SUPREME COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 163, 1 July 1908, Page 4

SUPREME COURT.

XEW PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY, (liefore his Honor Mr. Justice Edwards) CIVIL SESSIONS. The civil business set down for the present Xew Plymouth session of the Supreme Court was disposed of yesterday. Only one case came before the Court, and that \v»» settled before tile plaintill had completed his case. APPEAL CASE. The appeal case of Xolan, Tonks and Co. v, Itobert McUallm was adjourned I till the next sitting of the Court, on the application of Mr. C. Wright.

/ A KAIMATA. CASK. . | /Mr. D. 31. J-indlay stated that a settlement had bfi-ii arrived at ill nie Mae of tieorge Jlackie, of lvaiimita. i ,'creamery manager, v. William Jones,] ' of kaimata, farmer,a claim fur Coifl dauuigesi for alleged slander, l'lair.tiir was represented by Mv. l'indlay, with Sun -Mr. H. Thomson, ami defendant bv Mr. Spence. Jlr. ispenee then read the following statement:—While the defendant denies that lie has at any time slandered the plaintiff, lie nevertheless desires to state that any sm-li imputation as that contained in the statement of claim, namely, that the plaintiff tampered with defendant's milk tests or any test is without foundation, and that defendant also to state tlnit lie does not believe that the plaintiff was guilty of any such practice, and the defendant agrees to pay the sum of £3O towards tie plaintiffs' costs.

THE RECENT BUSH FIRES. | Charles ilusker, farmer, Uruti, sued "Richard John Xicholls. farmer, Uruti, for £7OO, damages for destruction of a liouse through lire spreading, allegedly from defendant's property. The following jury was empanelled: L. C. Sladden, C. Roberts, X. Parkin, E. J. Smith, F. Newell, A. E. May, F. C. Tribe, J. Hartley, VV. lligelow, 11. J. Cock, E. L. Avery, C. Ansford. Jlr. Sladden was chosen foreman. Charles Musker deposed that he owned sections 13 and 14 in the Upper Waits ra ■ 5.1)., and defendant owned sections 3. 4, and 7, adjoining. Witness's house was on a rise, above defendant's property. There was a valley between witness's house and defendant's woolshod. It was au ordinary bush clearing, with plenty of grass, many dead standing pine free.-:, and also a number of large logs lying about. A little before Sunday, January 19th, witness had noticed fires around Nicholl's woolshed, especially on witness's side. The fires were in logs. On January 19th the wjnd was blowing from tile south, increasing in the afternoon. About 4 p.m. witness and two of ' his men were milking in the cowshed. The cowshed had no sides to it. They saw the smoke gaining-in volume, and they saw it would come their way. There were no fires to the south other than on Nicholl's property. The cattle that had been grazing in the valley came running up toward the shed. A little later they saw the fire travelling from standing tree to standing tree. Witness and the men (named Smith and Dew) went to the house. Tliey made whatever preparations they could against the house catching fire. When they reached the house there was no fire hi'twcci witness's logging-up paddock on the north and the house. The line of lire

