RESIDENT MAGISTRATES' COUKT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 78, 14 February 1862, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATES' COUKT.

: Thursday, February 13.

(Before A. C. Strode, I'>;[., K.M., and El\rar;l ; Musgiuvc, Esii., J.P.) .DiiI.'KKUI'fXKSS AND JrIXOH Oi'FKXCKS. Jitme.? Catluiiirt-Jia^iiii, Gi-oi-ge Gre.uii, Thonias Robertson, VV'ni. Little, John Heilh', and John Smith were each fined 20s for boing drunk. AVm. Little was iineil 20s and costs for* assaulting-a constable in Uie execution,of his duty,, and,.for using obscene language. "Win. Gates, for annulling a constable in the execution oi' his.duty, andattempting to rescue, a prisoner, was lined 20s and eo.sts. "■ ": KTKALIIfft SUP.UV SKINS,-- ---■ Edward lli.is.scl w;is charged, by Alex'. Brown, of "Green; Island,, with" stealing a .quantity of sheepskins. Mr T. B. Gillies appeared for the defendant.

Alex. Brown said he was a fellmonger at Green Island, and in September last he was purchasing sheepskins in Gabriel's Gully, and during, the', month lie; missed a number of the skins thatwere lying near Mr Wood's .slaughter yards. 'Last Monday two cart loads of skins and pieces came to his place at Green Island from the diggings. He purchased them, and on examination found that some of them were his property. By private marks he'recognised them as some of those ho had .lost.oll the diggings. A man of the name of Patrick Uolan,!l carrier, offered theni'to" him loir ssilc. . JSolan said lie had purchased them from Mr nassel. 'Witness told Nolan that some of the skins were his, find showed him the private mark, and Nolan showed-his receipt for £5-on account of tho skins. ■ He objected to pay Nolan for the skins, but as Nolan -would not leave them until he was,-j)!iid, witness gave him a cheque, which he. stopped at the bank next morning. He then gave. nforniation to the .poHei;. He did not know the prisoner j personally, although lie had seen him. He never saw him near the skins.

" Cross-t'Xitinincd by Mr Gillies" :• Bought" the skins "from Ilfr roo(l. lie bought fiOOO or 7000. About tlie boginning of St'jiteinlier bis brpUii-'r informed him .that" sol uc; hundreds of skins had been stolon. His brother laid an information of the loss with- the police on tlio tliggingii. He identified tl\d skins, which woK) those produced: Siieep iit September have.sometimes more wool than is on those skins. There might be,.months betwebn jtlic killing of tiic sheep. Except for the two cuts.be bad no reason to believe the skins to be his. lie ■ did not give .Nolan in charge, be-.: cause belproduccd a receipt for the skins, signed :by Mr Ilassel. Did not know whether ITiisscl was on the Vliggings in September last. Kue'.v Mr Itassel's brother at Oaniaru. Knew Jie'.bought .land-in- (jamaru last Friday, and had bid against bii.n; Did not know to. what, extent Ire bid against him. They had some conversation about the land before" the.sale. He did not tell Mr.llassel that unless he. got £»0 he would bid against .him: ;■ :lie .asked Mr. Hassel to . give him £r>o notto bid, and.Mr: Hassel went away laughiri>.;. He himself bid but did not buy any of the land." Did iiot say Jie would make Hassel sweat ;for it. IsTolan bad informed'him that the prisoner was in town. Enquired about him of the northern postman, and the man-told biin lie was in town. Tlus-wajsafterhe had laid the. information....: Did. noli try to'flnd him before laying the information.. Had no r<^pn to believe the prisoner capable-of

/'Patrick Noliur rgaid"heL-wav;;a-..earrier to the (ligjjicgx. He knew the acciwed, arid first met him. in Uaorieil's g.t'iUy, three/weeks"or a month ago."- Bought 150 sheep .skins : and abate of wool from. him. Produced the receipt Paid 2;-." each for. the ?Mns.' He knew the skins produced to be part.of those.-he bringbl. : luien- them by the cuts which the"last witness pointed out to him when he offered them to him for sale. Had been taken to the detective office to account for the skins.

■ Cross-examined by Mr. - Gillies.—There were only about twenty skins like the best of the skins produced in the lot lie"bought,-but there were a good many like the others. Brown only claimed three as his -property.- -He hadforgotten -the name of the person from whom he had bought the skins, and he described him to Brown, who asked him if it was Mr. Hassel, and he replied yes, and told him that he had come into town to buy some land at Oainaru, where bis brother lived.

