MYSTERIOUS ALL 'SMOKE

Southland Times, Issue 19188, 6 March 1924, Page 5

MYSTERIOUS ALL 'SMOKE

ALLEGED RINGING-IN REMARKABLE ALLEGATIONS SEQUEL TO OTAHUHU TROTS. (Per United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, March 5. Mr W. H. Bundle, S.M., presided at the Magistrate’s Court this morning, when Alfred Tucker, Charles H. Capes and William Williamson were charged with conspiring to defraud the Otahuhu Trotting Club by the substitution of an unknown horse for All Smoke. AT THE OTAHUHU TROTS. Robert L. Absolum, secretary of the Otahuhu Trotting Club, stated that the Club held a two days’ meeting on November 21 and 24. Among the nominations received for the first race on .the first day were All Smoke and Wild Moa. The first nomination was by a telegram signed “McDonald.” In the nomination form for All Smoke, the horse was described as being owned by A. Tucker and trained by James McDonald. Wild Moa was coupled with All Smoke. James McDonald was given as the owner. The horse was described as a four-year-old trotter by Wildwood Junior out of a Tracey mare. The nominations were signed by A. Tucker and J. McDonald. The horse Wild Moa was scratched for the Introductory Handicap on the first day. The scratching was notified by J. McDonald “per C. Shaw.” The Introductory Handicap was won by a horse called Lord Roberts on 48 yards. All Smoke, on the limit, was second. The dividend on All Smoke was £1 8/-. All Smoke was driven by D. Bennett, of Christchurch. On the second day, in the Innovation Handicap, All Smoke started from 108yds bhd, and was ridden by W. Williamson. The losing fee payable to Williamson was £3. The second place money for All Smoke on the first day had not been paid to Tucker nor the riding fee to Williamson. On December 1, witness received a telegram from Tucker: “No stake money yet to hand. Why delay?” Witness did not reply to the telegram, and, on December 8, received the following telegram signed ’Tucker”: “Received no reply to yesterday’s telegram. When may I expect one?” Witness replied: “Your telegram to hand. Stake withheld. Action in destroying All Smoke without notification is being investigated by the Committee.” In reply to that witness received a wire on December 17: “Cannot understand your wire. Kindly explain by letter.” Later, witness received a letter from Williamson, asking for £3 riding fee. TAKING THE HORSES TO OTAHUHU. AU5n Roy McCrae, railway clerk at. Otahuh, said that on the night of November 13, the train brought a G. and two U.G. waggons to Otahuhu. That was equal to five horse waggons. The G. waggon was consigned to Williamson. There were in it two horses and one sulky. The two U.G. waggons were consigned to J. Bryce and contained seven horses and two sulkies The charge in respect to the G. waggon was paid by W. Williamson. The consignment note was signed “W. Williamson, Christchurch, November 26.” The sulky was consigned from Otahuhu to J. Hardwick, Wellington, by C. H. Capes, Criterion Hotel, Otahuhu. A consignment note of December 14 consigned a horse from Auckland from C. H. Capes, Waitemata Hotel, to A. Tucker, Christchurch, care of J. Hardwick, Wellington. Since November 13, there was no record of the consignment of a horse from Otahuhu by Williamson or Capes. THE “BLACK” HORSE. Ralph Fairley, formerly a stable hand employed by W. Kelsey, horse trainer, Auckland, said on November 13, he went to Otahuhu railway station about 8 pm. to get a trotter called Alverwood. At the station he found that the horse train was in. Witness started to help Bryce to unload his horses. A man named Williamson came up and asked for Kelsey’s boy. Witness asked Williamson what horse he had and Williamson answered Kaloon. John Nicholson, licensee of the Criterion Hotel, Otahuhu, said on the night of November 13, two men, giving the names of Capes and Williamson, came to stay at his hotel. They had a black horse with them. He saw the horse before it left his house. It then had something wrong with its front leg. John Wilson, manager of the Otahuhu gas works and steward of the Otahuhu Trotting Club, said that before the November meeting he saw a black horse about 15.2 or 15.3 hands at the Criterion Hotel. He could not understand the brown streaks on his muzzle. It looked as if brown hairs were showing through black hairs. Williamson was in charge of the horse and Capes was with him. Witness saw the horse practically every day while it was there. The horse, when on the track, was a bold trotter. On the second day, the horse broke down. Before doing so, he did not make much of a showing.

AT THE BOILING DOWN WORKS. J. W. Free gave evidence that on November 14 he saw a horse with Capes and Williamson going towards boiling down works. It was not the horse produced in Court.

John Brownlie, clerk at Austen’s boiling down works at Panmure, said on November 26, about 10.30 a.m., he received a black horse at the boiling down works. The horse was led through the paddocks by two men. The horse had a rug on, and was very lame. Witness met one of the men, Williamson, in the works. Williamson said he had a horse to be destroyed. Witness said it could not be done that day and there was nobody there to do it. Williamson said the horse was a trotter. He thought it had a small bone in the fetlock broken, and he wanted it put out of its misery. Williamson was to get 10/- for the horse. In reply to Williamson ire said the killing was done by shooting. The following Saturday the horse was destroyed. The horse struck witness as being very peculiar. It was very lame. It had a bay muzzle, and was peculiar in colour. There were bay rings round the eyes. Its coat seemed to be bay under black. When the horse was killed witness took the skin to Sutherland’s tannery. HORSE’S COAT DYED.

