MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 October 1917, Page 7

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Several cases web heard at the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr. A. Crooke, S.M. INDECENT LANGUAGE. Whare Paora was charged with having, on September 16, refused to quit the premises of the Okato Hotel when ordered to do so by the licensee, Mr. A. Sanson, and also with having used indecent language when ordered off the premises. , Sub-Inspector Ilutton said this was one of the blackest and dirtiest cases pie had heard of for a long time. The accused arrived at the Okato Hotel froift New Plymouth at 5.15 p.m., in a motor car, and was so obviously under the influence of drink that the. publican refused to give him any more and ordered him off the premises. Thereupon the accused U9ed filthy language, -not only to the publican, but time and again before Mrs. Sanson and ladies whose car was pulled up in front oi the hotel. When an attempt was made to eject Paora forcibly, he became violent and again made use of the disgusting language, and remainedjn the hotel until 10 p.m. The accused was described by. Sub-Inspector Hutton as an out-and-out bad character, for whom neither pakeha nor Maori had a good word.

Mr. A. S. Johnstone, who appeared for the defendant, said he was not in a position to contradict the statements made by Sub-Inspwtor Hutton, but he considered that probably the man was not wholly to blame. The licensees of tho New Plymouth hotels had obviously supplied him with too much liquor, for he arrived at Okato in a very intoxicated condition. The licensee of the Okato Hotel had already had trouble with Paora, and on the previous occasion had thrown him out rather roughly. What he (Mr. Johnstone) could not understand was why the accused was not ejected on September 15. Moreover, though Sub-Inspector Hutton gave the. man a bad character, there were no previous charges of any sort against him. The' Maori spoke English badly, and it was likely that he did not properly understand the significance of the words he had used.

The Magistrate said that women's ears must not oe allowed to be polluted in such a way. A month's hard labor would be imposed on the charge of using indecent language, and on the first charge, of refusing to quit licensed prenv iscs when ordered to do so, he would be fined £2, with costs £4 Is.

A LIQUOR CASE. Arthur Joseph Cavanagh (Mr. J. H. Quilliam) pleaded not guilty to a charge of having kept liquor for sale at Mokau. Sub-Inspector Hutton said that though the accused was earning very small wages at the Mokau ferry, he had been able to get a large case of whisky sent him on September 4.

Police evidence showed that when word reached the police on October 6 that accused had received a case of whisky on September 4, and that a drunken debauchery had ensued, a visit was paid, but of the dozen bottles only one-half bottle was found. There were six empty bottles, and asked where the rest were, Cavanagh said he did not know. A remark was made by the constable that the whisky had been disposed of very quickly, and the accused answered, "Quickly, do you call it ? I could get rid of four times as much!" A list of liquor recently supplied to Cavanagh showed that he had received very considerable quantities. Previously the accused had been in the. employ of Mrs. Box, who had been convicted of sly grbg-aelling. Mr. Quilliam said he fully recognised the difficulty of proving that the whisky kept for sale. It seemed a preposterous story that the accused shoiild spend £4 10s on liquor merely to treat his friends, but though such a case might never occur in a licensed district, it was by no means an isolated occurrence in Mokau. Cavanagh, he knew, consumed an almost unbelievable amount of liquor, and, to the counsel's own knowledge, had been told by the doctors that he must have a constitution of east iron to be still alive. As to the suggestion that the man did not earn enough to pay for the liquor, this must be discounted by the fact that Cavanagh had, collected empty botles which, when sent to New Plymouth, realised no less than £lO IOaT This was an indication of the amount of drinking that went on in that district. Part of the money so realised was used to treat his friends in the manner complained of. Cross-examined by Siib-Tnspector Hut : ton, Cavanagh gave explanations as to how he and his mates at the ferry andji others had disposed of the liquor. They had simply "got at it," and all hia friends and chance callers were treated in a truly hospitable manner. Altogether quite a-number of his neighbors and friends had helped to dispose of the liquor. The orgy lasted two or three days, and they were drunk all the time. Evidence showed that the defendant earned a certain amount of money, in addition to his wages at the ferry, by fishing and casual work of any description.

His Worship said there" must be a conviction. He could not believe that a man in the position of the defendant would lavish liquor on casual acquaintances, as had been stated, and he did not believe that men would accept liquor as they were alleged to have done without paying for it. A fine of £lO, with coats £3 10s, would be imposed; in default one month's hard labor. MAINTENANCE. A maintenance case, Annie Symons (Mr. F. E. Wilson) v. Samuel Lancelot Symons (Mr. A. H. Johnstone), and an application by the son for a variation of | the order, were adjourned for one month.