RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4370, 23 March 1875, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

Monday, March 22. (Before J. 0. Crawford, Esq., 8.M.) ' A VILE FELLOW. TOoi. McCurtis -was charged with using obscSle and indecent language, with resisting the police,and with being drunk and disorderly. Prisoner's conduct attracted :the attention of several people who were passing, along Willisstreet on Saturday evening. First he assaulted a hoy, then caught hold of a young girl, put his ami round her neck, and addressed her in j» a most .unseemly manner, and otherwise con- * ducted himself in such a way that Constable Buchanan took him into custody, when he behaved imost'violently. Fined 40s. ' RESCUING A .PRISONER. James Carter, who made himself very active in assisting a man who was arrested: for creating a disturbance in the. Pier Hotel, was fined 405., despite his, positive assertion that he. knew nothing whatever about the affair, BURGLARY. Chas. Cass, an old man, was charged with breaking into Staple’s brewery on Sunday morning last, and stealing some articles the property of Mr. Stapler. Petty thefts havingbeen perpetrated for some time past,- 'Mil Staples determined to set a watch, and ac-" cordingly he and Mr. Edtneades, “ planted ” themselves and caught the prisoner entering the premises about.,.three o’clock bn-Sunday morning. Prisoner, who is a grey-bearded old man, formerly color-sergeant in the 65th Regiment, H)\id he had nothing to say in answer to the charge, and was duly committed for trial. LARCENY. J. H. Phillips, an incorrigible thief, brought to the colony in. the ship Weymouth,-was placed in the dock charged with stealing money from the till of the Panama Hotel. Susan Right, the. landlord’s wife, said that one day last week the prisoner called for a glass of ale,>-wbich she refused to give him. ;' Upon, •leaving the bar to go into an adjoining room,' she heard money jingling, and returning quickly caught the prisoner with' a -handful of silver, which he had abstracted from the till. The police .said Phillips had given them ah infinite amount of trouble since his arrival in the colony, and his Worship sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment with hard labor. OBTAINING HONEY ,ENL}ER FALSE PRETENCES. Denis Wright 'was 1 charged'with having on the 9th ‘June,' 1374, obtained from Ebenezer Huntpthe sum of £'2S -145., withiuteut to cheat, and defraud.' Mr. Travers, who appeared to prosecute on behalf of Mr. Hunt, applied to have the case remanded till Thursday, at the - .same time intimating prosecutor's willingness to allow the prisoner to go at large upon his own. recognizances. • ' '• • ... .. ... The applicitibh "was prisoner, ,tb enter into his own recognizance in the sum uf £IOO to appear on Thursday. i THE DALLAM TOWER—BREACH, OF MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT,: ; , !T Martin Ornsen, a seaman, belonging tb' the Dallam Tower, was charged with, having, on the 15th February, used’ insolent and abusive language toward Captain Campbell. ■ The conduct complained of, resulted ; out of . Captain Campbell's reprehension of one.of.the beys for disobedience of orders, when the prisoner’interfered, used most violent .language, shook his fists in the captain’s face, and-said he was a better man thamhim, : Ifc .-afterwards incited W the ssnssL£o mutinouA-conduct. The evidence for the :dtfer.ce was'tb. the Effect that the captain and officers habiWilly ill-ased 1 the boys ; that upon one occasion a bery-was aloft rigging a stltbbail boom, iimT bccriuse- h‘d didn’t-come down when ordered to do so, the captain sent one of the officers up with directions to “ chuck the ovtUtor-i 1 ” On another occasion the captain had boxed the prisoner’s eari, the “ box' * giving himiajblack eye,.and leaving marks which were discernible for a fortnight, afterwards, and when .the Jitter -’disturbance 1 tbok pKcfe Ornsen said, “You struck me when I was ill, why don’t you strike ,ine now.” "The captain denied striking Ornsen when he was ill, adding that he was not ill at all; that he had a slight told ; and that whip.he,-(% captain) wished co gi ve,hiisjsom’e 'medicine ho refused to come, sayingjOvas the., captain’s duty to come-to him. ) Contrary to haying! dealt harshly with the pyispner, he had, refrained from using the which he ;was clothed by Act of Parliament, because -he was anxious ;to get along I without ffurtlii# 'trouble.' 'Previous to this row he had had great trouble with .about twenty bf’the ii-iW, who' Ivere • very miitiribnif, and hd 'had fern - contpelled to threaten the prisoner .that if ihe did, not , behave dpmself ■ better Jjcf would haye to adopt strong means to make'him.', Prisoner afterwards admitted that he had- done wrbn&’aqd promised to conduct himself better .for the future, ; Wm. Holford, an immigrant, with a strong flavor bf-the Yorkshire dialect, was called by the Tcapt.ain, and proceeded, at once to explain to th’e Cdwtf that he was brie of two_ brothers. . . He nexli produced hia “log,” containing a full, V.” true, arid particular account of the incidents of tire voyage; and, in his anxiety tb proceed with the business on hand, he kissed the “log instead of the Bible when the oath was ad-ministered.'.'-Then he,told his story in this way l—\VelVon the 15th February the boys were sent up tor stunsail drill, which wasn’t very rik-ti in cold weather, and they didntlike it. The third mate ordered them up. The third mate is a bit of a punching man, and he drove the boys up on to what they call the ratlins, and there they stuck. Of course, one, of them refused duty. [His Worship Why of course ?”] Well, thats v/hat Ivo got down in my log. Then the third mate went ] up and punched’him in.the.ribs, and I called ’ out “ Shame,” and hissed. After it was all over, the captain called mo up and said, “Look, here, Holford, .you wouldn’t have hissed if you knew what these fellows are like.' I Thby’re generally the refuso of London. They only come out here to escape justice.” I took this down at the time. . His Worship remarked that this could scarcely .bo regarded as very strong evidence for the prosecution, - - - • ■.' Captain, Campbell said Holford .was not his witness,’ jla had merely palled him so as not to vwfe the time of the Court, as Ids own witnesses were not at hand.

