THE CLINTON FIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2396, 1 February 1900, Page 11

THE CLINTON FIRE.

CHARGES OF THEFT AND ARSON.

A POST OFFICE CADET COMMITTED FOR TRIAL.

(I\roji Oun Special Retorter. )

CLINTON, January 24,

A series of charges arising out of the recent fire at Clinton were heaid before Mesfers J. W. Thomson and James Roy, justices, at the Clinton Courthouse to-day.

Peter Robert Dev. ar, formerly a cadet in the Clintou Post Office, was charged that on or about January 4-, 1900, he, being a post officer within the meaning of " The Post Office Act, 1881," stole a port letter containing a certain chattel, to wit,! a gold brooch, valued ai 30s, the property of the Post-rnastei'-general. Mr J. F. M. Fraser (instructed by Inspector Pardy, who was present) prosecuted, and MiSolomon defended.

Mr Fraser said that the information was laid under " The Post Office Act, 1881." Accused was a servant in the post ofiice, and therefore a post officer.

D'Arey Raymond, clerk, Wyndham, stated that be posted, at Wyndham, on December 28, a parcel containing "a gold brooch, addressed to, Miss Hayward, Albert street, Dunedin. He identified the brooch pioduced. He did not register the parcel, sending it by ordinary letter post. James Traynor, cadet, in the Wyndham Post Office, said that ]ie remembered the last witness posting a parcel some time about the end of December. He could not swear that he sorted the letters that day, but in the ordinary course it would be sent away that day. J

Elizabeth Hayward, residing in Albert street, Dunedin, said thai she received a letter from Raymond about the end of the year, but no parcel.

Thomas Carter, engine cleaner, Clinton, stated that he remembered the night of the fire. About that time accused showed him a brooch. He "said a young man in Invercargill owed him £1, and' gave it Him in exchange." He also showed witness a pair of sleeve links resembling those produced in court. He identified the brooch produced. Mary Wright, reading at Clinton, said that accused boarded with her. He left on Friday, January 12. She remembered Detecthe I Cooney and Constable Reimer coming to her ! house. She showed them accused's bedroom, and saw them, find the brooch and sleeve links produced in court. I George Henry Clifford, officer in charge of the Clinton Post Office, said that accuser! was appointed cadet in the office some six or eight months ago. Part of his duties was to assist in sorting mails from out-lying dintricts. If a letter was posted at Wyndham by the night mail it would be sorted at Clinton. Accused also possessed a key of the postal box and railway van. Detective Cooney said that on January 12 he arrested accused on another charge. Wit ness, in company with Constable Reimer, searched his lodgings, and he found the ' brooch and sleeve links on a bracket in ac-> cused's bedroom. He afterwards showed them to accused, and charged him with stealing them. He nodded his head, and said: " I suppose so." Previously, he had said, in reply to a charge of theft of other article* of jewellery, "I stole them."

Constable Reimer also gave evidence, and this closed the case for the nrosecution.

Mr Solomon said that there was no use for him to say there was not a prlma facie case, and there was no doubt that accused would have to be committed for trial. He would reserve his defence.

Accused was accordingly committed for trial.

A second charge, of stealing a brooch on December 22, valued at 17s 6d, the property of the Postmaster-general, was then heard. The particulars of this case were that W. Baker, jeweller, Gore, sent a brooch to F. Stente, jeweller, Caversham, for repair. It was reported in the mail van of the 4-.20 p.m. train from Dunedin, but never reached its destination. The evidence went to show that accused gave this brooch to a young woman narfled Elsie Jane Anthony.

Accused was also committed for trial on

A third charge of stealing a gold bangle, valued at 255. In this case the article was posted by John Jamie, jeweller, Gore, to E. Souness, jeweller, Dunedin, but intercepted at Clinton. Accused gave it to Mies Anthony, and subsequently, when charged with the theft, admitted it, adding : " I could blow my brains out."

THE ARSON CHARGE,

Accused was next charged with wilfully setting fire to certain buildings — to wit, the post office and railway station at Clinton, the pioperty of the Queen.

