STRATFORD.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1922, Page 6

STRATFORD.

STRATFORD AGENCY. Advertisements and items of news for publication in the Taranaki Daily News should be left at the office of our local representatative, Mr. W H. Humphrey. Broadway, Stratford. Orders for papers may ®Uo be left MAGISTRATE’S CORUT. AFFAIR AT MIDHIRST. July 5. A sitting of the Magistrate’s Court was held at Stratford to-day before Mr. A. M. Mowlem-

The police proceeded against Thomas V. Sherson and Arthur H. Richmond, 'both of Midhirst, on charges of using threatening behaviour in a public place (the Mt. Egmont Hotel, Midhirst) with intent to cause a breach of peace. Mr. A. Coleman appeared for Sherson and Mr- W. L. Weir for Richmond, Sergeant Dale conducting the case for the police. Both accused pleaded not guilty. Daniel Wareham. licensee of the Mt. Egmont Hotel, said both defendants were in his hotel on June 17- Richmond was sober. Witness heard Richmond say to -Sherson: “Do ' take that as a threat? I shall ring the sergeant.” The next thing that he noticed was a glass «■ * beer thrown in Mrs. Wareham’s face. He did not know' *by whom it was thrown- Mrs. Wareham told witness that Sherson had thrown it. Wareham ordered Sherson out of the bar and sever''l men then went out, one of Sher son’s friends saying, “Come on. that’s too bad, Vie.” Richmond remained in the hotel. Witness did not see Richmond put his h?.rd to Sherson’s face and push him. Everyone in the house was apparently quite sober. Witness admitted that the words used by Richm'ond might ' -ve been open to a different construction to that which witness put upon them. There may have been blows struck while he was absent frc-n the bar. but he did not see any. Sherron’s teeth were not bust in the hotel and if they were injured it must have been in the street, in which . case the injury could not have been ;

caused by Richmond. F. W. Smith said he saw Sherson throw a glass of beer over Mrs. Wareham and sav ‘‘take that/’ He saw Richmond strike Sherson on the mouth when the men were leaving the hotelConstable Chesnutt detailed a visit he paid to the hotel in consequence of a telephone message. He spoke to Sherson and Richmond. Richmond had shown that he did not know who Sherson was. He told the constable that the man (Sherson) had thrown a glass of beer over Mrs. Wareham and no man could stand by and see that without taking action. He might have pushed Sherson as he was re-entering the hotel. The constable produced a statement taken from Sherson alleging that Richmond had struck him a number of blows. A statement by Richmond was also produced, in which it was alleged that Sherson said to lie’ tond. among other unprintable things, “I will knock your head off ” Rk’mond denied striking Sherson, but he said he may : have pushed him. I After hearing further evidence the i Magistrate fined Sherson £3 with costs 10/-. His Worship could see no evidence to show any aggression on the part of Richmond and he must have the benefit of the doubt. The charge against Richmond was accordingly dismissed.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. The monthly meeting of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce was held last night. The Department of Lands and Survey wrote regarding the proposed Tangarakau Gorge scenic reservations, stating that it was hoped the sketch plan and report by the surveyor o' the scenic reserves in the gorge would be supplied in a week or two’s time. It was hoped that adequate reserves could be madeA letter was received from the district traffic manager of railways stating that the application for the delay of the afternoon train to suit school children had been declined by headquarters and nothing could be done to meet the Chamber's request.—lt was decided to inform the Minister of Railways that the Stratford Chamber had not been advised of any proposed alteration, and that the Minister be advised that the railway facilities for children outside Stratford were not satisfactory. On the motion of Mr. P. Thomson, it was decided that the chairman negotiate with the Taranaki Chamber with a view to securing better representation for the smaller chambers at the conference. The chairman reported that the fields instructor and himself had gone out to Pohokura and arranged for 5 acres of land to be top-dressed with finely.ground phosphate and a similar area with basic slag. If the results were as good as he expected this experiment would be of very great benefit to the district.

Referring to the visit of the British Industries Commission to New Zealand, the chairman said the Department of Industries and Commerce had arranged for the mission to visit various parts of New Zealand, but that Taranaki had been omitted from the itinerary. It was decided to request the Department of Industries and Commerce to have Taranaki included in the itinerary, and that the Taranaki and Hawera Chambers be asked to co-operate in the effort. The prospective visit of the Prime Minister to Taranaki was discussed, members expressing the hope that the Minister would be invited to include Stratford in hifi itinerary. It was suggested that the chamber might confer with the Borough Council with the object of inviting the Premier to Stratford. It was decided to notify the Premier that the Stratford Chamber would be pleased to welcome him in Stratford on his proposed visit to Taranaki. The proposed alteration of the mail train time-table was discussed, and it was decided to write the Minister of Railways welcoming the proposed speeding un of the train and hoping that the chamber would be previously notified of the proposed alterations. LICENSING LAWS BREACH. C. A. Gray, licensee of the Commercial Hotel, Stratford, was charged on two counts with keeping his hotel premises open for the sale of liquor on Sunday. June 18. when thev were required to be cloMg. Ki*

