UNKNOWN

Lyell Times and Central Buller Gazette, Volume V, Issue 224, 30 May 1885, Page 4

UNKNOWN

; i ;>i jr: 1,01."on {< Telegraph.") * .j.o v oceue was witnessed • • J 1»lIi March ut tho Saracen's i, Shipley, about six miles from •'-.j/hi m, <sn tli* St ratio i\l road. On .:i <1 :y week a fashionably - dressed mavi eloped with the wife of a . • .?; r !ia:n tradesman. The pair drove } ploy, where they took rooms at the ( ■ : ... (oil's Heads. The husband had, how- 1 - bean able to trace the runaways, and J 1 appeared at tho hotel, accompanied by } '' 'i* stalwart friends. Th® man whom 1 r v sought had left the hotel to call on a 1 ■; who resides further up the village, j m ?<"ho was going to drive kim into ] ■jrmmgham in his sig, so that the ( ' original scheme to surprise his : •vile and her lover together was frustrated. " he husband and his party secreted thera- - elves behind a waggon load of hay close • i-hc hotel, and soon had the satisfaction ' seeing their victim drive up with his riend. As the gig stopped at the door they did not give him time to get out, but, pO'.viiemg upon the vehicle in an instant, ihoy dragged him from it, despite the assistance of his friend, who used his whip iVcely. The hotel is an old posting scation, and in front of it there is a large horse-trough and a pump. The liorsewas full of ice-cold water, and into this he was bundled in a trice. His struggles wero of no avail ; his enemies huid him fast, and almost drowned him. When the water in the trough was partly exhausted, tfeey procured a bwcket and so used him repeatedly. A crowd of rustics was by this time attracted to the spot, but no one attempted to interfere. The victim was now so benumbed with cold that he could hardly stand, so he was lifted from the trough and held at arms' length by two of the party, while a third, lifting a bucket of meal water that stood ready for the horses, gave him a last souse with this mixture. The effect heightened the ridiculousness of the •ituation and the discomfort of the victim, for the pulpy meal stuek all over hia recently smart-looking elothes. In this state he was set free, and off he started at the top of hii speed. He rushed into a baker's shop and got behind the counter, only to be dragged out and belabored lustily by the husband and his friends, and again he was let loose. This time he made off through the yard of the Saraoen's head, and out into some fields beyond. As he tried to run he cut a ludicrous figure. His soaked clothes •tuck tightly to him, and he kopt his arms outstretohed, so as to allow the water to drip Ireely. His pursuers, however, were not far behind; and occasionally they tvertook and gave him an admonitory "dig," which sent him to the ground. For about half-au-hour ho was thus pursued with relentless persistency, till, thoroughly exhausted, ho scrambled over a hedge, and fell into a dirty ditch on the ooher side. This last incident filled up the oupofthe husband's revenge. The exhausted man was allowed to scramble out of the ditch ; his friend with the gig drove up and helped him into the vehicle, and, amid the jeers of th® crowd, he was driven away towards Birmingham without his hat.