ALGOHOLIG ASHBURTON.

NZ Truth, Issue 328, 7 October 1911, Page 5

ALGOHOLIG ASHBURTON.

GOTS GLORIOUS GUZZLE,

no-license and lest Memory.

■A faianefe Visit — WMsky m Ms Wallet— 3lhe Lindsays lisied— A MfjHioi^ ffeal Faded— The Magistrate HsjlersiojMl — What he Thmtghl —A 'Witness wlw. WoiddEt Spea_k— Case

I No-d_i«cea__ae aiot only ibneeds hypo- • crisy, spying, lying, secret swilling, : t__saaci__ery, sneaking,, inloraning^. de- ; 33usraIisa*iion, home-gnzziing, toad ! sfcaggerjxiice- and purple remarks, bnt it is responsible for the complete destruction oi memory, judging by tbe latest Ashburton case- It places respectable people ia tbe position of unwilling witnesses, who deliberately lay themselves out to defeat the lais^,.; because m their opinion the law IS UNJUST AND TY_aA_K_KlCAI__ m its spifiication of personal freedom. Such is the position, at Asfcbortosj, which at last local option poll had an ineffectual majority m lavor of restoration of licenses. William Gray is a simple farmer residing at LowcliLe, and on September 23 visited Ashburton, dining at tbe residence of friend William liindsay. With 4he abolition of wellconducted pubs., visitors have to dine somewhere. Later m the day William was found by the police to be m that condition which would excite extreme envy m the breast of a Pa.t*vtoa inmate, and swiftly mar-••.""r.i'.'T-fc his belongings a flask of whisky was discovered m his pockets. Jb'our and a half hours later he was awakened, and when the police applied the pump4iandle information flowed from his parched lips. He tuckered at Lindsay's, he said,, paying for dinner and whisky at the same time, and his artistic sensibilities were so touched by the piano playing of AN INFANT GIRL pRODIGY on the premises that he gave her a shilling. These few remarks were written down m copper-plate hand and readable English, and Gray signed the statement. In consequence jLiiidsay Castle was stormed by the . "Poorce,"- headed by Sergeant Tou- | hey, and a quantity of whisky was j commandeered. William Lindsay and j Esther Margaret, his missus, were .next asked to explain themselves i before Magistrate Day. • In court Parmer Gray had an 'acute attack of non-recollection, and I manifested so much annoyance at bejing called that he was treated by j the prosecution with marked hostilj ity. He didn't remember anything. jHe couldn't recall getting drunk, he i had I NO KNOWLEDGE OP HIS ARREST, and other matters were a blur on liis intellect, ami an unrecognisable mass of unsubstantiality like the { Government 'g policy on the land j question. Out of the dim recesses jof the past there emerged a person j named Martin, with whom William { drank deeply and often on Septem- ! 23-, but their method of acquiring j the fire-water had escaped Mm, and |he didn't know from whom it had j been bought, if they did buy it, or j who gave it to them, if it was pre- ; sented to them ; there was merely left the vague impression of discussing eugenics, or the shipment of pestholes to Tripoli as. grave allotments^ .or something else, and the steady lifting of liquid to a hole m their faces, when it found its own level by force of gravity. After drinking Martin's health m town they VISITED ANOTHER SLY-GROG-GERY m the suburbs, but whose it was or where it was were questions smothered m a sea of blither and . blastiferousness. His parting with Martin made no record on his blistered brain, his arrest was a circumstance beyond mental recall ; m fact m respect of the events of that particular day his mind was a complete blank. He had no recollection of signing any statement, and tbe contents of the document were as big a mystery to him as the whereabouts of Powelka. He frequently ■went to Lindsay's, he said. and 'broke bread with the family, but as already stated his. recollection of 'anything m the guise of liquor, was ;as bad as a politician's mind m rejspect of his election promises. He i testified to the fact that DIDN'T PROHIBIT, for he had come to his senses m I the local lock-up more than once after sampling- surreptitious liquid chain lightning. Lawyer Buchanan, who appeared •■ for the Lindsays, said it was absurd to imagine that a man could .sober ■up sufficiently m four and a half Tiours to act rationally. Counsel, knew thc police methods, and il appeared 'to hwn that Gray had been ; frightened into signing a statement before he was allowed bail. Sergeant Eouliey reported that it rwas wonderful how the memory oi witnesses failed them at the last anoment m sly-grog cases. Magistrate Day said he QUITE UNDERSTOOD THE 01 liCUMSTANCER, ■and it appealed that tlie witness had made up his mind not to speaic the truth. Tho case was dismissed without prejudice. A similar charge against Alexander McKenzie was adjourned on a doctor's certificate tha' McKenzie was unlit to appear. Tlie sergeant 'remarked that adjournments m slygrog cases were unsatisfactory to the police, os they enabled witnesses to be "reproached" by interested parties.