket now. i: I filled: i,t; with rags/ oliTabbish'-and 1 ?tuff,. and.put it down.near the fence ;for myi . use for 'French polishing/ and-some pne must have coiie after the dads-were gone , to.bed and earned it away. Whoever-; that -< person was.'must have set fire to the place." I remarked that some of! the articles -found 'basket :were. not used for ' French'■polishing,.: :and. she ■"> replied'" that r' she knew nothing at all about that; i At 'this timeshe volunteered the the reason she did not get up was that'she had heard some knocking at the door,*arid 6h' Id&king- out' of wfeiWilidpWiin,tc! 'Feniai\dez'a yarjljloiid en9 t some said, they, were. . catirat9•' ,/Qni Monday morning i yisited' prisonePa house, and found the baaket pro-

Huced 'filled with articles in Eho wooden house. 'laere are seventy difFerent * articles r^toj^#fch'er.1 'iAIbo the box-produoedi'eOntaimiig a iamily-'Bible', 90 books, ; and varionabther things'? and another pox- "containing clothing.. l These boxes were lying" one' close-upon thßi'otherj > Another boxii " contained'' W> : inisceUaneouß collection.' 1 frwo-of the boxes Were carefully packed; 'but ' Eke-contenta 'of ''another box'and ithe basket ■ appeared to bo thrown in'loosely.'The furniture 1 in'the • house -<was ; aoariVand' of no great -valued - The 1 whole o{' r the things Could' be" removed--in'ten' minutea. They the door. 1 To Mr.Joy J : I was informed-that Mr.'-Strong went to bed drunk on the evening: of- the fire. Mr. Fernandez told me that Strong had been'drinking-in his boat all day. Mr. Fernandez has children," servants,' and - boarders- in his house. The place where the prisoners slept would have been the first to take fire. Saw no kerosene or turpentine lying about. One of prisoners' sonß told me that the piece of resin found was • used for the bow of his violin. Mr. Brookfield said that he. had intended to call another son of the prisoner's to prove that he had slept in the same house with them during the night, that he had not i been wakened, and that nis mother spoke to him in the morning about the fire. He, however, did not desire to delay the Court, as his evidence could be had at the Supreme Court. • Mr. Joy said that there .had not been the slightest tittle of evidence againat the male prisoner, beyond the fact that he was the husband and was living in the house. At this stage of the proceedings, Edward Strong made his appearance and was examined as'follows: Went to bed on the night of the fire at about 11.30 p.m. I slept in the wooden building and my father and mother in the next room. No other person slept in the house that night. * JDid not get up until the nest morning at, a little before seven o'clock. Heard no alarm of fire during .the night. Did not hear my mother speak about the fire until after I had spoken to Jefferey. The letter produced —one of,those found in the basket—is.in my hand-writing. To'Mr. I 'Joy: I was the last in the house to go to bed that'night.' Both father and mother; had gone to bed about a-quarter of an hour, before. We generally retire to. rest about 10 or .11 o'clock. SB far a3 I'knowy no one,went outside ,ti/6' dooi: after I went to bed. ' In order to go out of the house my mother and father would have to pass through the room in which I slept. To the','Bench': There were' two rooms in the house in which I was ■sleeping. The'front door opens direct into my room'.' Thard was a oellar underneath the building!' The back window was about eight feet from, the ground; I saw ,my: father before he' went I ,to bed,' and he was much-the worse for liquor. llt was; as much as he coiild do to move about. This was the oase for the prosecution, and' Mi-. Joy addressed ' the' Bench for - the defence, contending that there 'was not' the least evidence against' the male prisoner. ' The' evidence was read over to the-prisoners, and they reserved' their'' defence. The male prisoner asked' for a qopy of the depositions. His Worship said'the clerk of the Court had not' time to attend to this matter, and he-hardly knew what to do. .'Mr. Joy said he would qend a clerk to the Court'to copy the' depositions; and this course was agreed to. The prisoners were then duly committed : to take their trial'at the next session of the Supreme' Court. 1 ' MK'Jov" applied that they might be let ;out- oil bail.' It was hard that .they, should' be kept 2 in confinement during the. Christmas holidays. Mr. "Brookfield said that if'they were admitted to'bail, the sum shoiild be heavy—heavier than that previously granted.' His Worship decided to refuse to allow the prisoners out on bail.