Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 159, 3 July 1878, Page 2

Referring to the death of a footballplayer who, while " dribbling" a ball, was fatally injured through collision with an opponent, tha London Telegraph gives the summing up of Lord Justice Bramweil on the case which came before him through a coroner's jury having returned a verdict of manslaughter against one of the players, and then goes on to say :— " The game," Lord Justice Bramweil added, " must be, under any circumstances, a rough one; but he himself, speaking as a Judge, was unwilling to decry the manly sports of this country* all of which must inevitably be attended with more or less danger. Guided by an exposition of the law so lucid and conclusive, the jury, after a •hort deliberation, found the prisoner not guilty, on the ground, we can only presume, that the whole thing was an unhappv misadventure, and that Bradshaw, although he had played violentlp, had not been actuated by any malice or guilty of any undue recklessness. They coupled their finding, however, with a suggestion that, in their opinion, the laws of football ought to be altered, and they invited the learned judge to make some sort of recommendation to* that effiect. On this point we feel it only due to Lord Justice Bramweil to give what he said in his own word3. " I do not know, gentlemen," he observed "I hardly think I am the person from whom such a recommendation should come. I have never played football, and am not now likely to do so. At the same time, I must say that I think it would be as well even for young men to try to make these accidents as little likely to occur as possible." A London company, called the Sun AntiPneumatic Company, have invented a lamp which makes its own gas, and bums at leas then one farthing per hour. It gives a light equal to twenty candies. Such lamps would be vary us«ful in the Colonies, and some of our ironmongers might introduce them.

The Victorian police authorities hare been instructed that they are not iu future to make known to the Bench previous convictions against prisoners until after their guilt haa been decided upon. ,

It was mentioned a short time ago that there vras in Hawkes Bay a laboring man, named Marskeli, who bore au unfortunately close resemblance to the murderer Sullivan. His employer dismissed him on this ground, and he and his family were refused lodgings. It was proved by the police that he was not the murderer, and yet it would seam that the community have set their faces against him, and refuse him employment. A more unmerited wrong has seldom been inflicted, and we must say that the occurrence ia anything but creditable to the people amongst whom it took place. The Telegraph of a late date says on the subject : —We are requested to make another appeal to the charity of the public. The unfortunate man William Marskeli, who was mistaken for murderer Sullivan, is, with his wife and two children, in destitute circumstances. He is unable to obtain employment and it is thought that if he and his family could be assisted to reach Australia he he would be enabled to earn a living. Subscriptions for this object will be received at the office of this paper. A remarkable, case of usury has been brought to light ia the Resident Magistrate's Court in Dunedia, where .Henry Benjamin, a money lender, sued Abraham Solonaan, a

pawnbroker,!for £5 for the wrongf al detention of a piano. The plaintiff's case was tbafc he had advanced to Mrs. Thomson, a widow, a sum of money, she giving him in consideration thereof a bill-of-sale over her furniture. Subsequently plaintiff discovered that Mrs. Thomson had disposed of most of her furniture, and that the piano in particular had been pawned with defendant. Plaintiff endeavored to get the paino from defendant but the latter refused to give it up. Defendants counsel said the defence would show up the manner in which one at least of the monsy-lending establishments in the city carried on business The plaintiff had been chargisg Mrs Thomson at the rate of 1200 per cent for money, not one shilling of which she ever touched. Henry Benjamin, plaintiff, deposed:—" I am the company advertising in the newspapers as money lenders, on the most reasonable terms in New Zealand." Some months ago Mrs Thomson called and told me that she had two bailiffs in the bouse, one for rent and one for money she owed Mr Moss tinder a bill-of-sale. She wished to borrow some money to pay these off. She wanted £60 to clear Moss, and there were in addition rent, law expenses, and my legal expenses, which latter were heavy, for the 1 lawyers always charged 500 to 600 percent on the money involved iu any transactions. They always got nearly all the money, and that was why money-lenders had to charge so high. The legal charge for a bill of sale was about £5. I paid Moss £71 6s 6d, and there is a claim of £5 5a for preparing a bill of sale. I have not paid that sum, but am liable for it. My lawyer charged me £2 18s for this. The amount I actually paid altogether is £84 odd. The bill of sale says, " Lent and advanced to Mrs Thomson £120." I have riot that sum; the actual sum advanced being £84. I cannot calculate what ia the rate of interest at 9s 4d per week on £5. I decline to answer." His Worship— "If you engage in business of that kind you must stand the risk of having ifc exposed to the pnblie whenever the opportunity offers." Witness—" Well, it is about 5000 per cent." Counsel—" And I suppose that accords with your advertisement ! Mrs Thomson, in her evidence, said that when she went to negotiate the loan she was toid 10 per cent would be charged. £70 was what she asked for. She signed the bill of sale without getting anything, and when she asked for money, which she did on several occasions, Mr Benjamin said she would get^it after the expenses had been paid. She asked plaintiff's clerk to read over the bill of sale to her, but he declined, saying he was too busy. Plaintiff's bailiffs sold things not included in the bill of sale, even to her children's presents. Mr Bathgate held that the piano rested in the plaintiff by the bill of sale, and that he was entitled to recover ifc. The case was a hard and distressing one, and he had no sympathy with the plaintiff. Judgment was given for one shilling, with the lowest possible costs.

A fund, the subscriptions to which do not exceed sixpence, in Sydney, has been started for the purpose of presenting Thomas Pearce with a testimonial in recognition of his gallantry in saving the life of Miss Carmichaol.

As our Australian telegrams give very encouraging accounts of the success of some of the recent New Guinea expeditions, it ia only right to give the following telegram, showing the other side of the case, so far as another of the expeditions is concerned. The telegram is dated Brisbane, Saturday, and it as follows: — " Distressing news has arrived about the Sydney colonist expedition. After forming a camp at Laloke, it proceeded up to the west-ern-moat branch of the river. The thickness of the scrub compelled them to keep to the river-bed. Floods came and put a stop to prospecting, which resulted in prospects obtained being no better than those obtained by Goldie's party. O n return to the main camp, the whole party was seized with fever, twenty-two being down with illness at one time, one supposed to be dying. The men from Cooktown are without means, being supported by the natives." — Post.