FRACTIOUS FIREMAN

NZ Truth, Issue 79, 22 December 1906, Page 6

FRACTIOUS FIREMAN

Fights Fire-eating Fijian.

.yshen firemen come ashore from boats they always seem to look for stoUsh, and by G-ad they . get it ; also a 1 stiff fine and a taste of the ' jug;. They rush for the pubs and, inflamed by* beer or other condiments,' they start + o raise Cain. A low-minded, loul-mouthed, strong-looking fellow of this class named Edward Henry Bennett fell m at one fell swoop at Lyttelton t'other night and got dealt Witn very stiffly by Ferrier, J.P. He i offended ' a Fijian m a local pub, and there was dire trouble. The colored person" is a hawker, making a .tivity** by neddling ear-rings and boars' teeth .and- 4bangs of that sort. He was absorbing' liquor when the fireman dvoppejd m &nd sw<>reliL\l blazes, hUfc what hdd riled -him.'.isn't'.apparent, unless it was the' sight of a darkey chewing hop juice: The woman behind the bar told Bennett to keen his clanner shut, and the nig interfered, tell in"* the man of the sea that he OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED OF HIMSfeLF. "What kind of w__te man are you? Black man like rate no talka like dat." Bern^tt replied, "You black devil, you like this," holding out a dirt - fist. Then the white bloke threw a glass of befir at, the colored coon, •"trikin*' him ifn the face. So the fun began. The nair finished the ar"***— pnt on Norwich-nuav, where _n P rr> — ns a wild anil whirring fight. Th°n instable Moore happened along ?n'' ' "'' » *o at the fireman, who resisted "lVTwitiv nnd .npfd some shockin- ' r -*a.o , e. and made things foot all roitn-i But he. was eventually cot unr\n- T/. r i- j, nf i ]rpv. as was Oreanna f">.nn!>n*».' ihe darlc-s'Mnned objector to *•"-»•/■ n - ifl.T»/rtipire. The old excuse of no* 'n^win-n - anything about the (.bin'?-- — ns nlcaded by Boozer Benn"t*- -*-ho bad to P/nswer four charges m *-..' Wp w?s fiwfd a few notes, and friv'Ti + b'*p° *T»on+h < 5 for BlFTrrvr. CONSTABLE MOORE. The other johnny, boiled Bennana. or whatever his name is, charged

with creating a breach of the blessed peace, admitted having plugged the stoushing son of the sea, but said he was provoked. The bench let him off, but advised him to take his ear-rings and his boar's teeth and his other Paraphernalia out of the port. These firemen are an intolerable nuisance when they tret ashore and get a few beers m ; their pugnacity is amazing, and they give tlie police a lot of trouble. However, there seems to be no help for, it.