NELSON DISTRICT COURT.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 210, 25 October 1859, Page 2

NELSON DISTRICT COURT.

Monday, October 24. Before W. T. L. Travers, Esq., Judge. (Adjourned Sitting.) Kite v, Ellis.—This case was again referred to, and stands over till next Court day; the defendant to apply to set aside ]the proceedings, and have it reinstated for trial.; After some discussion upon the matter of ap- j peals, the Court proceeded with the following :— Smith v. Rose.—For ,£57 25., balance of account due to plaintiff for goods supplied, and for which accounts had been several times rendered. . '. , Verdict for plaintiff, with £4 lls. costs. Lockhart v. Sibbald.—-Mr. Kingdon, for the plaintiff, said this was an action for breach of contract on the part of defendant. Four houses were, i sent to Nelson for plaintiff, and arrived per Q,ueeri of the Isles on the 20th March, 1856. The letter accompanying the bill of lading said they were i " all perfect," whereas evidence woujd. shew that ; they were not complete. i N. T. Lockhart affirmed: In 1855 I gave an i order to J, 3> Sibbald tor four wooden houses, i upon the strength of a prise list produced. I re-1 ]

seived a letter telling me 01 the shipment, dated si Jctober 1, 1855, enclosing invoice and bill of ir ading endorsed as it now appears. When they vt irrived I carted them to Hardy-street as soon as ft possible. I employed Mr. Barrett to sort them. s( Chose houses were marked F.,d, H., and M., a| md were not complete. They were twisted about, p md appeared to have been knocking about for a a longtime. I could have sold, them to advantage h bad they been complete. . Cross-examined by Mr. Connell: The paper produced, marked E., is in my handwriting. The i a letter marked B. I received, I believe, per Mac- a cleafield. The letter did say the houses cost origi- t! nally £200 each, and the skeletons half the x amount. I certainly expected to get new houses f £ for £70 each. On the 4th December I wrote, a acknowledging the receipt. The letter marked G. i< is in my handwriting, and dated February 1,1856. f ( Mr. Connell said the plaintiff had not, so far, n made out his case. In none of his letters had he s \ repudiated the transaction, or given notice that he ( would not receive the houses. .■• \ His Honor said that Mr. Kingdon, to this point, g had not shewn in the slightest degree that damage r had been sustained by, his client. He had ex- v pected that some evidence would be adduced to this end, but this had not been given through the t evidence of Mr. Lockbart, and it was against all c rule to allow him to be recalled. Mr. Kingdon i should have carefully considered the case before \ proceeding upon it, and elicited, all the facts neces- *] sary to prove that the plaintiff had sustained c damage in the case, and. proceeded to prove it; { but that had not been done. : I Mr. Kingdon said he would call Mr. Barrett, \t who had been engaged to sort the houses.. t John Barrett was then called, and being sworn, t proceeded to prove that-'the Jhpuses; did not j accord with the specification's that1 hie had to ex- t amine them by—that there were five or six houses, 1 none of which were complete. . ' . < Mr. Connell here interposed with respect to the t examination adopted by plaintiff's counsel; and £ His Honor remarked that he could not see how f a damage sustained by Lockhart was to be proved t by other than his own testimony. This, by the j course adopted, had been precluded. He should ] therefore give a nonsuit to the plaintiff. - Costs, \ £5 3s. ] Same v. Same, against the amount claimed by the plaintiff.—Mr. Connell, on the part of Mr. Sibbald, put in a plea " for so much of the sum of £125 125., as the plaintiff may have obtained a verdict for in a previous suit." ] N. T. Lockhart, on affirmation, said: The ( whole of the goods stated in the account produced were received from Mr. Sibbald, and monies paid; i and on that account there is balance due to me for ] £161 15s. 2d., for which I have not received any , consideration, and is still due. , Cross-examined by Mr. Connell: The signatures ' to the papers marked Y^andZ. are in my hand- ', writing, The account sales.produeedshew a gross amount for thp timber of £668 4s. Against that ; I place for commission, freight, duties, &c M £261 ' 7s. 2d., leaving a balance of -6406 16s. 10d,, for ; which I gave credit. The