MYERS MISSES.

NZ Truth, Issue 380, 5 October 1912, Page 6

MYERS MISSES.

(V More. Marshjand Misgivings.

EWerly bewhiskered John Scott

Myers, who has been engaged m as- ( sorted, brands of litigation for the .past sixteen years, still resides m the midst of strife and neighborly t turmoil at . Marshland, , a Christchurch suburb largely to J *he goddess, .cow. It was his misfor- ', tune tjhat' the necessity arose for the .prosecution of young Albert Crbzier ,' on a charge of undue familiarity Iwith his ' fifteen-year-old daughter, ; jEvelihe. "VVlhen : the ' yoting man was 'discharged on a technicd,lit'y, he was charged with being v the putative . idaddy of the girl's unborn infant, but it was held by Magistrate Bailey that there v was insufficient

corroboration to fasten paternity on to Albert' . The' undaunted" Myers then charged Albert Crozier and .Charles Bnglefield with , perjury, aris ••; •ing out of, the - affiliation case, and failed-. to. establish, their guilt. A feature of ', the" proceedings" was the: insistence- of Myers.; that a~ reluctant' Magistrate- (Bailey), should go into' the ■witness-box. The old man's luckj appears to have been dead out ny all these Cases. But the climax arrived later, when he charged Ernest; Crozier, brother of Albert, With discharging firearms 1 without reasonable cause, to the danger of passers-by. , F,rom the story of Myers, it would appear that life for him at Marshland is . fraught* with undue-excitem-ent, "and the changeless- monotony usually enjoyed "m •, rustic "• places found no part -m his fevered existence: His neighbor, Ernest Crosier, carries a gun— a pea rifle, but deadly for ■ all that:- In • the midst' of : the family feud, Ernest is apeged to have arrived, with' hjs' murderotis weapon, and, aiming point.- blank ut the stable; which sheltered Myers, pulled the trigger.:-: The- old man didn't call the. witness who saw Ernest point the-shooting iron, -but' he heard the' bullet come through the roof and fall beside him, to the danger of his life. He didn't secure the pellet, being -too' busy locating the- marksman, nor.-^did he. return- to look for it, but.it made a hole m the roof about an inch m diameter. He had heard that Ernest .had discharged the weapon to frighten his daughter/ Pearl. ... Constable Hammond spoke to Ernest four, day 6 after the -event, and! Ernest „ acknowledged . that he had fired the. corpsing instrument at a lark, and 'the bullet had ricochctted. The tall bobby remarked, darkly, to Ernest • , that numerous complaints had been received from Marshland ajbout the ■ indiscriminate- discharge of guns, and Ernest, with penitent aspect, replied, "Since this affair I've taken a pull.'' ! Lawyei:' Eric Harper' raised the novel point that as Ernest 'had fired point-blank at .the stable, the destructive act "was not "a' danger to passers-by;" "as stipulated* by the statute. '/ ' •'■•■'.. ■■"',."' ' ■ ■'This, argument appealed to Magistrate Bailey', who ' dismissed the information. ■■■'■;'■ ' • It is understood that Myers has ordered a suit of mail to meet fu-' ture eventualities. . i ■-