From The Times November 19, 1924
At the Devonport Police Court yesterday George Sylvester, otherwise Tex Miller, of Shaftesbury Avenue, London, was summoned for cruelty to a horse by using it in a Rodeo performance while in an unfit state at the Hippodrome, Devonport, on October 1. The case had been adjourned for the attendance of the defendant, who wrote denying the allegations, and asking for opportunity to defend the case. He failed, however, to appear yesterday, and the case was heard in his absence.
The prosecution was undertaken by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, on whose behalf it was alleged that, in order to make a “bucking broncho” restive, a rope was tied tightly round its loins, causing exquisite torture. The only reason for this, said the solicitor for the prosecution, was to enable the riders to display their cleverness, and the society was determined to put a stop to it. He added that there was some intention of holding another Rodeo in Leeds, and it was hoped these proceedings would warn the promoters that steps would be taken to stop it.
An inspector of the society said that before the first performance at the Hippodrome he went behind the scenes and warned the defendant that if there was any cruelty it would be reported. The performance was repeated on the following evening with the same horse. The Chairman of the Bench (Mr Solomon Stephens) said that in order to show their strong deprecation of such cruelty, particularly in view of the inspector’s warning, the magistrates had decided to inflict punishment of two months’ imprisonment, with hard labour.
At the London Sessions yesterday Harry Albert Froud, 22, carpenter, who had pleaded “Guilty” to breaking a window at the shop of Stewart Dawson and Co, Regent Street, and stealing a ring, valued at £2,000, was bound over.
A man about 55 years of age, who says he was formerly a professor in a New York college, was found wandering at Woking late on Monday night, suffering from loss of memory. He is a little over 5ft high and slimly built, the initials “WWH” are embroidered on his handkerchief and inside his grey hat is the name of a New York maker.
Explore 200 years of history as it appeared in the pages of The Times, from 1785 to 1985: thetimes.co.uk/archive
