THE PASSING SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 184, 6 August 1927, Page 8

THE PASSING SHOW.

(By THE MAN ABOUT TOWN.)

Thank goodness admirals are peremptory persons, but sometimes from the civilian point of view they are perhaps a little too powerful. For instance, in the early ADMIRALS ALL. days a few sailors from the fleet went ashore at Hobart and indulged. After a fight the civil police captured the men and communicated with the admiral, saying that they were in the local watchhouse. The admiral sent word ashore that if his men were not handed over within six hours he would shell the town! It was the first time in history that an admiral had threatened to shoot up his own fellow citizens, and it created a mild sensation. The men were not given up, and Hobart remained unshelled. At Gar forth (England) lately a pnblichouse keeper was charged with supplying liquor out of hours. The only witness for the defence was a navy engine room artificer. He was summoned with difficulty, but his admiral refused to allow him to attend Court, indicating that if the Bench put off the case for two years and a-half the artificer would be available, as the voyage would take that time. The case was r.i'inurned, presumably for thirty months.