The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

Charge against a. Llandudno "Cabby." Extraordinary Saturday Night Scenes. Sequel to Missing a Train. ON Monday, at the Llandudno Police Court, before Dr Bold Wiiliams (in the chair), Messrs Ephriam Wood, Jno. Owen, and Elias Jones, a Llandudno cabman, named Jno. Wynne (187), was charged with assaulting Mr Thomas Osborne Morgan, chief cierk at the Conway County Court offices, at Llandudno on the 27th of January. Mr R. Bromley (Rhyl) defended. Prosecutor stated that on the night of the 27th of January he went to the railway station to catch the last traiii-g-o p.iii to the Junction. When lie got there he found it had gone a minute before its time. He asked a porter who was in charge of the platform. The porter replied that he was, but as he was only a young man prosecutor asked to see someone more responsible. He waited some little time, and then another porter or booking clerk came up. Prosecutor made a similar complaint to him, and asked whether he could get a lift on the 10-20 p.m. light engine, which would be going back to the Junction, and then he could easily walk from there home. Otherwise, he said, he should be compelled to report the case to the company. When the guard came back from the Junction with the return train, prosecutor asked him what time he left Llandudno. The guard said 9-50 by my own watch," and prose- cutor on comparing the officials' watch with the station clock was a minute faste. which proved conclusiviy that the train went at a minute before its time. Prosecutor after this left the station and proceeded in the direction of the Alexandra Hotel IX ORDER TO TELEPHONE HOME that he had lost the train and would not return home that night. He met the defendant driving a cob and he hailed him to stop, asking it he was empty. The defendant said he was disengaged, and prosecutor then said li what will you drive me to Llandudno Junction for." Defendant replied 5s. Prosecutor said but it is only three miles, and it is just half past ten." However defendant said he would not drive him for less. Prosecutor then asked defendant for his number, and the latter retorted, don't you try to be clever, if you are the County Court clerk." (Laughter.) He said I'm not trying to be clever, I mean business give me your number. You are supposed, according to the byelaws, if you are a registered hackney carriage driver, to wear your number." Defendant replied, "Get out of the way." Prosecutor said, 1 am not going out of the way." Defendant then whipped the horse, but prosecutor jumped at its head and held the animal fast. Defendant struck the horse repeatedly, and then struck prosecutor across the cheek with his whip. Mr Morgan still kept hold of the horse's head until the animal had made two circles and got on to the parapet, where it fell down. Whilst he was liepir, it to get up defendant got off his seat and struck prosecutor a severe blow on the head. Prosecutor let go and ran up Mostyn-street, I defendant in hot pursuit. (Laughter.) He met an officer, and asked him to get defendant's number. He went back with the officer to the scene of the dispute, and defendant made another rush at him. Prosecutor made for Mostyn-street again, but be- fore he could get many yards defendant had kicked him on the leg. Prosecutor was then cross-examined by Mr Bromley. You would not have said anything to the bench about the station scene if these witnesses had not come to court ? Not at all. I don't think it has anything to do with it. I am not charged with an assault. Were you not in an excited condition at the station, Mr Morgan ? Yes, I was. Did you challenge one of the officials to light ? —I will swear I did not. Did you not get hold of him by the coat and say I will light you ? He distinctly told me that he was not an official of the North-Western, so I told him he mnst mind his own business, and that I would talk to him out- side. (Laughter.) Then according to that you asked him to go out- side and light it out ? Yes, and I had a perfect right to do so. (Laugh- ter.) He was interfering when he had not the slightest right to do so. He had no business there at all. Did you not quarrel with the porter ?—No. I simply said I should report him. Did you not afterwards go to the engine of the 10-25 train and ask the driver to take you on his engine ?