RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT, FOXTON.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 63, 8 April 1881, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT, FOXTON.

Wednesday, April 6, 1831. (Before R. Ward, E*q., P V .M.) MALICIOUS DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. Joseph Mvjek, ar Austrian, was charged with having on April 3 maliciously set fire to a bush, the property of S. M. Baker, t>eins? an indictable offence. Mr H mkins appeared for the prosecution, *nd M<* Maclean for the accused. Mr Hankins, in opening the case, explained the circumstances, and quoted from Roscoe to show that where a person was engaged in an unlawful act, the law assumed malice. S. M. Biker deposed— On March 31 accused came to my house and asked for employment ; I showed him some work which I offered him ; he did not work that •lay ; it waa in a flax swamp ; a drain has been dusj through it, parallel with the Avenue road ; on the south side »>f the drain there is a bush ; M isek was to work on the north side, where the flax swamp is ; I told him to keep on that side of the drain, and whatever he did not to put any fire in the swamp ; at the same time I directed his attention to the bush, and told him I valued it highly, ani that I weul-1 not have it burnt ou any accouut ; he said, " Y«s, yoa !" H- lookel at the work an 1 during the day came to my office and said he would take it, and start next morninsj, April 1 ; 1 saw him at work at 9 o'clock next morning ; Alfred Sedcole was with me ; I again cautioned him about the bush ; I noticed he understood but little of the work, and therefore showed him how to do it ; he then went to the house and sharpened his spade ; ab tut five o'clock the same day I went to where I set him to work ; he was not there, and I then proceeded to burn off some il ix, assisted by- one of mv men and one of my sons ; about half-past seven we left off work ; I then went on to a sandridge to see if the fire was all right, and on looking across to the bush before mentioned I saw a fire like a torch in the hands of a person who moved about with it ; it waa not carried as if to give light, but to set fire to the bush ; about three or four chains further away he lighted the last fire ; when I saw the bush was on fire [ ran for my mau, Pk. Bradley, to assist me in catching the person who had the torch ; we ran toward him, and when we got to where the fire waa first lighted, we saw he had gone ou further ; I ran on towards the light; my boy fell against the wire fence, and hearing the noiae the maa ran off ; I searched for him and went from my property to. the Avenue road, but could not find him ; coming back I met prisoner ; I said, " Why did you set fire to thu bus. I told you to be su careful about ?' He shook <ts if excited, and said, " I hope no do muoh harm ;" I told him he had better c>me ami help to put it out ; he refused to come, and I then brought him to town aud gave him iv charge ; only yesterday we were able to get the fire out ; there were several patches of fire ; some patches were a chain apart, and others only a few yard a. We felled the dead trees to keep the fire down. A number of men were at work nearly all that night and part of next day. By Mr Maclean— Xo particular quantity of work was to be done ; he waa to get £1 per acre ; I think that was a remunerative price ; I have other men doing the same work at that price ; Ido not think it would pay prisoner, as ho did not appear to unlerßtand it ; it was clearing flax swamp ; he could not see ray house from where he was at work ; I believe prisoner understood me when I told him to be careful of the bush; it would take me only two or three seconds to get >m to the ridge after I left him ; when I saw the man firing; tha bush, he was about four or five chains away from me ; I did not see my man at the time ; I value the hush, but ran away from the fire to call mv man, because I was anxious to get his assistance in capturing the maa with the torch ; I did not look fot the man when I reached Bradloy ; we ran down the drain towards the prisoner; I would have to travel 13 or 14 chains from where Bradley wa3 sitting before 1 again saw the man with the torch ; and from that to where I met accused it would be another 14 chains ; I therefore travelled altogether about half a mile and called at a house. Mr Maclean — And all this time the valu*bl« bush waa burning ! (Laughter.) Witness— l was running Uko a gravedigger all the time ! Mr M'Lean — I never saw one run. Mr Hankins — Perhaps the witness means a lamplighter. (Renewed lanphter ) Cross-examination continued — When I found him he had in his hand a tin billy, a spade, and a hook ; he did not say to me the job was too much for him ; when I noticed he was not at work in the afternoon I concluded he had thrown np the work ; I do not think the tools were necessary to netting fire to a hush ; I do not think his action was that of a man looking for his tools ; he made a " dab " with the torch on one side and then lifted it over bin head to the other side, where he made another " dab " with it ; I say on my oath that I believe the man was deliberately setting fire to my bush ; I have had one man who threw up the same work at 15s per acre ; if instead of pursuing the man I had at once tried to put the fire out it would of coiuse have been easier ; I did not find the torch. Re-examined by Mr Hankins --The last place where the fire was Hunted was at a dead tree ; there was no ' undergrowth around it, and if any tools wen: at the foot of the tree they could be easily seen. By Mr Maclean — Hs did not show a desire to avoid me when I saw him. i By the Court — When I came up to him, he was shaking and seemed frightened ; he did not show any desire to run away ; it was on the new road ; I came suddenly apon him ; it was a dark night. Alfred Sedcole, a laborer in the employ of Mr Baker, deposed — I remember on Thursday last accompanying; Mr Baker to the lower end of the property to see if