RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Friday, June 13. 1851.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 539, 14 June 1851, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Friday, June 13. 1851.

Beforo Thomas 13e<kliam, Etq., Resident Magistrate, Percival Ber ey, L McLiichlan, E- Mayne, and and J. Oiay, Esquires, Justices of ihe Peate. Captain Thomas Ginger, ot the barque Stately I (lately airivtd irom England), appeared to answer the complaint of Frances Barraclufk, one of the female in tnijjiauts by that ve-sel, who charged him with having committed an assault on her on the sth ot Man h last, by forcing a ga» into her mouth am! using violence toward-, her, by which one of her ears was injured. Mr. Abraham appeared<>for the complainant, and Mr. Wuitaki.r (or the defendant.

Fkancls IiARHACLUFF was called, and, huving been sworn, siated that she was a free passenger fiom Eng !und to this colony on board the Slateh/ : her pussage was paid by friends -it home; the vessel tailed from England on* the 29th o) Janu »ry ; Capiain Gmder was he c.iTiini-.ridsr ; theie was a suigeon on board; a matron cilmi, and o hci free female pa^sen^er, l-, whose passage had b- en paid, like her own, by friend? m England ; she bad b en placed under tht pioiec.ion of the matron ; on the stli <>t Match, tit sea, about six o'clock in the evening tin re whb a dihturbmice arse among the females in her cabin concerning water; the captain and frur_e 11 had orrieied the females to have a quprt of wati-r earh allowed them per day, and there wtre four ke^, of wattr, holding nine quarts each, "-ent do mi, a keg lor each mess; complainant asked Mis. Dyer, the sub-mation fur a diop ot walei, which wan idu-ed ; she then took one of the ki'gs to tile other side ol the cabin and drank ml ol it; Mri. Dyer-t<in»j)ed, a d t"K d, and thieatenel to Hfi her up to the y.nd-ai m for so doing ; on account of the distui tiance about the witer the hatchway leading to the fonmlef,' cu'iui wan closid tKw p U; on them; the vessel on tins day had eiot-scd the hnr. »nd tiie heat was, iO great below lint sev.rnl of the weaktr girls (aimed ; the L.dci was f(u-,ul vb-iat tc"i niiMite? ; oik; of tlie »irls threatened to open tin* ports unless the hdtcii was opened; on the ha'ch bein^ opened one of them began to sing " The Gay Cavalier "; complainant then sang (be paiody, "The Gay Coalheaver "; the bun-eon came down and enquired who had been smgv.)y; complainant >aid it was hhe; the surgeon then told the captain, who called the carpenter to tiring a {cag, and g>ig her; the carpemer refu-ed, siymg "he did not know how to gR£ a woman " ; the captain then came down and foicid her head under hid aim, and thtut-t .1 gng it to her coomb, u-mg gieat violence, and tore at) earring out ot her eai while she was tiyini< to disenga.e herself from him ; when he had foiced the gag into her mouth lie tied it behind her head, and earned her half way across the cabin to ta*e her on deck, but ttir other X' r's prevented him t and nnplond him to take the gag out of her mou.b ; the Captain asked might he remove it; the uurgcon told him not to do so, hut the Cap'ain did take it out cOdtiary to the Surgiem's advice; she then fainted and did not jcc'leet what, happened loi scv ral minute's; whin ehe came to heibclf, the other girls «eie all in liysteucs and fi s ; the crew and the passengers had to cotne down to cany them on deck ; the day bad been rainy tln»u!ih >ut ; me gag was of wood, about six or seven liichth lonu ; could not s.iy bow wide it was ; it was not more ihjn live ot sir minutes in her mouth. Cio-s-exan-med by Mi. Whitakgr. —There was a gen'leman named White on boatd the vessel; be casne to ihe Court with complamuut this moniing — Mr Abraham objected to this com»e ol examination, and submitted that Mi. Wuu'AKrß shoaid oonfine his qu'suons to matters that had reference to the act of ass>ult wiih which the Captain was charged ; Mr. WiUTAKkR. aigued that the hue of cross-exicarn-ation he whs puisumg was a regular out ; and after a good deal of argument on both sides, the Bench de- j cided that Mr. Whjtakeb. should proceed. j Cross-examination continued — She had left the " Home" yesterday inoinn^, and sime then had bed) living under Mr, White's piotecaou; bhe had never had an interview wi'li hi in during; the passage; be had never spoken »o her; and hue waa sure hhe hnd not spoken to him, nor had she ever knew of him interfering in anything concerning her during the voyage; the burgeon hud found fault with her several tunes previous to the sth March, because ihe was noisy ;—the giils weie all found fault with, but she thought that she ua 3 ihe worst, she had never sung any improper songs dining the vuya»e Mr, Abraham objected to questions being put relatne to the conduct oi his client ut any other time than mi the day in question. Anything that could be elicited to show piovocation for the act of astault charged against the Captain, at the time it was committed, be tould not object to, but the previous or subsequent couduct of the girl had no right to be connected with that transaction. Mr. Whitakbr wished to »hew, that from the outset of the voyage the conduct of the complainant was such as reDdeied it necebsary for the captuin to resort toextierue measuies to enforce discipline and to pre«erve good otder on board the vessel. The Bencli decided thai Mr. VVhitaker should con fine his qufctiont) to the occuirences of the patticular day on which ihe ulle^ed offenco was committed. Mr. \\ niTAhKU pioceeded —She remembueil the day very well, it Wat. Afch We Inesday, Ihey haiJ crowed the line on tli.it day; it waa a very wt-t day, and the git is weie obliged I<S remain below on account ot the rain; she had been ou deck

