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Mr. Francis submitted in the first instance that this was a suit ditipotly at common law and not; in equity. It was simply an action | for the recovery of money lodged in the hands of an agent. He also submitted that the court had no jurisdiction at common law to stay those proceedings. He further submitted that in this case there was nothing to prevent the defendant | from adopting the remedy provided-setting the case down for hearing and if they were unable to establish their case in the absence of three of the plaintiffs the defendant was entitled to get his judgment.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND reason why the court should exercise this large power which it possessed and dismiss the suit for want of prosecution. At the same time he must say in regard to this suit that the plaintiffs must make up their minda, as the suit could not hang over the defendant indefinitely. With regard to the costs, there would be an order that in this case, so far as the defendant was concerned, the costs should be the costs of the cause, and so far as the plaintiffs were concerned they should not be entitled to costs.
His Lordship said that in this case the plain- tiffs, who were four in number, brought a snit against the defendant, asking for an order for the payment to them of the sum of $17,000 deposited by them with him on the 31st June, 1898. The petition was duly filed on the 21st Feb., 1899 and the answer was filed on the 21st of the following month. On the 4th July, 1899, an order was made by the court directing the plaintiffs to answer certain interrogatories which were settled by the court apparently after argument in chambers. These interroga. tories were four in number. The time given to answer them was two months, the period 1 expiring on the 7th November. On the third November one of the plaintiffs, Apaoible filed his answers to the interrogatories. Then on the 7th November an extension of two months was obtained in the case of Sandigo and Rezario and one of three months in the case of Bellarmino. Then on the 15th Decem. ber an order was made for the plaintiffs to give security for the defendant's costs with a stay of preceedings until such security was given. That seemed to have had the effect of hanging up the order for an answer to the interrogatories, and nothing further was done with regard to the answers to the interrogatories until the 27th of February, 1900, when an order was made granting two months' further time, it be- ing intimated that no further extension would be granted unless a different set of circumstances were set up. Accordingly on the 27th of April when application was made for three months further extension and no further grounds were shown, the court refused to grant the time ask ed for. The four plaintiffs, therefore, became in default. They had failed to obey the order of the court directing them to answer these in- terrogatories. The defendant now came before the court and asked that the suit be dismissed for want of prosecution. The first question which arose was whether the court had power to make the order asked for. Mr. Slade contend. ed that the court had such power, whilst Mr. Francis argued that, inasmuch as this was a common law action and that the power referred to in the case in the House of Lords-the Repub- lic of Liberia v. Ray-was a case in the Chan- power. cery jurisdiction, the court had no such His Lordship dealt with this point, and added that he assumed, although he did not expressly decide the point, that for the purpose of the present argument the court had such power which it was asked to exercise in this case, The further question remained whether this was a case in which the court should exercise that power. In order to decide that question it would be necessary to have regard to the position in which these parties stood with regard to the question of answering the interrogatories. One plaintiff had answered them, whilst, the other three had not. According to the defence set up by the defendant in his answer the four plaintiffs were, so to speak, acting together. They had no right to the money in themselves, but were acting as agent to a nam named Artachio. There was no suggestion that the positions of the plaintiffs were different. Therefore an answer having been put in by one of the plaintiffs, he had to consider whether it was reasonable or likely that the answer to the interrogatories by the three plain- tiffs who were in default would be dif- ferent. He confessed] he did not see any ground_for_thinking the answers would be different. There were two decisions which went to show that the court ought not to exercise its power by way of dismissing this amit.Those were the cases cited by Mr. ents Francia. He thought none of the
answer applied to this case. There was an filed by one plaintiff, and he did not see why it should not be taken as an answer by all the others, He thought, therefore, there
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THE RECEPTION OF THE "TERRIBLE."
SPORTS AT HAPPY. VALLEY.
By permission of the stewards of the Hong- kong Jockey Club, sports were held on the Race Course at Happy Valley on Saturday afternoon, the 12th inst. in honour of Captain Percy Scott, C.B., and the officers and crew of H.M.S. Terrible. Sir. John W. Carrington, Kat, C.M.G., was president of committee; Messrs. Hart Buck, G. A. Caldwell, T. F. Hough, (Dr.) J. A. Lowson, James McKie. A. M. Mar- shall, and M. W. Slade sports sub-committee; Messrs G. A. Caldwell *and T. F. Hough starters, Mr. F. G. Motton, R.N., and Lieut. H. Rotherham, R.W.F., judges; Mr. M. W. Slade honorary secretary sports sub-committee; and Mr. T. F. Hough clerk of course. The place had been made to look gay by a liberal display of bunting, and the proceedings were enlivened by the bands of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and Hongkong Regiment. There was a large attendance of the general public. Much amusement was caused by the different events, but the latter part of the programme was interfered with by the rain.
The first item was a pony race open to the orew of the Terrible only: Four prizes of 825, $15, $10 and $5 were offered, and thess were won by T. Hayles, J. Dart, W. Thomas, and J. Copplestone.
A bioyole race confined to the Terrible crew was won by Warburton, Walker and Light being second and third. The prizes were $25, $15, and $16.