John Brown, the brother of the proscutor, had lived at Gabriel's Gully for the last six months. He remembered losing • some sheapjkins last September. He gave information to the police. The skins had a private mark, and he believed those produced to be a portion of those lost. He had not sold any of the skins marked in that way.

. Cross-examined by Mr Gillies : Did not know whether the prisoner was in Gabriel's Gully when he lost the skins. Had never seen him on the diggings. The "accused stated that he first arrived in Gabriel's Gully on the 29th "of November last Two days after he purchased a number of skins and pieces.' He purchased them from two diggers. The skins were lying behind Mr Walsh's store. Tie" gave £30 for them. The men he bought from said they had- bought them from Messrs Murray and Mus^rave for ,£l2. .They did not tell the' price until some days after. He again sold the. same lot to Nolan, lie bought no other skins. The skins wore lying close by Mr Murray's old sheep yard." ■-■■•-. - ■ ■• ■

Mr Gillies submitted that there was no evidence to connect his client with the stealing of the skins, even if they were stolen, which he thought was doubtful, as the only evidence for their identification consisted of a couple of cats, which might have been accidental. He also thought the evidence showed tlmt the prosecutor was influenced by a little bit of revenge. The Bench agreed with the counsel for the defendant tliat the evidence was insufficient, and that there was a strong probability of the cuts on the skins being accidental. They would therefore dismiss the charge. ASSACLT WITH ISTEXT" TO COSOHT RAPE. Thomas Davis, master of the schooner Flying Squirrel, was charged with assaulting Emma •Lindsay on board that vessel with intent to commit a "rape. Mr. South appeared lor the defendant. * ; Emma Lindsay said she was a' married woman; and her husband lived at luvercargill, from which place she came by the Guiding Star 0:1 Saturday last on her way toTlobart Town. She recognised the accused as the- captain of the Flying Squirrel. She wont on board that vessel ns a posscngerfor Hobart Town on Monday evening last .She had not taken her passage before going on. board;' :Sbc had. first applied to the captain of the Mary Ann for a passage, but his vessel was full, and he advised her to go to Captain Davis of the Flying Squirrel, and that if Captain Davis would'nottake her he would. She accordingly went on-board between 9 and 10 o'clock on Monday evening. The steward of the Guiding Star accompanied her on board the Flying Squirrel, and asked the captain to take charge of her, and see her safr-lyt-o Hobart Town, to her brother there. 6he asked the accused what the pa>sngo money would be. and he said he did"not know' till lic'hiul seen the agent. The- Flying Squirrel was lying at this time opposite Mr. Maeandrcw's. She slept on board that"' Slight:' The captain gr.ve her his cabin. .'. She went to had .as soon as she got on board. She remained on. board all the next day (Tuesday). The captain was absent nil day, and returned in the evening between (5 and 7 o'clock. She wont to'bed-about half-past nine that evening, and occupied the same cabin as the previous night. A few minutes after her getting into bed, the prisoner caiae into t'lo cabin. There were two berths in the cabin, and before going to bed the Captain told her that lie would have to occupy the lower ;bcrth. She told him that she did not

