TIMARU AND SOUTH CANTERBURY NEWS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20173, 27 February 1931, Page 7

TIMARU AND SOUTH CANTERBURY NEWS.

TIMARU. MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Beforo Mr H. A. Young, S.M"., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday-, Harold Vernon Walsh, insurance agent, was charged with fraudulently failing to account for money collected by him in behalf of the Australian Mutual Providont Society. Walsh admitted defalcations totalling £93 lGs 9d. Senior* Sergeant I. H. Mathieson prosecuted, and Mr L. M. Inglis appeared for the accuse'd. ■ ' ■ ,

Eight charges were preferred against Walsh.

The Magistrate said that if the accused pleaded guilty he would commit him for sentence on the charge of failing to account for the sum of £79 lis Od, and on the other. counts he could be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called "upon. If this wore done, there would be no need *o take evidence in regard to the smaller amounts.

Senior-Sergeant Mathieson intimated that he had intended to call the evidence of seven witnesses in regard to the smaller amounts, in ordor to show the system by which the accused had appropriated the Socioty's money. The Magistrate: The system will be explained to the Judge by the Crown Prosecutor when the case comes before the Supreme Court. The Senior-Sergeant: But we have subpoenaed seven witnesses, and they are in Court.

The Magistrate: A voucher can be made out for expenses, and attached to the information.

Mr Inglis intimated that the acw oused's pica would be one of guilty, and the Court decided to hear only the evidence of the principal witnesses. "I havo known the accused since April, 1927, when he entered the,employ of tho Society," said Alexander Colin Murray, District Superintendent for tho Australian Mutual Provident Society. The duties of the accusod, according to witness, were to call on policy-holders and collect premiums, and also to canvass for new business. Collections, he said, were made daily, the agents paying this money to the Bank of New Zealand to the credit of tho Societv, handing in tho butt of their collection books as evidence of having made their payments to the bank.

As a result of certain information re? ceivcd by tho Society, witness was recalled from leave. He inspected the accused's collecting book on Monday, February 9th, and found that various sums collected between December 4th and February 7th, totalling £79 lis 9d, of. which the accused had entered in the | Society's collecting book the sum of £32 13s, had , not been paid to the Society. '{When I asked the acouscd about the shortages," continued witness, "he stated that he had lost a sum of money, over , £2O, from his pocket, this happening on January 18th. I asked why he. had not reported the loss, and he replied that he had hoped t to borrow tlie money and make it good." Witness went say thafc-he had in--Bp&cted a books, finding, discrepancies: amounting to £46-18s 9d. This amount,- togother with the £32 13s, made a total of £79 lis 9d, Since the indorsation had been Jsid there wefer further shortages of £8 3s. making a total shortage of £93 10s 9d. On November 6th, 1929, the accused issued a receipt to « Miss Wilson for an amount of .£lo, This money was not jfcid into the Society until May 16th,'' 1930. This sum was in repayment Qf.a loan, and'the abcused had no authority to collect' the money. In connexion with another sum of £lO, the accused issued-.a duplicate butt in another name for a smaller sum, and in other cases he* only entered portion of the amounts collected by him. Witness did not know what he did with the remainder of, the money. At this stage, the police, on the suggestion of ttfo Magistrate, withdrew .all the' minor counts against the accuped, and Amended the charge involving a sum of $79 lis 9d to make a total of £93. ,10s'©d, this representing all tho money ao far known to have been appropriated by Walsh. , A plea of guilty was formally entered, and the accused was committed to the* Supreme Court at Christchurch for sentence. '• •

Laurence Francis Taylor pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, theft, and failing to account for moneys received. Mr J. Emslie appeared on behalf of the accused.

There were ten different charges, including four counts of cheque forgeries. Senior-Sergeant- Mathleson said there were. six charges with which he would ask the Magistrate to deal summarily, Taylor pleaded guilty to the indictable; charges and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. On the summary charges he was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called upon after ho had been dealt with by "the Supreme Court. It was mentioned during the hearing of the case that Taylor had been going to dances and generally leading a fast life.