oil the same day- Gray, for whom Mr. A. Coleman appeared, pleaded not guilty to boih charges. Sergeant Dale, for the police, said on the Sunday morning in question he saw j the licensee’s wife at the door of the i hotel. He afiked her if Gray was in | and she called out for Charlie." The : sergeant went down the passage, opened a door and walked into the tap-room. ; where he found seven men standing , round the room The trap-door into i the bar was open and there-was a light in the bar. The defendant was leaning ■ on the lower half of the door looking i out into the tap-room. From where f witness stood he could see all the liquor exposed and the men in the room could . also see it. He spoke to several of the men, some of whom eaid they were lodgers, others giving no excuse for be* ing on the premises- There were three glasses standing about, one containing liquor, while one of the men had a glass of liquor in his hand. Gray told the sergeant that all the men present except two were lodgers. On examining the b?c’-oom book the sergeant found this statement to be correct. The licensee had said to him, “I’m sick of the trade; it is a curse. The fellows come round and sometimes go to the length of threatening you if you don’t serve them.”

The Magistrate said that in his opinion the evidence of the sergeant established the fact that a breach of the laws had taken place. The defendant had claimed that the two non-boarders had slipped past the room, practically past the “eagle gaze” of the sergeant without being noticed. Before giving his judgment the Magistrate heard the case in which the police charged J. Nielson and Wm- Rogers with being unlawfully upon Gray’s licensed premises at a time when the premises were required to be closed. Both accused pleaded guilty and were each fined £1 with costs 7 .- On the first charge Gray was convicted and fined £2 and costs 7fi, and on the second’ he was convicted and discharged, the license being handed back without endorsement.

UNDEFENDED CASES. •Judgment for plaintiff by default was given in the following undefended cases: Farmers’ Co-op. v. -John Wilton, £2 9s lid (costs £1 18s fid) ; same v. W. Bailey. £3 6s 9d (costs £1 5s fid); State Advances Superintendent v. F. A. Stevens, £6 15s 5d (costs £1 7s): Farmers’ Co-op. v. Thomas Huzziff, £BO (costs £5 8s) ; J. J. Arthur v. Thomas Allen. £5 5s (costs £1 17s fid); Stratford Borough Council v. A. G. Hart. £3O Ils 7d (ebsts £4 10s fid); C. E. Gooding v. A. Swenson (costs only, l’4s) ; H. R. Crawford v George Sleeman. £52 3s Id (cofets £4 19s 6d); Stratford x'/ough Council v. J. Brannigan, £6*2 17s 9d (costs £4 Ils fid).

In a judgment summons case, JS. W. Fitzsimons was ordered to pay J. Orr £9 16s 3d in instalments of 2/6 per week.

THE LIGHTING LAWS. STRATFORD COUNTY’S ACTION. A long list of breaches of the lighting by-laws within the Stratford County was dealt with by Mr. A. M. Mowlem, S.M., at the Stratford Court, to-day. In inflicting fines up to £3, with costs, the magistrate again passed severe comment upon the danger of the practice of driving without lights. He said this was another instance of absolute neglect to provide means of safety, both for themselves and for other people. For the last three months he had been endeavoring to tell people to provide these means of safety. Apparently the only way to reach them was through their pockets. He was glad the local authorities were taking such a serious view of the matter. Travelling through the country, he himself had noticed very serious neglect of the by-laws. Most of the present defendants were young people, and that must be taken into consideration. A serious warning had been issued at the last sitting of the Court at Stratford, and if the public would not take the warning they had no reason to complain if they were visited with serious fines.

For riding a motor-cycle at night without lights, Arthur Hamilton was fined £3 with costs 7s; while for riding push cycles without lights, William Croft. H. Lister, F. Kirkwood, S,. Stewart, Ernest Paynter, and Robert Phelan were each fined £1 with costs 7s. For driving horse vehicles without lights, Sangster, H. Jensen and Thomas Gooch were each fined £2 with costs 7s. Roy Wells, for a simialr offence with mitigating circumstances, was fined £1 10s, with costs 7s. For riding cycles without lights, Arthur Hunter was fined £1 16s, with costs 7s, and Earl Pierce was fined 15s, with costs 7s.

-lames Pascoe, for driving a vehicle on the wrong side of the road, was fined £l, with costs 7s. KING’S THEATRE Commencing on Friday night, for a three-session screening, is the picture that has Jong been looked forward to— Charlie Chaplin in “The Kid,” the su-per-comedy that you have all been waiting for. We have not the ability of Chaplin, to make people cry and laugh at the same time. When you go to see “The Kid, ’ loosen your clothing at the waist, for you will need your greatest capacity for laughing, and put a clean “hanky” in your pocket, for if you have a shread of human pity in you there are sirens that will bring the tears to your eyes. The booking for this picture has now commenced at Humphrey’s. Patrons desirous of seeing this picture are advised to book at once. Prices: D.C., 2s; stalls, 1/fi (plus tax). Country subscribers not receiving their Daily News regularly are asked to immediately notify our circulation manager, care Mr. W. H. Humphrey, Stratford. Complaints will receive prompt attention. Have you seen the latest thing in Portable Typewriters? Call at W. H. Humphrey’s and see the new Portable Remington. No folding and unfolding. You simply open the case and the machine is ready for use, For private correspondence it cannot be beaten, neither can the price, £l9 10s. English magazines, Fashion Books : etc., posted to any address.