RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 365, 20 February 1863, Page 5

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Thursday, February 19th. Drukkenness.--The notorious Mary Allen was called, but did not appear. An officer stated that she fell into the Harbor on the previous night, while very drunk, and that she remained too drunk to appear. An adjournment for a day was granted Charles Fames was fined 40s and costs, for fight* [ ing in Rattray-street. . iAs Illicit Still.—John O'Connor and J- A. M'Uarthy were charged,on the information of Charles ' Logic, Collector of Customs, with having on the 17th instant, on premises in the Worth Kast Valley) had, kept, aiid used, &c, a' still, contrary to the 2nd Section oi the Distillation Prohibition Ordinance. Mr I Howorth appeared for the prosecution, and Mr James Prendergast for the defendants. John Burrows, landing waiter, stated that in consequence of information, he went on Tuesday evening, with Sergeant Cuiran and Constable Ryan to a house ,in the North East Valley. He there saw both the defendants. M'Uarthy opened the door, but O'Con--8 nor was in bed. The house comprised two apartments and aloft. Constable Ryan went into the back

apartments, and called ttf/hiinW^i^e-'-'-lThey-dis'^; covered a lot of .cA^.-'itibri&iitij^^^ of; -fer___on,-toge_r*.^ Thgre wei-e^aTsO * sfeWralThafeu:*of->*ng_r,--nd.-smiir liquid''in a cask/which had _it'rorig;-piri_ us taste. Jn -the middle7o"f- tlie: floor 7 .there,'irasa.wi_l-ahDut4ft deep; andfrom.it there was.a pipelep.ing'to a draiS"" outside. In"the front 'apartmentthere were-23 bags of sugar.. The boiler, was really a still without-the. head. There was a heirtli under it, and from thence a, pipe (produced) was carried.along to. the.chininey pf the house, so as to conveyail the smoke thither. The pipe had.all the appearance of "smoke having passed through it. ~'. . ~ - : . By Mr Prendergast: He could not explain, chemically or scientifically, the meaning of-the word '•spirit."; He did not know any thing of .testing them ; but he did know something oftasiin'g them. The part of the still, as he called it, 'might be an ordinary' boiler : it was fitted up as s»ch. 'There were no evidences of its having been Used on Tuesday. The bottle now produced contained a portion of the spirituous liquid from the cask. The house stood at no great distance from the road; the cask of wort was covered, but the utensil was not. He would not positively swear that the liquid in the bottle was spirit; but it had a very strong taste of spirit, and to tha best of his belief it was so. Re-examined : Unless he had gone into the back room, he could not have discovered the utensil or still. Sergeant Curran suid that ho accompanied Burrows to a house in the North-east Valley, ou Tuesday hist. Constable Ryan and Burrows went in first, aud he followed almost immediately. He saw in the passage three barrels covered with sacks; he removed^ the sacks and found that the casks contained wort in a state of fermentation. He then entered the roomon the left-hand side of the passage, the entrance being from the lower corner. There were more barrels there; and all of them but one contained wort in a state of fermentation; the one'contained spirits lii the same room, he found the still now before the court. It was not a complete still, for the worm and the head were wanting. The still was fixed oa a furnace, and there was a pipe from the furnace to the chimney. In the apartment to the right of the passage", there were 23 bags of sugar. When he went in, he met M-Carthy in the passage; and he afterwards saw O'Connor in bed, in the room to the ritrht. He asked M'Cartby what he was doing; and he replied that he was takiiitr care of the garden for Mr Johnson, of the firm of ltoss and Johnson, of the Melbourne Hotel. In the room he asked McCarthy what "all the stufi" was there for—meaning the wort and sugar ; aud M'Cartby said, '■ For making ginger beer!" He asked O'Connor what his business was in the place; and the reply was, " I've taken the garden from Mr Johnson, for the fruit." At the Police Station, on the Tuesday evening, there was some conversation between O'Connor and himself. He could not say exactly whether he asked who owned the property in the house : but, at any rate, O'Connor claimed it as his. This was after he had told the defendants that they were not to be detained in custody. By Mr Prendergast: He could not give a scientific definition of " spirit." He kne* that it must be a distilled liquor; but he did not know' that it must be of a certain strength in order to be spirit. Water wits a liquid : but lie should not call distilled water a spirit. O'Connor did not claim the house; . but he did say that what property was'there was his._ There was no particular mention of ; thi boiler or of the sugaiv He Ind seen stills working in Ireland. The vessel before the Court could be'used as a boiler; but from his experience he should call1 it a still. So much as was belore the Court, however, would bo perfectly useless for distilling ; the head, worm, aud elbow, that were wanting, were all movable. He believed that it was possible to use wort* for making hop-beep—not for ginger-beer, he should say.