The witness was ordered, to stand down, one of the ship’s officers having arrived in the meantime. / . 1

. Knollys Murray Carter, second officer, was aware of a disturbance having taken place on the 15th February, but. it would take so long to tell the whole story, that he' didn’t care, to begin. If he must say what did take place, all he knew about it was that there was , a great row about the boys being sent up to rig a stunsail boom. One of the boys struck the third mate in the chest, and the. captain ordered the boy to be brought down. The passenger's and crew seemed to think the boy had been ill-used, and there was a little excitement about it, in which the prisoner was prominently distinguishable. ■ This being the whole of the evidence for the prosecution, Holford was called as a witness for the de- ■ fence, and resumed his narrative'thus; —l kept a log, you know air, and when the boy did go up the rigging, the captain says, “ Fetch him down.” As soon as the third mate got into the rigging he hit the boy in the eye, and “ knocked it up.” The boy shouted “ Murder,” and this man (Ornsen) ran up to the captain, and says, “ You struck me when I was poorly, strike me now when lam well.” Them are the true words. He “done” nothing in any shape whatever except putting hia hands up. X was ou the poop when Ornsen went to the captain for medicine. He got his medicine, X can tell you. The captain hit him in the eye, and' it was bad for five days. I have, seen one or tvfO black eyes in my time, but T never see One like this in my life.' When the captain spoke to me about the „ third mate striking the boy, he told me I didn’t know the real nature of these men, else I wouldn’t have cried shame. I said I was a believer in few words, and that I didn’t believe we were sent into the world to be kicked and cuffed in this way. He says, “ That’s all right, but these men are the riffraff of London, and they’re sent out here to escape justice.” I said I can’t help that, I know there’s some very clever men amongst them. I says, “ I’ve been in the fo’castle, and there’s some of ’em real intelligent.” The captain says, “ But the third mate didn’t strike the boy when he went into the rigging.” I said, “ Yes, he did,” and the first mate says, “Oh yes, captain, he did”; and, of 'course, then they saw the few words I uttered was : all true, because the first mate said so. T. Johnson, seaman, bore out the statements of the other witness, and stated- that the conduct of the captain towards the crew had been very bad throughout the voyage. He also was ill, as well as Ornsen, and when Ornsen said it was the captain’s place to come and see them while they were ill, the captain struck him in the eye, the blow being of such violence that its effects were visible for a fortnight after. That couldn't be called an open-handed slap. Of course, after Ornsen received this blow he struck the captain. J. Powles, quartermaster, was well aware that Ornsen was very ill when he was sent for by the captain on the sth February, and when he made the reply that the captain ought to have come to see him, the captain struck : him a violent blow in the face with his clenched fist. Witness was, during- the Voyage, placed in irons for saying , to the captain that he did not believe in men being put in irons without Sufficient cause.

