SUPREME COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 71, 2 July 1910, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.

THE SHEEP-STEALING CASE.

'(Before his Honor Mr. Justice Chapman)

The hearing of the charges of alleged sheep-stealing against A. P. Wood and S. Applebv was resumed yesterday. Mr. T. S. Weston, with him Mr. H. Weston, appeared for the Crown, and Mr. U. Spence for the accused.

Detective Boddam, who had given evidence on the previous day, was crossexamined. Wood did not say to Bayly that if he (Bayly) were going to go further with the case he would retain the sheep. It was Wood's manner and the action of the man with him, that made him remark, "I don't want any funny business." He was positive the rushes a'bout the gap in the fence had been trodden down. Witnesses going to see this could obtain a perfect view of it without going close to the fence. II the sheep had been through he would expect to find woo] on the wires. There was none, however. This closed the case for the Crown. Mr. Spence called James McAllister, photographer, of Stratford, who deposed to having taken ■photographs of the various yards, gates and fences. When taking the photograph of the gap, as requested by Wood, he asked Wood if he wanted the whole of the gap, or'only portion of it. He said he wanted as much as he could get. Witness said, "Then you had better tread down those rushes, so that 1 can get a clear view." Wood did this. Treading down the rushes did not alter the gap, but merely gave him a clearer yiew of it. Cross-examined: He took the first set _of photographs on June 10. He was alone, Wood having told him on the previous flay, what photographs he required. On the nest occasion Wood was there, and so was Mr. Spence, besides Messrs Okey and Marchant. On the second occasion the gate "A" was "posed" for him, open the wrong way. Mr. Marchant opened it that way, without much difficulty, merely pu'shing it along the ground. There were other rushes besides those trodden down at his request. Oscar Bayly, recalled by his Honor, said that Kendall as a rule looked after /getting in the horses. Prior to his engagement other hired men got in the horses. He did not think he had even seen sheep in the yards. The horses ana i cows were brought in by gate "B" and the cows milked before the horses were chosen for the day, and the remainder turned out When this had been done the gate was opened, and the horses and cattle allowed to wander out. There would be no harm in Kendall allowing that .gate to remain open during the day.

Albert (Pickup Wood, one of the accused, said he was a sheepfarmer residing at Tututawa, six miles from Bayly's. Admitted the purchase of 528 mixed sheep on April 4th at Mr. King's Douglas yards. He left Douglas with the sheep that afternoon at 4 o'clock. Just before reaching Cowern's track he saw some neighbors going home from the sale. They sent their dogs ahead of witness' sheep to steady them down to him. While the dogs were going to the front they started to bark and that made the sheep rush past Anderson, who was just ahead, and some, of his sheep got in with Anderson's. 'I sent my boy back to inform me. I then rode ahead and arranged with Mr. Anderson to take the sheep on to Raikes', about two miles, and we would separate the sheep next morning. I then put mine into Watson's yards at the -junction of the Mangaehji road (Cowern's track) , and the East road. I then went home. Next morning I came out with Appleby and Joe Cullen, arriving at Watson's yards about half-.post seven. 1 counted the sheep out, and there were 402. I turned them over to Appleby, and told him to take,them along the road steadily until I should overtake him with those he was to get at Kaikes' yards.. Cullen and I drove on to Baikes. I got 36 sheep from Anderson. Just as we were about to leave, we saw a mob coming over the saddle, which would be about half a mile back, so we had to wait till this. mob got by—a full hour. We then left there with our sheep. Since then iv'e found out that mob was Willis'. When we arrived at where Appleby started with his sheep we met Appleby, and he said "I think Iv'e lost some sheep." I asked him, "How do you know?" and he .said Joe Young had'told him Asked him where was the mob I had already given him. and he said "I put them in Mr. Bayly's yards." Asked him," What for?" and he said "To let Herby Gedge pass with some." I then told him to take these sheep, and that we would go back towards Douglas to look for those Appleby lhad lost. Went back about half a mile, and went up a by-road called the Makuri road, but saw no sheep. We then came back, and caught Appleby up. We went on together to Bayly's yards, where the sheep were, arriving there about one o'clock. It was either a quarter to one or a quarter 1 past one o'clock. He had left Appleby on the saddle at about twelve o'clock. I count-1 ed the sheep, once or twice, without] "racing" them, hut did not get a correct count. Appleby bv this time was at the yards with his 35 sheep. Opened the gates to count the sheep then in the yards on to the road, and those on the Toad ran in. Counted the whole lot on to the road, and there were 490. Said to Appleby, "Your'e a lovely driver," or "a beautiful driver.' Youv'e lost thirtyeight sheep." L' ipleby wenfi home, and Cullen and I 1 night the mob home, where he count ' the mob through a gate. There v. re 490. Early next morning I sent Appleby to catch the mob which had passed*me at Raike's vard the dav before, but he had no luck. My brother, Cullen, and I earmarked the sheep that day. His earmark was a "tip off, and a slit." (witness gave a demonstration of his marking with the shears.) I turned the sheen into a paddock that night. I remember seeing the ram while we were ear-marking. I wasn't surprised, because it was such an old ram, and I thought he had been shoved in with the old ewes. The ram was 'contrary,' and the wrong far was snipped first. Then seeing my mistake. T snipped the other ear. Between a week an 1 a fortnight afterwards T found 34 of the sheep Applebv lost, so that I was still four short. On the 1 fit~.li when Bavly arrived, we had mustered practically all the sheep T had bought at 'Douglas, for Newton King had sent me a wire that he was bringing a buver to insneet them. Some time in the afternoon Mr. Baylv and his son arrived at my place. Mr. Baylv said, "1 think there are some of my sheep amonsrst yours." T asked him when he had lost thorn, and what sort they were. He said "T lost them the dav vnu brought those sheep in from Douglas." i and said there were 20 or 30. I said,| "T don't think Iv'e got them, Mr. Bay-] lv. But if thevr'e here, they'll be in the vard." T said, "Could they get out of your paddock," and he said "No." and he also said they had not been in the

