A SCHOOLBOY FREAK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5272, 31 May 1895, Page 3

A SCHOOLBOY FREAK.

A schoolboy freak nearly cost a little fellow named Theodore Hooke his life at Fitzroy, Melbourne, a couple ©f weeks ago. He and another youngster, who had witnessed a performance of Punch and Judy, reßolved to outdo the action of the puppets. They accordingly repaired to a woodßhed, where a stage was erected and a gallows extemporised with great care. Eopes hanging from the roof were requisitioned, and the minor scenes of the execution were performed with great success, but when they reached the crisis something happened that had not been foreseen. ;It is not stated who played the part of the executioner, or who that of Punch, but young Hooke got his head in the noose, and the drop duly fell. Then came the difficulty. The hanging waß an easy matter, but the unhanging was the trouble. The second actor took fright and fled. But for the lucky chance of a passer-by looking in the direction of the suspended boy, the rehearsal of the Punch and Judy comedy would have resulted in an actual tragedy. Hooke was given into custody by those who found him, and charged at the Carlton Police Court with attempted suicide, but the Bench accepted his explanation and dismissed the resnscitated youth.