BOARDMAN THE BUM.

NZ Truth, Issue 151, 9 May 1908, Page 5

BOARDMAN THE BUM.

A BAILIFF IN A BOTHER.

He Wanted the Governor

And the Boxes Biffed Him!

Harry Edward "Boardman, bailiff, got into the wrong box at Christchurch the other day, when he sought to seize a wagonette called "The Governor" from a livery stable keeper named Henry Box m Montreal-street, and the subsequent proceedings were ventilated m the Magistrate's Court. Boardman's story is that on April 7 be was instructed by lawyer Cunning-ham to collar the vehicle aforesaid on behalf of its rightful owner, a "p r son named Butter field, to whom Box had sold it. In comnany with a carrier named Smith, he entered the Box premises and found the proprietor absent, but Florence, his daughter, affectionately known to the family as Flossie, heard his demand for "The Governor," known officially as No. 20. The fair maid pointed out that No. 20 was the "Ranfurley." There is a lot of Excellency about the Box four-wheelers. The girl then acknowledged, or Boardman alleges that she acknowledged, that she had written No. 20 m the Butterfield document at the instigation of her father apparently with the object of confusing the issues. At anyrate, "The Governor" was duly seized and lashed to Smith's express, when Box rode up at / a hand gallop, or a foot canter, and entered into violent defence of his property. According to Boardman, the enraged coach proprietor charged down on him like a regiment of cavalry breaking through Napoleon's last square : then he dismounted and closed with the bailiff, catching him by the throat and banging him on the side of the head and the neck. He also / KICKED' HIS SHINS m a deplorably painful manner. He then ran to the head of Smith's horse and pulled the Smith vehicle round to the lock. Box roared to ' Flossie, "Fetch the knife !" and Flossie obediently disappeared and re-entered the arena with the family carving-knife. . Boardman says he put his arms around the rope which lashed the waggon poles to the express to protect it from being cut, and Box veiled. "Slash his hands.!" The obedient daughter accordingly, slashed, and Boardman withdrew his arms m time to prevent serious injuries to his maulers, although the back of the right hand was scraped so that it bled profusely. Smith didn't see this graphic incident. The girl then cut the rope and liberated "The Governor," which was- returned to its shed by means of a horse, after Box had' ineffectually appealed to the large crowd , of grinning spectators for assistance. "I draw the line at, women and knives." remarked . Boardman m the witness-box. "You 'dirty dog ! You dirty cow ! ■You'd swear a, man's life away !" were some of the remarks made to Boardman by Box, who appealed to the crowd with reproach, "you would stand there and see me robbed by a damned bum baliff?" Henry Smith corroborated the main facts. He carefully avoided the spot where the knife was hurling through. the atmosphere. "Women don't know what they're doing when they get excited," he explained, with knowledge born of experience. The yarn of Box and witnesses placed a different complexion on the case. Box said he didn't ride over ; Boardman ; didn't go within a chain of him on the horse. It\ was a fact that he had sold "The Governor" to Butterfield for £25, but it was on condition that he should repurchase by instalments, and he produced a book showine that he had pawl £10 at different times m respect of the gubernatorial carriage. Box merely went to loosen the ropes, when Smith seized and held him. and Boardman rendered assistance. As for the . language of Smith, "if the females will go put of Court I will repeat the words Said by Smith," remarked Box. HELD IN AN IRON GRASP. Box shouted to his daughter to get a knife and did so, severing the rope without molestation. The statement that Boardman had his hands on the taope was a lie. and the evidence that the bailiff had his foot injured by the horse .treading on him was a perversion of the 'truth. Moreover, Smith . and Boardman were both drunk, and didn't produce their authority, but Box was invited, m a harsh, beery whisper, to go and view the authority at Boardman's office. Flossie denied that she had made any remark about writing No. 20 wrongfully on the documents, and said she hadn't written any of the parchments. Box acknowledged to solicitor Donnelly that, he had been convicted of assault both m Dune? din and Christchurch, but stoutly main-t tamed his statement that his unwelcome visitors had been looking on the beer when it was lone;. A Belfast farmer named Sleeman and a grocer's assistant called McKenzie pave corroborative, evidence. Magistrate Day declared that a charge of assault laid against Flossie' was unproven, and finally dismissed informations of assault and threatening and insulting language preferred against her father. Mr Donnelly appeared for the prosecution and Mr Hunter for the defence.