A BARMAID BASHER.

NZ Truth, Issue 66, 22 September 1906, Page 4

A BARMAID BASHER.

Sellstrom Soundly Settled.

Confusion at the Central Hotel. A Drunken Deutscher Makes Things Hot

The drunken hooligan who cannot/ take a drink and - enjoy it and be pleasant, but needs must fill' himself above the Plimsoll mark is nQt an unknown .quantity m Wellingtoii. Not only is he offensive m his manner but he is dangerous and murderous, and when out for gore he is not overparticular whom he takes on, and frequently he prefers the inoffensive and unprotected barmaid. Such a hoodlum is Charles Sellstrom, whose low forehead typifies the brute, whose loud voice denotes the braggart, whose jaunty swagger signifies the bully, whose cringing attitude when brought to book ia characteristic of the coward- Sellstrom went into tlie dock with a. bounce ; he left it .like a whipped . - Cur with his tail, metaphorically, between his legs, whining for mercy m the shape of a fine instead of the term of imprisonment he so richly, deserved. On Monday, shortly after noon, Sellstrom, with a mate, went into the Central Hotel, . Lambton-nuav, and wanted drink, the mate was more drunk than Sellstrom, yet he advised him to have a soda straight., and Sylvia Anderson, the barmaid, offered the same advice and ga,ve . "Chawles" his soda "strite," but he, noble brute, was not having any of that, but rushed off into an adjoining parlor and entered into SOME FOOTBALL ARGUMENT, announcing as a sort of warning that he came from New South Wales, and taking off his coat invited all and sundry to come on and fight him. He was not accommodated, but Charles wasn't particular as to what he took on and commenced to smash up the furniture, which brought a word of reproof from the barmaid, Miss Anderson. Then brave bully Charlie from over the water tackled the girl ; caught her by the ears, savagely pulled them, and punched her and wound up by hurling a water decanter at her, which, had it found its billet, would have sent her to her grave. The bar was m a state of uproar by this time. Charles having settled with Sylvia, turned his attention to the glasses and smashed about a dozen of them. The manager of the hotel interfered, but proved no match for the * drunken ruffian, who, according to police testimony, was not as drunk as he would wish to be understood. Mr Gow, the licensee, appeared on the desolated scene, and made away for a policeman. He ' found Constable McGregor, and that officer lost no time m fixing the brute up and conveyed him to the station. I These were the facts as told 16 Magistrate Riddell on Tuesday morniing at the S.M. Court. Sellstrom's accent proved him a foreigner and therefore his statement ot coming from New South Wales is a libel oit . that States not very fair fame. Hi admitted having smashed up th#. glasses, etc., but he could not ra-k^ member ; ASSAULTING THE BARMAID, i and half accused himself by pleading drunkenness, which is no excuse arail, as he was properl^ and promptiyj^. told. Nothing more than drunkenness could be pleaded and Sub-In9pectot O'Donovan rightl" asked that tha cowardly brute should be dealt with under a section of the Police Offences Act, which treats an aggravated assault with proper severity. Magistrate Riddell was not disposed to regard the assault as very serious and could not see his way clear to treat it as an aggravated assault. Nevertheless it seemed sufficiently serioug to warrant him sending Sellstrom to prison for a month, with hard labor. For smashing the glasses and th« decanter the cowardly hound was fined 20s and ordered to pay the damage done which was estimated at 10s, m default seven days gaol. These German brutes and bullie« would like to take charge of Wellington, and it is ftillv time they were brought up with a round turn. If the police and magistrates cannot protect the public from these bumptious brutes, we shall soon hare citizens carrying guns m self-protect* ion— and using them.