RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 2236, 25 July 1865, Page 5

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Tuesday, 18th Jxjlt, 1865. (Before W. Dorset, Esq, J.P., and J. Carter, Esq., J.P.) DEBT CASES. W. O'Brien v. Dennis Kenrdon— 7o/. Is. 9d. Adjourned till the 20th instant. J. A.Jacobs v. J. J. Taine.— lss. Judgment for defendant, with costs. K. J. Duncan v. W. H. M. Holt— 4l. Judgment by consent, fourteen days to pay it. W. S. Loxley v. R. M. Skeet.— 9/. 6s, 6d. Case withdrawn. REFUSING DUTY. Jeremiah Cronin was brought up charged with refusing duty on board the Mary and Edith. The case was gone into, and the defendant was remanded till the 21st inst. Bail was admitted. DRUNK AND DISORDERLY. Eliza Gale was again charged with the above offence, and the Bench, upon hearing of the former convictions against her, sentenced her to three months' imprisonment with hard labour. Robert Graham, charged with being drunk in the public streets, was fined 205., or 48 hours imprisonment. BREACH OP TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAYS ACT. Samuel Burnett was charged with leaving a loaded dray on the high road, near the Taita. • Mr. E. Baker, Native interpreter, stated that he was proceeding to the Upper Hutt to attend the Resident Magistrate's Court held there on Wednesday last, and saw the dray in question standing in the road in such a position as to obstruct the traffic of persons travelling with vehicles on that road. That several complaints had been made, and several persons had been fined for the like offence. Mr. Burnett said that he had lent the dray to David Bongo, and at that time it was not in his possession lienge was also charged with leaving two drays laden with timber on the roid. He admitted the statement to be true, in reference to Mr Burnett's dray, and In regard to the other two, he pleaded ignorance of the law, and said that he was not aware that he was doing wrong.. The Bench, after cautioning the defendants against pursuing such a dangerous practice in future, dismissed the case against Burnett, and inflicted a fine of 10s. upon lienge. Wednesday, 19tu July, 18G5. (Before Jas Carter, Esa., Jl\, and W. Turnbull, Esq.; J.P.) DIUINKEN'XESS. Hugh M'Gormack, a laborer, was charged with being drunk in the public streets. Fined y.s, ; in default, 48 hours in the lock-up. James Morrison was charged with indecency in the public streets. Reprimanded and discharged. James Sexton was charged with being drunk and using obscene language in the public streets. Fined 10s. Thursday, 20th July, IBRS. (Before G. Eliott, Esq., J.1 J ., and E. Miller, Esq., J.P.) ASSAULT CASK ON HOARD TUB MAIIY AND EDITH. The mate of the tmrqne Mary and Edith, appeared to answer a charge of assault upon John Connelly, an apprentice on board the same vessel, and there was a charge of a similar nature alleged to have been committed upon another apprentice named John Gorman. Mr. Plart appeared for defendant, and Mr. Button appeared lor the prosecution. The first cuse proceeded with, was that of Connelly. Alexander Smith was called, who deposed : — I am a seaman on board the Mary and Edith ; I know Connelly, he is an apprentice on board the Mary and Edith ; he is 1 1 years of age ; the assault of which I complain took place on or about the 10th May, on the high seas, on the passage from Chili to Wellington, the time of the assault was between 10 and 12 at night; Mr Jackson on the said 10th May, at the time mentioned, came off the poop and gave orders to square the head yards ; he asked a boy named Oliver, in my hearing, where ihe boy Connelly was ; he told him that he was asleep in the round house on deck. I have heard defendant on several occasions tell Connelly he might go in the round house and sleep when the weather was moderate ; on this occasion the weather was moderate ; Mr. Jackson went to the house and called Connelly ; he then went into the house and caught Connelly by the leg, and dragged and struck him several severe blows with his hand ; I heard the sound of the blows, they appeared to be hard j 1 cannot say il his hand was open or shut ; he then caught hold of him and dragged him to the bulwark of the ship and beat him with a two and a-half inch rope ; the boy ran away to the fore part of the ship, the mate following him the length of tJie rope he held in his hand still beating him; iength ot the rope two and a half fathoms ; 1 called this boy into the forecastle next dny and looked at his leg, there was a black and blue mark on it, as big as the palm of my hand. By Mr. Hart : — 1 have been 13 years at sea j the barque came into harbour on the 3rd inst., the information of this assault was laid on the 14th inst ; I was on deck when the assault look place ; 1 laid the in formation j we were lying in the bay several days before I could get on shore ; I did not see the blow that caused the bruise, but if there had been a bruise previously I should have known it ; I know of nothing to account for the bruise but the Heating he had. By the Court : — I cannot say if the mate called the boy once or twice ; he went to the house