A DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR.

NZ Truth, Issue 217, 21 August 1909, Page 4

A DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR.

FRIED FISH AND FIGHT.

An Auckland Amateur Pog. Punctured.

WAS THE BOOT AND KNIFE PUT IN ?

When the average man has loaded himself up with lotion, his festive fancy lightly turns to thoughts of fish. Often, it is a gay and gaudy lobster, or the cold and crimson crayfish that attracts his blithery eye. At other times he is satisfied with the less decorative, but filling fish and chips. And, sad to say, the combination frequently leads to stoush. Fish, fight, or frolic, m fact, frequently go hand-in-hand. This was the case m Auckland on the . night of July 7 last. As the result of the feast of fish, swankey and fight, one Patrick Denis Smythe was charged with having stabbed Adam Meek. Smythe is not fair, but is fat and well over 40. Meek is a young chap by no means as meek and lowly as his moniker would suggest. In fact, HE IS AN AMATEUR PUG, and has put 'em up m the * roped arena at the Opera House. Tne case came before Mr Justice Edwards m the Supreme Court, Auckland, on Monday. There were two counts m the indictment : (1) That with intent to commit actual bodily harm he did commit actual bodily harm ; (2) that he did assault Meek, causing actual bodily harm. The prosecution was conducted by Mi Tole, Crawn Prosecutor. Accused pleaded not guilty and had Mr Lundon m his corner. Adam Meek, a dark young chap with a vividly contrasting collar of vociferous pink, told how he and two cobbers had been having a tiddley or two at the fountain, otherwise the Grosvenor Hotel, on the night of July 7. After having liquidated they felt a pressing need for something solid and adjourned to Green's feed foundry m Hobson-strect. Witness ha*d oysters, whereupon a "joint" named Mahony, who was with accused, made m- i suiting remarks to the effect that if fish was good enough for him it was good enough for witness. Mahony further wanted to know if he "could blanky well pay lor his supper." Witness sand, "Yes, and you blanky well pay for yours." After that Mahony called him an epithet, GROSSLY REFLECTING ON HIS BIRTH, • and witness promptly banged him to the flure. Then the agitated hash-foundry fellow beseeched them not to spill gore on his premises— presumably on account of the nasty mess it would make. Mahony invited witness out oh to the "King's Highway" to settle the disputed point by the stern arbitrament of war. Witness accepted cheerfully, and he and Mahony had a good, fair "dinkum go." Witness did the Jacko Johnson stunt, and Itlahony took delivery of more stoush than was good for his constitution or complexion. As he was going away, declared witness, accused rushed up to witness and stabbed him several times. j Cross-examined : He had had six drinks that night. He had been mixed up m an assault case before. He did not on that occasion use obscene language before the publican's wife. He merely used a sanguinary adjective. He served a month five years ago for assault. As a result of that case, he was prosecuted for perjury, and after two trials was acquitted. It was m self-defence that he struck a man named Hayes. That person called him a shocking name, and told him to go and "— his mother." Witness's mate was known as "Smack?r" Wright. Witness had boxed as an amateur at the Opera House, but got the worst of the bout.' If Mahony had. lost -teeth, witness had punched, not kicked them out. Mahony might not have been m a condition to fight, owing to drink. Witness did not strike Mahony - WITH A KNUCIvLE-DUSTER. ! "I don't know what a knuckle-duster is— I never saw one tin my life," he declared. Witness did not know whether he broke Mahony's nose, and could not account for bootmarks on the latter's face. Witness did not say m the Lower Court, "Mahony was m no condition to engage m a fight." Counsel : How long did it take- you to polish him off 1 ?