AKAROA RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 304, 17 June 1879, Page 2

AKAROA RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S

*: a> June 13: --.;■ f : ~ -, (BeforoVJustm Ayliner, E5q.,.101.) - Civil Cases: -"',.. / )- — Smith y. Smith —Claim, £54 Osldi Mr Nald'er appfearod for tho plaintiiL ! There was no appearance of defendant. Judgment by default for amount'claimed and costs. ■•. ' • 'Strachari v. Smith. —Claim, £39 13s Bd. Judgment by default. . . ■■ ; '; ARSON... '-- '" -) Emma Ashwin and Martin Edward Asliwin surrendered to their bail, and appeared to answer a charge of " unlawfullyand malicioasly setting fire to certain premises in LVeantor Bay, with intent thereby to defraud v cortain insurance company." Mr Inspector Ilickson appeared to conduct the prosecution. On the'application of Mr Ashwin, son ; , all witnesses were ordered out of Court. J. li. Walker, detective officer, wae the first witness called. Ho produced a plan," showing the, position of the mill lately burnt down, the residences of tho persons, &o. Plan put in and marked A. U. C. Turner deposed - (hut he was the chief clerk in the New Zealand Insurance Company, Christchurch ; lie knew Mr Mariin Richard Ashwin, husband of the female prisoner ; .on October 4, 1878, Mr Asliwin effected an insurance in their office of the mill buildings in Decanter Bay ; the policy was drawn out in favor of William Bayley Bray, as mortgagee ; the amount of the* policy was ,i>.!oo, viz., £100 on the saw-mill, and £200 on the machinery and plant. (W. B. Tosswill, Esq., J.P., hero took his seat on the Bench.) A letter from Mr Ashwin, dated February 28, was rt'ceh od at tho office (letter put, in). In consequence of this letter, witness visited Decanter Bay on or about March 4 to make enquiries, as to the fire which had taken place: Saw Mr and Mrs Ashwin, and Mr Ahlnvin, jun ; was informed by thorn that the mill had, been burned down about two o'clock in the morning of February 20, also that tho blacksmith's shop had been on fire on the previous ( evening. Their explanation of this) first fire was that some men been sharpening their pi'L, c't the ioige .and that .. post had bo. n bi-t fire to hy -,paiks irom tho I 1 \ a-sUted tl. Htlns lite had been appaitntly put out by the in' v emploj ad on the plat o riid oi the iamily. Hit sp )t whue tho i>i ,1 ut'Mi J to <-to<ul was pointul out to \\itiif-.s, )t was close to 'tllC ijUUvWOlk 111 t! c 1 >" i 111 P K " *'l( ' 1 mi* riT '1 ' J t v m\ , ">) t. ibiy [ o vi ihi "itAi i i' n , ! r f uniij laa \ [ i i . n - 1 1 ' oi i men in Lib vii i'u/ .wio bad tlit i!jo v ill

was on fire. Every endeavor had been made to extinguish the fire, but withoutsuccess. Mr Ash win, sen., had been in Christchurch at the time; the two prisoners, with the junior members of the family had been.at home at the time the alarm was only articles'saved were some.-\voodsiVrollers, two or three ;sa\vs, andfohfobeltihg.' Mrs Ash win corroborated * heY husband's statements, and Ashwiß,. jun.j -interposed remarks at intervals vtfthotitaltering the statements made by hi£ father. ' P^nsoners^Reclined to cross-examine the witness.' *&,* . —*■** Wil'liara, Bayley Bray, civil engineer, residing at Opawaj-deposed that he held a mortgage on some land belonging to Martin si|nsted in BaA j t witb/t|e fliejeon. purX in and mailed C.) It was for £500, and dated November 1875. It was still in,, force. Asliwin was Ijouhd to insure the buildings in witness' name. (Policy produced and marked D : this was the policy previously deposed to by the witness Turner.) Witness had received the £300 assured by the policy. . ; .

