WALKED 130 MILES

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 April 1933, Page 5

WALKED 130 MILES

TO APPEAR IN COURT LONDON, February 11. Horace Turner, a 30-year-old unemployed land worker, walked 130 miles from Grantham- Lincolnshire, to answer a summons at Westminster County-court yesterday. The soles of his boots were worn through, and he limped into court. Ushers had provided him with a meal. Turner was sued jointly with William Burden —both of Millard’s-place, Broad-street, Grantham —by the Victoria Cycle and Carriage 'Company, Victoria-street, S.W., for £3/13/-, the price of a child’s perambulator. Mr. F. H. Adams, junior, solicitor, made a statement on Turner’s behalf to Judge Sir Alfred Tobin. He said that Turner left home on Tuesday, and last had a meal on Wednesday. Having been told the facts by the Court ushers, he (Mr. Adams) thought it right to place them before His Honor. The Judge: Quite right. Defendant, continued Mr. Adams, offered to return the perambulator within a month of receiving it. His Honor: If the action had been brought to my notice, I would have ordered it to be transferred to the man’s home district. Defendant might have been brought to death’s door by his effort. The judge directed a girl clerk for plaintiffs to telephone for instructions. When she returned, she said that the company pressed the claim. She added that Turner bought the perambulator and Burden was the guarantor. Turner admitted the claim. Mr. Adams: There is a letter Turner wrote since arriving in court. The judge read the letter, as follows: — “I have walked from Grantham, 130 miles to attend the county court, being out of work and on the 1 relief- getting 25/- a week to keep my wife and two children on—one child only three weeks old and the other down with the ’flu. I only just live the week through with what I get, so I hope you will accept my offer of 2/- a month, which means a lot to me. 1 have now to walk back the .I’3o miles to Lincolnshire/’ The Judge (to the girl clerk): Your company has come here without any proof that he ever signed the agreement. Judgment was given against plaintiffs. Mr. Adams asked if Turner could have the cost of railway travel back to Grantham. The Judge: Certainly. I order costs, 15/- solicitor’s fee, and 21/- for the man himself-—36/ —to be paid at once.