IDLE AND DISORDERLY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3802, 25 January 1927, Page 5

IDLE AND DISORDERLY.

an Invercargill case. (From Our Special Correspondent.! z INVERCARGILL. January 19. Whether Dunedin .is'a superior place to Invercargill to live ‘in is perhaps a matter for conjecture and might best be left to the champions of the respective. centres to debate, but the Magistrate, Mr G. Cruickshank, certainly gave his vote in favour of Dunedin when presiding _ over an “idle*'and disorderly” case to-day in which Frederick Sutton Clark, an elderly man with' something of a reputation in Invercargill as a cyclist' and_ a musician, Was charged with being an idle and disorderly person with insufficient lawful means of support. He pleaded guilty. Euphemia Munro, who was living with him, was similarly charged and was stated to have been previously convicted on a charge of a . like nature. She also pleaded guilty,’ and, asked whether she would consent to be dealt with by the magistrate Or whether she would prefer to go to a higher court, she said, smiling graciously, “No, this’ll do.” Sergeant Fox said that' the two ’ defendants had been arrested that morning by Sergeant Hewitt and Constable Watt. Constable Watt said that. the two accused were living in a little hut in Clyde street. Neither of. them had-been -doing'work for sdme considerable time. Some time pre-

viously 'he had interviewed the two defendants and the woman said she had been looking for work and that at one tiriie she had earned: £22. on which they had lived for a time. Clark said that he had not done any work for a considerable time and could not -get any. Sergeant Hewitt corroborated this’ evidence and said that Clark had done little or no work for 12 months. Mrs . Munro: He simply- can’t get it. He’s been looking for it every day for months. . . Clark: I’ve been up at 4 o’clock in the morning looking for it. I’ve got £B5 invested, so I don’t see why I can’t get a hearing. ' . The Magistrate: As long as they’re living hi an orderly fashion I don’t see what I can do. If the woman prefers to live with this man it’s her own look out. Do they annoy their neighbours Sergeant Fox: They are perpetually cadging and he hangs round the boarding houses. Clark: Excuse me, I never cadged in my life. a. Sergeant Fox: The point is he has no lawful means of support. The case was then allowed to stand down for a while and was brought up later, when the defendants tackled matter's with renewed and characteristic vigour. Finally the Magistrate dismissed the charge against Mrs Munro and remanded Clark for a week after suggesting that he might like Dunedin as a town to live in.