SUPREME COURT IN BANCO.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1044, 21 April 1882, Page 3

SUPREME COURT IN BANCO.

■ THE COUNTY CIIAIK -lAN,SHIP. Tuesday, 13 ni A mm. (Before Hi. Il.mo- Mi Jus t e Wi firms ) XiEOINA (UN THE BKI.ATI'-K OF U OI.N'Mls) V. C. COLO LOUGH Motion for prohibition. Mr Harvey (with him Mr Stout) appeared to move the rule absolute, and Mr James Smith (for Mr Colclough) to show cause. Mr Smith submitted that Colclough was properly elected to fill the office of Chairman of the Vincent County Council; and, secondly, that even if not properly elected, the relator, who claimed the office, was not entitled to oust Colclough hy quo warranto information, the relator not having been properly elected, his title to the seat being affected by the same infirmity as that of tho person who now occupied the position of Chairman of the Council. Mr Pyko having sent in his resignation as Chairman, he ceased entirely to have any right to take part in tho Council as Chairman, unless he was appointed to the office pro itm. at a meeting of the Council, which was not done in this instance. Whether tho meeting was properly constituted without the appointment of the Chairman would be a question for the Court to decide. A protest was signed hy four of the eight councillors against any business being Gone with Mr Pyke in the chair, and tho meetmn was adjourned until the 3nl of February. At this meeting Mr Pykn again took the chair with - out being voted to it. Motions were then made for the election of Councillor M'Ginniss and Councillor Colclough to the office of Chairman. Mr Pyke calico for a vote, with the following result ; For Mr IM'Ginniss —Councillors M'Ginniss, Pyke, Pitches, ami Stronach. Against—Councillor M‘Phail, the other councillors deed ning to vot". Councillor Pyko declared Connei'lor M'Gimiiss elected. This, the learned counsel contended, was illegal, as it was the doty of the clerk to state the result of the division, and that the whole proceedings were vitiated. Councillor Pyke had no authority to put the motion. It was the fluty of the Clerk as st dutory convener of the meeting, anrl therefore quasi Chairman, to put tho motions in the order in which they Lad been made to the counci Hors present : first, that M'Ginniss be Chairman, and then, failing his beingeiected that Colclough be Chairman. That had not been done, and three of the councillors abstained from voting, and a protest was lodged on the groun I that the proceedings wore illegal, and this protest, he submitted, was well found.

His Honor expressed the opinion that it there was no chairman there could have been no mee iug. Mr Smith said if his Honor took that view, and he (the learned counsel) was not prepared to argue against, it, then, as there was no chairman, neither the relator nor the person whom he proposed to oust from office was legally entitled to the position If that were so, tlp-n ihe relator, not being properly elected, was not entitled to succeed. (Rex v. Cudlet, 0 Turn. Reports, p. 503 )

Mr Stout, in reply, said that if it was held that uo person could apply to oust Colclough but the duly-elected Chairman, then Colclough could remain in office for ever. M'Ginniss did not ask the Court to decide whether he was Chairman or not, and a decision in his favour under the present proceedings would not place him in office. There was evidence that six councillors recognised Mr Pyke as Chairman four by voting for, one hy voting against the motion, and another hy requesting him tn put a motion to the meeting. A majority having thus recognised Mr Pyke as Chairman, that (the learned counsel contended) was sufficient without any formal election. Counsel also submitted that under the 55th section of the Act the Chairman must remain in office until his successor was appointed. All that was necessary to entitle tho iclatorto apply for the writ was to show that ho was interested in the corporation—he need not even he a councillor. His Honor : So far as at present advised, I have not much doubt that neither Councillor Cole cugh nor Council lor M ‘Ginniss was elected ; but I will look through the cases, and as it is perhaps advisable you should have my decision in writing, I will be preprepared to give it at an early date— probably this week.

On the question of costs being raised, his Honor sain : I am under the impression that the rule is that if the person against whom the inlo nisi had been obtained submitted, there would be no costs ; but if he chooses to fight it out, the relator is entitled to costs. That seems to me to he the general rule, and it seems to he a sensible rule. Tho Court tin n rose.

THE HOLLYJ?ORD MYSTERY

The supoosjod death by drowning of Mr 1! n dd Raymond, one of tho survey party 1 1, d lias been working between Lake Wakitijm and Martin Bay, West Coast, was reported through tho papers some days since. Tho accounts given wore so obscure and contradictory that Mr G. W. Nichol, of Invercargill, a relative of Mr Raymond, fid, it to be his duty to obtain more definite in formation from a reliable source H ■ accordingly telegraphed to Mr Wilmot, Government surveyor at Queenstown, under whose orders the party were engaged. Th it gentleman writes as follows:

