The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17.

Southland Times, Issue 3300, 17 January 1879, Page 2

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED DAILY. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17.

y:-y-:.-yy .-,.,.. ... w : ■■-.;■ ';-; < WHEN^^Vfei^n'ce' > ;Of;;';'deat_' was passed | upon the, murderer- : Welsh we abstained j ;from op_i_ienting _pon it, simply because ] any remarks. _"orn us : a,pplauding the j sentence would Save savored ofpersecu- j tion in the case- of a ; man 'tipon- wbom the sbadow of death. ; lay. But the ' righteousness of the verdict found by the jury and'of His Honor's judgment in connection with- it^' was generally* admitted. ;__;cruel and: -b r^toou- murder had been comniittedj the'charge was clearly proved against the prisoner, and oJo extenuating-cii-cumstances whatever were to warrant; any :mitigation of Xho. extreme penalty jsf the law. ■- the very excel- j lent defence put forwrard by the prisoner 's counsel> an attempt ;was made to. prove suicide oh the "part of the' deceased, but it , : nothing ' against the weight of evidence, and fell to pieces like a house oi cards. The prisoner's counsel [was ingenuity itself in his endeavors to save his' client,- and if- there had been the 'slightest grounds for the. excuse it -is ; not at a_ likely that he would have onutted to put in the plea of insanity. Ih truth, however, there were no grounds i for.it. The nearest approach to aberra- -j tion of intellect on the prisoner's part only, perceptible in a certain reserve ■■ and morosehess of mariner. Not a suggestion even :of insanity was made. Had the man discovered any symptoms of \ it they must have been noticed by his employers" at Waikawa, and would have ! ceri^irily A been heard of by. the sharpwitted^ legal practitioner who undertook the defence, and whose reputation, as a special pleader; would have been im-_ieh-'ely enhanced if he had succeeded in pulling his jclient out of the jaws pf death, gaping to receive him. Again, had the man's mental condition been at all abnormal, the reporters of the press would scarcely have failed in hearing something about it. But no, not a hint- of the kind was given, and so conclusive was the case against the prisoner that no defence beyond the hypothetical pleading of counsel was set up ; not a witness was called. There was, in fact, no defence ; tbe man was taken red-handed almost; and upon him fell with justice the full penalty for murder. With the sentence we fully concurred ;• there were no extenuating circumstances of any kind to warrant the slightest modification of it, and if ever a- man deserved hanging for a cruel and barbarous crime that man was James Welsh. We think we shall only do Judge Williams bare justice in stating that had anything transpired in the course of the trial to lead to a mere supposition even of unsoundness of mind on the prisoner's part, the Judge would not have overlooked it, and would certainly have been, influenced by it when, as we were advised the other day by telegram, he was unable to say anything in favor of .commuting the extreme sentence. For our own part we have heard nothing that would lead us to. a conclusion of the kind, excepting a statement from one who rjrofessed to have known the prisoner that he was given to long fits of moody silence. In the face of all this, however, we hear that the Ministry has seen fit to recommend the prisoner to the merciful consideration of the Crown, in other words, that his sentence should be commuted to imprisonment for life on the grounds of insanity. Now where, we should like to know, did the Ministry derive inspiration on this point ? It is somewhat remarkable that evidences of insanity should have been quite overlooked by the numerous people at this end of the colony, who were brought into close communication with the : prisoner, and yet were disclosed to the officials Of Wellington. There ■ can be no;, question - about certain, representations having been made to Ministers, or they would not have iplaced. the matter as they did before His Excellency ; but, for all that, it strikes us that they have been, very considerably deluded, and are wasting sympathy upon an unworthy object. If there had been a political end in view, it is quite possible the Ministry would have used the Welsh lever to have gained it. But the man was a nobody, a mere hewer of wood and drawer of water,- from whom nothing was to be hoped and nothing to be feared. He placed- himself within the grasp of the law by enacting a bloodyxrime on ' the person of his unoffending wife, and now, forsooth ! at the last moment, and without cause being shown, the wellworn, threadbare plea of insanity is put forward. With this we cannot concur, for there is nothing to justify it. The man- was fairly tried by his peers before one of the most merciful judges on the New Zealand circuit, whose leanings, if he displayed any during the trial, were in favor of the prisoner. And - yet not a whisper about insanity ! Willingly would 'we plead for any poor wretch in' trouble, if. justice as well as mercy warranted it ; but in the case before us we ' see no cause to interfere, unless to demand that the law's award should be carried out. If this is not done, "a miscarriage of, justice will be the result. C_ ij s_E_,—-We are compelled to hold oyer an interesting letter from our Gore correspondent and other matter. , The San, TTbA-CISCO Mail. —Under the new press association