COURT REPORTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6384, 5 December 1907, Page 7

COURT REPORTS.

’WEDxrsDAV, !. (Before his .lionor Mr Burton.; ORDER OF PROCKDV UK. His Honor held a short sitting, in Chambers, whou ho dealt with an up* plc-tion to determine _ tho procedure m the intor-plcader action of Andrews v. tho Lowry Bay Estate Company, -dr 0. P. Skerrett, K.C., appeared for Sir Kenneth Douglas; Mr A. Dunn for David Andrews; and Mr tL Johnston for the Lowry Bay Estate Company.

Ills Hon n' having listened to argument, made an order that within foart- .i v. l 1 1 • i>nrtios should file atri-, davits soiling forth their respective cl.i’ms. Wednesday. December 11th, was ilxc J an the date upon which evidence U to be taken viva voce. A CLAIM FOU OYF?>CHARGES. His Timor commenced the hearing of the ca e of J. J. K. Powell v. the Woli!u-ton-Manawatu Railway Com; ]>anv, m which idaintiti claims £*2oto 15s ’i'- r 011.-e-fd overcharges in the matter of iho carriage of material. Hr Troadw; li appcareri for the plaintiff, and Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C.. witli him Air J. P. Campbell, appeared as conn cl for the defendant compand. Tli ■ jurors empanelled were:—Messrs J VT 1 lender.ion (foreman), J Bice, jar.. 11. lit ary. T. V.nsbh-s, C. Rod. H. Cre’vtel, A. Crr/per, IV. Grindrod, J R>, Virtue, J. Elvinas, H. Dcvonport, A. Ru sell. . , A The statement of claim set out that the plaintiff was a contractor for the supply of read metal, and had been carrying' on business in Wellington since 1897. tinder a deed dated March 20th 1882, between the late Queen Victoria and tlio defendant company A was provided that the maximum tolls, faros, and rates and rents to he charged by the company fra- the carriage of passenimrs, produce, animals, goods, merchandise, etc., and for storage in the company's ;.hcds and warehouses should not exceed the scale ruling foi the time being on the Wollington-Ala'-tarton ralwov line, and liberty to reduce these lolls and rates was provided for, and that it at any time the Minister of Public' Works became satisfied that the rates were excessive or inadequate, he might require them to be reduced or increased, as tho case might be. ino regulations with regard to tho carriage of goods on the Welhngton-Mas-torton railway included a provision that road metal, tar, and other articles for local bodies —scoria, boulders, shingle, gravel, and other materials for road making consigned to public bodies in loads of not less than ton tons-y-car-ried at the convenience of the Railway Department, would bo charged at half the classified rates, and the minimum charges should be Is 9d per ton. The plaintiff stated that under the terms of tho contract entered into by him for the supply of metal to the Wellington Oity Council, the Wellington Harbour Board, and the Hutt County Council ho was obliged to supply to these bodies road metal, boulders, and other material, and that the department was perfectly aware that these materials were being carried over the railway line for tho purpose of the supplies required by these local bodies. Plaintiff said, that since November. 1897. the defendant company had overcharged him the amount of his claim for the .conveyance of such material from Paekakariki and Plimmerton. ,

The defendant company, by tbeir statement of defence, denied that they were acquainted noth the facts, as alleged by plaintiff, that he was under contract with the public bodies referred to, and did not know whether the road metal and boulders spoken of had been supplied to such local bodies for the purposes of road making, and denied that any such material was supplied or carried by the company for these local bodies. It was further denaecf by the defendant company that any sums had been charged to the plaintiff which were in excess of the rates that should have been so charged. The defendant company said that they were owners of quarries at Paekakaraa. and that they agreed to grant plaintiff full rights to work those quarries under certain conditions. Ho carried on this work, and all the material was consigned to the plaintiff’s manager,,and not to the local bodies referred to in the plaint. It, was also stated that the plaintiff had never at any time prior to Eobrnary 2Bth, 1907, demurred or objected to the charges made, and the material was carried on the railway in pursuance of the plaintiff’s instructions. The evidence of the plaintiff and of Messrs H. A. Everslcigh, H. Thomas, •T. Horn, S. E. C. Ludwig, O. R. Bendnll, J. E. Pulton and B. Dawson was taken, and tho plaintiff’s case was closed.

