HAPPY-GO-LUCKY GILLESPIE

NZ Truth, Issue 1128, 14 July 1927, Page 8

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY GILLESPIE

I ILaHwmmiiMiaiimilHMimiiiumimHtiimmuniil 'jutuuuiuiuiiumniiiuitiuiiiiiniuiuiiuiuumnttfiiiii COMETIMES they § y marry, these | bits of human flot- | sam, and the busy- = bodies .p r o p h e sy | how these mis- 1 guided youths Willi reform under the | beneflcieht m- = fluence of a good! wife. But do they? | Sometimes. I Concrete exam- 1 (pies are always | IM more interesting

imttiimniMiuiitiuituuiutiiuiiiiiJUiiKtmiimHiiiuHuiutiuiiiiiitiMtitiiuiuiiiimAHtuii lujiiMiuimujiiiiiiiuiiriuiMimiiiiiuiuniitmiiiiiuMiJiitmMiitiiiiHtiijiujiujmitttiniiu (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Rep.) THIS world of ours is chock ** full of ne'er-do-wells and dead-beats — young men who delight m sitting on the edge of life's sidewalk, deriving a good deal of pleasure and mental satisfaction from watching' the efforts of their fellow- beings to snatch a crust from an unwilling civilization. nniffHiiimiimimummmiuiiMiimimiiiiiminmnmmmmimmiiii

iiummiitiiiiiiunmtimiiumiHimimmiirnminnnili'l iiiiiiimtiiutiinuuiuiiuiuiiiuiiiiiHuumimmuuHuiHHi* c 1 Gillespie threw his | leg over the saddle | and kept there unH' til he turned the = handle-bars of the I machine round the | corner of Balclu--1 tha's main street, 1 just 62 miles and 1 a few chains to the | southward of where I he started. | Although he re,„„p turned the following day he had not

than a collection of theories, so we will quote the case of Edward Gillespie, aged 22, who admitted to Magistrate Bundle m the Dunedin Police Court that he stole a valuable watch and chain from William Taylor, a friend. Whether Gillespie was desperate as the result of unemployment, or whether cupidity overcame good Judgment^ is not certain, but full consideration should be given to Chief Detective Cameron's remark that "it is a pity, your worship, that you have not the power to order Gillespie a thrashing — it would do him good." The chief detective has a reputation for a kindly; if firm, administration of the. law, and his observation to the bench Is, therefore, rather significant. From what the chief detective told the Court, it appears that the Gillespies went one evening to visit the Taylors, where the visitors were shown a gold watch and chain greatly valued by ; their host. Gillespie succeeded m stealing the 1 watch, his next move being to visit a pawnshop,.- where I—under1 — under a fictitious name — he disposed of it for £1. The stolen property was valued at £26, yet Gillespie seemed quite content to accept one twenty-sixth part of Its value. The d.'s followed the trail which had been; so clumsily blazed, and not long' after., the pawnbroker had parted with twenty good shillings Detectives Farquharson and Allsopp knocked on the Gillespie front door and asked the man of, the house for some lucid replies to their "please explains." He promised to meet them at the detective office the following day, an appointment, which, by the bye, he failed to keep. A day or so afterwards he simulated a good deal of interest iri the processes of : purchasing a motor-cycle, with tlie result that a Dunedin , Arm of motor agents sought to ' encourage this interest by offering an hour's trial run on a new machine. ' With the ' customary free-and-easy manner m /which he had previously dealt with other people's property,

advised his wife concerning his whereabouts or intentions, and it is presumed from the evidence given m Court that he had not the faintest idea how his wife and three-months-old child were faring. Perhaps he thought that as he had been out of work for some weeks the family had acquired the habit of fending for themselves. t He said he had been to Balclutha to see his aunt about his financial (or industrial) position, and he had no Intention of stealing the motor cycle. Qn his arrival home Mrs. Gillespie advised him — among other things — to get m touch with the police authorities, so that the sundry matters totted up against him might be settled. At this he rushed Into the bathroom, drew a razor from its sheath and— brandishing It aloft— said he had a '■ jolly good mind to cut his throat. His next spasm was staged In the wireless wbrld, where he persuaded a radio dealer to instal a 65-gulnea set m the Gillespie homestead— all on Edward Gillespie's say-so and without a penny from the Gillespie bank account. Chief Detective Cameron said that the accused had failed to. i-ealise his responsibilities as a married man and it was; a pity that the magistrate was not empowered by statute to order Gillespie ;a thrashing. Magistrate Bundle remanded accused for three days, to give the probation officer an opportunity of reporting on Gillespie's chances of reforming. ■ When he reappeared m Court on the third day it was evident that, his brief stay m gaol- had chastened him, and when the magistrate ordered him two years' probation, Gillespie drew a deep breath. The S.M. gave the accused to understand that he was extremely fortunate, to have* escaped so lightly* and that the plight of his young family, as well as his own youth, had saved him from suffering 'a more severe penalty. He admonished Gillespie to watch his p's and q's, advice which— if followed— should divert the erring youngster to the: right track.