MICK MURPHY'S LITTLE LURK.

NZ Truth, Issue 105, 22 June 1907, Page 6

MICK MURPHY'S LITTLE LURK.

He's Not Criminal, But Close to It.

For many years an elderly,. stout iosser named Michael Murphy- who possesses the cheek of the devil, had been cruising round Christchurch getting advts., and inoi'den-tally cash, from confiding .tradespeople, and pocketing the boodle. He was publishing guides and address books, and things of that sotrt, but they, are alleged to have nevea 1 appeared, and for some time past the police have been investigating cases m which cash was handed r/ver for beer money or any other parpose to which he chose to devote 'it to. The result was that eight were preferred against the man with the potato monn-iker, the lirst one being that he was a rogue and' a vag, m that he had been guiH;y of false pre,tences by talcing down one J. J. Jarrett, an .engineer* The facts were that five bob was forthcoming on the usual representations being made. .The advert was .-also handed over, but no guide had appeared.; Detective Frank Bishop s.'idd that when he ran his nibs m he told him : that he could nrefer dozens of charges aKainsb him if he .'fitapd. "That's all rieht." said Murpljy, "I'll beat you ; ■I can bring that book out at any time within threei years." The 'Tec. found a list of Ti& names m Mur-

phy's poss.essionj all advertisers, most of whom hew 'no doubt

DUBBED UP THE GONCE

Mur-'— had been aft the game fora long while, and the ( officer said that he never knew. anv< me to get a book from him. Lawyer Harper contended that the (transaction was a < commercial one.

.There were no fal se pretences about •the matter. 11; was a civil , contract, and if tl /ere was anything .wrong about it t^ie money could be sued for m the - ordinary way. He produced address- -l»ooks and guides, and a publication* ■ called, "The Veterinary Surgeon and Farmers' Friend," which had been iss sued by the accused. So far as tbe> present book was concerned Murphy had been hampered by illness. 7ft • would take years to produce, any.v/ay, as Wellington and other centre:? would be included m it.

Bishop, \S.M.,

'said lie had to con-

cur with counse i to some extent, but -. he doubled the bona fldes of the ac- ' ctfsed. a man who went about m the r./ay he did led to the presumption, that, everything, wasn't honest an( f. straightforward. A man who

co? aimitted ;<cts bordering on the criminal law deserved to find hiinv(' self m the dock ; and people who were foolish enough to part with their cash to men without ascertaining their "bona fides deserved to a certain extont to lose it. He dismissed the Case, did Bishop, apparently with much x'eluctance, and us the other charges were on a par with this one they were withdrawn. There are too many snide advertising canvassers m Canterbury ; no class dogs who do the honest man a great deal of harm. Murphy may consider himself lucky, that he wasn't