Sunday In Taihape.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 99, 30 April 1904, Page 2

Sunday In Taihape.

Under the heading of "A Quiet Sunday in Taihape" (we wonder what a rowdy one would be like) the Taihape Post writes :

At the risk of being accused of discrediting Taihape, we feel that the events of yesterday are worth chronicling,. The day broke fine and clear, and all nature was joyous and gay. Hut the day was not attractive to nil. A special sitting of the I'olice Court was held, and two justices, two conslubles, and two doctors met and settled the fate of two men—one an ordinary or "garden' l drunk, and the other a lunatic. At* ter liberating the one und commit* ting the o|ulier tfe Po!'j|rue Asylum, wo presamo that the Court and all in attendance went to church. However, soon after midday, Taihape In all its scores wont down to the Recreutlion Ground, and there a very exciting game of footAmll wus played. The yells of the players, the cheering of the spectators, and the shrill whistle ot tbe rofcree filled the air, and lent quite an air of gaiety to an otherwise alloged dreary day, J lut, in a paddock, not four hundred yards from the main street, a very different sceno was being enacted. Here, in the presence of over half a hundred sympathisers and supporters, two men, stripped to tho waist, fought savagely for the doubtful honour of seeing who was the better, of the two. But the whole affair was a farce. The spectators had really come to see ono man pound the other's face into a jelly ; there was no flgflit, for the loser was never on his feet long enough to ovon raise his hands. His opponent wittily remarkes as ho gave tho knockout blow, "Now, old man, you won't' bo able to e'new meat for a week or two," and there was a. roar of laughter from tho crowd. The half-unconscious man was thon taken away by his friends, and washed. and after getting all tho blood and broken teeth disposed of, was taken home. It was a very enjoyable day!