SUSIE-00-00!

NZ Truth, Issue 76, 1 December 1906, Page 6

SUSIE-00-00!

Creevey's Crook Catch.. ** Ok 1 Susuh, Susan, Lovely Dear, My Vows Shall Ever True Remaia!" Bawd and Boozer Goes for Breach, but Beaten Badly. "Beware of widows" is a Sam Wellerism that has a precious lot of common stn^e about it; but a blacksmith named Creevey, of Christchuroh. whose name is John, and who wears a goatee beard, hu... only just found that nut ; and Susan Thomson, a Dunedinite, who is fairly well on m yea.rs, being "just there or thereabouts," has been the cause of the anvil man "getting next." Susie isn't too captivating, but she took Jack's fancy. and he let go for all he was worth. The result was letters of an amorous character, an engage- ' inent, and —oh. cruel world—a bilkifcp- and Susie had to cast her net ' round for another life partner. It was Creevev who appeared to have done a great deal of the smoodging. and that sort of balderdash, but when he discovered that his ownest own wasn't the clean notato, and that she had canoodled with someone else m A LARKSOME, • ILLEGITIMATE WAY. he cried off, whereupon Susan got the sulks, and talked law, and ultimately asked a jury at the Ohristchurch Supreme Court to grant her five hundred shiny suv'rins for breach of promise, lacerated feelings and other incidentals. Judge Denniston conducted the social comedy. Mrs Thomson, who was represented by Lawyer Vincent, told the Court that she met the • blacksmith minus his spreading chestnut tree at a friend's house m, Christchurch; twelve months back, and was m his company for hall an hour But that half hour of ..-her fascinating, widow-like glances smote him on the place underneath his waistcoat, and after her return to Dunedin he hit Jier on the heart with this missive: "I am taking the liberty of writing to you -because I like you s n much. You have' been m my thoughts ever since. I should be delighted to receive a letter from you. Yours .for ever. John Creevev." The .lady complied on scented paper, but ho record is available ; then Jack '■%). retorted promptly, that: "When I first clapped eyes on you I fell m love with you.* I was so disappointed that I couldn't take you home, so that I could express mv feelings to you. Possibly you would have been here jriow if I had had a chance to talk to you. I would'be delimited if you were here, ijo clasp you m mv arms and kiss you. I would be the happiest man living. I take the liberty of sendin«» you £1, as you are doing nothing and I know, dear, that ladies lflte to get little things when they are walking, m town.. I can think of nothing more "to say except that I love you dearly and with all my' heart. . Yours - for ever, John "Creevey." :• : Poss^blV Joja.%, thought that his lQye. aiid the quid combined would fetch: and..._it.-, -did, She wrote once -again, and he arrived"atJDune&ih l.the first week m January, his heart a nest of sinking nightingales* The lady was there to meet him.'"at-:'the; railway station—what more could he want? The next important step was to introduce him -to her family (she has' a big son aged 18, and a; couple /if others), and on the Sunday evening the pleasant programme was tea and talk at her sister-in-law Ts. By this time . THE LOVE-LOBN LOONEY had made up his mind to take his darHne back to Christchuroh, arid told her so. As she was not m flourishing Jircumstances he gave her a tenner to ?o on with, and Mrs John Cork, her lister-in-law, a quid for,gloves. Then ie. backed up. to the Cathedral City, jhe receiving a letter from him a couple of days afterwards ,m which he said that he "tiras dying to clasp'heir once more m his arms and to kiss and love her. "I'm so anxious to be with you," he moaned; "that I wake up at night. I would give the world to have you with me." No doubt he would m his then state of feeling. He addressed himself m the good old spooney fashion "Your own true love for ever and ever." By this time March had been decided upon as the (time for the splicing, and things were ias smooth as greased moonbeam. Then something sudden happened. She wrote a love-bird letter, but got no reply. So m the middle of June she came tq Christchurch, and saw Creevey's eldest daughter. Also,.she saw the gentleman himself at his own blacksmith's shop where he was striking the iron while it was hotdamned hot. He took her to his house, where they- spent the day together. He was very njee to "her, but said hfi had .been told thinirs about her which had poisoned his mind against her. However, he was on' very friendly terms with her, although she began. to have a suspicion that everything wasn't' going to • come oft as she had anticipated. Then he mentioned that he had heard she was a drunkard, but said "Never mind, as vcju are here. LET US HAVE A GOOD TIME." A musical evening, was arranged, and he took her home and. promised to see her off at the railway station on her departure for Dunedin, but he didn't turn up, and Susie went away with tears m her blue optics. On her arrival home she despatched a postcard, but as that takes a day or so to meander over the landscape, a telegram was sent subsequently. No bally reply from Creevey. But the widow wasn't going to be so easily bluned as all that. There was another trip to Christcihurch (these trips began to get expensive), and she hat) Vulcan t;set." Up she went to his blacksmith's shop and asked him his intentions. "I don t. intend to marry a h prostitute or a b- — drunkard," he replied candidly. Wli'iph was pretty stiff, to, say ■ the least of it. Her reply was "Thank you, Mr Oreevey, you are well informed." She was taken that much aback that she couldn't say much, but :-h- eventually asked him where be had got • his information. He then arjd i. "You were iii your sisicr-in-