— Oh, we were fighting about five minutes. I couldn't say how often he was on the ground. Further cross-examined': Witness said he thought Wright cut accused's eye, but could not say how his nose was broken. Re-examined : Accused dragged witness into the dark, grabbed him by the throat and then struck him with the knife. Dr. Henry -Walker stated that Meek was taken to him at 10.30 on the night named. He was covered with blood. There was a very small puncture on the top of his head, and an incised ; wound, one inch long, and not very deep, on the left side of the neck. Three-quarters of an inch further along and . the wound might have ' affected the jugular vein.. There was also a small cut on the mouth, and an incised wound, an inch and a half long, on the top of the right hand. He seemed quite sober. William Green, the btoque who runs the 'fish and chips foundry where the fracas started, gave evidence as to the parties entering his place for the purpose of feeding their" faces. HE SAW SQUALLS SPRINGING UP, and endeavored to pacify Meek and Mahony before the storm broke. Then he requested accused and his cobber to ante up for the feast, as he didn't want any I cyclonic disturbances on his premises. Mahony called Meek an illicit love token or something to that effect, and there was a scrimmage near the door. Witness shoved the struggling heap of humanity outside, and then Meek and Mahony put up their dooks and had a merry little mill. At least, it wasn't merry for Maheny, as he was badly biffed and battered by the pugilistic Meek. Accused made a swipe at Meek, and then the two struggled past the shop window. A few moments later Meek sang out, "He's got the knife m." Meek entered the shop shortly after and was bleeding from the neck and hands. Witness opined that it was Mahony who opened the ball and set the band playing. . Meek and his mate were sober, but accused and Mahony were pretty well loaded, the latter being the most heavily charged. . To Mr Lundon : Meek knocked Mahony about very badly, but did not get a scratch himself during the scrap. William Wright, a mill hand, living m Wellington-street, gave his version of the fray at the fish emporium on the fateful night. When the barney was begun by Mahony, "all hands", .used corruscating slanguage. Challenged by Mahony to put 'cm up, Meek meekly remarked that he wanted a feed, not a' fight. Subsequently the scrap outside followed. Witness banged accused on the eye ; it was a meaty sort of a blow. He heard Meek sing out, "He's got the knlle," and saw that he was covered m blood. Cross-examined : Witness was with Meek on two other occasions when scrapping took place. He was not known as ".Smacker" now ; that was his nickname when a school-kid, it was quite true that he struck Smythe twice. He was not making that statement to meet the suggestion that Meek kicked Smythe. It was not a fact that Smythe and Mahony were so full that they were soft things, and good chopping blocks. Witness DID NOT "PUT THE BOOT IN" to Mahony. His Honor : What do you mean by that ? Do you mean did he kick him ? Mr Lundon : Yes, your Honor. His Honor : In this Court, Mr Lundon, you are exnectcd to use English, and King's English. Counsel : I was just using the ordinary expression. His Honor : Well, you are not to do so. Please use English as far as you urc able and not slang. Mr Lundon (to witness) : You have heard it sniil I'hat Meek called cut, "He's put the knife m." Do you .know what '.that means? •■

i His Honor (severely) : That will do. Ask questions you are entitled to ask. Alex. Mackie, a carter, was one of the festive supper party and accompanied Meek and Wright to the fish factory. The version he gave substantially corroborated that of his cobbers. When the row started, Mahony remarked pleasantly to Meek, "If " I couldn't heat an unprintable thing like you, I should be a mongrel." After the scrap outside with Mahony he heard Meek call out about the knife and found him covered with gore. This witness, like the others, declared that he did not see Smythe cutting up tobacco. Cross-texamined : He did not see |Wright biff Smythe^but the former made a swipo which failed to connect. Mahony had had some lotfon, but would have no hope against Meek, drunk or sober. 'Tec. Fahey deposed to having collected accused on July 9. Accused denied the charge, and said he was cutting tobacco at tbe time of the fracas. Accused had a shade over his eye and some cuts on his phiz. To Mr Lundon : At the lock-up accused said he had been punched and kicked while on the ground. Also that he put up Ms hand, with the knife m it, after cutting tobacco, to ward off the blow. To his Honor : Accused never suggested that he had j used the: knife m self-de-fence, because he was being throttled. This concluded the evidence for the prosecution. Mr Lundon opened for the defence at some length, contending that there was no evidence of "intent." The wrong man had been prosecuted, said counsel. Meek had undoubtedly inflicted actual bodily harm on Mahony. Frank Mahony, a man well on m the thirties, was then called. He said that he was a contractor, and came down from Northern Wairoa about ' a month ago. He then had a good bundle of boo die and went to live with accused's brother. Since then he had been sosselling pretty solidly with accused. When they went to the fish-foundry he and Smythe were both fairly well screwed. Meek ami his cobbers arrived, and witness had a bit of a barney with the first-named. Meek overheard a remark by witness and applied it to' himself, which was a mistake. He was half sitting on his chair when Meek plugged him enthusiastically. Witness went to the flure, and whilst down, he alleged, Mcck J kicked him m the food furnace. As soon as witness got outside Meek met him at the door and biffed him twice, without any beg-par-dons or preliminaries whatsoever. In short, he "got his blow m fust.' Witness was not m fighting trim .; he had an injured left dqok, and besides wastoo boozed and blithery to make a go of it. He was downed twice by Meek, and reckoned that he was again booted by that gentleman when outside. He received that caress on his smeller, which was broken thereby. Witness didn't remem ber much after the root on his nose, and didn't sec what happened to Smythe. One of the witness's front meat-mastica-tors was knocked night out and another broken, which considerably DISCOUNTED HIS MANLY BEAUTY— to say nothing about the pain and sorrow thus caused. He was dazed all next day, and it was about lour days before he was able to "pull himself together mentally." Cross-examined : He was quite sure ho was knocked down and kicked whilst m the fish-shop. : His Honor : We have the evidence of Green, ami he was quite sober, and he says nothing of the kind occurred m the shop. You, according to your own story, were horribly drunk on the occasion, ami to put it mildly, I thinta you are mistaken as to having been kicked inside the restaurant. Witness, however, adhered to his statement that he was kicked m the mouth whilst on the floor of the fish-shop. He swore that he did not call Meek a . It was also a fairy tale that he said to Meek, . "If fish is good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for you." Had never seen Meek In his natural before that crimson night. '. Mr Tole : You must have been blind drunk- when you lost your way going home ?•— My face was covered with blood. Further cross-examined : He had been m seven or eight pubs that day and had absorbed m, all about a score of drinks— but they were only small beers. He couldn't contradict the two 'tecs, if they said he! told them the next morning that he was so sosselled he . couldn't recollect what had happened. He wouldn't be' sure whether or not lie fell when tod.dling home after the affray. To Mr Lundon : It took him four days to recover from the punching. His Honor : And how long to recover from the drink ? How long have you been taking twenty drinks a day ? Oh, sometimes I only have two or three. ■ His Honor : 1 think YOU OUGHT TO BE SENT TO PAKATOA. To Mr Lundon : Witness came down to Auckland with £GU, and had gone through £50. Andrew Miller, a plumber, who lives with Smytho, was at home when the wounded warriors returned after the battle, and was shocked to see the slaughtered state Mahony was m. Witness reckoned he had been badly biffed and kicked. Smythe, too, had also had some bumps, and corners knocked off, and was m a sad and sorry condition. Accused was then sworn, and gave evidence. He described himself as a cabinetmaker and said he had" lived m Auckland practically all his life. There was "slingj ihg-off" m the fish-shop, and then Mahony was banged by Meek. Witness fancied Meek kicked Mahony, but wouldn't swear to it. Witness had left the shop aiid reached the pavement when . Wright plugged him promptly and with emphasis. Wright repeated the dose, knocking witness down. Witness was sobered a bit by the shock and walked down the road. By this time Meek had about polished ofl Mahony and witness stood and started to cut up some weed. Then MeeK bore down on him. remarking, "Here's the other blanker ; let's settle him." With that Meek rushed at him. Witness had the knife m his hand and held out his arm to ward off the blow. He stopped a paralysing punch on the napper, and then Meek' grabbed bis gizzard and started belting into him like a steam hammer. He was also kicked twice, and then remembered nothing until he found Mahony picking him up. He had no recollection whatever of using the knife, after cutting up bis tobacco. He was summoned for common assault once, about ten or eleven years ago. Mick Foley, licensee of the Hobson Hotel said he had known accused For years and had always found him quiet and decent. . _. This concluded the evidence. The jury retired at 6.45U p.m. and returned .at 7.40 with a verdict ol not guilty on both counts. His Honor : I hope this will be a warning. It is a most disgraceful affair all through. Discharge the prisoner. The cultured visitor inquired of the litcrarv man's widow : "Did your late husband have any index cxpurgatonous m his library ?" For a moment she was puzzled, but' then remarked: "If it's them things that eat holes m the book, well, he had plenty of them. He used to call them worms." Merric England some more :— Tiic "Times" .stales that the business of the London Bankers' Clearing-House m lUOB showed a shrinkage of £610.000,000, compared with that of lt'o7. AH provincial clearing-houses showed proportionate reduction, and railway receipts also showed a heavy reduction. Frcotrade is a blessing !.