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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 71, 23 March 1877, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times says :— " The assault case brought by Mr Donkin during the week against Pooley, the cricketer, is instructive io its way, and therefore perhaps may be regarded as in some degree beneficial. Donkin makes a bet which, though of the most foolish description, he certainly ought, under the circumstances, to have been paid. It is a bet which has ofteu been paid before, ia fact, it is the special betby , the, loss of which youngsters obtain their first experience in the gambling world. . It is the bet which draws the first blood of youthful folly. The bet, as we understand, consisted in Dobkin laying Pooley six to one tbat he could not name the scores of each member of the Canterbury team. This really meant that Donkin backed the number. of ' ducks ' to be not more thau one iv seven. If the matter had been put to bim in these words, of course Donkin would never have laid the wager; but being led away by the more specious guise in which it was put to him, he seems to have been eager to get his money on, for he extended the bet to both innings. , When the match was ( commenced he had a chance to draw back, for Pooley was to act as one of tbe uppires, and the rule ia that all bets with umpires are off, and very properly. But there ia no evidence that Mr Donkin made any attempt to withdraw until the match was over. The bet, of course, is a catch one, and designed expressly, aB the saying is, to * catch a flat;' but that is no reason why, under the above circumstances, it should not be paid. Tbe conduct of Pooley in a&smlting Donkin is, of course, unjustifiable. He has paid dearly for his reveDge, but we cannot say we have the slightest sympathy for him -in his troubles. The moral of the story is — first, beware with whom you bet; second, wheu you travel in strange countries behave yourself properly, 6r : it will will be the worse for you."