arrangements, we looked to receive a full and clear summary of the news brought by the 'Frisco mail. We were however disappointed, and have to apologise for the wretched production that appears elsewhere. On account ' bf its indistinctness we were compelled to strike out a great deal" of the verbiage with which the wire was loaded last night. Hence many of the items of intelligence, " savor 'of incompleteness, and are otherwise foggy.. The message as it was sent comnrised about three thousand words, not exceedingly long by .any means, and yet it was muddled in a most extraordinary manner. In fact' "a- worse compiled and transmitted message never came into our hands. It was discreditable to~ thei- sender and to the telegraph department. An additional summary of "news came to hand this morning too late for publication, <_ '• -

.'■.;:^^^'- VA_uATiOKS.frFrom'the valiiatio _st for the present year submitted to] the Council last night, it would appear that there has been an increase: of £9000 -ih the; total amount as compared with last year, being equivalent onjtlie gross amount to an increase of over 25 per cent. ; .The totals are for 1879, >„k7,sl&ifor 1878, XyA JXX * ;f: -'NT;iSA'NC_ CASiESfe^t the Besideh'tMagis- . .rate's Court yesterday'morhing/the following cases brought at the instance of the Inspector ot Nuisances were . disposed of :— For per- : mittihg a nuisance, a def ehdaht hEuned Wignail was fined: 40s, ajad 5s Asts ; two defendants _tamed Hinton and Wmton . were ;each mulcted in' a penalty- of ss, and 5s costs, for leaving their horses and carts unattended in Dee street/ ;-;: yb-bbb-'Ayby 'yy: jYEnvthe SUN-r^A^manhained Albert Slocum was found dead on the Allandale road, about five miles from Fairlie Creek, near Timaru, a few- days ago. The deceased was. found .stretched flat oh his back, with his face uncovered, and fearfully scorched from the sum He held a bottle :pf gin iveryr firmly in his; hand; and it is supposed that while under ithe influence of drink he went to sleep in the position above described aud ; was jkilled-by sunstroke. 'A Otago HNiyERSiTy.-— The. iiew University Buildings at' Diinedin are likely tb be very costly by the timefthey.ai-e.:;ritiished. It was stated at a- meeting of the University Council held last week that the totat cost would be „73,196, whereupon .the Eev. Dr. gtuarfc re■marked that the original cost was, he understood; only- £17,090, , The four: professors' residences were said/^to be;4ikely ip cost -1800 each. . ' _V' general- opihibn Iwas "expressed that a great deal of money had been Wasted on ornamentation. ' ' ; ■ • I-VEitCAEGILij Boad BOAED .-^A meeting of the members of the -Invercargill Road Board was held yesterday. Presdht-YMessrs Stone, McDougall, Watson?- Thorns on, Colquhbuh; and:Phi_ips. The foliowing^ten'ders.were accepted :— For cbntract I'2l,'Seaward Bush Road, Mr Gay £297 10s ; 122, One Tree Point Road; J. Cronibie £235 ss; 123, Mill Road, Messrs Henderson and Co., .'-188 18s ; 124; Watson Road, Messrs Henderson and Co., -213 10s ; Richmond Grove, Mr W. Cummiags £ 169. The offer of Mr W. Russell for making but theyaluation list was accepted. A case of fever reported from the ißluif was ordered to be held over for consideration. The patient, it was stated, had recovered, t The clerk; was instiucted to write' to Mr Middleton, collector, asking why he had not attended jthe meeting of the Board as requested. -Several ; accounts hiving been passed for payment, the Board adjourned. So-TH-A-D Hospital.— Tie fortnightly meeting of the Committee of the Hospital was held yesterday evening. Present : Messrs Cheyne (chairman), Jacobs, Mackay, and Willoughby. After the minutes of the last meeting had been read and confirmed, the secretary (Mr Willoughby) informed the committee that all the letters to the various ■municipalities, asking for contributions to the Hospital, had been sent out. The chairman handed to the secretary £16 6s 6d, which had been collected from the surfacemen employed on the railway by Mr Hawkins., It was proposed by Mr Mackay, seconded by Mr Jacobs, and carried, that the annual meetiag of the Hospital shoidd be held on Wednesday, the 29th, and that Monday next should be appointed for the examination of the balancesheet by the auditors. The chairman congratulated the committee on the flourishing condition of the Hospital, and after appointing canvassers for the town to solicit donations, the meeting adjourned. Cricket. — Yesterday evening a meeting of the committee of the Invercargill Cricket Club, was held at the Clarendon Hotel. Mr Pickford was in the chair. The following twelve were chosen as the Old Members' team to play against the New Members' eleven next Saturday (to-morrow) afternoon: — Reade, Thomas, Cross, Howard, Kingswell, Hamilton, Searle, West, J. N. Kingsland, T. Kingsland, R. Buchanan and Borne. Play to begin at two o'clock sharp. A letter was read from the Gore Club challenging the Invercargill Club to play a match against them on the 28th inst. Tt was resolved to ask the Gore Club to alter the date to next Wednesday, the day of the railway demonstration, in' .Invercargill. With regard to a challenge from the Southland Squatter's Club (Dipton) to play their return match next month, it was resolved to send a team to Dipton, if practicable, on the 19th February. The committee then adjourned, after some conversation about' sending a team to play against Dunedin at Easter. Bl tr ef Boating Club. — A large meeting