The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MAY 7, 1901. SUPREME COURT REPORTING.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 100, 7 May 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MAY 7, 1901. SUPREME COURT REPORTING.

Ax the Supreme Court yesterday His Honor thought fit to comment on the inaccuracy of press reports of cases heard in Auckland and Gisborne. After referring to a particular report which __ appeared in the Tines that morning, His Honor continued : “ The reports here have been exceptionally good. In Auckland our reports used to be' remarkably good ; there the man who was responsible for them, though not a shorthand writer, was remarkably accurate. But he died, and since thon the reports have been very bad indeed.” We would respectfully suggest that His Honor should consider how far 110 himself is to blame for the inaccuracy of reports. It has, during the present sitting of the Court, beon the common complaint of jurors, press representatives, and the public generally that they could not hear the remarks from the Bench. Time after time His Honor has rebuked witnesses for not speaking sufficiently loud, and yet he himself occasionally lapses into the habit of speaking in such a low tone as not to be audible by those in'Court. We leave the Auckland papers to answer for their own omissions, and have no doubt they will have something to say on the subject. There is also another matter which wo wish to refer to, and that is the constant conversational tone of the Bar and Rinch, which has been adopted during the present sitting of the Court. It has been hard work on the press representatives to take a verbatim note of the proceedings ; in fact, we go so far as to say that the best phonographer in the colony would not have been equal to the task. Matters are referred to by barristers and Bench in a manner which, although perhaps clearly understood among themselves, given in an inarticulate voice, are not thoroughly grasped by the reporters.

A COMEDY OF ERRORS. If the liaiti Road Board case does nothing else it shows how prone human mortals are to err. A casual glance at His Honor’s judgment in that case, and subsequent remarks on reporting, will illustrate our meaning. First, then, Mr Justice Johnston (who was eulogised by Mr Justice Conolly) erred in one reported case; then Act-ing-Justice Ward (who must have been a fairly careful man to be put upon the Supreme Court Bench) erred in a subsequent case; the County Council must have erred in making the order creating the. ’ Titirangi Road Board District; the arbitrators (bankers of laige experience) must have erred, or their award would not have been onesided, as suggested by the Judge; the Haiti Road Board erred in not contesting the Award; the defendant ratepayer of the Titirangi Road Board must have erred because judgment went against him ; we erred in reporting. His Honor’s remarks ; and, with all due deference, we submit that either our contemporary, or, if our contemporary is right, then His Honor must have erred in referring to the Law Journal, because there is no such periodical in New Zealand. Seeing that our reporter was in such exalted company, we trust His Honor will accept an apology for any shortcomings there may have been in the report referred to. The fact of the matter is His Honor was not expected to sit on Saturday afternoon, and our ordinarily-careful legal reporter, to whom His Honor was kind enough to give a meed of praise, was that afternoon enjoying awell-deserved holiday.

The following are the addresses of foreign letters unclaimed at the Post Office, Gisborne :—Frank Smith, It. Hamer, 15.l 5 . Doherty. Trooper Edmond Kenny, who joined the Wellington section of the Seventh Contingent, writes to his parents from Pretoria, that he is well, but anxious to get into action. He also sends regards from Trooper J. Ryan, who joined the Auckland section. He mentions seeing Alf. Cox, who is working in the Postoffice at Pretoria.

