THE COURTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLX, Issue 8165, 17 August 1887, Page 2

THE COURTS.

SUPREME COURT.—CIVIL SITTINGS. Tuesday, August 16. (Before hia Honor the Chief Justice.) CITY ADVANCE AND DEPOSIT COMPANY V. SMITH. The hearing of this case was resumed. Messrs F. Sidoy, J. Cattail, E. Stafford, and J. McDowell, Directors of the plaintiff Company, were called, and gave evidence similar to that given by the other Directors, to the effect that Waters had no authority, as manager of the Company, to transfer Smith’s indebtedness to his own account and relieve the debtor of liability. Counsel having addressed the jury, his Honor summed up, and the jury retired. After an hour’s deliberation they returned a verdict on the issues submitted to them as follows :—(1) Was the note satisfied by payment by Smith ?—Yea. (2) Was the note satisfied by payment by Waters ?—No. (3) Did the Company exonerate and discharge Smith from paying the bill ?—Yes. (4) Did the Company endorse the note to Waters after it bad become due’—Yes. (5) While Waters was holder did defendant satisfy, the note by payment to Waters ?—Yes. Judgment , was accordingly entered for defendant, with costa on the lowest scale. Mr Edwards asked for leave to move to set aside the judgment, and request execution was stayed for a fortnight. WILIS V, THACKER. In this case judgment was entered for plaintiff, by consent, for £95, with costs. Sir Gray appeared for the plaintiff. The Court then adjourned till next morning. ' , CRIMINAL SITTINGS. (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Invercargill,, August 16. The Supreme Court opened to-day before Judge Williams. The criminal calendar is very light, there being only three prisoners, all charged with forgery. Four charges of forgery and two of embezzlement ate being preferred against J. R« Lea, late Town Clerk of Winton. In his charge to the Grand Jury the Judge referred to a case in which a man named Henry Coster was alleged to have altered a cheque'for £2 given him by his brother to £3. He said it was a trifling case, and it was almost a pity there was not some proviison enabling a magistrate to deal with such cases summarily, and so avoid the expense of bringing them into the Supreme Court. The Grand Jury found no bill in the case in question. J. K. Lea, late Town Clerk of Winton, pleaded guilty to four charges of forgery and two of embezzlement, and three years’ imprisonment. An application to have him released under the Probation Act was refused, the Judge pointing out that he had been trading on his good name, and that the offences extended over a period of years. The defalcations, so far as known, are £9BB. J. H. Wilson, now undergoing two years in Dunedin gaol for forgery, pleaded guilty, but urged that the crime was the result of drunken cess. He was sentenced to two _years, to be concurrent with his present sentence, so that practically he only gets an additional month’s imprisonment. Txmabu, August 16. At the Supreme Court criminal sessions, which opened this morning before Judge Johnston, the Grand Jury returned a true bill against Richard Makepeace Eve.-sley, indicted for larceny, and Thomas Terry for sheep-stealing. The former is now being tried. Eversley was found guilty, and sentenced to two years.