LOVER'S VOUCHER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 36, 10 February 1906, Page 13

LOVER'S VOUCHER.

FA-______E_-S WIDOWBB AND HIS "ANGEL OF LOVE." LETTERS BT EVERT POST. I, Richard Ernest Lang, nereby promise to marry Mary Ann Gordon, at whatever date shall be selected by either party. This means our engagement for ever. Such a document was signed by the parties named in April, 1904, at the special request of Lang, who is a theatrical decorator and upholsterer, living at Everton and Liverpool. Miss Gordon is a barmaid at the Unity Hotel, Ashton-under-Lyne. At the Preston Sheriff's Court a jury sat to assess damages In an undefended action for breach of promise, remitted from the High Court. Mr Bradbury, irepretsenting the plaintiff, said the defendant was either a Jew or of German extraction, and the document mentioned above was recognised probably as binding in his country. Two years ago Lang was working near the hotel at which the plaintiff was engaged. He fell in love with her, proposed marriage, was accepted, and after his return to Everton he wrote to her by every post Counsel made a selection from a bundle. One ran:— "My Dear Little Wife,—lt was very late when I arrived home, and I got In trouble with my aunt. But never mind, I told her I thought nothing about her when I could go elsewhere. I shall never forget jealousy of Nell when you showed her your ring and offered her some chocolates. The way she refused them was enough. Don't you mind; it won't be for long. The sooner you come to mc the better, as there's a girl wanted here. "Your dear little figure Is too good to be knocked about by such common people of the earth. They don't know anything what love Is, but dtly the value of drink. Do cheer up, my sweetest, dearest, prettiest, loveliest little angel of love God ever sent on the earth. So good afternoon.—From your sincere, loving hubby." PUBLISHED THE BANNS. In another letter the defendant informed bis sweetheart that after leaving her he was so much preoccupied that he fell over a heap of luggage at the railway station and injured bis arm so badly that he would be unable to work for weeks. Before going Into camp with the volunteers ln August, 1904, the defendant put up the banns, and the plaintiff went to live at Everton for three weeks. Returning from camp, Lang made excuses, and the plaintiff obtained another situation as barmaid. Subsequently he renewed his attentions, and tbe banns were published a second time. Then the plaintiff discovered the portrait of the defendant and a young lady, asked for an explanation, and the defendant replied, "Oh, that lady has some claim upon mc." Inquiries showed that he was courting another young woman. The plaintiff said that she had lost two situations and spent £30 in preparation for the wedding, and was now alienated from her friends, who refused to have anything to do with ber through her connection with the defendant. She produced a coloured picture of a baby which the defendant forwarded to ber with the message: "A souvenir of love to be kept between ourselves." He always addressed her as "My dearest and sweetest wife." He was a widower with three children, and the latter frequently addressed her as '"Out dearest ma." The Jury assessed the damage at £73, and judgment was entered accordingly, with costs.