On the 21st instant " native named Dah Yang-ching was charged with having in his possession " panama bat, $16, and being unable to give a satisfactory account as to how it came possession. After a lengthy hearing the Court banded the hat over to Mr, Markham, who claimed it as his property, and the defendant was gi the opportunity to prove his claim to the hat by producing the receipt which he said was obtained when he purchased the hat.
Mr. Hopkins, defendant's employer, said that he wished to adduce further evidence which would prove that the hat was the property of the defendant.
A receipt was produced, signed by Messrs, Liebe, Wulff & Ca., for the prise of panama hat by one Simon ho had purchased the hat fete representative from the Dyeing] p, Cleaning Company, in whose store the hat was fonnd, produced his books which contained an entry that the hat was left at the store to be cleaned by Dah Yang-ching. Ho also stated that the hat in question had not been cleaned previously, Mr. Hopkins pointed out that at the Inst hearing it had been stated that Messrs. Liebe, Wulff & Ca. had not sold a panama hat on the date mentioned, and it was farther stated that when the defendant T. left the hat at the dry-cleaning establishment, he gave no name, but ssid that he was employed by a German master. The receipt from Messrs. Liebe, Wulff Ca. and the entry in the books of the dry-cleaning store proved that both those assertions by the prosecutors were incorrect. If the Court desired it, four foreign and several Chinese witnesses would give evidence that the defendant had worn a panama hat for two seasons.
The Assessor said that if the receipt for the hat and the books of the dry-cleaning store had been produced at the last hearing, the Court would have had no hesitation in deciding that the hat was the defendant's property. The defendant could now claim the bat, and he thought that Mr. Markham would agree to hand it over now that the Court had decided the matter in thie way, 2G. therald ano &. ¢. & C. Gazette.
Jan 24 igds
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.