MOCK EXECUTION GONE WRONG -

“All the older Cardiff residents recall the normalcy of the arrival of the beer keg, brought from Collie on the train. The thirst was so great that the empty keg often returned to Collie on the same train. It turned out to be a day with a difference when the keg arrived one day in 1922. Someone had ‘got at’ and ‘rattled’ the keg prematurely. Bob McElroy was accused of the foul deed and it was decided to set up a mock court and charge the said Bob McElroy with the offence. Charles Young, better known as ‘Braces’ was appointed as the ‘learned’ judge, Charlie Crowe appointed the role of prosecutor, while Rube Pritchard acted on behalf of the defendant. The court did not take long to reach a verdict of guilty, and the judge had little hesitation in sentencing the accused to death, ‘for having comitted such a foul deed’. Joe (Sand Dance) Simmonds was appointed as executioner. The defendant was duly blindfolded, the last rites administered, and Bob was stood against a tree to face the firing squad. Bang! Went the shotgun and someone threw a banksia nut into the chest of the prisoner. He collapsed into a dead faint, and all present thought he had died of heart failure. Fortunately after a considerable time he responded to resuscitation and returned to consciousness, much to the relief of the assembled parties.”

From: A Day in Collie by H.W. Williams.

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