THE GREAT SUNDAY THIRST!

NZ Truth, Issue 140, 22 February 1908, Page 5

THE GREAT SUNDAY THIRST!

THE BEERY BENEVOtENGE^ SMITH Where Wellingtoii Wets its Week-end Whistle. SLV-GROCIiSELLERSUND THE V

It is ft matter of common know-;.! ledge that Sunday grog-selling and, beer-bartering at all timer and hours bi'y unlicensed per son's " has toeen practised openly m Wellington for' a considerable time past. Bibulous indivtr duals harboring a» 100 horserpower. S&W)atH thirst have sougM' m foyahair of the dog at the pub ol; their ovet-night potations, "• yet have, beeii amazed and annoyed - to. ,meet on Sunday 'enthusiastic topers Whose: enviable condition betrayed, recent and intimate 'acquaintance 'with hops m its most agreeable form.. On Sunday mprri-jng and aJE ternodii' tantalising drunks loomed up on 'the horizon m the vicinity of 'Oburtfenay Place arid lent an odor of disrepute to the western end of Dixon-§ttee^ Cheerful boozers, unsteady 'of gait, rolled around Tarariaki aiid Torystreets and dodged- with the''gentleness and skill oranelepharit" walking; *on, new-laid eggsjntj&r • the^beer^lMen ,■ atmo>pheire' ol Fpf ester 's^tanej'^iid : other purlieuis of tMt atiStpcratic quarter. 'The spectacle .of^ari^ ; intel-| lect submerged m, alcoholb'h t^Uiiday morning' might be expiairfed' : '^y?-the bottle or~ bottles brought hoineoyer night, -but the /'casual' Tjeer^aterj doesn't bring a whole brewery l , home m. his pocket at 10 p.m.; r and ; -, if he carries anything at all tlie cMrices are he envelops the conterits ' before he seeks his unvirtuous couch. No ; the cause pf the jfrunkenneks,;has;!|been ' sly-grbg selling, and it ha'sMjeen"going on for a considerable period. One Sunday; weight' or nine .months agOj a "Truth'" representative ' 'ehtered 2, Wellington hash-house m search of "copy/: and. illicit beer, .^ut ithe,, intense respectability" of his' ifippfcarr ance told against him, and altlioug'i there were! numerous si^ns^of a giganjtic spree m the kitchen he cou'dn t get a quencher for ove nor money. At that period shilling flasks' o£ whisr ky were, , selling at 3s m the open streets,: ; and sixpennorth of ; ' 'beer would find an eager purchaser - 'm - a side lane at Is 6d. The marked' iri-; crease of late m- the number, of per- • ' sons whose wild and woolly -; aspect on Sundays . ■-.•* ; \ ; SHOCKED THE PASSING \" . \ WOWSER ;f:'-/--y j .■'. must have impressed the police;, I for-: a systematic campaign was, instituted,; wi.ih remarkab le 1 results.. The per-. : son most nearly concerned', l ; otherwise.the bobCr, is the last man m-4 the world to hear about a sly-gTo^gery-for there is a freemasPhry airiorie grog-sellers and drinkers: ; m.. '-which the peeler doesn't partioip'ate,ii' ,fof ■< obvious reasons.. Wherefores, fit was- ■ necessary' the foorce ;tp; 'climb ipfi f to the confidence of the law-*bfeake!rs - man underhand sort of way . Herein , is the usefulness pf the police, probra^- ; v tioner, who has never worn & uniform:' 3,: and isn't suspected of jTOppof.,- tdndencies. The first essential ; dp.: a por lice spy is the capacity, to lookany*n thing and ]bh? In-, ■ > spector was patrticuiarly " happy m his i: selection of William John Dunne and - Leslie Roy Capp for service, m the '. ' vineyard, or the beer-enclosure",; to be mPre literal. Dunne used ,to;bfi t a sea- '; . mari : on H,M. S . Pegasus ; land ' as sailr ors do congregate m the /Paragori boarding-bouse, of David Barrie, L6w-. l. er ..Dixon-street, where .unauthorised^ . liqaior was obtainable, an; 4 also ;in :■ sundry other, hash-houses whe^e beer", • figures unlawfully on theohenu, Dujine, looked the character when,. he sought ; ; lodgings as a person tenippr airily ; deprived of a ship. It is true. 'that he, has been a member oj^. the Royal; Navy Temperance Society, when on. board the obsolete man-p^war; and' hoarded his grog irioney,; up 'to purr < chase his discharge, but ssijice; then, he has swallowed his principles i m solution with many beers and. drank his poison like a seasoned person when handed to him . by >lohri Franklyn Smith, an unlicensed , individual boarding at the Paragon,' ■■ who was Subsequently charged with selling liquor on Sunday, January 26; ; ; "You have backslid," itemarked' defending solicitor Wilford,:when he got . Dunne m the witness-box. ■■•■ • ;, Diirine",' wiho has been, in, many ports, and knew a thing or two, was amused at the query. He managed to worm himself into the confidence ol . Smith and. secured ■ a-> • conyictidn., Smith is a seaman, arid Bunne; talked to him about ships and the briny to : such purpose that he had up difficulty m getting something .- : 01 /Sunday wherewith to bend his elbow., " Every time Dunne crooks his elbow,, bis mouth opens, and the aspiring peeler isn't singular m this respett. Now, Leslie Roy Capp is a sensitiye-lopking inidividual, who 1 ' / , COULDN'T LIE WITH FACILITY, and he* entered upon the, s^i.ll-detec-tion campaign with manifest uneasiness. It required aH of Dunne's breezy bOD'homi-e to cover .'.Capp's hon4. estv, arid even then Mrs Barrie sus-, pected them. Instinct. I tells...a,wpman when there is anything.ci'ooK':' 'aboutr^- i unless she's m love wjth the cropk; ; What the heavy dailies J)all,M« m J>3r'i us operandi was to plant, , a pair . p^j incipient bobbies m a Ipdgirig-house to qualify for ' the . privilege of beer on Sundays, and then give the show away. The scheme wais reinarkably ' : \ successful,' for a smalt army of alleged sly-groggers faced the niusiclutei: . m Wellington S.M. CptirtV:The principal case, which was tafteri as a test, one, was that of the Smith '.aforementioned, who supplied lush without being spoken to and* took the cash ,'.(9 d a drink) without uttering"'' a wpird. There is a sofa ■m a' passage; off the kitchen, and when a'persiori'sat down on this lounge on Sundays; the as-. tu'te Dunne took it to be : a signal f br beer, for hops invariably materialised if tv»e person who sat himself down > was' considered safe. Dunne and Capp stater? that they obtained Jiquor on' the morn.inej of the ,26th.? Dunne; . on' two occasions, 1 and "Smith also! ac-kno-wled'ored; that it was. jn the hiorninp. but he haid given. the liquo.r without payment. . Other -^wltpftssps ; 'jfo^. the defence, .namely.-.. H-^ns Joff^n^ . . spn_. Wijl'am KofiiK; ,> T 'S B^l'V'e 1 -;. tcsti fieri th n t it- • was .ip the after.- ; j noon. The subsequent, ppUce raid '

