ALLEGED UNLAWFUL CON. SUMPTION OF GAS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10625, 21 March 1896, Page 2

ALLEGED UNLAWFUL CON. SUMPTION OF GAS.

Thomas Oliver, t'.e licensee of the Sussex Hotel, George utrei-.t,' was charged oh Thursday, before Mr E. If; Vt-.rw, S.M., with havingi on the 10th inat., stolen VSVI cubic feet of illaminating jsas, bolonsinK to the -mayor, councillors,-and citizens of Dunedin.'

MrT. "R. Chaprunn as'.peared to prosecute, and Mr D. I). MacdonsM to defend. .

M> llacdonald plituUd not guilty. Mr Chapman : Ic i; not a caee for pleading'; U is an indictahle nff eaC.

Mr Carew que-rti?.;:ud whether it was an indictable offence.

Mr Maclonald sz:c.3.oCoft of ga« was only worth 12a 6d.

Mr Oarew asked Mr Chapman if he could give any reasons why it should be treated as an indictable offence.

Mr Chapman said that it would be proved that on the day in question tie gas used was only a small amount, but in *;-,»»iieg gas it was a continuous thing, and there might be a larger amount asother day.

Mr Carew: stealing 1000ft.

Bat you only charge him with

Mr Chapir.an eaH that was I«cau9e he could not find out the arno:;-t nsed. He c!iarg«d him v/ith the theft of lOCijft bi-ciuse he foucd it was the Eoniinal amount char/.e.1 ia other instance!".

Mr Carew couW nrA mu r,bat he had authority to.decline sumrn-ry jurisdiction. If Mr Chapman wanted to brihg another charge he could do eo.

Mr Macdonald : It. U perfectly clear that if the amount is under 4l).~ it v a nummary proceeding. Mr Chapman asked if his Worship would taks the depositions.

Mr Carew'said if Sir Chapman cdnld show a larger cane than was set down then it would take away his jurisdiction to deal with the case summarily ; but he could pot see that he had power to decline summary jii'wliciion.