, Henry Williams; at present working as a laborer, deposed that he knew the prisoners. Was in the employ of Mr M. R. Ashwin on February 19* last. Had been engaged by him in Christchurch on the 17tb ; his work was road making ; wasjat work with the male prisoner on the 19th, when a little boy (prisoner's brother) came up and called out to prisoner. Prisoner immediately left with the boy. Witness and three other; .men —Barnwell, Friend, and Waghorn—remained at w.or'Ktill.about: five olclodc ; then went to tkeir whare near the mill'which''has since been burned down v . _ Oa._tliaij:_^Ea.y-..Jiciuie-tli©-}^-paesed tiie/nill. • Witness observed that one 6f thekposts near the forge fire had been on fire. He identified the spot marked 5 on the plan produced,as. the Iqcality of the, post-on fire. The post had 1 ; been considerably; charred ia little aljoWithe level of the forge lire ; it was still smouldering,; his mates also noticed tile .fire. , ' -Saw Mrs, Ashwin about .the mill.;. .she told him the mill had been on fire. Believed that some water was-carried and thrown-on the post/ Mrs Ashwin told them to go and have their tea, that Martin wotald'ipnt the fire out. They then went to their vyhare-, marked on the plan 1. In consequence of "something he heard, his suspicions. were,'amused, and" he determined to watch. to bed soon after dark; got up'again about nine or ten o'clok, and. went out; looked towards the : mill and Saw no , fire. Was , about returning, when ho-saw a light protrude from the buck door of Ashwin's houtsc ; could not see the" door as a building cut it off from view, but saw the reflection of the light. : In about a minute observed a person coining from the direction where he had seen the light towards the mill; could not recognize the person, ; but kept his eye on the figure till it passad the mill and came close to the bridge (marked. 7 on the plan). Witness then went inside and lay down. In a couple of minutes heard footsteps on the platform in front of their Whare ; heard the footsteps recede; got out of bed immediately, and saw a man cross the bridge and-go towards , the mill; he passed the mill and win's' dwelling-house. A few minutes; afterwards saw two figures coming from! the direction of Ashwin's house towards the mill ; they were about two-thirds of' the distance from the dwelling-house to; the mill when ho first saw them ; the night! was too dark to see them sooner ; lost' sight of them almost immediately after-' wards; they were then walking in the direction of the mill. A few minutes afterwards saw some sparks arisej: rpm. the forge irojn somewhere near;thai position of the?post that'had been| observed* the"*figure of a personbetween him nnrjt §ky ; the person was standing on the/ roof i of the lean-to ; the figure 5 mo turning round ; saw something , very bright the figure part of the -roof-of; of it; saw it again at, the _easteiTL end, still f|4?f|\H had first observed < tllen tost MgTiC orit; itfkp--preareri- itrstrro side- of the .forge,—lmmediately afterwards observed a-sudden light, such as would; be shown by striking, a ;i theii,-saivf a man apparently standing on jfomethirjg; at the south-east corner* of ;;klie?forge ; 'auput half his body was above , the robf; jtlien observed a greater light apparently !proceediiiic from the ; man's hand ; the man's back was towardsjwitness ; the man'sjarm moved about and the light inqved with; it. Next saw a sudden blaze..proceed Iromi the roof near where this...man .was-'stftridJiig ; eould-then- s-e-a fenrale-rtgnreistantiinglpn the ground underneath where the m/m yfas standing. Immediately alter \the'b.lafce, the mail turned his face towards" Avitnteas ; by the light of the fire recognize"?