R.M. COURT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3516, 21 May 1890, Page 2

R.M. COURT.

MASTEBTON-rTIIBSM,

(Before Colonel Koberts; 8,M.) AN ILLICIT WOpy h j.'-A Charles Gurote, alias' y Bismarck," was' oharged on remand with having in'hie possession at Masterton on April llth distillation purppses, '';';'> :•. i^'.:..' Mr Buuny, instructed by flfr W. T, Qlflßgosv, Inspector of Distilleries, prosecuted, and Mr Skipper defended. Defendant pWed not guilty, Mr Bunny briefly stated his cn.se, and remarked that he would reply to the evidence at a later stage of the c'a'sfl.; .'■" - fhe Court held that it mS ? ot thp : pra,titicß j|) summary cases to allow counsel reply. ,Mr Bunny-submitted that, he shpuM jiave'the priyiloge of replying. 'After .c.p.hsjdera))lp discussion,'Mr Biinny'w'asiP.yer;rule| on this 'point,: pd 6'yjd.ence was tlien called! '.

; .Arthur Crosby, sworn, stated that he was a porter; at.t'lij. Wellington riiilway station. Eeinembered the 14th April, but could not say what day it was. Saw a man bring a box

to, the- station'about six The box produced was like it.- .The. rdan'was.of foreign accent, bat'lie could not identify him. again. The tean "'asked him to wliich"lie. had, to Mr Dorset, at Kuripuni. Eeferred him to the pafcels office. The man was short, stout built, and dark.. Woticed that he went into the parcels office. This was between two'and three in the afternoon, .Had not Been the man since. •'■"'.

■ By Mr Skipper: It was; in full] daylight, The box was brought in in the.usual.manner. • There was no concealment about- .the matter,Could not swear to the box produced being the same one. By Mr Bunny: -The prisoner, was like the man who brought in the box. ....

Henry Wallace, clerk-m the Wellington parcels office, deposed that he remembered Monday, 14th April, and''remembered a man coming to'book a case for Kuripuni.' The caso was about two foot square. The boxjroduced was the one booked; it was consigned at the request of the man "A. Dorset," Kuripuni, It was a'foreigner who brought the box and sped the consignment order. The accused was as muolr like the man as possible. The case was sent about three in the afternoon.. The label on the box was in his handwriting, and bore the date in whioh ■ho.-labelled.,"it, .'T-lie man in' the prisoner's box was the one who sent the .case.. ■■■.■•.■<■• \ ,'

By Mr Skipper: Would swear that acoused was the, man who consigned' the box, He signed it. fluently as " Kaufz" ~Had come across a good mauy foreigners' who attached their names to' consignment orders, -The. hand of the consignee was not tied up' or bandaged,'' Thought he bid, said in his. evidence previously that lie would know the consignee again, He would not swear that prisoner was' the man who consigned the box, By Mr Bunny: Prisoner,' he had no doubt, was tbs man who sighed the consignment order, He had picked out "Bismarck' 1 as the man when the charge against Mrs Cranmer was heard, ,

Pritorier: My name is not •' Bismarck," its Charles Gurote. By Mr Skipper: Had identified the accused, at the hearing of the last case, as the man. • To Mr Bunny.: Identified the man without any assiatanoe. ■ • Edward William Birrell, railway guard on the Wellingtoh-Masterton line, stated that he remembered the 14th of April on which date he < was guard on the 8.30 train to Mastertou, Whilst he .was stowing on the Wellington railway station, a man came upandclaimed a box labelled and addressed to -Kurupuni, The box was addressed " Dorset," and lie identified that produced as the one referred to. The man came up and said, " this is my box," and wanted to take it into his custody. TouPhim -the box could not be taken, asiiwas consigned. The man was a foreigner, and he would know him again. He would recognise him principally by his acoehi?; Had given evidence in tJie case against' Mrs Cranuier, and'heard a! man commonly known as "Bismarck! 1 give evidence,' and. recognised from his excited manner that he was the same man who claimed the Box, From what he could romernber of .the man he had neglected to shave for some time. When the man claimed the boxhe had said that he did not know' at the time he booked it that he would be going up with it, Told him that it would be put nut at Kuripuni, and if it was his he could claim it. The man oamo up with, him in the train, and showed him'a second class single', ticket, for Kuripuni; the only, one issued that day for the train.- Stopped the train at Kuripuni to-allow the mail and parcel- to-be put out, and the-man said i'the box is.mine,""andl took it into his possession, The aooused was the; man.