during the day at intervals: she had finished sinking when the doctor came down ; she told him that it was she who had been sinking: shs made use of no bad lanuuage that she recollected ; she might have said what *die ought not to have said ; believed the gag was put in hei mouth tor ringing the song; the doctor held one of hpr hinds wln'e she was bein<i gagged; the captain took the g<\ij our of Inn muu h of his own accord, against the wish of the doctor, who said it hid not been in her mouth lull long enough. Ann Whodhousb was examined, and st'ited thai she whs a fiee passenger on board the Stately; she w>s presrnt at a dis'urhiince on the sth of March, and was sitting bpside Miss Barracluff, who san? a cong called the •'Gay Coalheaver," ending with the woids "He may go to the for me;" the captain thought it impioper, and gagged her, by putting a p.ece of wood into her mouth ; while she was bi>in» gagged the earring was dragged from her ear ; the pi jce of wood was eight or ten inches lon^ and two inches thick; it was in her mouth about five minutes; there was no request made to desist from the song before she was gagged. By Mr. Whitakisr : The only song that was sung wai the one she had refeired to; there was no bad language used ; she, the witness, never used any hti» s-elf j she had heard Miss BarraclulF u.,e bad language, but not on that evening; the last words of the song were the only improper expiessions she heard lur lue on that occasion. By the Bench : The ear-ring wa* not torn out oi the ear; it oinc out by the violence that vvas used, and the eir was very sore aliens arils. Adelaide PnnbTON, another of the immigrants, corroborated the tesiiinony^tf the former witneises a-, to the origin of the disturbance, and the act of gauging the girl by the Captain ; when the gh.'s ncre otdered below this witness proposed a song and a dance; Barracluff sung a song, and confessed it when the Doctor made enquiry ; the Captain forced the gjg into her mouth and tiGd it behind her head j the witness and the other girls beg»ed for mercy; the gag was taken our, but her mouth was very sore, bleeding at both sides, and her ear lasted bad for three or four weeks afterwards, By the Court: The Captain put the gag into her mouth lor using the objectionable words in the song, which made allusion to himself; the words in the parody are Cl She may go to Hong Kong for me;" those Bubsti'uted and sung instead were, " He may go to the for me " We had a qiwut ot water allowed to each of us e.\tra to the other passengers, and this was given by the order of the captain. Allen Cameron, carpenter of the ship, vvas examined, and stated that he was sitting on the foiecuistle when he was called by the captain, and told to jump down the after hatch and assist the doctor : on going down hp found the doctor by him«Hf amout> the f^irls ; the doctor called to the captain to come d <wn and gag; one of the women and he would stand the consequences; the captain came dow'i, and said "Shall I i;a«; her?" the doctor said" ifes ;'* U»e captain then took hod of Barracluff and foiced Use gag mto her no'iuth ; it was there four or five minutes, when the captain called out " Shall I take it out ?" witness t>aid, do so ; on the captain ordering witness to gag her, lie declined, saying he did not Unow how to fiag a woman. This closed the case for the prosecution. Mr. Whituker thm called

Mary Ann Carter, stated that she came out as matron of the«e females; the complainant Bariacluff bad been more particularly placed under her chaige by the mother and giandmother of that girl, who a, - peared to be liighly respectable persons ; witness had kept a diary ; -he it-ad trom it an account of the pro. cfedmgs on the stti of Maich detailing the circum. stances that were already given in evidence; 'he said that from the dispu'e about water the excitement among the girls became so greut; and they weie

