VANISHING STOUT

NZ Truth, Issue 1043, 21 November 1925, Page 7

VANISHING STOUT

A Sorrowful Talc of Fish

and of Ale

PORTOBELLO PICNIC

PARTY' S PRANKS

(From "Truth's" Special Dunedin Rep.)

One of the few days m the. year on which Portobello is anything- but a sleepy, seaside resort is Labor Day ; and among those who adde&to the liveliness of the place on the holiday this year , was a<party of homeward-going fishermen.

jjd Arthur Ernest Earley, "William Eck■cihold, Herbert" Thomas Mitchell, and ■ two boys wefe returning 1 m an. express ifroni a week-end.-, fishing expedition "'(away out oriAthef/cbast at the back of _.! Portobello, and' on the way gave a ■L' lift., to a man hamed William Dunlop Carnahan.- . ■■• • i SELLING HORSES. f I When the Portobello hotel was reach■- ■ ed attpiit 11 a.m. all the men went m rand indulged m "selling horses" and I other- well-known customs, the boys k meanwhile playing about m the neigh|Pborhood. . ■ There was a 'case of stout m the ■L passage of the hotel and m the Bj afternoon Carnahan was seen ■ ' superintending the loading of this Uk on to the. express. Those who carried the stout out were L not members of the. party, Hfc It was nearly five o'clock before the W^ sellers of horses and singers of songs ■ resumed their journey, some of them ■| being m a state that can best be dcs- ■ cribed as "lit up like a street full of ■ lamps." H It is alleged that when the case of H stout was discovered m the express by H some of them, they wanted to know Hhow it came there, and Carnahan said Hit was his and that he had 'fixed up H with the publican for it. H When they got. to Carnahan' s place Broad Bay, Mitchell . helped him to H unload the stout and had a . drink or from pne of the bottles. . M ONE MAN CHARGED. X Of course; when William MaLa'chlan , IS the licensee, discovered' that the Btout missing, he naturally wanted -to. where it had; gohe, and as the

result of inquiries Carnahan was charged with the theft of it. That was the story as outlined to the Magistrate by McLachlari. Parley Mitchell, and one of the boys. . Accused backed up his plea of "Not guilty" by saying that he had no recollection of having- taken the stout— he was too drunk to remember anything that had happened that day. . He would like to point out, however, that some of : the men m the express had called on him recently and offered to pay their share if he would take all the blame. They did not want their names m the paper. BAD FOR BOYS. In convicting accused the Magistrate said that some 'of the others m the party were fortunate m that they were not jointly charged with the theft. It was an astounding -thing that the parents of the two boys apparently allowed them to -go, with the men for a week-end's fishing. Such parties were bad for boys under any circumstances but m this case the men had left them to their own resources for five or six ' hours while they went into an hotel and got intoxicated. The police should make inquiries as to what took place at the hotel and should warn the boys' parents against allowing them to go. away with parties of men. Accused was ordered to come up for sentence when' called on within the next 12 months, and ordered' to pay the cost of the stout and £2 witnesses' expenses. "None of .the witnesses •really deserve expenses," declared th.6 Magistrate. _.''■'■■ .. ' . ■ ' ■