SUPREME COURT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 136, 26 February 1918, Page 4

SUPREME COURT

TRAVELLER IMPRISONED IN A PRIVATE HOTEL CLAIM FOR DETENTION

. A case of a most unusual nature, ini volving a claim for damages for acci- . dental detention of a guest in tho room ; of a private hotel, was heard in the ' Supremo Court yesterday before the I Chief. Justice (Sir Robert Stout). i Percy George "Waller, a commercial i traveller, of Christchurcli, sought to rei cover tho sum of £75 general damages 1 and the sum of £68 7s, 6tl. for special ■ damages from the owners of the Hotel Trocadero and the manager thereof on ; account of the cause mentioned. Anderson, Kidd and Co., of Christchurch, ■ merchants, and the Addington Iron • Rolling Stills, Ltd., were also joined as plaintiffs, as Waller was a member , of tho first-mentioned firm and an employee of the latter company. The defendants were set down as Hamilton Gilmer, tho Public Trustee (a trustee in tho estate of Allan M'Guire, deceased), Marv Ann M'Ardle (widow), John O'Kane* Charles P. Skerrett, and William Brennan. The defendants were all of Wellington, and with tlw exception of the last-named were, with different interests, joint proprietors of the Trocadero Private Hotel, Wellington. Mr. 0. W. Nielsen appeared for the plaintiffs and Mr. A. W. Blair for the whole of tho defendants. J On June 30 last the plaintiff Waller was a paying guest at the Trocadero, occupying room 57 on the third floor, and according to Mr. Nielsen when he arose in the morning he could not unlock his door. Detailing the incident, Mr. Nielsen said that Waller was awakened a little after six a.m.. by the chambermaid knocking on the door and heralding vhe advent of a cup of tea. Try as he'could Waller, who had locked the door the previous night on rc- . tiring, was unable to turn the . lock. Appealed to, the chambermaid rushed off for her pass-key. This instrument was also iiseless. Additional assist, anco was then enlisted in the shape ot tlie porter, who: advised the unwilling prisoner to pass through the window;, on to the verandah and ■ effect his escape by passing through room 55. This suggestion was'not entertained, however, upon Waller informing him that there -was no verandah. _ In- the meantime the porter bad received instructions from the management to procure a locksmith. When lie imparted this 'intelligence to Waller, the latter uraed the porter to get a stick of relignite or a crowbar and burst the foclfin, 'as lie must be down at the wharf at eight o'clock. This, the porter explained, was contrary to his instructions. In due time a modern Gabriel Vardcn arrived on tho scene and spent some time'endeavouring to pick the lock. ' But the lock remained firm; Waller bv this time was ''very upset," but the'tension was.. finallv relieved wben the locksmith passed a chisel through the fanlight. Wal.ler. . seized upon this, and after, some industrious chipping around the lock the door responded to a'hearty kick from the porter and burst inwards. It was thus about 0.30 a.m. before Waller was liberated. He had arranged to ship that day at 8 o'clock- some 160 tons of scrap iron to Lyttelton by three.small steamers. Waller had to personally superintend the loading of this, and it was therefore essential that 'ie should have been there at 8 o'clock in the morning. In consequence of Waller's prolonged session in his bedroom that day ono steamer left without taking any iron, another boat which was to nave taken 60 tons got nway with only, 16J tons, while the third steamer had to delay her departure till ■ Monday ■ morning. ■ In consequence of this, disorganisation of his business and that of the companies Waller was connected with the plaintiffs contended that they had suffered damages in the sums now claimed. Evidence was given by the plaintiff Waller along the lines indicated, and in support of the allegation set out in the statement of claim that the defendants did not take reasonable steps to secure his release. His Honour: If your presence was so essential at the wharf at eight o'clock, why did you not send a message explaining your detention? 'Waller: Tho servants were incapable of taking a message. .' ■ , Waller was then asked by Mr. Blair in cross-examination whether it would be cheaper to lock up the Prime Minister for an hour or so or himself (Waller). "It would ho rather expensive for both," rejoined Waller. Mr. Blair: It would have been undignified for you to get out through the fanlight? Waller:- "Yes.", Plaintiff, further cross-examined, said that had there been a fire he would have tried to escape by means of the fanlight or the window, j Evidence was also given By three witnesses who deposed that the shipping of plaintiff's scrap iron had been delayed to tho extent out-lined by his counsel. ' •'

On behalf of the defendants it was denied, in the statement of the defence, that the lock of the door was defective or unworkable. As a matter of fact, it was in'good order and condition. All reasonable steps were taken to secure the prompt release of AValler, who could, unaided, have obtained egress from the room either through tho window or through the fanlight over the door.

'In applying for a nonsuit Mr. Blair pointed out that the' plaintiff Waller himself admitted that the lock worked perfectly on the night before the trouble and for a week before. Evidence of a. locksmith would be called to show that the whole trouble was caused by the manner in which AValler locked the door.

For the plaintiffs Mr. Nielsen urged that the defendants had failed in their duty to a guest. His Honour: What duty?

Mr. Nielsen: To break open the door,

Evidence was then called for tho defence, including that of tho locksmith, who recalled having overheard several invitations extended to Waller to get out of tho window. Waller could also have got out of the fanlight. . In announcing that he would pWe judgment on Wednesday morning, His •Ho'nour remarked: "I had better go and see this place."

JUDGMENT DEBTOR REPRIMANDED

PRODUCTION OP BOOKS ORDERRD A judgment debtor's obstinacy and what was described as the "extraordinary action" of a man lending him £2000 on insufficient security and al-' lowing it to run for eight or nine years without even collecting any interest were commented on in the Supreme Court yesterday by tho Chief Justice (Sir Robert' Stout), in . a judgment summons rase.which had been removed from-the Magistrate's.Court. The judgment creditor was J. H. Hooper, and he sought an. order for payment of the sum of £220 secured to liimunder judgment from one David Morris Oivjiis, general contractor, of Wellington. Mr. G. Hutchinson appeared for the judgment creditor and Mr. A. Dunn for the judgment debtor. At a previous sitting ■of the Court Owens had been ordered to produce -certain book's and records, and his non-production of. these was made the subject of severe comment by His Honour.

' When pressed by Mr. Hutchinson for certain .particulars supplementary to those in his hank account, which on his own admission had not been kept, since 1W3,. the judgment debtor remarked:

Mell, if you arc not satisfied, do tho other tiling. Yon know your remedy!" His Honour: Tiie remedy is to send you into gaol: I think this is a deliberate attempt to get rid of this judgment. This man must produce tho books and answer questions in a proper manner or go to gaol.

Owens testified that ho owned the, Foresters' Hallj four houses ir. I'hio Street, and two in Patterson Sti eet. These were valued at about £14,000, and were all heavily mortgaged. Ho had no money with whicli to meet the judgment,

His Honouii: Why does he not file a petition of bankruptcy? Mr. Dunn: I have advised him to go bankrupt,, but lie thinks that he will continue to struggle along instead.

His. Honour: Stmgglo along I That is ridiculous talk.

Accord.iua to Sir. Dunn the other creditors did not wish the debtor to file. It was their hope to get something some day. If the debtor filed they would get nothing. His Honour adjourned hearing of the case till this morning, and ordered the debtor to have all hooks and records on hand which might tend to cast some light on his involved finances. His Honour warned him at the same time that he was "not going to be humhugged any longer."