of the Bluff Boating Club was held in the Harbor Office on the evening of the 14th inst. Capt. Thomson occupied the chair. After the minutes of last meeting were read, the advisability of sending a crew to represent the Club at the Henley Regatta was taken into consideration. A letter was read fiom the O.R.C. requesting the support of the Club, and hoping a crew would be sent to compete in the challenge fours. The meeting was unanimous in the opinion that a crew should be sent, and a sub-committee was appointed to choose the men and arrange. A letter from the Invercargill Club was also considered, inviting the Blufi 3 Club to compete in a friendly contest on the 25th inst. The meeting unanimously agreed to send representatives, but owing to. the Henley Regatta following so shortly, the secretary was instructed to intimate the willingness of the Club to attend at Invercargill, but desired that a date should be fixed after the Henley Regatta. Another pair oared gig was then ordered from Fuller, Melbourne, and the meeting adjourned. New Buildings. — In our notice yesterday of new building in this town we omitted to draw attention to an important structure which, though completed for some time, has only recently been utilised for the purpose for which it was erected. We refer to what has been designated the Imperial Hotel, and which is situated in the handsome block of buildings in Dee street, between Esk and Don streets. The exterior presents no specially striking features beyond those common to the central portion of the block, the preservation of uniformity being absolutely neces- i sary to the proper carrying out of the architect's design. The building forms a ! portion of the most imposing row of business premises at present in existence in the town. The interior is fully in keeping with the substantial, neat-looking exterior. The rooms are lofty and commodious, and nothing has been omitted to render the hotel accommodation perfect in ; every respect. There are about thirty public rooms in the -establishment, including a large dining-room, billiard-room with .. refreshment-room attached, numerous sitting-rooms and bedrooms, bar, &c. The hotel is capable of accommodating about a score of visitors under ordinary circumstances, though under special pressure double that number could be put tip. The appointments are in every respect of the best description, and the hotel for its size is inferior to few if any in the colony. Under ;the management of the pro-; prietor, Mr Sproule, it promises to take that leading place amongst our local hotels which it is entitled to do by virtue of its . superior 'character. 'YY .. B -Eton's Circus.^—A very large audience, was again assembled in the Circus last night to witness the performance -of Burton's accomplished company of artistes, the number being 'largely augmented by visitors from the country, who - .availed themselves of the special arrangements' made by the railway authorities, The entertainment was, as on the previous evenings, far above the average of itinerant circus companies, and the introduction of several new features greatly improved the performance. A member of the company distinguished himself on a*pair o£ exceedingly high stilts, while the equestrian performance of a monkey on a dog's back elicited great admiration, and enthusiastic applause.. This diminutive specimen, of our Darwinian progenitors on his canine "steed leaped over gates/through hoops, and performed a number of other tricks indicative of very high training and marvellous instinct. <f Young Australia" essayed the difficult task of riding a couple of horses over bars and hurdles. A somewhat alarming incident transpired in the course of his performance. While attempting to jump a five-bar gate with a foot on the back of each horse, one | of them jibbed at the leap, and the young .artiste came suddenly to the ground. He | seemed stunned for the moment, but after a ' ■ short interval was enabled to resume hia per- i formance, and eventually took both horses , over the gate 'amidst prolonged and enthusiastic applause. In addition to the features i ofthe entertainment we |have. particularised i a number of other equestrian and acrobatic ' , feats were performed, the members of the j company displaying consummate ability in , all of them, while the highly trained horses | and ponies came in for a major share of ap- 1 preciation. The entertainment will be re- ! peat'ed this and to-morrow evenings, and an | afternoon perfc Finance will he given oa Sat- 1 ufday'. ""• - ' • - I

;S JJLLING without A License.— -At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, • before Mr H. McCulloch, Daniel Phillips was. summoned, at .the instance of the municipal authorities, for selling, hawking, and vending : milk without a license. Mr T ; . M. Macdonald conducted the prosecution,; and Mr Finn ;ap- - peared for the accused. Mr Macdonald 'said the case Was laid under theAith section of No. 3of the municipal bye-laws.; The ; facts .were admitted, and it was agreed to decide the case on the charge of selling. Mr Finn contended -that it was contemplated by the : bye-law that there Should be a market, but no market existed. The obtaining of revenue", was perhaps the secondary object Of. such bye-laws, the real' one being the protection .f people who kept shops, in the townagainst. itinerant vendors of similar commodities.