NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1833, 20 August 1913, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

(By Telegraph—Frees Atoociation.) $ DISHONEST TREASURY CLERK. PLEADS GUILTY., Auckland, August 19., A charge against a clerk and cashier in the employ ol' tno Auckland City Council, . Harold. Ulareiicu Jtobinson, of having failed to uccwunt lor money received on behalf of tlio council, was heard at the l'uiice Couirt btlore Mr. t\ V. Jfraser, S.M. Oliiit Dotcctive M'ilahon withdrew" the original clui-rgo of lulling to account lor JJIO, and accui-ed Kobaiooii with linving recoived .£328 on be'iiall of the City Council, and wivJi having lailed to account lor it. '

Maurice M. Louisson, manager for fairbairn, Wright and Co., stated that on January lb he had dirawn a cheque for Jil3 10s. for payment to tlio Auckland City Council.

liugh Wylie, Government Audit Inspector, produced a counterfoil of tire receipt, snowing that Messrs. Fairbairn, Wright and Co. liad beeoi credited with only oC3 Ife,, instead of ,£Ki Ifij. T'ho hand-writing was that of nccu,-i';i. further investigations had shown that there were other rather extensive <k'.ta.rations duo to accused's operations. Delaications amounting to JL':l2B had been discovered. In past years ho 'had had no reason to suisjKct Robinson, who, sinc3 his arrest, had done his best to assist tlio ollicials in the search for evidence of tlio tleialcur lions.

John S. Brigham, treasurer for the City _ Council, traced the history of accused as 'he knew it. Kobinson lyid been appointed jmiior treasury clerk in. September, 19U5, at a salary .of JSBO, and in July, 1912, lio had been appointed clerk and cashier, and, at the time of arrest, was receiving JC2OO a year. Cross-exam-ined, witness said that, up to July 20, 11113, accused was receiving .£IBO. He knew that Kobinson was a married maD with one child.

Accused pleaded guilty, end was coin, mitted to the Supreme Court for sentence. Ho was allowed bail in li,is own surety of JC2so,'«ind two sureties of ,£12." each. • THE MISSING LAUNCH PARTY. PART OF VESSEL POUND. Auckland, August 19, The fears for the safety of tho launch reported as missing from Coromandel 'are practically confirmed, as the wreckage which came ashore has been recognised by a nephew of the mail Peddle as being part of tho missing vessel. When tho launch left W'liangapoua Harbour there was a strong easterly wind blowing. S. W. P. Peddle was well known in the Hawke's Bay district, where he was engaged for many years in sheepfarming and sawmilling. He was a bachelor, with two brothers and threo sisters. His companion, AVililiam Brown, was a married man with a wifo and two children in Glasgow, Scotland. WESTPORT.-REEFTON RAILWAY. ' Westport, August 19. At a. meeting of tho Wfstport Chainbci of Commerce to-night a strong protest was voiced against tho action of tho Government in the matter of tho tardy work of constructing the Westport-lteef-ton railway, and a committee was set up to draft a letter to tho Government sotting out tlio. amount expended audi laying idle on the line, and the mineral and timber potentialities of the district tliot would be served by the line. It was stated that tho line had suffered <u consequence of the people judging it from an agricultural and pastoral, and not a mineral, point of view, and that tho Westport-Mokihinui line, had it been similarly judged, would never lra-vp been ■ constructed at all; still, it was one of tho two best paying lines in tlw Dominion. FEUD BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS. Dunedin, August 19. In tho Supreme Court 'to-day, a caso in which William John Townley claimed ,£5Ol damages from James Joseph Nyhon for alleged, assault was concluded. Tho. parties presided, on. Otago'l'eniuKula, : 'and liad been bad 'friends for sotiio years." 'It was alleged that defendant severely assaulted plaintiff on a lonely part of tlio road. .The defence was .that plaintiff, assaulted defendant, who did not uso unnecessary violence in defending himself.. The jury found for plaintiff, awardiiif him .£2OO. INSANE ACT AT AKAROA, Christcburch, August 19. In tho Supreme Court this morning. Robert Beau Stewart, for breaking and entering and theft, was sentenced to two imprisonment. John Hitchcock, charged with attempted murder of his sister at Akaroa, on' April 20,.was found not: guilty on tho ground of insanity, and ordered to be detained during the pleasure of tho Minister for Justice. STEAMER IN A GALE Timaru, August 19. ■ Tire Union steamer Karori arrived this morning from Melbourne. Tho trip occu>* pied nine days seventeen hours, and tho w«el experienced bad weathor. All the way to tho Bluff tho water was never off the decks. One lifeboat was damaged, and some minor damage was dono about th« decks.