Mr Chapman said '.be facts were that defendant was the licensee of the imra Hotel—that wai to tas, lie was the hit.-.c under a ground lease. The hotel was a large o::a, with two floors above the ground floor. Mr Oliver had now been in occupation for nearly two yeart, the hotel having been for some time previously out of h 13 occupation. He held the hotel unier such a lease that he was practically the ownf:r of it, and paid a Urge amount to the corporation for gas. The clerk in the gaa office had reason to think that there must be something wrong vrith Mr Oliver's meter last year on account of the difference in the amount of gas consnmed by Mr Oliver and the amount condumod by some other person previrrusly in occupation. In 1595 exrmiinations of the meter were made, and it was fcund to he perfectly correclj. That hein g so K waste be assumed that in that year the meter was correct. The authorities were i>ot altogether satisfied, and a short time since the corporation eeni a man to examine the place. He was not an ordinary man from the gas department, but an experienced plumber. There was authority under section 308 of the Municipal Corporations Act to make such an inspection. On the flist examination the man did not find anything, but on the day on which the first effective examination was made Crawford, the man seat, went down the cellar and sent another man, .who was working with him, under the floor of the hotel, behind the cellar, and these two met at a certain place, and there made a discovery which counsel wouid describe.. Crawford entered the cellar and the other man got under the ilooi of the passage and went forward until they met, separated only by a wall, at a certain point There was a retaining wall all round the cellar, and at one place the wall was roughly continued by bricks. Crawford pulled down a portion of the brick work, and in it saw a lead pipe, which, for convenience, he (counsel) would call the illicit branch. A hois had been drilled in ihs main supply pipe, botween tha street and the metsr, and that, illicit branch had .been inserted into it and carried out along the top of the retain. inR wall, thence forward along the arched wall, and thence parallel with George street. That pipa hada tap in it somewln-re near to, but not qnite at the main supply pipe, and thai tap was buried in the woodwork. It had another tap somewhat further out in this wail, snd it had four or five sub-branches from' it—one for use in the cellar, two for lighting the bar window in'George street, the fourth for a drip, the fifth ascending to the bai and coming up under the bar counter, and the sixth ascending through the floor of thecellarinta the hotel above. Crawford sect the gas inspector and other corporation officials down, and they went over the building. They did not know where that pipa led to, but they could see th&t it was a fraudulent deception for the burning of gas. In order to test whether it had escaped the meter in reticu2atinfr' the housa they out it, thinking that if it were so the turning on of the gas would flood the cellar, but no gas came that way. "Without coming to any absolute, conclusion, they presumed at .that stage that it was not what might be termed a " by pass," but they subsequently found, however, that that' was a mistake. They went back a few days afterwards, and followed the pipe up, or endeavoured to do so, ■ and they found when they came to the pipe that had been cut that someone in the house knew more than they did, for seeing that the pips ■ might prove a source of danger when left cut if. the gas was turned on, they had caused it to be chocked, in place of leaving it open. They then proceeded to search for the way this second pipe went, and to find out whether it connected with the reticulation. They started ssuching ,in the back parlour, becausn they thought they saw an indication about the floor that the floor-cloth had been lifted. While they were searching Mr Oliver came into the room and told them that it was 116 us'? their searching •there, and that the pipe was in the next room. Ha evidently knew whist, they were searching for. He took them into the next room, and showed them the pipe under the fl'Xir, which was continuous with the pipa ascending from the cellar, but what he did not show them and what tha gas inspector noticed, was; that that pipe had a tap in it, near the m.iDtiepiece. The pipe ran up ■ behind the woodwork lining of the room, which bad been cut into, and it was perfectly evident from the appearance of dirt about it, that that tap was_ frequently used. TKe tap-was hidden by something hanging over it Oliver, showed. the pipe, and they discovered tha tap. That discovery and their subsequent searches Showed that this might be filled from the house by turning on the meter—in other words usin;: that illicit tap caused a circulation from tha* pipe to somewhere else. A connection had been made beyond the house service to the billiard room, and by turning the taps the gas might be driven into the hilliard room. It was possible to li«ht the whole KHizhts in the house by this illicit branch, and from tests that had been litade IS of them had actually been lighted at the one time. Someone was cognisant of what the corporation officials were ignorant of, and that was that there was a pipe, and that it was necntiuy to close it after it was out, because if the tap was turned on the gas might flood the cellar, and an explosion take place. Counsel said that the connection of that illicit pipe with the ascending pipe was an illicit connection., and that by the illegitimate service the lights might be lighted nil over the house. He would call evidence that would show that Mr Oliver knew that he was' burning ga» which w»s not'going through a kgitimate channel. Various circumstances would show that he was fully aware of the reticulation in his houi«e, and that he must have known that he was using more gas—the? could not say how much—than was going through the meter. So far as actual proof was concerned, ' if his Worship thought that Mr Oliver was aware rvf the existence of this illicit pipe in his cellar, theu it was quite sufficient nctual proof; and the evidence would show that he was aware of its existence. The evidence would also show that Sir Oliver had at times interfered with, and had worked at, the gas connections in his house. The evidenca would show that he was, at least on one oc-asion, known to do so, and to assist to do some plumbing work with hi* own pipes. Counsel thought his Worship would he satis6ed that Mr Oliver had interfered with the pipes so as to advance the use of this illicit connection.

Evidence was then given in support of counjeTa opening statement by A. Sinclair, William Crawford, aud Elizabeth Daley.

The further hewing of tbe case was then adjourned to the 2ttfch inst., sfr Ghapman mentionins that as his Worship had said it waft ft summary case no bail would bn necessary. The court rose shortly after 5 o'clock.

FLETCHER'S PlhlS never fail to cute INDIGESTION, COSTIVENKSS, . . SOUK BRJSATH, HEARTBURN, LIVER DISKASE, anfl KIDNEY' COMPLAINTS.

FLETCHKICS PILLS and CLEMENTS TONIC are the recognised uouspheld remedies of ths Australian coionies, and every designing quack tries to trade fan their reputation and renowu. This is the greatest proof of their merit, and nufferera want to be particular to get tbe geoutne articles, as regret and disappointment Tire sure to follow tbe use of the thousands of "all-failing" remedies so freely advertised. The reputation and ttMe-spread use of Clements Tonic and Fletcher's Pills are the greatest proofs of their appreciation by the public. I£ they were not as represented they would h»ve piisfiod btrt of memcry long ere this; but instead their Bale is greater and they are more esteemed day by day nnd week by week, and this emphatically proves their nndispnted supremacy. Listen to no argument from interested parties; demand tho grniiine articles and TAKE NO SUBSTITOTJS.