yard. He went and inspected them, and after a time he caught a ram. He asked me where I had bought it, and I said At Dougias." He said "If* „,y mm." After another few minutes, he caught a wether, that which Mr. Godkin churned. He asked me where I had got that one rom it 1 glanced at it, and replied, "i think rom McMillan. He said, "It is Godkin s wether J said, "I don't think m>. He looked a bit longer through lie sheep, and then instructed Oscar to take the ra,n home. I refused, saying If you can find your wethers here/vou can take the ram." Bayly then said, lut these two sheep by themselves." He then passed a remark that he thought there were more of his sheen on my place and that I knew more about them than I cared to admit. [ said, '"Do you think I stole vour wethers?" He said, "If the cap fits you. young chap you can wear it." We were both getting pretty annoyed by this time. He asked me for a further muster next morning and we arranged to muster at e>ght o clock in the morning. Mr. Bavly, nis two sons, and Kendall, arrived "on the Sunday morning, and we mustered all the sheep in the paddocks they wanted mustered, and the shep were brought down to the yards at about eleven o'clock. Oscar Bayly asked me when we were going up the hill, "Why didn't your boy shut that middle gate?" His Honor pointed out that Oscar Bayly had not been questioned on this point. Mr. Spence said it was due to an oversight.

Witness continued that when the Baylys had gone through these sheep Bayiy pointed to some others and asked they be mustered. I said "You don't want to see those; you saw them last night." He said he did, and they were put in the yards again. After Y few minutes Oscar caught one, and asked where I got it. I said "At Douglas." He asked, "Did you buy anv sheep off Jack Lucena." I said, "If Morgan' Richards works for him, I did." Theyj picked out eight, all told, and were about an hour in doing it, catching! sheep, looking, and examining, and so] forth. When they had picked out thei eight, they put the eight and the two' sheep already picked together. I asked | Bayly if he had sold any sheep to cor-j respond with these, and he said, "No, I' have not." I

What impressed that remark on yos? —He had sold some.

