Terrific Thrashing

NZ Truth, Issue 1141, 13 October 1927, Page 5

Terrific Thrashing

It is said that the man who ordered the taxi to convey some of his guests to the Bay assured them that the good time he had arranged for their respective benefits would be compatible with perfect taste and that they would thoroughly enjoy themselves. If he were sincere m all he said, why, then, did he tell the taxidriver to return at 5.30 a.m.? And if, as he is credited with saying, his assurances as to the probity of the occasion were to be believed, why should he choose a decrepit shack, wracked and withered by sun and furious winds. 14 miles from the city, for the locale of the jollifications? Were it not for his error of judgment m failing to choose partners appropriate to the occasion he seems to have had m mind, it is likely that this story would not now be written, whilst the youths of jaunty swagger ings and many affectations would still continue to strut, along the highways of most polite distinction. As it is, they are now hiding their heads until the winds of scandal have dropped to the faintest whisper, but for one of them will remain- the memory of a terrific thrashing from the nusband of the lady who refused to be "bright." He, hearing how select and jolly the party promised to be, urged his young and pretty wife to go and participate m all the fun, and thus it was that she, In company with the girls, regarded the engagement m gleeful anticipation. Accordingly, the following Saturday night a visit was paid to a theatre, the proposal being to "top off" the evening with a few dances, etc., till midnight. When the ten girls, accompanied by a discreet selection of escorts, at length reached the bach, they were greeted with the sight of a gaunt, flreless room, the creaking walls profusely dabbled with miserable shadows from a vile-smelling kerosene lamp. As the male members of the gathering appeared Incapable of formulating" any ideas on the question of heating a room, two .of the girls gathered odd scraps of paper and wood and kindled a flre. The "dainty supper" promised by the organizers appeared m the disguise of some extremely dry sandwiches and "hootch" from the hip-pockets of the "gentlemen." Merry-eyed, modish and modern the girls may have been, but not disciples of the hootch god, and this manifestation of what those precious youths conceived of their guests left the girls m a state of uneasiness.