AN AUCKLANDER IN TROUBLE.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 118, 5 September 1885, Page 3

AN AUCKL ANDER IN TROUBLE.

Harry Winchcombe Mauled •in San ' Francisco. The following-account of an affray, in which Harry Winchcombe, or Maynard, a former well-known resident of Auckland figureB,is taken from the 'Frisco V Post of July 21st, is and should be read with interest. l-" Winchcombe was at one time a favourite local vocalist, and something df a pugilist* The account of the affray is as follows :— ' News came to police headquarters this morning that Harry Maynard had been beaten and robbed of his big diamond pin on Market-street, opposite the Baldwin, about 6 o'clock this morning.

A Frightful Head, Maynard's head, under normal conditions, is a fair-sized, well-shaped affair, covered with a dense growth of black curling hair. He has rather small black eyes, shapely nose, a fair sized mouth and small ears. This morning his head appeared to be all eyes and ears. Both of the eyes we:e so nearly closed that he could hardly see out of them, and. puffed cut so that where the .cheek bones are generally prominent were deep hollows The left ear was swollen to the size of a large hand, and stuck out like a bay window on a Bernal Hights cottage. His nose was almost lost between two large swellings," and his lips were so -bruised that his moustache was h'dden.. The effects of drink and the beating were still on him, and- after the reporter entered he yawned and fell back again on his bed in a stupor. He had on his ordinary day shirt, which was torn in a dozen places and literally covered , with blood and dirt. Presently Mr Seymour, his manager, aroused him, and he staggered over to the bureau to take a squint at his face in the plass. ,

A Blooming Dial. " Great God ! what a bloody monica ; what a olooming dial !" he ejaculated, aa he caught eight of the reflection in the glass. "I ain't had such a head on tor thirteen yeanvj In a little time he bocame coherent and was able to tell all he could remember about the affair. Shorn of some peculiar idioms and misplaced aspirates, his etury was as follows : "Three or four of us were drinking down stairs in my place. We had a few bottles of wine, and then a couple of women came in, and nothing would do them but we must go up to Pete Dorcy's to drink. We went up there, my brother Jack and I, and I had on my sealskin coat and my big diamond pin. I think it was all a put-up job. ' We left Dorcy's all right, and went to some other place and had more wine. Jack and I were both rotten to the core with wine, and as we passed along some one spoke to Jack, and Jack told him ho did not want to know him It was Petty, the athlete, I think. Well, they had a clinch, and a crowd gathered. All of a sudden I was hustled out of the way, and when I got back there was Jack Hallinan on top of my brother, punching him. I said: 'All right; fight ifc out. Give 'em a show.' My brother was so drunk he was no good, and I said to Hallinan, ' That's all over.'

How Maynard Got Started. "He eaid, ' Bub it ain't all over between us Harry,' and all of a sudden some obo hit me from behind, and down I went. Hallinan jumped on top of me, and as I lay on my back he beat me in the face while some one kicked me in the ear. I said, ; Hit away, you blackguards ; you've got a picnic now, make the most of it now ; I won't squeal.' Hallinan beat me till he'got tired, I suppose. I was too drunk to know what did happen, but I know that when I got up, at last, my diamond pin was gone, and so was my watch and chain. A policeman got my watch and chain back, but my beautiful diamond pin is gone, perhaps for ever. " Oh, what a blooming monica," Maynard groaned, as he once more caught sight of his gorgeous mug in the glase. " I'll have a reckoning for this, sure enough. The blackguards had a picnic with me and Jack, but. that's all right. I suppose folks will say it served me right for getting boozy, but that's all right. Them as did it ain't dead yet, and ain't left town as I've heard of, and if they can do me up when I'm sober I won't say nothing about it. I could lick a room full of such fellows as Hallinan. Say, Seymour, wake me up at 4 o'clock," and with a deep snore Maynard turned his decorated face » o the wall and slept;. Jack Hallinan left his place early this morning, and has not been seen since ; so his version of the affair cannot be given at present.