PLEASANT POINT. The monthly meeting of the' Plea* "Bant Point Town Board was, attended hy Commissioners M. F. Maze (chairman), Geo. Saunders, H. Roberts, H. Elms, H* Blissett, C. Borrell, and T, Kolliher. The Health Officer reported that .no eases of infectious disease bad been reported during the past month. Tho Audit OiUco wrote approv. ing the Public Trustee lieing appointed as Sinking Fund Commissioner for the Town Hall loan account. " Letters received from the Mayors of Napier and ; Hastings acknowledging the Board's sympathy in the recent earthquake disaster. It was decided to let the Library room, Town Hall, to the Plunket Society for afternoons, for a fee of 2s'Cd. The Transport department, Wellington", forwarded data in connexion with the proposed new motor-drivers' regulations. The Clerk was authorised to attend to the matter. The Works Committee was directed to inspect and report on the eondition of Acton street. Consideration was given at length to tho Unemployment Board's No. 5 Scheme. It was resolved to to place all the registered local unemployed on work in the township during March. Accounts amounting to £llO Is 3d were passed for payment. The treasurer to the Earthquake v Relief ' Fund reported that local contributions amounted to £77 7s 7d. / Good progress with threshing the wheat cropis reported. Many fine returns are being made. Over 40 bushel crops are common, while some have exceeded 50 bushels. A good average yield seems assured. . *

WAIMATE. The Waimate Borough Council met last evening. Present: —The Mayor (Mr G. Dash), Crs. W. G. Paul, J. Atwill, A. J. Kir by, A. E. Lewis, G. F. Richardson, T. Twomey, and T. W. Wylie. The Waimate Plunket Society was granted the use of Victoria Park on Thursday, March 12th, for a garden party. The Mayor of Napier telegraphed acknowledging the Council's expression of sympathy in the recent disaster. Similar acknowledgment was received from the Hastings town clerk on behalf of his council. The Waimate Amateur Athletic Association wrote asking that Wednesday, March 4th, be declared a half holiday lor the townspeople, and stating that the Retailers' Association approved. The request was granted. Mr J. Carbis wrote asking for the transfer of the billiard-room license trom J. Loper to himself. The transfer was granted, it being mentioned that the license had a month to run. Permission was sought by Mr Nash to erect a signboard over the verandah of the premises of Mr «• C. Foster, Queen street. The action of the Town Clerk in granting permission on condition that the by-laws were observed, was approved. Mr Robt. Barr, of Rhodes street) applied for a second-hand dealers license. The town clerk reported that Mr Barr proposed to carry on business in Hunt's buildings. The license was approved, subject to a favourable police report and the deposit of the itinerant traders' fee or £5.

The annual subsidy of £3O was granted to the Volunteer Fir© Brigade. The Finance Committee reported that it had gone through the outstanding rates, rents, and water charges, and had instructed that summonses be issued for the recovery of those still outstanding, and in the case of water charges- the water to be cut off after 24 hours notice. The Committee's attention having been drawn to numerous breaches of the water restrictions, it had been agreed to advertise that offenders would be prosecuted.—The report was adopted. The borough gardener (Mr A. White) reported- that a strip of land from the Memorial Arch to the camp gatie had been ploughed. From this sufficient soil had been carted to form # flower borders and lawns on both sides of tho main entrance. This part was now ready for sowing down in grass. A narrow border from the .women's, dressing shed had been formed and planted with geraniums. About half of the f woodland path had been topdressed, and the planting 6f narcissi continued. The shrubbery was partly dug. The Mayor remarked that the park presented a busy appearance now, several unemployed being engaged there.—The report was adopted. Cr. Twomey said that tho racecourse road was in a deplorable state as far as footpaths were ooncerned. Many used the road, and they had to use the roadway, which was unpleasant generally.—'Referred to, the Works Committee.

Tho Mayor referred to the fact that a former employee of tho Council. Mr C. Wheeler, had at"tallied Ins ißWin MfctMfe. v fh'nt • TST fcria«fn£r Mr Wheeler. Tho motion was carried. # , . Accounts amounting to > £176 2s Id were passed for, payment^ iV t Borough Council.

:■ ..v .. ■% - • The Waimate borough gardener (Mr A.' White) has been appointed judge for tho Tiniaru ■■ Horticultural Society's jubilee show oh March .sth, and at the meeting of tho Waimate Borough Council last night the Mayor (Mr G. Dash) referred-to the appointment and said it was a high honour. He proposed that Mr White be granted-leave to attend. •—Agreed. Harvesting. will be. held up in the Waimate district for a day or two. a good soaking rain having fallen during Wednesday evening. The fall will prove yery welcome. ' In spite of the heavy rain on Wednesday night Thursday morning broke fine, with the result that the annual Waimate primary school's excursion to Timaru was well patronised, some twelve hundred excursionists travelling on the two trains, whidh left Waimate about 9 o'clock. Business people observed a close holiday. On arrival at Timaru, the picnickers soon settled at the Bay, where in the' morning sports s,nd races were conducted for the children.

