BAGS OF MONEY LOST.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1920, Page 7

BAGS OF MONEY LOST.

UNUSUAL CASE AT SUPREME COURT. RACING CLUB'S CLAIM FAILS. At the civil sitting of the Supreme Court at New Plymouth, yesterday, be* fore his Honor, Mr. Justice Salmond, and a jury of four, the case of the Egmont Racing Club (incorporated), v. Martin Jendriekson, claim for £ 10-1 'Bs money had and received, wu3 hsard. Mr.' T. Neave, of Wellington, aj,jicared for the plaintiff club, and Mr. X''. O. Spratt of Jlawera, appeared for the defendant. The following jury v.as empanelled: Messrs. Moiuitford (foreman,) T. Murphy, N. T. Rundle, and G. H. Martin. Mr. Neave said the case was an unusual one. It was a claim arising out of the races held by the Egmont Racing Club, at Hawera# 011 February 11 and "12. It was necessary io explain that entrance to the course j;v#s obtained "y eight gates, and the club appointed gatekeepers to look after these gates. Mr. Hendrickson had been appointed to supervise the various gate-keepers, and was respqnsible for the proper checking or money received by the gate-keepers iroin the public. On the morning of the race meeting, Mr. Hendrickson handed to each gate-keeper a certain number of tickets and a book ill which to enter his name, number of tickets sold and remaining, and the amount of clianee received. Each gate-keeper was responsible for the tickets handed to him, and was expected to return an amount of cash corresponding to the value of the tickets sold. At the end of the first day , 1 gatekeepers gave the money and the balance of the tickets to Mr. Hendrick- , eon and the eight gates were all pro- ! perly accounted for. It >.v iu then Mr. ! Hendrickson's duty to take care of the money, which was put up in eight separ- ! ate linen bags. The money was to be paid into the bank in eight separate lots, and it appeared that Mr. Hendrick- [ son banked only sis of the eight bag* of i money, and had not accounted for the ! cash in the other two bags. Mr. Hendrickson received the money at the office ?.. a * 'he racecourse, and initialled each of the books handed in by the gate-keepers, so there could ba no doubt about his having received the money from the gate-keepers.

COURSE OF THE MONEY. The money was; placed in a brief bag and taken to the Racing Club's office in the town, where it was placed in the strong, room until the morning, when it was given to Mr. Hendrickson to be paid into the bank. The two gates trom which the money had not-been paid mto the bank were what were known ns the 'Liuvn Gate" and the "Horse Tl* receipts from the lawn gate amounted to .-ESS 18s, and from the horse gate to £Bl 10s. Mr. Hendrickson paid more into the bank than what was actually contained in the six bags but the amount was less than the total contained in the eight bags. A sum of £U7 was overbanked in tho nav■n, and by some mistake tho teller handed back £47 instead of £37. The first Mr. Stratton (the Racing Club's secretary) knew of the transaction was when he was informed by the bank accountant that £lO too much had been 'JI ji r - Hendrickson. Mr btratton interviewed Mr. Hendrickson who paid over the whole of the £47. The next day Mr. Hendrickson again collected the money, and the totals were correct.

Atter the races Mr. Stratton went through the accounts of the meeting and found that the money from the lawn gate and the horse gate had not been banked by Mr. Hendrickson. . Counsel submitted that it was the duty of Mr, Hendrickson to account fqr the money and show what had become of it The claim was purely one for the recovery a an( l there wag no charee or suggestion that Mr. Hendrickson" had comraittea theft. . All the club was concerned 111 was the recovery of the money, and it was for the j Urv in Fav not WC>le entiticil St or

Mr. Ncavc then proceeded to call evidence and Vernon Benjamin Stratton, secretary of the Racing Club, gave eviremarks" 9 ° f CoUMel ' B °P et>,r> B Under cross-examination by Mr Spratt, witness said thafr the receipts Wal ,"? e fr ° m each ° f BSites . T )laced . in two brief bugs, which «eifi kept m the secretary's office unIwl! aftern °on, when witness nine J tt™ ,n . to J he in t0 ™ placed them in the strong room. The onice at the racecourse was a bi« room and a number of people were coming in «nd out during the day. The brief bag? were not locked after the money was planed in them. Arthur Hay, a bank teller, gave evidence as to the amount deposited. THE DEFENCE.

For the defence, Mr. Spratt said there would be no denial of the fact tha'. the defendant had received the moneys in question. Defendant held that the moneys had been handed over to the secretary and that his duties had been such as to require him to leave the moneys in a place of peril. < Counsel submitted that by handing over the moneys to the secretary in his office at the conclusion of the day's racing, he had sufficiently accounted for the money so far as the terms of his engagement "■ere concerned If anything happened to the money between that time and 1,! ,V? 6 , . banl ™£ t,le next morning the defedant could not be held respon- • iblc for that. The question of fraudulently misappropriating the money did not come into consideration, it being a mif 6 +i °r a^' on - but counsel pointed ut that such proceedings as in the present case were rarely taken before ft. police enquiry had been mado into the circumstances. As a matter of fact the defendant had particularly asked that a police inquiry should be made, but although the police had been acquainted with the happening no action had been taken.

The defendant in evidence stated he was a salesman in the employ of the farmers' Co-op. Society, at Eltijam, and had had no previous experience of the work he did for the Racing Club at the February meeting. He left the course about S o'clock on the afternoon of the nrst day's races after handing over the bags to the secretary, who was told that, the cash balanced. Witness saw nothing of the money until after nine o'tfock the next, morning. When he-told Mr. btratton of the mistake at the bank and the refund of £47, Mr. Strattori told him to wait and see if a bank slip had been missed and would turn up later. After receiving the letter from the club's solicitors asking hirp to immediately acrount for the money, he showed "it to his employer and to his solicitor. Subsequently he went with his solicitor to the nolice and asked them to take the matter up, but nothing; cam* of It, He had

no idea what bad become of the missing money. | RE-HEARING GRANTED. Cross-examined by Mr. Neave, defendant said that when he paid the sii! | bags of money into the bank it did not j occur to him that he was two bags short. The first time" lie realised that he was two bags short was in the' afternoon when he saw the list again. As far as he knew the money was all correct when he handed it over to the secretary. He could not give any explanation of the loss of the mosey. The mistake of £37 ; ;vii3 probably due to a mistake in copy- ! ing the amount out of the book. He ; did not. remember whether any of the ! eigftt bags were empty in the brief bag ! at the time lie went to the bank. L Counsel then addressed the jury, and His Honor summed up, T!ii> juvy retired at 5.45 y.ro. and returned ut 0.30 with a verdict for the defomtait. ilr. Neave applied for a re-hearing, which was granted,