ROW ON A FISHING BOAT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 13, 16 January 1905, Page 2

ROW ON A FISHING BOAT.

DRUNKE3TNESS AND ALLEQI3S j VIOLENCE. I A drunken row of somewhat serious proportions bad to be dealt with by the police on Saturday afternoon, several arrests being made from a fishing boat j lying at Wynyard pier. The conse- j I quenee was that William Reid, owner of [ the boat, James Reid, his brother, Mary Reid, their mother, Mary Donovan, and Maud Hartwell had to answer a variety of charges before Mr. McCarthy, SJVL, this morning in the Police Court. Mrs. Reid's head was completely covered with bandages, and Mary Donovan was charged with assaulting her so as to cause actual bodily harm- This charge was reduced to one of aggravated assault, Sergeant Hendry explaining that at first the woman was thought to be seriously injured about the head, but she had now been discharged from the hospital, where she had to be taken for treatment. Upon the accused's application this case was adjourned until next Saturday. Mrs. Martha Reid, in turn, was then charged with, having been drunk on I the Wynyard pier on Saturday, and similar charges were also made against Mary Donovan, Maud Hartwell, James Reid, and William Reid. They all admitted having been drunk, but said -they were on the fishing boat, and not on the pier. Constable Mclvor stated that owing to a disturbance which occurred on trie boat about L3O in the afternoon, he went to the craft at Wynyard pier. He found Mrs. Reid sitting up in the bottom of the boat with several woundß in her head, which bled very freely. Around her were some broken bottles, which had presumably caused the injuries. Blood was all over the bottom of the boat, where the other women lay, one being so "dead drunk" that water had to De forced down her throat to revive her. The men were in a drunken sleep, all the occupants being huddled together in the small boat. The place was so filthy that he decided to move the defendants, who were arrested on the wharf. Sergeant Hendry, the police prosecutor, remarked that the boat was so disgracefully dirty that the attention of the Customs, who licensed the craft for fishing, should be called to the matter. It was very unhealthy that fish intended for consumption should be conveyed in such a boat. James Reid had been convicted of drunkenness three times previously within 6 months, and the magistrate sentenced him to three months' imprisonment. Maud Hartwell, also an old offender, was committed for 14 days, Mary Donovan was fined £1 on the drunkenness charge, and Mrs. Reid and William Reid were similarly dealt with.