himself for the boy ; I cannot say whether the boy had had permission to go into the house on this occasion ; I have heard leave given to the boy on several other occasions ; the boy was dressed ; I cannot say whether the boy was lying in a bunk or on the deck ; 1 did not hear the boy use any insolence ; the general treatment of the boy by the mate was indifferent ; 1 have seen the mate many a time over the boy at half-pust four in the morning, to waken him up ; I have never seen the mate kick the boy, but I have seen him strike him several times before. Henry Connelly called and deposed : — 1 am an apprentice on board the Mary and Edith ; lam eleven years old ; on the passage from Tome to Wellington I was in the house asleep on a box, when the matfe came and hauled me out on deck, my head hit against the stan.-hion ; he hit me with his hand ; I think his hand was open ; he hit mo on the b .ck ; I got up, and he told me to stand, or I would gi;t " wusser" ; he got hold of a rope, and he hit me with it a good many times; he hurt me ; I showed the carpenter where I had been beaten ; 1 slip wed him my back, legs and shoulders ; I showed him the marks ; I know (smith the last witness ; I showed him marks on my legs ; 1 had no marks on my legs before this beating. By Mr. Hart: I had only my shirt and trousers on when I was beaten; 1 did not complain to Mr Jackson afterwards ; he lias beaten me once or twice before ; I was asleep when he came to the house; I don't-know if Mr. Jackson called me; he was generally kind to me throughout the voyage. By the Court: The mate caught hold of me by the leg and I fell upon my back; he dragged me by the leg out of the house; 1 was asleep on a box near the door; my head struck against an iron stanchion; I mean by Mr. Jackson's being kind, that he did not beat me much; no one threatened to beat me. Jeremiah Cronin deposed: I am a seaman on board the Mary und Edith; on the 10th May last, between ten and twelve, 1 had not been long from the wheel when Mr. Jackson called out to haul in the weather fore-brace; he asked the boy Oliver where Connelly was; Oliver said he was in the hoi ac asleep; Mr. Jackson went to the house ami called Connelly once or twice; he went in immediately and hauled the hoy out by the leg; I saw this; it was sufficiently light to see persons moving on deck; I saw defendant go to the house, and 1 heard him call; J saw his dragging a boy out by the leg; he dragged him up to the weather side of the deck; he struck him several Llows with his hand ; I heard him say to

the boy, it is just as well to stand and take it, or else he would get worse; he got a ropes-end off the sail and struck the boy several times, till the boy grabbled away; I saw the boy afterwards, he ' was black and blue. • By Mr. Hart: I cannot say what rope it was; the rope was not the middle staysail downhaul. j By the Court: The general treatment by Mr. Jackson to the boy was very bad; 1 have seen him beat the boy several times; the boy was crying and roaring out that he would not sleep any more in the house; I never heard Mr. Jackson give permission to the boy to sleep in the house; the boy is quiot and does as he is told; the mate has never prevented me from beating the boy ; I never did beat him. Thomas Robinaon deposed—l am carpenter on board the Mary mid Edith ; I know the boy Connelly; on or about the 1 1th May, on the voyage from Tome to Wellington, my attention was drawn to the boy by himself; he pulled off his shirt, and showed me marks of a beating ? the boy was black and blue from his shoulders to his w aist, and on his legs ; one side was worse than the other; I never saw marks on the boy before ; lam not aware that I ever saw any one beat the boy before ; the mate has been any thing but kind to the boy ; he has been in the habit of ill-using him ; the boy is one of the best boys in the ship ; lie is very obedient ; i never complained to the master or the mate of the conduct of the boy. This ended the evidence in the first case, and Mr. Button requested that the Bench would reserve their decision upon it until the second case was completed. The Court was then adjourned for half an hour. U) on the Justices resuming their seats the case of assault upon the boy Gorman was proceeded with. James Porter was called, who deposed— I am a seaman on board the Mary and Edith ; I know the boy Gorman ; he is about ten years of age, and is an apprentice on board ; on or about the 25th of April last we were lying in the port of Tome in Chili ; I was working in the afternoon at the foremast, repairing the top-gallant sheets ; there was a can of tar on the fore-hatch ; the boy Gorman came and took a potful out of it, and left rhe wad of tar that was used as a stopper for the can on the bits ; about two o'clock the matecame stlong and asked who left the tar there, and I said it was one of the boys ; Gorman was going along the deck, and Mr. Jackson called him and naked him if he had placed the wad on the bits ; the boy replied— Yes, Sir ; I remarked to Geo. Brown that the boy never told a lie ; the mate was close to me ; Jackson then caught hold of Gorman and dragged him to the bits, and told him to lick the tar up ; the boy refused ; the mate then took hold of the boy by the back of the neck with one hand and rubbed the tor in the boy's mouth ; he hit the boy several times about the head ; the boy ran away crying and exclaiming " You have a down on me ;" Mr. Jackson followed him ; Mr. J.