ASSAULT ON TAXI DRIVER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 123, 27 May 1938, Page 5

ASSAULT ON TAXI DRIVER

) TWO MAORIS SENT TO GAOL [ ' f Per Pre»» Association. ] ) NAPIER, May 26. “This was a serious and cowardly assault in which three of you attacked one man, and at least one of you . used a boot,” said Mr Justice Reed in sentencing three Maoris at the j Supreme Court on a charge of assault and causing bodily harm to a taxi driver on February 25 last. Mason Tihema, aged 29, Henry Burton, aged 26, were sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment. and Somme r Burton, aged 20, was ordered to come up for sentence within one year. His Honour commented that the prisoners . might easily have been involved in a ’ murder charge. 1 —— - case of Mr. Catherwood. That which ’ he was in his inmost soul was appar--1 ent, and his faults as well as his vir- ’ tues were on view. This indicated a ’ clarity of moral intention and a proof 1 of devotion to high and no le ends. He possessed a wonderful capacity ’ for charity of feeling. He could not ’ bear to think that any man no matter 1 how broken his life, had to be given up for lost, and he would travel a ’ long way and spend hours and days in ' an effort to encourage a man to be--5 lieve in the possibility of a new life. Nor was he satisfied to help a wayfarer to believe aright; he would en- ’ deavour to find an occupation in which a man might find it easier to ■ win in the light. It was never enough to have the man turn his face to the ’ Celestial City; he must be equipped to find his way amid the clods and dusi of the world. The earthly and the heavenly aspects of life were seen in their juxtaposition. In further evi- . dence of this he was able to speak ’ to people in a most natural manner concerning the vital matters associated with the Christian faith. He was not restricted to the pulpit for the declaration of these truths; he could address himself without any touch of religious affectation wherever he was to the people who were beside him, and men frequently confessed that he opened their eyes to the verity of the , Gospel and to the simplicity of Christ- ; ian living. His Splendid Chivalry Although he was sometimes spoken of as a “man’s man,” he possessed an ’ overflowing chivalry. The lot of women always evoked his sympathy, and no woman in any distress ever spoke to him without his being prompted to spare no effort to mitigate her sorrow. His hospitality knew no bounds other than the sheer impossibility of going any farther. Wherever he established his residence at once the particular place became a centre to which all might go and find a welcome, and from which the golden light of the Gospel flashed out its cheering rays to hearten men and women in the enterprise of living so as to glorify God.