SUPREME COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11922, 21 December 1900, Page 5

SUPREME COURT.

CIVIL SITTINGS

Thursday, December 20.

(Before his Honor Mr Justice Williams.) AITCHISON V. THE KAITANGATA RAILWAY AND

COAL COMPANY.

A reference to ascertain the amount of coal, l. any, taken by the company from the plaintiff's property, on which plaintiff was entitled to be paid royalty, and has not been so paid Sir F. R. Chapman and Mr W. C. MacGregor appeared for the plaintiff, William Aitchison, of Kaitangata; Mr J. F. Woodhouse and Mr S. Solomon for the defendant company.

The hearing of tho case was resumed. George Morrison Burr, civil engineer, said he went to the Kaitangata mine about the end of May or the beginning of June of last year. He also went to the office and looked at the records. In his previous calculation he had taken the area, at five acres in the north and south workings, but since then he had made a fresh calculation, and ahd separated the two, and could give the areas on the flat and the slope—that was, the'gro'u'nd area, and tho coai area.. On the north.' side he found 156 acre on the flat, 2.11 acre's of an average slope of 50 degrees. On the south'side he found 1 9 acre on Vie flat and"3.25 on the slope at an angle of 50 degrees. Those added together gave 3.46 acres on the flat and o.'OQ acres on the slope. He found in tho plan cf tlie company no record of the thickness of the seams. He" had heard Mr Hay's calculation ns'fo the amount of coal that was in tho property,' but that gave ho clue a* to how .much coal could be got out unless the conditions under which the coal was there were known. He had made 'a calculation on ihe evidence given at the. previous hearing, and on that ho had taken it that Coulter's level was fully robbed. From ■evidence since given it appeared that the levelwas not fully robbed. By Mr Solomon : He arrived at his figures from the scaling of the plan.,'' The plan did not show the actual measurement with the slope. Latham Osborne Bea.l,' civil engineer, gave evidence at length, and put in his calculations of the quantities of coal, taken from the different properties.

The court rose at 3.-10 p'.rn.

IN CHAiffe^RS,

(Before his Honor Mr .Justice Williams.) Re James Lind (deceased),—Motion for probate (Mr Ga.llaway).-AG S ordingly. Re Bill of Sale, Morris to Levy.—Motion to extend time for filing (Mr Barclay).—Accordingly ; time extended to Saturday, 22nd inst.