Witness continued: Bayly then went home. Whilst he was getting on his horse, I walked over to'him, and said, "These sheep may be sold to-morrow, ( and if you think there are any more of yours in there, pull them out" Just as we hid put the sheep in their paddocks Herbert Gedge came to the'whare. We talked about general tilings, *nd Gedge made a remark about -Bayly having been up. I asked him if he had seen any sheep in the paddock on the morning he had gone out for his. He said, "The only lot I'saw was the mob Stan was driving." By "Stan" he meant Appleby. I then turned round to Appleby, and asked him whose sheep he was driving and what he was doing in there? Appleby said "Our sheep that I was driving got out into the paddock through the gate." 'They went away then. In. Stratford young Bayly gave him a letter, ♦siring for a further muster. The wit-j ness gave evidence of Bayly's subsequent visit. Bavly said, "I want you to muster that face," and I saii "No, T won't." He said "You won't?" «7id I said "No."i Bayly, who was angry, turned round to his son Oscar, and all I heard said was "go." Oscar went away and came back with the detective. In the intervening period one of ten sheep claimed by Bayly'had got out, and witness put one into the paddock to show Bayly he had one to correspond very closely with that claimed as GodkhrV When the detective came, he explained .who he was, and asked if he could-have a muster of, a certain face. Witness said "Yes," and allowed one of his boys to go with them. Witness and liis uncle .went too, and i helped. Detective Bodcwm produced a piece of brown paper, and said he was| I claiming all sheep bearing an earmark! I drawn on the paper, and which he saidj (was Bayly's. The sheep in the race were i then brought in. Detective Boddam, i pointing to the vendors earmarks on' the brown paper folio, fold him to see ■if any of those earmarks were on the ten sheep. Witness said he could see none of those marks oh the sheep. Then they inspected the mob which had been i mustered, and picked out ten more. That took them the best part of an hour. On , two different occasions Baylv called Dei tective Boddam oYer-.to, where he was holding a sheep, and they both had a look iat the earmark, and Detective Boddam jsaid, "Oh, take it." Boddam said they ' were claiming all sheep with that particular earmark, which- he said was JBayj ly's. Witness said, "It's not," and the i detective said, "It is." Witness said, "I was in the inspector's office yesterday, and Bayly's mark was-back and front of each ear." .When they started to take away the sheep, he beckoned the detective over, and asked him if he knew if Mr. Bayly was sroing further and he answered "no." Witness also asked Bayly if, in the event of his -faking the sheep, ( he was goin« to make a case of it. Bayilv said "That's my'business." Witness replied, "If you are, I'm going to retain the sheep." Detective Boddam turned round, and said "Look here, young chap, no funnv business, or I will make a criminal case out of it." The result was that he let them take the sheep away. He had marked these nineteen sheep the same as he had marked all the rest. . Bavly's earmark had/been cut because it had been placed too close to the tip of the ear. He -had'.ofltside the count, several wethers from the mob which he had purchased that dajj at Douglas, and some of them had Bayly's.mark and the i marks o r . the people who sold them to witness. One of these sheep had Hine's, Bayly's, and another mark. This one had been amongst those inspected by Mr. Baylv, but he had not pointed it out. Witness gave 'lis conversation with Barron, who "asked "Have you recovered the sheep yon lost?" He answered, "No, but I believe they're out ' Whanaa' wav." Barron said "What did you b'uv all those old ewes for?" Wit- , nes« replied. "They're a dealer's lotewes, wethers, and lambs." He then said "Did von huv some wethers 1 and he replied. '"Yes. and s-mie good wethers, bonny wethers. I got them cheap. Barron remarked "That will help towards vouv In-." Regarding the eon-j : vernation with Xorri,. he remembered the hitter saving. '~A~plcby must have <rot the sheep mixed in Bayly's paddock, and he replied "Yes." He went to Bayly's and asked Oscar if lie vnightsee the vards. Oscar gave him permission, and said '"'it looks prettv bad for you chaps," •ind witness said "It looks a, bit dark, jbut time will tell." When he was In the yards w'th the mob, on Stli April, the I gate "A" was right open to the fence, hi what was said to he the proper way.

