STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 205, 18 January 1913, Page 3

STRATFORD NEWS.

I il'iiiin Our IGrident Kcporter). DODGED IN THE DARK A l.v-law iase. in v. hich tiiere was a direct'conflict of evidence, occupied the SM. Court yesterday. The borough inspector charged Joseph ft. Graddock with drivinir an unlimited vehicle by night in a borough street, lie declared that he saw the defendant driving, with his wife, in the gig, and that he refused to stop" when accosted. John 0. Cook stated that he saw the defendant driving only a minute or so before the inspector met hi in, and the inspector spoke to him oi: the matter. For the defence. Crad(iock -aid that on the night in question hi- wife waited for him at the Crown Stables, was in the gig when he got there. She drove, which was quite usual, In- wife being an expert horsewoman, fond of driving, and in the habit of drivinir him to and from the post office, where' he was employed. The pony and crjjr were her own property —a present from himself. George Toms, a fellow postal officer, swore to the correctness of this evidence, and Xewton Julian, ernploved at the stables, deposed that it : was Mrs. Graddock who ordered the ' pony to be put in, and who was driving \j;hen they left the stable. Mr. Fookes, who appeared-for the Borough Council in the matter, said that even if Graddock was not driving, he, being the husband of the woman who was driving, must be assumed to be in charge of the vehicle. Mr. Spence said that if Mr. Fookes could show authority for that he would ad- ' vise his client to plead guilty. But the - in-pcctor had made a genuine mistake, j Mr-. Graddock drove the vehicle DO times j to the defendant's once, and was drivinir on this occasion. The defendant had been prepared to plead guilty, except that conviction would give nim a "black mark" in the public service. As for Cook, lie placed no reliance on his evidence at all. and considered him deserving of a reprimand for swearing to evidence which he based on assumption. The Magistrate said that either a mistake had been made, or there was deliberate perjury. It was unbelievable that perjury would be committed in a case of such minor importance. As the evidence was not conclusive either way, he would dismiss the case without prejudice and without costs. His Worship also stated that in this case it would have been wise for the defendant to have told the inspector. "You have sum- [ moned mo, and I'm going to defend the case, for it was mv wife, and not I, who was driving." It might occur, as in this case, that it would be bad for a civil service employee to have a prosecution entered against him. Or, in some cases a man might plead guilty to shield his wife, even though she were guiltv. But it was of little use to fight a case of this kind when one party or the other was guilty. The defendant should have notified the other side of the -mistake. LAND AGENT'S LICENSES Owing to a slight defect in the papers lodged, several local land agents were vesterdav refused licenses under the newAct. Mr. J. 11. Thompson's application wa- the only one in order, and he was duly licensed. The position seems rather involved, and the News representative obtained from eminent counsel a lucid explanation of the difficulty. Uhder the Land Agents Act. 1!)12. all persons or firms desiring registration under the Act are required to enter into a bond with His Majesty the King in the sum of £SOO. and with approved sureties. The Government are accepting most of the insurance companies is sureties under the bond, which is a guarantee that the agent for whom the bond is issued will faithfully observe the provisions of the Act in regard to trust, moneys, etc. The local agents hfive taken out a fidelity guarantee insurance policy with insurance companies having local representatives. and sought to lodge the policy for £.">oo along with the bond for £SOO executed by both the company and the applicant. But in the case of companies incorporated outside New Zealand the bonds had been executed by the attorney, without the formal declaration of power of attorney. The difficulty, of course, is easily surmounted, and in the course of the day Messrs. Webster, Dobson & Go. had their house dill}" set in order and the license granted.

