SUPREME COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 233, 2 October 1877, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

[Before His Honor the Chief Justice.] THIS DAY. Larceny. Harry Smith was charged with the larceny of £120 and fifteen chaques, the property of Gilraer Brothers of lleefton. Mr 11. Adams appeared for the prosecution, and Mr Guinness for the prisoner. A jury having beeu empanelled, after twelve had been challenged, Mr Adams opened the case for the prosecution, saying that prisoner was employed at Gilmer's Hotel, Reefton, where his duty was to attend at night and opeu the bar in the morning. On the night of the Gth of Sept. Samuel Gilnier went to the bar shortly before twelve o'clock, and took the money out of what was called the "daily till," leaving £3 for change, and putting the rest into the " treasury till." Prisoner was present, and saw what he did. Shortly after, Hamilton Gilmer went to bed, prisoner showing him his room, and afterwards giving Samuel Gilmer his candle. Prisoner was the last in the room and then went home as usual to sleep. The first person down in the morning was the cook, and shortly after Samuel Gilmer, who found the door leading into the billiard room open, and also the door from that into the bar. His suspicions being aroused he went to look at the till. The daily till lie found as he had left.it, but the treasury till was missing. He called his brother and then sent for the prisoner, and on his arrival taxed him with taking the money, and asked him to return it and th« cheques. Samuel then went to the police station and Hamilton stopped about the stables. When Samuel returned he went into the bar, and as he entered he saw prisoner come hurriedly out of the billiard room into the bar and commence sweeping up. Nothing was eaid b}' either of them. Samuel Gilmer then went into the billiard room and there found the missing till with the cheques iu it, but no money. Gilmer then weut to the prisoner and told him what he had found, and had some conversation with him about returning the money. Mr Adams then called the following witnesses : — Charles Neville, a sergeant in the Armed Constabulary, produced a plan of the hotel apd the till. gamuei Gilmer: I am an hotel keeper at llcef ton. Prisoner was in ray employ as a generally useful umu, but bad nothiug particular to do. He was in the bar from 630 till 10 a.m., worked about afterwards for a time, then went home, and had to return at 5-3Q, and had to work about at night. Qn the night of the 6th Septe nber I told him to lock up. I took the money out of the daily till and put it into the treasury till, whieh I locked, putting the keys in my pocket. There were six £10 notes, four £5 notes, ten to twenty £1 notes, fiye half sovereigns, some silver, and 15 cheques to the amount of £170. Next morniug I went down shortly after six o'clock, and looked for the key of the bar on the billiard table, turning the cover over. Not findlug the key L went to the door and found it unlocked. { then went to the till, and found it and its contents gone, the daily till being as I left it. The second cook was down before me, but no one else that I knew off. I searched the bar and the billiard room, but could see nothiug of the till. 1 also examined the little parlor at the back of the billiard room. I then went and called ray brother Hamilton, and told him and Mr Dawsou that we had been robbed. Prisoner was generally about befora me, but that morning he was not, and I had to send for him. When he arrived my brother aud I called him into the parlor, and told him we had been robbed, and that the till had beeu carried bodily away, aud that we suspacted him. I spoke very quietly to him, and reasoned with him. He stood motionless for some time, and then asked why we suspected him. I said from his being there late, knowing where the key was kept, and no one else having access to the bar but him. I asked him tu return the cheques and keep the cash. I asked him to consider his wife and family, and said that he might remain in my employ a week, and nothing should be said about it. He said he could not return what he had not. My brother and I then weut out, leaving the prisoner in the bar. I returned in about a quarter of an hour from the police camp, met by brother at the stables, aud we weut into the hotel together. I saw prisoner coming out of the billiard room into the bar in a great hurry, I went into the billiard room, and the first thing that caught my eye was the till on the corner of the table. I looked into it, and found the cheques and

the bank book, but no money. I could not identify any of the money. One of the £5 notes was a little bit torn. I theu called prisoner,, and asked him if he had seen the till there. He said No, and I was more convinced than ever that he was the thief, and told him if he would return the cash I woald say nothing more about it. He muttered something, but I did not hear what. When I found the till it was unlocked. I then returned it to its place. I then took prisoner into tha back room, and said Sergt. Neville would be there in a few minutes, and advised him to give up the cash. The Sergeant then came, and I left the two together. In a few minutes the Sergeant went to Smith's house and searched it. I went with him, and on my return met prisoner, who aaid he would leave as it was not pleasaut to remain where he was accused of stealing. I told him thero was some things to settle up first, and asked mm to come back. There were some lottery tickets he had to dispose of. He went back and handed me over £24 for that number of tickets, and 36 unsold ones. I gave him a receipt for the money which was in four £5 notes, and four £1 notes. One of them was a little torn just