CITY POLICE COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12414, 25 July 1902, Page 2

CITY POLICE COURT.

Thursday, July 21 (Before Mr E. H. Caiew, S.M.) Drunkenness.—A first offender {or bavin" been drunk in King street was convicted and discharged. Alleged Robbory.-Joscph Williams was charged with having, en July 23, stolen from the perao.i of Andrew Glass the sum of £10 the, property of Andrew Glass.-Sub-inspector Dwycr asked for a remand till Monday, aa accused had only been arrested the previous cvciimg.-The remand was granted accordingly. < Maintenance—A chaigo against Joseph kmith oi-failing to support an illegitimate, child was withdrawn bv consent.-MrHay appeared for complainant, and Mr Han'on for defendant. Thomas George Muirhead was charged with disobedk-nco, of n maintenance order.—The-case was adojurnod for a fortnight. —-John Thoma; Taylor was •similarly charged, and this waa also adjourned for a fortnight. George Smith, charged with failing to support his mother, was ordered to pay 5s a week Mary Ann Davis, charged with .foiling to provide for her child in the Cavcrsha'm Industrial School, was ordered to pay 3s a week Breach oi the Stamp Act.-John Laffey was charged with having signed o receipt for fSO Os 6d on account of rent for the Gridiron Hotel, such receipt being liable to stamp duty 1 , and not having been stamped.-This case hail been adjourned for U\e evidence of Mrs Peters — ' Maragret Peters stated that sho had been the ■ licensee or* the Gridiron Hotel oh August 2S "901, when .the receipt was signed. She had signed a cheque; and her manager (Nash) had given it to Laffey. She had not seen the receipt until somo considerable time after.—To Mr Stilling: The defendant was not frequently at the hotel during the tenanov, and sho had not been preso.it at any time lie waa there.;' she only remembered seeing him onqe, and she had not been present when the receipt was signed nor had the defendant paid for drinks for hor.-Mr Stilling said the plea of " Not guilty " had been entered, so that there would bo some assurance that the facts would he brought out. . The defendant would now Plead '. Guilty." Tho defendant was in the habit of visiting tho hotel occasionally in tho' evenings, Upon thj3 occasion he had gone in,-' and found Mrs Peters and Nash in the bar. parlour. lis asked them to have a drink, and' after that he had " shouted " fgain. Shortly after Mis Pelers called him into an adjoining room, and handed him o. cheoue fo"r the rent. He asked for a stamp, but tlicre was noiie to be found. He called for a bottle of champagne, and said they could take the stamp' out ot that, meaning Cti extra he had paid for tho champagne. Nash said, " Very well, I will put it on." It seemed a common misbelief amongst some men that it was just the same who placed the stamp on the receipt so long ■as it was placed on.—The Magistrate said it was ,)iot only by means of fraud that the Government lost money, but also through negligence. Mr Stilling said it was most improbable that . a man in the habit of giving receipts for rent should say a. square in the corner was equivalent to' a stamp—The Magistrate inflicted a'fine of £3 and costs (21s). ■ Polluting the Kaikoroi Slream.-Charlea William Pogarty was charged with having discharged foul water into the Kaikorai Stream in contravention of the Taieri County by-laws.— Tho defendant pleaded "Not guilty."—Mr Peaking appeared for the county.—"Robert Bain, inspector for Taieri County, gave evidence to tho effect that defendant's premises wore on the portion of the stream in Taieri County. Witness had occasion to visit the locality, and found a considerable quantity of foul water issuing from tin discharge pipe of defendant's works into the strea'm.-Sydney Bridgcmtm,' defendant's p.-.rtner, said the premises were used as a tannery. Witness, when spoken to by Bain, had gone to the premises and •foiu:<l that nothing had been discharged that day., What was issuing from the p:po was leakage from a, clean water pipe, and probably some surface drainage, aiid the colour waa due to. the action ol tan liquor and lime upon each other, and also mixing with the asiics in tho .settling pits.—The Magistrate said the case was within the meaning ot the by-law. It was verynecessary that the stream should be kept clean ant (hat the County Council should be supported. Defendant would be convicted and fined £2 and costs f£ 1 8a). Breach of the Shop Hours Act.—For having r.amitted her shop nt Hillside road to be open between i n.m. and G p.m. on Wednesday, July fl, Amelia Meade was fined 20s and costs (7s).