One of the boys was examined, and stated that he “refused to assist in the stunsail drill because he considered it unreasonable to ask them to rig' the boom, merely for drill, in such a cold latitude as they were in* at tlie time. r ’

Alex, de Brunn and George Mitchell were examined, the latter being a seaman whom Captain Campbell stated in court to be one of the best men he had on board the ship, and to whom he had" given an excellent character upon discharging him. As Mitchell stated, he was an entirely uninterested party, but he felt bound to come forward, simply out of a spirit of fair play, to inform the Court that, although Captain Campbell had given him a good character, he never worked under a more tyrannical or domineering man. Mr. Allan contended that there was no evidence of the commission of an assault, and that the whole disturbance had arisen out of the captain's want, of capacity to manage a largebody of men—that was to say, he was deficient in tact, and was not sufficiently calm and deliberate in his treatment of the men, which led to much irritation amongst them and* consequent disturbance. His Worship said he held a different opinion to Mr. Allan upon the subject of the assault, but he would like > to hear some of the‘other 'cases before deciding in this one.

REFUSAL OF DUTY. William Avery was' charged with refusing duty on the 4th January. ’ From the captain’s statement, it appeared that lie was dissatisfied with the prisonei-’s steering, he being',one of the quartermasters, and told the second mate not to let him steer again. Prisoner then said they could put the irons on,'as he would do nothing till the ship arrived in Wellington. The irons were. then put on, and he was locked up in the watercloset till evening. Afterwards he was put into a temporary house, and fastened, to a bolt in the deck, his chain being long enough to give him five, or six feet drift, so that he could stand up or sit down. He didn't have a fit, but he yelled a great deal, and -witness threatened to gag him. He was kept six days in this house, when the crew petitioned for his release, and promised to be responsible for his good behaviour. " He was released after some delay, but witness did’not'promise that there should be no more said about the matter.

•; K. M. Carter, second mate, : said that on the day in question Avery had a row,with the sailmaker, and, a sit happened to be just bn Avery’s time to take the wheel, witness ordered him aft to duty. When he came' away from the wheel, witness noticed as he 'went, forward that he was pulling off his comforter and rolling up bis sleeves, and thinking that he was going to resume the quarrel with, the sailmaker, witness called him back and spoke to him, whereupon he made some defiant answer. The captain heard the , answer, and directed witness not to allow him to go to the wheel again, and this -remark, which the prisoner heard, evidently annoyed him, for s he said that if he was not allowed to go to the wheel he would do no work, till he arrived in Wellington. f L. V. Lewis, in contradiction of ,a statement ynade by Captain Campbell, said that the crew memorialised the captain for the . release ,of , Avery ; and in answer to their remonstrances, :■he said it was his,intention to keep Avery in irons’until arrival in Wellington, and .then to hand him over to the civil.authorities and give him three months, hut ’ that- taking into consideration the respectful manner in which they . had memorialised him, he would pardon Avery, and think no more ,of the matter. -.- Decision reserved. : ASSAULT.