A leap-frog race, open to the Navy and Army, was an amusing event. Griffin and McMurray, of the R. G. A., won the first prize, 815, and Tomkinsou and Davies, of the R.W.F., the
second.
The Bloemfontein handicap, 120 yards flat race, was confined to officers of the Terrible. A cup was presented by the Hou, C. P. Chater, C.M.G., it being also arranged that a cup for a second prize should be presented if seven or more competitors started." This condition was fulfilled. Mr. Reynolds came in first and Mr.
Cole secoud.
The Ladysmith stakes (obstacle race), open to the Navy and Army, brought out a good number of competitors. The prizes were $80 $20, $15, and 810. Mathews and Halsey (dead heat), of the Daphne, came in first, and the first and second prizes were divided between them. The third prize was awarded to Davies, of the R.W.F.. and the fourth to Turney, of the Daphne.
Two blue-jackets came in first and second in the pony race open to the Navy and Army, their names being Burgess and Purchase.
A tag-of-war open to teams from the Navy, Army, and Police was won by the Royal En gineers, the Orlando men being second.
The programme. also included a jinrickeba race, which was most amusing.
According to the Kobe papers, a young China- man named Ki Ching, employed on the Brecon- skire, committed suicide on board on the 3rd inst. The man only signed on while the steamer was at Hongkong. The informal enquiry made by he Police merely elicited the fact that the tunfortunate man looked himself up in one of the rooms on board and took his own life.
A Seoul dispatch to the Osaka Asahi states:-"The survey of the sections between Fusan and Raizan and Seoul and Tompo at both ends of the Seoul-Fusan Railway, having now been completed, Mr. Takenouchi, one of the promoters, now at Seoul will inspect the lines on the 8th inst." The section from Tompo to Reizan will be surveyed after the work of nstruction of the line from, the two ends is
radioli ati vabang das 1 sub e
Lay 19, 1960.
THE MURDER OF AN INDIAN SOLDIER.
" WILFUL MURDER AGAINST A PERSON OR PERSONS UNKNOWN.”
THE POLICE. COMPLIMENTED, ~ At the Magistracy on the 11th inst. Mr. Gomperta continued his enquiry into the death of Private Fukier Khan, of the Hongkong Regiment, whose body was found buried near the shooting-range at Kowloon,/!
Private Raj Wali, who occupied the same section room as the deceased, said he remembered the night the deceased disappeared. It was on the 11th March. He was on line duty from 9-45 p.m. till midnight. His orders were to patrol the front of the Barracks and to visit the back every half hour, While he was on duty he did not see any one pass him either going in or coming out of the Barracks. He saw the deceased in the section room at nine o'clock at night, but he did not see him when he went out for daty at 9 45 p.n., as the room was then in darkness. He had not been told to conceal anything he saw that night. He could not say whether Fukier Khan was in the room when he came off duty-at midnight. as all was dark.
j
Private Sherraf Din, who was on duty from midnight on the 11th March till two o'clock the following morning, said that during that time no one passed him either going in or
The deceased was, in his section
Tho coming out.
He last saw him at roll-call at 9 p.m. deceased's bed was the fourth from his in the opposite row. He could not say whether the deceased was in bed when he went on duty or when he returned,ss it was work and he did not make a light.
Private Saifullah Khan was the next witness. His Worship informed him that other men in the regiment had said that he was seen in the company of the deceased on the night he disap- peared, and in view of the possibility of a charge being made against him he need not answer any question asked of’bim if he did ̈ not wish to do so.
Witness said he knew the deceased. He last saw him at 4 p.m. on the 11th March, it was not true that he was talking to the deceased between nine and ten o'clock on the night of the 11th. Witness did not leave his section room after seven o'clock.on the night of the 11th March.
Asked whether he was on good terms with
deceased, witness replied that he was neither a good friend nor an enemy of the deceased. They had never had a quarrel about any money,
His Worship said he would now close the enquiry, which had been held at var- ious intervals during the last six weeks He did not think. it would be profitable to protract it any longer, because he thought all
the available evidence
was
exhausted. If at any future time any further evidence was forthcoming the guilty persons would be brought to trial. He would re- tara a verdiot of wilful murder against a person or persons unknown. He might say that he considered that the case had been well worked up by the police, and by the Inspector in charge (Inspeor Macdonald), and the officers of the regiment seemed to have afforded every facility for nquiry. He thought it was extremely discreditable ibat in a regiment of this sort, where there must be many men well aware who the guilty parties were, that nothing more could be done to bring these parties to justice. The murder appeared to have been a most cold-blooded one,
Shanghai papers report a slight altercation as occuring on the Off-Day of the Spring Race Meeting. The programme contained these words:" Stewards suggest that owners should not allow mafocs to use whips in this race, that is the Mafoos' Race; and all the owners. but one adopted the anggestion. The one in question handed a whip to his mafoo as he was proceeding on to the Course, whereupon one of the stewards interfered. There, was a heated discussion, but the mafoo eventually carried. the whip and did not win. The quarrel arose- owing to the ambiguity of the "enggestion,"
did not. which the owner held, not unreasonably, d amount to commanda şose