By Mr Skipper: The man who spoke to. him at Wellington was the man who got out at Kuripuni. Had no doubt but that accused was the man. His hand was not tied'up wheu he • saw him at Wellington, Accused took the box out of his. hand at Kuripuui, and there wore no other people on the platform. Did not ask ivhat were the contents of the box, The. box. was not tampered with whilst in his custody, O. A. Pownall, solicitor, deposed to having come from Wellington by the afternoon train on April 14th, Five or ten miuutes before the train started he had 'seen accused sitting on one of tho seats on tho Wellington station, Saw him again at Kaitoki the .same day, and the last time he saw' him was at .Carterton. Gould not remember whether the train had stopped at Kuripuui on the night, in/question.'" ' Constablo Swaiu, sworn, stated that on April 10th,'in company with Sergeant Pnee, he : had visited the premises of Mrs Cranmer, In company with Mr Welbourne he went to the back yard of the hotel. In a back building he had found the box produced. The shed in .whioh it was found had a' door,'which was fastened, though'unlocked. After a little conversation the box was opened, in. whioh they found a worm. There was no address on the box. He then carried the box to the police station. Knew'Qharles : Gurote, and had seen him on April 14th, about ten in the evening,. Met ; him on that night opposite Casel- ; berg's, and had a, conversation with 1 him,' Gurote made* some statement to him then which he was not ex- i peoted to reveal. He was quite j willing to'state what this conversation was. ..''.■• .-..■; |

Prisoner-; You can state all that ■ tookplaoa.. Constable Swain, continued, said he had exolaiined to Gurote, •" Well, i§ that you', where have .• you boon to ?•"' IJe repjfed tjaafc he bad been to Dunedin fop a tr-ip/and aftejf some conversation told. him that a worm hod come up to Masterton by that evening's train, Asked him "where it was, and he said," It's in a place.'-' He would not tell him where it was, but said if lie kept a sharp look-out he npgbj §ee it. going away some early "njorning, Acogsec} said, a German brou'gli{ it'"up, 'and;said 1)6 Jja4-' to watobing the'man, who got off at:. 'Kuhpura, He- m{ also got off at Kurtipuni,and ftjjqwed the man to Mastsrton. -Ha'|nr|hjrsaid that the man carried 'the/'worm on his shoulder, in a 'box.; -ABked.Gurote the above was in the main ; wu« u J? hid been told. After the seizure (Jurpte sppkp ip/liim agajn iritlie street on the subject, and asked him not tp' rn.ep.tion wyiing about'it. Mr Skipper aajd.thatasjiir as he was personally he would have, the evidence of tin's witness excluded. :*. '••' ~••.'■;.".:■■;; -a

The prisoner then agreed to take the advioe of his. counsel..

:c Mr SkipjJeriwMthat, the evidSio' of 'Oonstatjle,■Bpi.ibo fltraok'out. : "' The Beh'ch": We can't strike it out. Mr Skipjjer: ,Then I objectto further evidence' of this witness being jaken. : Constable [ Swain, continuing, said Gurote';li;4d ' ; not ■ objeoted to. bis reycalingj the".; conversation. When ha'foimdtiiebos on thel6tb.it hud not' thei appearaiioe -of having beon previously opened..: .By.Mr,Skipper: Gurote spoke to hira'"first about, ten o'clook.on the 14th. Knew.acousedintimately, aud when hb • spoke to him he was clean shaved, He had, not more than a couple of days' growth of beard. Did not offer,Guroto any inducement to make a statement, and was not asked by anyone else/.to endeavor to. get Gurote "to make abatement. Ac-cused-was not paid, nor promised to be paid to lay the information. Did not tell accused till nearly a week afterwards/that he was entitled; to anythingfov giving information.; The firsb time he saw. the box.-.was in Mrs Cranmer's,' He had carried the box from the hotel. It was pretty, heavy, and wiien';hV arrived.at the policy station','he was about "• sick of it." Did not know, that he was liable to prosecution; for having the worm in his 'possession^■" Was aware, that accused was Btayingon tbel4th at the top hotel J ; \; .. , To Mrß.unny.: As far as appearances : we.rit.Gurote might have .been Bbaved.cjuring the day. He-'was ijleaii.:shaved. When, accused left him on Monday night, it'.was about 10."40,atid<he did not-see"him iagain until thedaf of the seizure.:'-. : ■..., , ;-MrSkijpr;:' You might as well tell us all that transpired. ' ■...