—Yes, with the porter's consent. He refused, and did you not make a scene ? Certainly not. Now sir, were you sober that night ?-I was per- fectly sober. I reached Llandudno about five minutes past two in the afternoon. I went to the football match, and afterwards went to Mr Sum- mer's restaurant to tea. What else did you do that afternoon ?—I had about four games of billiards. How many whiskies and sodas did you have ? I don't drink any. What did you have ?-Two glasses of whiskey on the Parade. Oh, I see, its the soda which you object to. (Laughter.)—Yes. While you were at the Parade you had two whiskeys ?—Yes. What other hotel did you go to ?- -I went from the Parade to the station. And you say that from half-past two until ten o'clock you had only two whiskeys ?—Xo, I had six altogether. You said you never drank whiskey and soda ? —And I say so again. How many port wines did you have ? Witness (hesitating) None. What -I had none. All I had was six whiskeys. Then why did you hesitate ?—Because I drink port wine at times, but I didn't drink any that day. Then you didn't mix them ?—No, I didn't. You were in an excited state when you left the station ?—Naturally I had lost my train, and I wanted to get home. It was twenty-five minutes to eleven when you left the station ?—About half-past ten. Very well we will take that. You were coming along from the station in that excited state, and you met this man ?—No, he overtook me. You told him you wanted to go to Conway ?— No, to the Junction. And it was a quarter to eleven ?—-About it. And he explained that by the time he got to Conway Prosecutor I can see you are still on the Conway track. (Laughter.) Did he not explain to you that the reason he charged 5s was that it would be after eleven o'clock when he got there ? No. What he said was I don,t drive you for any les)." 1 was annoyed and asked him for his number. I'd been served this trick before and was not going to be done again. (Laughter). 10 I Will you swear that lie never gave his number ? Yes I will. He never suggested that he gave it me until the folio wing Tuesday. Then he whipped his horse and tried to go on ? Yes. Had you not jumped up at the horse's head you would not have been struck ? No, I should never have seen him either. I didn't want to walk home if I could help it, and as I had been served a similar trick I was watching things carefully this time. The horse went on the parapet. You turned it clean round twice and then brought it on to the pavement. Quit, right, sir. Did he not shout and tell you to let the horse go? Yes. And the other witness ?—Yes. And you didn't S»—No. Do you think a sober man would have held on to a horse like that at the risk of his life? Well I was not drunk. Do you think a drunken man could have done what I did ? Why the horse was rearing and jumping about like mad, which proved conclusively that I was not drunk. But they say drunken men get out of extra- ordinary difficulties. Perhaps you speak from experience, sir. (Laughter.) No, I have not got that far yet. (Laughter.) The name of George Griffith, who was sum- moned by subpoena to give evidence on behalf of the prosecutor, was called, but he did not appear. Mr Bromley, for the defence, said when he came into court he thought he had a most difficult case to He understood that the complainant was going to be represented, and although he had no wish to be over-confident, he could not help saying that the complainant had not made out his case. From his own statement it was evident that he was greatly excited at the station, and although he denied being drunk he admitted having had six whiskies. He had, however, witnesses who would prove to the contrary, also that his conduct was most extraordinary. Defendant would swear that he gave Mr Morgan his number, and that he jumped at the horse's head in a most unwarrant- able manner. He pulled the animal clean round twice, and if the vehicle had happened to be a half-lock one he would have turned the horse and carriage clean over and imperilled the life of the defendant as well as his own. In fact, it was a marvel that the complainant was not crushed against the corner of the Alexandra Hotel wall. He had damaged the carriage as well, and under all the circumstances he submitted that complainant had not made out his case. He (Mr Bromley) had J four or five witness to call if necessary. After a short consultation, the bench dismissed the case without costs.

