PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF.

NZ Truth, Issue 62, 25 August 1906, Page 3

PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF.

A DOCTOR'S DOWNFALL

Deemed to be an idle and disorder-' ly person m that he had no visible means of support was the legal verbiage that clothed a charge of vagrancy preferred against Michael Hanrattv at the Magistrate's Court on Tuesday mornsing last. It was a huddled mass of humanity, that hobbled assisted by two stalwart policemen, from the prisoner's,-,, room to the dock, where, for the* "crime" of being old, penniless and" ■.friendless, he had to prop himseld up as best he could, to be punished according to Law m such cases nlade» arid provided. .Vagrants generally;, are

VILE AND- UNMENTIONABLE THINGS. Not - that Hanratty 's case is an'- ex- . ception ; , but, around it are circumstances not usually found m . some ' cases. Old and decrepit (-Me is 70--vears of ace) Hanratty has sunk so-* far under that redemption is hope-* less m one of his years. Drink has* done for him what it has done for , others, better and worse than him-/ self, and what it will do . for mil- : .lions more so long as the world revolves, on its axis . Hanratty has.seen better days, but his y life; . has/: been misspent, but though on the brink of the grave, he clings hopefully to his remnant of life and to ' the hope that he will yet die m the odor of respectability, surrounded by his friends and relatives m the familiar scenes of childhood and youth. -Hanratty, though •

A ' DIRTY RkGAMUFFIN and a besotted, hopeless drunkard, is not a common vagrant. The ordinary dirty dead-beat, beer-bummer, • who pollutes everything and every- . body he touches, has not always had ' the advantage of a College or University training, let alone having the privilege of tacking a long string of diplomas after his name. Hanratty can at least have that distinction claimed for him. He, as his name implies, is an Irishman?, and ..is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, besides which, he., is a licentiate of more than one celebrated seat of learning. Therefore/ his descent, during a quarter of v century, down the social ladder to its lowest rung, if not interesting, is inexpressibly sad. For over 25 years now Hanratty has forced police attention to himself. Well-bred, wellmannered, plausible and suasive, , such a vagrant makes his presence' -,felt. He

WAS A CLEVER SURGEON i and practised both at Carterton and Grey town. He tr.ied to grapple with King Alcohol, but that mighty wrestler threw him, and consequently he has become irreclaimable. Though never guilty, of any crime— if exception be made of frequent charges of drunkenness and vagrancy—the old man, on the verge of, tire grave that makes all equal, has become a public nuisance and a societypest. Unamenable to the _iscipline d the poor house, a' street wanderer., a beggar and a drun-feard, the old fellow eternally expresses the hope, that he will some day go "home" ; ;but is, doubtful whether he will come out of gaol alive. Yes, gaol ! For there it is that the Law de--. creed he must expiate .the crime of having led a reckless, dissolute> life ; there Society has deemed it expedient that unhonored old age must pay ■its forfeit to abused and abased nature.

: It was not. much of a story that was told to Magistrate Riddell, last Tuesda" morning. There were no sensational features. It was jusfathe sordid tale of a poor old

DEAD-BEAT'S MIDNIGHT, WANDERINGS. . •Early -oh Tuesday morning he -was found by a constable m Ccwartenay Place seeking a place where- he might rest his head. Proudly he told the officer he had the money to pay for - it. The constable sought more than , •one hotel for rest for the old man, but at such an hour, all hbtel-keepers have long gone to rest, and rather * than see the old , fellow without a r bed, - he was offered accommodation, at Mt. Cook lock-up. and being there some account for his presence was necessary, sp the myrmidons 'of the Law thought it just as well to class! him a vagrant, just' as he had been/ classed many times before, as his record proves. He was not drunk at the time, was all that could be said ■■ of the hoary-headed sot. Though he* repeated that he had money for his •bed/ that money, probably given to him m mistaken kindness by many .medicos of Wellington, though mosV of those who know him have longgiven him up as hopeless, was _ot* sufficient to save him from gaol. Sub-Inspector O 'Donovan told Mr Riddell, S.M. , that Hanratty had been m the Ohiro Home, 'but -was unamenable to the. discipline of a poor house. ■_ Twice lately the. authorities-, communicated to the patfice the fact-. 1 that the old Doctor w„s off and ou/t< again. He had. through his drunkenness, the Sub-Ir?spectbr told the Court, been , tfhable to follow his-, profession , for , the past twenty-five years-, aird it was really hard to know- how .to deal with the old man." Mr Riddell, S.M., [sentenced Hanratty "to three months' imprisonment.