Mr J. Lewis, fruiterer, confectioner, and general provision dealer, in Gladstone Road, has an advertisement in this issue,, to which attention is directed.. Mr Lewis is one of the largest growers of local and - importers of Island -fruit in this district, and residents can always rely upon the goods purchased being of first-class quality. A splendid assortment of Mennie and Dey’s confectionery is kept in stock. Trooper A. Law, of Gisborne, writing from Hospital Gamp under date of March 26th, states:—“We arrived in East London on March 14th, and went straight to the front. On the road to Pretoria we passed through Kroonsfad, where General Gatacre was defeated and seven hundred of the British taken prisoners. We saw the graves of two Boer generals that were killed. Then we crossed the Vaal river, where the Boers blew up the railway bridge. We could see the bullet marks all over the place. Then came Bloemfontein, it is a very grand place indeed. The railway station cost a million of money. We left there at night, but did not get far, as the Boers had out the telegraph wires, and we thought they might have blown the railway line up, as they often do, so-we camped on the line for the night. That night the Boers attacked some of the garrison men quite close to us. We could see the flash of their rifles, but they did not come' near us. They go about in small mobs snapping at the British, but as soon as you make a stand they make off. Thon came Pretoria; it is a very pretty place. There are some lovely buildings there. We went into camp there for a few days, and McKinley and I got the blooming German measles. We were sent to the hospital. There were nineteen altogether with the same complaint, and we were all left behind, We were very disappointed, as we anticipated going with General Plumer’s column to take Petersburg, but having to stay in the hospital for fourteen days put a set on it. I am having a good time, nothing to do and plenty to eat and drink. I hope to be with "them in a few days, as I am anxious to get fighting. The Boers are a rough-looking lot; they make your eyes ache to look at them. I have seen plenty - that have been taken prisoners and sur- 1 rendered. I hope to be able to relate some adventures with the Boers in my nest letter." 1

Abereorn Masonic Lodge meeting this evening. Tenders are iuvited for the grazing rights of the Patutahi Domain. The Gisborne Bifles were last evening inspected by Serg. 'Major Finn. The comet last night showed a brilliant reflection, a filmy-looking mantle trailing ' from the southern side. ( • A meeting of the Hospital Ball Com- ‘ mittee will be hold in the County Council 1 office this evening at half-past seven. s Messrs Wyllie and Mason and Com- , uion, Shelton, and Co. hold a stock sale ] at the Waerenga-a-hik'a yards on Thursday next. . Messrs J. D. Burgess, Frank Patullo, J. C. E. o Price, G. McLean, and A. M. Lewis have been elected members of the Waikohu Road Board. A choice selection of picture mouldings are at present to be seen at Reynolds’ Central Furnishing Emporium. There are upwards of sixty patterns to choose from. The installation of Bro. Robertson as Worshipful Master elect of Turanganui Lodge, took place last evening. There was a very large attendance, and the proceedings were of a most enthusiastic character. A woman applied at the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court for a maintenance order against her husband. She confessed that he had been paying 30s a week, but that was not enough for herself and six children. All the money she had she earned. True, she had bought herself a bicycle for £2l, and another for her daughter, and a third for her son, and she had 70 sovereigns in a box which her hus- ’ band knew nothing about. “ That was no ; reason why I should spend it on him,” was ! her contention. As a matter of fact, she turned him out of bed, bnt denied the imputation that she put him into another 1 with three of the boys. It was not true s that she put all the tea in her pocket so , that he could not have any, but if she did 3 she bought it with her own money. The house was rent free,, and she had bought a ’ £SO piano. “ Then the woman is not destitute,” said the Magistrate, 11 and if i the husband has left her I don’t wonder 1 at it, for God help any man that had to 3 live with her. The case is absolutely pre- . posterous. It is only necessary to look at f this woman’s demeanour in the witness- . box. She’d kill a man in a month, I should think.” No order was made. } f Consternation was caused at Bairnsdale e (Australia) recently when it was found r that the water supply of the town was _ quite salt. The bad weather experienced had caused a more or less heavy inflow , of water from the sea into the lakes, with a consequent invasion of the river beds 1 by salt water from the lakes. The other e day the salt water was forced up the r stream some distance beyond the pumpo ing - station at Bairnsdale. The supply o reservoir became full of salt water before the engineer noticed the change, r and all the water in the town was as salt as the sea. The situation was very grave, and, according to latest newspapers to ’ hand, the only hope of averting a water 3 famine rested in the possibility of a heavy 8 rainfall. About three years ago fears - were entertained that the water supply in f the town would become polluted, and a r commencement was made with the erectl tion of a dam across the stream at a point j where it is narrow and walled with high _ banks below the waterworks. On that occasion a heavy freshet obviated the r necessity for such a step. This year the Y inrush of salt water- was so sudden and 1 unexpected that there was no intimation i- of its presence until it was found in the supply pipes.