MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Waipa Post, Volume V, Issue 237, 12 August 1913, Page 3

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

[Before Mr E. Rawson, S.M.]

FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 1913

Reserved Judgment in the case of Baker v. Devereaux was delivered on Friday morning by Mr E. Rawson, S.M. This was a case in which the plaintiff claimed £SO 17s id for alleged loss of milk through insufficient cows being provided by the defendant. The defendant filed a counter claim for £146 for neg},. '' gence on the part of plaintiff while managing defendant s farm. The judgment was very lengthy, and took the best part of two hours in delivering. In regard to the. claim His Worship said that plaintiff had not discharged his duty in looking after the herd, to see that the cows were properly attended to. An item of 19s 6d was admitted by defendant, therefore judgment would'be given for plaintiff lor 19s 6d and costs 6s. Defendant was awarded costs on the claim £2 2s. A breach of agreement had ' been committed by plaintiffs failure to keep the rabbit burrows properly closed. From the evidence the selling value of the land was affected by the rabbits, and plaintiff was well within the mark when he claimed £SO, and the claim was allowed. In regard to the pigs, he should have insisted on the pigs being kept in. The death of the cows was apparently shortage of feed, but he could not hold with defendant that the cows died as the result of negligence on the part of plaintiff and his failure to keep proper food. He_ was, therefore, non-suited.on this part of the claim. Judgment was for defendant for £57 9s Bd, costs £29 7S,Bd. , , Mr H. Y. Collins appeared for plaintiff, and Mr J. H. Luxford for defendant.

■i Trespassing. For allowing six pigs to trespass on the Alexandra Cemetery, Pirbngia, a resident of that town pleaded guilty. He was convicted and fined £6, and costs £2 is. Mr Oliphant, who appeared for defendant, stated that his client had approached the cemetery trustees and offered to have a suitable fence erected, but , no decision had been arrived at. Theft of a Saddle and Bridle. . A man named John Horan, was charged with the theft of a saddle and bridle, the property of ! Henrv George Prescott, on March 26th, 1912. .Accused, who pleaded no,t ■ .guilty, was defended by Mr E. A. Cox. Constable Lander conducted the case on behalf of the police. ■■'">•« - Henrv George Prescott, on being swoin, stated that he remembered 26th March, 1912. Was riding on the Te Rahuroad, accompanied by accused. On arriving at Te Awamutu he tied his horse up leaving the saddle and 'bridle (saddle produced). When he returned the saddle and bridle were missing. He had known accused for over two Years. On meeting accused on July 26th last the latter informed him he • had found a saddle on the Kihikihi road, and asked witness to ' accompany him to the saleyards and identify the saddle, which he did. Witness agreed to let accused use the saddle to ride home. and i* was agreed that accused ' should bring the saddle to Te , Awamutu the following Monday. . He valued the saddle and bridle at £3 ios. . ' Constable Lander stated that he saw accused shortly after ten o'clock on the night of July 26th last, when he' mentioned having found a sack containing a saddle, a bottle of whisky and two bottles of beer. Accused did not think it necessary to inform the police. Witness, together with Constable Wade, went to accused's house, where they found the bridle and saddle. John Horan, the accused, stated that he found the saddle and bridle on the 28th of Aug. 1912, on the Kihikihiroad near Dr Henderson's. The articles were in a sack, together with one bottle of whisky and two bottles of beer. He had looked in the paper to see whether any person had lost a saddle. Did not use the saddle for seven months, after which he had it in use for some four months, He saw Prescott and told him he had a saddle, which he (witness) promised to leave at . Te Awamutu. In the meantime, v- however, Constable Lander had ' taken possession of it. His Worship stated he did not believe accused's story, and sen- ' tenced him to one month's imprisonment. The accused was further charged with the theft of a hurricane lamp, the property of the telephone department. Constable Lander gave evidence that the " theft had been reported to him, and he had visited the accused's house, where he found a lamp (produced). Accused stated he found the '; lamp at the foot of Pickett hill when going home on Saturday night about three weeks ago. His Worship said he would give accused the legal benefit of & the doubt, although in his mind i there was no doubt that he stole the lantern. Constable Lander stated that accused was a hard-working "man, with a wife and three children. His fault, however, was, he was too fond of drink, for which he had one conviction against him. The case was dismissed.

