The Oamaru Mail. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1225, 20 March 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1880.

' As this afternoon's train was proceeding on its journey, about three miles this side of Ttosato, a passenger was seen to fall off- As the tram was not~stopped, we have not been able to ascertain how he fared. A telegraph station is now open at WaiKari, Count v of Ashley, in the Provincial District of Canterbury. An inquest was held yeaterilay at the house of Mr. Robaon, Papafcaio, touching th» death of the female cfaifd of Rebecca "Docherty, before G. Sumpter, Acting<OWrcmer, and a Jury of fourteen, of whom Mr. Neil Fleming was foreman. The evi- • (iencc of Mr. and Mrs. Robaon (in whose ■employ the mother of the efcitel was), Constable King, and Dr. Re Lautour was taken, . atrd went to show that the mother of the child entered Mr. and Mrs. Reason's employ ••about six nionts ago. Aliout two months . -lincc Dr. D« Lantour saw the mother of the tSLiVI and stated to her miatrea* that she W33 *na".n&-. Thi3 she denied. On the morning of Ttoucaday Iwt tlif girl u-as ai.ont her wnrk m atrial, but about ►•ight o'clock. shr> disappeared, and her afterward:-* found h-.-f tin the jrully. Sti« told Mrs. Robson that she bad been t*> .father some sticks, bat sth'r hail bo sticks with h»;-. Oa returning to the house, Mrs. Robson actmsvd the girl -of having been confined. This she at first Hatty denied, Imt at last admftte# that the . accusation was correct, and then said th«t the child was dead. She afterwards tuok Mra. Robson up the gully and brought down, ' the baby. It was -cold and dead, and the girt then said that the baby hart been born •oa Tuesday night. The racdtcal evidence went to show that the child Lid breathed, and might have done so for ten or fifteen mintitcs. The child had died front of blood owing to the umbilical cord having been cat *r.d riot tied. The jury returned a verdict a.i follow* :—"That tiuc ft.-rnal*; infant of Rebecca iJocherty came to her • death from the escape of blood through neglecting to tie the umbilical cord, hub whether this neglect was wilful or through ignorance there is no evidence before the .jury to determine,"

At the : Resident Magistrate's Court today, before T. W. Parker, Esq., R.M., John Clarke, charged with being drunk and disordprlyj was fined 203, with the alternative of three days' imprisonment with hard labor.- John White was dealt with in a pimilar manner, and on a charge of obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty he was fined 20s, or to undergo three days imprisonment. Robert Everaon, for using obscene language, was ordered to pay a nnc of 40s or go to gaol for six days. William Farren was charged with stealing LBfrom one John Clarke. The case was dismissed, Clarke stating that the money belonged to the accused. John Miles, charged ■vvitn travelling in a railway carriage without paying his fare, was fined 20s, and was also ordered to pay 5s 6d, the amount of his fare. On a charge of drunkenness the same prisoner was dismissed with a caution. A cunning old man of disreputable antecedents has nonplussed a Bench of county magistrates ftt Retford. He was charged by the officers of Inland Revenue with selling unlicensed cigars. He asked the magistrates to read the Act of Parliament, and tell him whether from first to last, there was a word about cigars. He sustained his point. -Wot to be baffled, the revenue officer reminded the Bench that, if the Act did not speak of cigars, it spoke of tobacco, and cigars were a form of tobacco. The o'd man rejoined that his cigars were made of bay and cabbage leaves, and that he would defy any one to find an atom of tobacco in them. The complaint was dismissed.