The Bull in a China Shop.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 214, 27 October 1888, Page 2

The Bull in a China Shop.

A LIVELY TEN MINUTES. Dunedin, Thursday. * A bull in a china shop ’ is one of those things often talked about but seldom seen. Those burgesses, however, of the good city of Dunedin who happened to be in the vicinity of the Octagon about half-past two yesterday afternoon were treated to that very edifying spectacle. It appears that a fine young black bull was being shipped on the Waihora for Sydney by Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Co., when the animal broke away from its keepers, got into Prinaes-stieet, and came full tilt up the street as far as the Octagon. He was a bull of eesi.lietio taste. An ordinary bull would have plunged into the first common crockery shop he came across and contented himself with smashing up jugs and plates of vulgar delf. Not so our Bovine hero, he considered such proceedings derogatory to his hanflsopie black coati ‘His artistic eye was taken with the tasteful display made by Messrs F. A. Hooper and Go., in their Octagon shop and he made a break for the door. Mr Hooper was engaged in conversation at the shop door, when he looked up and saw the bull coming. That conversation never got finished for Mr Hooper made a masterly (but burr ed; retreat up the shop and the buff after him. Mr Hooper felt a yearning for privacy, and sought the seolusion grqpted by the further oorffer of the workship behind the shop, anil so did the bun, taking with him on his horns the daintiest whatnot he could pick up in passing. Not seeing Mr Hooper, the bull charged a large flock machine, which he thought looked'like him. He seemed surprised to find it so hard, and after unmixlng himself from the wreckage he tried to climb up the stained glass window at the back. Being reminded, however, that this was ungentlomaUly, he came down again aud roamed round among the washstands, jugs and basins, and other things. The noise the made -in smashing annoyed him and so he mounted a dining-room table with his fore feet and made au after dinner speech. Unfortunately there was no shorthand writer present to take down bis remarks, but they were understood to have a general reference to the desire he had to go home to his ’mi, 'mingled with a blood thirsty longing to go for somebody, quite in the style of ordinary after dinner speeches, Ultimately a wide passage was cleared from end to end of the place, and with the help of some ropes and a few willing arms the misguided bull was hauled out without doing much more damage, leaving Mr Hoopsr to ruefully oeuut Up the colt Of his tltlti