BLACK MAGIC!

NZ Truth, Issue 1187, 30 August 1928, Page 8

BLACK MAGIC!

An Item That Wasn't On Programme (From "N.Z. Truth's" Cambridge Rep.j; m Pretty and. peaceful Cambridge is not accustomed to brawls. On the surface, at all events, the town is the essence of refined respectability. JT was plainly shocked, however, last week, when the still, evening air was torn with the rasping sounds of profanity as a stream of men and women came rushing out of "The Laurels," one of the town's boarding establishments, with a screaming woman m their wake. The frenzied female -was a -white woman named May Azros, who is married to a Hindu magician named William Norman Azros. William is of the itinerant variety, .and'goes round giving exhibitions to school-children of hiß art m the mystical, his skill as a conjurer, and his ability to produce m willing subjects a state of hypnosis. The couple recently blew Into Cambridge on their rounds of the "smalls" and obtained accommodation at "The Laurels." . All went well until one evening after dinner the select household was suddenly startled by a rumpus m 'the. room oocupled by the Azros. Party Gets Rough It appears that the magician, according to the wife, came home from Hamilton a little the worse for drink— for spirits, that is of a material kind— and brought with him an Indian friend. She gave him a bit of a sally and refused to hand over some whisky which she had concealed from him. He then chased her round the bed and was •still pursuing this playful little game when it was interrupted by a'knock on the door and a request from the landlord to pack up and get out. It is from this point that the publio were treated to a little free and unsolicited entertainment.. According to witnesses, the woman, apparently went raving mad, and her language turned the atmosphere lurid. She flew at .the boarders and "chased the womenfolk along the passage^ into the open and along the street, brandish^ ing some gleaming thing which was » described as either a bottle or a knife. She threatened to stab anybody she got hold of. Previously, it was said,: she seized one woman by the throat m an attempt to strangle her. When a policeman finally came on the scene he found the boarders of "The Laurels" streaking along Duke Street with a screeching woman m pursuit, yelling out that she would knife them. . Whether she was provoked to some extent or not by the other boarders is a matter of some doubt. She told the bench that she was, when, along with her husband, she was charged with using obscene language, with disorderly behavior* and with assault on.three counts. Thomas Henry Kelly, proprietor of "The Laurels," said he was m bed, reading, about eight o'clock, when the row started. He went to the Azros'. room and told them he did not want^ that kind of conduct m his house, whereupon the male defendant used "terrible" language towards him. The female defendant, also belabored him with her tongue, and witness instructed someone to ring for the' police. Upon hearing this instruction given, the woman appeared to go. x-aving mad. She cursed and swore and chased the female members of the household out on 'to the street. A little later she seized one of the ladies by the throat and tried to strangle her. In all his 47 years, he declared, he had never heard such vile or filthy language from the tongue of a woman. She had absolutely no respect for her seSc. . Hot on the Trail Meanwhile, while all the row waa going on, a crowd had gathered outside the house and was astonished and shocked at the display of barbarity and obscenity. A boarder named Norman Dahlberg ■.•;. said that Mrs. Azros at first asked the men folk to kick her husband out of . the house, but a few seconds later she *-:' turned and flew at the female members of the household. Witness x-ang up the police and left the house for a few minutes. ' When he returned, the ladies of the house were m full flight with Madam, Azros m pursuit. She appeared quite mad, and when her optics alighted on •, witness, she made a dive for him and he "went for his life." In the woman's hand something gleamed, but witness did not stop to investigate whether it was a knife or a bottle. Her language was frightful and she ran the women of the house down to the lowest. Constable Jones said that when he came upon the scene he encountered a hux*ried procession of females along Duke Street with Mrs. Azros bringing up the rear and declaring that she ' would knife them. She was using vile language! He found a' bottle of spirits of salts on her. He took husband and wife m charge, and on the way to the station the magician conjured up for him a whole string of filthy names. The woman, m evidence, stated that her husband returned from Hamilton with an Indian friend the worse for liquor, and demanded some whisky which she had taken from him. She refused to let him have it, whereupon he chased her round the bed. Apparently, the magician was not sufficiently clever with his magic to produce a flask from mere ether, or to put the "fluence" over his wife, for she persisted m her refusal, and it was while the chase around the bed was m progress, according to her story, that a knock came to the door. Two men and a wohian appeared m the entrance, and one of the men told them to pack up and get out. Accused replied that there was no row, and told them to mind their own business. One of the men, she alleged, then said: "That's what comes of marrying a black ." They then attempted to get hold of her husband,, and one of the men struck her and she fell. While down she was kicked. She denied the language complained of or that she had called one of the women a certain name. She was not going to stand by, she said, and hear ber husband called a "black this and that." The bench of justices considered there had been some provocation and they convicted and fined the woman 20/- and costs on two of the charges and entered a conviction without penalty on the other. The magician was convicted on all three charges and fined 20/- for the obscene language. .