RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4433, 4 June 1875, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

Thursday, June 3. (Before J. C. Crawford, Esq., R.M.) ASSAULT. David Reid was charged with assaulting his wife, Rose Reid. Rose Reid, on being sworn, stated that the defendant came home drunk on the evening of the Ist June, and used abusive language to her, and ultimately attempted to strike her. Her daughter Martha, who was in the room at the time of the assault, called hex* son, who was upstairs, to her assistance. He came down, and, during the struggle which followed, the lamp was upset, and nearly set fire to the house. Scenes such as this were of frequent occurrence. Cross-examined by Defendant : You did not actually strike me because my son interfered. Martha Reid, daughter of plaintiff, corroborated the evidence. His Worship bound the defendant over to keep the peace in a surety of £2O, PROTECTION ORDER. Mrs. Reid thereupon applied for a protection order, on the ground that her husband D. G. Reid was an habitual drunkard, and failed to contribute to'Hhe support of his wife and family ; also, that he was in the habit of illtreating his wife and making use of very bad language. This case was adjourned until today’s sitting, when it will be heard de novo. LARCENY. E. Wallis ■ was charged with stealing a lady's jacket from the shop of Elizabeth Sage. Jane Elizabeth Sage, sworn, stated : I am a married woman ; my husband keeps a shop in Tory-street. Erom information received, I went after the prisoner and asked for a jacket she had taken, which she immediately returned. [Jacket produced, and identified.] I have missed things before, which the prisoner has returned in the same way. The jacket was safe on the counter fifteen minutes before the prisoner came in. Susan Greenfield, sworn, stated : I saw the defendant enter the shop, which is situated opposite my own window, and take away th 6 jacket produced. I immediately told ilrs. Sage about it, and went with her after the defendant, and obtained the jacket. Mr. Mclntyre informed the Bench that the prisoner was a very bad character. His Worship, considering this a very bad case, gave the prisoner three calendar months’ imprisonment, with hard labor. A NEGLECTED CHILD. Inspector Atchison applied to have a boy named Warren Smith, aged eleven, sent to the training-ship, Auckland. The Inspector stated that during the last three months the boy had been running about the neighborhood of the railway-station in a ragged state, bareheaded and barefooted, and in a shocking state of filth. His father, who weis employ ed on thepublic works in Blenheim, was killed some time ago by the falling of a tree, and public sympathy was elicited for the widow and family. A subscription was raised for her, and the Government provided her with a situation as cleaner to the Government Buildings, at £1 perweek, notwithstanding which she apparently allowed her boy to wander about the streets. His Worship said he would send the boy to the training-ship. He was remanded till tomorrow, to see how much his mother, who had in the meantime decamped, was able to pay for his maintenance. Inspector Atchison ordered that the boy be furnished with a pair of new boots, a most uncommon circumstance for the youngster. The Court then adjourned.