DUNSTAN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 222, 10 February 1874, Page 6

DUNSTAN.

I [fEOM OUR OWX CORRESPONDENT.] Fel» - u;vrv fl, 1874. i The decision given in the Resident Magisi trate's Court a few days ago, in the ctfse of j Police v. Stanbrook, auctioneer, for selling ; Calcutta sweeps after 9 p.m., resulted, as it I was reasonable to hope it would, in a disI missal. The slight provocation given which j brought forth the action was surely not suffi- [ cient to debar our sporting friends from en- | joying » privilege which, through custom and | time, really belongs to "them, even though j the same should be a little outside the pale of legality ; and it is well that some ; brake can be put on over-officiousness, or jour liberties as "free-boms" would be en- ] dangered. Our plucky knight of the hammer and Prince of Calcuttas, who figured in the case, would in these days require to be armed at all points, for he seems all at once to have met a host of adversaries. What with the police attacking in front, his brothers-in-trade aiming deadly blows behind, the Town Council of Clyde manoeuvring to outflank him, while telegraphic despatches even belie him by saying he is not a recognised knight at all ; if he can contend with and vanquish this formidable array, it is not a Knight of the Hammer he ought to be, but a K.C.B. The first of these assailants has already had to bite the dust. The second are too cowardly to face the foe ; depriving them of their shelter quite disarms them. The office of the Superintendent denied it - to them ; and the charge of selling whiskey though not deriving the proceeds, and other times wielding the "hammer, must be fought on open ground. Of the next the result is doubtful : the loss of the fifty will stimulate and spur on the assailant ; but that money and man may not be both lost to them, I would recommend a treaty of war, and the bone of contention divided fairly. Though such an arrangement will have small chance of being agreed to, still a worse conclusion may be the result.