Mr Fraser said that, as their Worships were aware, the railway premises were burnt down on the sth inst. The fire started shortly after 11 o'clock at night. Accused was charged with setting the station on fire — that was to say, with the crime of arson. In this ca^e, as in most arson cases, there was no direct testimony. There was no witness to come forward and say " I saw accused fire the building." It' was seldom so in a case of this kind; but there were numerous circumstances which combined in his (counsel's) opinion to point to the fact that accxised did fire the building. It would be proved that he would not be wanting in motive. It would be proved that about the time of the fire, ond shortly before it occurred, he had been engaged somewhat extensively in pilfering letters in the Clinton Post Office. Accused said he was last at the office about a quarter past 10. He lived about half a mile away. It was a curious fact that in his diary, which ho appeared to have kept since the Ist of January, he said on Friday, the sth, there was a small mail : home 10.15 p.m. On that night he had a conversation with a brother cadet named Collins, in the railway station, and Collins would say that accused was in his office with the mails about 10.15. Ho went out, and. coming back shortly after, stayed another five minutes. He then said to Collins, " I forgot, I have to go to Garden's house." lie then said good-night, and went out. It would be shown that he never went to Garden's house that night, so that unless he hncl said it with the deliberate intention of misleading he must have changed his mind. When ho was interrogated by Detective Coonoy regarding the fire, ho male a stril ement which the detective wrote down. Tn this statement accused said that the train arrived to time on Friday night. There was «. very small mail, con&c'quently he and Clifford (postmaster) left at It). 10. Before leaving Clifford and he went into the registrar's room ■ and locked up £2 in silver in tae sal?. Olif- [ ford carried a canclln in a fl&t-bottometi candles tick. They went out by the fiont. ]&# locked Ih^ insids door leading from the,

post office to the private box lobby. Ho put the key in the outer door, Clifford following him aiid pulling the door after him. He saw Clifford put the key in his pocket. He would not be certain that the registry office door was locked, as the charwoman had the door open on December 30, and might have left it unlocked. It was locked with a latch lock and an ordinary lock. Ke did not know that there was a key for that door until Clifford told him recently. After saying goodnight to Collins he went up the railway line home. He did not go into the house, but went to the W.C V having a bad attack of diarrhoea, and stayed there half an hour. He then .went into the house and to bed. Ke was awakened by hearing a whistle, and called out to his landlady, Mrs Wright, " What is that?" She replied that it must be a special. He got up and went down to the station, which he &aw was on fire. He hurried down, because he hacl .-65 in £1 notes and 10s in his office coat. He left this sum there because he was going to open a savings bank account on the following day. He estimated his total loss at about £11. Counsel resuming, said that in this statement accused said he asked Mrs Wright "What is that?" Mrs Wright, however, would say that he said, " I think that must be a fire." He also said that he had left £5 in the office for safety, and yet he carried about £8 or £9 belonging to other people. Detective Cooney would also tell their Worships that he found on accused some £14 worth of unpaid accounts, and if thab wes the case why should he open a savings bank account? The fire originated in the registry office.. The door leading out of the same was closed by a latch and the latchkey of it was kept by Clifford. After the fire, the debris was carefully searched, and all the locks were found. The only important one was that belonging to tae door mentioned, which would give egress and ingress to the registry office. The significant feature about this lock was that the bolt nad been snibbed back. The snibbing back of this lock could only be done from the inside of the office, and must have been done by soniebody in the post office. The effect of this was that any person knowing of it had access to the registry office. The fire originated in .he registry office, and Mrs Geddes would tell their Worships she saw a light in the post office shortly after 11. She knocked at the front door and got, no answer. She did not see the light again. It was suggested that the light was in the hands of whoever set fire to the building, and the knocking might have hastened his action. Detective Cooney said that on the 7th inst. he searched the debris of the post office. He found three locks. The lock marked "C" belonged to the outer registry office door. It was unlocked* and the key was inside. The key was broken. Lock "D" was the latch lock of the same door. The bolt of that was also snibbed back. Lock "E" he found in the centre of the post office, snibbed but not locked. He saw accused on the Bth inst. Witness told him that he wanted to hear what he had to say about the fire, and wrote down what he said. Accused then signed the statement. .On Friday, the 12th inst., witness arrested accused on three charges of theft. Witness also charged him with setting fire to the post office, and he replied. " I did not." On that morning accused told witness that he hacl only two or three shillings left: he had lost all his money in the fire. When witness searched him he found on accused £1 lls Id, which he said was his own money, and £8 16s 6d which accused said belonged to the Rifle Club. He also found accused's diary and a key of the mail vans. In addition he found accounts (unpaid) amounting to some £8 odd. '

