A CARTERTON CASE.

NZ Truth, Issue 138, 8 February 1908, Page 4

A CARTERTON CASE.

♦ — COULSON CHARGED WITH "CONVARTINV Why He Went to Westport. Jury Say " Not Guilty." When Carterton, future capital of the North Island, prevailed upon its elderly Conservative inhabitants to adopt ordinary methods of cleanliness by establishing a sexsige system the blow fell heavily on the Tory and moneyed section of the community, for every public question becomes a political question m Carterton, and the household potatoes could be cooked m the warm atmosphere at an ordinary election meeting. But the most brutal aspect of the calamity was the diminished income of the old sanitary contractor, whose nocturnal field of industry was narrowed down to that section of the town outside the drainage area. This depression m business was ultimately the cause of John Georgje Coulson appearing m the criminal dock, charged with appropriating property that wasn't his'n. Coulson used to work for George Perry, nightsoil contractor at the munificent wage of £1 a week and found, , but according to Coulson tho wages were a chimera and a delusion and never materialised m actual cash. Finally, somewhere about August of last year, the pair signed an agreement by which Coulson took over the biz., and the horse, vehicle, and harness was to become his property when £15 had' been paid off. The strange agreement was signed by Coulson, who says he was ignorant of what it contained, and practically ownod the turn-out himself. Some time previously he had paid £7 10s to Perry for a horse. which was afterwards sold and the present animal was bought with the money received, which established Couison's cl?im to the neddy. The cart w»s Couison's. He bought it from a farmer nam^d Ticehurst, although Perry spont £4, or thereabouts, on repairs to it. Perry subsequently trie' Wostport for a ' job. Anybody deliberately going to W/estport for work ought TO HAVE HIS HEAD READ, but at anyrate he was unsuccessful, and returned to tho Wairarapa, finally alighting on Masterton. Couison's accounts remained, m the realm of unsettlement, with PerryV-? oth_r. debts, and he disposed of the horse, .cart, and harness^ also two-pVs, ah-4 left for Westport, of all places m the world. There appeared +-o have been a run <m Westport at C_rt_rton. It appears that Petiry borrov^et' ca.sh from solicitor Lavery to run the remarkable business, and all receipts were handed over to tl.j\t gentleman. Mr Moran (for the defence, to Perry) : Is it not a fa<-t that Coulson has been practically keeping you fcr months past ?— No ;ho thou^i.t too much of that other womau 5».0 went away with. It's (pLlcing up <■>»_ lik*s j of him that lias brought rao t,0,-"*>hi3. The turn-out Fold t<> J&3 Preddy, wood and co£l merchant, Coulson representing the property t© be his own, for the sum of ;?10. Joseph testifier' +n tb-.-t -^ft'cc-.. What is his character m th^ district ?— I have nhvays found Mb straig , Hfoitv»_(i. What is Perry's character I—T wouln nr>t like to say v.hat I htAi afceut Ma* Perry. (This was said with evident reluctance ard wr.s pretty rough, cowing frdm a Crown witness.) Coulson sold the ni_s to G-corg-e Greathead, a South Carterton islacksm ith. Tt was submitted for the defence that the agreement already mentioned was dissolved a wok after it *7*is entered into, and tho s?.nltary contract was taken ovo.r by Coulson. No money was being m»d^ out of the business by Perry,, who entered th?? contract simply to protect h'msclf against any action tha* night, be taken by a firm of -roditorsi named Hartley Brothers. Perry Iwd no direct gain m the pcrfo.rr_a.iiCv*- of the agreement, but r.ceivd £9 iSs irdrrt Coulson at the emir? tion of a month. When the agreement was bMnq s ! ?nod Coulson remarked to Perry, "You known, George, EVERYTHING IS MINE." Coulson didn't receive a halfpenny from Perry m -wages ; he was engaged on the sanitary business two days a week, and he handed Perry the proceeds of odd jobs he did on other days. He kept the house going, m fact, and Perry, who doesn't appear to have been the clean potatoe, shouldn't have aroused the bigotry of thR wowsers by sK-n^-ing the woman up at kimC Perry told Coulson, "I'm going t" ole»r away to Westport." Coulron a^'ed about a settlem.n-t— -"How about the £9 18s ?''— and Perry replied, "I know I owe you money, but you can keep the hors", cart, harness, pigs, and. everything." Do"l_qn remarked, -'Geirge, how ahoiri Mr Lavery ? Be honest wior h:m." George replied, "Oh, to hell with Mr Lavery !" iGeorpc's mission to Westport wasn't successful, and returning he remarked to CoUsou, "I see you've sold the pigs." Coulson replied, yes, he couldn't koep them any longer. Perry then borrowed f-onlson to cart his furniture (which included a piano of Couison's) to Masterton, and be advised Coulson to sell out and come Up there, too. Coulson sold out, but he'd had enough of P.-rry and the Wairarapa and he adjourned to Westport, and was astonished' to find himself arrested later. Coulson stutters, and takes an occasional beer to relieve his mind on tho subject. If most people stuttered 'as badly as Coulson, THEY'D DRINK A BREWERY DRY to seek forgetf ulness.. While m beer before he left Coulson referred to himself as "Aladsen" and Crown Prosecutor Myers seized upon the fact with avidity. Mr Myers : Who did you go away with ?— . I went by myself. Who did you go to Westport with ? —No one. Who were you living with m WTestport ?— I was boarding. With someone from the Wairarapa ? —Yes. Did she go down with you ?— No, a fortnight before me. Harry Ca-tt, Alick Lindop, and Herbert Ticehurst, all reputable Carterton citi'ens, gave evidence con- 1 ce»ni nn " f,M - u.nriTht. character of Coul- , son, and after a short vpiirement the m v returned a verdict ol "not Ruilty." I