} prisorjer as tho "man ;" he leaped down knd'mpYjed hastily; aWay >frQfQ[t|le buildingNjtdjvaifds tlie tramway. Then saw a female came from under the mill.and sb'neY, ah'dthey wont towards the dwelling house. .Witness then "returned ;to and was about; to go: id bed observed a dog in the house ; he tried to put the dog out, but it took refuge under Barnwell's bed, and he did not succeed. Had barely, lain down when, Barnwell came to him ; in consequence of what he said'the three of them—Friend, Barnwell, and witness went towards the mill ; witness sang out " Fire." Went to the dwelling-house and called out " Fire;'' the door was opened in a minute or so ; could not say by whom ; the two prisoners came with witness to the mill. Some demonstrations were made to put out the fire ; the fire at that time had not extended to the mill; witness proposed a plan for extinguishing the fire, by going on the roof and pouring water on the western end ; at this .time .the fire had only extended to about one third of the roof of the lean-to ; the fire appeared to be more on the outside of the roof than the inside. Did hot recollect whether anything was said as to his proposition of going on the roof ; at any rate he did not do so ; he and the others removed some sheepskins, a table, and some mill belts. Mrs Ashwin proposed that they should save the circular .but jt was found impossible to do so ; witness proposed to Mai tin Ashwin 'that they should ..-me the bellowb lor the purpose of ehaip-* cning their pitk~>; he demmied Qn gioimd oi daii'4Oi ; he and Baniwell suevuing the bellow I . Witness >■ )oko to Mi-. AsluMi., and she said theie w bun UM 1 m VMII4 hili Ilic mill, a , - f h j iwi '! t ~( i l n u>, ,t , ~ *' ■ i .' , i cd \, , i' . I. ."»<,■': I i 111 i in 'ill U'l ill OllL ( i t,i<) (i\ui ' , Juki n ) unLJi.cn < , 1. , l> •-, aici ,r i's Aj-hwin pio'j I 'v.ii ", n, <, r ami l.itJ uould 1 ' ''' i *

go and have some coffee ; they did so. At the time he saw a female come out from the fprge and join the male prisoner, recognized her as Mrs Ashwin ; at the place where he had seen the male prisoner leaning over the roof of the lean-to, after-wards found a ladder leaning against the southeast corner of the'forgo ; witness went to fetch something to enable him |to get at the sheepskins. There Wds an unusual smell which-witnessattributed toikerosene or turpentine. \ '■ I \ , By the- Bench.: Has never 'seen the ladder at tire-south-east corner before, and never at any'6tlier'"place about AsTiwin's. The whole building was not burned down when they went to drink coffee, and no further eifort was made to save it; next morning the place was wholly consumed. When they called at the house, and cried " fire," prisoners were fully dressed ; Ashwin had a hat on, and Mrs Ash win a shawl.. "Waghorh Vent home to Little Akaloa after work, and.was- not at the fire, r Henry Bam well;, another , ; of the men working for Mr Asnwin, was tlien examined at considerable length. He deposed that on the"morning of the 19th February he went to the forge to get some tools which he and Martin Ashwin had been sharpening on*"the previous evening 1 ; ."everything seemed to be_ right then.,. 1 , He then described, their, going to work and Ashwin being ■'■ summoned home by i a younger, brother.. -■ When they came home from work, the mill was smoking in t|ie .neighborhood :of' ihV'blacksmith's' shop. His evidence -as to what took place on arrival was.sub3tAntially.;the same as that- . of. the preceding ~; ; v "p*v/ ' ■Witness proceed :"/ .Went* to ' the hiltand went to ! be'd;- the others did so too ; woke abput midnight find got up to turn out a'doj; Svhen I opened the door, saw the mill was on fire ; called )Yillianis, and the three off .'for ■ the' mill ; sung out " fire," and started to T carry water; isaiw niale -prisoner codling' frain' ; h'is'- hut (No 2) towards the mill, ;■. he was about-half-Way between the two when I first saw -him ; he /was on:.the* hut fside of the creek; ■I was getting'-water from the creek'; I was on the mill- side j~ saw Mrs Ashwin at mill;. could not say whether if wftg before or after