MANNEQUIN IN COURT

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 June 1937, Page 10

MANNEQUIN IN COURT

£875 MINK COAT WORN

LONDON, June 6

Female occupants of the galleiy craned, and a woman barrister donned horn-rimmed glasses, when, to the accompaniment of Judicial witticisms, a slender mannequin paraded in court in the King’s Bench Division, displaying a mink coat, valued at £875.

The coat was the subject of a case in which Emil Hdrovitz and Company, furriers, of Vienna, claimed £5OO from George M. Garcia, of Melbourne. • , „

Garcia, who bought the garment for his wife, counter-claimed a £375 deposit, alleging that the coat was not made from -Esquimaux Bay skins of the finest and darkest quality. Mrs Garcia, beautifully gowned in black, attracted the attention of every woman present when counsel stated that she bought £4OO worth of furs in Vienna. Justice Sir Rigby Swift instructed the mannequin to enter the witnessbox, saying that he supposed he should not look at the witness before she was sworn.

Counsel: But Your Honor is looking at the coat.

■‘Don't you make any mistake about that,” reported Sr Rigby Swift. •‘I don't know why anybody would give £BOO for a coat without the con-

tents.” Counsel said that Garcia, to ensure that he would obtain the identical , skins, had signed them on the back. ' The furriers, in accordance with I Viennese custom, had sent. Mrs | Garcia a bouquet. She did not try on the coat, on the appointed day in London. because she was "slimming.” She and her mother lai er rejected the eoat. Sir Rigby Swift, after remarking that the mannequin was much more agreeable to look at than a paper pattern, added, “The Bench could not ; afford such coats.” 4 The case was eventually settled J privately on terms which were not disclosed. .Judgment was given accordingly. Mrs Garcia afterwards told the “Daily Mail": "I have not got the coat. I must, he unique among women in turning down a. mink coat, but it is going back to the firm.'’