THE RIVERTON GOLD-SELLING CASE.

Evening Star, Issue 3758, 10 March 1875, Page 3

THE RIVERTON GOLD-SELLING CASE.

[Bt Telegraph.] (From uur own Correspondent.) Ei vertccn,, March 10. A curious case was heard before Mr Turn bull, K.M., and a, B . uch of Mayo Irate?, yesterday, aud the circumstances which occa ioned the charge preferred against Andrew Vidian; sou of feloniously stealing L 142. the property of the National Bank, were these : —On the 22ad ult., a miner named A rchibald vVilson, of Orepuki, having a packet of gold to dispose of, requested another man, James 'Villiamson, a carter, of Riverton, to go to ihe bank and sell the same, it being near closing t'.mc, aud ho (Wilson) being otherwise engaged, Williamson went as requested. The teller at the bank (National) weighed the gold, and after having retorted t handed the amount to Williamson, who 'gain handed it over to Wilson, this amount oeing L 195 Is 6d. Towards the end of the week, some five days after this occurred, application was made to the parties above mentioned for the refunding of i 142 odd. rh.i teller having made the slight mistake of this amount out of the sum of L 195 Is 6d. to to is application Wilson demurred, unless fhc bank could produce his packet of gold, whicu he could recognise, and re-weigb same in his (Wilson’s) “presence. The gold aaviug, as bef we slated, been retorled after tts purebas; by the bank, this could not be accomplish,d, and the refund consequently lid not take place. Criminal charges were at once instituted against both Williamson and Wib-on, the indictment against lb- : -rmer b;iug that of stealing the amount stated to have been overpaid, and the latter with receiving same knowing it to have been stolen, both receiving incarceration in the lock-up. The preliminary inquiry was held here on the Ist inst., when the accused were remanded till yesterday, and admitted to bail in LIOO each. Yesterday the hearing lasted four hou’s, but there was no evi dence to pvove that Williamson acted otherwise than us the medium of selling Wilson’s gold, and it was proved he received no share of the spoil. He was therefore acquitted, the Bench remarking that there was no cause for the reflection cast upon his conduct. !'he charge against Wilson, of feloniously re ceiving money knowing it to have been wrongfully obtained, was remanded till Friday. The case caused great excitement here.