GREY DISTRICT COURT.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 18 February 1901, Page 2

GREY DISTRICT COURT.

Satuuday, Feukuaiiy IGtu.

[Before His Honor, Judge Ward.] George and William Lawson and Edward Bring were charged, on committal from the Magistrate’s Court, Kumara, with conspiring to defraud certain person.sjiy salting a dredging claim known as Foley’s Extc'ndectr*" " “ N —l

Mi' Hannan (Crown Prosecutor) tui peared for the Crown, and Messrs GuiiV ness and Murdoch for the defence.

Tiie following additional evidence to that recorded at Kumara was givenCarl Peter Carlson: The day before the case in the Magistrate’s Court Kumara, was held (i c January 7th), I went to the claim and visited the shaft I had previously sunk. I bailed the shaft out. and then took a dish off the bottom I continued prospecting dish by dish, in all ten dishes. They were taken from bottom to top, but without the result of a colour. I took particular care in panning them off. This proves to mo that the shaft was salted. I have no doubt about it.

James Lodgers in cross-examination by Mr Guinness swore that Bring went out to work ou Tuesday. Bring MTlroy’s pony, Witness said that ho had prospected before. There was nothing unusual in sinking a shaft and getting no gold, and then going a few yards and getting a good prospect. Such ground was called “patchy ground.” Ee-examiiicd by Mr Hannan : He said that by dish prospecting ho could tell if the ground was payable. Witness would not consider Foley’s Creek patchv ground. J

Evidence was given by G. Barrett, J. Ihompson, E. Ward, and J. Fraher, but was identical with that previously re. ported, J

A(p this stage the hearing was adurnecl till Monday forenoon. Monday, Pan. 18.

Charles Fleming, sworn, said—l am a dredgemastcr residing at Marsden. I was at one time connected with Foley’s Creek. I gave a report on same, which appears in the prospectus, I commenced at the end of April, and finished in the middle of May. In sinking the shafts all the three accused were engaged under mydirection.The results I reported were the correct ones I got at there. Another man (Wardell) was engaged. He is related to the Lawsons. I honestly believed at the time that the results were correct. The company was floated a few weeks afterwards. In the month of June

I was appointed manager. Since then the company has cleared a considerable area of bush, built pontoons, and have ■ the machinery on the ground. The company suspended operations towards the end of December. £7,000 had been spent by the company. The shares were at eight shillings premium. The arc of no value now, I know why the operations had been suspended, because the claim is a duffer. On December 4th I commenced now prospecting on ray adjoining claim. I prospected by linking. It was worthless. The shaft was 9 feet deep and it yielded one grain of gold. The size is ox 3x 9. Taking the average I should have got 4.V dwts. I sank two other shafts. They were not close together. We sank 3 feet and we got nothing. The wash was two feet in depth. It was exactly similar to No. 3 shaft. The third was sunk in the middle of the claim and close to a shaft sunk in August last. In December prospecting I sunk three shafts, all yielding nothing. That is all the work I did for the Company. Mr Briggs did some prospecting m December, Bring and Barrett assisted me in the August prospecting. Two shafts were sunk, known as Nos fi and 7; neither were bottomed. Both shafts resulted in about No 0, over 1 dwt, and No 7, half a pennyweight. That was all the prospecting done then. In October I sank a shaft near No 7. Result —depth Bor 9 feet, contained a yard of wash ; yield, 10 grains of gold. Two days were occupied in sinking the shaft. The dirt was left open all night and washed up the following afternoon. Since then during December prospecting a shaft was sunk next to it, Yield, nil. My opinion is that the claim is worthless. I do not think that the results were genuine in the first prospecting. When I say that it is worthless I mean it is worthless for all mining opei’ations. Spurious Coin. Jessie Rodgers was charged on committal from the Magistrate’s Court with passing on December 27th a piece of metal under standard value.

Prisoner pleaded “ Guilty.” * Mr Hannan appeared for the Crown and Mr Joyce for the accused. _ Prisoner was admitted to probation for six months.