'A coolie was charged with stealing a quantity of stone chips, the property of the Municipal Council, on the 1st inst.
Mr. L. E. P. Jones appeared for the prosecution, and stated that the Council were the only people who got. this particular kind of stone in Shanghai, which came from their own quarries at Ping-chou. At times small lots of the stone were sold to contractors, but very seldom, the last transaction taking place in October. After being broken to size, the chips in question are stacked on the roadway outside the Council's depot in Fearon Road. On the Ist inst. the acoused was found removing a barrow load of these chips, and in reply to questions said he was taking them to another district, under instructions from a foreman of the Council. This being found to be untrue, the man was arrested. The accused was employed by the Council, and his duty was to cart broken bricks. Ho had nothing whatever to do with the stone.
Mr. Law, overseer of the chip yard, gave evidence that the man was detected removing the stone by a native foreman, who communicated with witness. A detective was sent for, and the man taken into custody. The stone in question was worth about Tls. 1} per ton.
In reply to the Court, the accused said he was removing the stone under instructions from a man named Dze, and did not Know the stones were not the property of the latter.
Mr. Jones asked that the prisoner be closely questioned, so that the receiver of the stone might be traced, as the amount that had been stolen was considerable. Some of it had been found in the yards of a certain local Company, who had admitted buying it from a contractor.
The accused returned very unsatisfactory answers to the questions put by the Court, and no information of ¥alue could extracted from him. Ho was sentenced to receive 300 blows, to be cangued for 14 days, and expelled the Settlement.
A Burglar Caught in the Act.
A man was charged with burglariously entering the premises No. 1, Miller Road, with intent to commit a felony, on the 3rd inst., and with returning from deportation.
Mr. Ord, the occupier of the premises, said that at about 2.30 a.m. on the date in question, his house coolie woke him, and said there was a thief in the house. Descending, witness found the accused in one of the rooms, and took him to the Police Station.
blows, eight imprisonment, an lows, clit mantis' iapriomsaaey re-deportation.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.