RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Before H. Kenrick, Esq., R.M. Tuesday, Jan. 20, 1885.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 86, 24 January 1885, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT. Before H. Kenrick, Esq., R.M. Tuesday, Jan. 20, 1885.

Civil Cases. G-. A. Laidlaw v. McDonald, (adjourned case). Further aljourned for J.& days*at plaintiff's request. Same v. J. Kenny, claim £2 5s Id, goods supplied. No service, date of hearing altered to 17th Feb. Wells and Soutter v. Wm. McLean, claim £1 2s lid. Judgment for amount and costs 1 Os.

Criminal Cases. Police v. Chas. TLarsen, charged with drunkenness in Te Aroha. Pleaded guilty. Dismissed with a caution. Same v. •<atuo> charged with making use of obscene language in .bridge street, Te Aroha. Pleaded not guilty Conyiutoil and sentenced to one week's imprisonment with Hard labour in Shortlan ll Gaol. j Win. Weston v. Vlbert E. Hawkins, charged with feloniously stealing and

was the mutter, I at once went an called W^ston. Called him before : attempted co put oat the fire. I say accused yesterday about tiie stable, aftei the bunny was stolen;- think it migh have been about H o'clock He demantled his horse, bridle, and saddle from Mrs Weston, and she told him "Be off out of die premises." Ht asked them from me, mid T refused te give them to him. Mrs Weston aske. him what he did with Mr Jaggers horse, buggy, ami harness, and he tol< her to be careful of what she said. ] had been interacted by Mr Weston nol to give him his horse. #c first came te the stable about a week ago. lam e.»rtain the horse, bug^v, aim! harness were all right on Sudnay nigh.. I sleep opposite Warren's Hotel. I heard fl hmriry go past, whilst still dark, on Monday morning. James Warren, sworn : I am an hot.'ilxoeper at Te Aro'ia. Know acemvl He sfcoppel at my hotel on Stfnd.iv niVht. 1 slur him h\U lh.it night at htlf-pnst eleven,. when In* Ml :.oej?oorl m#!it and went to bed. I saw liim i?o up the stair* t!i»n. I did not notice the condition of \m boot* at t^iafc time ; early in the evening they wea polished, for he polished them himself. 1 went to his room between fi and 7 oil Monday morning an) saw him there. [ I went in consequence of a report I heard that a horse and huy;gy had been stolen and that Hawkins had done it. I said, " I didn't think he had, as I believed jie was in his mom." When I saw him he was not in bed, but was standing by the bed dressed, packing hi* things up, purposing to go *way that morning I f»aw his l>oots outside his door cleaned but not polished ; they appeared to be wet. Sunday was a fine day, and there was no mud about the hotel. I asked him if he had opened the fire escape door, he said he had not. The door had been opened, as I saw it open when I went to his room, although it was fastened^aboufc half-past 12 Sunday night. I said nothing to him about the buggy. I went to l>ea about a quarter to 1, all had then gone to th.ir rooms. The accused's room was next door to the fire escape. The accuse! was staying at my hotel for some time and conducted himself all rteht, or I should have ordered him oat. A person could go out by the fire escape without my hearing them from where I sleep. Morris Applebee, sworn : Am engaged as general worker at Warren's Hotel. I have seen accused at the hotel. Saw him last Monday morning at the hotel about 6 o'clock ; he was in his bedroom. I went to see if he was there out of curiosity, in consequnce of hearing he had taken a buirgy and Irap ; he was in bud and covered up. I h;td collected ail boots, accused* amongst therest, cleaned and returned them to the room prior to this. I only cleaned »ml blackened accuse I's boot* ; they wore too we' to polish. I was the first r,f the servants tiiat w»s up. Wlihii I went upstairs about naif- past 5 the fire escape door was open. Have not seen it open any other morning since 1 cime to r.'«ehotel. I had no idea of anvtiiintr Iwinir* wrong until nearly 6 o'clock. Tt ia nothing very nnnsna) for boarder's boots to be more or Jess wef, as some of them go to i/ie i»atiis very early, but they could not get their boots in .the condition accused's boots were in, through merely going fn the baths. When I went up a. Mr M'Cr«»skey's room door was open, and he was dressing ; his room was opposite the accused's, and also adjoining the fire escape. Sergeant Emerson, sworn : Am sergeant of police stationed at Te Aroha. From information I received I arrested the accused about It a.m. on Monday abont 7 miles from here, whilst on the mail coach going in the direction of Paeroa. When T met coach I rode f ->rwarl to where accused was sitting on the box seat, and told him a horse, buggy, and harness had been stolen from the Hot Springs Hotel stable during the night, which had been broken into and an attempt made to set them on fire ; and that I now charged him with having committed the offences. When I mentioned the buggy, and before ' I had finished, he said " Oh yes, the buggy is down there." I told him he'd have to return with me. He refused, but at last consented. He resisted a good deal, at first, and refused to walk, but got him on my horse and he came along quietly. On our vray back we met three men working on the road, whom Weston asked to assist him to get out the hnsysry, when the accused then sai 1, " Why, bess my heart, there is no need to take the men from their work, T can, take the buggy out myself." Weston snid, " How do you know where it is," to which accused made answer ♦' YJ9 I do." Later on accused told me that the driver of the coach pointed out the buggy to him as- they came along that morning. Sergeant Emerson said he had spoken to the driver of the coach who denied having pointed out, or seen the buggy at all. This concluded the case fo* plaintiff. His Worship decided that the evidence adduced was not conclusive enough to support thw charge of larceny that had been laid, although it showed malicious 1 intent, and a desire to cause inconvenience and to annoy. Any person taking the horse and .buggy with the intent of stealing SBJiVe would have acted very differently, de^'iul no alternative but to acquit the accused of the chargo preferred against hihlv The evidence was altogether tMreumstanfcinl, in fact chiefly his j own admission; and the state of his boots, • and it was not necessary^for him to ex- ' p.ain how His Wxrts came to be *in the > condition asserted on the morning <*f the affair. Although there appeared to be