J. Nicholson was charged, with assaulting John Roach, sailmaker, on the 4th January. J. Roach, being called, stated that he never intended to make any charge against Nicholson, Something took place between them on the date alleged,, but ho looked upon it as a joke, arising out of. some skylarking with the girls. He (Roach) induced the girls to come into the deck-house, and it happened that Nicholson was “sweet”-on one of these girls ami intended marrying her. Naturally Nicholson felt a little annoyed at his “ intended going into' the deck-house, and ho came and pulled witness out and struck him; upon which I witness returned the blow. Nicholson afterwards apologised in a good-natured way, and -witness took no more notice of the matter. Captain Campbell said he only took cognizance of the matter for the purpose of. maintaining discipline on the ship. For this offence Nicholson was shackled down for two days. The doctor of the ship testified to Roach being cut on the face hy a blow, but ho. knew nothing of the assault. . . Decision reserved.

another charge. J. Nicholson was also charged with disobedience of orders, the disobedience consisting in Nicholson saying .that he would speak girls after he had been told not to do so. The captain and chief officer testified to Nicholson’s positive asseverations that he would sneak to the girls whenever he liked, and his insolent answers when remonstrated with. - ; Decision reserved. ;; ••••'•■

THE CONCLUSION. • , . Mr, Allan, in addressing the BenclFon.be-. half of the prisoners, dwelt first upon t the: rarf cumstances narrated in the case against: Avery, who, he i held, bad been •; .most; unjp jtifiably placed in irons and shackled to the : egek for doing. absolutely nothing • .whatever,,; Avery/, never •refused to do. duty-or- disobeyea, lawful commands. In the first place, Avery was disrated for no reason whatever. Naturally,.hofelt'annoyed, and said that if he were 'n6t r allowed to steer he would do nothing else,, but there must be an active disobedience.' iHe was not asked to do anything, and therefore had no opportunity of refusing. InNicholson’s case the grounds - urged -for ■ the prosecution-were very frivolous. The fact of the mailer was the captain was a'man of lively, ericiteable temper, and was unable "to control himself occasionally.- No doubt it was a wise provision that captains of ships should be ’armed with great power, hut it was presumed ■ that that power would be exercised in all-ca ses-with-: some discretion. In this caae, however, it was clear that it had not been exercised with discretion. ; Under these circumstances, and admitting that there had been faults on both sides, the men had already been sufficiently punished for their share of-the blame. Captain Campbell, in reply to, Mr. Allan’s remarks, denied that he had exhibited an undue amount of severity or temper. Had he been less firm he might have hade good-bye to the ship and the property onboard.- Even the very boys took upon themselves r to ray when sail should’be made and- when-not made, and

he felt bound to put down that spirit -with a firm hand. ■ ‘ ‘ .

His Worship, taking the last case- first, said that had Captain Campbell been advised by a solicitor before bringing the case, he would probably not have proceeded against Nicholson for wilful : disobedience of orders. 1 The evidence produced had failed to bring the case within the meaning of the Act. W hen: told that he must not speak to the girls, Nicholson said he should do so if he chose, but it Had not been proved that he had done so after being cautioned, and the case must be dismissed. Captain Campbell : But ho did so. lam uot supposed to understand these legal quibbles. ■ His Worship ; There is no legal quibble about that. J It would have been a simple matter to prdve had you been able -to do so. With reference to the charge of assault againstNicholson, T do not see how that can be brought within the meaning of the Act either. The Act speaks of a person assaulting’ a‘master or mate. ■ . f Captain Campbell: The sailmaker is a pbtty officer.

