CONFIDING CHINESE.THE VICTIMS OF TRICKSTERS. LOOTED BY WILE AND BY FORGE. AT
PANMURE AND POINT CHEVALIER. Two well-dressed and well-groomed men named Cecil
Love (271 and George S. Ormiston (30) came before Mr. J. E. Wilson. S.M.,
yesterday, on tour charges of having obtained money from Chinese by false
pretence and five charges of having
stolen money from the dwellings of Chinese. The charges were that they had stolen
it from Sing Bung's dwelling at Panmure. £23 from Ah Ling's in the same
locality, and sums of £3O and 50/ from the habitations of Tam Ark and Fong Ark
at Point Chevalier. The false pretences alleged against them were that they
represented in one ease, they landed a shipment of rice from
Japan, and in other cases that they were representatives of Smeeton's Ltd.,
and supplying such articles as starch, rice, etc. 'STIFF LUCKWITHOUT STARCH.
Din Lee, a laundryman of Jervois Road, said that on August 4, Love called at his
laundry, said he was representing Smeeton's Ltd., and was selling a good line
of starch at £3 10/ per cwt. Witness agreed to get a hundred-weight, and paid
down £3 7/0 in advance, but no star r h had been delivered. There was another
man with Love at the time. Law Lee, another laundryman in the same street, gave
evidence of having paid 10/ deposit for starch on the same misrepresentation
made by the two accused, and having got nothing for his money. Joe Sing, of
Albert Street, told a- story of having been "starched"' in similar
style by Ormiston for a £5 deposit. The manager of Smeeton's, Ltd., F. W.
Riach, declared that the accused were absolute strangers to him, and had never
been employed by his firm. A LITTLE HALF-TON ORDER. Wah Sung, market gardener
of Mangere, stated that both accused called at his place, and stated that they
had just landed a shipment of rice from Japan which they were selling at £150 a
ton. They said they had a shop in Shortland Street, and would deliver next day
any rice he might order. He ordered half a ton of rice at the price mentioned,
and paid £10 on account, for which he got a receipt. The rice did not arrive.
CHASED BY CHINESE. The evidence as to the theft went to
indicate that having spied out the land, in August and early in November, by
wile and with a profit of about £1S odd, the accused turned their attention to
physical force for further profit. On November 21, said Tam Ark, gardener of
Point Chevalier, the accused tried to sell him rice, but he declined to do
business, and they left him in the garden, going away in a direction that would
lead them past his house. Half an hour later he went to the house and found
that a box in his bedroom had been broken open, and £30 taken. A £20 note was
included in the money stolen Mong Yee, gardener, of Tamaki, said that just
before noon on November 25 he noticed a man standing near his house. Witness
was a distance away at the time and went to the house, whereon Ormiston
accosted him and asked him if he wanted to buy rice. He declined and went into
the house where he found Love in one of the rooms. Love asked him if he wanted
to buy rice and he declined again. Love then walked out and witness followed
him, till Ormiston pulled out a revolver and pointed it at him. Witness was
carrying a knife at the time. He called other Chinese, and a number of them
followed the accused for about a mile before they got away. When witness got
back to his house he found that £2 in silver had been stolen from a box in his
room. A COVERING TRADE NAME. Further evidence showed that on November 21. the
accused were seen in the vicinity of Fong Art's house at Panmure, and after
their departure 50/ was found to be gone from a box in the house. On November
27 the accused Were seen by Chinese driving from the houses of Ah Ling and Sing
Sung at Panmure, while the Chinese were at work in their market gardens, and
the Celestials at once went to their habitations to find that £14 had been
taken from Sing Sung's place and £23 from Ah Ling's, the money in each case
having, been taken from boxes in the bedrooms. Detectives De Norville and Lambert were
informed, and they traced the horse and gig, and eventually found that accused
were purporting to trade as '-'Rogers and Co." with offices in Wellesley
Chambers. A visit to their office resulted in the finding of a I couple of
revolvers and ammunition, I while one of the Chinese boxes which j had been
stolen bodily was found hidden in a tree at Panmure-When taxed with the thefts
and frauds the accused eventually admitted them. The accused pleaded guilty,
and were committed to the Supreme Court for
sentence. Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 298, 16 December 1919, Page 16
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