Cross-ex'-imined by Mr. C. H. Weston 1 : He-had two employees then, but only, one now. The property was of a thousand odd acres, and he! kept 1500 or 1600 sheep. It was in every way probable that if any of his>ieep got amonjrst Bayly's tliev would b'oomr mixed. He didn't suppose Mr 1 , 'Bayly was the sort of

man to claim a sheep that he did not think belonged to him. He was prepared to admit that Bayly's sheep got mixed with his in the paddock, lt was quite evident that there must be some of his sheep still about the country. After Bayly claimed the sheep, and Willis had returned 34 sheep, he asked Willis if he had any more, and he said he hadn't any more.

Mr. Weston: I want to be quite frank i with you, Mr. Wood. On this depends a good deal. Your actions, what steps' you took to find those 34 sheep, means; the truth or the untruth of your story. ! Witness said lie did not see it that | way. It would be quite impossible for | him to describe the earmarks of the 34! sheep he had lost. At the time he mus-1 tered for Mr. Newton King's buyer he; had not taken any out of the sheep he' had bought at Douglas, but he had. [allowed others to become mixed with them. Bayly came that day. The flock was 7iot changed between the 17th and 26th, or at any rate, there was no alteration of any importance. He had not! expected to find a ram amongst the sheep he had bought at Douglas. He: had earmarked the sheep he had bought) from McMillan, about three weeks before j April 6. He did not think it would be/ extraordinary for the sheep claimed as! Godkin's to show coagulated blood on ; its ears if it had been earmarked threei weeks before, because it suffered from eczema, and this would hold the blood. ■ He did not consider Appleby's statement 11 to him that his sheep 'had got into Bay-|i ly's paddock solved the problem, because:' of the distance they had gone. Apple- i by told him they were just getting out.| His Honor: Did'Appleby give you anyi' indications as to how far they had gone?.; Witness: No, he did not. |

I To Mr. Weston: Appleby had assured him that he had not taken any of Bay-! ly's sheep. As Bayly had taken so much: i time in sorting his sheep and said he did, , not bother to ride to Bayly's place and tell him what Appleby had said to himj I about the sheep getting into Bayly's pad-1 i dock. Looking back, in tlie light of what had happened since, still he did not [think he should have done so. He did] not think the matter important enoughi to tell Mr. Bayly and Detective Boddam, when the latter saw them together.] Gate "A" was opehswhen witness was ini Bayly's yards, and was open when he| left. He had photographs taken of this| gate because it was stated in the lower j court that this gate was shut and would only open inwards. He thought | the case was going to centre round this gate. He did not say to Oscar Bayly that "it looked bad fo"r the boy." Last year he bought off McCool about 150 ewes and lambs. Witness explained the incident related by Norris on the previous day. in which the witness had inferred that Wood had removed some of his sheep about this time last year. Stanley Appleby, the second accused, stated that he had only had ten months' experience in sheep. On the way out to- Douglas on sth April he had seen, sheep in Bayly's paddock away over by the back fence. Half were in the home paddock and half in the sheep paddock adjoining. What drew his attention was the presence of angora goats in the latter- paddock. Whilst steadying his mob near Bayly's he noticed some of the sheep at the rear going back towards Douglas. Soon after Gedge passed the first time he saw two dogs come out of, Bayly's place. He drove them off the road. He was in front of the Bayly homestead for about half an hour. He had only one dog. About fifty ov "ighty sheep broke back. He sent the dog after them, but did not think the dog heu(«-d •them all back. Barleyman passed nim about half a mile from the homestead'. Some time afterwards Mr. Joseph Young came from the direction of Douglas and asked him if he had lost some sheen. [Told him he couldn't say definitely, and Young said he had seen a mob going over the saddle towards Dou'tlas. Went back to find them, leaving his sheep on' the road fairly well together. Met two men coming in from Douglas, and these said they had not seen any stray sheep' on the road, but that there was a mob coming along behind them. Thought these would probably be those lor which; Wood and Cullen had gone back, and'| went to meet them. They were already;' late. Found these sheep to be a mob of lambs driven by Gedge. He then determined to yard his sheep at Bayly's. Sf this time they had scattered again, neatly three quarters of a'mile. Prior' toyarding, he called, but received w answer, so he rode up to the house. Saw no one about. On returning to the; road", he saw some sheep mustered on Bayly's' property about half a mile from the homestead, in the direction of Tututawa., He yarded the bulk of the sheep, shut the gate, and went after some that kid got away. Some of the sheep went from the front yard to the back yard and, some were out in the paddock. He had, never been in the yards before. Went down the road and through the fence into the paddock to head them off. .He~ had to do all the work himself, for the ( do* wouldn't work for nim. He saw mosheep near the fence . Nearly all the sheep had got into the paddock when he! headed them, and had spread along a dis-| tance of about twelve chains. ,He went: through the sheep to open the gate, and found it had been pushed open about three feet in the wrong direction. Opened the gate into the yard, put the sheep in, and then closed the gate. He did not see gate "A," and did .not go through the yards to the road Witness | described the incident with Gedge. Then he went back towards Douglas, and artWood and Cullen near Watsons yards. Reported the loss of some sheep, and Wood handed over the thirty or toity sheep to him. caught him up and went on ahead to Bayly s. VZ witness arrived with the sheep,! these ran in to the yard with the Wood counted them all out on to the, road. Wood and Cullen were in the yard, and witness held the sheep on the road. Heard Wood say, "You're a beautiful | driver, Stan. You've got two sheep less than when you left Watson's yards. , The remark was satirical, for they «ad 34 sheep now that were not there when) he left Watson's. Next day Wood sent him to look for the 38 sheep that wit-1 ness had lost. He went as far as Whangamomona, but found no trace of/ them. Some days later, he heard the' sheep were at. Willis'. Found 34 sheep at the Kolmratahi pound, but they had not beeri impounded. Witness had seen several of the earmarks on the sheep bought bv Wood at Douglas, and recognised them here. He remembered Ba> iy askinw him about a ram. and his answer was as giren by Bayly in Ins evidence. Bayly commented, "It's strange ttatm), sheep should have been missed just nfl*r vou went along the road." Witness s ud, Bayly asked him if he had seen anv sheep in his paddock that morning/and he replied ;<Yes«j| about forty of them alongside, theback, fence when I was going out towards Douglas." He added that he, J.od not seen them when he was coming back.| He corroborated Wood's version of how, the latter first became aware that witness had been in Bayly's paddoe«. Bemembered telling Detective Boddam that] he had take* sheep out of Bayly's pad-

