MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 October 1917, Page 6

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

NEW PLYMOUTH SITTINGS A sitting of tlio Now Plymouth Magistrate's Court was held yesterday morning before Mr. A. Crookc, S.M. A first offender was convicted and discharged 011 ;i charge of drunkenness. Judgment by default was given in the following civil cases:—Mary Jane Bielby (Mr. J. C. Nicholson) v. S. L. Parker, .£l3 ss, costs £1 10s Gd; 11. Collier and Co. (Mr. T. P. Anderson) v. E. Hill, £8 Bs, costs £1 7s C'd ; Edna A. Evans (Mr. J. H. Quilliam) v. Leonard Mangham, £SO 12s 2d, costs £3 15s. John Nicholas Neilson, Midhirst, sued William Kinsella, Fitzroy, late of Inglewood, on a charge of not complying with an order made in IAI3 for the payment of house rent. Mr, R. C. Hughes, who appeared for the plajntiff, said that the defendant had not made a single payment as ordered, 2s Cd per week. If Is (id per week had been paid, the amount, £2O 4s, would have been liquidated. In his defence Kinsella said he could not afford to pay the instalments and rob his family of food and clothing. ■He earned about £2 10s on an average, aud had four children and a wife to support. In answer to Mr. Hughes, defendant said he very often played billiards at Fitzroy. He never paid for any games as the proprietor, who is a cripple, had asked him to play in his stead. "Plenty of men go into the billiard room, but they won't play with each other. I don't ask them to play; they ask me, and every game earns a shilling for the saloon."

His Worship: A sort of lure, I sup pose?

Mr. Hughes' suggestion that the defendant could pay if he spent less time in the saloon was answered by an assertion that lie played in the evening only or on occasional Saturday afternoons.

Mr. Hughes: You talk about impoverishing your family. Don't you think the landlord should be considered ?

"I am not saying anything about that" After questioning defendant as to his weekly expenses the Magistrate adjourn: ed the case for a week in order that receipts might be produced.