STRAY PARAGRAPHS The Council of the Acclimatisation Society met oil Thursday to consider the question of making the coming shooting season a close season. In view of the small attendance, no decision was arrived at. It was mentioned that guns were busy already, ami that one man had shot a pheasant which was so tame as to feed wiih his fowls. Unfortunately tlic name of the transgressor could not be obtained. A voutli who was charged yesterday with a bleach of the borough by-laws was described by Sergeant McNecly as '■' the most impertinent youth I have ever struck.'* This youth has Avowed that he will ''blow up" the constable who served him with the summons, and a reported detonator incident suggests that some restraint should be used somewhere. Captain F. IT. Lanipen, lltli Regiment, haves to-dav to attend a class of instruction for officers of the Wellington Battalion at Pa'.mcrstoTi North. The class opens this evening, and will continue for a week. One object is to perfect the organisation for the big camp at Oringi. opening on April 18, for men who have put in their drills, and on the 14th for those who are in arrears with ■ parr les. About 5000 men will be under cair is. Practically only sick leave will be granted, and all .applications for leave must be in the Defence Office at Stratford on the proper form at least a month before the camp; except, of course, in cases of urgency. A plaintiff in a certain court case cannot attend court outside Stratford because he has a herd of cows to milk, lor a similar reason the defendant says he cannot come to Stratford. "Are we going to upset the whole of the courts," asked Mr. Kenrick.S.M.. yesterday, ''for the sake of the cows? I thought the cow- were making the country, but they are yoing to upset the whole of the law courts. The cows figure very largely in {the operation of the Defence Act. . • No, 1 cannot hold that because a man has a be I'd of cows he cannot be summoned.'" The Stratford Fire Brigade will make entries in the following events at the Xew Zealand Fire brigades' Demonstration at Wanganui: —Ladder race, one man: reel and ladder, five men; disabled hose, live men; rescue event, two men: coupling, two men; hose and hydrant, three men; hose, hydrant and union, five men: and the association event. This list is the lull programme, with the exception of the manual event, and Stralford lias long passed the manual engine stage. In this issue appears an advertisement from the Taranaki Provincial Scottish Society, alien! the "Burns Supper" to be held next Friday night in the Stratford Town Hall. The expectation of the committee is that the gathering of the elans will lie a very big one, and that Hie dinner will be a record function for the province. 'l'he S.M. Court in Stratford commence- its business at !).M0 a.m. If the b\-la« and criminal cases are at all

lengthy, civil l)iisinc < must wait. In asking for some sliiriliwi. Mr. Speneo remarked yesterday J hut "People break the law are given prefcri'iiee over civil litigants." in future uinl-.'lVmlel civil action will be given lirst (ha ne'e. en I counsel will be ali'.c lo yvt away earliir. When a witness in court tries 11; drown the voice of Mr. Robert Spence, solicitor, whilst the latter is firing off cross-examination questions like a Nordenfelt quick-firer, you can just reckon there's a row. "Silence!" louder than either of them, from Sergeant McNeely, settles the laughter and the dialogue. The borough inspector in Stratford | has, amongst, his multifarious duties, the destruction of eollarless dogs. It was mentioned by Cr. Ward at Wednesday night's meeting of the Borough Council that it sometimes happened that a valuable dog was destroyed—an animal that would have been claimed by his owner if the dog's whereabouts were known. Then again it might occur that a registered dog, running without its collar, would be taken into custody and killed. It should be easy to prevent this. Whilst it was hardly reasonable to expect the inspector to keep a number of dogs for a term, it might be arranged that their capture could be advertised. The Council set up a committee to deal with the matter. Why not establish a dog pound ? A Burnham boy working on license in this district pleaded guilty yesterday to the theft of £2 8s Od from Raymond Smith, and was ordered to come lip for sentence wnen called upon. He will be sent back to Burnham.

At the S.M. Court yesterday morning, when tile case of C. Overbve v. Mme. I Bernard was called, a claim for £3 6s 8d I wages, based on alleged wrongful disi missal, Mr. Thomson, for the plaintiff, i asked that the case be struck out, as j the plaintiff could not attend and the defendant refused to consent to an adjournment. The defendant asked for costs, stating that she had been put to great inconvenience by having to stay in Stratford this week, it having been her intention to go away. She said she would donate the amount of the costs to the hospital. Costs, Bs, were allowed. At the S.M. Court yesterday James East was fined 10s and 7s costs for cycling on a footpath; and Roland Miller wag similarly fined for driving without lights; these being offences against the Stratford borough by-laws. Two youths were fined yesterday at Stratford for not rendering personal service under tlie Defence Act. BERNARD'S PICTURES To-night will be the last night of a programme of absorbing interest. Diversity is the keynote, and excellence the dominant feature. Two Patne Gazettes supply some splendid glimpses of important events, and the pictures of the great war in the Balkans are alone worth going far to see. Among the views is a picture of the Springboks, on their victorious career. There is something infinitely pathetic in the big picture, which tells, as no story could tell, the fate of the Vaninian airship which failed ,in its attempt to cross the Atlantic. It is only from tlie film that one can judge the immense size of the air- - ship. The dramas are«ll good. "Tested by Wireless" is a remarkable picture study. Comics are numerous, and' extremely laughable.