She Faced Them Out

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2038, 15 February 1895, Page 6

She Faced Them Out

The hearing of a rabbit proseetion case at the local To 1 ice Court on Tuesday last (writes the Roxburgh correspondent of the ' TuaTvha rimes,') in which Mrs M'Whirter, of Miller's Flat, an old lady of six.y-five summers, was defendant, furnished a good d»»al of amusement. She appeared to have a particular " edge " on the representatives of the Rabbit Department, whom she referred to with a contemptuous wave of her hand as " a lot of upstarts," and neither the presence of bench, bar, nor police deterred her from giving her prosecutors a " bit of her mind." " I'm now," she said, " going on for forty years in the colony, and I've never before been pulled uo before a magistrate until these upstarts interfered with me." At this sally, of course, the audience were much amused, and above the laughter was heard the tones of our horrified representative of the law and order asking for "silence iu the Couit" Hut Sirs M'Whirter, with fire in her eyes and an accusing finger pointed at the Inspector and his agent, arraigned them as prosecutors and upstarts. "God made the rab >its, but the devil supplied the Inspectors to worry the lives of the settlers," said she in an outburst of indignation. ])ut the persecutors and upstarts, instead of being goaded into reprisals and pushing for a penalty, informed the bench they were not disposed to press the case, and, after a dignified caution from the Magistrate, the aged transgressor was permitted to retire. In four or five cases of the same kind, substantial tines were imposed.