George Henry Clifford, postmaster, said that he left the post office shortly after 10 o'clock. Accused was with him just before leaving. They went into the registrar's office to piit £2 in silver into the safe. They had a flat-bottomed candlestick. Dewar next went out into the post office, witness following him immediately. Witness placed the lighted candle on the stamping pad on the table in front of the 'delivery window. He then blew out two kerosene lamps, and Dewar placed the key in the inside lobby door, locking it, and gave the key to witness. The door from the registrar's office into the post office was open that night; it was never locked. He could not say in what condition the lock of the outer door of the registry office was in that day. It was usually secured at the top by a latch and by a lock below. Witness always kept the latch key. There was a spare key, and it would be secured in a small unlocked box in the registrar's office. Witness had not used the door for three weeks, when it was opened for a marriage ; but he could not remember whether he locked it again or not. He had no occasion to snib back the bolt of lock " D," and could not swear whether he did or not. He was pretty certain that the door would not remain unlocked for three weeks. It was his custom to try the door frequently to see if it was locked. He was always" veiry ca reful to keep it locked. On the night of the sth he was aroused close on midnight, and the whole of, the office was in flames. Twelve bags of Clinton mails were destroyed, and there was a pound's worth of stamps and about 10s in cash. Accused's duties were to collect and sort mails. Witness could, not remember what conversation he had with him about the fire. He told witness that he lost about £5 of his salary. Witness paid him his monthly cheque in the last week in December, which was for £5 10s.

Cross-examined: Witness could not be certain whether the charwoman ever went* out by the back door of the registry office. On the night of the fire witness was at the office from the arrival of the train till 10 o'clock. The registered packages were put away in the safe as usual. After the fire the safe was found locked and the packages intact. If the boy had been pilfering previously to the fire, witness could not see how he could conceal the evidence of his theft by firing the premises.

Re-examined: If the boy had tampered with unregistered letters on the night of the fire, the fire would conceal that fact. Witness did not think there was a registered letter by the mail that night. The sorted and made-up mails were put in the railway office.

Margaret Hall, charwoman, stated that she had on 1 December 30 occasion to unlock the back door of the registry office, but she latched and locked it again.

Cross-examined : There was no key in the lower lock. She had not opened that door since.

Re-oxamined : Sho was certain that she' locked it on December 30.

William Colling, cadet in the railway office, said lie saw frccused about 10.15 on the night of the fire, when 'he came in from the post officfa AviLh the mails. The mails were merely left in this station, and ncl put in witness's charge. Accused stayed sevfcral minutes, and weal out. returning shortly after, saying : "J forgot, 1 have to \fo up to Garden's." Witness lefi to go homo at 10.50. It would tstko him till 11 vhw ho got to Wrig'il's, Avheve ho bo&rdad. wflh accmed. Accused ■Wftfl not in the house when witness got there. It >yo«ld b© 11.20 .when he y/ont to bsd, and

still accused had not returned. Witness wai dozing off to sleep when he heard a whistle blowing, and accused came in, and said: "That will be a fire." There Mere no fires in the railway station during the week before the fire.

Cross-examined: If there had been anybody moving about in the po?t office that night when witness went home he thought he would have heard him. In his opinion if anyone went there to set fire to the post office cither wilfully or accidentally he did not go there until after 10 to 11. There was only a wooden partition between his office and the post office.

Mary Wright also gave evidence. Thomas Graham, billiard marker 'at Irving's Hotal, said that he passed the post office at about 20 minutes to 11 the night o£ the fire. He saw a light in the post office. He spoke to Mrs Geddes, and went home. It was half an hour after that he heard the whistle blow. When he got back he found the blaze coming out from the corner of the registry office. Margaret Geddes, wife of the lessee of the railway refreshment rooms, said that she was on the platform about 11 o'clock on the Friday night. She saw a light in the post office. She thought it unusual, and went to the post office door and knocked. She got Jio reply. Jixst then she met Graham carrying a lantern. After be passed she looked at the windows., but the office was all in darkness. Ten minutes after the alarm of fire was given witness went out again, "and the fire was coming out, of the roof of the pos_t office, near the registry office. Cross-examined: Witness thought when she went out the second time it was 11.30.

