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May 23, 1903.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT, Sergeant J. Grant deposed that when he wet get fire to the place, but to protect himself from | the premises with the Chinese constable beloss found a number of small piness of wood, showing The fem le prisoner said the fire took place signs of burning, about the door and on the basement flow; they know nothing about the stairway. From the staircase a plank it. There was a great disturbance and she told had been taken sway. There was a strong her husband to go down and help to put the smell of kerosene The pieces of wood lying firo cut; he did so. about were not the sime as the wood stored there, having apparently belonged to a partition which they found forn down. On going upstairs Le found the staircase was saturated with kerosene n'l the way up to the first floor. When he entered the house on this floor he found traces of burning and there was a strong smell of kerosene.
Chief Inspector HG. Baker stated that when hé inspected the promises on the morning in question he obs rved that the door of the Basement had been burst open and was charred. There were signs of there having been a fire. An upright plank was missing from "the staircase, which all the way from the bottom to the first floor had been saturated with kerosene. On examining the first floor, he found signs of burning, and the cubicles smelt very strong'y of, kero sene. The rooms were in a state of great disorder, rags, old shoes and paper strewn all over the door. In a box he found a piece of rope by which the male prisoner said, when examined before the Magistrate, that he intend- ed to escape or r the verandah. In the kitchen be found a kerosene tin containing a littl kerosene. The male prisoner's bids smelt very strongly of kerosene
F. Browne, Government Analyst, deposed that he had analysed and tested a number of articles brought from the house where the fire occurred. He gave evidence in detail of te results of his examination which went to show that the articles in question were more or less saturated with kero ene.
Hiro Mikasabara, chief clerk of the Mitsui Bustan Kaisha, agents for the Meiji Insurance Co, stated tha in May last the first floor of 205, Queen's Road West was insured with them by the male prisoner for $2,000-stock, $1,500; furniture, $300; and clothing, $2 0. The clerk who preceded him inspected the premises b fore the policy was issued. He saw the premises after the fire and estimated the value of the colents at about $100.
Chan Bing, the tenant of the basement floor said that his premises were all in order when last inspected by him ou the 16th April,
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Kum Kur, shoemaker, said that on the night of the fire there were ter people sleeping on the second floor of the house.
Lan Sun, a mairied woman, who resides opposite No. 7 Police Station and who searched the female prisoner when arrested, spoke as to the money, etc., found in her possession. There were six n lls of money in ten and twenty cents pieces; s. me cords or strings and ei ht pawn. tickets.
J
C. P.-8. 264 stated that the amount of money discovered in the female prisoner's possession was 154,68.
This concluded the evidence.
TIME
The male a cused added that the reason his hands smelt of kerosene when he was examined by the police inspector was that he had over turned the lamp.
367
joyed
two or three of the men regularly Cheung, proceeded to get rid of one upon the work and No. 4 prison these coolies, one of whom was the Man Cheung beat him, with a view, he to get him away from the place and und floor of the wharf. Evider os would be calle edly he was either knocked or pulled to the to slow that when on the ground deccused wa assaulted by the other three prisoners-kicked and otherwise maltreated.
Affray lasted
His Lordship, in summing up, said the police only a minute or so, affam can, there men
evidence had shown in a manner that admitted of no dubt that this fire was deliberately and suspicions circumstance indeed against the purposely laid by somebody. It was a very prisoners that there was only some $100 wo th of goods on the premises when the usurance was for $2 000.
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verdict and after an absence of four minutes The jury retired at 2-30 to consider their returned a verdict of guilty against both prisoners.