dock on April sth. The officer had asked, "■How did they get out?" ana hu had replied, "They pushed the gate open." Mr. F. Bayly, who was standing alongside, said "That is impossible,' Appleby," and witness replied, "Well, that is how they got out." Detective Boddam then asked why he had not told that on the 26th April, and he replied that he had not been asked. On leaving, the detective said to him, "You'll have to tell a better tale than that if you wish to save your neck." Witness replied, "Well, that is the truth."

j Cross-examined by Mr. T. S. Weston: jHe did not see any sheep in Bayly's paddock near the house at 12 o'clock, . when his sheep got into the paddock. [There was a mob mustered then half ; a mile away. He could not account for ' the ram or Godkin's sheep being ) amongst AVood's sheep. The sheep could only have passed from the front yard into the back yard beyond through gate "A". Gate "B" had been pushed open. There was no one at home at Bayly's 'when he drove the sheep out of the home paddock. He had not noticed the ' ram or Godkin's sheep amongst the mob I that he was driving, and had no idea of how they came on Wood's place. Wood said he had bought them, and that was all he had bothered about it. He had had no experience amongst sheep, and wouldn't be able to pick them up. j Re-examined: The sheep mustered on' the hill in Bayly's at about twelve! o'clock were a big mob. He did not suggest that these were the forty sheep j he had seen in the morning, although the forty might have been there. To the foreman: When he went up to the house he did not pass through the yards. „ ''