Alleged Offences at a Talacre Quarry. Cases Dismissed on Questions of Fact. AT the Prestatyn Police Court, on Tuesday, before Captain Keatinge (in the chair), Messrs A. L. Clews, R. C. Enyon, A. Foulkes, and W. H. Coward, Messrs J. D. and W. Bulcock, proprietors of the Talacre Hall Quarry, near Mostyn, and W. Wil- liams, agent of the said quarry, were summoned at the instance of Mr Rowland Jones, an inspector under the Metalliferous Mines' Act, for not ex- amining periodically the: external and internal parts of the machinery, and entering the result of the examination in the report book, on the nth December, 1899, and other dates. Mr T. Cartwright (Chester) prosecuted, and Mr F. J. Gamlin (Gamlin and Williams) defended. Mr Cartwright said he appeared on behalf of the inspector of mines to prosecute the defendants who were summoned for neglecting to comply with certain rules that had been passed by the legislature to ensure the safe working of quarries and such places where machinery were engaged. The rules of the Act referred to stipulated that the boilers of all machinery should be examined externally and internally at certain periods within the year, and the result of such examinations were to be entered in the book by the person making the examinations. Accordingly the inspector visited the quarry in December, and called for the book in which the examinations should appear. He then found that no record had been kept for several days, which showed obviously that the rule had been dis- regarded. Mr Owen R. Jones, inspector of mines, residing at Chester, said the Talacre Hall Quarry was in his district. He produced the special rules which were provided for the working of the quarry. The last day he visited the quarry was the nth Dec., 1899. He saw Mr Williams, the agent, one of the defendants. Witness examined the report books and found no daily report had been made since Dec. 7th, and no quarterly report was made at all during the year. The annual report was made in May, 1899. The non-appearance of the reports was a contravention of rule 20, which enacted that such entries should be made by a competent engineer. Rule 22 enacted that a daily report should be made by a competent person. These reports had not been made, as he had stated, since the 7th of December. Cross-examined The defendant, Williams, pro- duced the report book at witness's request. Neither of the other defendants were present. When he called, Williams told him that on the 24th of November the boiler had been examined daiiy, but he had omitted to enter it in the book. He had no reason to doubt the statement, but still the report was not made, and one could hardly say. He examined the machinery and could not find any external defects. They were at work when he called and he could not make a very minute examination of a working crane. He complained that "there was no means of his finding out that an examination of the machinery had been made. On the 3rd of April, 1899, the report showed that a competent examination of the internal parts of the machinery had been made. His only complaint was that if defendants made the examination the result was not entered. He could not say whether any accident had ever occurred at the quarry. Mr W. Bulcock: We have never had an accident in the quarry. Re-examined He was obliged to report the case because the defendants had neglected to enter the reports before. Mr Gamlin said the prosecution was certainly a matter of duty, but he thought it was a frivolous case. The offences were two-fold, viz., that they did not examine and clean out the internal parts of the machinery, and that they did not report the results. The most important part of the case was the alleged non-examination, but no proof had been lodged before the court that such examination had not been made. He (Mr Gamlin) would prove that EXAMINATIONS WERE MADE PERIODICALLY. The fact that they did not enter the reports in the book did not contribute an offence in itself. It must be coupled with the non-examination of the machinery, and that they could not prove. There- fore the case fell to ilic ground. Mr W. Williams, one of the defendants, said he had been agent to the quarry for ten years. He resided at Cheshire View, Gvvespyr. Mr Bullock had been interested in the quarries for over eleven years. He personally was most careful in his examination Of the internal portion of the steam boilers whenever they cleaned them out, which was about iive times a year. By Mr Coward They had no special dates to examine them. It was generally during the holidays. y Bv Mr Gamlin The annual inspection was made by John Jones, from the Point of Ayr Colliery. Witness's duty every evening was to see that the machinery was in good working order, a duty he had to do before the Act came into force. He did it for the safety of the men. Unfortunately he had omitted to file his report on the book. He would swear that he examined the machinery on the dates he had omitted to report the results. When the inspector called, he explained why he had omitted to insert the report. Re-examined: He had never found the machinery to go any better because it was reported on the •; book. (Laughter). Personally he did not think- there was much in the fact of entering the reports in the book. He had always looked at the machinery before the Act came into force. He admitted he had forgotten to enter the reports. JOHN JONES WAS A COMPETENT MAN, although he was only a fitter. He was head man at Point of Ayr Colliery. Harry Edwards said he was engineer at the defendant's quarry. He examined the internal parts of the machinery five times last year. The dates of such examination were January rst, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, August Bank Holiday, and December 2ist. I Witness remembered the inspector visiting the quarry on the nth of Dec. On that day he ex- amined the machinery and found everything in good working order. Cross-examined He tested the boilers by going inside and tapping the plates. He had never tested it by hydraulic power. Mr Wm. Bulcock, one of the defendants, said he gave all the men instructions to clean all the boilers quarterly and oftener if necessary. Boilers were never tested by hydraulic pressure unless it was at an annual inspection. They could not expect an ordinary working man to do that. They had a qualified engineer from the Point of Ayr Colliery to make an efficient examination of their boilers once a year. It took the men about twenty minutes each morning to examine the boilers. Mr Cartwright said the fact of the entries being made was the only guidance for the inspector to know such examinations had been 'made. It was true that the offence was technical, but they asked for a literal interpretation of the rules which must be kept. The bench then retired, and on their return the chairman said the cases were dismissed on technical grounds. Mr Cartwright said he would have to ask for a case. The Clerk said the case was closed. Mr Cartwright said he must press for a case, as the matter was an important one, and could not be allowed to stand there. It was a question of law, and therefore the bench ought to state a case. The Clerk said the bench considered the prosecu- tion had not brought forward evidence to show7 that the defendants did not examine their boilers. It was a question of fact and not of law, and therefore the advocate was not entitled to a case. Mr Cartwright said it was certainly a case for a higher court to deal with.