net proceeds are charged '■ £1374 2s. 9d. That sum is the same as in the account marked Z. The balance at foot against me , is £795 10s. 9d. I see a'7 nfemorandum for deduction of £125125. I know that I received^ judgment for £125 in the Supreme Court, but I do { not know what it was for. His Honor here interfered, and said that the,i; examination w^s trenching upon dangerom ground.' If any evidence was required that was contained in a document connected with the proceedings of the Supreme Court, the document must be produced. He could not take secondary evidence until he had proof that endeavors had been made Ito procure the necessary document. Such contents could not bo shewn by evidence, nor could he-review the decision, of the.Supreme Court. He had no alternative but to give a verdict for the plaintiff for £100. Costs, £6 Bs. Curtjs and JjQpkhart v. Kennedy.—To recover £50.03. B<j. Mr. Lockhart proyeaLfliat hefwas partiier with Mr. Curtis at the time: the goods had been sup? : plied. There waa credit for £43 9s. 9d, on the original amount. " Judgment for plaintiff for £50. Costs, £& Bs. iT. Trewheellar v. It. P. Outridge.—Mr. Kingdon appeared for plaintiff upon a bill of sale ; but neither plaintiff or defendant being present, the 1 case was adjourned till- next Court, day, the plaintiff to pay adjournment fee. ': N. Edwards and Co. v. Kiernen.—Further evidence was taken upon a question of interest customary upon items of goods sold and delivered. , Mr. N. Edwards being sworn, said: The fixed invariable rule amongst merchants here, is toi; charge interest on all goods, if not paid for after three months; the iuterest to be attached.at the expiration of the three months. Mr. G. Ridings confirmed this evidence, Judgment deterred, with the concurrence of Mr. Connell, until next Court day. Hooper and Co. v. Harding.—Judgment by consent, for £37 13s. 3d. Costs, £4 17s. P 0 LIC EC 0 U R T. Monday, Oct. 24. Before J. Poyntbr, Esq., Resident Magistrate. A charge was made by constable Harper, against a person whom he found insensibly drunk in Budge-street. The prisoner admitted the offence, and was fined ss. and costs. Curious Charge of Horse Stealing.--A Mr. Phillip Jordan, who has for some time past ; been travelling through the various northern provinces of this colony, advertising as a dentist " for ;' a few days," was brought before the Resident Magistrate under the following circumstances >— | The Wonga Wonga, which arrived in this; port on Saturday afternoon last, brought with her a Mr. -i John Byrne (who had been sworn in as special ■' constable in Wanganui), with a warrant of appre- i hensionfor him. The prisoner, who had taken his passage on board of the Charles; Edward, was already on board, and had paid the principal portion of his passage, leaving only a small balance to be met at Sydney. Mr. Byrne, on. describing the • prisoner, received suclv information as induced him 1 at once to procure a' boat and proceed on board, j where ho arrested his lost customer. It appears ; that the prisoner had borrowed a horse, bridle, and i saddle, of Mr. Byrne, at. Wangahui, to proceed I with to Wellington, promising to return in 12 < days. He, however, wrote-to Mr. Byrne, seating < that in consequence of being detained on the coast < on his journey up, he should remain at Wellington a little longer. In the interim he, the prisoner, ■] borrowed £10 on the horse, accoutrements, his i watch and dentistry instruments, and immediately ' departed by the Lord Ashley,-thinking to proceed i in her to Sydney : but finding she did not go on, ' he arranged to finish his journey in the Charles i Edward. - - The evidence was gone into, and Mr. Byrne, (a 1 shoemaker by trade,) feeing sworn, produced three < letters, one from the prisoner, written at Welling- 2 ton, stating that he had an offer, of £35 cash for the horse,1 and advising Mr. Byrne to take it; but * he left Wellington before he received any answer. 1 Mr. Homer, who had advanced the £10, grew sus- 1 picious, and on enquiry found the horse belonged t to Byrne, and wrote, offering to deliver it to him 1 free of cost oh condition of Byrne paying the £10 ' he had advanced. The letter making this offer < was also produced. t Mr. Kingdon, who appeared for the prisqner, F said that it was evident therjj was some mistake, j as it did not appear that the prisoner had sold the i horse; he had intended on his return to Wellington J to have made every thing right. E By the Bench.