HOWARD'S HOARD.

NZ Truth, Issue 72, 3 November 1906, Page 6

HOWARD'S HOARD.

Boozy Bumpkin Burked.

case of Edward Howard, ,a middle-aged cove with a Scottish accent and ? a belt round his waist, which was heard at Christchurch this week, is merely a. forerunner of what is go tog ■to be chronicled pretty regularly during the next, few, months while the Exhibition, holds sway. The belt round the topj of a man's best pants -somehow or other seems to betoken a chap of country experience, and then the town blokes g«titt and contrive to get hold of his jcash."" It's a case of perspicuity and "perspicacity, and the town magsinan holds most of the trumps. Howard appears to have got somewhat boosified. and lost £4 2s. He stopped at Parson^s lodging house, and averred that two men named Louis Webber and George Lenz, who slept next door to him, had, done him, up for his gonce. So they were, arrested by. Constable Barry on Howard's say-so, and taken to the official place, of detention. When the case was. called on before Mr Bishop; S.M;, however, Howard ,was too bally, drunk to give evidence, and was locked up himself for insobriety. Next- day he admitted, , when charged/, , that he had had some, but was, not full. "When do you reckon a man drunk ?" asked S.M. Bishop. "When he can travel, and doesn't fair down," was the reply. To this the S.M. made answer that he considered, that a chap > was intoxicated when he wasnjt m his normal senses. However, Huffed-out-Howard, who is 50 years -of age,, was fined. 'Then he had^ toS;goV;rinto the witness box amd testify , against the two men he' had,, aficUs^ad ■of stealing his- little bit of ooftish/, EPe said that he : had gone' to^leep at Larson's boarding house at about ibp.in., and that two men, whom "he recognised as the accused, waltzed into! his room and, asked how lie was getting on. He told them he 1 didn't know them from a bottle of 'curry, and didn't' want to know them.' This was before twelve o'clock, -and he had been sleeping m the interim, i ' Then they went through his pockets by. the aid of candle light; and abstracted the money aforesaid: It was m' a purse m his inside breast pocket. The pair then left and went to their own room. next door, and On making an examination of his coat he. found that there was no cash left. So he got up, put on his clothes, and sat oh his bed until morning. Why the gentleman didn't get, up and '-biff the pair when they were going through, his clothes, and why he" didn't make any outcry when he was -being robbed m such a glaring and. most outrageous manner doesn't appear, but according! to his own account he sat on his beautiful / bunk for six hours, and then 4 ie raised hell. It was rather early m the morning to raise, anything, but at all events he had Constable Barry m- and gave Lenz and Webber m charge for' theft. At' the police station £21 odd was found upon Lenz, and only a threepenny bit on the other cove. Boarding house proprietor, Alfr .d Parson, said that Howard occupied a room, and the two accused the one adjoining . \Vhen going round to see if all lights were out he heard Howard talking m a very loud tone of voice, but he could not say tjiat the two:- accused were m the room with him.- As this statement was contrary to the yarn that Parsons had told the police, the witness was asked about it. at the instigation of Magistrate Bishop.

It was this way.: he was the' only witness that could be produced who oould corroborate Howard. as to. the happening, and he failed. to do so. Parsons said that he didn't make the statement mentioned •to tfoe^ constable, and didn't intend ..that it should have been made. "Well, either the story you told the police, or the one rou tell now is false," commented iiie. S.M. " Aren't you. well aocjtiaintod with -Webber?" asked Serjeant Norwood. ,'^No, not very well." A rather straight-forward account of his doings was given by George Lenz. He had only just . arrived after dpinc a turn on, the Wai-para-Cheviot railway, arid had wages to the extent" of. £21 on his arrival. He had a drink or two, and dropped m with Webber and took him alone: to shout a bed for him at Parson's hash factor^ They went . uo to-'- 'the room assisted them, and never called at I-T award's room at all. He knew nothing about the loss of. money until next morn.in" when the Rolicemp.n took -them ?-l on p- !o' the station. The othr-i; . nrisonsr. W-e.bbei:, is- a utilvlookin" root. i'pol (r drcss-ed. -one of the hraiu'e^s fruni.. Isibovpv wliOiV ri flfatl rol wouldn't bf • foimrl with if it had ihr ohanco, : H P .didn't; want; io'cive evklente. he, s:vid. and nrofesseri ianorance of tlift forms of Court. But that was all so. much flam. The Macistratr! said that if he dMn't answer the charge he would haw to' convict, hs ' '-Howard bad

sworn that he had seen him and talked to him m his (Howard's) room. Then the fellow got m the box and denied any knowledge of the prosecutor's money. When Sergeant Norwood got on to him this criminal creature admitted having been convicted of theft before, and also that he had done three years for indecent assault. However, the Magistrate intimated that he wouldn't convict the accused on the unsupported testimony of a man like Howard, who had come into town and got d runic, and who turned up drunk to give evidence. He would say nothing about the merits of the case, but would simply discharge both accused.