like that which I had noticed in the till on the previous night. Since I went to Iteefton I had been in the habit of keeping large sums of money in the till for the convenience of customers who might want cheques cashed. Sometimes I would take the cash upstairs, and sometimes left it in the bar. Cross-examined by Mr Guinness: I have known the prisoner about two years. That was the first time I took any notice of him, I might have seen him bafore. I did not kuow him in Greymouth. He has always borne a good character so far as I know. He kept our books. I did not look upon him as manager. He usually gave out the stores for the use of the house. He used to make out customers' bills, and receive the cash, and keep all the books. The average daily number of lodgers duriug the week in which the robbery is alleged to have taken place was about 25. I was up a little bit earlier than usual the morning the money was missing. I got up earlier because there was a gentleman who wanted to go by the coach, which sometimes leaves a few minutes before 8. I have never given prisoner the key of the treasury till. I had not banked since my brother gave over the keys to me on the sth of September. He did not tell me the amount he was handing over to me. I caunot swear that I never took any money out of the treasury till for my own private use. I usually wrote cheques for what I wanted. I can only swear to having put £16 into the treasury till from the time my brother left to the time of the robbery. I feel certain [ put more in but how much I can't say. I did not count the money in the treasury till the night of the robbery. I must have couuted it some time during the day to know what amount thore was. I had suspicions against Smith previously. On the night of the stli we were very busy in the bar from 7 until 12. I was supposed to count the money at 12, but I did not until a quarter past. I theu counted and only found £7 6s 6d. I thougnt the takings ware very small. The next night we were not nearly so busy and thero was £9 9s. The cross-examination of this witness, which was most searching and severe, had not concluded when our reporter left the Court at a quarter past three.

The Convocation of the University of London has denied medical degrees to women. Ons of the speakers said the agitation for woman's rights was so turning the heads of women that female servants were ;not to be bad. The grape vine scourge, which has been doing such damage to the vineyards in France and Germany during the last seven years, the thylloxera Va^atrix, has now Unmistakably made its appearanca in the vineyards in California. Those iu the valley of Sonouia are said to be most affected, aud there the bitter bug is spreading rapidly. . A farmer and his wife called at a Detroit photograph gallery to have some photographs taken of th« latter, and while the operator was getting ready, the husband gave the wife a little advice as to how she must act. "Fasten your mind on something," he said '• or elae you will laugh and spile the job. Think about your early days— how your father got in gaol, and your mother was aa old scolder, and what you'd have bees if I liad'na pitied you. J ust fasten your mind on to that!" She didn't have any photographs taken. Truth says that at one West find Club, in London, the stakes played for at cards ara ao high that in one week £45,000 passed through the hands of the official, who is the "Clearing house" of the establishment. At this Club settlements are mada once a week. The following instance of Celestial probity, mentionad by the Tuapeka Times, is worth recording :— A neighboring runholder paid off hig Chineaa cook, and in doing so gave " John " £6 more than he was entitled to. The Chinaman reappeared at the station in a few days, and, much to his late employer's surprise, handed back the £6, saying " toomuchee." A Chinaman who is not only a first-class cook, but honest, muifc indeed be a jewel in an establishment. .The Post of Thursday aays :— There was great excitement this morning on the arrival of the Hawea from the South, it being known that the mail brought the news of the longlooked.for allotment of shares in the new Union Insurance Comyany. Accordingly, long before there was a possibility of the mail beiug sorted, the Post Office was besieged by a dense crowd of eager and excited applicants. During the brief interval occupied in sorting tbe letters, the suspense of the waiting throng became harrowing ia its intensity, some almost weeping with hysterical anxiety, and all realising the truth of the saying that " hope deferred maketh the heart sick," and obviously hating one another for the unavoidable delay. At length the " supreme iiiitant*' arrived, and the letters were delivered! The change in every couutenauce on tho opening of the magic envelopes was rerily wondrous in its suddenness and diversity. Nor "was this surprising, for the allotment was so exceedingly eccentric and apparently capricious as to suggest that it must have been regulated by shaking them together in a hat, or by some equally fortuitous method. One man applied for 250 and got them, another applied for 200 and got none, another for 500 and got 50, and so forth, quite irrespective of the position or means of the applicants. Three partners, of equal standing each, applying separately for 50, one got 25, another 20. and the third 10. The expressions on the various faces were so rich in diversity, that we could not help regretting we did not keep an artist on our staff, and that the Post was not an illustrated paper. Spanish bull-baiting is too cruel for AngloSaxon tastes, but sensitive ladies iu Eaglaad and America have found a parallel excitement. The papers Bay that during the last few hours of Miss Marshall's