ILL-FATED CHARIOT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 December 1924, Page 2

ILL-FATED CHARIOT.

, , DRIVER’S ESCAPADE. : . i FINE AIND :A WiENING. . The .disaster which attended the ex: hibitioii.of. a Roman ,chariot drawn ; by two gaily caparisphed steeds in Jdanukau road, Auckland, .oh Wednesday afternoon, fesiilted iii the driver, William Burton Parole, aged 45,. beiiig charged at the Police Court with having been drunk while ih’ charge of a cart. . Sergeant Rowell gaid that accused) garbed, as a Roihan. charioteer;' drove "the vehicle along Manukau toad and lost control on account, of being inebriated. After a whirlwind gallop, the horses fell,, and the chariot, which .was used for advertising h hiotidir picture, was wrecked' beyond - repair. “He smashed iiis chariot and broke some of tlie ten commandments, too,” said the sergeant. Constable Wilks stated" that he took charge of the abandoned vehicle. Accused was drunk,' and witness, considered that he was not in a fit state to be in. charge of, anything, on wheels. He was attending to One of the horses which had been injured. ' ,\ Constable White said that when he questioned accused lie received the- reply : “The accident oeeured at tlie junction of Karangahape road and Symonds street. ’ ’ Accused- (to -witness); But I was stunned when I said tliat. -

Witness: You were “stunned” all right. r

: Accused (indicating his bandaged head): I mean stunned as the result of the-accident. , . , ... Mr Poynton: He is still showing the effects of liquor. Accused: I was going over the Newmarket bridge wlien a train whistled and one horse bit the. other on the neck arid they set. off. The chariot was- only a flimsy affair, and T kept.iny head and held on to the reins. There was no brake and no proper harness, and my first thought after the crash was to attend to the horses. I admit I had a couple of dririks, but nothing over the odds. ‘ . ' . \ • •

Sergeant Rowell: His employer says he is a good man'at his particular job, but he won’t drive that chariot again. Mr Poynton: I do not think that I can deal with the case by a fine. Sergeant Rowell intimated that accused’s employer would keepliim under supervision. The horses had hot been seriously injured. Upon receiving this assurance, the Magistrate remarked that horses in full gallop were not as serious a menace as a. motor ear in the hand 9 of a drunken driver, arid warned accused to abstain from liquor. A fine of £1 was imposed.