A SAMARITAN HOME SQUABBLE.

NZ Truth, Issue 159, 4 July 1908, Page 6

A SAMARITAN HOME SQUABBLE.

Old- Buster's Burst-up. *■' '• The plain, brown monotony of life m Christchurch Samaritan Home was i pleasantly broken last week, when ,the elderly incapables and temporarily detain- ; ed criminal persons enjoyed the thrilling ': experience of police court proceedings instituted by one of their number, a sturdy . oid' battler named Beniamin Taggart. He \ charged an ag&r£ssive-loOking personage l named John Kelly with assault on two occasions m the Home at Addington, and Kelly pleaded innocence with scorn and vehemence. [Various inmates enjoyed the no velty of an outing to 'give eyi- < dence. and the eager' little red-haired matron looked anxious as she marshalled her- dilapidated charges ih the Courtapd / restrained. .4_ie impetuous Kelly fronrgiving -opea'f, expression to his palpable indignation. Old Taggart is a 'tall, rigid person, with a grey border round his face and a bald expansion on the top of his head.. The old buster said he : was having, his, annual , or weekly bath on June 8, . when the brutal Kelly came ii\ I and:, banged hihi about m a grevidus hurling him out of the washhouse. < On another occasion.' Taggart was m his bedroom, when the bloodthirsty Kelly invaded the room and gripped, him, by the. throat. '<He takes periodical .fits of insanity," remarked Taggart.,; .II asked: him what he did it for. and; ie replied that he . would go mad if be didn't do it. I don't think he isfjih his right senses." Kelly (sternly) : Have you ever bean convicted ,and sent to gaol for being a rogue and a vagabo.^/?— -What has that got' to do .with it ? . ' l - ' :; ,Have you— answer me ?^Yes. yes. '•'yj£hie witness said it was' true he had taken a shirt of Patrick Somebody from the wash-house,, but he had put it back again. Never m his 'life, however, had he been kicked, out of the Home for cutting the head of an individual named McCarthy. Taggart called a .decripit derelict who proved a foe m disguise. He said Tag- ',: gart had knocked him down a year or V*two ago, andJ had been always insulting ' him until the derelict got an order from - -the police . restraining Taggart, since : which ■ time Taggart had been even kind '*! to him. He knew , nothing about the events of. June 8, and heaven only knows why he was' called. HE PROBABLY WANTED A HOLIDAY. A humorous-looking cuss named. Dwyer said that Kelly requested Taggart to * leave the bathroom to make room for another person, and when he refused Kelly took him by the shoulders and ran him out of the room. There .was no assault. Taggart : The fact of the matter is ! ; Kelly has assaulted several m the insti- '• tution. Kelly (judiciously) ' That has got nothing to do with the case. « The Matron defended Kelly with unexpected warmth. Taggart rang the bell to summon the Matron, arid when the lady arrived he was dumb with rage. He held a broom menacingly m his band, and she gathered the;. impression that he bad assaulted Kelly. with it. It appears that a cripple named North occupied the same room with Taggart, and both were of unclean habits. The apartment daily presented an unpleasant spectacle, and it was the duty of 'Kelly, who was putting m a probationary 'two years for being an habitual drunkard! to clean it up. Taggart objected to Kelly's intm* sion - for sanitary purposes, and there was trouble. 1 The Matron remarked that : Kelly wasn't an angelic person, by any means, but he was clean, useful, ' md - obliging. Taggart, off the other hand, was a cantankerous person.-, These little troubles were usually' settled by the committee ih^ the Home, bu£ m the present instance, Taggart had obtained permission to visiit the hospital, and proceeded to lay the information. Attendant Roache - 'stated! that on one occasion he had had to l have Taggart's clothing 'burnt, and Kelly did the burning ; hence these tears. The presiding J's.P. declared that the information was one that should have been investigated within tbe home, and dismissed the case.