John Gordon arave evidence that lie- wa3 captain of the Clinton Rifle Club, and accused was secretary. He gave accused £8 Is about the end of last year to pay a bill rendered by the Colonial Amrmmition Company. Witness borrowed accused's bicycle on the , Friday morning. Ho took witness through the post office into the registry office, and they both went out by the back door. He did not notice if accused locked the door after him or not. Accused did not come to his house that night.

Cross-examined : Witness went home, and he had the idea ihot accused did not go back into the office the way they came out.

Percy H. Martin, sale&man. said that he went to the post office at 10.20 p.m. on the night of the fire. He met accused between Geddes's building and the post office. Wit-, ness went into Geddes's. and then returned to Irving's. -i.s he ua'ssed the post office it was in darkness. When he turned out again, to .the fire he saw the flame coming out of the corner window of the registry office.

John Hall, groom at Irving's boarding house, also gave evidence.

Richard Irvine, .iun., lessee of the Prince of Wales Boarding House, gave corroborative evidence as to the locality where the fire originated. Accused had borrowed £6 from him in October last, and had not repaid him. It was to have been repaid on January 26. He. staled that he wanted the money to pay debts in Balclutha.

Jas. G. Clifford, engine cleaner, and "Con-" stable Remer also gave evidence.

Mr Solomon submitted that there was- no evidence to justify the bench in committing accused for trial. The question was : Did the evidence raise a reasonable presumption of accused's guilt, and did it cast suspicion on him? They "must be satisfied that there was a reasonable possibility of a jury coming to, a conclusion to find accused guilty on the evidence. He submitted that it would be a monstrous thing to commit him for trial on the evidence brought forward, and the idea of suggesting that any jury would dream of convicting him was' 1 simply preposterous. It was their duty, unless they had made-up their minds to cast 'the responsibility on to the shoulders of others, to stand between theCrown and the prisoner, and under our con.-." stitution a man was innocent until he .was proved to be guilty. He would challenge ?.nyone to look at 'the evidence from any point of view and pick out any facts to prove the boy's guilt. His learned friend talked about motives. Of course, there were motives for every crime. All his friend could suggest to the bench was that if he stole any letters the night of the fire there might be a motive for the crime, and he (counsel asked the bench to consider if there was anything in the slightest way whatever to show that accused had anything to gain by burning down the building. A great deal had been made of the fact that the fire started in the registrar's office, and of the existence of the back door; yet they had the fact that the boy went through with a friend and his bicycle without any concealment whatever, and the charwoman used this door, so that it might have easily been left open. Counsel urged the bench-that it was their duty to put out of their minds the fact that the boy stood committed for trial for pilferings that had "taken place in the past. This pilfering had absolutely nothing to do with Ihe fire whatever. They must remember that they had to deal with accused on the problematical supposition that he might have stolen some letters that night. The only fact that was against him was that he was supposed to have been out at the time the fire might have arisen, but the utmost that could be said was that he was out at 11 o'clock. This might raise a suspicion against him, but counsel submitted that it was only a suspicion. It was the bounden duty of the bench to discharge him.

After retiring for about 15 minutes to consult, the Bench returned to the court and gave their decision.

Mr Roy said : In the opinion of the justices, although there arc suspicious circumstances, they do not consider the evidence sufficient to justify the committal of the accused for trial.

Accused was bailed out on the charges of stealing the jewellery. Two sureties of £50 on one charge and £10 on each of _ the other two charges were required, in addition to personal bail in the sum of £100.

The body of the boy Percy Horniblow, who was drowned at Sumner last week, has been recovered l>y a fisherman.

A man who was refused drink at Dawson's Hotel at Cromwell on Sunday assaulted Mr Dawson with a glass jug. Mr Dawson warded off the first blow, which broke the jug', but the next one inflicted a very sftvere 'gash in his face, one cut extending from a little above the mouth to the temple and severing an artery. Dr Morris found it necessary to put six stitches in Mr Dawson's wounds. Owing to the constable being out of town the man made good his escape.

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