RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3176, 2 September 1881, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

(Btfore H. Eyre Kenny, Esq., and Captain Preece, R.M.'s.) POST OFFICE FRAUDS. Frederick Day Rendle waa charged with feloniously stealing a letter the property of the Postmaster-General. Mr Cotterill appeared for the prosecution, and called. John Grrubb, who on his oath said he was Chief Postmaster at Napier. He knew the prisoner. Prisoner was employed at the Post Office. He was senior letter carrier and assistant sorter. He had acted in that capacity about eighteen months, up to the time of his arrest on the 23rd of August. Tne prisoner's duties were as caretaker of the building, to assist the mail clerk, and relieve one of the letter carriers once a week. He had to assist the clerk in sorting the letters, opening the small country mails, and the general work of the office. He would assist in clearing tbe boxes for the outward mails and stamping the letters. He would have to do with cancilling the stamps on letters. Prisoner lived at the back of the Post Office building,— part of the building,—and he kept the key of that portion of the building. On the 23rd August witness, from information received, went to prisoner's private room. Subsequently he was arrested. Albert Tuxford was postmaster at Petane in February last. They had no date stamp at the Petane post office. The rule £>t sub offices was that they should write across the stamp the name of the office. He believed that plan was pursued at Petane. To the best of his knowledge and belief the stamps produced bad passed through the Petane post office. (Stamps put in and marked A.) If that letter bad been received in Napier it would have been date stamped on the back. That would be done at once ou opening the bag. The bag is opened immediately on arrival of the mail. By the Court: In addition to stamping country letters on the back when they arrived at the Napier office the stamps on the face were obliterated. Albert Tuxford, sworn, said he was postmaster at Petane from the Ist April, 1875, to March of this year. He acted during the whole of that time. His wife acted under him during that time. His wife generally made up the mails. They used to write across the stamps the word Petane and the date. The writing ou the stamp marked A is Mrs Tuxford'a writing to the best of his belief. He should say that the stamp marked A had been on an English letter, as there are few over-weight letters posted at Petane. The course ot business, after letters are posted at Petane, is to put them in the pigeon-holes ready for sending to Napier. In February last the mails left Petane for Napier on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at halfpast 12. The stamps produced and marked B.C.D.E. are marked with Mrs Tuxford's writing. There is a piece of paper attached to each stamp. He had no doubt that those stamps passed through the Petane post office, with the exception of B, which was only numbered. The practice of the Petane post office was to write the date of receipt over the stamp. The stamps D and E were on letters received in the Petane post office ou the 23rd February, 1881, to the best of his belief. Those letters would be sent to Napier on the day following at noon. By tbe Court: It was seldom a mail was sent North, only two or three times during his term of office. Mails for the North were generally sent to the headf office. Sometimes, at the request o persons posting letters, be made up a bag and sent it North himself. Sarah Ann Tuxford deposed she was the wife of last witness. Her husband

had been postmaster at Petane for six years. During that time she assisted him in making up the mails. On receiving letters she immediately wrote Petane and the date on tbe atanps. She then entered them in the letter bill, and put them in the bag, and the bag was stamped and sealed, and sent to Napier by the first mail. She made up mails for no other places but Napier. She had sent one letter to Tafawera by coach. To the best of her knowledge and belief the writing on the stamp marked from A to B was her writing. To the best of hebelief they had been on English letters posted at Petane on the dates they hear. By the Court: The stamps marked AB C she believed were on English letters. The others she couldn't speak about. Constable Foster, sworn, said the prisoner was under his custody on the 24th of August last. Prisoner gave him a purse containing some stamps. Purse produced is the one. There appears to be a lot of stamps chewed up inside the purse. Prisoner gave him tbe purse and said, " Will you do me a favor, Will you give this purse to my wife," and he banded me the purse. Prisoner said, " don't look at it because there is something in it that would perhaps give me , years ; give it to the wife, and tell her to burn it." He gave the purse containing the stamps to Detective Gra«e. Detective Grace, sworn, said he received the purse produced from Constable Foster on tbe 24th of August. In tbepresence of the constable he examined its contents, and found 144 twopenny stamps, 59 sixpenny stamps, 2 5s stamps, 8 If stamps, 1 2s stamp, 2 rourpenny stamps 2 penny stamps, 1 half-penny stamp, and 1 penny duty stamp. The stamp produced in evidence were amongst them. He handed them over to Sergeant Mahon, so that people might identify them. He found some chewed paper, of., different colors. The paper appeared to . have been recently chewed. By.the Court: The stamps are produced, and are all uncancelled, except those produced in evidence.and marked. John Grubb recalled : He produced" the New Zealand inland postal waybill from Napier to Petane and back dated the 24th February. The Napier mail is signed as having been dispatched by tbe prisoner; it is signed by him. The receipt of a mail bag from Petane on the 24th February is also signed by prisoner. He also produced the sub-office letter bill containing the number of letters inward -■ and outward on the 24th February between Napier and Petane. It is initialed F.D.R. in prisoner's handwriting. Albert Tuxford recalled: The waybill produced was sent from Petane on the 24th of February, and signed by himself. The letter-bill produced was also sighed by him. It contains a true record of the letters despatched to Napier on tbe 24th February. This concluded the case for the prosecution. Tbe prisoner had declined to crossquestion any of the witnesses, and ou being asked by the Bench if he had anything to say, and cautioned in tbe usual way, he said he reserved his defence. His Worship said it would be his duty to commit the prisoner, but he would not do?so formally at present, as there were other charges to be brought against the prisoner.