law's home dead drunk with two men." His daughter, aged IC. he proceeded to say. had received a letter from Mrs Cork. Mrs Thomson again asked if he was going to marry her. and his answer was that he couldn't think of taking on a widow •with four children. On a later occasion the lady repeated the -question, and said he would : " SOONER GO TO QUOD than splice her. In answer to further questions the .widow admitted that she had . an illegitimate child m Melbourne as far back as 23 years ago. That was before she, was married; the kiddie was killed by a Mornington car at Duned in eight years ago. At this stage Lawyer Hoban had a ero at the bride that was •to be. "How many times have you been engaged 1" he asked. "Once only, to mv previous husband." "Did you previously have an action at Invercargill ?" "No, this is my first appearance m a court m New Zealand." "Who was the father of the child ?" "What has that got to do with it ?" asked the Judge. "Well, she is a person of ill-repute, and I want to show that the' father of the child that was eiven then was different to the real man altogether. "Who is the man you accused, Mrs Thomson ?" "I don't know whether he's living. After I fell that way I never saw the man. He was employed on my father's place and cleared out without marrying me !" . In reply to further questions the nlaintiff said she didn't fall m love at first sight ■ with Creevev— she wasn't as bad as he was m regard to that ; nor was she anxious. "But you were anxious at the- last ?" "I never said sq." The lady was satisfied about Creevey's financial position, taking his own word for, it. She wasn't well off, arid accented his money when he gave it. Her sister-in-law wrote her love letters for her, and she never led her lover to believe that she wrote 'em herself. Then came ouestions about a. man named Vivian. The witness knew him. but said he hadn't come to her house very frequently during the last twelve months and she BORROWED MONEY FROM. HIM to buy medicine for her son. Nothing m the way of impropriety bad happened between Vivian and herself. He only stayed half an hour at a time. Nothing particular happened on Christmas Eve ; she looked upon him as a friend. Vivian had no impropriety with: her that night, and the only money spent by him went m to"S. What was borrowed had been D.aid back. , Then ■ came another acquaintance of the plaintiff, a chap named Elmslie. a norter m a pub. The reason he visited her house was because he used to give her his washing! ,That didn't happen very often. He belonged to the Criterion Hotel. "Were you found m bed with Elmslie m your sister-in-law's house ?" "No." "Is it tirue that. your step-brother, Mrs Cork's husband, ordered you and Elmslie to leave the house"?" "No. I was m the, house one night with Elmslie, haying got m the back door. My relations happened to be out at the time." The witness further denied that she;. had had improper relations with,a man named M'Millan. She had told Creeyey once m Dunedin thoftshe had had a* misfortune m early life, 'but he said that made no difference to liijn. \ Evidence as to character was taken, and then Lawyer Hoban opened for the defence. He alleged fornication against the woman, the man being Elmslie. There was another man concerned with wh.om she was found late at' night smoking a cigarette while IN A DRUNKEN STATE. She had been charged with this business as soon as Creevey heard of it. Creevev had cause to break the contract because there was an absolute rule that the fact of a woman having had an illegitimate child was- a sufficient cause for a man to break off the engagement. Provided that the defendant knew nothing of the child when he made the promise to marry he could smash the contract to smithereens. Lil. Cork, wife of John Cork, sausage skin manufacturer, said Mrs Thomson was her husband's half sister. Witness used to write the nice, glowing love letters to Creevey, bristlincr with animation and life. After detailing information already mentioned the fair Lil told the Court that on one occasion she found Mrs T. and Elmslie m , her house when they were acting m ! a most improper manner. They were both wined, and there was an emntv whisky battle on the table. , On Christmas Eve witness saw Vivian at Mrs Thomson's house before midnieht. THEY WERE BOTH DRUNK, and Mrs Thomson boasted that Vivian had given her a Christmas box of thirty bob,, and that on another occasion, he had parted up her rent for her. Lucky, old fdwl ! On this last occasion Mrs T. was testing a cheap American cigarette. Mr Creevey's daughter called at witness' house at Dunedin once, Mrs T. being present, and she said • to the young girl : '/You can tell your father to go to hell for me ; he has too many children , of his own." Corroborative evidence as to immorality on the part of the lady who so badly wanted to snare a husftand, was given by John Cork and Thomas Creevev, a son of the defendant. Also, Ethel Creevey swore that the nlaintiff told her at Dunedin that she didn't want to have anything more to do with her father. The defendant himself, admitted candidly that when he met the SEDUCTIVE, SWEET SMILING WIDOW he did want to marry her right enough, but soon the knockers got to work. Still he had faith m his bit of skirt having such a high opinion of her. The whispers came along on the breeze much stronger, however, so he wrote to Dunedin for information. It ha,nnened along and fornication and drunkenness, and cigarette smoking was his 'prize packet. When he accused her at Christchurch of misconduct with Elmslie the woman didn't deny it. The firft time he heard of the nlaintift's illegitimate kid was m Sepjtembe.r last. The l&dv told him then 'that she had been married/ at sixteen, and iWd a kid before she was seventeen. The last letter he had sent her was : n April, and as'hp had no reply .he thought it was all over between

them because she deemed him to be m. noor circumstances. Iji the end £he Judge told the jury that if it thought that Susan hadn't told Creevey of HER SUPERFLUOUS BABY, allhougk it had been born 23 years previously, the verdict must, go to Creevey as a matter of law. If the ulaintifi failed on that point it was all U.P. If on the other hand she sained that point the jury must consider the woman's character and habits, and also if the defendant had proved his allegations m regard to immorality . It took the jury just one hour to determine that the lady had not told Creevey that she had an illegitimate bantling previously, and on that they gave their verdict. So crowing Creevey left lighter m heart and pocket, for these cases cost cash ; but salacious Susie strutted out of Court with a defiant air but a damnable expression m her pretty light blue eyes. One must jro into Court with clean hands these days to obtain a verdict, either m the Divorce Count, or Breach of Promise edifice, or almost any other establishment where law is dispensed.