the bush was on fire ; we saw fire in that direction, but found it was not on Mr Baker's property ; the same time we went over to where Musek was at work ; Mr Baker told him not to light any fires on the other sidn of the bush as he did not wish the bush to be burned ; I think prisoner understood ; in the evening I was called to as. sist in extiuguiahing a fire in the bush ; Bhencoles and others were there ; there was one fire about two or three chains away from the rpst ; others were pretty close together ; they were separate and distinct burning- 1 . By Mr Maclean— The fire I saw in the morning was some flax, about 3 chains from the bush ; I believe Masek lighted it ; we did not put it out ; Mr Baker did not ask accused anything about the fire, but gave Masek a caution not to light any more fires ; I had not spoken to Maock during the day, except whe» he.was grinding bis spade, when I remarked it was a

good one, and he said it was ; I did not see Masek go away. Re-exr mined by Mr Hankins— There was some fire pa each Bide of the drain, but there was no connection between it and the butfh ; the fie un the bush aide was smouldering ; about five o'clock I west to the place to take out a burning post ; I found ■-,*» Patrick Bradley there putting it out ; it was on the same side as the man was worknig; some fire also came from Cameron's property, where'the bush was alight ; all the fires were separate ; there was a strong westerly wind that night, but it *vould not carry the fire from where the man was at work towards the bush. By Mr Maclean— There is a road between the properties of Mr Baker and Mr Cameron ; I did not see any one patting <>ut the fire on Cameron's land ; I am a bushtnan, and have seen many bush fires ; blazfng "Vpaflcs "often travel four or fttw chains in the bush. Constable M'Auulty deposed— l arrested prisoner on the night of April 1. I did not caution him ; there was co warrant issued ; [ gave him clearly to understand that I arrested him on an indictable offence ; I have kn >wn him for along time,, and he spoke freely ; he said he left Mr Baker's employment that day, and planted his tools in the bush ; he intended -starting early next morning for Bulls, and went up to Mr B iker's after dark to get his tools ; when, he went there he searched about for half an hour, but could not find the tools ; he fchen made a torch by tying five pieces of fl ix together ; and with it found the tools ; after finding the tools he could not find the way out of the bush, and carried the torch with him to show him the road along a fence ; he then found an opening, and having got out extinguished the torch ; I asked him why he did not extinguish the fire, and he said the fire did not take place till if ter he left the ground. A long discussion here ensued a 9 to whether this evidence was admissable. By Mr Maclean — Prisoner resided at Bulls before coming to Foxton ; he was a respectable man all the time I knew Mai ; he has improved his position while living at Bulls, where he owns a house and land ; [ believe he told me the troth when he describe this affair ; he always kept good company at Bulls ; there are no previous charges against him. The Court then adjourned for one hour. Upon resuming, Mr Miclean addressed the Bench for the prisoner. He said he should call prisoner. He thought it was not fair to assume . that the man ceuld have had no other ob- . ject than to set fire to the bush when he swayed the torch to and fro. He thought' the prosecutor had showed animus daring the hearing of the cage, and that in supposing the man was setting fire to the bush he had jumped to a conclusion not warranted by the facts. In reply to Mr M'Lean, His Worship said he considered it would he useless for defendant to make a state* ment at this stage, as he considered &prima facie case had been made oat. Prisoner, ho reserved his defence, was then formally committed for trial at the <*iuin3 of the Supreme Court to be held at Wanganui ou the 26 f h inst. B ill was allowed, prisoner in £100, and two sureties of £50 eaob. ' *>' CIVIL, CASES. A. Barber v. E. Turley. — Claim £7, for medical attendance and medicine. ■ Judgment for plaintiff for amount and costs, 11 8, £1 to be paid forthwith, and the balance in one month. Same v. Cole. — Claim £2 for attendance. Judgment for amount and costs, 7s. ,/•< Thompson Bros. v. R. Walbutton. — Claim £3 13s 9d. Judgment ex parte for amount, less IDs paid to plaintiff's agent, aud costs, 7s. J. Hanson v. Hodder, Mason & Co. — Claim £13 6a 91, for punting timber. Mr Hankins for defendant, applied for aa adjournment, on the eround that the summons was served only en Monday afternoon, and his clients had not had >time to prepare their set-off. Case adjourned till next Court day, defendants to pay plaintiff Ss expenses. - - . . A. E. Howard v. J. Watson.— Claim £8, for damage done to a musical box hired to defendant. Mr Hankins for plaintiff. Plaintiff deposed — I hired a musical box to defendant, who wanted it to draw custom to his greengrocer's shop ; it was in stood order, except one tooth oeing broken. -* 1 I valued it at £8 10a, which I paid for it I was offered £5 for it in Foxtoa. He had it for 2a on the regatta day. He did not return it to me. When I did get it, it waa bioken, and would not play at all. On Saturday afternoon I took the box to pieces - and found an important part missing, I consider myself competent to pat the musical box together, as. l was in large engineer* I ing works at home fpr a number of years. — By defendant— The box never fell while in my possession. Six days before the regatta I set it going in your shop and it went all right — Lrraisa Howard, wife of last witness, deposed that when Watson took .the box away, it was in good order. —John Watson, fruiterer, &a, deposed to having hired the box from plaintiff, who stated at the time that it had been broken before. This evidence was confirmed . by «r, boy named Samuel Feck. — Judgment for plaiatiff for £4 and costs; £I Hi. A' -. .-.» fp^ , r >