'approve of it, but lie replied ho had no other room. She then went to bed, and drew her curhihiK. A- fuv minute;; after fit!. cupf-im came in, ami drew back her curtain. She asked him what ho meant by .interfering with her whsnshe-was.in- bod, and lie without answering got into her bed. , She screamed out fbr protection, and asked him what he meant by getting into her bed. There was a light burning in the cabin at this time. He was very violent with his hands, pulling her about violently. She then'managed to get out of bed, and sat on the sofa, which was near to the cabin door. She was almost fainting. The accused followed her, ami sat down: beside her on the sofa, and she asked him what his conduct meant ? He said ho could not help lit, and asked her what she meant by making such a noise, and ordered her to go back, toher bed. She asked him to let her He on the. sofa, which he refused to., do. He-promised not to'interfere with-her-again if she went hack to her bed. She asked ".him in. the nains of the Lord, and he swore that ho 'would, leave her alone; B'slieving him, siie went back again to her bed. and in a i'ew minutes he again came in.: He would not let her shut the door, when she again went to the cabin. She was almost exhausted in bed, when he jumped in again, and forced his tongue right into her month. "With great difficulty she got out of her berth again, and sat clown in the corner of theoutside, cabin. He followed, and blew all the lights out, and went on deck. The steward was sleeping in the next cabin, and he came in and said, " You will make him pay for this to-mor-row." She asked him to protect her if the Captain again interfered with her, and ho promised, to: do so. He then went-into his own cabin, and almost immediately after the Captain came down again, and asked what she meant by rousing the ship, and ordered her back to bed. She asked him to light the candles first, and he did so! The steward then came in again, and asked the captain what he meant by such conduct ? Ho ordered the steward to go to bed, and:went;into his own cabin. The steward said it was useless to go to bed, and he went on deck with his blankets. She sat on the sofa for some time, and the captain went into his cabin and took a powder-flask and a pistol down from a shelf,- muttering to himself something about the steward, iHe put then into his pocket. He then ordered her back to her bed. She asked him if he had a wife and children, to which he did not reply, anil he again promised not to interfere with her if she went back. She went to bed again, and in n few minutes he again came in to the cabin, and .jumped into" her berth, and lay down beside her.. He was undressed. "With, a great deal of struggling she managed.to -get"out, and ran on deck, the prisoner trying to prevent her. She left her baby screaming in the berth', and ran to'the place where the sailors were, in the forecastle; She.told thorn how the captain had been serving her, and asked them for protection. They said they would, and one of the boys wont for her baby. What made her so frightened of the accused was that on saying she would, make him suffer for his con-, duct, he said he would shoot and hang her up in the hush; When she went into the forecastle she got into'one of the bunks, and while there the accused .called down "Is that woman there ; take noj notice of her as she's mad." lie then ordered :'her back to the cabin. She refused unless two of-the sailors went also to protect her., He said the sailors should not go with hety but if she ( did not like, .to go back he wonld'put her ashore. ■ She asked him to letiier remain with the sailors, and he replied he would not. .After again telling her to go back, he said she should go ashore ; and she said she would, and asked him to'land her at Mficandrew's. .He then.,ordered the sailors to lower the boat, and. they didso. He said he would not land her where she wished, but where he thought proper, and after rowing about for about two hours,-.the sailorsasked hiln why he did not land her, or what was the use jof landing her where there were no houses. | They then went to a saridspit,'and the Captain -ordered her.toget ontv The sailors 'objected, and after some time she and the, sailors were'lancled on the beach opposite Macandrew's,' ami ,'lie jwent away with the boat. When, daylight'came she and the sailors walked into town.

Cross-l-examined by Mr. South. ' She had been rimmed; four years, anil had two children.- She wiis'leav'-'ig her husband in Invercargill to go on .business to Hobart Town. It was not past ten o'elooj; when she first went on board .the vessel. The captain ga,ve his,own berth, anil showed her the tmtt6ii bn the door; to fasten it with. He slept on the sofa in the other cabin. On the

drop of tha bi-andyrdii somo milk before tea.-. ; She did not go on deck again that evening. -Snpn

after ta>. the steward brought down some hot water, and she took a little" more-brandy in some v/ator."-•;' It. was only about a table.spoonful of brandy that she took. She wu-s not in the slightest degree iutoxieatod. She had'never-, kissed thecaptain. (The evidence following this was unfit lor publication.) She scream-i.l out, but. the steward did not coma out ofhU •.•abin until after the third assault. She went back to her. berth lifter the first attempt, because she had no opportunity of escaping, and was su afraid of the captain. By Detective TuckwelL:..-_Slie_was.nursi.ngJusr baby, and took the brandy becau.se she did not feel "well. When nursing "she usually took something before going to bed. A glass of ale or'sornetliisi'i'. Women usually did.