Henry Okey, M.P., sheep farmer, who ins had extensive dealing in sheep and iad driven large numbers of stock, renembered visiting Bayly's and Wood's ( iroperties. Bayly's fence was generally j i good one, but there was one particulary weak place in it. The post had been, lulled and the bottom wire was about ; ;wo feet from the logs which had been •oiled into the opening. The logs looked is though they had not been disturbed, [here was nothing to stop sheep from valking through the gap. With a mob >£ sheep straggling along the road loundary at that season of the year a •am would be very likely to follotf along he fence and get'through the fence. He iad had experiences of that kind. In ;he circumstances of the presjmt case, le would not have hesitated to put his nob of travelling sheep in Bayly's yard.! The gate was not one that would readly shut close. He had opened it "the v'rong wav" uphill without much •rouble. He cpjilrl do it if he were on lorsebaek. Tf'there won; 000 sheep in ;he yards, one got through the gate, :he gateway would gradually be widened as the others rushed after it. Ihis ;ate was not visible to a man putting sheep in at the front gate. In most of ;he sheep in question, Bayly's earmark tvas still intact, and in the others a portion of Bavly's earmark was still i-isible. It had been cdt because placed too close to the tip of, the ear. | After having examined the sheep, Mr, Okey- said the marking by Woods was! quite legitimate, and there was aot/hing to his experienced eye that was unusual; Et very often happened that an old ram wot in amongst a line of cull ewes. This ram would not be very noticeable. This was a Leicester, and Leicester rams did not show their masculinity very plainly. As to' Godkin's ram, there was nothing remarkable about it, except that it "would die on your hands if you aon't finish soon." He had seen Wood's sheep '■ards, and the marking was much the snme as in these nineteen. Some had more ear cut off than these. The wether* were as good U Bayly's, and were verv similar in appearance. It was unlikely that the ordinary sheep farmer would be able to .pick Bayly's from Wood's, but the breeder of them would. These wethers now penned by Woods outside were a fair sample of the wethers fie bougfit. Cross-examined: fie had had sheep all life life. He had I'oOff sheep now, and had liad more, sometimes less. He thought these nineteen sheep were Bayly's, and that when Wood's got out of the yard into the home paddock it was only reasonable that these sheep would) run to Woods', and escape with them. : His theory was that tfn's happened. He would have admitted' to Bayly that his man had been in his paddock. A man would' hardly notice fresh sheep in his mob unless he were looking fbf them. When a man was counting he looked for' numbers onlv, and' not for sex. "Re-examined: In culling 1 , sheep were frequently raddled. v | Williami Folev, laborer, residing atj Punewhakau, remembered going to I Douglas on April 5, and meeting Herbert Godge about ten chains on the Puniwhakau side of Mr. Bayly's. Did not see any sheep at Bayly's, but' he was hurrying to catch a "train. Met the two accused lat Watson's yard's, about': three and a k half mites from Bayly's. They had about fortv sheep on the road, travelling -towards Bayly's place. That was about < twenty minutes past 12 j o'clock, a'ndrit would take them an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half to reach Bayly's yards.

Joseph Henry Bownter, sheep farmer, at Huiroa. one of the vendors of the sheep at the April Douglas sale; said the sheep he sold were Romney-Lin-colhs, and some showed' to on,e breed, some to the other. They were similar sheep' to Bayly's, but older. He had been sheep-farming in all classes of sheep for twenty-five years. Frequently, after buying cull ewes at a sale, he had discovered a ram amongst them when he got home. He had alio bought rams' in a' line of wethers. He had looked] very carefully through the sheep inj question, and was of opinion that there' had been no intentional mutilation of Bayly's mark. In most of them Wood could have cut out the whole of Bayly's earmark without exceeding his own reg-! istered earmark. Wood's wethers, shown outside the Court, were larger sheep than those of Bayly's, and of a similar stamp. He would not be able to pick out Bayly's sheep from Wood's in travelling along the road. He had had ex-l perience with these gates hung on wire loops, and they were very unsatisfactory. Sheep pushed them open, and dif-l ferent lots became mixed.

To Mr. Weston: Tf his sheep got mixed with another man's without his knowled <>e, he would do notliiii<_' about it. If he knew they were boxed lie would advise the owner of the others. David McMillan, farmer, of Puni-w-hakau, had sold Wood some wethers in January at the Douglas sale. They were all raddled on the top of the shoulder. "Godkin'* wether" was a very similar sheep, and one of its ears was marked very similarly to his. Cross-examined: There would be very little chance of there being coagulated blood on the earmarks pf these sheep (sold by him to Wood) in April last; that is, if the sheen were earmarked when bought. The raddlin? on Godkin's sheep was like the raddling on his in color only.

