BREACH OF PROMISE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 205, 30 August 1926, Page 5

BREACH OF PROMISE.

LOVE LETTERS IN COURT. ORIGINALITY A MINUS ( QUALITY. THE HONEYMOON VENUE. '(By Telegraph—Special to "Star.") CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Breach of promise was alleged in an action for £500 damages, in the Supreme j Court to-day, before Mr. Justice Adams. Plaintiff was Nellie Kettenburg, spinster, of .Christchurch, and defendant s Michael McCormick, farmer, of Lake- '\ side. _ s Mr. Sim, for defendant, announced that it had been arranged the promise to marry would be admitted, but the circumstances surrounding the promise were admissible. His Honor: That might give quite an interesting field of inquiry and observa- j tion. Mr. Thomas, for plaintiff, said she was 25 years of age, and was a domes- ] tic servant. At the end of last year J plaintiff went out to Lakeside, and stayed there for a week or two. She ' met defendant, and they became very friendly. She returned to Christchurch, and letters were written by defendant to plaintiff. Counsel said he did not , intend to go into the letters closely, but would quote one or two in order to give an idea of the general atmosphere. ', From Modest Beginning to Poetry. ' One letter, Thomas said, was signed "Yours sincerely, Micky McCormick," and then a lot of crosses followed. They were quite nice letters. His Honor: Did they get any warmer than "yours sincerely?" Mr. Thomas: Yes. Mr. Sim: They rose to poetry later. Mr. Thomas said that in March plain- , tiff went to Lakeside and lived with an aunt nest door to McCormick. She saw defendant every day and they finally became engaged. He said he was getting a ring as soon as he could. Eventually he got a ring and she now had it. After this she went back to the place where she was working at Fendalton. Letters went on and there was no question about the position from then on. "I Love You too Much to Get Wild." On March 25 defendant wrote: "I miss your dear little kisses, and the good time I had. and to make it worse we have to bach. I've got no little darling to drive my horses now. That was a nice present you sent up. My mother asked mc if 1 were engaged to you and I said 'yes.' I said it was my wish to do so, and she gave mc a good hearing." In the next letter defendant wrote: "I would not have left town until I had seen you. I think the world of you, dearest. I love you too much to get wild." Coming up for "Keeps." '"It must have been great love." Mr. Thomas commented. The letter also contained the following lines: "Never , mind, dear, the time won't be long going round when you wi'.l be up here for ! keeps." A Limited Vocabulary. Another letter, Mr. Thomas said, had the following lines: "How I love you is more than I can tell." His Honor: He has a limited vocabulary. The next letter concluded: "Written by a loving hand, sealed with kisses. Think of mc. my loving darling, when you read this." His Honor: That is probably an attempt at originality. Mr. Thomas observed the letter also said: "It would be a good place to go for a honeymoon down South. What do you think?" On June 2 defendant wrote regarding Miss Kettenburg's visit to Lakeside: "I want you to look nice, and give them something to talk about. Town is a little different from the country. In town nobody knows and nobody cares, but in the country everybody knows everybody else's business —at least they think they do. A lot of people want to know when I am getting married, but 1 keep them in the dark." Rift in the Lute. Mr. Thomas continued that Miss Kettenb rg went to sttfy with McCormick's mother. She felt there was something' wrong in the family, as far as the female members were concerned. On the Saturday before she went away McCormick told her some people reckoned she was not strong enough to be a farmer's wife. She replied this was nonsense. When plaintiff returned to town she wrote. Defendant was evidently concerned over the question raised about her health, so she wrote him telling him not to take any notice what anyone said. She said she loved him too much to take any notice of other people. The letter continued: "I know people say I am marrying you for your money. I wouldn't care if you only had sixpence." Later, defendant and his sister arrived at the place whe plaintiff worked, and defe - dant told her he considered she was not strong enough to stand up to farm work. She said she was, and McCormick suggested breaking off the engagement for =ix months. She said ' she had bought her trousseau. He said he wasn't going on with it, and asked \ her for the ring. 1 (Proceeding )