MAGISTRATE'S COURT

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7027, 15 January 1910, Page 8

MAGISTRATE'S COURT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14. (Before Dr A. McArthur, S.M.) "MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES. Three persons, who admitted charges of drunkenness and were first offenders, were convicted and discthargod. . ; Samuel Cameron, once previously convicted, was fined 20s or seven days' j imprisonment. 1 John llayne admitted having stolen . three blankets, a portmanteau, _ «. ', leather bag and a set of bowls. The ; police had not up to the present been • able to ascertain whether accused had s I>eeji previously convicted or not,. and ■ lie was remanded for sentence until " Monday. A,n old offender named Mary Joyce, '„ who pleaded guilty to a charge of ', drunkenness, was fined 10s. and for L breaking a pane of .glass she was order- ; ed to pay l[)s, the cost of -the glass, r in default forty-eight hours' imprison- : meut. A young woman named "Lizzie i- Connolly pleaded guilty to being an idlo a.nd disorderly person and was sen- ' teneed to three months' imprisonment. Joseph Brain, accused of having I committed an indecent assault, plead* • ed not guilty and was remanded until ' the 19th inst. Bail, was allowed ac-' " cused, himself in. £SO and two sureties i of £SO each. : UNLICENSED LIQUOR SELLING. T. Baldwin, a licensed secondhand ! dealer, pleaded guilty to having sold '■ intoxicating liquor although ■ ho was i 'not licensed to do so. The circum- ■ stances of the case were unusual. "Baldwin had bought a case of portwiuo at an auction sale ».™i-had subsequently sold it to the licensee of the Brunswick Hotel for 255. Later on he ' iiapponed to have a conversation with ; a. constable who was on the beat, and 1 ho voluntarily informed the policeman ; of what he had done. The constable, i.n carrying out his duty, gave informa- : .tio'n to his superior officer a.nd these proceedings were the result. The defence was that Baldwin, being a seoo.ndJia.nd dealer, understood that by his license ho was entitled to sell anything that h.a had purchased at auction." Moreover, there, had been no concealment—on the contrary accused had brought about his own prosecution and there was no suggestion of the guilty mind. Defendant's pre* vious character had been excellent. He was fined- in tho nominal sum of £l, with 7s costsCONDUCTOR DODGING. William Nugent M'ulvillo was fined in the nominal sum of Is, and costs 7s, for refraining from paying a. tramfare. His Worship said he would only impose that small fine, but a.t tho same time he commented severely on the fact that it was quite a common practico with persons, who would, no doubt, consider themselves respectable, to use every effort and do their utmost to dodge tho conductor. Ho recalled an occasion when he was travelling in the same car with a wellknown and, presumably, respectable man, who deliberately held a shilling in his hand, but refrained from passing it to the conductor and did not pay his faro on either journey., UNLAWFULLY ON ..LICENSED PREMISES. George 'Smith and Thomas Walker, who pleaded guilty to a rihargo of.havingl been found in. prohibited hours on the premises ofi the Palace Hotel on ; December 11th, were each fined £2, and 9s costs"; Dennis Piolinghaus, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of having done the same thing at the same time, was fined £2, and 9s oosits. IRONY OF FATE. . Charles Furlong, who did not appear, was charged with- having been unlawfully on the premises of the .Britannia Hotel. This was anoitheiunusual class of case. ... Defendant said iho had gone to tile hotel on Christmas Day and asked tq see his mate, whom, ho believed, was staying there. In the (hotel lie met a man to whom he spoke and casually asked him if hei boardctd there. • This man, who was unknown to the accused, replied that ho board-, eid in tho_ house, a.nd offered . to procure a drink for him. Defendant gave this mam a £1 note, but the obliging "boarder" went o.ut of tho. lobby and did not return, and consequently Furlong gave information to tine police. It j was something like the irony. of fate that he was fined £2, and 7s costs, in .default forty-eight hours' imprisonment— and this in addition to'his original loss of a pound-note! OBSCENE LANGUAGE. A young man named Ernest Bray was convicted of having used obscene language at Island Bay. Ho was fined £6V with 9s costs, or one month's im r prisionment. His Woiteliip said the worst feature of the ease was that Some of the offender's- relatives had come forward and sworn i that tile, language had not heon uttered.. Defendant had been previously convicted of similar offences. He was described as being of rather weak intellect. A SEKIOUS CHARGE OF THEFT. Edward John Falkiner pleaded not guilty to a charge of having stolon three valuable pianos, the property of the : London and Berlin Pianoforte /Company,, and ' was remanded until tho l&th inst.; Chief-Detective BroIberg said these:three charges were only part of, a number of charges that iwould be brought' against the" defendant. Mr A. Dunn, who appeared for the defendant, said" the'. real dispute was as to the consignment of the pianos.: 1 ' whether they were consigned j to the company or the defendant -as the company's servant. Ho had a good defence to the charge and he was possessed of .property at Trentiham, Kelburne, and_ Brooklyn. Defendant was allowed bail in one surety of £IOQ. ALLEGED FURIOUS DRIVING. A chauffeur named Charles Young, who was defended by Mr H. Jackson, pleaded not guilty to a charge of having driven a taxicab at an ■ excessive rirto of speed along the Kaiwarawara road .and thereby endangering the public. It'appeared from the .evidence that somewhere near. . the kerosene stores on.the road . the defendant had endeavoured to pass a cart, when he collided with a bicycle ridden by Christopher Livingstone, who was ' knocked over. It was also charged against the defendant that he'had not turned, back to offer assistance to the cyclist. The evidence showed, however, that after , the coDision.the defendant slowed down his engines and looked round to see-what the result of the accident had been. He saw Livingstone pick himself up evidently uninjured. " His Worship,' in dismissing the information, said cars in such circumstances should not only stop but should turn back and the drivers should'absolutely satisfy themselves as to the extent-of the damage done. It often occurred .that a man having been knocked down might rise to his feet although he was badly hurt. A "HAZARD' SCHOOL. Edward McCarthy, a wharf labourer,