STtPHES Lunn Mdller, who stated that he was the medical officer of the Stalely, appointed to her by the owners ot the ship, with the sanction and ap proval of the Female Emigration Committee, by who-e instinclons he kept a journal of the proceedings during the vo\a!;i»; (produced thp journal and read out of it the entry made ut the Jth Maivh) ; th* manon brought charges against Emma Wai'dell ami Frances liarrscluff for insubordination and insolent behaviour towa dt her, the girls were brought before the Captain und Suigeon and the cbaiges proved ag-iinst them by evidence of Mis. Dyer, the sub matron, who stated their conduct had been disgraceful in the extreme ; that they refused to go to bed at night, and were in the habit of making uss of bad lan^uaue throughout the dny 5 they weie ordered to remain below for two days, and told that if kui-Ii conduct was repeated they would be further pun.shed ; the gills were on deck under the awning at six, p.m., at seven, owing to the weather being tqaally with ram, they were ordered by the Caprain to go below, when Preston said " Come along girls, we will have a jolly tow, and lots of fuu;" the captain warned them not to ui'ike anynoi^e, in a few minutes they began to make s> much noise and uproar that in the cuddy and 0,1 deck a word could hatdly be heard tint vis spoken ; the captain remonsliated, and warned tliem th«t unites they were quiet the hatch should be pji doivn; some oiks horn below said, " Put it on! What do wecaie— You aie not going to frighten u« ;" the flap of the hatch wai then put down for a few mmutts, wlien tbe> began to call out that they would set fire to the ship, and open all the side acuttle-j; the hatch was opened, and they began sinking indecent songs, in so loud a tone that they could be heard all over the decks ; the chorus of one of the songs wai " The captain and docior may go to tlie —— for us ;" the doctor went down to try to put a slop to such disgraceful conduct, when HarraclufF, who appealed to be the ringlead r, became exceedingly inso ent and abusive, so much so, tlitu he lequeated the captain to come below and apply the gag to her mouth (she having been pievioualy told that unless she desisted fiom bad language she shoul.l be punuhed in this way), which he did ; she promised if it were removed she would behave belter; it was then removed ; before this step was taken all order and authority was put at defiance, and he considered that some decided step should be taken to put a stop to the disorder that pievailed. By Mr. Abraham : The committee gave the witness instructions how he wai to act towards the. girls, (instructions produced) ; all that appeared in hisjou.nal was tiue; he generally made his entiies daily, he teldom filled in two days togelber; the tr<m actions of the slh of March were entered by him on the v"th ; he wa<> obliged to remain up on the night of the sih until near two o'clock ot the motnui^, from tie liutous con. (iuct of the gnls; lie had ordered the gnl to be gauged, as the only punishment he could think ot ; he believed he held the gill's arm while the captain was putting the gug into her mouth. By the Bench : She was gagged because she was singing, and would not behave herself propeily; the cboiuß to her song was a reason tor tagging her, bu not the sole reason ; several of the women tainted af- 1 terwardi, and went into fits ; to the best of bis belief the cause ot the hysteiical fits svas ihe state of exenement into which the girls put themselves owing to having been restrained.

so turbulent and noisy lhat she thought the captain's voice on deck could not be heard by his crew; when they were ordered to go below the doctor kindly told ' t'lem to make themselves happy, but not to be too noisy ; they betjan to sing ; Bairacluff sang an obj<;c« tionable sons ; the Cnptiin was obliged to put a gag into her month; he had often threatened before to do so, her to.igue was truly so abusive ; all but six of the guls went into hysterics; as soon as one got better another was takun ill; befoie the gauging took phce tliey were very disorderly ; persuasion was u*eu but they would not listen to it —kindness or threats were of no use; Barracluff was the moit noisy; she, the mation, was sorry to have to testify such things of the conduct of the girls; she considered that it was hij^h time to do some'liing that would make au imptession, indeed (she uished that tho gag had been used threp or four tunes a week. By the Bunch : They did not mention the words " Cipluin" or "Doctor" in the objectionable words of (lie bong; it was in conscqueuce of the song the i;irl was gained ; her mouth appealed red afterwards ; did not observe any blood on it, but there was a little blond on her ear. Mrs. Dyer, the sub-matron, corroborated the last witness's statement as to the improper conduct of the giils, especially on the evening in question ; she laid it was impossible for young women to conduct themselves worse ; but she did not hear them mention the Cdptatn or Doctor in their songs. llugii Dwidsox, the chief mate, produced his log to piove the occuricnrcs of the day of the disturbances on bofiid ; he -aid the ship on that evening was in a dieadful state; that all hands were engaged in holding the nee<}li.-"K>m> n down ; it became necessary to keep the ship under eas\ sail throughout the night, from the hysterical state of the women, as the crew could not attend to the ve-sel, being occupied in eariying the females on deck while they were in these fits. This was the case for the defence. Mr. Aruaiiam addressed the Bench at some length, urgtna; that there were neither Jegal nor moral grounds on which the Captain's conduct in this affair could be justified, and called on the Magistrates for such a dcci* Mon as would have the effect to protect passengers to this country in future fiocn all such treatment at the Imn'ls of sea-captains. Mr, Wiutakkr replied, arguing that the safety of ves*els required that captains should have power to put down insubordination and disorderly conduct of passengers on board ; he stated that accordingly the law gave that power, that in this instance the punishment inflicted wa3 lenient in proportion to the misconduct of the party, and of the aggtavated nature of lm oflfcnce . and that if the capiain bad proceeded to more severe modes of pu-iishtnent, he would have been peifectly justifiable under the circumstances. Tho Chairman announced that the B^nch would tahe time to consider the case, and would deliver their judgment at half past ten o'clock this morning.