OUR HISTORY – BUREAUCRACY THE WINNER ON THE DAY!

Two brawny gum-diggers planned to slug it out on a Sunday morning prize fight at a North Auckland west coast beach. The local JP, worried about breaches of the peace on the Sabbath, implored the men to call it off but to no avail. He went among the many spectators seeking special constables to assist him to see to it there was fair play. More than 20 stepped forward, were sworn in and then the JP read them their duties from the “statutes”. But one by one they walked away when they heard the penalty for neglecting their obligations – they saw themselves possibly ending up in Mt Eden jail. The fight was postponed… and if it was ever rescheduled, it was the quietest match staged in the North

Researched and compiled by Ric Carlyon