The prisoner was then charged with ' stealing from a letter, the property of the Postmaster-General, the sum of two shillings. Fanny Anna Oliver, sworn, said she was postmistress at Puketapa. Had been so for eight years. She was acting on the 23rd August last. She made up tbe Puketapu mail on the 23rd of August. The paper produced was the way-bill from Puketapu to Napier on that day, bearing her daughters' signature. She was present when her daughter signed it. Another paper produced was the letterbill of the same date bearing her initials, and showing that 76 letters and 2 books were in the mail bag. She put them in tbe bag herself, and dispatched them by Henry Harvey, the letter carrier. Amongst tbe letters there was one from herself. The letter produced was the one. There was a florin in the envelope besides the letter. It was addressed to tbe Chief Postmaster, Napier. Henry Harvey, sworn, said he was a coach driver in the employ of Mr Rymer, and drove a coach between Napier and I Puketapu, carrying the mail both ways. He remembered receiving the mail from Mrs Oliver on the 23rd August, about 1 o'clock. He took it to Napier,- and delivered it at 3 o'clock. He generally left the bag on the table at the post office. The bag was sealed up in the ordinary way, and so delivered by him at the post office. John Grubb, on his oath, said the prisoner had been engaged in the post office for three years; for the last eighteen months as senior letter carrier and assistant clerk. It was prisoner's duty to receive mail bags, amongst them the Puketapu mail bags. Prisoner bad two rooms in the post office building. Those two rooms are not a part of the post office. They are not a part of the building in which office work should be done. There is a door leading out of the public office to a porch which Jeads to prisoner's rooms. The two rooms were prisoner's private apartments. On the 23rd August witness went to prisoner's private rooms, about 15 minutes past 4 in the afternoon. He went alone. He went round by the back of the building. He left the chief clerk in charge of the door leading to prisoner's private rooms. He went to the back of the building and entered prisoner's rooms ; found him standing at a table with a letter addressed to him (witness) open. There was a two-sbilling piece and the letter produced on the table; also eleven other letters. The letters were spread on the table; five were stamped with twopenny stamps, and six were unstamped. There appeared to have an Hnusual amount of gum used about the letters that were Btamped; They were quite moist. The gum under the stamps was quite soft. There was a gum-bottle with gum in it on the table. The stamps on the five letters were not defaced. He immediately called Mr Brown, the chief clerk, into the room. He then demanded from the prisoner why he had taken the letters into his private quarters. Prisoner said, "I brought tbem here to stamp tbem." Witness then said, •* Where did you get the stamps?" Prisoner replied, "I bought them from the stamp clerk and from Mr Jacobs." Witness then asked prisoner how it was that stamps bought in the usual way required so much gum to ma_« them adhere. Prisoner made no answer. Witness then said it would be his duty to have the room searched. Sergeatt Mahon was then called in, and began the search in his presence. Detective Grace also assisted. Only two fourpenny stamps were found. The prisoner was there all the time. Prisoner asked if he would be allowed to sleep there that night. Witness replied, "No." Prisoner then asked if he would lose his situation. \Vitnees replied he feared he would. After the search witness told the prisoner he looked upon the letters found in his privatt

quarters aa stolen, and would have to give him in charge. Prisoner said, " I meant to bring them back." Witness said, "It is against all rule for you to take a letter addressed tome into your private quarters." Prisoner made no reply. The Puketapu way-bill and letter-bill produced are initialed by prisoner. On the 23rd of August the prisoner was on duty at 3 p.m. On receiving tbe mail bag it was prisoner's duty to open the bag, to see that the contents were as described on the letter-bill, and he would date stamp the letters on the back, and sort them away into the pigeon holes. With a mail of 76 letters and two books the whole should have been cleared away in ten minutes. The proper course with letters received from country post offices without stamps would be to hand them to the stamp clerk. Mr Henn was acting as stamp clerk on that day. It was customary for him to receive letters from country postmasters requesting him to stamp letters, and enclosing payment for stamps. All correspondence addressed to witness should have been placed on his table. He never gave prisoner any instructions to open any letters addressed to him. No one in the office is allowed to open any thing addressed to him as postmaster while he is on duty. He was on duty on the 23rd August. , The prisoner had no right "whatever to take the Puketapu mail into his own private appartments ; he had never done so before to witness' knowledge. Prisoner had no authority to affix, stamps of bis own on letters received in this way.

George Joseph Brown, the chief clerk in the Napier post office, next gave evidence, and corroborated that portion of Mr Grubb's evidence relating to his interview and conversation with the prisoner in his (prisoner's) private rooms..

After hearing the evidence of Sergeant Mahon, His Worship intimated tbat it was his intention to commit, but, as in the previous case, be would not do so formally until other cases against the prisoner had been heard.

The prisoner was then charged with opening a letter, the property of the Postmaster-General, being an indictable offence,

This charge was for opening the letter posted from Puketapu by Mrs Oliver, and the evidence was exactly the same as in the previous case, and was being gone through when we went to press.