RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Wednesday, 21st March.

West Coast Times, Issue 159, 22 March 1866, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Wednesday, 21st March.

(Before G. G. Fitzgerald, K. M.) Drunk and* Incapable. — John ITorton was fined 10s. for being drunk and incapable, or in default, twenty-four hours imprisonment with hard labour. Drunk and Disorderly. — Michael Dwyer was fined in the sum of £l, for being drunk nnd disorderly, or in default, forty-eight hours imprisonment with hard labour. Larceny. — John Davidson and Joseph Ratcliff were charged with the larceny of some carpetings and sundry other articles of the value of £7, the property of John Fletcher. John Fletcher, having been duty sworn, stated that he was a letter carrier, rosiding in Hokitika ; that his wife arrived, in the roadstead, from Invercargill ?

on the 16th of December last, per Al- ai hambra. and was landed by the p.s. Bruce, 1< on the Hokitika wharf, w*iere he met her. ti Defendant's wife, on examining her lUg- it gagft. found that a bag was missing which a contained certain druggetting and bed- a clothes • and. though enquiries wero Itiade 1 fc by him, nothing could be elicited as to tho v whereabouts of the. missipc p'ropeKy. The t' .witness here infdnhed tho Court hdw he a became possessed Of llie property in c^Ueß- a tioh, detailing the names of the various i articles, the marks by which he could iden- I tify them, and their value, namely seven I pounds, and he denied ever giving autho- t rity to any person to dispose of them. On f Sunday last, however, while deponent was ? walking down Rcvell-strfcet with lii 3 wife, < he r (the front door" being open) saw the < carpeting hanging up in one of the inner 1 rooms of a house in llevell-street opposite ] the Hospital, and on going to th back of, 1 the house during the same evening, he ■ found another piece. Deponent then reported the matter to tho police, and having obtained a search warrant, accompanied Constable O'Brien tb the hbUse fdr thepur|)o'so of. searching It. . The articles produced in 7 Court were found by the constable and identified by his wife, who was also present. The prisoner Davidson and his wife lived in the house. The prisoner's" wife stated that the articles did not belong to them, but that they had been left in the house by a man named Ratcliffe. The magistrate at this stage of the proceedings discharged the prisoner John Davidson. Eliza Fletcher, the wife of previous witness, was next called, and deposed that she missed the druggetting and the bag containing articles of bedding about two or three dawaf ter the rest qf tile luggage had been landed rro^i the Alliatnbra by the Tiger and Dolphin ; that she next saw and identified the druggetting and a portion of the contents of ,the bag at the house of John Davidson ; that she never authorised any person to take the articles, and that she valued them at £10. The remainder of her evidence simply corroborated that of the previous witness. Cross-examined by prisoner Ratcliffe } She Came asllore" in the Bruce j she saw no luggage on board the Yarra except what the passengers took with them ; the Yarra landed some of the passengers from the Alhambra ; ConstPbl« O'Brien having been called, said that, Dy virtue of a searcn warrant, he had searched the house of John Davidson, and there found the articles produced in Court, which were claimed and identified by the prosecutor and his wife. Davidson stated that the articles were kept in the tent by a man named Ratcliffe, and that the tent had stood upon the ground now occupied by the house. He then arrested Davidson, and charged him with the larceny of the goods in question. John Davidson, the prisoner who had previously been released, having been sworn; stated that he was a carpenter residing in Revell street, and that he had lived thefe eeven of eight months. He was present when his house was searched. Could not state the date when the property came into his possession. Prisoner, about seven or eight months ago, was occupying a section of ground for him. He, with the assistance of the prisoner, put up a tent on it, and afterwards built a house on the same section. The prisoner continued to live with him for some time, and subsequently left while he was absent at the Grey. Tlio property found in his house was not brought there with his sanction. Ttas known the prisoner four or five years. Fir>t knew him m Launceston ; afterwards in Invercargill, and came from that place with him to Hokitika in the s.s. Alhambra. Did not recollect seeing Mrs Fletcher on board. Cross-examined by prisoner : Recollected luggage befng put on board the Yarra from the Alharabra. Some of his luggage came ashore in the^Yarra. Could not identify any of the blankets as belonging to prisoner. James Clements, sergeant of police, proved arrest of prisoner, and the finding of a pillow and blanket in his tent. He had previously stated to me that everything in the tent belonged to him. He then arrested him. John Davidson, re-called stated that he first saw the property now produced (to the best of his belief) seven or eight months ago in the tent on his section. Prisoner was at that time living in the tent by himselr. He (Davidson) rented a cottage down the town, but occasionally slept in the tent. Cross-examined by prisoner: Did frequently sleep in the tent. Might have told prisoner that there was plenty of pillows in his house, and that he had better have one of them. CIVIL CASKS. Hill v. Ponder— Claim of Ll2 6s 6d for goods sold and delivered. Judgment by default for full amoHint claimed, and 6s costs. White v. Brown— A claim to recover the sum of Ll 5s 6d for board: In this case the summons had not been served on the defendant, he being at the time the summons was taken out a prisoner for debt in the Hokitika gaol. Case dismissed. Downes v. M'Guinness— A claim to recover the sum of LlO 12s for timber sold and delivered. Judgment by defaull for the amount claimed and costs 9s. Haworth v. Flink— An action to recover the sum of Lll 10s Id for goods sold and delivered. The defendaut applied for an adjournment to allow him time to file a set off. Case adjourned till April 3rd. Shaw v. Clark— The plaintiff sued to recover the sum Ll3 0s 2d for goods sold and delivered. Mr O'Loughlin appeared for the plaintiff. Th 6 plaintiff proved the delivery, and stated he had received an order from the defendant for ten bales of sheet iron, which the defendant acknowledged to having received. By the defeudant I am positive that I never received a letter from you countermanding the order. Mr Clark admitted he had given Mr Shaw an order for the iron in question, early in the month of November last, and that he had received it, but that in consequence of of the delay in executing the order, he had written to Mr Shaw countermanding it. Mr Clark stated that he was of opinion that the letter referred to had reached the destination, as he had at the same time addressed a similar one to another merchant, countermanding certain goods, which letter had been received and attended to. The Resident Magistrate remarked that after hearing the plaintiff's evidence he could not but give a judgment for the full amount claimed, and costs 15b.