"THE FIGHTING PARSON"

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 119, 21 May 1914, Page 2

"THE FIGHTING PARSON"

SCENE IN MELBOURNE. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, 16th May. Alongside Federal Parliament House stands St. Peter's Church (Church of England). Here, too, .there was extraordinary fighting a couple of nights ago. While there was in progress in the hall connected with a cjiurch a festive party in celebration of the wedding of a young clergyman, two men came in from the streetj and tried to force their way into the room. The attendant, an elderly 'man, tried to stop them, but was roughly handled, and a clergyman who came to the old. man's help was also given a bad time. In tho height of the struggle, which had been transferred to just outside the door, the Rev. Canon Hughes came along. Now this reverend gentleman has a punch. In his younger days his skill as a boxer, won for him the soubriquet of "the fighting parson." He did not wait to shed his coat. With two big strides he was up with the combatants. With two punches he "laid out" both of the intruders, strong young men, who were dragging the verger and his would-be rescuer in the mud. One of the Canon's punches was so effectively delivered that the recipient did not come to until half an hour later. The other fellow recovered earlier. When they got on to their feet again they found themselves in the hands of chuckling policemen. Canon Hughes was t then saying, apologetically, to his admiring friends, "But 1 really couldn't help it, you know." Subsequently the two victims of the Canon's punch were brought before the Police Court and fined a pound each, with costs, for offensive behaviour.