liio-mila benefit walk at New Bedford she suffered terribly. " At times she would hold both hands above her head as if in extreme agony, and many ladies in the audience shed tears of pity." The committee begged her to atop, but when it was announced that she ineaut to continue, the large audience applauded enthusiastically, gpurriug on the fainting woman, who could hardly stand alone, and was almost carried around the track by men who held her up and hurried her on, while they f anued her and showered her with perfumery, and the band played « The Girl I Left Behind Me." If the woman had been a horse how pious New Bedford would hare howled ! Since, the old-fashioned modes of robbery by highwaymen aud garottera have given place to the scientific burglaries of modern days (writes an American paper), a demand has been created for thieves' implements, made with all the improvements obtainable by the means of our .advanced mechanical science and increased general facilities. This demand has not been unheeded by their large and influential class of people who are always ready to turn an opportune penny, be it honestly or otherwise, and the burglars of our time and country can boast of having as . perfectly-finished tools as any - reputable workmen. The largest manufactories of burglars' tools ara in New York, Philadelpnia, and the West, aud the men who are engaged in the business are frequently of a class who would never contemplate any direct deed, of crime. The tools ara made partly in one place and partly in another, no maker ever turning out a complete instrument for faar of discovery and consequent trouble. A Complete set of tools number forty pieces and is worth from 260 dollars to 400 dollars' •o that the manufacturers carry on a paying business. It is very difficult to secure a conviction of makers for lack of direct evidence and even when one i3 caught the punishment inflicted is not commensurate with the offence. A veteran aud highly-distinguished officer, who served m all the great wars of thecenfcury thm writes to the United Service Gazette on torpedoes :—< Torpedoes are the most cowardly and dishonourable weapons that ever were invented, and their use ought to be execrated and prevented by the general consent of all civilised nations. It we must go to war, fair fijhting ought to be the universal motto. Such wholesale murder iu war as blowing up a whole crew with a torpedo was never heard of in fair fightiig, and we Christians ought to try aud put down such murderous practices. It is murder e nofc war," — Hampikiia Telegraph.

The members of the House of Commons in favor of an official report of their speeches hardly seemed to know precisely what they wanted. Their plea was that there ought to a record of the precise utterance of each member; but, my poor friends, are you aware that if your speeches were reported verbatim, t'ae greater number of you would pass for persons incapable of stringing half a dozen words together gramatically? Your nominatives, your verb3, and your accusatives are sadly intermingled. Your iterations are painful; your phrases are mere disjecta membra. You complained of the newspaper reports of your speeches, and you may be exceedingly thankful that some newspaper does not retort by giving its readers one morning the ipsissimi vaba in which you had clothed your ideas the previous evening. —Truth. Captain Charles M'Loon, of the ship Genera sunk at Huanillos in thegreat earthquake on the Pacific coast, tells the story of hi3 experiences. Aside from the frightful rumbling noise, his attention was arrested by the extraordinary phenomenon of a shore mountain above being so much agitated that rocks became detached, and rattled down towards tba sea, resembling balls of fire. Furthermore, the water at the anchorage suddenly receded ao that ships in eight fathoms touched bottom. At the same time, it was observed that the ships were swinging round and round and in opposite directions, and the anchor-chains becoming entangled beneath the copper, and the yards and masts interlocking, while the air resounded with the falling spars and crash of bulwarks. Water also came whirling in like a maelstorm,' causing the Geneva to swing round at a rate of 8 or 10 knots an hour in great circles, until she struck against a rock, which tore out part of her bottom. The ship was forced violently in an opposite direction and went down. Captain M'Loon says it seemed to him from the sulphurous or electric appearance of the mountain that a volcano was bursting out of its sides. Kocks were tumbling about with frightful noise, and everything was lighted up. A court-martial ha3 been held ona Turkish lieutenant, who was in command of a boat keeping guard at night on the Danube on the occasion of the blowing up of the gunboat Seifi by the Russian torpedo-boat. The boat's crew have unanimously sworn on the Koran that they all saw the Russian boat approaching, but were forbidden to fire by the lieutenant, for fear the Russian boat would attack them. The men begged to be allowed to fire, or, at least, to be allowed to send up the signal rocket, but this the lieutenant effectually prevented by throwing the rocket overboard. The Russian boat was thus enabled to approach the gunboat unssen and blow her up. The sentence of the court-martial has not yet been aunounced, but there can be little doubt that the malefactor will be shot. Cowardice is very rare among this gallant race of warriors. — Times correrpondent. Poor Lord Faltnoutu, since he won the Derby, ha3 been addressed through every post by correspondents equally unnumbered and unknown, with, the most unheard-of requests all based upou the assumption that having won the great race he must of course be necessarily at a loss to known