seeing male prisoner; we got the ladder and placed it on the frout side of the mill, near the and. started to throw water on the : roof ; eitherrFriehd ojr WjJliauis . went up the ladder, and we handed him water; whilst "/he (thjreSyitJit on the roof ; the ladder not being long enough w'eliad to abandon it;* the ladder did not extend over the edge , of .the ,rof)f// f itlwas propb'aed to make a hole in the roof; Mrs Ashwin said it was not safe ;; 'she also said that it was no use tearing oS., i\\e boardsl as they were rotten,"and woiuld fye'riouse for anything else ; We' .saved; two'saWs, : one or two belts, a bag of wo6lj : and the bellows ; we remained -there- about ari hour and a half ; we then had some coffee out on the grass ; ■ it. Jivaa, brought from Mrs- Ashwin's, kitohen ;.. we, ;then;, \v,fcnt home; the .fire had b.urned through tlie "roof ! of (lie 1 mill, about tliree- or iour feet wlien f we : gqt down'tljere jit'was thai pp.rt •of , the roof nearest -to' tlie 1 lean-tyy'Hvhinj we left to have the the IjuildjngjiwaSiburning; the roof of the] milljljyjae/burned about eight or nmfefeeC;] one reason wo.Jeft Avexouldj

I not get on the, another .reason 'Wjjsi that Mrs -As'iCvin toldus all 'we could do was to sit downjanti wtoteh'; it'rand see it djd.npt spread; ,Mp Ashwin asked if we • 6*o\ild' get r ovtt a farge 'circular saw which, was there, but weJiad no means of loosen-1 ,ing,U; the building was roof with; •boards ;. tfre side the; tramway wtis dp*en'j the back \vas closed ; thaughf.the; north: enti''was-'also' closed, .but waSih'ot sure \ theiean-to'.iwaa enclosed on three sides. t< ..k>-pp<f •.' ;<■ ?u ( dp\v?n VitV. SWilliains.ta, the - fire. am; ?quitej sure , rtbM;l first 'saw'tW male prisoner.,,cqa;ing,;£rom Ids hut; he )vas in hiS'shirt and.'-tfousers ; 'cannot remember 1 wheth'e'f'ihe ! ladfl!er we used was burnt ofJnfe"''" ' ;i,n George of the party,working,-for; was then ■ called. Hfe" remembered day in question :■: maid! -prisoner" was working with them, and left before they did ; did" not knoAV the reason "why ; after describing the proceedings' on, tljeir.. arrival at-the mill from th,eir work,'.he .%yent on to say that he had been aroused during" the "night by an alarm of fire ; ' went down to the fire with his mates, and- topic of buckets ; saw the'prisoners there ; could not say where they .came, from,; they tsied to throw water on the .fife, but it fell, short.;, a ladder 1 was brought; but was found to be too short; it was partly burned,-and wa& [ot .no , use ;. .it; was-suggested;,that,,wit-b'ess shduld ; stand on th.e'.rafters"and, a liole tlVrbugh the roof ;. Mrs-". Asli'win\ t6ld -me not to do'so, 'saying it would. Ibe, dangerous; she said it was old' roof, and, >vor-th .notlung ; -let -it] -burn ; witness,said! ifjtKeOrotif- burned 'tile fire would reach;/the; valuable imiachinery beneath ;,, Mrs, Ashyin bui'h'; Mt's insured.". She iufther said that it would; nojt; pay tP save, the, mills how, J as?he woiild not-'get thd 'insurance if it'Avas partly burned} ] pr; jvordsi td '. tliat effect ; she triad to persuade, us to go to.bed ; the nrd : wa"s biittiirig very 'fiercely at first; and after-ife seemed to drop down ; thought at ihe time it t was kerosene ; Williams .and Barnwell wen,t to- bed ; .witness and ,priremained abouUialf an hour; .prisoners, "were only looking at the fire when witness left; -when witness first saw'prisoners at the fire they• were" dressed as they usually, are in', the daytime ; did toot remember .seeing,the .male prisoner-in f the direction of his o\y,n hut either going; tp or cbniingifro.mit., : ;;. . - ~ .:; l;-j-.vi 1 Prisoners reserved their de&r»c.e,. and Were then committed for trial. r , . .-.< i Bail was ' al'ldwed. F6r Mrs 'Ashwiri, lier husband in £300, arid* : tsvo : su'retlias in £150' each. For Martin Ash win, Pne suretj r in £300, and two in £150 each; r \ The Court.then adjourned M 8.30 p.m.