MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 185, 1 May 1919, Page 3

MAGISTRATE'S COURT

A NEGRO MINSTREL

ALLEGED THEFT OF INSTRUMENTS

On the evening of April 1 a burglary occurred at, the shop of Oscar Hull Brown, 137 Vivian Street, a number of musical instruments, valued at ,£125, beiiiß stolen. The instruments comprised three" cornets, six violins, one trombone, one viola, four flutes, 14 piccolos, one oboe; two clarionets, and eix bows. Inrjuiries were made by the police, with the result' that suspicion fell upon a coloured man named James Arthur Pollfrd. Polkrd was arrested, and- yesterday morning he appeared before Mr. P. V. Frazer, SM.,' at the Magistrate's Court, to answer a charge of having committed the burglary; He was defended by Mr. G. W. Mellish. Chief-Detective .Boddam conducted the prosecution, and said that Brown left his premises at 7.15 p.m. on the date of the information. Returning at 10.45 p.m.' ho found the instruments to be missing froin the shop. In consequence of inquiries made by Detectivc.-Sergeant Andrews and Plain-Clothes Constable Black, some of the instruments were traced to j the possession of the accused, who had sold a trombone to a pan named Taylor. Oscar, Hull Brown gave evidence on the lines of the chief-detective's statement He, said that when he returned to his shop' he found that a glass case had been opened, and.that a shelf was bare of musical instruments. The backdoor of the workshop was closed, but unlocked. Before he went out he had locked the ! door. On, the following morning ho exj amined a window over a bench in the workshop, and found that it had beon i forced open. Witness said he had known i accused for about a year, Pollard having 'been a, customer of his. On the morn-, j ing of, April 1 accused was in his shop. I About ten months ago, witness showed

aroused- through the upstairs portion of the premises. ■ About worth of instruments, .comprising'"two violins, one flute, and seven ,or..eight piccolos, were 6till r -missing;'" -■■■-- J, '' ' ■ ;'■

.■Beatrice Hobman, clerk, in the/employ of the previous witness, said she knew the accused under the name of '.'Archie Taylor." She saw him ill the shop on the afternoon of April 1, and he" said lie wanted to- look at- eomo ' instruments which were intended for a friend. He said he intended to teach his friend the trombone. 'Accused was shown some trombones and a cornet. Accused pointed to a motor-cycle which was in the shop, and a companion who was with him asked if Brown lived in the shop. Accused expressed surprise when he was iii formed that Brown did reside there, saying' that he had been.shown nil over the place, and had eeen no sign of anyone living there. ■

'Philip Thomas Smith, electrician, said ho saw accused in Manners Street on tlie afternoon of April' 2. Accused said he knew someone who had a side-trombone, which was for sale. As accused did not vant to piircha.se it, witness asked if there was any chance of seeing it Accused replied that if he met the man who owned it he would introduce him to witness. "Witness was told that the owner of the trombone had been killed at the front, and that the insrument had been left on the hands of accused's friend. About live, minutes past 7 p.m. accused and another man visited witness's house in Hoppor Street, and accused introduced the man in the name of Itcbinson. The latter handed witness a trombone, which witness examined. Accused did most of the talking, Eobinson saying very little. Witness decided to buy the instrument for £&, the price asked by Eobinson. Tfic money was handed over, but no receipt was given by Robinson. A few days later witness met accused, who told him that the instrument sold to him had been stolen; and that the the thief had not been caught. Witness replied. "That's a fine thing for a fellow to do!" and accused sai<l that was practically all he knew about it.

William Lang, storeman, stated that on April 3 he was at the weekly practice of the Patriotic Society's Band at 155, Will's Street. A man came -to the bandroom, and had a conversation about two cornets, which witness examined. Acciised was in the room at the time. Witness agreed to buy tho two cornets for iCS, and a receipt was given Tinder the signature' of D.- R Eobinson. Accused was formerly a member of the Patriotic Society's Band, but it was not he who sold witness the cornets.

James Heid, manager i.-f the National Eat Mills, said he knew the accused, who visited his factory on several occasions early in' April. On his last visit accused left a smr.ll parcel in*'witness's care, but ho did not call back for it, and later a sergeant of police called and took it away.

Plain-Clothes' Constable -A. G. Black gave evidence regarding tho apprehension' of accused. He said that on the morning of Aprii 5 he .searched accused's house in 5 Alfred Street, but no stolen [•roperty was found. Later on the sarno day, witness searched a house at 460 Evans .Buy Eoad, occupied by George Clarencb Thompson, and most of the stolen property was found there. When arrested on April 8, accused made a statement to the effect that tho stolen instruments were brought to his house in a motor-car on tho night of April 1 by M'Dovitt or Robinson.

Frederick Fraicrico, taxi driver, said that about 10.20 p.m. on April 1 his car was standing near the Royal Oak Hotel. Accused approached, and nsked him to remove a couple of packages from Crawford Terrace, off Vivian Street. Accused said the job was not to take long, nnd that if prtssed for timo witness could keep the paresis overnight Witness declined to undertake the job.