what to do with his inexhaustible treasure and time. One gentleman has ordered him at once to stand godfather to his son; auother writes to. request that he will at once buy, and forward to a given address, a new bicycle! — Vanity Fair. A strange claim was lately made in the Akaroa Resipent Magistrate's Court by an ex hotel keeper named Shadbolt, well-known in the locality. He sued the licensee of a hotel of which he himself is the owner, and was for mauy years the tenaut, for £100 damages on the ground that the defendant had allowed the plaintiff's son, aged 17, to play at cards iu the house. Judgment was given for defendant. An unluckly youug fellow was out pighuntiug in the Kahahu district when he met with an awkward and singular accident. He carried a spear formed out of a shear blade tied to a pole, and when his dogs put up a pig, in his flurry he presented the wrong end of the instrument. The animal charged him, driving the blade into his thigh, and inflicting a dangerous wound, aud he now lies in a precarious condition in the Titoaru Hospital. A writer in the World says — " I cannot vouch for its truth, neither can I for its novelty, but here is the story I hare been told. It can no doubt be easily verified on application to the tollman :— A certain speculator made a bet that he would pass twenty-five men over Waterloo Bridge without toll beiug taken from them 5 and he won. He marshalled his men, and asked the tollman in a nonchalaut way to count them. Directly the last man had passed the turnstile, and all were walking briskly away, the ingenious gentleman entered into an amicable dispute as the number that had really passed. •Twenty-five,' quoth the tollman. ' I vow it was twenty-seven,' said the other. So it went on for some time till the men were out of sight, when the speculator paid his half penny and aaid, « Well, after all, it is uo concern of mine. Gooduiorning,' " A dramatic cotrespondent writes that " Our Boys " was played for the SuOth time at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, on the 19th July. When the thousandth night is reached the lessees of the theatre intend to give a magnificent banquet in celebration of the unparalleled career of this excellent comedy. " Other People's Children," by John Habberton, author of "Helen's Babies," furnishes says a Loudon contemporary, one of the greatest instances of rapid printiug and publishing of which we are aware. Messrs lloutledge and Sons received the copy of this new work at 1 o'clock on Whit Tuesday, and on the Friday following the book was reprinted, bound, aud no less that 4000 copies sold. The story, wnich is a sequel to 'Helen's Babias," takeß up the thread of the tale after Uncle Harry's marriage to Miss Mayton. There having been a good deal of democratic talk lately concerning working men ascondidates for the Chambers the Revue -Inecdotique reminds ua

that Alexandra Dumas pere ia 1848 issued the following address to fche free and independent electors of the Seine: —"To Working Men,—l staud as a candidate, and demand your suffrages. These are my titles: Without counting six years of education, four years at the law, and seven in an office, I have worked for 20 years 10 hours a day • that is to say, 73,000 hours. During these 20 years I have composed 400 volumes and 35 plays. The 400 volumes published at 4000 copies, and sold at sf. each, or 11,853,000f. produced—for the compositors, 264,000f.; tor the pressman, 528 00of. ; for papermakers, 683,000f,; to commissioners, 1,600,000f, ;to carriess, lOO.OOOf. ; to reading-rooms, 4,500,000f. ; to artists, 28,000f. Fixing the daily salary at 3f., as there are. 300 woiking days in the year, my books have given during 20 years this salary to 692 persons. The 35 plays each performed 100 times, produced one with the other, 6,368,000f. —To the directors, 1,250,000f. ; to decorators, 210,000f..; -to dressmakers, 149,000f.; to proprietors of theatres, 700,OOOf.; to musicians, 157,000f ;to the hospitals (tax), 630,000f.; to billstickers, 80,000f. ; to supers, 350,000f.; to firemen, 70,000f. j to tailors, 50,000f.; &c. My plays have kept 347 for 10 years in Paris, and 1041 persons in the Provices, without counting cabman, &c. Plays, books, &c, have furnished work to 2260 persons. Belgian forgers and and foreign translators are not included, j —Alexandre Dumas." The above was written in 1848, Alexandra Dumas did not die till 1870, in which year he prepared his book on ..cooking, which is full of menus, anecdotes, and recipes for the making of dishes from the panther cutlet to the " lapin gaulois " (sic) or Welsh " rabbit." Tub news of the cruel slaughter of Christians which reaches us daily is assuredly most heartrending, and the wholesale butchery of the uufortunate Bulgarians calls for the sympathy of every kindly heart, but so also should every well-wisher sympathise with the sick, suffering, and dying of our own community. How many are the miseries and wretchednesses through a neglect of ourselves which are constantly beiag witnessed and experienced, and which could have been averted by the timely aid of the Medicinal Art, and if those who hare been benefitted by the use of Ghollah's Great Indian Cukes would recommend them to others who are suffering the tortures and miseries of Rheumatism, Rheumatic Gout, Liver Complaints, Biliousness, Sick Headaches, Gout, &c. in the like manner to testimonials so frequently published by the Proprietor, and one of which is now appended, an amount of kindness and sympathy would be exerted to influence the poor sufferers to use these Indian Medicines for the restoration of their health, and the saving of many a valuable life for the benefit of mankind generally, but more particularly for the immediate family circle —