RAN, AND HE WAS WISE

NZ Truth, Issue 1263, 13 February 1930, Page 5

RAN, AND HE WAS WISE

Farmer With Crank Handle Made Taxi-Driver Step Out

NO DAMAGE— MUCH EXCITEMENT (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch. Representative.) . | The sight of one man chasing another man m the. | | street with the starting handle of a motor-car produced I | , a little excitement m the quiet Canterbury- town of 1 | Prebbleton recently. • ' I ! | A farmer had gone on the rampage, and presum- 1 | . ably was attempting to crack the cranium of a taxi- I | driver who had prevented him from taking parcels | I from his cab. : , § F^»M 1 1 1 1 1 1 MI ( 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 M I M 1 1 f f 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 j M l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l j 1 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 { 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 : 1 M 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 ilf ( 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M ( 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 ( l.=

FORTUNATELY for the latter, he 1 was the faster runner, and so escaped injury, but the farmer was not so lucky, receiving a black eye. As a result of the disturbance, the two men were brought before the Christchurch Magistrate's Court on a charge of behaving m a disorderly manner m a public place. The farmer, Andrew Woods, .was represented by Mr. M. J. Burns, and th<\ other man, Alastair William Chisholm, by Mr. W. F. Tracy. Both pleaded not guilty. Witnesses gave evidence of having seen Woods and his brother come out of the Prebbleton Hotel and take parcels from Chisholm's taxi and place them m Woods's car. ' All said they saw a tussle between the men when Chisholm came out of the hotel, and then witnessed Chisholm being chased with the starting handle. One witness said that Woods used the handle to some tune, and if he had hit Chisholm the welts he hit the hotel fence the latter would not have been m court that day. After the affair Woods allegedly mentioned to a bystander that if he had not been drunk he would not have had the black eye he then was showing. • i '. In a statement Chisholm made to the police, and which was read out m court, he set out that he had driven a woman to the hotel and had gone m himself, where he had one drink. The licensee's daughter told him that men had been taking parcels from his cab, and he went outside and removed them from Woods's car. Woods resented this and attempted to- push him away from the taxi, so v that he could get the r-^pln again, and he pushed Woods away. Woods struck him, and, m self defence, he retaliated. At this stage Mr ( . Burns withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered one of guilty. He said that Woods was a married man with five children, and the, fact that he had had a few beers m was 1 the explanation of the whole affair. Mr. Burns remarked that it. was not Woods, ■ but Chisholm,-: who . had - struck the first blow, and that this was borne

out by the fact that Woods later went to the police and laid a charge of assault against him. Mr. Tracy said that Chisholm, m protecting his fare's luggage, had only done what any man should do m the circumstances. He fought m selfdefence. • The magistrate, Mr. E., D. Mosley, S.M., agreed with Mr. Tracy and dismissed the charge against- Chisholm. He convicted Woods and fined him £ 4 and costs.