coming up the valley from -the defendant's property was from seventy to one hundred yards wide. The sparks and smoke grew very dense about the house, former began to fire the house on the portion facing defendant's property. A fire in one part of the roof was put out, but another started in the portion above one of the Wdrooms. They could uot master it, and ihe house was destroyed. Xext to nothing was saved. The logging-up paddock formerly mentioned was very clear, with only -i few largo logs.. Next morning witness saw defendant, on the former's property. Witness said to him: "This is a bail job. It puts me in a funny hole. finanetttlly. 1 suppose you know a man lighting fires is responsible for the damage done." Defendant replied that he had heard something of the sort, and admitted lighting fires on his plarv. Witness proposed that defendant should-' guarantee a loan of €2OO. Defendant ( said his father would do the right thing, j They then parted on the understanding I that witness should have an immediate i guarantee for a loan of £2ftU, and that' defendant's father would do the "right* thing." About a fortnight later they saw each other again, wli-mi defendant said he had heard from his father, and defendant was to guarantee the .€2OO. Nothing was said about the u right thing.*' Witness was disappointed and did not know what to du, so he went back. The house had been built of pit* sawu timber by witness' father, witness' brother, himself and another workman. Witness did not know the exact cost of erecting the rooms, in addition to bathroom and storeroom. The house had been built on a different site, and about a year ago removed to the site it was on when destroyed. A list of the things destroyed was put in. Cross-examined by Mr. tindlay, plaintiff said he saw lires on the land north of defendant's woolshed on January 18th. Witness was not aware whether there was any fire on Hunter's property, next to defendant's. Hunter's place was not in the valley. Witness had some white woods on the section south of his house, but lie bad had an "absolutely! beautiful" burn ou it. It was possible, for a fire to smoulder in one of these 1 logs for some time and then burn up in I a high wind. There had not been a lire 1 on witness' farm that summer except in the paddock to the north of his house, i The distance between witness' house and defendant's woolshed was about fifty chains, and the fire travelled-over it mi about half-an-hour. Thcrq was no fhv in the paddock north of his house either on Friday or Saturday evening. On Saturday morning the few» sticks left had to be piled together to get a [iu. It was out on the Saturday evening. Mrs. Alice Musker, wife of plaintiffs gave eorrol>orativc evidence concerning the approach of the fire from the direction of Xicbolls' woolshed and the ignition of the house from sparks and burning twigs. They did all they could to put the fire out, but found that impossible. so contented themselves with getting out a few of their belongings. To Mr. Findlay: The wind was from the south, as on the two days previously, but it grew stronger on the Sunday. The fire from their (Musker's) property swept through Miller's. On the Saturday Mr. Musker sent to ascertain whether the fire had spread to Murray's, but it had not. The lire that came across the back of the milking-shed was ; three weeks later. Xieholls' woolshed was easily visible from their house, i There was not a great deal of lire in ■ their sections on Saturday night. There bad been a good deal of "dead' ? smoke hanging about during the week. She had had nothing to do with the insurance on the furniture. In answer to the foreman, his Honor said the jury had nothing to do with the insurance money, but to adjudicate between these two fanners. John Dew and William Smith corroborated the evidence of the previous witnesses. The* bitter, in his examina-j tion-in-chief, said he visited the scene on the day after the fire with Dew. Xieholls was there. Dew a-kvd him. "Do you see what your tire has done to Mr. Musker's house?'* Xieholls aaid "Yes," and asked for Musker. Then he walked off t*i meet Musker, who was coming across from a neighbor''?. Cross-examin-ed. he said he was pretty well all over the farm mi Sunday, but saw no fire other than that in Xichoils". Hurry McK'enzie, farmer, in the I'rnii district, who had prov s ou-!; owned and occupied section l.>. Adjoining the northward boundary <>f Musker's. and now on a farm two sections away, gave evidence that the wind oil the 10th was from the snuih and that il increased in the afternoon. He weni lo the ruins of the house next morning The timber and logs between that >po; and Xichoils' woolshed were still burning. Tn his opinion, and bearing in mind Lhe direction of the wind, it would be for a fire from Musker 1 s *»addoek to have burned down and been the i n h e

taken au insurance risk ol £250 on it, or two-thirds of the value. The Court adjourned for lunch. Wlien the Court resumed, ilr. Findlay, for the defence, announced thiit during the interval a settlement had been arrived at, that the defendant should pay JC4IH) to the plaintill, with costs on the middle scale. His Honor remarked that unless Mr. Fimlhiy felt that he 'could displace the case presented bv the plaintill', he had made a very wise .settlement, for on th.evidence so far adduced lie thought the jurv could have come to only one conclusion. lie thought £4OO a reasonable amount of damages. Judgment for £IOO was entered by consent, and the Court adjourned till | this morning at 10.30 a.m.