RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 244, 14 October 1874, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

[Before Lowther Broad, Esq., R M.] Yesterday. Harper v. Oaket This was an action of detinue, claiming the return of a piano or- ita valoe. Mr Fj__.l appeared for the plaintiff, and. Mr Pitt for the defendant. It appeared from the evidence for the plaintiff that Mrs Harper, who has been lately living apart from her husband under a deed of separation, agreed with Mr Oakey to buy a piano from him at the price of £70, Mr Oakey taking a piano belonging to the pl.intiff, and lent by him to Mrs H_rper,at £40, the balance to be paid in cash. On the delivery of the new piano Mrs Harper did not like it, and . had several conversations with the defendant and his wife on tlie subject, in one of which Mrs Harper said the delendant had agreed to take it back and return her piano, which however was denied by Mr Oakey. The defendant was ignorant that Mr and Mrs Harper were separated. As soon as Mr Harper became aware of the transaction he repudiated it entirely, and brought the action. Mr Fell, contended on the authority of the leading cases on the subject, that Mrs Harper had no right whatever to deal with her husband's property as ehe had done. Mr Pitt denied any agreement to return, and argaed that the dealing was one which Mrs Harper could make, and further that, as Mr Harper had not at once returned Mr Oikey s piano, he had assented to the contract. The Magistrate ruled that Mrs Uarper had no authority, express or implied, and that Mr Harper had at once repudiated the contact. He therefore ordered the piano to be returned forthwith, or its value, £58, to be paid by defendant to plaintiff, with costs, £5. This Day. Kntvett v. O'Conor. His Worship delivered judgment in this case this morning aa follows : — In deciding this case, ; I propose to state first, the facts as I find them proved, and then the conclusions of law to be drawn therefrom. I; The Government have two forms' for use in payment of claims within the goldfields boundaries— one a certificate, the other a voucher or receipt form. 2. That these certificate forms are distributed freely and indiscriminately for general use. 3. That these certificates are signed by an officer of the Government and are given, or sent, to the person who has performed the work. 4. That these certificates purport to certify that a particular individual has performed work of a certain value, and that the expenditure was necessary for the public service. They appear to me to be in effect such documents as an architect gives to a contractor during the progress, or on completion, ofthe works. 5. That the claimant either takes or sends this certificate to the Provincial Treasury, and the Government, if satisfied with the justice of the claim, order it to be paid. The auditor then attaches his auihority, and the Superintendent hia warrant. A voucher form is then prepared, which the claimant signs on receiyingthemoney,givingupthe "certific te" which is attached to the voucher as a record. 6 ; That the document now claimed by the plaintiff from the defendant is a " certificate form " signed by A. Dudley Dobson, Provincial engineer, and certifies that certain work performed by plaintiff was necessary for the public service. 7. That it was sent to plaintiff in ai envelope directed to him, through the Postoffice. 8. That it was the custom of the Government, up to and including the date when this cause of action arose, to return all such certificates to the claimants, whether minuted by aoy member pt the Pfl)tf ucial Government or not, in. alias's where payment ot the claim. was disputed. ' 9. That payment of plaintiff's claim Wis disputed, j 10. That on 6th October plaint ff calle 1 at the Provincial Treasury with the certificate and demanded payment. That the ceniflc ite whs examined by defendant and payment refused. That the defendant laid the certificate on the public counter. That plaiiuiff took it up and put it ia hisr-pocket. 11. That defendant subsequently caused the document to be taken from tbe plaintiff's possession into his own 12; That he did so te'ieviripr H to be his duty as .Provincial Treasurer, and in ignonnceof the establisleJ custom of the Government. From the above findings of fact I draw the following conclusions of law. 1. That the document came lawfully into possession, and ia the property of the plaintiff. rri S. That hejhad never parted, nor intended t0 J? 8 "* with his property in it.

■ & That defendant caused it U he removed froiu plaintiff's possession^ and bas wrongfully detained it. 7 4. That the value i_ -one shilling. 5. That the Provincial Lawsuits Act, 1858, does not apply to this case. Order. — Thafc7a warranted- -\i__fie* to thej bailiff of this Court commanding him to' sei_e the specific chattel, and that def< ndant do pay £3 69, costs of these proceedings. The judgment being for less than £5, there is no right of appeal. [Before Hunter Brown and N. Edwards, Esqrs., J.J.P.] Wilkie v. Holder. This was an action in wlrch the plaintiff claimed 1.17, the.' value of certain cattle alleged to have been bought by the defendant from the pla : nti_f. _ . „.„... .-.-., ..,, Mr Pitt appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Fell for the defendant. After a long hearing, the Bench ruled that if the plaintiff h ; Vd any claim above the sum of £B,%hich had>beeri tendered tb hiih; it was against Mr Blower, and not against the defendant. Plaintiff nonsuited -with Co3ts, £5 1 9a.