George Albert Marchaut. farmer, residing in Cardiff for thirty years past, with "a long experience of farming, chair-

man of the Stratford County Council,, knew the locality, which ,vus a thickly settled district!. H: i visited Bayly's on June 23. Near tll.> gap he had'seen ' imprints of sheep's left, bat not very close to it on account of the vegetation having been trampled down. Gate "A" would open either way. It was really only a hurdle, hung on rings of wire. There was nothing in the earmarking of Bayly's nineteen sheep to indicate that Wood had intentionally mutilated Bayly's mark. The reverse was the I case. He had evidently taken care to [preserve it. In some it was impossible I for Wood to put his mark on without touching Bayly's. The two lots of siieep I were very similar, and Wood's were the. better. He thought he would have noticed the fat wethers, had that number Igot into a mob of his store sheep. I Re-examined by Mr. Spence: He would' :not readily have picked out Bayly's j . wethers from a Me such as Wood's, penned outside Vae Court.

(Robert /"Willis, a sheep farmer at Kohuratahi, bought 332 sheep at Douglas on April 4, and when he was driving towards, Whangamomona on the next day there was a mob ahead of him and a mob,behind. He lost about 23 or 24 lambs on the road. He picked up some sheep on the road, near Cowern's track, and noticed this first at Pohokura on jthe second day's journey. Wood had since claimed them. Having heard Wood {had ''Ost sheep, he telephoned to Puniwnaknu to let Wood know he had these. JH<: had since recovered fifteen of his lambs, and had given up hope of get- ; tinir the* rest back. The other mobs had doubtless picked up his, and Wood's, too, if he lost some about there. 1 i To Mr. Weston: His was a mpb of i lambs. The strangers were old ewes.| Besides, his had a blue-raddle mark. He. himself went to Wood's farm to tell| him the sheep were there. When Woodj saw him a fortnight ago it was to ask him to come here as a witness, and not to enquire if he had found any more sheep. Wood might have asked that, but he had no recollection of it. William Home Fargrayes Young, Partner in the auctioneering firm of Young, Hobbs and Co., in Stratford, lorj many years a farmer, and a stock sales-. man" for thirteen years, deposed that at a sale of culls 'it would not be unusual j to find a ram amongst a line of cullj ewes or cull wethers. He gave a recent instance. The ram outside was a "scrub-1 her," which, would be very likely to be sold in a cull sale, and not necessarily | noticeable in a mob. From his examination he would-sny there was no 9iig-| gestion of Wood having intentionally mutilated Baylv's earmark. His marking here was consistent with the ear-, marking on his farm. Bayly's .mark'* could legallv have been cut out by Wood. ", ! This closed the case for the defence. | At 5.50 the Court adjourned to 7.301 p.m. I I At the evening session, Mr. Sponce, counsel for the defence, addressed the jury. He claimed that the defence had torn to tatters and utterly demolished the base suspicions upon which the whole case of the Crows. Tested. The Crown Prosecutor had opened by expressing the f deepest sympathy for accused, and then I inconsistently &t about in a most draImatic manner to weave a web of ground-! less and uncalled-'or suspicion, in which; ■he invited and encouraged the jury to; 'involve these two young men. Thej Crown had set out to prove several facts, which they had absolutely failed to do. i The evidence of the very important witness Barron, for instance, who was to have repeated a conversation in wnich Wood almost convicted himself, fell for short of what the Crown Prosecutor had outlined it would be. There was the dramatic exhibit of the rashes, uhe I broken reed upon which the Crown had relied to suggest a visit by Wood in the dead. of night to cover the traces of a crime—a- reed shattered and swept aside bythe"matter-of-fact evidence of j the Stratford photographer, who told them the rushes had been trodden down' at his request to enable him to plioto-' graph this gap in the fence sworn to by the Baylys as absolutely sb«>»n-proof. I But for the photographer, thert <uld| I have been another of these baseless,, uni just and unfair suspicions. The jury* would find, he felt sure, that there was I absolutely no proof that Appleby had, stolen the sheep, and it was unreasonable to suppose that the lad would have; knowingly driven Bayly's sheep in amongst his 'own in the middle of, the' day, and then have gone back alonsr the | road, leaving these sheep, the evidence,' of his crime, in full view of the Baylys. J And here again was another cruel'suggestion by the Crown Prosecutor, that! Appl"by and Wood were both in the yards together at the time the sheep were stolen. The young man Foly had completely disproved this allegation by testifying that at the moment Appleby fed placed the sheep in the yards Wood was several miles away. Counsel here j appealed- to the jury as to whether it i was likely that Wood would place himself and his liberty in the hands of this j boy. Then' again, there was the suggestion' that when Barlevman passed the sheep on tlie road opposite Bayly's in the morning no one was in charge of them, and the jury was left to believe that the accused Appleby was then amongst Bayly's sheep—a suggestion i which had been completely disproved by Bnrle"man himself, who swore to seeling the boy sitting on the side of the j road and jesting the sheep. Counsel pointed out several other instances that had failed to establish what they set out to prove. It was not reasonable to j suppose, as the Crown invited them to l suppose, that Wood was a criminal be- j cause he had not detected these sheep amongst his own, for it had been proved they were not to be so easily detected as thev had been led by the Crown toj suppose. In fact, 'there was evidence to i show they were not inferior, but superior; to Bavly's. The Crown had most de-' cidedly suggested in opening the o<i«p that the ears had been dreadfully muti-j lated, but that premise had been ut-j terlv dispelled hy'the defence. The ear-j marking was consistent with absolute honesty, and nothing was more likely to psfablish AVood's innocence than the exhibit of the ears of those very sheep that he was alleged to have stolen. Again, would a thief have kept on his place a valueless ram and a diseased wether, so easily identifiable, and capable of being produced as evidence against himself? A little tact on the nart of Bayly when he saw Wood the first time would have prevented a great (deal of this trouble, but he Beemed to .have treated Wood as a thief from the outset. The jury had seen Mr. Bayly , angry even in the box, when there was surely nothing to be ansry about. How ■ much more would he be demonstrative 'when face to face with the man to whom he said. "If the cap fits yon, young chap,'wear it." The Crown had nuite"failed to prove that Bayly's gates were closed. Tt had been proved conclusively that this gate "A" could be onened both wavs, could be onened by isheep pushing against it, whilst the Crown had put forward it could he opened one wav onlv, and that farm stock could not push it onen. This <rnte was not proved to have been closed at