Mr Skcrrcfet intimated to his Honor that h© proposed to move for a nonsuit.

It was decided that the non-suit points should be argued on the following day.

MAGISTRATE’S JURISDICTION.

(Before Mr W. 6. Riddell, S.M.)

POUCH CASES.

For drunkenness, Stephen Cairns was fined 30s, in default seven days’ imprisonment.

William Christopher Coster was fined £3. in default seven days’ imprisonment, for using obscene language in Frederick street, and was senteneed to a_ month’s imprisonment for committing a. grossly indecent act in tho.same locality. Thomas Cassidy, who acknowledged that, being a duly articled seaman on the k.s. Cornwall, he had wilfully disobeyed the lawful command of WxlliEjn T. Howell, master of tho steamer, was convicted and ordered to bo kept in custody until sailing of the ship at noon tho following day, Charles Burney, alias Boddington, was remanded till nest Wednesday on a charge of having forged tho name of J. Bell to a cheque for £ls and uttered the cheque to Walter Middleton, at Wellington on December 3rd. James Patrick Bushbridgo was remanded till the same date to answer a charge that on October 15th, at Wellington, ho did forge the name of Thomas Earning to a Post Office Savings Bank withdrawal slip for £23 ICs and ntter the same to Harry zee. ’

For allowing cattle to wander George Henry Barlis, prosecuted bv the C'itV Corporation, was fined ,3s and costs 7s

A SERIOUS CHARGE.

ALLEGED BOBBERY FROM A DEAF MOTE.

Tho hearing of the charge against Archil)alii McA’ab, alias Sullivan, that

on or about May 27th. at Wellington, ho did steal the sum of £TI.S, the proper y of David Sutherland, was conlinn'd. Chief Detective McGrath t>ros*. ciitoi ■ nd Jackson defended. Will am IS. Tyson, hawk-. v. u; in tho Cricketers’ Arms Hotel -n 3Xay 27th, He saw McKa h, the wUr.ess Kyan, and two other men there, drinking. A £2O note was tendered by one of the men, but the

could not cash it, and two of the men went out to obtain change for it, leaving McNab and Wynn »>' bar, where they remained for about ten minutes. Elisabeth Daubney, second-hand doaler. Tory street, remembered May 117th last. Two men then came in and bought furniture to the value of £8 ss. tendering a £2O note in payment, and receiving £ll 5s change. George M. Harden, licensee of the ICilbirnio Hotel, deposed to the witness Ryan and three other men calling at this hotel toward the end of May and proffering a £2O note, which he could not change, John Charles Mason, barman at the Cambridge Hotel, stated that on tho evening of May 27th three or four men came into tho bar, called for drinks, and tendered a £2O note. The change given-in return consisted of a cheque for £ls, drawn by the licensee of tho hotel on the Bank of New Zealand, and cash. The cheque produced, dated May 27th, was the one given. The next morning the same men again called lur drinks, and offered this cheque, but witness said he could not cash it, and told them to go to tho bank. The men said they wanted change in order to divide it. as they had been “working part--1 norr,.” They then went away, and he ! d : d not sec them again. He believed tho £2O note was tendered by tke witness Ryan. James D. Tripe, teller in the Bank of Now Zealand, said the cheque for £ls, produced, was cashed by him on May 28th.

Charles O’Neill, labourer, also ga.ve evidence.

Detective Cassells stated that he interviewed accused at ie» Parae station, near Masterton, on November 16th. McNab then made a statement to him, which he took down in writing, and which accused signed. In this statement McNab gave a list of places at which he said he had been during May, and denied that he had arrived in Wellington until about the second week in June. He further said he knew nothing of any deaf and dumb man, or of anyone named Sutherland, or of Hinds or Ryan. In reply to the detective’s questions, he professed entire ignorance of the alleged robbery. Witness returned to Wellington the same day, but went back to To Parae on the 29th, and found accused had left. The next day he arrested him in Wellington. Accused admitted to him that he had been trying to ship as a fireman on a Home boat.