His Worship : But he. is neither master nor mate,’ and this case must be dismissed also. In the case of Avery, it appears that he, was. put in irons for five or six days, and was then, released upon the intervention of the crew. There is very strong evidence to show that Captain Campbell then said that he would: forget and forgive, and the matter was regarded as being : at an end. Consequently, I must hold that after .five, days’ imprisonment, and after it was stated that no more notice should be taken of it, the case v/as at an end, and should not have been brought into court.

Captain Campbellßut that was done on conditions.

His Worship : I know nothing of conditions. I have had no evidence brought before me of any conditions being made, and the case is therefore dismissed. The case against Ornsen is the most difficult of the wh rie, . The others may.be said to liavefallen through. But I may remark, as a preliminary, that I know the necessity of preserving discipline on board any ship. It is necessax*y for the safety of the ship, .the officers, and of*.the. crew Jhemselyes. If seamen were to be permitted to i-hake their fists in the faces of their officers, discipline

could not be preserved ;,bilt in..this, cash,'and I am extrerhely sorry, to say so, there ap-, peai*s to have been a great deal of .cuffing and hitting on the part' of ti e "Officers,* which of itself is as subversive of discipline 4 s bad behavior on the part of the crew. A master was justified in using all lawful means to suppress mutinous conduct oh board hia ship, but the manner in wliich he- struck Griisen and gave him a black eye, as described by several witnesses, was more likely to raise disturbance than suppress it. Captain Campbell said he merely gave the man a box on the ear, hut it had been proved that,the blow gave the man a had black eye. prnsen if onthepther hand, seemed to have nursed his; Wrath from Feb. 5 to Feb. 15, and that could scarcely he overlooked ; but if masters conducted themselves as Captain Campbell had done, they could not exp ecu men to behave otherwise. .Under all the circumstancesi I think the difficulties .of the case will be met by pommittmg; the, prisoner for forty-eight hours.' ‘, y .‘V ! TURNING .THE TABLES. ' John Powles, quartermaster cf the ship' Dallam Tower, made an application under the following circumstances : After leaving Lohdon the crew discovered that the forecastle-head was in a very bad condition, and l.e apjdied.to the captain to allow the carpenter to caulk'if. His own bunk was very wet. The captain promised to send the carpenter, t o put a'piece of canvas over, the place to keep the water out, but nothing was done.’ They had fine weather in the “ chops of the channel 1 ' until they were: off the Canary Islands, when heag ain asked the captain to send the carpenter ,;o; caulk the forecastle-head, but instead of doing so tlie carpenter was employed' continually in the cabin. The forecastle was so >vet and dirty, except in fine weather, that it was impossible'to keep it clean. When, crossing the line they got very wet. His own bed was entirely rotten^' Again told the captain, hut not the slightest attention was paid to his : complaint.,j;^S r ' wished' to know whether, under these circ'nristahccjr, he could get his discharge. Mr. Crawford said rif.. \yas nob t to grant a discharge ; and he was not at that moment aware what r his powers were as to ordering a survey. The heat plaa.would bo to, allow, the application ‘to [Stand .cver .until.the, , morning. ; , ,r... ,. ... .. . r, ** Captain Campbell requested his Worship to ‘note *the latte„pa&b«o£ plication —JD£. course, wages were high, in. Hew Zealand, and they would all like-to ’ get their discharges. .• .. v • ~ | . • V; f’.i ■; I_' ■' , Powles said lie merely desireci to get away from fthe ship, on account of the discomforts he had experienced. He had been thirteen years at sea, and he had never in his life experienced so much discomfort ‘as during the yoyagAjust concluded. Though he; was quartennaster, and had had better times than the rest, ho had not known hieforo, what it u as, to feel the hunger he has felt‘.during the voyage in .the Dallam Tower. . p; . > •.* A boy belonging to the ship alsq Jiegan: to tell hia grievances, hut he wa?-; Recommended to come to Court in’jthe morniig, and see lps Worship. ; , The Court then adjourned.