AN OFFICIOUS CLERK OF THE COURSE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4947, 30 January 1877, Page 3

AN OFFICIOUS CLERK OF THE COURSE.

' On the race day at Poriruathe clerk of the course, a Maori named Edward Tomlinson, displayed a good deal of freedom- in the discharge of duties pertaining to his office', and likewise in the use of a stockwhip he carried to assist him. In fact, having been placed •in a little brief authority would appear to have made this. son of the. Boil a small tyrant;'to-judge by,a'caseithat came* before the Resident Magistrate yesterday. Edward Tomlinson, clerk of : the cour.se referred to, was charged by;-Phillip John Murtagh with having assaulted him on the Porirua racecourse, Mr. Barton appearing for complainant, and Mr. Allan fpr. the defendant. Murtagh's statement was to the, effect that when one of his horses, which he.had entered for a race, was. taken a preliminary canter, tha defendant, who i was acting as cleik of the course, twice the horse, whipping him unmercifully with a heavy stockwhip, the result of-which was that the horse, which was a nervous animal,"could~Hot'run"lri" the~race.\ He told-the -'defendant he would make him pay for, his interference" and his ; cruelty, whereupon the defendant' asked him if he fancied himself; and, rolling up the stockwhip, struck-him on the 'face "underneath the eye, ; cutting the cheek to the bone, and knocking out one of his teeth.- Mr.'Blythe, the next witness for the prosecution, fully corroborated complainant's statement. Then came Messrs. Gray, Anderson, Raymond, and Rowlands, who had been at the races on the day in question, and saw the attack upon Murtagh. The last-named witness gave a graphic description of the way in which this clerk of the course had used the stockwhip, an instrument he had never before known to be used by a clerk of any racecourse ; and gave it as his opinion that it would do pretty well, perhaps, for the chastisement or correction of dogs,butas applied to men it was improper. Defendant did not deny striking Murtagh with the whip, but stated that he had received provocation from Murtagh, who made use of bad language towards himj in addition to certain coarse references to his color and birth. A shingle-splitter and some Maoris were called to corroborate this. His Worship was not disposed to be very severe with the defendant, because possibly the affair had been the result of employing a person who was not altogether fitted for the duties, and whowas affected less by evil intention than by excitement and-excess of zeal in the discharge of these duties.' It was'alsO probable that his sudden fury- was caused by the language used .by the, complainant. But he must be warned that he must not take the-law into" his own hands, and he ordered him to be fined 40s. and costs. Tomlinson decided to' "do",seven days' imprisonment. rather, than pay the fine and costs. . A counter action- by Tomlinson "against Murtagh, for threatening language, was dismissed.