LADIES OFFENSIVELY CARTOONED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 998, 13 December 1910, Page 4

LADIES OFFENSIVELY CARTOONED.

t ' THEIR BROTHER'S ACTION.. "'' e ■ :. '•''. v lUy Telegraph-Press Association.) Dunedin, December 12. c • A somewhat unusual case occupied tha * attention of Mr. Bartholomew, S.M., in ~ the Police Court to-day/ when William . Waters, marine engineer, was charged ;, with assaulting Wm. Alloo. The plainf till' Alloo is the .proprietor of a paper J called "Tho Magpie." In the last issue 1 of this paper a cartoon of defendant's t two sisters appeared. As a result of this t defendant was very angry, and, on seee ing iilaintiff in .the street one day, ii struck him on tho side of the face. •• The evidence showed that the plaintiff Alloo had been asked to withdraw tho ■" cartoon from the paper but, as it was , then in circulation, such a course was im- ■ practicable. An ap'oldgy was then de- ' manded, but refused.: Defendant, in evih dence, stated that he was offended by n the cartoon, and acted on tho spur of r the moment. Ho had asked for an e apology, and, when that was refused, he v . swept his arm out, and caught Alloo on [. the side of the head.. The blow was a given whilst he was smarting' under a e sc S,l e o! tlle wrong done to his sisters. Ii ~l hc magistrate said that the effect of J the cartoon was to hold these ladies up r> to ridicule. To his mind, it certainly ._ was offensive, and the ladies' relatives it would be very naturally annoyed, and ~ justly annoyed, at seeing such apublicaf {!?"■ Jt lras wrong for tho defendant T Waters to take the law into his own r hands, but his action under the circumh stances was only natural, considering the provocation. His Worshio held that no case of assault had been made out, and jj dismissed the case.