taking away one buggy, set of harness, and one horse, the property of Samnel •Jaeger. Pleaded not guilty. Wm. Woston, sworn : Am proprietor •of the Hot, .Springs Hotel, To Archa. Know accused ; was boarding ami lodging at my hotel for a fortnight this month. Did not settle account when leaving. I asked him for it. On one occasion lie told me he'd pay me when he thought fit ; another time that he'd knock my teeth down my throat if I aske< J him again. I followed him up to his bedroom on the third occasion, ami he said he would knock my brains oat (with a riding whip he had in his hand) if I put my nose inside the door. This was on Saturday last. He ha 1 some clnthi-s in his room, and a horse, saddle, and bridle, in the stable. When he came for the horse I said I'd not lot, the horse go utdess lie paid me. On ■Sunday evening he came to the hotel, wanting to sell his horse to a man of tht name of Can*. That was fcho Inst'occaaion I saw him there. He did not sell him. I still hare possession of the horse. Act-use I has not y»»t settled his account ; the amount of my account i« nbtnit £8 17s. Ih id a horse on last Sunday night in my stable, the property of Mr Jagt>er ; accused's hor*e wa* in adjoining stall. The stable door was locked for the night between 9 and 10 ; it was locked by the stableman. A little after five o'clock my stableman woke me up, informed me Mr dagger's borse and buggy were gone and the stable was on fire. He told me the door had been broken open. I got op and went out at once, and found it was so ; part of the partition between the two stalls was broken down, part of it broken up small ami piled in a heap on the floor of one of the stalls and on fire. The fire was at onco put out ; the floor was then burnt through. The whole stable would have been soon burnt if it had not been discovered. There was a lot of wet bedding in the stall wlhch kept the fire in check * good deal. The tire could not have occurred accidentally, but was wilfully started. In addition to the buggy and horse, the buggy harness, a brid e and rug were gone. The boggy was all right in the yard the night before, but was not locked up. I came down almost directly and informed Sergeant Emerson, and then went in search of the missing horse, etc., with the police. We started off on the Paeroa road. We found the buggy in the Rotokuhn Gorge about 7 miles from Te Aroha ; it was found off the road about a chain. We proceeded on to Paeroa, When I missed the buggy, etc, I suspected tho accused ; mj reason for suspecting him was, that I detained his hor^e, and he tol 1 mo he would make things pretty not. for me before he left. Coming- back from Paeroa same morning about 11 0 clock we met accused on the mail coach procreding towards Paeroi. T was present when Sergeant E nerson charged him with the offence of stealing the buggy, horse, etc. ; also for breakins: in and attempting to burn the stable. He denied having had anything to do with it. The sergeant then nrrejtel him, and afterwards we came to where some men were at work on the road, and 1 asked them to assist me to get the l»nggy out on the r iad. Accused then said, " It was no nse taking the men •i way from their work, as we could get the buggy out from where it was easily enough ourselves." I replied, " Bnf you don't know where it lies," to which he replied, " Ye", I do, and we can get it out easily." On the way to Te Aroha he said, "If I did take that boggy and horse you would forgive me, Weston, wouldn't yMi ?" I said, '• I believe I would," but he added, " I didn't take i» for all that." lam quite sure I never authorised any one to take the bu.-gy or horse away. The lot is valued at £100, and are the. property of Mr Samuel Jagger. The horse was found on the race-course, about one mile from Arohn. The harness, all but winkers, and part of the reins was found with the buggy. The' buggy were placed could not be seen from the. road, but we followed along Hie tracks, and where the, tracks ceased on road we seaichel around until we found it, it was concealed., It was about half past 5 when I first saw buggy was missing. It would take abont an hour or less to drive to where buggy was found from my hotel. When I first went out accused's horse was in the yard loose. Win. Mctntosh, sworn : Am employed about Mr Westou's Hotel. Hare charge of the stables. - Recollect last Sunday night ; when I left the stable about half-past 9. There were then in one 9tall a horse belonging to Mr Jagger, and one belonging to accused, in an adjoining stall was a horse belonging to Mr Grerrish. I locked the stable door with a padlock. When I came on Monday morning abont half- past 5 I found the stable door broken, accused's horse in the yard, and missed Mr Jagger'd horse, buggy, and harness. I found a fire in the middle >f the stall where Mr Jagger's horse had been ; it was just smouldering. It was pieces of board that were on fire, and which were part of the partition between the stalls vvhieh had been broken down. From their position, the boards were evidently so placed by some one "wanting to make a fire. I did not use a light in the stable, on Sunday night ; neither was the partition broken down then. The stalls were loose boxes with doois to each from the outside. The door opening in' to where Jagge.r's ■ horse stood was not lockeil. By breaking down the partition access could be had from fie stall where accused's horse was to Jagger's hor9e. There was not enough of the partition broken down to permit Jagger's horse to pass, an 1 it -nnst have beeen taken onfc through the door. When I found what