—(A laugh.) He took both the defendants to the Stationhouse and kept them there an hour and a-half. He afterwards found that it was necessary to proceed by information aud summonses. The defendants were not locked up. He told them that they would be summoned ; and on Wednesday they came to the Station and said that they wished to be summoned as soon as possible. Constable Ryan said that he took Burrows and Sergeant Curran to the house where the defendants were found. After corroborating the evidence of the previous witnesses, he stated that in the house, he said to the defendants, " I think you're working extensively here." O'Connor said, *' What do mean ?" and he replied, "Why, that you're making whiskey.'" O'Connor said, "No. it's ginger beer.'' He added, "I know too well the difference—it's whiskey;" but O'Connor laughed and said he was not ashamed of what he was doing. He (Ryan) searched round outside the house on Wednesday morning, and about 30 yards off, in a thick scrub, he found the still-head now produced, subsequently finding the elbow or arm. The head would not fit the still, without another joint or piece of piping. By Mr Prendergast: He had seen some dozens of stills, and a tew of them at work. He decidedly called the utensil produced a still, but it was not complete. ; Wm. Mills, officer of the Customs, said that lie had tested the contents of a bottle sent to him by Burrows. He found the liquid to contain 67 per cent, of alcohol, and it was thus 33 per cent, under proof. He called it a " spirituous liquor." By Mr Prendergast: He should say that some strong wines would contain 67 per cent, of alcohol; but he never had occasion to test wine. John Jago, connected with the Dunedin Total Abstinence Society, said that he was tor three or four years apprenticed to a coppersmith in Scotland, and his master made stills. The vessel before the Court . was a still. Distilling apparatus consisted of still, still-head, and worm. By Mr Prendergast: He was in Court on other business, and merely intimated to the prosecutor what was the difference between a still and a boiler. He did not expect to be called as a witness. He had no doubt of the fact that what was before the Court was' that part of the distilling apparatus which was called "the still." Mr Prendergast objected that the boiler before the Court was not a still. • ■■_:'-'■ Mr Howovth said that, under the Act, the. mere possession of casks with wort in .them was illegal, provided the object was to distil that wort.' -, . The objection was over-ruled. 7 s Mr Prendergast urged other grounds why the de-. fendants were not liable, and then called the following witnesses: — ..-•''" George ItufSes said that he had been gardener for Mr Johnson, and lived in the house in question, in the North-east Valley, for five or six months. There was a tank in the centre of tha floor of the side room, with a pipe through to it from the drain outside. There were also nine casks in the room. He had seen the head and pipe (produced) in the same room. . By Mr Ho worth : It was five or six weeks ago since he left the house. There were three young men living ■ there before him. The still or boiler was then outside the house, and he, before leaving, filled up the tank by the order of Mr Johnson. He had told the police that he believed distillation was b?ing carried on in the house ; he did so, because the arti«les in court were up, and he suspected that they were being used. . George K. Howorth, chemist and druggist, said he had never seen spirits distilled, but he was acquainted with the process of distillation. He considered that a still consisted of a retort, a receiver, and a worm. There was no retort or worm amongst the articles before the Court; but there was a vessel which could be used as a receiver. By Mr Howorth : He by no means meant to swear that the large vessel was not a still; he could .not distil with it unless he had a head and a worm. Mr Strode said that, from the evidence, lie was undoubtedly of opinion tbat the case had been fully proved. There could not be a shadow of doubt that the large utensil before the Court was a still—a utensil for distilling spirits, in the true sense and .meaning of the Act. Such being his opinion, he should fine the defendants £100 each and costs. Some evidence was taken as to the ability of the defendants to pay the fine; and Mr Strode then said that, as it had not been shown to his satisfactions that they had sufficient goods and chattels to satisfy warrants, if issued, he should order them to be" imprisoned two months and kept at hard labor, unless the fine was meanwhile paid. - , CIVIL CASES. Henry Farley v. John Roberts.—The hearing ot this summons under the Summary Ejectment Ordinance, came on by adjournment; K. Chapman, Esq, T.P.. Logic, Esq, J.P. joining the Resident Magistrate. Mr Cook appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr Wilson Gray for the defendant. After long arguments and some little evidence, the Magistrates decided in favor of the plaintiff, by fining the defendant L 2 5s and costs; and Mr Gray intimated that he should appeal to the Supreme Court. . . There were a few other cases, of no particular interest. ''....,_: