An Old Acquaintance.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 177, 1 April 1873, Page 7

An Old Acquaintance.

A squabble between two horsedealers in Bonrke-street gave some employment to the lawyers in the Supreme Court last week. A celebrated character named David Nesbitt, better known under the sobriquet of “ Scotch Jock," had a feud with another dealer named Ray, and he employed some men-—“drovers,” one witness described them as—to punch Ray’s head. Bay, however, succeeded in keeping his head from being punched, and then Nesbitt engaged a commission agent to find a man to fight Ray. The agent was successful in his commission, and obtained the services of a man named Dnfty. A match was made up for £SO a-side, Nesbitt to find Dufty’s money. The light came off in due course at Saltwater River, but the combatants would appear to come to some understanding—“ amalgamised,” one of the witnesses said—that Ray was to win, Scotch Jock thus lost his money, and was very wroth at losing £SO without seeing a black eye for it. Another dealer, named William Jones, was Bay’s bottleholder on the occasion of the fight ; and Nesbitt, discovering how he had been betrayed, was as angry with Jones as with the others. This led to some strong language, and on the 19th December last, in the course of one of their altercations. Jones called Nesbitt “a thief.” Nesbitt then brought an action for slander. The defence was that the language was mild for horsedealers to use to one another. The jury solaced the plaintiffs injured feelings by giving him £SO, the amount he lost over the prize-fight,—Melbourne Paper.