„■.. Crpssj&arnjned, ,j>y Mr Buuny: day on which he liau=th'e ; B'econd conversation, It was after the 16tb and "before tho 28th of April, : Hd'was on beat in Queenstreet at the time. Accused paid 'if he would jjot say anything he would tell him' something .that might fit in. He'then'fold"liim that on the night of the 14th. the man who had brought the case;'from Kuripuni, had carried' the box into tho baok of the Star Hotel; that'he went to the hotel about nine o'clock, and oamo baok accompanied with another man. On his inquiring further he stated the other man was Mrs Cranmer's manager—We'lbourne, ; Asked him if he' was-' certain it was Welbourne, and'he said he was, as they were carrying a light, ..He said he heard them go into the shed and throw the box down. •

By, Mr Skipper: Did not ask accused if he knew anything about the box.' 'Mado'casual inquiries as to who was the other foreigner, but had heard nothing of him, Mrs A. Ottaway, licensee of the "Royal Hotel,- deposed that she remembered the 14th April, Knew accused by the uarae of" Bismarck," Between eight and nine he came to her hotel and had a " long beer." .Could'not say. whether, he 'appeared fatigued. He. seemed to bo pretty flurriedaud asked to be served quickly, There was. another person in the hotel at the time. He left about fifteen minuses after entering, He returned about half-past eleven, but she refused him a bed,'. He said that he would, have to stay out all night, and ou these grounds she gave him a bed for once. Accused could have left his room without her knowledge, By Mr, Skipper: Accused was generally rather excited in his manner. "".-.,

•John Elley,. butcher, living at Waingawai' deposed that, ho' knew accused. Remenibewd the 14th inst., on.whioli date ho rode into Masterton. Lef{-hie,-liorsß.)flt;thß Star Hotel. Believed 'that he ■■., saw Gurote that night about twelve o'clock,' in Chapel Street.' He Was with another man and they went into Mrs Cranmer's, They were carrying a box, and went down the right-of-way b Mrs Cranmer's house. He was on the opposite side of the road, Did not see the men return, • ■

By Mr Skipper: Would not syyeai it was Gurote he saw.

: Patrick.Oowan, laboror, deposed that he knew Gurote, - Remombered having a conversation witli him about the.HtbofApYili afterthe'seizure of! the worm, At Phillips', hotol, aocused said he was hard up, andasked him to lend him ss, showing him also a : pawn ticket, He said he was going.to make a-rise in a day or two, something about whisky in Mrs Cranmer's.back yard. He said he would poison her if he was paid for it.

By Mr Skipper: Let accused have the five shillings, but not' on the strength of his making the pile, He said be was going to make his rise out of. whisky-making. Knew what " gassing" meant, but did not know that accused had '' gassed." Had not been, paid the ss. yet, and had not yet' asked for its return. M ight have had twoortkre'e'heersduring the day.

