THE LARCENY OF OATS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4100, 29 April 1892, Page 2

THE LARCENY OF OATS.

< Heggie Before the Court. J 0 ' On the Court resuming at two • 1,1 o'clock counsel for the defence, jitged : '® that ut prima facie case liadnlfen ' made out. The Bench decided to m hear the defence, and the depositions*' 1 w were read. John McLean, re-called for the v defence, deposed that a man named 'r Anderson sewed the bags containing 1 the Crij-olaes oats. " By' Sergeant M'Ardle: Anderson did not sew the bagß containing the seconds, - The bagß now in the . possession of the polico contain seconds. .. . .. 01 'Andrew Anderson deposed that he had sewn certain bsgs containing ' oats on Mr Campbell's property. H 8 . had not sewn h)I the second bags although he sewed the bulk of them, 1 He was shewn two bags at the police . , station containing seconds, hut tea were not sewn by him. He had seeif ' sacks with green threads down the sides at other places than Campbell's, is ® av Heggie, the accused, on ie ofl tb| stated :lam a carrier in Masterton. The shed in which the oats" " ig we ™ by f ' ] o polico is not my property. Ihave never been The two saaks of oats were put , there by me, nor at my request. The • oats and chaff in the case in the ' a stable were mixed up ready for feed. i 6 There was no chaff with theblaok and white oats iu another box. The ; shed in which the two bags of oats ' , were found is two sections from me. The property on which I reside ismy own freehold. I told the Sergeant I £ bought my oats from a Maori. 1 I a boughtfrom Natives last year. I never |r bought from the same Maori before. The Maori wanted seven shillings for ' the oats, but I paid him six shillings '> 3 { caß ' l «, Ido not know the name of the Maori, but I would reoognise him if I saw him again. I have not seen him since. On Sunday, the 17th I n went to bed about 6.80 or 7 o'clock in the evening, and did not rise till six on the following morning, On the evening of the )Bthinst. I was about t the town till about 12.80 with one Burslum. I then went home anddid not get up again till morning. I J. went to the play on the evening of the 19th with my children, I went to bed soon afterwards, and did not go or out again that night, I pajgkl Mft ' id Campbell's property on tbeTuMay, but I was not on it, I have not a heayjr horse—not sufficiently heavy j to draw fifteen bags of oais out of a stubble paddock, I stole no oats, ie neither did I buy any from another of person knowing them to bo stolen, it There are many Maoris in the district i i- whose names I do not know. i >y By Sergeant M'Ardle: On the ! ;* nigbt of the 21st inst. I was on the ', Opaki road and 1 got into a bit of a j i- row about eleven o'clock. There is a e. means of access between my shed and 1 )t the shed in which the two bags were d found, but J defy a man to carry I sacks '"f oats on his back between tho k two. The oats and chaff in my shedi it were mixed. I mixed three bags of h chaff with the oats in (he big box. • p Elizabeth Heggie, wife of the a accused, gave corroborative ovidence, II as to the doings of Heggie between n tho 17th and 20th insts. e Tliomas Burslum deposed that he >i was with the accused on the night of e ihe 18th inst. d This was the case for the defencßi Sergeant M'Ardle asked leave to call rebutting evidence, j <) Counsel for tho aocusGd Constable Oashion, sworn, deposed that he had not heard a word said about d Maori in the interview with Heggie. r Sergeant M'Ardlp also denied >- e having heard such a word used, v The Bench, after a retirement Of 3 half an hour, dismissed the informs* y tion. 1