THE WAR REFOUGHT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17126, 5 December 1929, Page 14

THE WAR REFOUGHT

BRITAIN AND AMERICA 12 FIREMEN ENGAGED . vi'er Press Association.) • AUCKLAND, last night, j . Six hefty firemen iioin a britiph'! steamer anil half a dozen more from the I American tourist vessel Malolo, set out i to entertain pedestrians yesterday after- I noon oy reopening the old argument, 1 "Who won the war?” A keen out not 1 quite heated argument which started in : a hotel bar, was turned into a street < light oi the first order by the remark oi one of the Americans, "Yon English Then, within a few seconds, all the i politeness ana gentleness with which ■ snips firemen greet each other was for- ' gotten, and instead, 12 good men and true gave an exhibition of their pugilistic ability. .No sooner had the first round of battle started than a. crowd, which eventually grew to an inestimable size, gathered about the men. There were barrackers for each side. When only fi\e pairs were engaged, the sixth American apparently glow a bit too enthusiastic, and one of the Englishmen, who was obviously keen to throw his 16 stone about, saw his chance and peeled oft' his coat. “Come on,’’ he ordered, and inside a few seconds he and the other had brought the number of fighters up to a round dozen. For fully 10 minutes the fight was i waged without interruption from either the crowd, who held up t|he street traffic, or the police, but when five peace-making constables led by a sergeant approached, the men were forced to cease hostilities j Each side wanted to state its case to lire rnen in blue, but the 12 were persuaded to return to their ships without anv farther argument. Tho men fought fairly in pairs, and there had not been even a suggestion of any two men tackling one man. As soon as a man had vanquished his vis-a-vis, he stood aside, and joined tho excited watchers. It had been a clean 24-fisted “go,” and the Malolo men, although they fought gamely, had to admit that the American mercantile marine had been metaphorically sunk.