New York Police. — The police in New York seem to have no great respect for the sovereign citizen. That town, says the Pall Mall Gazette, "ia at present much agitated by differences between « the police and the Ijrtiblic.' The police, it is urged by the fpublic, are far too ready with their clubs and revolvers, and the other day went so far as to break into a house where it was thought that a notorious criminal was concealed, and to shoot an innocent man who did not open the door of his room quick enough to please them. With the- view of ascertaining the opinion of/the police authorities on the subject in dispute, a New York Herald reporter interviewed Commissioner Gardner, president of the Board of Police. It cannot be said that the interview was altogether comfortable. There was moreover an asperity in his observations which showed that he by no means sympathised with the public :.n tbeir^alleged grievances.:} OqT being aslted Whether he considered it .safe to entrust the officers with revolvers and clubs indiscriminately, thus euabling them to kill innocent citizens at any moment, he replied, ' All that sort of argument is very good on paper, but it won't work in practice, Now, the other day a citizen brought a complaint against a policeman, ft appears fhe was walking round a corner and stepped on a policeman's foot. The policeman kicked him. You (addressing the reporter) would be very apt, wouldu't you, to hit a man in the noge who trod on your favorite corn? I dismissed the case.' Mr Gardner went on to say: ' Those who "stand quietly by while they are being blackguarded we don't want. They don't make good policemen. As a general rule you may take it for granted that a policeman who clubs a citizen is right in so doing.' As there was little more to be got .out :of Gardner, the reporter shortly' afterwards took his leave.

If we may judge from a return of the loss in tbe India and China trade during the past . twelve months, the prospects of underwriters must be at a very low ebb. Some other Plinosoil is required to effect a reform in the steam navigation of the ocean. Since June, 1873, the Drummond Castle, from China, has been totally wrecked; the Singapore also; the Arcturus, from Calcutta; the Woolsung, from Calcutta; the Queen Elizabeth, from Canton ; and the Gordon Castle. This .fine fleet of steamers, built on the newest and most approved principles, represents to the country a Ids. of over, a million sterling. The Suggestion has been. thrown out that as the loss hos principally been caused by the carelessness .of captains, they should undergo a stricter examination 1 than they do, and be liable to be punished, beside the forfeiture of their certificates when they lose a vessel in a culpable manner. Also, that the number of inferior officers in the steamer should, in .the interest of underwriters, who otherwiee must increase tho premiums on insurance, be added to.

The Benchers of Gray's Inn decided that Dt* Kenealy was tbe editor of a publication called . the Englishman ; that it was replete with libels of the groesest character ; and that Dr Kenealy being editor, was urjfit to bo a member of this honorable Society. The Times commenting upon this decision, said that it could " only be taken to imply tbat the man Der in which Dr. Kenealy had recently been acting rendered him unfit ,for the company of gentlemen." The paper, it said, had "been devoted to a continuation of the controversy decided by the lute trial, and its whole object hos been t'»: keep alive and inflame the vulgar prejudices, and passions to which Arthur Orton had appealed." The publication of it waa *'a disgraceful exhibition of ignorance and passion." Tbe Times, thinks that the sympathy exhibited for Orton forms one of "the strongest instances ever known of the fact that there is uo delusion, however gross, of which the human mind is not capable. It was a spectaclo of which the country had reason to feel ashamed, and it indicated bow far. the -enlightenment sometimes boasted of was distant."

Subjoined is an item of interest to all Good Templars :— <• John O'Cal.loghan, of Lackandra, npar Glountane, County Clare, died recently, at the advanced age of 107 years,' The deceased belonged to the farming clbsh, and was a hard-working m»n all his lifetime; He' generally went by the name of Shawn Laider. ' Although" not a big man, he was remarkable for strength and activity, and was often victorious at athletic sports;.: He was only nine years a widower, his wife living to tbe age of 94. John

O'Cailagban was a quiet and inoffensive man, never h tt d recourse to law* or differed with his neighbors, was ao honest and patriotic Irishman, and he -was. a total abstainer for 60 years, and held in esteem by all who knew hihi.