, ■ ; , r ■■ ■ ~—aj , all. In fact tfte only evidence wast tlhat of Wood that Ike had found it open, and of Appleby, who said it must have town open. It had been proved, despite Bayly's denial, that he (Bayly) had sold other sheep corresponding with these, actually to Wood himself, and to others, and that Wood had bought from Glasgow sheep bearing that mark at mat very April sale. Counsel went carefully, , but concisely, through the evidence, and contended that the story of both accused I had been unshaken, was reasonable and feasible, and would withstand anv atI tack by the Crown. Tt was not sufficient | for the jury to find these men guilty if they found they were careless, but only I if they had no reasonable doubt that J they were criminals, "ilr. Spence reI ferred to the somewhat unfortunate | feeling that apparently existed over ihe j case, as evidenced by the spiteful remark of young TCnvlv <ind the anoent I quarrel resurrected by Norm. Counsel concluded an hour's address by appealing to the jury to discard all they Had beard or read outside, and to deai only with the evidence that had been addressed in this Court, remembering that it was better that a thousand gnrity persons should go free than that one innocent man should suffer. And, lastly, be hoped that the deliberations of the jury would lead frhem to an honest, a just and a true verdict, but no verdict would be either honest, or just, or true, which did not at once satisfy the reasonable scruples of the severest judgment and yet leave undisturbed and unvexed the tenderest conscience among them. The Crown Prosecutor did not address the jury. His Honor will sum up the case this morning, when the Court resumes at 10 o'clock.