“DRINKING ESCAPADE”

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1930, Page 10

“DRINKING ESCAPADE”

WINE AND HOME-BREW STOLEN. John Williams and Joseph WildermotL appeared at the Stratford court yesterday and pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing 11 bottles of wuie and nine bottles of home-brewed beer, value! at ,fi £5, from Patrick Fitzsimmons, at ,'pi Tangarakau, on 'December 2G. Messrs; .a: G. E. Wilson and B. Fletcher, J.sP., c( fined each man *£2, in default 14. days’, tl imprisonment, and ordered that restitu- G tion of; the stolen property be made. .si The two accused , had been employed, at u a coal , mine, said Sergeant J; McGregor./: '.. and. while Patrick; Eitzsimmons-was atyayi. t. between .Decenibeiv.24 And -2.® tbeyj.hnd'' t entered his r tent and taken the Jiqiior. a Wildermoth had admitted that he had;. J taken the' liquor arid that .Williams bad- A been with .him. --Williams! -had' stated: 1 ■ that' he had, been’ drinking so much at. J the time that he .could not remember what happened.' ■As the result of ’being arrested the » accused liaddost two weeks’ wages, which <’ ampunted-' to £l.O 4s.’ ; each, eaid Mr. R. > ,V. Kay/for.def endants. The whole in-” -s cident arose out of a drinking- bout at t Ghristnfas, and; accused were probably so I drunk they did not' realise what they I were doing. V’Both .were friendly witlf b ; Fitzsimmons, and most likely believed' 11 > thatMiewpiiid not-’'mind if-they took s . .the drink.' Mr. itay asked the justices ' . to-treat the matter not as a criminal c act, but merely as a drinking escapade. ? -Not being able to raise the amount of I bail defendants .had -been two weeks: J in the New Plymouth goal, and under t ... .those 'circumstances. Mr. Kay suggested r that .a fine would ;be.ample penalty .with: out- a'-further term of. imprisonment. ' 5 __ .1 . '... . '. ii METHODIST SCHOOL PICNIC. i . - ,•; : ■ . c ' I The , annual >picnic of the Stratford i Methodist Sunday school was., held on t Mrf W. E.' Hills’, property, . Bird Road,; j •yesterday.. There was a good attend-' | ance of adults and children, who thor- ( oughly enjoyed themselves despite the s fact that an odd shower tended to damp- J en the proceedings. ... r . Cricket/- rounders, races and tug-o- ( wars kept things moving, while a number of adventurous spirits went swim- £ ming in the river that runs through the , farm. Composed of thickly-turfed pad- j docks, spacious fields and roiling hill- ; sides, the property is admirably suited , to the purpose. I ] . I GENERAL ITEMS. J . ' ■ ■ - ' i As a rule electric light is an asset to modern civilisation, but its failure during the executive meeting of the Stratford Amateur Athletic Club on Wednesday night came as an inconvenient interlude while the secretary was reading the correspondence. By striking' innumerable matches he carried on till a member was struck by a brain wave. He hastened outside to reap, eHr pushing his motor-cycle, which he parked so that the headlamp could illuminate the meeting room. This impromptu light served admirably until the light, came on again. The following will represent the Stratford Cricket Club against Okaiawa at Victoria Park, Stratford, to-morrow: — Gatton, Cole, Richardson, Henderson, Grierson, Hancock, Young, Payne, Collins, Gover, Trotter and Bcere. Fire razed a six-roomed unoccupied house at Toko on Wednesday. The cause of tae blaze is not known. Ti'.e house, which was insured with the Norwich Union Company for £2OO, was owned by Mr. D. Maxwell, Toko. PERSONAL. Mr; and Mrs. Jonas Masters and Miss Kelly are at present on a visit to New Plymouth. t_ FRIENDLY BOWLING MATCH. AVON DEFEATS STRATFORD. Three rinks of Avon bowlers visited the Stratford green yesterday and defeated three Stratford rinks by 72 points to 05. A strong wind and odd showers made conditions somewhat unpleasant, but did not interfere with the play. The details are: — 1

In addition tp the above three rinks, two scratch rinks played a game, the result being:—Hickson, O’Neill, K. 8. Ewingli Smart (s), 23 v. Mclnnes, Gill, O'Neill, Skoglund (s), 1(5. The full-rink competition of the Stratford club was finalised between rinks skipped by P. Skoglund and J. Lyons. The latter won comfortably. The scores were: —Bake, Higgs, Butcher, Lyons (s), 23 v. Lawson, Howatt, Porritt, Skoglund (s), 15.

t ELTHAM SUMMER SHOW. Entries will close with the secretary, the Itev. W. W. Avery, on Monday, February 10, for the Eltham Horticultural Society’s.summer flower show, to be held in the Eltham town hall on Wednesday, February 12. Schedules are now available, and show an extensive prize list.

S. A. Summerfield, Parry, Mills, Liddell ( S ) ; .... 15 Clark, Cleward, White, Ansley (g) . . » . 28 C. Thompson, C. Martin, Pastier, Dixon (s) 1G Robinson, Rudkin, Wilson, Fietch or (s) • 25 A. S. Martin, Clark, Hillock, Alleu (s) . . 34 Thompson, Burke, Hill, Weston (s) ... 19 ■ Totals G5 72