PORT CHALMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1243, 25 September 1875, Page 8

PORT CHALMERS.

Moxdat, 20th September.

(Before Captain Thomson, J.P., and His Worship the Mayor.)

EsrBEZZLEMEJT.— John Clark and George Stanley, two boys belonging to the ship Waimea, were charged, ujxui the information of Captain Worater, of the said ship, with having, on the Bth September mat, embezzled a portion of the ship's cargo, to wit — 4 tins of confectionery, valued at L 4. The prisoners pleaded Not guilty, and were arraigned separately, bat, as with tha exception of one slight particular, the evidence was precisely the same, we report in concrete form. William Worster, the master of the Waimea, deposed that at 1.30 a.m. on the BLh inst., he was informed by the mate of two persons with a naked light having gone into the hold by the fore-hatch. One of the single men immigrant constables had raised the alarm. One of the quartermasters and tho constable, Hart, above referred to, were gent below to arrest them. Witness recognised the broken case in Court as part of the ship cargo. It ought to have contained eight tina of sweetmeats, but there were ouly four in it. Next morning witness went down the hold nnd found four tins of sweetmeats in the pUce where the quarter-master said he saw the boya drop something. This Was abreast the main hatch in the wing ; went further aft, and there, right under the single women's compartment, found an empty case — th« case that was then in Court. The loose tins were nut into it, as it then appeared. Witness dm not think so much of the value of the stuff abstracted, as of the danger all on beard were placed In by the naked light the boys were carrying. By the Bench : The boy Clark wa* a very ill-behaved lad, insolent and troublesome. The fore-hatch, was, as a rule, kept locked. Witness imagined that the boys haa been sent down for something the day before, and had purposely left the hatch unlocked.— (i. A. Pollock, an immigrant of the Waimea, and who had acted in the capacity of assistant storekeejwr on the passage, deposed that, shortly after midnight on the Bth inst., he was lying in his bunk, which commanded a full view of the fore hatch, and then saw Clark come down into the 'tween decks, open the fore batch, and go below into the hold. Stanley followed him. Witness jumped out of his bunk and called them back, and was told to "go to h— ." Witness then alarmed the constable; the latter informed the chief mate of what was going on. The mute thereupon sent Quartermaster Dcm)«ey and Constable Hart into the hold to ascertain who was there. Witness also went inwn, and the two boys were taken. Witness raised the alarm because of the danger from the naked light.— By the Beach : It was not customary to open the fore hatch at night. — H. Dempsey, quarter-master on board the Waimea, deposed that, on the night in question, he missed the boy Stanley, who was in his watch. Whilst looking for him, the chief mate ordered him to go down the fore-hold and ascertain who it was below with a naked light. The constable accompanied him, and after a great deal of trouble, they managed to crawl aft to the main batch, and then found the two prisoners with a naked light. He challenged them, and said he had got them at last. Clark seemed to have something in his bosom. When witness saw th« boys' light he left his lantern behind him, a»d, after reaching them, had to go back for it, th<3 hoy Clark having put the candle out. When he returned they found some tins of preserve meatH where the boys had been «tanding. J)id not find anything upon the boys.— David Hart, the constable, deposed to having been aroused by Dempsey, and to ttvins alarmed the chief mate; then went' into the fore hatch to wait until the mate Came. Then ha crawled aft with the quar-ter-master, and found the boys at the main Jwtch. Noticed some tins covered with paper, one of them marked " Lozenges." The Uj-fct then either went out, or was put out ; And whilst the quarter-master went back to fetch the lantern, the boys shifted their positions, for when the quarter-master returned, witness noticed Stanley] at the tide of the ship, throwing down something be had about him. Durirg the ilty, the hold wa* searched, and jjiwt at that place the four tins *>f confectionery iv Court were found. Could tint fwear tb»t tfae hoyv placed then then?, c?t>t.

VVorster, re-examined by Bench : Could not say that the boys had had the sweatmeats in their possession. — In their defence, the prisoners stated that they had received permission from the Doctor to use any charcoal they could find below, and had gone below on the night in question, to look for some. The charcoal was to be used as fuel to warm and dry the forecastle ; the men were always grumbling about the cold and damp. Clark stated that he did not know where the charcoal was kept, ami thought there was no harm in carrying' a naked licrht. Had seen naked lights used below. He had no idea of stealing anything and had not done so. Stanley's assertion that he did not know where the charcoal was kept was confuted by the quarter-master, who averred that the lad knew the whereabouts very well. He was quite half a ship's length from the place when arrested. In reply to the Bench, Captain "Wor^ter gave the boy Stanley a good character. The two prisoners were then arraigned upon the charge of using a naked light in the hold of the ship, to the extreme danger of the vessel and all on board. The charge was bid under the 230 th section of the Merchant Shipping Act. Both pleaded Guilty. TKe same evidence was gone over again, Pollock, the .iAs5-»fcint-st«>rekeeper, further deposing that the emigrants were so gratified with his action in the affair that thej' had subscribed and presented him a purse of mone}'. His life had been subsequently threatened several times. Had heard of the loss of the Cosnat " k. All

— <»» --a - wOSpfttriCji. on board the Wairaea were very- anxious. Dempsey, the cpjarter-master, further deposed that naked lights were never used in the hold, but he had seen a naked light in the fore peak, a small place separated from the hold by a water-tight bulkhead, and in which rope, &c, was kept. D. Hart also corroborated this assertion. Captain "Wor&ter being questioned by the Bench, replied that naked lights were most dangerous, and had not been used on board the Waimea. Government lanterns, with locked doors, were always used. The Bench retired to consider the verdict, and upon returning into Court dismissed the first charge against the prisoners, although, as was remarked, suspicion was strong against them. The second charge re the naked lights was much more serious, and had been substantiated. Prisoners did not appear to realise the risk the ship and immigrants were exposed to by their action. The offence could not be overlooked, so many accidents had happened at sea. In consideration of their youth, however, the Bench would deal leniently with the prisoners by sentencing each of them to three months' imprisonment with hard labour, and added that Stanley was to be pitied, as he had evidently been misled by Clark.