THURSDAY, 13TH SEPTEMBER.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 6, 14 September 1877, Page 2

THURS DAY, 13TH SEPTEMBER.

TH-JESDAB, J ohn Dawsou-T -"aside in "Kf-fton. Ire collect. Friday 7th Septen.oer: 1 -a» __r «. Gilmer on that day *- in iao m.ru*ng a. cutsix or ..wen he called me and *•• i: tv :* . wa. robbed; later in lhe rin-, :*. l* o'clock I Was in a parlor off tue bar: .. Gilmer showed me some £5 notes, i - ~ it was some of the money takeu ou' .. his till on the night before - T they were Ni.vw.al

Innnswor to the usual question from tho accused made tho following stato- ■ meat !>—•'■ I havo a good dealfto say, but tho less I *ay and that to tho poiut, the better. v~Traußt go back to tho day boforo tho robbery. 7 On thp night previous to the occurrence Mr m'^kl'Gtiia^x I , l^ S. Oilmerand myself w-re tho tr "asfc'xtown stairs* ; they were both iii the p.r- ----& '"Id.&nd'-irt there was nobody about the bar, I ioined thetnj we were convoking together - '*Tor a'YeW' minutes aid Sam G-ilmor iheir said to mo ."'Harry, go and lock up tho bar atid go *_o__fc'}'-"'i: wont and locked the door leading ' into the bar, put tho key in its unual place, - * under the cloth on the billiard table, and returned to them immediately. Hamilton Oilf): liner then' Bifid " I think i'll go tb bad, which is my room." I said I would go up ahd nliow / > him-. I had arranged that Mr H .'Gilmpr unto sleep in the same room, with Mr Uoid. When wo got to the top of the ptnirs ho asked me which room Sam was going to steepiu. I told him in iho same room with Mr.Muuro, but that tho latter was uot yot in. He said let Sam tako that bed, I will take j the one with Mr Reid. I then went round i ' the rooms to see that the lights, were nil out, and brought tho only remaining candleottck down with me. At tho foot, of tho . ..Hairs, I met Sam G-ilmer and told him hi- brother had taken tho room he was to go in'o, and he started to go upstairß. I told him I had. tho only candlestick in my hand, and told him to take it. I lit a small peioe of candle and put ■■ it in my lantern. Ho went upstair?, and I went down the passage out the back way home, and wont to bed immediately. About ten minutes or a quarter to seven. I was aroused from my sleep by someone calling me.' I got up and came down the usun. way to tbo hotel ; when about abreast of Fin lay's shbp — thirty yards from the hotel, I "aw Snm Gilmer at tbe door. He beckoned mo to go into tho parlor. He said, '• Hand up ihat • till,"-' I asied what till. He said *«* You know vory well what till, it has been robbed, and it was you that did it." I was quito confounded at that. Hamilton G-ilmer was in the room when I went in, and while Sam was spanking ' to me, Hamilton was standing looking nt mo straight in tho face. Aft*r Sam saying, " li. was you took it.;" I said" How can you blame me;" he said he was positive it was me, I was the last in the bouse and knew the run of it so well ; " None else could do it ;" ho ' said "Hand over the money, and we will .till let you remain in oar employ as usual for a ' yveok or two and thon slide away, and there would be no more about it/ and that I had a •wife and family; I'said "'How is it, possible I ■'' can hand. up a thing'l have hover had!" Sam • then said well we will see about that, and ,wo wetfe both about to leave,' l cilled them back, and said after making such an accusation as that, they had better send someone into the bar or look after it themselves, that I could not think of staying there until the affair hid been investigated ; Sam them told tae to go on with my work that he still considered moi in theia employ j they then both went away, and I started to work; about quarter of an hour after they both returned ; I saw them both coming up the street, and made it ,i*,poinß to D_ behind the bar doing my work,/wheu tbey came in the front door ; wh«n they entered I was wiping the counter down ; they both entered together; Hamilton went into the j dining room, and Sam went into tho billiard / -room. Sam came out immediately tome with •the till in his band ; he said, " Thera I have . gofc-.the cheques, and I am more confident then eyerthat you are the party that took them ; , lie then went away with the tiif in his haad for a minute and returned, and replaced the , Jill in, its old place ; I remarked that he could .not put it in its place until ho took the key out of his pocket, anl have the bolt dtawn ; Seeing tho lock in that state, I said the till mtist'.havo been prized out of its place ; I ' strif.it a match to see if a chissel had been tisod; about this time fcli6 coach cameup,/ihd I had something to do ; after the coach ..left Sam called me into the back parlor- Tf wont <- and he'Daid " It is no v c- humbugging liund . i . up this mohey, Neville will be here in ai • Or two';" I said T ; wonder../ lie "had not been fetched before, and I believed Ui.it when he did come and investigate the matter thoroughly, that he would find that it was a Kumara, touch, fer^eant Neville came in just about that time; ho took out hi*- pocket book and questioned me and mado no'ea; It was more a conversation that we had as to how the **obbery could have beon committed ; I told him for my own sake, I would a33i_fc him all I could to} clear up the ma!t*r ; Soon'after Sam came into the room, and I askfld if the Sergeant had done anything ; he silid '" There is nobody in the har sou 'had better- go oat ;" sometime after the Sergeant came to me, and asked if I would mind Im going down to my cottage to look through ; I said no ; I gave him tho koy and told him he could saareh it himself; sometime after' a man came in for a drink,*and told me that the - Sergeant and Gilmer's groom were in my ... cot- . .ago' looking over it -, I felt vexed that thove ' -waspthei'S besides thp Sergeant there, and; re- '•■ solved to go down myself and, see what- thoy "■' wei-e .doing:; I started to go down, and on the i'^rbad^ineV Snm -G-ilmer ;he said "-'Where aro „ you off to Harry ;" I said I was sorry that ', I, had given the Sergeant the key as 1 did/not ' ikniiw* his groom was going down or I certainly. ' tainly. should not havo given it. He said " Sergeant Neville will not run away with • anything from your placo or .break anything, eilf He' does I Will be answerable for it, 'l ' s told him that I did not think Serjeant ■ Neville would, but that fibre wore things in a mans private house which ho did not wish every man bo go and see ; I wa- leaving to go down when he called ma baok and said "There, are some little matters here that . want colaring up before you go away ;" thinking. perhaps that it might be some other charge that he had against me I went back with him ; on the way back I asked him what ; he wanted ; lid said .there was several things, binbflgst others Lyneh's sweep money: I tofd him I did not think that had. anything to "dowith him, as I had been keeping tho money all the time, and had sold the tickets in Tonk's sweep, and sent the money down without their having anythiug tit oil to , do with it ■ 'but at any rate, I said, I don't , want the -money : It has been very 1 hantiy, Ihavespemtitand re-spent it,'* and turned it over scores of times since I received it 1 : he said at all erents the firm is responsible for it, arfd ' said if I wou'd givo it he would givo me a receipt: when we got to the hotel I gavohim the blocks of tho book.: wo counted them, and found there wns twenty.four sold, and ho "" wrote out a receipt i'ur that number and handed it tome, asking me if that would do: I told him that as the firm was taking the cash, he had ! be'fcter give me a receipt for the thirfcy»fivo unsold : he did co •. 1 then took my purse out of my pocket, and counted twenty. four pounds from eixtyfive pounds that I had, leaving two fives und a one in my pur3e: I ■ counted it out before him : 1 then called his atteution to a work oox which is to bo raffled, and which 1 hold the money for: 1 said while we were squaring ono thing we might as well square the lot : he said that was Dawson's affair, and 1. could give bim tho money : 1 then left ana went down to ny cottage to sco what thoy were doing, aiid found Sergeant Neville aud Gilmers groom seai-eliing : 1 was angry to see the groom there, aud tho Sergeant said lie had boon sent there to him : Ido nr-'t tluliK 1 can o^y any more: 1 will swear that 1 never saw the till between •.tiia' tithes that M> Gilmer cour.tcd the mouey until he showed it to mo iv tho morning : whon 3am Gilmor sw-n*. that he bww me ra.hirig out of the billiard room, he told

a deliberate falsehood, aad his brother contradicts, and 1 tell him to his face * his evidence from oncl to ond is totally unreliable.o notes 5 I looked at thorn in his hands ; I a9lccd him whether he had any marks on them or knew the numbers j ho said no, but he knew by tho wa*- they were folded ; I did not notico a cut or a tear on any one of the notes ; ho did not refer to a cut or a tear ; I did not notice them to sco if there waa any tear upou them -, on tlie c imo day ho said if I would go to Smith's cottage I would see certain things belonging to the bouse ; accused has beeu with rae two years ; knew him* 12 months previously ; I consider him thoroughly trust worthy ; when I carried on the house the koy ot tho bar door was kept under the mat nt the bottom of tho stairs ; S:*ii'h knew where tbo key was kept; I havo heard of others Having known ; I always j, bolted the downstairs door before I went to bed ; I dare say there aro plenty of keys in tho house that will open the bar door ; I lave heard persons going into the bar when i I havo been ja bsd ; never knew of any other j koy opening tho bar door ; the locks are ordinary ones, and on the outside of the door 3. CrosS'-cxamlned— l stay in the hotel ; I wbb about tho house on the evening of the robbery ; when I went to bed both G-ilmer's were in the parlor; I went to bed about 1 o'clock 5 Harry was knocking about as usual ; I did not get up until Sor 9 o'clock ; when I came down S*mlk»was in the bar ; when Gilmer shon-e;! mo the money, he told me he got it from Smith ; am on friendly term 3 with Mr Gilmer ; have not been in the habit of attributing the robbery of tbo money to .am Gilmer I have uot during the last fortnight been trying to do ray very best aga'tiat G-ilmoi-'s interest; never in ray life endeavoured to induco Gilmer's servants to leave them ; it is not true that I endeavoured to repurchase Ihe property ; ono of tho brothers 113 ked me to make an offer to the oLhsr. By tho Bench—There seomo to bo a vast fieri, -inforted into the case which is totally irrevelan''. Examination continued — After going -to bed finally I did not go down stairs uutil morning. Re-examined— lf Mr G-ilmer swore that ho did noVehovv mo any notes I would not believe nny statements of his on his oath, - Jsy tho Court— Have heard Mr G-ilmer give evidence on oath on a former occasion, but I decline to say whether I bohove him on hi") oath. His "Worship said the witness may havo some special reason for disbelieving Gilmer on thi.