WARDEN'S COURT.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2018, 23 June 1875, Page 2

WARDEN'S COURT.

: . • ■ THIS PAY, . - (Before W^Fjuseb, JEsq i^' Warden.) M'QUILLAN Y. GJREENVILLE., The plaint - was as follows :—That the defendant, js. .the. registered- owner of .a certaira, claim "in the Hauraki Goldmining District, known as the Just in Time claim, and the defendant has neglected to bona fide and continuously work tho same fromfda^ to day;by the number of men tp^fescribed in respect - of' such claim by regulations for the said district under the -Goldmining District Act, 1873, to wit, by one : man for every fifteen thousand isquafre feet b'f land com-, prised in the "said - claim; wherefore the complainant claims -that the defendant maybe adjudged to have forfeited the claim.or some:part, thereof; and that the complain ant have given to him an order of the Warden,, authorizing the., complainant to take possession of Jhei said claim as the owner thereof under the Goldmining District Act, 1873, and that the complainant have such other and further relief in the premises as tho Court may see fife. ' ■ , ~ Mr^ Tyler appeared for complainant, Mr Macdonald for defendant. Mr Tyler in opening his case, addressed the Court to show that forfeiture and not fine should b6 imposed, and quoted a Case Thompson v. Begg, in which it was held that a fine could only be admitted where the shareholders were ignorant, or where the claim had been zealously worked since, the stoppage. All witnesses were ordered to leave the Court till called for.

I Wm. McQuillan —I am a miner, PrQ; du'ce my miner's right. I am the only Wm. McQuillan holding a miner's right. ; The Just-in-Time is a claim of two men's ground situated on the Karaka. . I have ; known 'it 'since it was first pegged out. : I watched the claim _ during the whole of May. I was working* in | the Trafalgar, the mine adjoining. I Therff was" no work ■ during that month. A boy named Eeddy came up about the 22nd May, and having borrowed . a pestal and mortar from the Lord Nelson, ;he crushed a piece of stone. Then he walked up and down. - He came there at !10 and left at 4 o'clock. That was all the .work done. A party were doing some ituanelling there on Good Friday.- ■ Since ;then up to the timeihe plaint was lodged :iio work was done. Some men /Were put lon about the 11th of this month. The same boy was feeding the Little "Lizzie stuff at Greenville's battery subsequent to ;crushing the piece of stone. ' '>' > '""' I By Mr Macdonald—l bear half the (expenses of this case with «my r mate Thomas Graham. He and Igo halves. ! James Bennett' Ivey—! "am?- a miner. Have been employed lately by the Mining Inspector. I went to the 'Just' in Time ion the 26th of May. There was no one jat work. No work had been done' for ;some time apparently. I~.judged, ,from the appearance of the mine there hail 1 been no fresh dirt tipped.,.., J By Mr Macdonald—l have'noMnterest in the claim. I was ordered up there by 'the Inspector of Mines, Capfc. Goldsmith. [ Kobert Fprris, deposed—l am a miner, and have been working in the Lord Nelson, which adjoins the Just-in-Time. There has been no work done until about' a ; fortnight ago.- ( Aboufr^. three weeks before that'one of the partfes came to me to borrow a dish. . •. • [. Cross-examined by Mr Macdonald —On Good Friday there were about six; men working in the Just-in-Time. A little before that, there were two parties of tributers at work, and before that, there was about 100 feet of tunnelling done, as well as stoping. ■i ..Re-examined by Mr Tyler. ~~ The tunnelling was done about 18 months ago. Mr Macdonald contended that the evidisclosed the fact that complainant-was maintained by another who' was to share the plunder, in which case the verdict must go for defendant. This point was* discussed, and His Worship ruled that McQuillan's evidenco showed that Graham was a sharer in the action and would have been in*the proceeds had the decree of the Court been in their favor. ' '• ■ ■ ''/"'■' Defendant los| the case, and had to paythe^ costs which :amountcdto;£S:ss. The Court then adjourned.