TIMARU NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18959, 3 January 1930, Page 5

TIMARU NEWS.

THEFT OF AN OVERCOAT. A sitting of the Police Court was held yesterday before Messrs D. M’Lennan. j.P., and T. W. Satterthwaite, J.P. Thomas James Burns, of Waimate, who described himself as an accountant, appeared on a charge of having stolen an overcoat and hat. of a value of £5, the property of some person unknown. i “ Guilty on the first charge,” was the plea advanced by the accused, who said that he was slightly inebriated when the offence was committed. “It has cost me a good job,” he added. “If I had not been arrested I would have returned the coat to-day.” Mr M’Lennan: But surely you knew you were doing wrong when the offence was committed ? The accused: I wasn’t worrying much then. Sergeant C. Petersen said that the accused was well known to the police in Waimate as a hoodlum. He had previously been convicted for mischief. The accused (emphatically): No, I haven’t! The Sergeant: There is no question as to this young fellow's intention. The accused: I would have taken the coat back to-day. Mr M’Lennan said that an example should be made of the accused. The latter had spoken of his good intentions, but prior to his arrest he had evinced no desire to do the straight thing. The accused was fined £5, in default one month’s imprisonment, one week being allowed in which to pay. The Bench refused an application for the suppression of the accused’s name. INFECTIOUS DISEASES. During the past month twenty-one cases of infectious disease were notified to the District Health Inspector (Mr J. Menzies). The cases included eight of scarlet fever, four of diphtheria, one of typhoid and eight of tuberculosis. The notifications were from the following districts: —Timaru Borough, 1 scarlet fever, 1 typhoid, 3 tuberculosis; Temuka Borough, 1 scarlet fever; Waimate Borough, 2 scarlet fever, i tuberculosis: Levels County, 3 diphtheria; Mackenzie Count3', 1 scarlet lever, 1 diphtheria, 2 tuberculosis; Waimate County, 3 scarlet fever, 2 tuberculosis. There were no cases in the Geraldine borough or county or the Pleasant Point Town Board district.