PETERSFIELD

Agent—MR. G. DUPLOCK.

     PETTY SESSIONS.—Tuesday.—Present: Major Briggs and J. Waddington, Esq.

     The principal business before the bench consisted of a number of cases of infringement of the Orders in Council made in relation to the cattle plague. There were no less than seven of these cases. The offences were, in most instances, committed through disregard or ignorance of the Order in Council which prescribes that no cattle shall be sent to, or exposed for sale at, a duly licensed market, unless the owner or sender shall have first obtained a license in the form of a ‟store stock license” authorizing him to move such cattle to such market. This license can only be granted by a magistrate. The general impression appears to be that a license granted by a member of a divisional committee for the removal of cattle within the county will authorize the holder to send cattle to a licensed market; but such is not the case. The license must be a ‟store stock license,” and for the removal of such stock from the market, whether sold or not, this license must be exchanged for a sale ‟pass,” to be obtained in the case of Petersfield market, of Mr. W. Carter, jun., at the Town-hall. Two of the cases that came on for hearing were dismissed, and in each of the others the fine was merely nominal, as the magistrates considered that the parties had acted inadvertently rather then in wilful contravention of the law; but they expressed a hope that more attention would be paid to the regulations under which the market had been re-opened, and announced that all future cases would be more severely dealt with, as sufficient time had now elapsed to enable everyone to make himself acquainted with the requirements of the Orders in Council.

—   James Pocock was fined 2s. 6d., with 5s. 6d. costs, for allowing a horse to stray on the highway, on Monday, June 24th

—   John Eade was convicted of stealing, at Liss, on Monday, the 1st inst., five hens’ eggs, belonging to his master, Mr. Samuel Guy Hearsey, and sentenced to ten days’ imprisonment with hard labour.