MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

NZ Truth, Issue 169, 12 September 1908, Page 6

MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

. * Who is the Motor Hog? .y Motc*r cars and bikes have bad characters, or good reputations to lose, like „ horses, dogs, or human beings. The moke sold to the parson, and which subsequently stopped ,at every pub it came to—to the. pain and astonishment of the rev. gentleman-Ms a regrettable sort of animal -that- has been m dubious company ; scf with the motor cars ..and motor bikes, some of them 'are marked, by the, police | as liable to break .the oh the slightest provocation, and present, past, and 'future owners may be subjected to annoyance. Particularly doe's the. motor- l bike owner who parts with the same require to-be careful whom he sells it to, for the festive wheel, may fall into -the hands ; of an irresponsible person who wi debauch its rair name (or, father, number) by, a course of rapid profligacy, .-.so that the police, unaware of the change ia ownership, may drop on its original proprietor, like a hundred of bricks. It, is" like .as though a gentleman m: holy orders disposed of his cast-off garments in* the usual manner, and they were purchased by a bibulous person, who disgraced the cloth, by .GETTING '.BLUE-, BLIND, PARALYTIC and staggering down the main street, an apparent squiffy pastor and the subject of ribald laughter by the unregenerate When one comes to think of it, ono 'never 'sees anybody m second-hand clerical garb :; the bishop's well-worn gaiters, for instance, never adorn the calves of a low, sinful . person subsequently ; and thni assumption, is that special measures, are' taken to prevent the holy "garrjients falling into sacriligiotis hands. >Fer ; haps they are sent /to the he atnen ; but" than a missionary's trousers, .worn threadbare at the 'knee and put on by a -common aboriginal, are likely to bring the mis--Bionary business into disrepute amongst the simple-minded inhabitants, and the only explanation is that, the- garments? are destroyed which is evidence of shocking economic waste.- It is possible to moralise" indefinitely on parsonic pants , - but the 1 immediate cause of these re marks is the falling away, from grace o? motor . bike No. 1113, m Christchurcb On August 12 it dasned round the corner of Madras and High-streets at the reproachful, rate of ;15 miies an hour, and astonished peeler Dunne, an ex-boy of the bulldog breed, who, as probationer, six months back, induced various people ip Wellington, to, drink sly-grog with him. and then put them up. as hiph as Baldwin, or probably higher, if " the dead aeronaut's present address is what some people think it is. .The , peeler gave a bp/sun's yell , and ..the startled rider looke<T back over his shoulder; but noticing ~ a:: person m blue the 'reckless 'hog gripped the crank that produces GO miles an hour, or less, and disappeared m the twinkling of an optic. The , astute bobby, however, .caught "number' lllii," and looking up the" ownership m the proper quarter, served a summons on Henry Chaplan, or his. missus, to be correct, for breaking the eight-mile speed limit. Henry, attended Court with a >yast. array of witnesses and explained' that; he 'was at' Templeton on the 12th. Moreover, he had sold -the disastrous bike m June last to the Rudge-Whitworth people, and wasn't now responsible for its actions. There was 'nothing left for the J.P. Bench but to dismiss the case, and the police retired crestfallen to, lind out the present owner, if he hasn't ridden over the rim of the horizon by this time.