A STORY ABOUT JUDGE MACDONALD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1275, 11 January 1883, Page 2

A STORY ABOUT JUDGE MACDONALD.

. The recent retirement.of J,>E. jnr {j-i dohald from 'the' District Ju'dgesliip and /} '/f Keaident Magistracy of Auckland lias r«y ' ' lived, an autosing''story 'GOncdritirie' hia first vißit to * t,he Waikato'.iti; his/ judicial' — capacity. Tho hall'of jusliceat Hamilton serve# in ib« .dual capacity, of, Diitrick i y Court-house and Resident Magistrate's'''' Court, and, like other; coijntry forums, ii especially noted for flea-swarmed cocoanut matting and cobweb.festoonpd, ./ceiliijft;^ Early in the mnramj! Mr Macdonald ' thought he would ilike, tpyjnspflot ;n CoQrt-bouße f Solhe strolled over toithe, i,W{ j building* entering,by.^doorquiledesti-v>?n,j vii tut©' of lock or bar,-i and found himself>i ,vm! within the wall* so often ihaken-by ihr v vi forensio eloquence "of tho proverbially s dull Waikato lawyers, so oft; the, placeofbucolio disputes, Aquiei-loolnhg/ :M hirsute lazily, pulling »'S»y it', a eigar, m aMjVotfidly walking' aboutf the room. ; Mf Macdonald.' ~dU(;uited. tho ; dingiiießß of. the surroundings', ,'jf Burmisiuq that the other,,r.coupant was/a ,i> t ,; baililcarelaker, or something of the kind) «„ v* began abusing him' Boundly'-, for imok«. ••i>,M ing in tho dourly and,; after, making ioiito;< caustic remarks about the dirtiness of the room, ordered tlie supposed underling to g9t a broom and cleau.up a little, Row,., the suppositious bpiliffAvas really no lesSft TjX) personage than -tho reoently - appointed * * Resident Magistrate, Mr, Northcroft. Whether he was aatounded l to' Uumbneav by his assailant's forcible oratory, or whether he intuitively' guessed ! it' : the judge's deoisionj deponent sayeth not;- at"""— - any rate, he seized a broom and made an onslaught on the cobwebs with tho address and promptness' of a Skilled Maria Jano, Multitudes ,of tenified spiders scuttled along the dust-caked ceiling, and myriads ■round ;ihe roem, nS thej?ro"pm pefc f'i epiring Northcroft invaded their hitherto sacred demesnes. Macdonald, moanwhilei hands deep in trousers pockets, as is his ■ wont, performed the duties of foroman on i the job, a complacent, patronising etuife. expressing the gratification he'felfat &aji exertions of the " sol disant" bailiff. After - abodt twenty minutes the real bailiff sauntered up to the door, t>ut paused, wonder* struck, on taking in the scene, .."Your Worship,! 1 he gasped,'"allowj mo to sweep out." Mr Macdonald heard the wArds, and sudttenly it struck him,that,he had-^,..,; f g made some terrible T ■ planationsfollowsd, and thoughvowff ffer^"' no doubt mutually registered to koep 1 little matter "sub roia," somehow or other the itory leaked out, and for a long time afforded boundless amusement to the judge's many frieqds.—Auokfynd Star. ...jn,.