Queenstown, April 11, 1882. I received your telegram on Saturday afternoon, just before leaving Queenstown, and had no opportunity of answering it by letter in time for Monday's mail. The particulars are as follows : - “ The survey party in which Raymond held the position of chaiuman, had been occupied since early in January in the Hnllyford Valley. They had finished the work entrusted to them, had been to Martin Bay, and were returning from the latter p ace to Bake Wakatipu when the sad accident happened. In returning, a deep s ream (Pyke Creek) ha 1 to he crossed by means of canoes. It appears that, at the time they were cross n ', there was a little ‘ fresh’ in the river, and the swift current catching the head of the canoe in which Raymond was crossing, it became ■ nmanaceahle, and was swept down to tho Holy ford River—a distance of 2f)o or 300 yards. Just below the junction of the s reams there is an island in tho Hollyford. On to this 'sland the canoe was drif eel, and Raymond jumped out and attempted to haul up the canoe, hut finding th-.t impos-ihle ho had to 1-t it go. He was naked at the t me, having stripped off his clothes before entering the canoe. He at once commenced to build a raft out of the diiffc wood about, but on the others calling out to him that ihe river below was too rapid fo" rafting, he abandoned the idea, and swam over the channel dividing the island from the far shore. This he did with the ol ject of going a short distance up the river and swimming across the Holyfnrd above Pyke Creek, where the river was about 100 yards wide and the current not very strong. His companions saw him going up for a distance of perhaps 150 yards, and then be was hidden from their sight by a jutting point of hush, and they never saw or heard anything of him since. There can be no doubt, however, that in attempting to swim the river he must have been swept away When last seen ho had been going naked for 1 hreo or four hours, and probably this and the fright consequent on the canoe being carried away had muedi enfeebled him—otherwise the swimming of the river at that point would not have given him much difficulty. Finding that their calls were not answered, and that they could get no clue as to what had h»come of Raymond, Mr Burns (the cadet in charge of the party) and the cook went down to Martin Bay for assistance, but owing to tlie flooded streams, and to the cook having strained his side it was just a week from the time of the accident when they returned to the spot. They then - tho river having cone down—were able to get at the s- cond canoe, and in it they went down Pyke Cre- k to the Hollyford, and crossed over the river to where Raymond was last seen by them, but could get no trace of him excepting just about the spot where he was seen. Mr Burns, leaving the men at the search, came on to report the accident to me. 1 have omitted to give you the date of the accident; this was tho 17'h of March—a Friday. On the previous Tuesday I ha 1 set out from Q.ie nstowu to go to the camp and inspect *iie work, but was delayed by the rain and flooded creeks and rivers, so that I did not reach Pyke Creek until the Tuesday evening aft-r the accident. When I came to the creek and found two swags, and saw that one of the canoes was missing, 1 thought that some accident must have happened. What the extent of it was I could not guess, but I knew that, as the canoe only held two, at the worst twn of the men must be safe. Getting no answer to my cooeymg, I surmised that the men had gone down to the head of the lake—to M‘Kerrow or to Martin Bay. Having no provisions, for 1 had lost what I had in crossing the Hidden Falls River that day, I saw the only thing I could do was tn return to Queenstown and get move provisions and someone to go hack with me. I left, next morning (Wednesday) at daybreak, and got to Queenstown on Thursday about three o’clock in the afternoon. There was uo way of getting up tho 'ake next day, hut Saturday morning I started hy the Mountaineer, taking with me Mr Whitburn, who is thoroughly acquainted with the Hollyford Valley. Going down the val’ey on Sunday we met Burns, who told us of the accident. Next day we met the men who had been searching, but they had been unsuccessful. We then pushed on—made a thorough search of the river banks from Pyko Creek to Lake M ‘Korrow—the beach at the head of the lake, and on our return searched for about seven or eight miles above the scene of the accident. We could fin Ino trace whatever except at the spot where he was last seen to land, so we had reluctantly to return to town- W r e reached hero last Thursday, and 1 immediately went and saw Mr Paulin. Rumors had got afloat in Queenstown from a letter brought from a settler at Martin Bay to his sister here hy Mr Burns, 1 was consequently besieged hy a crowd on coming off from the steamer, but would give uo ore any information till I should see Mr Paulin. Hence the absurd reports that were published in the local papers and others. The full particulars of the accidput were placed in the hands of the police, a’fid the accident also reported to tho Government. I don’t know what slops the police may take in the matter, and am new awaiting instructions from the Government as to whether f shall make further search. I would willingly go out with a search party, but I do not think any party would make a more thorough search than Mr Whitburn and myself have done—t am. etc., L. H. Wilmot. On receipt of the foregoing, tho following telegram was despatched t« tho Minister for Public Works: Ronald Raymond, one of tho survey party near Martin Bay, reported missing since 17tli March by Mr Wilmot, surveyor. Search so far unsuccessful. Relatives and others here think further searcli necessary, if only to recover body. Mr Wilmot writes he is willing to head search party if authorised. Kindly issue necessary instructions." Mr Wilmot, the local police, ■and others have left Queenstown to search for Raymond dead or alive.— Southland News.

In ISBI 3.415 families, consisting of 17,314 persona, were evicted in Ireland. Breach of Promise —A breach of promise case, illustrative of the injustice of the Knglish marriage laws, baa been heard at Liverpool Assizes. A Birkenhead butcher was sued by his deceased wifes’s sister for damages. The ease, which was aggravated by the seduction, had not proceeded far when the Judge observed (hat a man could no mmemairyh's deceased wife’s sister than his grandmother ; and so the poor woman, who otherwise would probably have received a ree.'inpenso for her loss and disgrace, was nonsuited.