HAWERA.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 May 1918, Page 3

HAWERA.

MAGISTRATE'S COURT, (From Our Own Correspondent.) Before W. R. Haselden, S.M. A sitting of the Hawera S.M. Court was held yesterday. Wilson and Canham, Ltd., were charged with being in possession of a cattle si: in from which the ears had been removivi Sergeant Till represented the police and Mr Spratt represented the company. Constable Buddy testified to visiting the firm's shed and making enquiries concerning a cow's hide purchased by the defendants. Was* given every assistance bv the firm, and did not consider they were trying to conceal anything. W. Byrne, manager, stated that, he knew the native, Tikorangi, who sold the hide. To witness's knowledge had purchased skins previously from Tikorangi, and considered the native a straightforward man. Did not cut the ears off in any case. Skins were not allowed in the warehouse 24 hours without salting. The price paid was ordinary trade price. Had purchased skins for some time, and his actions had never been questioned. When buying from a farmer they had to purchase on sight, and from the dealer they bought by weight.

W, Skerrett, an employee, remembered buying the skin from Tikorangi, the weight being under 12Slbs, and price paid 13s. ]t was usual to weight the skins with the ears on, and trim them soon afterwards, putting them down the same day. After counsel had addressed the court the S.M. said he would reserve judgment. Vivific Medicine Co., represented by Mr. L. G. Taylor, pleaded guilty to a charge of selling a medicine not true to label. Sergeant Till represented the police. The statement by ])r. .1. S. Maclaurin, Government analyst, showed that although the sample forwarded by the health inspector, Mr. A. Gray, contained a greater proportion than 2\ grammes of absolute alcohol to 100 cubic centimetres, the principal label does not bear the statement of the amount of proof spirit contained in the mixture. The sample, therefore, did not comply with the regulations. No witnesses were called, Mr. Taylor stating that the lady, Mrs. Moore, had the medicine on the market for eight years, and was very much surprised to learn that she had offended against the law in not having the label rightly prescribed. The S.M. entered a conviction, and fine of 12, with copts which included analyst a fee £2 2s, and cost of bottle, 3s 6d. GENERAL. At the S.M. Court a Maori, sued for debt, pleaded that all his money was wanted for "nirker." Asked how many children he had, he replied: "Seven." He qualified this statement by saying "they were all dead, and only one alive." An order was made that the amount should be paid within four months. Another native pleaded that he had no money, and Mr. O'Dea's questioning as to how much he was receiving from his lands elicited no reply. "This man is a bit of a dodger," remarked the solicitor, but liis query as to whether the native got £lO, £2O, or £3O was received in silence. When Mr. O'Dea brought the figure to £IOO, the native protested, ''Too much!" An order was made to have the amount paid forthwith. Hawera schoolchildren, 700 strong, were on Monday treated to the diphtheria cure, a moisture-projecting machine controlled by Mr. A. Gray, health inspector. The. scholars experienced no inconvenience, but rather enjoyed the novelty of being "gassed."