A TWO-UP SCHOOL.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 271, 21 May 1907, Page 3

A TWO-UP SCHOOL.

♦ SIXTY-EIGHT PERSONS ARRESTED. At about a quarter to 11 o'clock last night, Chief-Detective McGrath, accompanied by Detective Rroberg, ventured up the long, dark alley-way between Carroll's tea-rooms and the Singer Company's premises in Willis street, Wellington, turned down a narrower alley to the left, mounted a single flight of steps that led to a single door on the third storey, and then, as someone was being let out, rushed through the door, and announced their presence as persons altogether opposed to what was going on inside — allegedly the innocent game of "two-np." or "heading W" Instantly there was a scene of the utmost confusion. Someone pressed an electric bell at the side of the door, and there was a cry of "Police!'' and a sound of scuffling that told of a fierce scramble on the other side of the rough-boarded ante-room, by the full strength of the detective force of the ojty, Inspector Ellison in plain clothes, and several burly constables, who immediately took charge of the premises in the name of tbe law. The police barred the doors to make all secure, and then turned their attention to the men, who were all more or less excited by the rude intrusion. Some spoke about the incompetency of the "man. on the door' ; others reached for their coats and hats, thinking it was merely a matter of giving their names and getting away home. Inspector Ellison made in known that those who could produce hail to the equivalent of £5 might leave on giving their names and addresses, and on entering into a bond that they would turn up at the Magistrate's Court at 10 o'clock in the morning. When a Times reporter visited the premises at midnight, the scene was an animated one. In the ring an amusing boxing contest between a drunken man and a sober one was going on. Some of the patrons of the establishment sat on the circular form watching thhe two gladiators in the arena and drinking from aerated-water bottles: others moved restlessly around. Almost all sorts and conditions of men were represented here, from reputed thieves to well-dressed clerks and tradesmen, from youths of twenty to men of forty. At the far end of the room, in front of the window, a policeman stood rigidly on guard, dimly discernible through the mist of tobacco smoke. A detective moved amidst the throng, jotting down names, and at tiie small table sat Inspector Ellison, taking bail. The inner door was guarded by two sergeants and a detective. [VKB PBWS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, May 21. The men found in the two-up school at the gymnasium raided by the eilioe last night, appeared before the agistrate's Court to-day, and were remanded at counsel's request. Bail was allowed in £5 each, while the alleged keeper of the place was bailed out at £25.