ALLEGED ASSAULT.

NZ Truth, Issue 103, 8 June 1907, Page 4

ALLEGED ASSAULT.

ROW IN A "TWO-UP SCHOOLS The " Russian " Cops Out. Two Men Up on a Serious Charge.

The nolle product of modern ciy ilisation known as the "two-up" joint is getting a bit shaky up m Wellington just now. Following on the prosecution of sixty-eight devotees from a Willis-street "school" an alleged assault with a bottle m au« other "school" has aired the prevalence of , the' "two-up" disease. The sacred precincts of the Magistrate's' Court were densly flocked "by the inquisitive public on Friday, ;when Frank Morrah. who also answers to the name of ' James Morrow, and is affectionately known to his personal friends as "Bluey," was charged, m company with Charles Dunn, with unlawfully wounding Gustav G renter^, (popularly koiown. as 'fThc Rus-' sian," on May 4 by striking him on the head with a bottle. Dunn's contribution to the assault is claimed to have been inflicted with a chair, mostly. Both Morr o w and Dunn were powerful looking fellows of the JefiriesSharkey type, with squajg t 4&w.s, and, the senenal • asipect of "ohiuwc'eiis-ou't at a pu«h carnival. Either would look ill m the garb of a clergyman ; but a strenuous appearauce doesn't bespeak guilt,, nor yet innocance, and as the case is on the temtex-ibooks of adjournment the public may assimilate the ' evidence so far as it has igone, and 'reflect upon a-, dark side of life that N is remarkable if, fascinating . by its novelty. The police evidence does not seem to have been tendered by ahptels of light. It is probably impossible to -get! anyone of the seraphim persuasion to give testimony m a "two-up" case. A circumstance that stands out like the headlight of a country pub *is the aggressiveness of "The Russian," whose capacity for stouoh is something abnormal. The testimony, of. course, discloses the fact that "two-up" has been played, and Lifuwyef WiKord, who appeared for the defence, deprecated the admission- •■ of evidence which might tend ' to incriminate his muscular clients or their enemies. , S.M. McArthiir,"' however, seemed to think it was best to make , . A CLEAN SWEEP of ihja" whole, thinig, and the game of ''two-up'' figures m. the case as quite an ordinary circumstance. Adjournments convert a case like this into a sort of serial novel, with; a sense , of . disappointment when it • is "to be> continued,'.' .'and palpitating! interest m the following week's sequel. On Friday, for instance, there ws.s much un©ratified curiosity about the . personali'fcy of one j known as v'Ginger.": ' ; ■: ;-••.-, ,-; \ The first witness of the police was Gustav Gren'berg, who remarked m evidence that on Saturday, May 4, he -sauntered: into Charlie Dunn's place m Eller's Avenue at about 11 p.m.. Charlie/^waS 'present, •■'likewise Mj^ow^t^pW fou'rfefeh or fifteen 'others. They were playm* "two-up." Charlie Dunn was sitting m a chair as referee, and the other accused was occupying the outside of a bench. Gustav engaged m the evil pastime for a quarter of an . 'hour, and won eight or nine pounds. He then, .stopped playing, being: discreet, but the others continued. Gustav 5&« l, '••'ll that man heads 'em on me I'll not play any more."- Nothing was said by the crowd, but Charley Dunn went across and spoke to Bluey, and When witness made the decisive x remark a-fore-mentioned D.iinn came back to his bench. He said to Grenberg, "Aren't you going on?" Witness replied, "No." He played there about five minutes, and was about to leave, when' Bluey came up to him and said, "I want £5 change for a note." i The Russian replied,' "I haven't got it, I've only pot £4." He said, ''I want £5." To which the Czar's subject replied,, "You can't get anything at all. 1 ;' Mcirrow then said, "Four ■ pounds will dome." The twain went into a little room, and shut the door. Grenberg was fearful lest the others should see him handling the money. A stranwr was tin the room, but retired when the pair entered. Gustave pulled the silver out of his pocket, and counted £4 down, sayins, "Where's the 1 four sovereigns ?" Morrow replied , "I can't stive them to you •; there's only £3 15s here." Morrow had his ri";ht hand behind his back all the time, and asked, "Will/ you excuse me a minute?" Grenberg replied, "No, mate; NO MONEY, NO CHANGE," and (he grabbed for his cash. Morrow then hit him on the head three times with a bottle, breaking it. At the same time Charlie Dunn rushed m, picked up a chair, and struck with it. He wa;s about to strike- again, when a man took the chair from him, remarking-. "You must be a coward to strike a man when he is lying on the table dead." ' Dunn and Morrow then belabored the prostrate Grenberg with their fists, saying, "Take that, you b ; that's how we knock 'em out m the Sydney 'two-up' school." . Grenberg recovered ' only £3 of the £4 originally ixroduoed. It was usual for the refaree to obtain chknise from those leaving tlie plaO3. Phil Brews tor, the keeper, usually demanded the change. It looked to the suspicious w-inneir peculiar that a strange man should ask him for change. 'Tec. McGrath : Is it a usual thing for a person who wins to knock off ?— Some knock off and some fo on. Is anything* said about successful persons knocking off ?— No. Witness, proceeding, said that a man named Dou«,hertv took him to a tap and washed his head. Were you bleeding ?— Like a slaugh-ter-yard. When he had obtained fresh air, witness rushed outside, and called a constable. The officer took him t 0 the doctor, who attended to his wounds. Tftese necessitated li>m irins tip for five d a ys m bed. lie subsequently, hid an information acainst both of th'e accused. He was m tbfi "iw.Q-uft" room once three

