THE BOROUGH BY-LAWS

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14341, 13 January 1911, Page 6

THE BOROUGH BY-LAWS

SOJIK PKOSEEC UTION'S. 'A number of more or less interesting cases, in which .tho defendants were charged with breaches of tho by-laws, eauiu uuiuro Air V. U. Day s.AI. in uie Tiuiaru Court ycstoiduy. • i\gainst Walter Xowuai-iid junr. was preicrreu a cnaige thai lie u.il nut uiiic up a eeriaiu pos.tiou on mo jiuoUc ruau outside entrance gaUij to tho Caledonian Grouna, wnou requested to do so by the police, m the interests of tho tralhe and public safety. Evidence was given tor the police by Constables McLean and Pender, Sergeant bowman commuting the prosecution. Mr Emslie, who represented defendant, who pleaded not guilty, submitted that the charge ahomd b.i dismissed, as in the first place there was no offence disclosed. The by-law was framed to suit exertional cases and not one like the present. • His Worship said that in his opinion the by-law hardly appked to the present charge. It referred rather to. a hired driver, a man cngiigid to go to a public place for a special fare. Mr Emslio said that ns lis view. Townsend in this cose.-was not a hired driver, but one plying for hire, and if there were any offence' at all it was in that lie did not draw up On a public stand. The other drivers at the Caledonian Grounds cntrnneo had also failed in this respect, and therefore -nil of them should be charged. However the constable in this case had told Townsend that lis must go to- a certain olace or ho .would be reported, when "he should have allowed Townsend to go where he pleased, and then have said whether or not his stand w a dangerous one. Sergeant Bowman said that in cases where it was suggested that a by-law was a weak one, it was usual to adV journ them and so allow the Borough solicitor to appear and defend them. His Worship said the point,was that the present case did not come within the by-law under which the charge was laid. Tho only offence .possible under section GO was where the driver of a licensed vehicle permitted his <;arriaao to draw up elsewhere than on a public stand. He could, not see his way to convict the defendant as the information was'laid, at present. The by-law did not cover this class of case, tut only applied to hired drivers and not to those plying for hire. There was another peculiarity about subsection b, of this by-law,; in that it' put the cnus of proof on a tliird party—a person who was not before the Court. The case was dismissed without rrejudice. Robert Owens (Mr. Emslie) was charged as tho proprietor" of a billiard saloon, with failing to close it between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the following morning. Tho charge "was dismissed, defendant being ordered however to pay 9s costs. Mr Emslie explained that Owens had not allowed his tables to be used after 11 o'clock at night, being informed by tho previous proprietor that ilris v/as illegal. However, lie did not know that no persons besides" himself were allowed to remain on the premises after that hour, as\d consequently he hsd stayed yarning with two or thr<e friends. His "Worship intimated that the, other men were liable to a penalty for remaining in a' billiard saloon aftex hours. The corner of George and Stafford streets was described by Sergeant Bowman as a very dangerous place, ai-d Charles do "la Cour, who was charged with riding a motor-bicycle over this intersection at about 20 miles an hour,., was fined 40s and costs 7s. For riding a bicycle at night with- v out a iig'ht George Sundborn was fined 10s and costs, and a charge against Matthew Andrews of driving a traction engine at Pleasant Point at night without a light was adjourned for one fortnight. John Thomas, a cab-driver, "was charged on the information of James Ross with driving on the wrong side-of the road in Sefton Street. He pleaded not guilty and was defended by Mr Walter Shaw. Informant said that Thomas, on January 4th, was coming up Melville Hill from the Bay side, and on turning in Sefton street sharply he went on his wrong side, and .forced witness's daughter to jump off her Tricycle. For the defence it was contended, that so acute was the corner mentioned that a man driving as Thomas did, would have to go well out . into the centre of the Toad to get round. It would have been almost impossible for him to be on the wrong side of the. road at the place described by Ross. His Worship convicted and discharged defendant, and ordered him to pay witness's, expenses, os. ,