John Gardner, contractor, deposed that lie kuew accused. Had bad no conversation, with him of late. Going up in the train to Eketahuna he chaffed Gurote about the worm and said it wis a pity lie had not got the £l7O for laying the information. Accused replied that he knew nothing about the worm, as it was a German who had placed it in Mrs Cranmer'B. The German had taken it in a cab to the Wellington railway station and he liadtwatched him. Accused, furthor .stated-that-ifhe was going to fetch a worm he would- not put it in a train where anybody could see it. He also said ho could-inake a worm by rolling it round a:tree. 'W'T/Glssgow, informant in the eas£, gavl.eyidence as to the suitability of the wormfor distilling purposes, Detective'Gampbell, sworn, stated that from instructions

proceeded JoiEketahuna and arrested accused on a warrant on the 12tb inst. at 8.80 p.m. Read tbe warrant to him, and ho replied "I've got no worm." Told .him ho was not charged with baying possession of it then, bu| pn the 14th'of'April. He then said (.' I know moja about it than tbe b—lot of you." He made no further statement at that time, On the way to the Eketaliuna station he said he.had met a coppersmith ill Wellington who . was a native _ of. Tyrol. He said the man told bjm he was pjaking a worm for a rap li] theiVajrarap, sent it 1 to the railway statjon in a cab, in 1 company .with two men., He said he 1 could not give him the name pi the 1 man. The tpu, he said, got id jbe' train with him, and he |Jie|i ; up as far as Kuripuni. He then got out of the train after the liion had! done so, and taken possession of the worm. He followed them to the 1 yardiofS^^rr^^,^,! door if a shed ;TO/opened by Wei- • botirno, the box placed in, and the j door afterwards clogQcj. Mpdkin- ■ .for. fl)B'6spil- 1 smitihi but.jfailed, to ffiiil ajiybijay of ' the depcyipfe ; giyeii- by accped. j Acoused said lie told.Cdustable Bwai» 1 on :tho Monday night and Sergeant ■ Price oa theiollowuig^yabouMlie

worm,.' He said ho had got nothing for his -tfouble, and now he was arrested.

•/By Mr Skipper: Had his instruo.lions to arrest from Inspeotor Thomp. son, Had not been, engaged in Mrs Cranmer's case. •'

. This was the case for the prosecution. ; ...

At this,stage the: Court was ad' journed till the following day.

WEDNESDAY., : - •'. - Oii resuming, Mr Skipper, asked for • permission to re-call, Constable Swain, as; he had an important , question to ask.. ■•''..;'■■■ Constable..Swain,, sworn, stated he met tlie : r " accused about ten o'clock on the'evening of the ,14th : April. It was then he was informed about tho; worm,. The hand of accused .wasnot then bandaged up, but he had a; rag round one of his fingers. It was not - until ( Wednes-_ day morning' that he. knew where* the worm was to be' found." ' :■•>s By Mr Bunny: Believed that after the seizure accused hi\d got his arm hurt, ■ ''