denied that on the 18tli ill time, ho had been, conducting a little ''hazard" school behind a. stack of timber in Taranaki street. But the evidence of the police prevailed and he was convicted and fined £3 with 7s costs or fourteen days. A KITCHEN SQUABBLE. Charles Marshall, who had been second cook at tho Trceadero Private 1 Hotel, pleaded not guilty to a charge of having assaulted a young waitress named May Hill by throwing a boiled egg at her and cutting her face. The evidence showed that it was quite a trumpery case and that the girl lieri self had been anxious that the prose- '; cution .should be withdrawn. His Worship, in dismissing the information, [ remarked: "I think altogether too [ much has been made of this matter. I The defendant has lost his position (he had been discharged by the proprietor) and that is punishment suffif cient." - CHINESE FRACAS. In the case of Ow Gee v. Louis Kitt ; soino curious circumstances were de- ' veloped. It appears that in New Zea'L land there are two Chinese cliques, and plaintiff is fugelman of one and defendant occupies a relative posi- ', tion iu respect of the other. Mr; J Herdman explained that the plaintiff [ was the local correspondent of a Mel- .• bourne Chinese ' newspaper, which is j apparently widely read iu New Zealand. Plaintiff had written an article which duly appeared in the journal. Defendant, it was stated, took umbrage ; at the tone of this article, claiming • that it cast serious reflections upon his ' uncle (who had been very good to him and who was now on a visit to his ■ Home land). Much incensed the defendant came down from Levin to Welj lington and meeting the plaintiff at , the fruit markets ho "went for him," expressing in Chinese as far as could be understood that ho was not,going to have his uncle called a "doig" or "cur," or by any similar opprobrious epithet, and he proceeded to knock eleven sorts of .stuffing out of the , unfortunate correspondent. And he seemed to get on very well with., his pugilistic intentions, for when Ow Gee got through with Louis Kitt the last-named wa.s quite a derelict—-"hardly good enough to throw away," as XTncio Remus says. All the same Ow Geo was told by Dr McArthur that he would have to sit tight a-nd stumr> > up a fine and fees . amounting in all to £6 145...' BREACHES OP THE MUNICIPAL BY-LA AVS. , Harry Sutton. Arthur Simmonds. Ernest Renge, Henry G. . Ashwbrtlu William Edwards, William King,'Daniel Lane, James Malcolm, and Walter Rico were fined.in small amounts for minor breaches of the municipal bylaws. . . \ ■