** occasion, bu<- it did not follow that this fi.od the imputation that a mau was a perjuver, by goner il repute. By the Uench — I decline to say whether I would or would not believe Mr G-ilmer on his oath ; 1 think ho ha 3 a general looseness in the statements ho makes, and therefore in my opinion, bocomes an untrustworthy witjicsa, ond 1 judge this by his misstatement of facts withiu ray own knowledge ; I was in tho babifc of locking up the bar door when I Wits in the house ; never left money in the bar at night with the exception of somo silver ; accused had the custody at times of as much ao £200 or £300 of money while I was in the house ; ofton gave him the key of the tron* sury to cash cheques; when Gilmer showsd mo the notes ho said that he recognised them by th- folds ; when he called me in tho morn ing it was ]ad about daylight. Louis Davies— "Recollect Friday 7th instant Sam Gilmer told me ho had been robbed of about J>iSo : ho said that he always took the civ-h upstairs', but ho had left it dowu on that night, nnd that it was the first time ho had done so. Ho said he had locked the till up, and that it was difficult to lock and unlock. Mr Mirfin was present ;, know that in Mr Dawson's time 1 1 could get into the bar, and if the key is kept I m thesa-neplace'couldget in now : havo seen the door leading-from the billiard -room to the bir unlocked wiih a, key belonging; to another .pert-on-: per-ons can enter the bi ckof the premises at all hours of the night : have got in the back why : . recollect borrowing £1 from the barmaid, Miss O'Keefe, on the day before ihe robbery *. the money wa* takon out ofthe till. By the Court — Did not pay the £1 back, and suppose it has been entered to my account. Robert Gilmer — I wa* managing the business at Reefton : I reoollpct giving Smith a cheque for £21/ in exchange for ono which he had cashed : that was a few days before the robbery : recollect some conversation with Smith about money boforo I loft for G-rey-moiath : he said ho did not want any money, I think he hod some ticket money ; I produce a dry book, it con bains an on try of £1 a Ivaire I to Mr Oavis ; it is in Smith's handwriting. Before I left for Greyrr.ouLh I paid Smith £8 ca3h and a chequo for £L, and told him to keep it for wages: ho would then have £.9 in his possession or more ; I loft for Greymouth on the day bqfor. the robbery : the bar takings on tho night of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, wove £8, £7 6d 6d, £9, and on the followiug days £5 and £8Sarah Jane Webb— Until lately 1 have been in tbe omploy of Gilmer 8r03.,: Smith's usual time to come to the hotel is about 7or a few minutes before : havo opened the bar and served drinks in the morning : know whore the key of tha bar is generally kept, but cannot say whether anybody ciso knew : was not afc the hotel on the morning of the robbery ! I looked upon ..-nithus manager of tbe house next to Mr Gilmer. By tho Court — Have been a fortnight away from the- house: was 10 months in tho house JheforeMr Cj-ilmei* took it: was 10 weeks jn Mr G-ilmei. employ : on two occasions in Gil** mors timo opened tho bar and served drinks : got tho key on tho billiard table on the end nem-ost the bar : fir.t looked under the mat, and not flu-ling it there looked' on the billiard iablo : lho'i'*at it wjold bo about somewhere : served the drinks to oblige cus tomers : did not tell the G-ilmer- that I had opened tho bar after roi ving the drinks : locked up the bar and put tho key back : was not an understood thing that all tho servants knew whore the key was kept : think Fama know where the key was kept, hut never saw him 'taW tho key from there, .By the Bench'— Mr Dawson never told me to loave Gilmorg omploy: the money 1 received from tho Customers 1 put in the till : 1 did not think it necessary to tell anybody of it. William M'Lean — I recollect a conversation on tho night of tho robbery with Mr G-ilmei' in Mr Hankins presence : 1 went into tho bar of the hotel and the conversation turned udoo Smith and bis arre3t : 1 asked him if ho had any evidence against him : he replied that there was plenty of proof, and that Smith had givon up a chequo of mine for £56. By tho Court— l have relatod to the Court the impression loft on my mind by what Mr Gilmer said : t reported the conversation to Mr Dawson directly after, and ho said he did not believo : 1 am quite posiuve that Gilmer said Smifh had given up the cheque : nothing was said about the till. The Court then adjourned .ill .cmorrow [To-day.]