TIN KETTLING.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9399, 20 March 1909, Page 7

TIN KETTLING.

The result of the tin-kettling ■episode near Bathurst in which a man was shot by an irate bridegroom will convey a wholesome lesson to those who indulge in this particularly senseless form of amusement. ■ The remarkable feature of the Court proceedings was the attitude adopted by Judge Docker, who unmistakably too the side of Sinclair, the man Who fired into the crowd. Sinclair and his wife had arrived at their home at Napoleon Reefs from their honeymoon, when their house wa» surrounded one Sunday night by a ■ mob who made hideous noises by the beating of kerosene tins and so on. The husband entreated the crowd, to desist, as his wife had become hysterical; but they ignored hia request, and he then warned them that if they persisted he would * shoot. He did so, firing high into the air, but as this did not stop the noise, and he was provoked beyond endurance, he aimed his gun low, and : hit one of the offenders, a young man named Edwards. Then he had to face the consequence of this act, ;and was placed upon his trial on a charge of maliciously wounding.While Judge Docker made it clear that notwithstanding the provocation he had received, Sinclair was not justified in shooting, he also made it clear that he was not going to inflioc any punishment. So when the jury reluctantly brought in a verdict of “guilty,” his Honour said be was glad to hear the accompanying recommendation—namely, ’that Sinclair should not be punished. Judge Docker gave it to the tinkettlers “hot and strong,” They had, be said, been engaged in a gross social outrage, and instead of being merely fined at the Police Court they ought to have been ordered a flogging. It was unfortni nate that the young man was shot, but no donbt some people would think it a pity that Edwards’ father, who was with his sou in the scene, had not been hit. “It is a pity you were not shot,” said be to one witness, a tin-kettler, who said he was married. “You all •deserved it—and yon especially, as you are a married man. How much were you fined for tin-kettling?” “I was fined £2,” was the reply, { * I should have liked to give you more,” said his Honour, “You should have been flogged.” After this severe admonition, these young men will probably recognise an future that there are other methods of amusement preferable to the tin-kettling of a map and his wife. Sinclair was bound over in his own recognisances to appear when called upon within 12 months to receive sentence.