Waihi Magistrates Court

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1234, 26 January 1905, Page 3

Waihi Magistrates Court

YESTERDAY. (Before Mr B, 8. Bush, S.M.) The following evidenoe was t iken after Wi- went to press yesterday FLUMHUR V.JOROHARD Eiohard Goooh, examined by Mr Moss, said he was instruoied by Orohard to- sell his busines?. He had asked Orohard for a detail of the articles he was going to sell. At the time a weighing mnohine was mentioned as. being iwluded-in the goods to be sold. Orohard asknd £l6O for the business, and later £l4O. . Ho bad advised Orohard to provide a list of the goods. Mrs Plpmmer and Orchard were present. The latter said iirs Plummer could have a list if she liked, and drew attention to the book lying on the counter, but stated that if Mrs Plummet likod to leave it to him, lie, Orchard, would treat her fairly,At this time Orehardjiad a j£2o order in hand, which he was to pay for. Witness,,did not know wha' the siook was. Neither Orchard nor Mrs Piummer required, him to assist in stocktaking, Mre Piummer having every faith in Orohard.

, Cress-examined by Mr Jackson; A horse and cart was included in the goods sold. Ho had advised Mr Piummer thu it would be a proper thing to have an in ventory of the goods in the shop. Franois O'Grady, examined, said ho had seen Orohard ip view of, purchasing his business. He was Bbown the Fairbank weighing maohine, but there was nothing said about the maohine being inoludod in the stook. The horse and cart offered to w tnass was the same that Piummer was driving now, and it was aot the mare that Mr T. Sheen was driving. Edward CharL-s Piummer, examined deposed that the horse and oart that had been supplied by Orchard was not the same as was included in the plant boughi from Orohard, Two thirds of the tins on "the shelves, which Orchard had told his wife wore full at tho time of taking over the business, were afterwards found to bo empty,-

Mr Jaokson said that the plain»ifTs evidenoe had gone a long way to prove defendant's case, The evidenoe of his own'wiihesses would show that Orchard had fulfilled his paat of the contract, and that the plaintiff had no justification for the olaim.msde.

Philip Orohard deposed to having prepared an inventory of bis stock in trade at the end of November. The more and cart and Fairbank weighing machine were not included it. the plant soli to plaintiff, Other witnesses examined were Mr<, Orohard, wife of defendant, John Orchard, brother of defendant, Walter Hume, and Robert Arscott, the last witness giving evidence as to borrowing the weighing maohine from the defendant. ~ .Mr Jaokson contended that the defendant had carried out his bargain to the letter, and that it was not till a lapse of after six weeks that plaintiff wanted to make out she was entitled to the prope>ty and goods olaimed, If plaintiff thought that the plant and stock supplied by the defendent was not the samß as she had bargained for/why didshe pay thobalanco of tho pnrohase money to tne agent. Plaintiff's own evidence showed that she was under the impression that she had not been supp ied with the plant agreed upon before the balance of tho purohase money was paid, yet she paid the monoy to the agent without even a reference to the matter,

Mr Moss|thought that the plaintiff had done wisely to pay the monoy to the agent, and to bring tho - aotion directly against the defendant. It was dear that the weighing machtno was inoluded in the plant bought by his client, although it was not specified in an inventory prepared by defendant and in his own handwriting, The omission of tho weighing , maohine was defendant's own neglect. It'was also olearthat bis client had been given to understand by defendant that 'he better horso and cart were purchased by the plaintiff, and not the horse and cart supplied. As to the £2O wijrth of fruit, there could be no doubt that defendant should mako this amount up to his client. Mr Bush jaid it was ono ofthoso unfortunate cases which illustrated thnnrc s-sity-for carrying out a business transaction in a strictly business liko manner, The lauv in this oase had undertaken to do something for horsclf she was unable to properly carry out, She had nobody but herself to thank for the awkward position she was in. She was ad* vised by Mr Gooeh to look into the bmtness she was buying, and take an inventory of the stock. Instead of that she took everything by word of mouth, and Ijad faith and confidence in the man from whom she was purohaning the plant,

He believed that in business transactions everything should ho do«n in black and white. Faith wai all very well, but the most fai'hful die. People who did not protect themselves in entering iiro agreements of this kind made it very difficult for the oonrt to come to any conclusion. After briefly summarising the evidence, Mr Bush said he would have to nonsuit the plaintiff, with costs, the oosts amounting to 13 15s, Some of tho witnessed refused t:i take thoir expenses, forging a ohkquk, Walter Danntlly was charged on tho information of the polico with CDinmiiting lurgery of a cheque drawn on the Nt'.ional Bank of Now Zealand, Mr Jackson appeared for the neensod H E. Meyer, eXimined Oy, S-srgoant Sheehan, deposed that he was the licensee of tho Waihi Hotel. He kni>w the accused. He.srtw the accused on llie 27 h December in his (witness's) hotel. The acousmi asked wi'iieas to change a cheque for 14 4s with tho name of Byd, Fnth attached to"it. Tho accused said ho had bee r . working lor Frith. The aneusod tendered the cheqno in payment of four drinks; the charge he iwimess) gave back was £4 2<. The ohique wus subsequently presented to the bank and reiurned with tho endorsement forgery written on it. Sydnej Frith, examined, deposed lhat he was a hairdressor and tobacoonist. On the 27th December, or the day before, accused had been in his shop. He was not in his (mtnossV) employ. The signature on tho cheque produced was not his signature Tho cheque had been removed from his cinque book. He gave no authority for tho oiieque io bo taken. Cross-examined by Mr Jaokson: There had been no attempt to imitate his signature. He (ivitno3s) .vrote baoklntud and signed S. Frith.

John McLean Cochrane, examined, deposed that lie was teller in tho National Bank, He remembered seeing the cheque. It had been presented on Mr. Meyer's account It was a forged cheque. Cross-f.xammed: The signature dßuld never have been passed as Frith's, No attempt at imitation of Mr Frith's signature bad beou made. , Constable McGuinnoss gave evidence as to the arre t of acoused in Auckliud. Acpused pleaded guilty and was committed to the Siiprouio Court for sentence THEFT OF BILLIARD CUES ' The accused was further charged with Etoaling cues and oilier billiard accessories from the Karangahalte hotel, valued at U 10s. The ao;used pleaded guilty, Mr, Jackson, who appeared on Donnelly's behalf, asked t'mt in oonsiderotion of tho go'pd.cbaract6r of the aooused prior ta ooimmttini? the offence he had oharged with, and owng to the circiitusiiuices under which he Imd cuiumitted the thefi, the Magistrate' would deal leniently with the accused. In support of tbia he producvd a character reference which Donnelly had received frotn his employer, only four months ago, His Worship entered ut conviotion, accused to oome up for sentence at any time during the next six months if cill ><l upon, and lilso to find two sureties of 125 each, and the value of the property stolen to be paid, f 1