Constable Packed’ said he escorted accused and two other prisoners from the Lamb ton quay police station to tho terrace gaol on November 29th in a cab. Just after leaving the station accused said to witness: “People will know where we are going in this old cart. I think I will go back and plead guilty. I got the money and gave the other man half, and ho split on me.” Witness made a note of the words.

This closed the caso for the prosecution. The accused, who reserved his defence and pleaded not guilty, was committed to the Supreme Court for trial.

After this fcvrm.nh’tv hnd hpen oonchirWl. CTVpfJ McGrath. reoponin.2 of the case on Friday. sn id it was only right to say that thoro was no imrm+atfon. what*»reT that the fd?/wr*d rrvKH«rrv hnd anythrnor to fin with Snth-orla-nrVq death. Rnth«rlnrd lied oriflocn+lv been nlqnf'-’rifr ,«niiride. f)n . the rr>/>*'ri in ct of T»IS di'V’hnrfre for <nTnr>]n drnnlrennesß. two nr three dors f>Her ho coTrmlofod his sentence of one rnnnthtq inrnri < *' v "*n« ; *nt f Ar hnhi’+r«"7 drmnVnnnms. fttifherland made the fnllowinn statement to the watchv.o’iqp, _ Voormr r»t nnny: (f T K*d n t.m-rihTe m*~M. thinVinn- T T n?°‘ht. fret throe months’ frju>l. er»d ir» rrno rdnnrnrm how to pet n*rf of -v,T- Trrpf+h !/»«'■- h'fo. TK>W T tr^ +0 he R+rrfli.rrht, end or nrr'irn. T 1,„- A W- r\ -r'•vv'V’l'inrt*l r Thn rrnr

in his company rmtH after this. SnthorlaxUd was u very respectaDle man., with one i'ailing—drink.

LOWER HDTX (Before Dr McArthur, S.M., Mr John Wilkins and Mr John Cudby, J.P.'s.; James Qaynor, coal dealer, Petone, was charged with attempting to drive across tho railway line while a train waS approaching on November 7th. Defendant, who said it was windy, and he did not hear the train whistle, was fined 40a and costs, in default fourteen days’ hard labour. Mrs Turner and John Robinson were each fined 10s and 13s costs, and ordered to pay the solicitor's fee, 21s, for allowing cows to wander. Alfred Aimes, T. Hanson and Reginald House, for riding bicycles on the footpath at Lower Hurt, were eacfl fined 5s and 7s costs.

William Cottle, for allowing cows to wander, was fined 15a and 7s costs. Jones was fined 5s and costs for allowing a horse to wander. For a similar offence Arthur and William Ballinger were each fined 10s and 7e costs.

William Winnie was fined 2s and 7s costs for neglecting to send his child to school. James Fox was fined 10s and 9s costs for a similar offence.

Ernest Bonnet sued Reginald Vail for £2 cash lent, and Vail counterclaimed for £4 18s 6d for instructing Bonnet’s pupils at tho skating rink. Judgment was for plaintiff on the claim for £2, and on the counter-claim for defendant for £2, each party to pay his own costs. Mr Cracroft Wilson appeared for Bennet, and Mr Ayson for Vail.'

The Hutt Valley Timber Company sued Edwin Moore for £7 14s 3d for materials supplied. Judgment was for plaintiffs by default with 8s costs and los 6d solicitor’s fee. Mr Cracroft Wilson appeared for plaintiffs.

lhaia Pukotapn. a native, sued George Carwood for possession of a cottage at Waiwetu." The Magistrate declined jurisdiction, as there was a question of title involved. Mr Craernft Wilson appeared ior plaintiff, and Mr Arson for defendant.

William McMenamm sued Parry Wi J her: for £5 16s 3d on a judgment summon 1 !.- Defendant, who did not anprw. v.-ts ordered to pay or. or before the IP-ill inst. in default seven days' imprisonment.