At thi<: stage tho hearing of the case was adjourned until 9.30 a.m. on Saturday.

After the evidence of the police had been Riven. Mr. Watson withdrew the plea of nof-guilty, and substituted it with onu of Ruilty. Defendant,' lie said, had fjono right tliroußh the war with a clean record, but on Tuesday ho met a number of old comrades, and the result was that they indulged in. a good deal of convivial diinkinfj. Accused had no recollection of tho affair. "This is not the first timo we ha-vo had returned soldiers interfering with Cinnamon," said Mr Frazer. "lhey n'.av look upon them as fair game when they get a few drinks aboard, but a Cliinamnn is not fair game, and I should think the soldier ought to be a Better sport than to piny monkey tricks on a Chinaman. It is not sportsmanlike to net otherwise." '- Dunn was fined with XI ■Iβ. costs, and His Worship ordered that half the ' nmount of the fine should go to the Chinaman by way of compensation. , A FORGED CHEQUE. John George Jl'Kendrick pleaded guilty to forging, on March 20, the name of J , . Jones'to a cheque for £i, and uttering the same to Alexander Paul and Cecil W. Haseldean. with intent to defraud. The greater part of the evidence in the case was heard n week ago, when defendant pleaded not guilty. In the interim he informed the police that he desired to confes3 his guilt tcftho Court. It appeared that he had introduced himself to the accountant at the Bank of New South Walps under the name of "John Spain," saying that he had an account in, the Auckland brancK of thb bank. The cheque he tendered was valueless, and it transpired that he had' no account at Auckland. Accused was committed 1 to the Supreme Court for seiitHice., BREACH OF MARRIAGE ACT. An allegation of having committed a breach of tho Marriage Act on July 28, WIG, by making a false declaration for' the purpose of procuring a 'Registrar's certificate, was preferred against a young man named John Arthur Mason, a driver Ijt occupation. Mr. (i W. Mellish appeared for the accused. Chief-Detective Boddam slated that accused had declared himsslf to be a Lachelor, and had resided in New Zealaud for three months, the neriod which ■ras necessarv under the Act. Inquiries were m.nde. and it turned out that (it the time accused made the. declaration he was already married, inid that he had only arrived in the Dominion on June 4, 1916. He was born in America, and was married there,, In a statement "ta Detective-Sergeant Rawle, accused said 'he had been married in America- in 1911, but his wife had left him, having run off with another man, and become a womaji of evil repute. He had not seen her since 1912, and concluded that he was doing no wrong when he again married in New Zealand in 1916. Mason pleaded guilty, and was committed to tho Supreme Court for sentence, "bail beinsc allowed in the sum of .£IOO, one surety, of that amount, or two of .GO each. REMANDED, Robert Heniiis was remanded until this morning on a charge of having stolen a coat and a pair of socks, valued at 65., the property of Joseph Bowker. An vi , paw QUESTION REGARDING A LOAN. Mr. F. V. I'ruzer, •Sμ., heard a'civil ■ case, in which a claim for .£IOO, with interest amounting to .£2 10s. 9d., was made by Edward Williams, fruiterer, against J.ames Enger and Henry Fairdough. Mr. A. W. Blair appeared for plaintiff, Mr. T. S. Weston for Eager, and Mr. P. W. Jackson for ITairelongh. ' Plaintiff Blleged that on November 1, ISIB, he paid into the Bank of. New Zealnnd the sum of ,£IOO on behalf of the firm of Eager and Fairclough v Tho money was loaned on trust, and wae to bo used for tho express pnrchase of a motor lorry offered for sale at Auckland. The money, ho said, was to'be refunded if the lorry wns not purchased. The purchase had not been completed,* iind'the money had not been refunded. I'airclough denied that he had borrowed. £100 for himself, averring that he was not in the position borrow a hundred ponce.- The money was borrowed to make up tho deficit for the purchase of a motor lorry. • • Mr. Woston contended that Fairclough \ras liable. He said tho question was one of partnership, nnd that, through ii'israpresentntion, , Fairclough had borrowed money on behalf of the firm. Eager, he considered, was in no way responsible, nnd that the person who si.ould be eued was Piirclough alone. linger said that whin the question of thoir respective shares in the business wiis being discussed he told Fairclough thiit their motor truck would havo to lie sold. Fairclough said he was in' poor circumstances, but that he_ coufd borrow jeiOO from Williaina. Witness understood that Fairclough had borrowed ,£IOO on beJwlf of Jn'mself, and not on behalf of the firm. _• : Under cross-examination by Mr. Blair, Eager said the .£IOO was paid into his account on behalf of Faixlough. ■ His Worship held that tho money was borrowed for thp partnership, with the knowledge of Eager, and that both Eager j-.ncl Fairclough were jointly liable. Judgment was'given for the amount claimed, with costs, against Eager and Fairclough, trading in 00-partnership as the Dominion Fruit Distributing Company. ,