MAGISTERIAL.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15772, 13 December 1916, Page 6

MAGISTERIAL.

(Before .Mr H. AT. Bishop, SjM.) BREACH OF LICENSING ACT. - George Piercy pleaded guilty to a breach of the Licensing Act in sending liquor To a no-license district without complying with the regulations. The. point of the case was that defendant treated a telegram ordering liquor, from Oamaru. as a written order. The defendant was convicted and fined -10s and costs. MAT XTE X A X CE. 1> it-hard W. Barnsden was ordered to pav 7s a week towards the cost of the maintenance of each of his seven children. I'obert Martin, in arrears with his wife's maintenance, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, the sentence to he suspended on his paying £1 a week off the arrears. P. Monro was to three months' imprisonment, the order to ho suspended on condition of his paying £1 a week off the arrears for his wife's maintenance. Daniel Hisloo was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, the sentence to be suspended provided he paid off arrears of £13 on a maintenance order within three "weeks. REPARATION. The application of Agnes A. 'Woodward for a separation from her husband, Thomas Woodward, on the ground of failure to maintain, was granted. (Before Mr T. A. B. Bailey, S.M.) }lATRIMOXIAL TROUBLES. The adjourned hearing of the case in which Chryssio Hoben (Mr Thomas) applied for separation and maintenance on the ground of persistent cruelty, ironi her husband, Ernest 13. Hoben (Mr Hunter), was continued. Mr Hunter objected to the calling of Mr Alpers, who, Mr Thomas averred, u ould say that in 1913 Hoben said that he (Hoben) had "spanked" his wife. IJe contended that if Hoben made such, a statement to 'Mr Alpcrs it was made in confidencc, and he submitted that the admission of any such evidence was very inadvisable. Air Alpcrs: I cainc here on a subpoena, Mr Hunter. Don't make me out to l>o a volunteer. Mr Hunter said he would accept Mr Alpers's statement, but ho submitted that Mr Alpers had been Mrs Hoben's solicitor until a short time ago, and would be biased. Mr Hunter objected also to Mrs Hoben being placed in the box to give evidence in rebuttal. There was nothing to rebut. Mr Thomas: There is the allegation of infidelity. Mr Hunter said if Mrs Hoben was a'lo\ved to go into the box and make further allegations against her .husband, he would ask that Mr Hoben be allowed to give evidence, and, if necessary, further witnesses should be called to refute .such allegations, and the case might go on indefinitely. Mr Thomas warmly contended that he should be allowed to call the cadence he needed. Very serious allegations had been made against his client •by Hoben. this had been published in ,'perfectly fair reports, but it placed his client in a very invidious position, and she should be-allowed to clear the matter up, Mr Thomas also contended that suggestions had been made bv Hoben that he (IMr Thomas) had i'orccd tlio case into Court. That was absolutely untrue, and he would like to call Mr Alpers on that suggestion. His "Worship sajd he would not allow Mr Alprrs's evidence to be taken with regard to the spanking, as it was irrelevant. Mr Thomas then called the plaintiff,who gave evidence thnt a suggested settlement had been made to pay her 10s «v week/ in war bonds, but that had not been accepted. She denied that she had called Hoben's children the names which Hoben had said she had, nor had she spat in Sydney Hobcn'3 face, as had been alleged. The witness denied absolutely, and with considerable w.vrmth, the charge of infidelity made against her by her husband, stating that there was not one grain of truth in that cruel allegation. She also denied the stories that she had scratched her husband all down his body till the blood ran down, or that she had hit hint with a manuka stick. Witness produced some letters, apparently referring to character, from Sir Thomas Mackenzie, Sir Joseph Ward, and Sir John Murray, which the Bench admitted, in spite of Mr Hunter's protest. The witness gave further evidence as to Father Hanrahan's stay at the house, and said she liad received a bill for the taxi _ hire in which ono and a half hours' time was mentioned. Hoben had said that leather Hanrahan had only been at the house five minutes. Hoben had not paid one penny of rent for the house during 1916. All his earnings had gone into" the household expenses, sho had bought the furniture, and for the past year or so her husband had never given her any allowance. She was paying the interest on a mortgage of about £'GOO on the house, the rates, and part of the principal, and she paid for the telephone, besides many smaller accounts. jWitncss gave details as to the arrangements by Hoben for his children. One of the girl". was in a position, another was being kept ax the Convent, at Timaru, -ind her husband's mother, sho understood, was to go to. the Nazareth Home. To Mr Hunter: She would not swear that she had paid Messrs Wilford and Levi's account. She denied that she had called Hoben's children "strumpete" and "sluts," she was not in tlio habit of using such language. She thought that the children's unanimous evidence in the Court wa-s evidence that they had been well drilled hy Mr Hoben. The witness gave evidence with regard to the alleged letter from the man in Auckland as mentioned by the defendant. She said th&t the letter — there was only one—had been sent by a youth of about 17 years of age, and she gave a general denial of Mr Hunter's suggestion that it was the production of this letter thatch ad made [ her solicitor decide not to continue the I previous proceedings. Mr Hunter produced a letter in which he- said Mrs Hoben had spoken in a derogatorv manner of Mr Hoben's first wife. The witness explained that the letter had been written in reply to one from Hoben. Mr Hunter asked if Hoben could ?° into the box to refute some of the statements made by Mrs Hoben. His Worship thought that there was nothing fresh for the defendant to rebut, and declined to allow him to_ give evidence. Mr Hunter then referred to the. statement made by the tram guard I since dead, ana said that Hoben was willing for it to be put in, as hu

did not want Mrs Hoben to think that her case had been prejudiced by its being withheld. All Hoben wanted was to be allowed to make some comments on the statement Mr Thomas saul if H<?bcn was allowed to make a statement, he would a«k to be allowed to speak also. ~Mr Hunter said he could not agree to*that, and the Bench eventually allowed him to draw attention to some discrepancies in Dobbs s statement, and that of the other witnesses, with reference to the alleged tramcar as~ajhe defendant then went into the box, aud gave evidence as to DoUbs's chances of seeing what took place in the tram. ..... , Mr Thomas said lie admitted that there were discrepancies in the 'statement made by Dobbs but small discrepancies probabiv pro\cd the general truth of the story. He drew the attention of the Bench to the fact that he had tried hard to get that stateme nt in. discrepancies or not. His Worship said it was a very great pity that Messrs Ravmond and Alpers had not been successful in thenefforts at reconciliation. He had sat for three days and had listened to an enormous mass of evidence ol a mostcontradictory nature. There was little or 110 corroboration of any of the extraordinary stories of assaults made, with the exception of the assault on the. tram, but this in itself was not sufficient- to justify his making an order on tiie grounds 'of persistent cruelty. There" was no doubt that the relations between the parties were very strained, and this was proved by the very extraordinary set .of letters written. Mrs Hoben at one time would write very vituperative letters to her husband, and then again lier tone would be very affectionate, and he was forced to come to the conclusion that hers was a peculiar nature. On the whole, he did not- think that Mrs Hoben had sufficiently corroborated her story to justify his making the order applied for. Mr Thomas: What about the maintenance. your Worship ? His Worship intimated that- that would havf to bo settled between the parties. Probably some arrangement could be come to.