CHARLESTON NEWS.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 307, 25 July 1868, Page 2

CHARLESTON NEWS.

Mr Christopher Brown, storekeeper, formerly of Brighton, was arrested by Constable Davidson on Monday afternoon on a charge of horse stealing preferred by Mr Slattery of Brighton. Bail however was accepted in the sum of £2OO, and the case will be heard at the Magistrate's Court, Brighton, on Wednesday. Some peculiar circumstances attached to this affair. It appears Mr Slattery recently raffled a valuable horse named Planet, the lucky winner being Mr Chas Mirfin of this town. This happened on Saturday night,, Mr Brown being present. On the afternoon of the day following he saw Mr Mirfin and we believe succeeded in purchasing the latter's winning ticket for a few shillings by gi v i"g hhn to understand the raffle of the previous evening had been postponed. The ticket itself did not change hands as it could not be found at the moment, but a note of the sale was givea in writing and with this in his possession Mr Brown hurried back to Brighton. He had been but a short time gone when Mr Mirfin was met by a friend who informed him that the raffle had come off and the ticket he had just sold bore the winning number. Mounted on a very swift horse, Bocket, by name Mr Mirfin sped away after the buye and was the first to reach Brighton He was explaining the affair to Mr Slattery when Mr Brown arrived and claimed the horse, but Mr Slattery declined to let him have it. However, during the night, Brown is said to have taken the horse from"; the stable and rode it over to Charleston, and it was afterwards found in Lloyd's stables. The question no doubt will arise as to who is to be considered the legal owner of the property at the time of its being taken from the stable, Slattery, Mirfin, or Brown, and we fancy there will be some difficulty in supporting the information under, which Brown was arrested. It is said that the work on the Caledonian track has by no means given unbounded satisfaction, "and there are those who say that in a month a large portion of it will be sunk in the swamp again. Be this how it may, we are told there are already several inches of mud on it at the upper end although it, as yet, has not been opened. We understand that the overseer of works is by no means satisfied with several portions, and it is to be hoped that the money expended may not prove to be wasted after a few weeks traffic. The public have a right to expect the contract to be fulfilled to the letter, and if it is not and harm arises, those who permit any violation are clearly responsible for the consequences.