POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15823, 21 January 1915, Page 3

POLICE COURT NEWS.

TWO PRINTERS FINED.

NO NAMES ON PAMPHLETS.

MINIMUM PENALTY IMPOSED

The election of officers of. the Waterside J Workers' Union led to the issue of pamphlets urging tho claims of rival candidates. Two of these pamphlets, issued by opposing factions, did not bear on them the name and address of the printer, as required by the Printers and Newspapers Registration Act of 1906. This resulted in the printers, Thomas Walsh and Edwin Savers appearing in the Police Court yesterday. V Walsh said the pamphlets were ordered in a great hurry, the omission of Ins name ; as being the printer being quite accidental I and due to the hurry with which the order was executed. Sayers also iiaid his order was executed in a hurry, he himself not being there at the time, and being ignorant of the fact that his name did not appear In imposing the minimum penalty of £5 in each case, Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., said the fine seemed to be out of all proportion to the offence. But as he was unable to impose less than the minimum fine, ho recommended that application should be made to the Minister if a reduction in the amount of the penalty is desired. Three men, Gustav So toman, John Cooke, and James Millar, for whom Mr. R. X. Moody appeared, were charged with distributing these pamphlets, which had not the printer's name on them. On counsel's application, the cases were adjourned until to-day. GIVEN TIME TO PAY. In June last William Love was before ! the Court on a charge of having fraudently i converted to his own use the sum of i £18 19s, which had been entrusted to him. He was ordered to come up for sentence when called upon, being given time in which to get work and pay back the money. Yesterday the chief detective stated that only £3 odd had been paid, but, as lie had just got a letter from Love, saying that he had got some work, he would ask for an adjournment of the case for a fortnight to see if any more money was forthcoming. The case was accordingly adjourned. WOMAN'S PREDICAMENT. In response to a telephone message a constable went to Mount Eden station, where he found Mary Coyle. aged 50 years, who seemed to bo in some sort of a fit. She said she had had nothing to eat since the previous day, and that she wanted to be sent to a home. Not being able to get any satisfactory answers from the woman the constable took her to the police station. When charged with vagrancy yesterday the woman said that she had always worked hard for her living. Tn asking for a remand until today the senior sergeant said that if the woman had given the police some particulars about herself she would not have been in her present predicament. Inquiries will bo made about tho woman, who. in the meantime, will be allowed her liberty under supervision. INCIDENT ON RAILWAY. Charged with having made a false declaration to a. railway guard with the object of obtaining a reduction in his fare, James Kernot pleaded guilty. It appeared that he had a 12-trip ticket available between Penrose and Onehunga. On each trip tho ticket would be nipped twice by the guard. The defendant on one journey, however, managed to miss a nip. With the idea of missing another nip, thereby getting in an extra journey, he told the jruard. who came to nip his ticket that this had already been done by another guard in mistake. This was proved to have been impossible, as no other guard had the same shaped nipper as that which had been used on the ticket. In view of the fact that the costs amounted to 50s. His Worship only imposed a fine of 10s. MISCELLANEOUS. Two first offenders, convicted of insobriety, were allowed to go without any penalty, each of them being very desirous to get back to work. Joseph Fletcher was fined £1, with the alternative of three days' imprisonment, for a breach of his prohibition order. Two charges of theft were preferred against- a youth of 19 years, named Leslie McKenzie, it being alleged that he stole two postal packets containing notes to the value of 14s and 10a respectively. A remand for a week was granted.