The motion that the honorarium of the Mayor for the coming term be £IOO, of which notice had been given by Cr. M. J. Oorrigan, was not brought forward at the meeting of the Waimate Borough Council last night in Cr. Corrigan's absence. The/Mayor (Mr G. Daßh) presented a report on the matter in which he stated that even if the : honorarium were reduced he would still offer his services to the borough. The Mayor explained that Cr. Corrigan had been unable 'to be present at the meeting, and he did not desire the motion brought forward in his absence. He would move it at the next meeting. The local Salvation Afmy Hall was well filled on Wednesday night, when an address was given by Staff-Captain E. Davies on seven ■ years' work in the London slums. At the conclusion of an interesting lecture supper was provided those present. ' A handsome arched gateway in clinker brick is proposed to be built by the Waimate Borough Council with unemployed labour at the Shearman street entrance to Victoria Park. At the meeting of the Council last night;, the-Mayor (Mr G. Dash) exhibited a plan of the proposed gateway, which is to be 44ft long by 12ft> high, and'built of clinker brick, with a ticket box in the centre and gateways on each side. , After discussion it was deoided to go on with the work, tho Council supplying,'the material.

- Judgment for .plaintiff by default, with costs, was given by Messrs .P. Grant and J. Tamblyn, J.P.'s, in .the following civil cases in the Waimate Magistrate's Court yeßterday:—J. Flanagan v. E. Anderson, claim £5 9s, costs £1 10s 6d; W. E. Evans v. E. Anderson, claim £3 3s, costs £1 3s 6dj Tangnoy Bros. v. A. Cullimore, claim £2 17s 9d, costs £1 3s 6d; County Council v. Ernest Edward Garrett, claim £2 4s 3d, costs £1 7s 6d; Tangney Bros. v. R. Turnbull, plaim £6 Is 4d, costs £1 12s 6d; same v, W. Hoare, claim 10s, costs 8s; same v. J. D. Jamieson, claim £4 Is, costs £1 3s 6d; same v. L, Muir, claim £1 lis 2d, Coßtß 8s; same v. J, Harper, claim £l3' 5s Id, costs £2 14s. ,

TEMUKA. Wet weather has affected the fishing in the South Canterbury rivers ing the last few days, the ranger of. the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society told a Pbebs representative yesterday. He said that the cold spell had driven tho flies fyom the' viainity of the rivers, and the fish had consequently taken to ground feeding. An improvement in weather' would soon make the' sport for anglers as good as ever, however, and he antici-

noted tliat, with wanner days, the nshiug "in the Opilii would be at ( its t best in about four weeks' time. Since l the recent rains, rivers that were dry have again starved running, and the streams of the district, among them the Te Moana, Temuka, Orari, ,le Ngawhai, and Waihi. are now flowing clearl.v &ndi freely. Even the Pareora, which had-been dry for several months, before'the rain, is. now flowing as practically its normal volume. Speaking of salmon fishing .prospects, the ranger said that provided that theije is no further rain in the mountains or any nor'-westers ( on the hills, the Rangitata; which is at pre-' sent flowing nigh and dirty, should provide excellent conditions after the end of the week. Salmon, ho said, were a nuisance in any of the nvers but the Rangitata, as they interfere with the spawning grounds of the trout and l to provide against this trouble thys year, the Society has Bet a trap in the Opihi, Where number® of the fish have been making themselves known. Already a number of the fish have been caught, and these are killed and given to charity. It is expected that the road classifications recommended by the Engineer to 'the Transport Department (Mr G. Laurenson) following a visit to the Geraldine County 011 Monday, will be gazetted upon which the Transport Act will come into operation within the Geraldine County area. . .. Mr Laurenson. who has visited all South Island local bodies, with a, view to the adoption of some uniform scheme' of road classification generally -applicable to the South Island's re*-, quiremonts; carefully inspected the lines of main highways in the county, and the scheme of classification sub mitted by the council and he has decided: (1) That roads classified in the ' second and third classes, as published in The Press, be approved', and recommended to the Minister for Transport fox adoption. \2l That no further classification of roads other than those specified in the two classes be recommended for classification -in the county. . Under these provisions the loads and speeds of all motor vehicles of different gross weights .will be controlled in the* several highways, and it is expected by. the Transport Board that local bodies will undertake the enforcement of the provisions of the Act. A special provision is made so that owners of the larger and heavier types of motor lorries, which are not recognised under any classification, at one time of implication of the Act, may be allowed to use their lorries hv permits issued by the . 'local bodies, provided that they comply with all the conditions contained in the 'permit. Playing in the filial of the Temuka Bowling dub's B grade singles- .competition; •F. A» -Jo-ynfc beat B. Mao?