I fanned out very well. Sergeant ftutledge said 36, bdttles; of; Hancock's, Ibecr, claimed b~ Smith as his prop' erty, were found ih No. 3 bedroom ; there • were eleven bottles of beer and stout .dri No. 2 bedroom, occupied by Mrs Barrie, -and m a cupboard opjposite 17 bottles ol beer were found concealed i Two bottles only were found m No. .4 bedroom. While - ! THE, POLICE WERE DOWN- ....;■ stairs' there were crashing sounds m the ups per. storey * and investigation disclosed a, number of bottles broken, m the family bath, with. beer still hanging; affectionately to some of the dissevered particles. Smith explained that he was about to? leave .Wellington and had got* the liquor mto treat; his friends ere he departed. He had been, negotiating Jor:<a ? ijob ph, c the Britain-bound Loch Gar,ve, uibui .>^bje : ; arrangeta'eiiti ftsll through ■ and* he accepted a billet on the ..Himitangiy: which- runs to Webb's -\?iilage,c on ; the' New Zealand, ißhjtne. Tdiese* proceedings had prevented the honest seaman from joining , his ship , <muphr. to his annoyance.- Smith spent £2 8s on liquor for the farewell shivoo,but permitted a foreign person named . Hans Jprgensen to have some of the; swill on payment of 16s. .Smrtifr had had a birthday on a prc-. yipus' 'Sunday: when he " s entertained some friends at beer. Smith also furnished beer to vaiious witnesses at/ his own. expense, and received no "rripriey for the same. In fact- Smith appeared tpibe a cross 'between a phildn'i'hropist and a millionaire. -The preponderance 61 evidence was , certainly, m: his favor,' the' police spies being /l?he only witnesses for the prosecution but Magistrate Riddell; believed, Punhe v and Capp, and imposed a fine 6f £10, with costs 7s. ,' ,'. Mr, Wilf prd' asked for permission' to - appeal on 'the! evidence,' ajid the costs of further proceedings were fixed at £44 IPs/, ; ,„;:;.. i : ::r;-: \- : -v". ' '•"■, „. David •Barrie and ".wife stand charged with being -the, 1 occupiers 1 pf the premises \vhereiii the shicker ■ was sold, and Msii. fate will depend largely,on fthefresult of the^appeal. „, Charles Clarke, , who is also known Jim,, has been posing as a public benefactor m. .the matter of beer-giv-ing,, He'.tbld >the Court that he had .made, .a frfee,> gilt' of' v&rdpus 'bottles pf -p^rge, to^different people, and ex.pected - the Magistpa'te to. believe him;, , Cla^iis a sample of the- itinerant ■ seller vvtrlio. .carries, a : ibpttle of' liquid ,to;heyMeeta a' customer, r then, parts with, it," a;t , ah on its retail worths -Wtoen. future Cops, .Dunne and ; Capp; : were .; accommodated \ [ r at , ', the Paragon hoardingrhouse, they 'were puib. t(x sleep, on .premises; opposite the Terminus Hotel. On a recept '■ &a>b-;bath;.-they watphed" Clarke from ', the window 1 of their" joint bedroom and were astounded at the number of times he entered a brick urinal m CourtenayjiPJace, m advance ol casual pedestrians. The budding Oommis* sioners of Police came downstairs and planted themselves oseritatiously m Clarke's sphere of influence. That indiTiidual, judging by 'the . aib-r sehce of biled shirt arid high collar, took them for pore Workin" men, possibly seamen; and approaching them,asked huskily, "Could • you go a bottle of v beer ?" Dunne said, "Right," or something like that, and the three adjourned furtively to the public convenience, where Clarke pro? tlueed a bottle of Manning's beer and sbld it to Capp, who handed over Is 6d.r The beer was produced m Court; aftd the' witness Dunne drew the cork and - ._"-' ..•■:■■:.:•. ' ■ ; . ■.-.-. . :■•■ .' {sbLBMNLY , :iMBIBED SOME I of it to see' that it was beer and not merely kerosene o? champagne' The operation was reniarkabie, chiefly for the fact that Jus smileless Worship, whose austerity has earned 'him the sobriquet ofj'the iron duke/ smiled cheerily at the incongruity of the spectacle, and the Court grinned m symipathyv "'■•'' ' : -:- : .. Solicitor^ Taogodd . produced Clarke m his 'own l defence to show that no sale -had ibeen, effected, and that the defendant didn't "see tup novice bobbies at ; : all. J : "Clarke acknowledged he had ' ordered' *h\ dozen of beer from a person named Goodman, m Willisstreet, on the, previous Friday, but the liquid was • obtained for the use of himself and friends ■ after work and on Sundays./ On the sacred day already . mentioned he had given four bottles of beer away, 'two to a person' named Porter and two to Fred Williams. ■ ' ■ ; .:.' Sub-Inspector o 'Donovan : Are you. a mem-ber of the Benevolent Society ? Are you a Benevolent - Institu* tioii ?— No. ; ; ••'■•• • _ . Clarke's ' generosity was too astounding for Magistrate Riddell to believe, vand : a . fine of £s was imposed , or 14 days m. durance. \