The Curt adjourned from 1.35 till 2.35 o'clock, said he had been found guilty of the very serious His Lordsbip, addressing the first prisoner, crime of setting fire to a house in which peop's were living at the time. That was one of the most serious crimes under the English law, and had the policeman not discovered the fire in the nick of time the sentence his Lordship found it his duty to page upon him would have been much heavier than that which he was going to pass. It appeared tlat for the sake of getting prisoner had some $2,000 from the insurance company this partially succeedel in his attempt to burn the deliberately attempted and honee down regardless of the people living in it. The evidence was abundantly clear that the prisoner, was guilty. For the offence that bad been committed the law allowed the Judge to pars a sentence of life imprisonment. But having regard to the fact that the policeman discovered the fire in time to prevent ny risk to life the sentence upon the prisoner would be a comparatively mild one. necessary that the prisoner and those of his However, it was kind who for the sake of get ing insurance money would set fire to a honse, irrespective of consequences, should unders and that in any c'roumstances. the consequences, if the guiy party were found out, would be very serions. The offence which the prisoner had committed was extremely easy to commit and extremely difficult to detect, and the nun.ber of cass undetected was very great. The efore when, as was the case here, the charge was brought home clearly the Judge should make an example which would be a deterrent to others likely to offend in the same direction. The sentence upon the male prisoner would be seven years' im- prisonment with hard lab nr. Had the fire not been discovered and the people in the house had been burned prizouer would have been haugel. his Lordship took a milder view of her As regards the woman offence, not because it was not legally as great us that of her husband but because mostlikely she did it under his influence if not by his impulsion. But it was necessary that Chinese women should understand, if they did not already understand it, that they could not join their husbands in illegal practices without bringing themselves within the danger of bing punished by law. Sentence-three years' in prisonment with hard labour,
The male p isober, when asked if he had any thing to say, declared that the fire took place about three o'clock. He was awakened by 8-me -one crying out an alarm of fire down below. He saw the smoke coming out Confused by the alarm he went to get a piece of rope from below the bed with which to scape, and in doing so he overturned lamp which was ba ning near his bed. The smoke was very thick and. he could not see anything He did not blame kis wife for overturning the lamp he did it bimself. He used to hang a lamp over a sbe'f and that was the reason the kerosene was foun<t there. Some time ago sanitary inspector came to him and told him that he must pull down the cubicle partitions and make a hole, at the back of this shelf this be carried out. Some of the charred weed found by the polic was charred by the burning of jesspaper and by cooking. As regarda one box which smelt of kerosene, he said the sorgeant had poured the oil into it out of a kerosene pst. Ha al- mitted that his house smelt of kerosene, but he had nothing to do with the kerosene on the staircase, which was a common staircase. He carried on hi iness in a tailor; sometimes his place was full of goods and sometimes be sent them away and got in new goods. He took out the insurance policy not because he wanted to
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ALLEGED MAN LAUGHTER. Man Yeo Kwok Kau, Chan Yau and Man Cheung were charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of one Chun Ng.
They pleaded not guilty.
The following jury was empauelled: Messrs. M. Steger, P. Hardmann, C. W. J Hagelberg. A. E. Asger, F. F. Barretto, A. H. Ough and H. T. Wilgress.
on
returned to their work. The assaulted, man was very severely injured. He set down and with bim who remained boride him for some rested on the wharf. There was a person time. feeling great pains in his abdomen and The injured man complained of eventually he felt very giddy and fell on the fill about five o'olook, at which time a passer-by ground. He remained there from about noòn noticed his condition and informed the police. and finding his condition to be very serious Two policemen went there with an ambulance
pital, where he was found to be suffering from removed him to the Government Civil Hos a ruptured spleen. Later on that evening. as the only way of saving his life, an operation removed. It was then found that his spleen had was performed upon him and his spleen was been ruptured and bis abdominal cavity was full of blood. the 9th.
He died early in the morning of weighed over 2lbs., whereas the normal weight His spleen was abnormally large; it of a spleen among the Chinese was 80%. The ceased before he died as having been among first three prisoners were recognised by the de- those who assaulted him, and two or three wit- the one who commenced the attack and was nesses would identify the fourth prisoner as
aided by the other prisoners.
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was proved that the fourth prisoner, Man Evidence was then led. For the defence it
Cheng, who was a kind of foreman at the works, had received general orders from the pile-driver clear, that he and the workmen had Portuguese overseer at the wharf to keep the considerable difficulty in doing this and that the deceased was one of those who crowded on to the place.
His Lordship baying summed up,
in which to consider their verdict found the The jury after an absence of three minutes
prisoners guilty by a majority of five to two and nnanimously see mmended them to mercy.
His Lordship said he quite concurred with the recommendation and would see that it was given ‹ffect to.
attention to the fact that the prisoners had Mr. Morgan Phillips drew his Lordship's been some six weeks in prison.
His Lordsbip in passing sentence said the evidence left the jury no option but to find them guilty of manslaughter, because it was clear that through their not they caused the ‹eath of this man. The verdict of the jury was s most proper one and ore in which be entirely concurred. The evidence, he himself thought. showed that the man was in a very bad state of health from bis enlarged spleen and that the prisoners did not know his condition. What they did to I im would probably not have caused his death had he been in a good state of health. But men must be o reful how they conduct themselves towards each other. Prisoners had
been in prison for the past six weeks. Taking -- all te circumstances of the erse into considera tion he would sentence them to be confined with hard labour, until the r sing of the Court.
The Court adjourned.
Tuesday, 19th May.
IN CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.
BEFORE HIS HONOUR Sir Henry
BERKELEY (ACTING" CHINY JUSTICE).
"MANSLAUGHTER BY CHINESS CONSTABLE. with having killed a man named Chung Mo Fong Kau. Chinese constable, was charged
Kwal at Anan Police Station in (ko New Territory on 29th March.
Mr. T. Morgan Phillip, barrister-at- law, who conddoled the proseca ion behalf of the Crown, stated in opening the case that Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. are the owners of Jardine's Wharf situated" near West Poiut, which structural repais. On 7th April about noon was undergoing
an accident occurred to one of the pile-drivers which were being need at this wharf, and four or fiv· outside ovoliès who were not employed upon the work gathered around to have a look at this pile-driver and the accident which | General (instructed by Mr. F. R. L. Bowley, Mr. E. H. Sharp, K C., Acting Attorney- had happened. This seemed to hare incensed. Crown Solicitor), conducted the prosecution.
He pleaded not guilty-
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