William Nelson, foreman fellmonger at Sutherland's Tannery at Onehnnga, said he received from the last witness a black horse hide. The hide was of a peculiar colour, as when the hair Jay flat it was black, especially on the back, but when it was ruffled it showed bay, more particularly on the belly, where there was a great deal more bay than black. It appeared to him that the coat of the horse had been stained or dyed. After it had been washed and dressed, the coat had been put under lock and key at the request of the Otahuhu Trotting Chib. It was eventually handed to Detective Wither. There was a distinct white mark slightly dyed., “A DIFFERENT TYPE OF HORSE.” Detective Knight, of Auckland, stated that on February 21, he took possession of a black hide. From it he had cut three pieces and handed them to an analyst. On November 23 witness was present at the Otahuhu Trotting Club’s meeting and saw All Smoke ran. He took particular notice of him. He also saw him run on the second day. The horse at the back of the Court was not the horse that ran as AQ Smoke at Otahuhu. It was a different type of horse. TRACES OF COPPER. Kenneth M. Griffen, Government Analyst at Auckland, said that on February 23, he received some samples from the black hide in Court. Three pieces were cut from the hide. Witness found copper in all the pieces taken. Witness separated two layers of hair, black and bay, and found that the outer or black layer contained about four times as mueh copper as the

inner layer. His inference was that the hair had been treated with dye containing copper. Copper was a common ingredient of many dark hair dyes. He examined pieces of another hide, which he believed was a natural hide and found no traces of copper.

MAGISTRATE NOT IMPRESSED. David Bennett, horse trainer at Christchurch, said that he drove AH Smoke at Otahuhu. He ran second in about 3min 45secs. He was engaged the day the races were postponed. Capes told him on that day that he would try to get a drive for him. Witness did not ask what the horse was. He next saw Capes on the day of the races. He did not know till he saw the saddle cloth with the number on what horse he was driving. He had not seen Ail Smoke before in a race. The horse did

not go well. He was breaking a lot and he could not hold him. He had no money on the horse. He only got the ordinary scale fee of £3 for driving. Williamson took the horse from him after the race in the birdcage. He remarked that the horse was a hard puller and he could not hold him. When the horse pulled up he was lame. He could not sa Y & d se( ’ n All Smoke since he left Auckland. He did not think the horse at the back of the Court was All Smoke. The Magistrate (to witness) : I am not impressed very much with your evidence. ALL SMOKE IDENTIFIED. Frederick Jones, trainer of Addington, said he knew All Smoke as he trained it. at Timarp when it belonged to George King. On one occasion the horse kicked a cart, to pieces and suffered a cut on the leg. He had recently examined the horse at the Police Station. The horse was All Smoke. All Smoke was the horse at the back of the Court. The horse had not, raced in harness when he had it; it had raced in saddle. He did not think anyone knowing anything about a horse would attempt to race it in harness. DOINGS AT OTAHUHU. William Kelsey, trainer and dealer at Epsom, Auckland, said that on the night of November 13 he instructed an employee, Fariley, to go to Otahuhu to get the horse Bluewood. On the second day of the Otahuhu meeting, witness met Williamson on the course. Witness paid him £1 which he said witness had overcharged him on Bluewood. Williamson asked him if he could leave the horse in his paddock. Witness said he could. Williamson did not say what the name of the horse was. That was all be saw of Williamson at the meeting. After the Otahuhu meeting, witness saw Capes. That was about three weeks after the meeting. Capes went to witness’s house. He said that he had come for the horse that Williamson had put in his paddock. Witness told Capes to pay the grazing fee to Coyle, the owner of the paddock. Next day witness saw Capes with a black horse that "had a rug on. He asked for a feed. He said he was leaving by train. The horse that Capes had walked freely. He did not see Capes or the horse afterwards. Witness could not swear to the horse he saw with Capes. He had seen one that looked like him. He would not swear that the horse at the back of the Court was the one Capes had. Witness had never handled any horses for Capes. He had never arranged with Williamson to ship a horse to Lyttelton. He had never seen Tucker in his life till he saw him in Court. “THE HORSE WAS SUSPECTED.” James McDonald said he knew both Capes and Tucker. Witness owned Wild Moa, but the nomination form was not filled in with his authority. He had not trained All Smoke and had got it from Frances on the day Detective Gibson took it. Tucker told witness they had used his name as trainer of All Smoke and had nominated Wild Moa. They asked witness to say he trained Wild Moa to protect Tucker,. who told witness that the horse was suspected. MORE ABOUT ALL SMOKE. Detective Gibson said he went to McDonald’s home and took possession of the black horse. He saw Charles Capes at accused’s shop. Capes told witness they had never had a horse destroyed. He saw Tucker, who said All Smoke was his property. Williamson had taken the horse to Otahuhu, but did not bring it back. However, it came back. Three weeks later Tucker took it off the boat, but denied having anything to do with Lookout. He denied sending a wire to his wife that he had gone to Kaikoura. He did not know Welcome Home and had nominated Wild Moa. Tucker came to the Police Station with a man who, he said, could prove that the horse seized was All Smoke. When he seized the horse it was quite sound. William Larcombe said that the records showed that All Smoke was purchased by Tucker on October 26, 1923. George King, of Washdyke, had at one time owned All Smofye. The horse was unplaced in its one start in 1921. It did not start in 1922-23. The nomination form produced was in Capes’s handwriting. Witness and Norris interviewed Capes, who, he thought, had denied going to Auckland. COMMITTED FOR TRIAL.

Accused pleaded not guilty and was committed for trial.