LOUIE'S LITTLE LIQUOR LURK.

NZ Truth, Issue 184, 26 December 1908, Page 7

LOUIE'S LITTLE LIQUOR LURK.

Fined £ 50 for Sly-Grog Selling.

We all know what a clean-living, sweetsmelling, N dearly-lovable, plaster of Paris, saint is the ■ average pig-tailed- person, who is allowed to land here under protection of the. unpatriotic and deplorable poll-tax- His yellow virtues are ever being ,/ /peel ; into our ears damnable jmu /,ratioh by the snuffle-busting, subsidised advocates of pot-paunched -plutocracy and the sin-soddened buccaneers^ of Sweat, Cant and Capital. "The poor Chinaman is so sober and hard-working and law-abiding, and he is our brother m tile sight, of the Loard," so the noxiousweed wowsers assure us with pious, uplifted palms -and eyes like a dying duck's hi- a thunderstorm. "Truth, I ' of course, knows and believes aW this, and that is why it has such an 18-carat, jewelled-in-Bvery-hole opinion of the sweet and simple, celestials who land on these grateful shores. The , Clan of Wun Hi isnodctfibt also properly appreciated m Duneain. True, this city of kilts and haggis and other 1 strange dances, has no Hainingstreet to offer up thanks for, .but that It is nof minus a community of .cheerful Ohows has been abundantly manifested. Two very mtterestirig cases were reported m our last issue', tot instance, concerning Chinese who were convicted for opiumsmoking and selling, but Louie W.ah. -affords ifo, most, edifyjng, example.of Chin-, ese s 'decfency and: fitness- for citizenship exposed for 'some time;' Wah was'- brought before Mr Widdowson; S;M., last weekend on two charges of sly-grog, sellhig on December 11 and 12. The evidence showed. Louie to be a lovely and altogether desirable citizen— a shining light to sinful, white trash and a true friend of the pro-Chow impostor. Wot only does the law-abiding Louie ' keep a sly-groggtery, but it is known to be. THE RESORT OF PROHIBITED PEOPLE— poor weak wretches who will sink to any. depth of degradation to satisfy their; soul-slaying , craving for strong drink. Again, Louie has been shown to be the: keeper, of" an opium den. Further, he keeps a miserable, disgraced and hope-: less' white woman to live with him m this' cess-pool of putrid, vice, . and not content with destroying .her ' morally j has beaten: her and' bladk'ened.hef eyes. Years ago, tie was 'convicted of house-breaking - and. served, a sentence of 12 months ; last year he showed his gentle, law-abiding nature .by smashing glass windows, and was again convicted. Altogether a charming and adorable creature this. To come to details of the present case, however.; When accused was charged, Lawyer Scurr. stated that he appeared to defend, and; pleaded • not guilty. Then the luncheon ad- ; journment was taken. On resuming, Scurr sprung a little surprise packet on Louie. . He intimated that during the interval allowed for face-feeding he had looked into the case, and as- a result h.e was not prepared to appear for accused. Louie, therefore, was left to play a lone hand; The two charges were taken by consent. 1 The evidence for the prosecution shewed that the police had laid their plans well, and had not been discouraged by one QX' two rebuffs. Complaints had been made about the unsavory character of Louie's palace and the carryings-on there, and Cop. Rasmussen was told off to see if he could win honor and glory and a conviction—the last for Louie. s - Rutting on the plain togs o^an unpretentious civilian, Rasmussen dropped m on" Louie on, Sunday, December 6, for a friendly call, and put it to* the Chow chat a life-saver, m the shape of a bowl of the brown leverage, would be: received with rapture, and remembered with everlasting gratitude. But Louie, jfpparently, had no desire just then to save the disguised cop's, life, and he replied with heart-breaking brevity > "No beer !"; But the trap didn't get angry. He remarked, with a winning smile, that he would call again later m the day. He did so, and this time was accompanied by a cobfber, Cop. McCowan, also sporting his Sunday clobber. But the Chink was still suspicious, or bad-tempered, or determined to drink with the flies as there wasn't mfiich" sack to circulate, as he disappointed, the crestfallen cops, with the reply, "East glass gone about an 'fiour."