- He ; contended that his client simply sold his own commodities to his own customers. They might as well frame a bye-law to impose- a duty .on commercial travellers selling; frpm samples as on a tradesman, such as his. client; who lived biitside : of the town, ahd brought his produce in like any other settler. ; He in- . jured: nobody,, and benefited a great -number: : Mr Macdonald said he had to submit that, ias there was ho marketY-he admitted there was no market— the word " outside "in the byelaw was inoperative, 'and that therefore he;, was hot entitled to sell without a license. ; Under the proviso, to the section, a condition of things was provided "for where there was no market : in existence j; and, therefore, .whether or not a market was in. existence, the defendant was not entitled to -vend or hawk his milk without paying his license fee. His Worship said he thought the question was a very important one, but he. had a very strong opinion that the defendant was not., liable. He thought the dues could only be recovered; from persons .hawking and sel ling to chance customers in the way that costermpngers did. Ibwas: .implied- that people who were selling j goods ordered, such as milkmen ' selling milk, were not hawking. ,He would, I however, fully consider the whole matter, | and give his decision on Tuesday next. The Alleged Forgery. —At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, Wm. Robertson was brought. up on remand.; charged with forging and uttering a cheque for £6 'ss. The following evidence was-takeh in addition to that at the previous hearing:— J. Findlay deposed that prisoner came to his shop on the 30th or 31st December last, ahd asked if the witness conld oblige him with a blank cheque for Mrs McDonald, who kept a store at the corner opposite to his place. He gave him a blank cheque on the Bank of New Zealand, and he took it across to Mrs McDonald's shop. Mrs McDonald stated that the prisoner had visited her shop c_ several occasions, but that on the last he was alone when he came. He asked for a blank cheque, and witness told him to apply to Mr Findlay for one. He went across to Mr Findlay's and returned at once. He ■ asked to beallowed to fill the cheque up. He had some doubt as to how it should be done, and asked the witness to assist him. He seemed able to spell the words until he came to the signature " Walter' Brown." Witness assisted him to spell it. The cheque was for £6 odd. The prisoner was then charged with forgmg and uttering a cheque for £5 10s. Wm. Whitten, hotelkeeper at Campbelltown, stated that he saw the prisoner in his bouse on Saturday, the llth of January. He asked him to change a cheque, observing that it was all right; he had got it from Watty Brown for wages. 'He gave . him a pen and ink and he endorsed the cheque. He gave him £5 10s in cash for it. He never presented it to the Bank but gave it to Coastable Dunnett on the following day. Daniel Boyd, blacksmith, Bluff, stated that he knew the prisoner; he assisted him to shoe two or three horses on the 9th or 10th of January. He asked for a blank cheque, and witness procured one ou the Bank of New Zealand from the last witness and gave it to him. He went out,, and when he came back he was filling it in. Mrs McCnrdy deposed to the prisoner having procured a pen and ink from her, and to his altering the date of the cheque in her house. Walter Brown stated that the cheque produced was not in his handwriting and that the signature was a forgery. Constable Dunnet gave evidence as to the arrest of the prisoner. The accused on being interrogated in the usual way intimated that he had nothing to say in answer to the charge. He was then committed to take his trial on both charges, at the next sittings of the Supreme Court in Invercargill. A lost letter is advertised for. Tbe Southern Cross Royal Arch Chapter holds an emergency meeting this evening at 8 o'clock. A Corporation notice states that valuation lists of the several wards are open for inspection at the Municipal offices. The Rev. Mr Byng is announced to lecture at the new Theatre, Dee street, this evening. We direct attention to the tempting programme of Burton's Circus in another place. The outgoing Suez mail closes to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. Copies of the Daily and Weekly Times can be obtained at the various booksellers in town, and of Mr Weir, of Dee street. The agents, Messrs Cargills, Gibbs and Co., notify that all claims against the ship Jessie Readmau must be sent in by noon to-morrow. Mr H. West gives notice of his intention to resume lessons in music and singing on the 20th inst. There are several new wanted notices in the usual column that are worth glancing at. Mr G. Lumsden, jun., announces his intention of commencing business in Gore as watchmaker and jeweller. Messrs Jacobs and Moir advertise a long list of valuable musical instruments for sale. A meeting of the children's demonstration committee in connection with the opening of the Northern Railway is convened for 8 o'clock to-morrow evening at the Cou icil Hall. Another liberal announcement is made by the Commissioner of Railways for the Middle Island relative to the opening of the through communication with Christchurch, For one week from the date of the opening, Wednesday next, ordinary single fare tickets issued from any station to any station will be available for return in accordance with the terms of a notice published in another column. The Phoenix Assurance Company notifies its withdrawal from business in thisjcolony.