Mr Skipper' submitted that the evidence produced by thoproseoution had failed to bring home the offence to his. client as charged, Possession ' had not been sufficiently proved, and the accused bad not been identified. The only ono who identified the accused was Birrell, and he thought, he Was able to show that the of this person was doubtful.' The evidence of Elley Vdid, not have weighty as the''swijrii statement of Mrs Ottaway proved .its inaccurate- - • floss, 'Ho would not .defend Gurote , as an informer, but not the ' question, before the Court. There was* no evidence : to BhbV : ibat his olient was in'custody of the worm, ' , and it had not been proved that the box consigned contained a worm at aLY It was strange that the prosecution Bbould have adopted the course of'employing a detective. He would ball the accused to give 1 evidence as.to how he beoame con- ' neo|ed'with the affair, and if.the ; case was not proved be would ask for a dismissal. ..W Sergeant Price, sworn, deposeovf ' that he knew accused.. On April" 18th he visited Mrs Cranmer's hotel | to search for a worm which had come up on the Monday evening : previous. He found there the case ' and worm in question. Had a con- , versation with Gurote on the matter. | At about 9.80 in the evening of^ April 14th he was standing at the . bottom of the right-of-way leading to ' Queen-street, when a man with an umbrella accosted him. This ' man' was Gurota. Tho man asked him what ono would be entitled to who could . informv; about a worm, Told hini it was according to what came.of the information, Gurote then told'him that a man got out of the train at Kuripuni with a case; and he followed him, He did not know his name—he was a German. Asked him what was in the case, and he said it was a worm. Then asked him how he knew it was a worm. . Gurote replied that he had been told by a friend, a foreigner, in ' Wellington, but he could not state his name. Asked him where the worm ' was. He mi he was going that night to see if it was still there, and ; he would let him know first thing in 1 the morning. Did not think thera ' was much in it, and ho thenwenP 1 ' 1 home and went to bed, About 12 : ' o'clock the same night Gurote again 1 oame to his door, aud said " it's \ there." He asked him where;-anff' ' he replied that he would toll him first , thing in the morning. la the morn- • ing Gurote told him it was on the > premises of Mrs Cranmer, He then i proceeded to the hotel, where it was 1 discovered. It was on the 16th, not i the 14th, he Baw Gurote. Could not < take much notice, It was dark, ; He appeared dean shaved. There - was nothing on him as far as he J knew that would throw any light on i the matter. There was something said about a wedding. Gurote had : told him that he had been persuaded to answer a matrimonial advertiseI ment purporting to be from a woman 1 with £2OOO. He (Gurote) hadapt plied, but found her to be over 70. f Gurote had told him that he had seen ■ a man bring the caseto Wellington 1 station, and take a ticket for Masteri ton. fo had followed to see what he i would do, The man got out at , Kuripuni station and- went to i Mrs Cranmer : s with tho case. i Wellbburne oame .and unlookedjtho • door. He, Price asked Gurote to be 2 identified on Thursday the 24th ; pf* i April, Asked if he had any objection •' i to confront tlie guard Birrell. Gurote i answered not the slightest. Then i asked Gurote to stand behind the . winch. Told the guard he wanted him Asked liim to, take a good look at him and sayif heivas'ih'eman who had the case 'in?his possession on a certain date. - He (Price) saw Birrel turn the light on him, (Mr Bunny . hero objected to Sergeant Price giving aB; evidence, what Birrell had said to him), The words wero" He " looks very much like the man, but I would not swear to him" He had learnt on the morning of the 16th at 10 minutes to 10 where the worm was, and at 10.80 had possessionof.it. Had a swag belonging to Gurote. Did not think a razor was in'it, When Gurote oamo baok to him at midnight he ssid," it is there all right. Pll tell you where in tho morniiig."Either.onthe.dayofseiznreT| or on following day Gurote had told?! him be'had wrenched the padlookoff to ascertain if the case was still in the shed. (Certaiu papers fiiiS'.fho swag were hereproducedin Court]' In answer to'Mr Builny" Bergt,!"Price said he did not think anything further of importance had been communijated to him by the accused. Sven Sy version, sworn, deposed he knew accused and knew witness Pat. Cohen.' Recollected no conversation. . about tho still. Heard nothing about the Ira shillings, Cohen was sober the ' first time he catuo in his shop, but the Bccond time very drunk. Gurote and (Jpjien 'flora'together' ' ■&% knowledge fiprn. j) to \ ju tyt after? '.' noon. '•';.. '■,'' ';■■,■

•Sergeant Price, was here recalled.' by the E.M. to repeat a portion of bis evidence, upon which the Court was not quite clear, Mr Skipper then called the accused and. cautioned him that if he wag sworn ho was liable to pross.e)tamiri, ■' ation, but if notsworn he tuightmake :' a Btitementwithoijt Adcussd; preferred to be;ewotrij and ' ■* deposed to goirig to Wellington for a holiday, He stayed a fortnight. The '-■ day before lie,returned to Masterton ' he saw a man who,knew him, Came up to Masterton oo ilieldth, anion - 1 the Friday night before that' the man' ' ' «^ ? ted him in Willis p § et, He (Gurote) .did.not .know- the tt»a. They went into an hotel.. Tho man " bad a beer, and he had .a raspberry and-.lemonade..- They Staypd about'. "<:■■' three hours in' the llotel/'Bpoke.jn their own-languages. • He ; .ij fldiioverian,tlie other'man adV^oleaQ,': - (Leftßitiioj.).