The Archive · 1923

WHEN IS A MAN DRUNK?

The problem when is a man drunk'? has been lifted from the lowly level of the Police Court into the serener heights of the Old Bailey. The Recorder has tried a motor bus driver charged with injuring a woman when the police th, alleged that the accident was due to the driver's drunkenness.

The Recorder, Sir Ernest Wild, who has not long been appointed, and frequently evinces a desire to acquire knowledge, asked the police doctor what tests were employed.

The doctor said he used the light test which consists in flashing a light into the man's eyes and observing the speed at which the pupils contract.

Sir E. Wild asked: "Do you use the chalk line test?"

The doctor replied in the negative, and Sir E. Wild remarked "That's the unfairest test in the world." It is enough to make a man drunk.

The doctor interposed, remarking that he doubted if counsel could walk a chalk line.

Counsel, replied: Perhaps I

Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.

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