SOUNDS OF REVELRY.

NZ Truth, Issue 184, 26 December 1908, Page 6

SOUNDS OF REVELRY.

And a Police Court Prosecution. Th« phisogs o\ Michael Sheehan and Mary Kerr were quite familiar when those two personages stepped into the prisoner's box of Uhristchurch S.M. Court recently on a charge of using obscene language. They were defended by Lawyer Donnelly, who entered a -plea Of "JNOt guilty." From the yarn of Copper \ Waters, he and a fellow peeler on a lonely beat' heard a disturbance at 1 o'clock m the morning, and located it m a snop on the corner of Kilmore and .Victoria streets, where the sound of Bacchanalian rieyel destroyed the calm peace of the neighborhood. What shocked the noble limbs of the l!aw was the filthy language that emanated from the, afoode, and, glueing their respective optics to the lighted window, they located Sheehan and the woman Kerr as the Culprits. Waters wrote down the lurid expressions with a considerable amount of blanky m them, which he attributed to the accused. In reply to Mr Donnelly, Waters said there was another woman m the house, but he could distinguish Mary's shrill treble from the other female's melodious voice. The thing occurred m Sheehan' s shop and a number of ladies who had been out: dancing were passing at that hour m the morning. Copper Crawford also wrote down the. slangwicige on a pi^ce of paper, and THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT from the way the" magistrate and counsel looked at it. The bobby said they had been watching them through the window for half an hour. Loud voice from the auditorium : Two hours. Sergeant : Put that man out. Then an inebriated person, with' his eye m a sling, was unearthed. He proved to be Mary's husband, and Heft the Court under strong protest. Magistrate Day: How many people were m the house ?— Five persons ; three men and two women. Tom Butterfield was one of the men. Mr Donnelly explained that Kerr, the individual who had just been ejected from the Court, was the husband of Mary, and had been present at the party, ttie refreshments at which comprised some plumpudding and Christmas cheer. (Apparently the family was starting early.) Counsel seemed embarrassed about his evidence and Kerr was apparently under the influence of liquor, and it was no use caltting him. Sheehan was an industrious, hardworking person and might say a little more than he ought to say when he got a liquor m. Further, it was pointed out that the occurrence hadn't taken place An the street; but m a private house, and f at one o'clock m the morning..

Magistrate Day observed that the constables didn't agree about the words used by Mary, and she was accordingly discharged. Sheehan was fined 40s ana costs.