WILD WEST MAN WESTCOTT

NZ Truth, Issue 180, 28 November 1908, Page 7

WILD WEST MAN WESTCOTT

A Rifleman's Rampage.

iA.sb.er Westcott is an altogether |oo yivia and picturesque young person tor our anaemic, washed-out civilisation. He would no doubt have found congenial < ;m-> pany— and an early coffin— amongst the bronzed, and bearded. Bad Men of j fret Harte's Roaring Days ; and he would f Save added to the gaiety of the Man From K«d Pog arid other tumultuous Wolfville herbes of crimson memory. But it» t tad, tiraby dreary D.unedin this swab witi a front name like a sneeze is as much out pi place as an old hag at a christe /ing, or 2 a blind man at a baliet leg show. The stirring story of Westcott's wila ana ■woolly, flare-up was told to Mr Wid lowson, S.lft., and a select and interested audience m ■ the Police' Court on- Saturday. The charge didn't promise mucn [thrill. Aschoo, or Asher, or whatever he answers to when invited to cumanaYadrink,; was charged with "mischief "— smaghuxg a window and doing damage to the extent of eight "hog." He was a harmless, inoffensive looking atom, wearing the naked face and the stiff, starcnea six-dnch fence of the immaculate, young q>uia-a-week clerk. He pleaded guilty through Solicitor Scurr. Sub-Inspector Norwood spoke a little piece m his wefll-known sweet and soothing accents, and nis Worship listened m Indignant surprise.' Westcott, according !fio%:the Siib*;: is-ayattant volunteer,, one of the' heroes of the ' Highland Kities, and on King's Birthday he was out op parade in'all' the glory of his gaudy and tinselled itrumperies.- No doubt-he^ maae an imposing circumstance on the landscape,, and the gii«s were \grateful to him forgiving them such a treat. This was all very well at first, but as the day wore on the palpitating ecstasy of celebrating King Nija's Birthday,' or the sun, or the swaiikey, or the* admiration of the - delightea, dimpled darlings,, or something or another went ty> his head'i and he began to see red. T.HB WILD, AND WARLIKE WESTCOTT with great restraint resisted the temptation tp '^shoot up" the hall crimson, putfit bi defenceless Dunedin, according to Wijd West ."Cowboy precedent, out as soon as' he swaggered into his boarding-ihouse k^kept by MU:s Eftleri' t^uurke— he got busy tight away' and the neigfeborfiood began to sit up and take notice, oc else took to the hills 01? locked themselves m the cellar f of! safety. Bursting into bis snooze chamber pikes' an mr aged ' tornado, t^iis . gay yduhg galoot .started blaatog away,with his rifle till the windows rattled m their fraitnes 'and the fumes of battle hung low over the, building m Btinkkjg sinister-look-ing '.clouds. • During all- the racket and riot of this rattle-brained , idiot's blazing biompardr meat, r ia fcllow-'boaf der was m "tibe bettroom shivering m bis skin and wishing va"mly that he might do the Vanishing LgCdy act: Having, let the neighbors know that he had arrived good and fresh, Asher Westcott turned; to the young man to the room .and ..ordered him _to open the window— perhaps to enable him to pick out and pot a plump peeler. .The young man' made no move— mayhap he was paralysed withfrigh^. Without more ailo'this whirlwind Westcott turned ; and blazed point blank at the closed window, shatitering it. . . Thus endeth the parable for the prosecution

Scurr, for the defence, was anxious to have /the affair regarded as quite a harmless, amusing little flutter; easily excusalifo because of the thrilling circumstance of: Ned's , birthday,. Said Scur-r :• "He was overcome by- patriotic ardour" (more likely hops) "and fired this salute." "He could have fired his salute out ifl the open," retorjbed the JSub-lnspector 1 , who added that no fewer than thirteen empty cartridges weje, fojund m the battle^scarred bedroom after the fray. . ]ftr Scurr r-OhV-folifc they_wer6;blanlc carirridges that were used,' and they were dis-ichargea-vifli his own room.

The lawyer went on to enlarge on this fatter fact, the inference being, apparently, that so long as a man ib m his own shack he may discharge a battery of 12---pounders or entertain himself with a private Tsushima on a small scale. "And they were only blank cartridges/ he reiterated.

Sub-Inspector Norwood .:. But how were the people round about to Know whether they were blank ot ball? He certairly succeeded m frightening the neighborhood. . v

The Magistrate: It was an excessively foolish thmg to do, to say the least, Some people think they can do what they like on certain' occasions, but they had better learn that they can not. It was stated that Westcptt had paid for the 1 damage done to the" window—nothing was said .about the damage to folks' nerves— and he was fined 20s, which Is little enough for such a piece! of riotous hooliganism, .