THE COURTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1249, 6 February 1896, Page 34

THE COURTS.

SUPREME COURT.

The Chief Justice gave judgment on Friday morning in the case eto parte LOcker, in which the Official Assignee claimed certain bonded goods As in the order and disposition of T. Dickson, a bankrupt. His Honor upheld the contention of the Assignee, and dismissed the summons against him with £5 5s costs. In the Wanganui case, Kirkwood v. Liffiton (a trustee), in which the plaintiff sought to have two voluntary settlements in favour of his wife and family set aside, His Honor the Chief Justice on Friday gave judgment for the defendant Avith coats on the middle scale. The case of Stokes v. Duthie and Co., a claim of .£SOO damages for the sale of a number of kegs of lead-headed nails, an alleged infringement of Stokes' patent, has been settled out of court. The civil action Hayes v. Gilmer, which was to have been heard in the Supreme Court on Monday, has been discontinued. The civil case of Copeland v. Wilkie has been fixed for hearing in the Supreme Court on the 19th instant. His Honor Mr Justice Buckley occupied his official seat in open Court for the first time at Monday's civil sittings of th» Supreme Court. A large number of members of the legal profession were present in robe and wig, and a number of other barristers and solicitors Were also in Court when His Honor took his seat. [ Before His Honor Mr Justice Buckley.] The civil sittings of the Supreme Court were opened on Monday morning, Sir Patrick Buckley taking his seat on the Bench at 10 o'clock. ROBERTSON V. GORDON. Mr P. Hutson was foreman of the jury empanelled to hear this case. Mr Skerrett appeared for the plaintiff, the defendant not being present or represented. The evidence for the plaintiffs showed that early in last year A. and L. Robertson, blacksmiths, Palmerston North, commissioned a man named Michael Kyan to go to Sydney and purchase a particular maiden trotting horse. On June 4th, he telegraphed that he could buy it, and they sent him over .£3B for that purpose. Subsequently, he arrived with his purchase, a mare named Maggie, which was not the animal he had been commissioned to buy. The Robertsons refused to take the mare, and as he did not get another horse named Hero, which he promised to get in place of Maggie, Ryan handed over the mare to them as security for their money. The owner of Maggie, name! Gordon, the defeudant in this action, came from Sydney in August, and claimed his mare, which he said had only been leased to Ryan, and as the Robertsons declined to give her up until satisfied that this statement was correct, he had them arrested on the charge of stealing the mare. When the case was enquired into it was dismissed, and the Robertsons now claimed <£sol damages for malicious prosecution. The jury awarded plaintiffs .£250, for which judgment was given with costs according to scale. IN - BANCO. [Before His Honor the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice sat in Banco jurisdiction at 2 o'clock on Monday afternoon. THE CYANIDE PROCESS OF GOED EXTRACTION. Two applications in reference to the Cassell's Company's patent for the use of cyanide of potassium in the treatment of auriferous ores were set down for argument. The first was a motion by Mr W. R. Haselden on behalf of Dr W. H. Gaz<3, of Westporb, to reverse the decision of the Registrar of Patents refusing his application for letters patent for an invention for leaching gold and silver ores by means of chloride, bromide or iodide of cyanogen. The application was opposed by the Cassell Gold Extracting Company, and the Registrar held that Dr Gage's alleged invention was practically included in the letters patent already granted to Messrs Mac Arthur and Forrest. Sir R. Stout, who appeared with Mr W. H. Quick for the Cassell Compniy, took ob]oction to the application on the ground that notice of the appeal had been too long delayed and must therefore bo held to have been abandoned. The Act specified a period of 15 months, after which the Governor should not seal the patent unless the time be extended by the Supreme Courc, but in this case two years and seven months had been allowed to elapse before steps were taken to appeal. Sir R. Stout also urged the further objection that the notice of appeal wa,s informal, inasmuch as it failed to set forth any grounds. Dr Gage, he stated, had now left the Colony, and was said to be resident at Armadale, managing some company there. Mr Haselden having replied, His EConor gave judgment dismissing the appeal as abandoned, and allowed «£5 5s costs to Cassell and Co.