-iekeon's treatment towards all the boys has been very bad indeed. By the Court— When Mr. Jackson told the boy to lick up the tar, the boy simply said he would not ; the tar was rubbed backwards and forwards in the boy's mouth ; there were six apprentices on board when we left Sydney, but one ran away at Coquimbo ; I have frequently seen the mate hit the boy with his open hand ; the boy is a good boy and gcneraHy very obedient ; 1 have seen the boy scrub >ing paint-work in a gale of wind, with green seas knocking us down ; that was on the passage from Tome to this port ; the vessel arrived here about the 3rd July inst., on a Monday ; on Saturday she came alongside the wharf; I laid this information on the 14th inst. John Gorman deposed: I am an apprentice on board the Mary and i-.dith; I was taken on board at Sydney; I was takenfrom the Orphan School; lam ten years old ; I remember the vessel being at Tome; a day or two before we left Tome, the mate sent one of the boys for me about ten minutes to one; I went to the mate; he asked me who put the tar on the bits, I said, " me, sir," he told me to lick it off; I refused, but did not speak; the mate took the wad and seizing me by the neck, rubbed the tar in my mouth ; I went away to the after deck; I don't remember him doing anything else to me besides putting the tar in my mouth; I said he had a spite against me; lie gave me two smacks on the head after I said that. By the Court: The mate did not do anything else to me; I have been eight months on board; I have no father and mother; Mr. Jackson has been on board with me 7 months' and a-half ; he has been kind to me; he has beaten me three op four times with a rope over the back; I had deserved the beating. George Brown deposed: I am a seaman on board; the boy Gorman was taken on board at Sydney; I knew the defendant when at anchor in Tome; I was working in the fore part of the main deck; there was a wad of oakum lying on the hits, it was tarry; the mate asked me who put the tar on the bits; Porter was there at the time; I said I did not know ; he sent for the boy Gorman, he called out for him; he asked the boy if it was him put the wad of tar on the bits; the boy said he had put it there; the mate told the boy to lick the tar off the bits; the boy refused; the mate then took the tar and rubbed it in the boy's mouth, and struck him several times; the boy got away and cried out, " You've got a down on me ; " the mate followed and asked me what the boy had siiid; I said I did not know;" I said so to save the boy from getting a hiding. By Mr. Hart: This was was at the port of Tome, on the coast of South America; there was a native of the place, a Spaniard, whom we were told was the British Cbnsul, but I thought a British Consul should have been an Englishman ; I saw this person on board the ship, but not on that day; I cannot say whether the person came on board before or after the assault; I do not remember ever threatening Mr. Jackson; I do not remember ever saying I would rip- him open; I may have threatened, but I do not remember any special occasion; I recollect a stranger coming on board, who was stilted to be the British Consul; I do not remember if any complaint was made to him about the boy. By the Court : — There are five boys now on board ; I think Gorman is the youngest ; the general treatment that the boys receive at the hands of the mate is bad ; I have seen the mate strike Gorman on several occasions ; I have seen him throw water on Gorman several times ; the boy is good, obt-dient, and not insolent. The Bench after hearing all the evidence, expressed their opinion that in these two cases the master of the ship was greatly to blame, and that it the boys needed correction, it was the duty of the master to do so, and that it was unwise to delegate that power to a subordinate, and inflicted a fine of £5 for the assauh upon Connelly, and 4ds. for that upon Gorman. ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE FROM THE MARY AND EDITH. Charles Brown was fined one days' pay for being absent from tlis above named vessel without permission. DEBT CASES. There were six cases for debt adjourned until the 3 1st inst , as being within the jurisdiction of the Kxtension Court. Thomas Witt t>. N. Valentine— l/. ss. Case dismissed. Friday, 21st Jult, '.865. (Before A. Ludlam , Esq., J.P , ; W. Dorset, Esq., and J. Carter, Esq., J.P.) DfcßT CAS .8. C. D. Barraud v. D. Nevin— l-.'s. Bd. Judgment for amount and costs. DRUNKENNESS, John Bowden was fined ss. for being drunk in the public streets. Rose Palmer, committed to gaol for one month with hard labour for being drunk and disorderly, REFUSING DUTY ON BOARD THE MARY AND EDITH. Jeremiah Cronin, charged with the above of- : fence, wus sentenced to 24 hours' imprisonment.