Marshal Jordan said he was steward on board the " Flying Squirrel." IR> was on board on Tuesday' night last. He went to bed about 8 o'clock. He knew the proseeutrix, who was a passenger on board the vessel, and occupied the next cabin to him. She went to bed about 9; o'clock* On Tuesday night. The captain occupied" the. same room that night as she did. Shortly", after he had got to sleep he was roused by. the lady screaming ont to the captain to leave "Her * aloiie, that she was 11 respeataWe married woman, and she did not think - that of the captain. Witness looked over the door .and saw the prosecui.rix run but of the sleeping room into the cabin in her night dress. She appeared very much alarmed, and the Captain ordered her back to her room, promising not to disturb her again. She at first refused, but after making him solemnly swear to leave her alone, she went back. The Captain went on dock, and then came down again and1 went into her cabin. Witness then heard .some conversation between her and the Captain, but could-not hear what was said, except that she said " no, no," several times. A -little-after.this he heard a great struggling, and the lady calling out for help.. .The mate then came into the cabin, and after seeing that the mate did not go to the lady's assistance, he came out and asked the mate what was the matter. He had previously seen the accused put put the lights. The mate asked where'the light was, and ; witness went and struck one. Just as he did; so the lady came out of her cabin, and through the open door he saw the accused lying in the lower berth. When he saw -witness looking in ho said, " What is the matter, what's all the noise , about? " Witness replied, " You ought to know, ■as you caused it." The captain ordered him to his" berth, but he-went on deck. The captain then, ordered the lady to return to her bed, which she. refused to do, and asked leave to sleep "on ■:. the sofa. The captain told her he would sleep on the sola, and she should have the cabin. She wanted tv fasten the door, but ho would not let her, so she said she would go ashore. The captain refused to let her,-and witness ottered her the use of his cabin: Thecaptain would not let her have it. The captain threatened to shoot him if ho did. not go on deck, lie said he would not, but would stay~to protect the woman, and ihs captain then went and took down a pistol from a shelf. Witness then wont on deck, and went down again in a short time. The lady had then gone to her berth, and the Captain was also In her cabin. Witness went into his own cabin, and turned in.

About half an hour after he hoard a great seupling in the lady's cabin, and the lady screaming out. He was going to her assistance,, whan she thurst open the door and ran out and went on deck. He followed her and found her in the. forecastle. ; Cross-examined, by Mr...South. He did not see tho lady and tho Captain, in the . sains ber.th, at any tiriib. Ho did not say any tiling to the prcisecutrix about making the Captain pay for it. . He did not recollect saying it, but ha would- not swear.that 112 did-not say it.■ He saw th? accused putting'his arm round her neck, and she told him to leave her. After--tea/he saw accused mix some liquor with, water, in threo glasses. The Mate cams down and they all had some of the liquor. They sat there aho\it half an hour, He did not see the lady drink any of it.

Henry .Fell* one of the crew of the "FlyingSquirrel " deposed, that on Tuesday night he was awoke by some one running over the deck, and immediately, after'the prosecutrix came into the forecastle ami said '-for GciJ's sake men will you protect me," -and she .then said tha Captain had taken liberties with her. The- Captain then came and; asked if the woman "was there, and on their saying yes, ho said " never mind her, she's mad," and he said to her that he would put her on shore, and that if .she did not get out, of the biiwk he would pull her out. Ho afterwards ordered tho boat to-ba lowered, which was done, aud they all got in. After pulling about the harbor for some time the Captain landed.them among some, rocks abont twj miles from any house. From that they walked into town. ' •

This c included the case for the prosecution,

Mr. Snith-said. he was not prepared to deny that his client had taken liberties with the prosucutrix, b.it ho thought that the charge of intent to rape hid not been made out, and that at most, it could only be considered"" as an indecenta"s"sanl"t: 'He jvishod therCourt to hear the defendant's own statement. ' ' " '" ' ■ . .""' '■' "

After the mual caution, the Prisoner "said : that when ha went to his-.cabin, iii the evening, he found the woman in his bed. Ho asked her why shu hail not turned into her own bed, and she said there was not room. She let him turn in with her, and never said, anything. • They had a srlass of brandy together, and - lay down, a bit, "when she;said it"was too hot, and there wasn't room for . the child. After that she turned out. He tried to get her to stop in, but she would not. ■That was ail ho had got to say. The defendant was then committed to take his. trial at the next session of the Supreme Court, Bail was:refused. . ■■ ...\

Caxink. Racamtv.—A singular instance" ~6f" this" (says a "L.avion lteview") has recently occurred at 'i'oaloHse, • where a d.'>s, chased by sonic gamins who ha l.tia.l a 1 kettle to liis tail, sought re'uge-in a police slsitioa, which, having jraina:!,1 hs entered -without hesitation; and immediately "assumed an attitude of complete security. The coaiinissai;-e of police, upon pecking its owner, found that it belonged to .1 woman who soru.3 days before, being persecuted' by" thssa boys, had bsen to the same police station to lodge a complaint against them. .. Ou tliis"eiTaud she wtis' ae.cwnpariied by her dog,. whn,. evidently noticing the protection afforded to its mistress, had coma to'seek it'for itself. ' - ' ' ....