LlandriHo and Eirias United District School Board. THE Rev John Edwards presided over the monthly meeting of the above Board, which was held at the Clerk's office, Bank-buildings, on Tuesday afternoon last. There were also present the Revs J. Griffiths, J. Meredith Hughes, and O. J. Davies, Mr Robert Evans, Mr D. C. Williams, together with the clerk (Mr F. J. Holmes), and the attendance officers (Messrs Roberts and Davies). Vote of Sympathy. The Rev John Edwards proposed, and it was carried that the clerk be instructed to convey the sympathy of the Board to Mr Griffiths, district auditor, in the loss lie had sustained by the death of his wife. Assistant Mistress at Colwyn. The Clerk intimated he had received four appli- cations in response to the advertisements in the papers for an assistant mistress. All four of the applicants had good testimonials which were read, and the Board finally decided to ask two out of the four to attend before them on Friday next. Deaf and Dumb Boy. On this matter coming forward the chairman intimated he had spoken to Mr Byrne with regard to the deaf and dumb boy, and had received a letter from that gentleman stating he had some information which he thought would be advantageous to the boy. Mr Byrne attended the meeting and gave the particulars as to at what cost to the Board the boy could be sent to a school and properly trained. He also on behalf of Mr Edwin Jones and himself promised to stand the expense of providing him with the necessary articles to start with. Increase of Salary. A letter was read from the school attendance officer, Mr Roberts, asking for an increase of salary as tne district had greatly increased since he was appointed. After the details of the case had been gone into it was decided to increase it to £ 15, and 10 per cent. bonus. — Another application was received from Mr Davies, the Colwyn attendance officer, applying for an increase. This was also increased in proportion. Non=Attendance. Mr Roberts, the attendance officer, reported several cases of bad attendance, but as the weather had been so inclement he thought it better not to take proceedings. Mr Davies reported several cases in which he stated it would be desirable to take proceedings, as a warning to other parents. The Board then instructed the clerk to proceed against three of the parents. Leaving Home. Mr Roberts asked if when children went away !• from home for several weeks together, if their names should be allowed to remain on the books, as it took a iot of the percentage of attendances. It was decided that in future names should be removed. Cases of Ellness. It was pointed out by the attendance officer that the number ot cases in which parents state that their children cannot attend school, when at the same time they are frequently seen playing about. This matter occupied the attention of the Board for a considerable time, and several suggestions were made as to how to stop this, and it was decided to consult members of the medical profession with regard to obtaining certificates in all cases of illness. Notice of Motion. Mr D. 0. Williams had given notice at a previous meeting to propose some means of improvement in the attendance, but he thought the previous matter had embraced what was wanted. As Mr Williams had not put his proposal in form, it was decided the chairman, Mr Williams, and the clerk, should B1)¡ct to formulate some practical,suggestion. Contributory Parish. This matter occupied the attention of the Board for a considerable time. as the Department staled that they could iick do anything in the matter, oxviii, to the accommodation at the schools of tile other parish being sufficient for those who attended. After a long in which all the members took part, the matter wa"Jeft- over for full partial- lars, as to accommodation, the number of children- in the locality, &c., to be ascertained, in order to furnish the Department w.ith the proper particulars of the case. Owing to the lateness of the hour the Board adjourned.

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