weeks previously, and altogether he had been at the "school" about a dozen times. There was no quarrel between himself and the offenders. Were there any games played on those occasions ? Mr Wilford objected. -iHis Worship: It's part of the whole concern. 'Tec McGrath : What was . going on then ?— Two-up. Any of the accused present ?— Charlie DunnWitness ' saidi be had knocked off on several occasions when he' was winning. To Mr. Wilford : . * HE WAS A RUSSIAN. Counsel : How many fights were you m Within . the three weeks prior to this*' occurrence ?— I do not answer. Witness said he knew a man named Wood. He had had a fight with him, -but he did not finish by kicking Mm. He knew , McNamara ; he had fought him, but he did not finish tlvc fig.li fc by cutting McNamara's head open with a stone. He fought three rounds with McNamara, who said he had had enough, and they then shook hands. Did you then fell him •' wfth a stone? —I did not have W stone m my hand. > Witness was -not m a row at Barret's Hotel. Did not put' a man through a window there. He knew Blackmore. He did not take , to him with a razor. He dud not take to a roomful of men with a razor. He did not say to Blackmore, "Where's that silly b- — ? I'll rip his ' guts ojien." He did not ihave a razor." A man named "Nicky" didi not take the razor out of his hand. He knew a, man named Jackson. He and' Wolff had not assaulted Jaoksbn, nor. had ,-^hey hurt him so badly that he had to be taken to the' hospital. He did not know "Snowy" Button. He -did not have a fight at a biscuit factory with' him. He did' not use a tfottle nor a club on' "Snowy" Hutton at the factory. He had not iised a bottle m Ms life Were you ever thrown over the bannisters, a drop of fourteen feet, on your head ? Witness : Where ? Counsel : Were you thrown over the bannisters ?— No. He mijrSit -have > 'bsten m a couple of fights? within the past three months* He •hail never been m Mc\Namara s place, and had not .been, thrown over the bannisters at Dunn's. He Ivad' never been put out for calling a whole roomful of men, "New Zealand b He only used the word ''b " on certain occasions. , It was not has fajvorito expression. H-e did not call Morrow "a b— '—. Irish- b —^— " on the night mentionwl ' If hc_.hgid he would • have beeii'' lea'dy -Tor "brie bottle. He was "'" NOT DRUNK OR, QUARRELSOME at the time. Witness went into the small room on the .invitation qf Morrow. , Or the table witness counted out : . / the silver, twenty shillin.es "at a time. The 'third lot was 20s, not 15s. Morrow did not slay, "You have -not, put down £4 , only £S 15s.' 1 ,He s-aidi witness was 5b short. Witness' did not call him "a b — Irish b ." Witness dftt not strike, him, nor get into hoMk with him. ' Dunn did not puil them ap ( art. They did not struggle nor move towards a corner where there were bottles. He did not take, a bottle from the corner of the room to strike Morrow with. He never had a botfcle m .his hand. When struck by the bottle' witness was stunned, but he -aid not lose his senses. While ho and Morrow were counting the money no one came into the room. The offence occurred on a night, and he was not talking to two men m Willis Street on Momd-ay night at 7-30' Dunn did not say to him, "You'll be killing somebody one of these days, and getting, hun^," and he did not reply, "| do not care if I go to the callows to-morrow V ■' "Dr. Fell {gave evM-ende respecting the injuries sustained by Gremberg. He had five or six cuts on the back of his head. The wounds bad b>een made by something sharp. One- was about "three inches. lqng : ; the others were shorter. They might have been caused by blows from a bottle. To Mr Wilford : The cuts jwere not serious. There was no mark as though the man had -been hit by a chair.. Max Wolff, a Tory-street laborer, said he was m the "two-up school" on j the much-discussed date. There were j about twenty-five m the room. What were they doing ?— I refuse ' to answer. His Worship : Go. on and answer. Mr. Wilford : He has a right to refuse on the ground of dncriminating himself. His Worship : I advise him to answer. -Tec. McGrath : What were they doing ?— Playing "two-up." Witness said both Morrow and Dunn.' were present, also Grenberg. When the last-named was leaving he went into a side-room with Morrow. A man named ' linger" was m the room, and came out wh«n .the others appeared. Witness heard a scuffle, and. went to the door- with Dunn, the rest following. Saw Morrow hit Grenberg over the head with a bottle. Dunn seized a chair to hit Grenberg, and witness took the chair from him. Grenbergi was stooping down, holding his hand over his lipad, which was bleeding. The bottle .broke. They got Grenberg over the table and punched him. To ,Mr Willord, Wolff acknowledged that he was a German, and was a working mate of Greniberg. "Ginger" had just come out WHEN THE SCUFFLE STARTED. If anything was said "Ginger" would have heard it. Dunn and Morrow punched Grenberg on the table. And you aire GreMber£'s mate?— Yes. Are* you did aoi sail stoto anybody ?<-No, . .-■ .

You stood there and watched them punish ytour mate ?— Yes ;■ twentyfive others did tire same. What nationality are you ?— A German, and (fiercely) as ffood a man as you, any day. . Wdtness said he had seen only one blow struck with' the bottle. There . might have been a couple of hun- . dred Tiottles m tlhe roran. -He swore that Grenberg did not have a bottle m his hand, aUhouch lie "shaped up" to Morrow. He could not say if Dunn hit Grenberg with the ohair. Did you and Grenberg; knock Jack- , son out so badly" that he had to . go to the hospital ?— That has got nothitre to do with it. . . At this point the Bench adjourned the case till Friday, June 7.