And so the traps departed, thirsty and grieved,; for we all know a bit of a taste is very welcome on the Sabbath. But they were determined to nab that JPagan, and on the .following Friday- the- persistent ph.iT, accompanied by Cop. , Kean, paid a third visit, at about 10.5 p.m. This time Wah had HIS LITTLE BIT OP CHOCOLATE CREAM with him, gentle Jenny Miller, the white moll. And under the soothing influence of his inamorata, Wah was more generous. When MeQowan asked for beer lie was ; served, Jenny acting as bar-lady. Two bottles were produced and four small glasses were handed out— Jenny sinking one— and half a caser was paid over bythe cops. Of- this a tanner was handed back- to McCowan as change. Three more lots of swankey were, bought and swamp-ed,-Louie receiving the lucre each time. And sp pleased was he with Ms new friends *that he invited them to call around/ again next day. The convivial trio of trap's duly arrived; shortly, after "Ten O'clock,' gentlemen, please," on the following . night, : anddagain found Wah and bis Jenny at home. • The visitors were cordially received and then all adjourned to the perfumed kitchen of the. Chow, where another-. pig-taiL was- taking his ease. Accused suggested that Jenny should go to the pub and buy beer, as ho wanted what was m the house for Sunday. The lady went on her errand of mercy, but returned empty, as the portatts of the pub were locked, barred and bolted. -Wah had -therefore to >■ visit his own. family medicine chest, kept upstairs. He returned with' some of the gladsome beverage, and dished -up four glasses, for which Cop-^McCowan anted up the usual two bob. Then Kean turned' it on again, and Rasmussen followed suit. And then, after* all,., this gladsome^, soul-satisfying swankey :Md been! safely ''surripunded, Kasmus'sen the nark -sprung an electric 'shock on the unsuspecting Wah. The cop. introduced himself m his true colors, showed his search warrant and commenced to investigate the premises. Upstairs there was a glad little surprise awaiting the trap> Lying full length' on the 1 sweetscented bed was a drowsy Mongolian, deep j m the sinful ecstasy of opium smoking. This gentleman was' Ah Yoy, wjio was brought up and convicted last week, as recorded: =m "Truth)" : Evidence concerning the various visits to Louie was given by Peelers Rasmussen, McCbwan "and Kean. Accused told McCowan to knock at the door when he called, land when ? asked;. '_' Who's there?',' repiF'^AJriendi" -'then knock aigiin. ; William Andrew Wood, licensee , of the Caledonian -* Hotel, r Walker-street, stated that accused lived opposite to his place. Witness had seen men m more or less shickeretij conditions loitering about Louie's premises on Sundays and had served the woman who lived with accused with beer nearly every day. She always brought square faces, never jars like/ the one: produced. Chas. Harvey, who jerks the "beer-pump at the Caledonian, gave similar evidence. Accused, who brutally maimed and mangled the English janguage* indignantly repudiated, the charges hurled at him. The cops., he declared, gave him 'oof to buy beer and toßd him to get five gallons m for. the next day; He didn't get it,. and when his' visitors returned they gave Jenny "Half klown to go buy:" Jenny went, but found the -pub * closed; •: One of the men then said he. "was miserable" and badly wanted a taste. Louie thereupon, .put of the exceeding kindness of his yellow heart; produced : a bottle of joy-juice and; plat -it on the table. The gentleman who was miserable ''" ' - PROMPTLY LAPPED SOME UP* as did his cobber's, and then offered, him money. But Louie was not to be tempted by lucre, and as he refused to accept . the good gonce they threw it m the table with the don'trgive-a-damn extravagance of a bushie cjutting out a cheque. It really pained Wah awfully to part with the beer, "as he wanted it for Jenny oh the Sunday." Good, kind soul ! What a pity to tliwart his generosity. Louie further showed what a perfect paragon of. a pigtail he is by assuring the Bench that he never drank such dreadful stuff as beer, and he intimated that he would expire at the very idea of smoking^ the cursed opium, or keeping it aTjout his premises. Cross-examined by Sub-Inspector Norwood, accused denied that he was given

to walloping his little Jenny. She secured her "black eyes" on the 6th by falling downstairs. Jenny, he ungallantly alleged, guzzled all the. swankey which she bought— even as much as six bottles a day. tlis little Jenny, Christina Miller then came forward as a witness for the defence. After remarking casually that she had been living with Wah for a long time she tickled the Court (not literally, ol course) by describing one of the traps as "the constable with the red face." This was Rasraussen, whose ruddy dial assumed an even deeper tomato tint than usual. • Rassy of the raspberry complexion according to Jenny, gave her money to go and buy beer, but she couldn't . get any as the pub was closed. In reply to the Sub., she said she looked after Wah's garden m Walker-street and gathered rags and bones. No Ohows or Europeans visited the house; they went to "Half-caste Dick's" next door. No boodle was taken for the beer. The two bob thrown on the table by the cops, still Hay there. ■ This concluded the evidence. The Magistrate said the house was of suspiciously ill-fame, and accused was apparently m the habit of procuring liquor for prohibited persons. It was a very serious case. A substantial penalty must be inflicted. Accused was fined £25 on each charge (£SO) and costs £1 .7s. JENNY CHRISTINA'S LITTLE CANARY. Louie's little Jenny was then put m the dock and charged with being a rogue and vagabond, not having su< Ti cient lawful visible means of support, one pleaded guilty. The Sub. stated that the St. Vincent de Paul Society was willing to take Jenny m. The Magistrate : Are you willing to go for twelve months ? Jenny (m great anxiety) : But how long will Louie do 1 And I've got a dog and a canary ! . • • Sub-Inspector Norwood kindly promised that the barker and the songster (which Jenny probably loves because it's yellow like Louie) should be provided with 'board and lodgings and use of all conveniences (bath, h. and c. and piano, refined family). Jenny was thus appeased and convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if stie leaves Magdala Home within twelve months. . .