—How do you account, then* for his bping found pn board a vessel leaving for New- 0 castle? . ' -M" '■ • '" ■■. , .■• d This question appeared to puzzle Mr. Kingdon , very much, and the prisoner was ordered to be » taken to Wellington, in custody, on board the n Wonga Wonga, leaving to-morrow. » " Since the hearing, We have been informed that fl the prisoner is respectably connected in Sydney, and that he has lately had a quantity of goods and ii money remitted on his account to his brother at t< that port, and that from all appearances he had d fully intended, on receiving the above, to return if here, where he purposed opening a shop and pur-

aing his profession; lie was leaving nero sjigiwy 1 debt; but the rumour of his having made away rith some gold given him by a lady, in his prosssional capacity, is incorrect :Jie had received line, but it was on the understanding that he was . t liberty to dispose of it, and manufacture the late of other gold. He has, we also understand, good deal of personal property following him ere from Taranaki. ' . ' ♦» ■ .» Magnetic Telegraph.—On Saturday evening lecture was given in connection with the Literary nd Scientific Institution, by A. Dobson, Esq., on he Magnetic Telegraph, in the Odd Fellows' Hal!,. ). Sinclair, Esq.; in the chair. There was a very lir attendance, notwithstanding the public had but fevv hours' notice. Mr. Dobson commenced hisecture by explaining the early methods adopted' or transmitting messages, from place to place by aeans of beacons or signals pltfced on elevated ituationn, the signals being repeated from station o station until the message reached its destination, le then proceeded to explain the principle of the:alvanic battery and the power of the electric curent to produce temporary magnets, decompose (rater, &c. After touching slightly on the various lescriptions of instruments used in different counries for the transmission of messages by the aid of ilectricity (writing and printing telegraphs, &c), le described more fully the chief subject of the ecture—" Henly's Patent Magnetic Telegraph." Fhe transmitting power in this instrument is a jurrent of magneto-electricity derived from power?ul permanent magnets, instead of from the voltaic lattery as in the electric telegraph; arid consejuently when once this kind of telegraph is * laid iownno further"expenditure is 'necessary;''■■•'it is dmost impossible for this kind of instrument to' jet out of repair, andis always ready for immediate ise. Mi*. D., after explaining the? mannerin which letters and figures are expressed by the movement )f the needles on the dials, experimented with the two instruments, one being worked by Mr. Dobson md the other by Mr. Austin, in different parts of the hall. Several messages were sent from one to the other, dictated by the audience, who seemed highly satisfied with the result. A message, sent by ourselves, consisting of " The company present their compliments to Mr. , Dobson,'' met with a loud expression of approbation. : As Imported Pig.—We were yesterday required to view a monstrous specimen of the1 porcine • tribe, and upon proceeding to the back premises of Mr, Hargreaves perceived a mass of flesh, or rather fat, covered with bristles, lying in a corner j with much difficulty the mass was gof upon its legs, having the double ejccnse of"^nibrouß fatness, and the young age of 8 months, to ptead a reason for hot "running alone," certainly w$ we never saw a better specimen of "weight for age," than was then, presented. The .eyes are almost buried in. the fat. that surrounds them, and its girth exceeds its length by some 5 inches.. We are indebted to the Wonga, Wonga for this importation on Saturday last, and'perceive by advertisement; th^at it will be shewn to visitors for a small ciharge." [ . ~'./.'■.,"'"' "'''""'■:''■'"-, Gas —The various experiments upon the New? castle and ]STew Zealand -coals haying, been com* ' pleted last night, the result of the test appears to place them in the ■ following order:—Pakawau, Newcastle, Ranghiaeata, and Stoke. It will thus be Been that bur own coal-fields will furnish material preferable for the manufacture of gas to even any-' thing we can import at a cost sufficiently limited to enable the undertaking ta be brought into 1 operation," :. r-.■■'■