AN INTERESTING CASE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4427, 6 August 1901, Page 3

AN INTERESTING CASE.

THE BEACH ROAD TO TERAW; fTT. In the Supreme Court yesterda fore the Chief Justice, the hearing' begun of an action between i. joch TonJss, Enoch Edmund Tonks and ''.cob Joseph, plaintiffs, and Charles St ith, defendant, in which there was a i.Uaim for £SO damages and an injunction^ Mr Martin Chapman appeared for the plaintiffs, and Mr Skerrett, with him Mr Cooper, for the defendant. The defendant, who is a contractor, is alleged to have on many occasions recently trespassed on land in the vicinity of Ohiro Bay, near Island Bay, by taking gravel therefrom. His defence is that he took th e gravel from below high-water mark under a permit from the Marine Department, and carted it along a public road on the beach. The case for the plaintiffs is in part that the Crown grants to the original European owner (Hunter) grant the land down to high-water mark. Mr Jacob Joseph, the present owner, granted a gravel lease to the Messrs Tonks, who are contractors, on the 14th November, 189 fi. It is contended for the defendant that the Crown grants in question do not include the land for a space of cue chain inland from highl-water mark, and that by user there is a public road along the beach from Island Bay to Terawhiti. Evidence was given for the plaintiffs by E. W. Seaton, licensed surveyor; Edmund Tonks, Enoch Tonks: Robert Coley, carter; and Thomas Henry McKinley, chief rabbiter on Mr Jacob Joseph’s estate. For the defendant, evidence was given by Thomas Ward, licensed surveyor: Joseph Lowry, settler; Thomas Howill, settler; William James Foster, derk to the Melrose Borough Council; James McKenzie, draughtsman; Henry Short, settler; Henry Cook, chairman Makara Road Board James McMenamen and John McMenamen, of the Terawhiti estate: John Drummond, stock inspector; and William Smith, settler. Some of the witnesses deposed to the use of a road along the beach. They said they had always considered it to be a public road. It was stated to hav e been looked upon as a public road from as far hack as 1842. The Court adjourned till this morning- ___________