•
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
not turn to the south because there were a
number of vessels there.
January 23, 1905.} always suspicious. With a company having the standing M. Goldring has asked me to believe it is reasonable to exp et that they would Mr. Calthorp, addressing the jury, emphasised give the cause, s it seems 8 cra-l thing to the point that a s'eam launch should keep out of summarly dismiss a man from a ship with the way of anything not under steam. He point- out giving any cause whatever, and damaging to ed out in conclusion that such negligence on his reputation. I do not see any reas n why the part of the defendant rendered him this company should t ke this course had they culpable in this matter, as through bis negli- | really believed the captain given to intemper-gence was caused the death of these people. ance. Their real reason, I am inclined to His Lordship s«id: - Gentleman; you must take believe, was what the captain was told-that it as a general principle that wherever one is in they had to make room for a relative or friend control of anything that contains an element of an owner. This is nothing unusual; it has of dan.er the duty is imposed of bring been done before now and will be done till the ing into the control of that thing such end of time. When you want to make room care rud skill 8.5 will prevent the dan- for a relative or friend, though, you must give gerous thing becoming a danger in fact. If proper notice or a sum in lieu thereof. I find the management of this thing containing an for the plaintiff with costs.
element of danger is negligent. and death results in consequence, that is manslaughter. That is the principle of law found necessary for the protection of the public who have to use and be in the presence of things containing an element of danger. With such a thing as a railway, for instance, the engine driver must bring into the act of driving the train skill and care, and if by his negligence a collision takes place and death results because of this it is manslaughter. As you must know, there have been several cases where engine drivers bare been convicted of man- slaughter. The same thing applies in the case of a man in charge of a steam launch. In this case it is a question of fact. Do you find him guilty of negligence, or was it the action of the people in the sampan that brought about the occurrence? If the sampan was run into as stated in the case for the prosecution I should think she would have been cut, but she simply toppled over. There is no evidence that she was cut down, and there were thirteen people in this small craft.
Wednesday, 18th January.
IN CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.
BEFORE SIR H. S. BERKELEY (CHIEF
JUSTICE).
RAPE.
Tsang Hing, a Chinese house-boy, was charged with defiling a European girl under the age of twelve (to wit, six years and nine months), also with attempting same and with indecent assault The Hon. Mr. E. H. Sharp, K.C. (Attorney General), instructed by Mr. F. B. L. Bowley (Crown Solicitor), prosecuted. The prisoner was not defended.
The prisoner pleaded not guilty, and the following jury was empanelled :-Messrs. A. Bain (foreman), M. Simmons, R. B. Cooper. W. Goetz, L. A. Lammert, G. Smith and E. B. Raymond.
The name of Sydney Douglas Hickey was also called, but met with no response.
The Jury finally returned a verdict of guilty on the first count, and His Lordship sentenced the prisoner to imprisonment for the term of his natural life.
ALLEGED MANSLAUGHTER.
of
the
Wong Teing Tsung was charged with manslaughter.
Mr. Calthrop (acting ou behalf Attorney-General), instructed by the Crown Solicitor, prosecuted. The prisoner was not defended.
:
The prisoner pleaded not guilty, and the following Jury was empanelled :-Messrs. G. W. Gegg, A. Bain, L. E. Lammert, J. Mills, J. Wells, R. B. Cooper and G. P. Curry.
to
After some further remarks, His Lordship
asked the jury to de ide whether the accident was due to the negligence of the prisoner.
The jurors were unanimous in finding a verdict of not guilty.
His Lordship to the prisoner-The jury find you not guilty. They think the whole thing was an accident and due to the sampan people
turning into you.
Thursday, 19th January.
IN CRIMINAL JURISDICTION.
BEFORE HIS HONOUR SIR HENRY S. BERKELEY (Chief Justice.)
MURDER.
Pain, the Filipino, was indict d for murder, The Hon. Mr. E. H. Sharp, K.C., Attorney. General, instructed by Mr F. B L. Bowley, Crownolicitor, prosecuted; and Mr. N. Ferrers defend d.
The risouer, in answer to the charge, said: It is true.
His Lordship-Tell him to plead "not guil y" so that we may find out the degree of his guilt.
Mr. Calthorp in opening the case said that the prisoner on the 2th December last, in the capacity of coxswain of the lau ch Wing | Loi, while navigating in the Harbour op- posite Jardine's Wharf, came into collision with ધ sampan. The Jurors unl find out whether that action was due to the carelessness and negligence of the prisoner. The sampan people, it appears, did not see the launch till it was about thirty feet off They were steering the craft in an easterly direction. A fail was up, but they were using oars also. Mr. N. Nolan, of the Magistracy, The launch ran into the starboard counter of the interpreted Spanish and English, and Mr. sampan, upset it, and the occupants were Lazaro Bebit. President of the Igorotte tribe thrown into the water. The occupants of the of L-panto Muntoe and chief of 24 Igorottes sampan were the master, his wife, three children, who returned from the St Louis World's Fair and eight or nine passengers. Dr. Forster happen-by the ss. Tremont, Spanish and the I:orotte ed to see the occurrence and immediately went to the rescue. Owing to his pluck, two children entangled in the wreck were got out. The Doctor managed to bring one of them around, but the other succumbed. One of the passengers was afterwards found to be missing, and his dead body was recovered later.
