IT'S certainly a queer way in which to spend a Sabbath afternoon . . . watching a bull, or a collection of bulls, being publicly slaughtered, or doing the slaughtering yourself, assisted by droves of helpers and the encouragement or derision of a 'gallery'. The 'gallery, ' at least the indigenous section of it who sat mostly in the cheap seats in the sunlight . . . seemed to love this act of appeasement to their bloodthirsty emotions; for they howled like semi-bacchanals for the kill and went on howling after the kill for yet more kills. When the semi-skilled butcher cut off one of the dead bull's ears and tossed it to an oily-skinned blackmaned Senorita in the shady seats, the bacchanals howled even louder. Sun and sand, blood and shouts, and a kind of half-mad scrub bull being chased around the ring on skinny horses which would be refused by any selfrespecting Irish tinker or buying agent for the Antwerp Horsemeat factories.

My sympathies were certainly with the bull because he was outclassed and outnumbered. He very obviously hadn't had a good feed for a month or more, while his executioner, and the lackeys, were full of rich oily food and bursting with health. There were, too, escape hatches for the goaders, but none for the bull unless he could jump 5' 5" of a stout barricade all around the arena. He had a good try at this too and raised a cheer from me when he almost caught one goader who was slow in beating a retreat into his rat-hole. . .

Morning Mail
1 October 1877 Police Courts . . . Saturday.

THEFT . . . An elderly man named John Trotter was brought up on remand in custody of Detective officers Prandy and Simmons, charged with stealing a silver watch, the property of John Casey. It appeared that both the complainant and the prisoner lodged in the house, 31 Queen St, and slept in the same room on the night of 6 September. On the morning of the 7th complainant went out to his work at six o'clock leaving the prisoner still in bed. A silver watch was in his trunk in the bedroom, which trunk was not locked. When he returned at night complainant found that his watch had been taken out of his trunk.

When arrested the prisoner had the watch in his possession. The prisoner was sent for trial to the commission.

ASSAULTING THE POLICE . . . A labouring man aged 27, named John Killeen, was brought up in custody of Police-constable 105E, charged with having been found drunk between four and five o'clock on the previous day on the Shelbourne road. He was also charged with having violently resisted the constable when being arrested, and with having assaulted him by kicking him about the legs while on the way to the police station. For the assault on the constable the prisoner was sent to jail for one month with hard labour.

For being drunk he was fined 20s, with the alternative of 14 days imprisonment, with hard labour.

ILLTREATING A BOY . . .James Woods, a dairykeeper, residing in Donnybrook, was summoned by a lad named Joe O'Donnell, of Morehamptonroad, Donnybrook for an assault. The Prosecutor deposed that on the evening of the 17th inst he and some companions were playing around on some straw on the green at Donnybrook, when the defendant pursued them.

They all ran away, but defendant caught the prosecutor, knocked him down, and kicked and cuffed him. He then threw him across a wall, holding him by the legs, and prosecutor's mouth came in contact with a stone which cut him and he bled from the mouth.