Failing to Attend Drill

Eric Reid was charged by the Defence Department with failing to attend drill as required by the Defence Act. Convicted and fined £l, costs 10s. H. C. Wheeler was similarly charged, to which he pleaded not guilty, stating that he had received a letter accompanying the notice informing him that he would not be expected to attend drill unless he was permanently residing in the Auckland district. His Worship dismissed the case.

Civil Cases.

A. Young and Co. (Mr Cox), v. T McKenzie, claim £47 Os 3d. Judgment for plaintiff by default for £SS 3s 3d, costs £5 OS od. F. D. Corboy (Mr Collins), v. George Huia, claim £l2 7s -idJudgment for plaintiff by default for £l2 7s 4d, costs £2 ios 6d. Same v. Kia Kono. claim £l9 2s lid. Judgment for plaintiff by default for amount claimed, costs £2 3s. . Same v. Tai Puniu, claim £4 14s lOd. Judgment for plaintiff for amount claimed, costs 14s 6d. Same v. Huia, claim £6 17s 3dJudgment for amount claimed, with costs £l Bs. Trustees in estate of late Wm. North (Mr Collins), v. David Turner. Amount claimed £6 I2s 2d. Judgment for amount claimed with costs 23s 6d. T. C. Cooper (Mr Luxford) v. Capt. R. P. Ryder, claim £3 Is 2d. Judgment for amount claimed, with costs 18s.

Same v. J. Turner, claim 16s 3d. Judgment for amount claimed, costs 17s 6d. , H. J. Hodgson (Mr Luxford) v. George Huia, claim £3 17. s 2d. Judgment for amount claimed, costs 14s 6d. E. Aylward (Mr Cox) v. Lloyd Bros. (Mr Collins), claim £l2 and possession. Judgment for amount claimed, costs £3 3s 4d, possession to be given within 14 days. G. M. A. Ahier (Mr Cox), v. Sid Turner, amount claimed £3 14 s lOd. Ordered to pay £2 14s iod forthwith, in default five days' imprisonment. Order suspended for one week. Daniel O'Shea (Mr Luxford) v. B. A . Beattie. Claim £2l 5s 6d. Ordered to pay amount forthwith in default 21 days'imprisonment. Order suspended for 14 days. Andrew and Son (Mr Cox), v. Roigard (Mr Collins), claim £6 for chaff-cutting and threshing on defendant's farm. There was a counter claim of £2 2s. Evidence was given by John Roffey, employed by. Mr Andrew, who stated he did certain work for Mr Roigard. All over 10 ton lots were charged at ios a ton, under that time was charged at I2s an hour.

Cross examined by Mr Collins, witness stated he did not make a bargain with defendant. After the work was done he fixed on I2s an hour, and thought the price asked a very reasonable one.

E. Craven corroborated Roffey's evidence.

The defendant, W. Roigard, stated he went to .Roffey and asked his price for cutting to 4 tons of chaff, and threshing somewhere about 20 bags of oats. His reply was I2s 6cl a ton for rough stuff, and he would find all labour, but he ■ (witness) would have to find them in food, to which he agreed. The charge per bag for oats was to be Is 6d, but for small quantities is 9d. Witness supplied two men and they received 9s per day. Roffey, on being recalled, stated he made no arrangements in regard to finding the men. Denied that special arrangements were made in regard to threshing. His Worship said he believed the defendant's story and gave judgment for £4 lis 3d, costs £3 9s. On the counter claim judgment was given for the amount claimed, with costs £3 4s. C. T. Rickit v. Johns, claim £4 4s 3d. This case was partly heard. Walter Stanley Goldsworthy stated he heard the discussion in connection with the erection of a house by Mr Thos. Hastings for Mr Johns, the latter was to supply timber and paint, the fonner to supply everything else including labour. Hastings mentioned that Mr Johns and his daughter coulc go to Rickit and Sons and choose the grate, but no mention was made as to the ■kind of grate, neither was it stated that they were to procure the best grate they could. A. H. North, bricklayer, also gave evidence in regard to setting the grate. Case adjourned.

At the sitting of the Juvenile Court held on Thursday evening, before Mr E. Rawson, S.M., Henry Tamohe alias Wetere was charged by the police (Constable Lander) with the theft of a bicycle valued at £3 10s, the property of Henry Dwen. After giving the accused some good advice, the Magistrate, taking into consideration the age of the offender (14), convicted and ordered him to come up for sentence when called upon, the police to see that he returned to his home at Kawhia.