After the witnesses for the prosecution had given evidence the prisoner called witnesses to prove that the sampan was overloaded, and that she had wrongfully altered her course.
The prisoner made a statement as follows:- I blew my whistle twice to draw the attention of another steam-launch towing a boat. A large steamer was anchored on my right hand side, about three cheungs from the launch towing the boat. There was a argo boat at the steamer's stern going towards the east. I had to go towards the north and the sampan in question was going towards the north. Before the collision I went astern. Our hoat stopped and the sampan came against us. There were too many people in it, and that is what made her topple over and sink. I could
dialect.
The following jury was empanelled: -Messrs. A. Bain (foreman). W. C. Logan, W. Goetz, L. A. Rose, G. P. Curry, G. Smith and R. S. Piercy.
The Attorney-General said:---As Your Lordship pleases - Gentlemen of the Jury, the prisoner is charged. as you bave just heard, with murdering a compatriot, Apowan, under the following circumstances:--Both Apowan and the pris ner were members of a company of 24 Igorottes, people of a native tribe in the Philippine Is'ands, who had been previously on exhibition in America. At the time of the murde- these 24 Igorottes were on their way back to the Philippine Islands from America, and were on the s.s. Tremont. The company included a man known as president of the tribo an extremely respectable man who
43
the night. A portion of the steerage was provided for their use. with two tiers of bunks all in one compartment. It is rather important for me to tell you where these people were Here is a rough diagram which was produced att e Magistracy. This man Apowan was in the corner bunk on the left-hand side. As one entered from this pas- sage there were two bunks. The bunk next to A powan's was the prisoner's, so these two men were sleeping in banks ext to one another. On the right-hand side of the first bunk was the bunk of a woman called Dango Sang, a widow 22 years old, who slept exactly opposite the prisoner. At about half-p st nine, some time after these people had turned in for the night, a European quartermaster on watch heard a man shout out as if in pain from the Igorotte quarters! He ran in, and the woman pointed out the deceased, who was not then actually dead, but died a few minutes afterwards. Deca ed was practically disembowelled. All the Igoroties were present except the prisoner, who had disappeared. About the same time a Chinese watchman on board one of the lighters alongside saw a short, dark man of a race he had never seen before climb down a rope into the lighter. and this man tried to hide in the lighter's water- tank, and when prevented tried to get into the hold, but was prevented. He then took a plank and jumped overboard. Unfortunately this man did not report the occurrence immediately. A careful search was made in the ship and on shore, and the prisoner was a rested on the follow- ing day. I shall prove to you that three days before the murder this woman saw the prisoner take and steal a large knife, a dagger, from an- other compatriot; and it is very significant that the woman reported the matter to an American in authority and asked him to take the knife from the man. Gentlemen, the pris ner made various statements, and to-day pleads guilty. In the charge room he said
"Yes. During the hearing before the Magistrate he said two things, ie, "I am guilty; I killed," and when a certain weapon was in the doctor's hand, "It is He made true; I killed him with that knife " a full confession since stating w at his motive I think, gentlemen, when you have heard all
this you
will agree
that the prisoner is justified in pleading guilty.
Charles Peterson, quartermaster of the ss. Tremont, gave evidence.
was.
Cross-examined, he sad that the two other men were stabbed. There was no trouble that he knew of before the occurrence.
Dr. Howe, surgeon of the s.8. Tremon', gave evidence.
Cross-examined, the Doctor said he attended to all the Igorottes, if they needed him. He knew of no trouble amongst then, prior to the murder.
Re-examined-Dango Sang (the woman) is at present quarantined at Marivelles Bay, Luzon Island, and therefore cannot attend.
The Attorney-Gener-I-Under the circum. stauces I will have to read out Dingo Sang` depositions made at the Police Court.
Mr. N. Ferrers objected.
'The Attorney-General quoted authority. Mr. N. Ferrers raised an objection on the ground that, according to the depositions, there had been an error in administering the oath. This discrepancy, however, was a mistake in the copy, but did not appear in the original depositions written by Mr. Gompertz.
Mr. N. Ferrers, again referring to the deposi- tions-I must object, My Lord, on the ground that though it is stated that there has been cross-examination, this does not appear in the depositions-they are not complete.
If
His Lordship-The cross-examination is not given; I cannot admit incomplete evidence. I admit these depositions improperly all this trial will be null and void. Send for Mr. Gompertz.
The Chinese lighterman referred to by the Attorney-General gave evidence.
Cross-examined-1 could not recognise the
man now.
Police Constable 112 gave evidence as to the arrest.
Mr. H. H. J. Gompertz, Senior Police Magistrate, on cath-There was no cross-@KB- The usual printed form was not altered by me; 1 overlooked it.
By the Attorney-General-The prisoner was specially asked by me whether he wished to cross-examine, and he did not.
mination. n the 5th of this was in charge of the men. month, in the evening, the Tremont was moored in Hongkong Harbour, and there were several cargo lighters lying alongside. At about nine o'clock these Igorottes, apparently, turned in for
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