A SOUTHERN SCANDAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5950, 22 March 1880, Page 5

A SOUTHERN SCANDAL.

That " misfortunes hover come singly” (says yesterday’s” Southland News) received another illustration in the recent breakdown of the Te Anau and the discomfiture of one or two of; her passengers. : To - come at once to the story, it may be stated that some months ago a well-known gentleman in bus!ness in Buhedin used to delight the hearts of . epicures in that city with the tasty 'morsels that ever .and' anon dished up in hisestablishment. Ae time wore on, however, he felt that':he needed a change, and after due deliberation hh determined upon purchasing a “ public/’ situated in a picturesque spot not 100. miles from the heart of the city. Here he and his wife and three or -four children' lived happily for a time; Business increased; sufficiently' so to i Warrant the em-, ployment of a barmaid, :and'in a few days: a; blithe and handsome damsel appeared on the scene.: Her pretty form struck the vision of the landlord, who basked in her presence, and determined to corne as near themarital relations as he could. Taking an inventory of bis assets, :he found himself theposseisorof a legal wife andvfonr children, a smart little hostelry, add; ' hard cash tolhe tune of something like £9OO As a sort of set-off, he was indebted to various parties in the sum of £2OO. Taking everything into account,. he determined upon vamosing with "a wife that wasn’t bis,” and marrying her for better or for worse—the . latter in all human probability—when safely across: the water, : Seeping all his plans to himself, our friend and the fairy oreatrire before mentioned collected an ample supply of wearing apparel, secured the money of the former, and, under cover of the darkness of the night,'meandered down the. winding road to Port -Chalmers, ; where the Te Anau had steam up in readiness to proceed to Melbourne. -The Bluff was- passed in safety, though the heart of the male eloper went flipperty-flop lest his sudden departure should have been bruited about the city, and the fact of . his untoward proceedings in deserting his wife and family communicated to the evervigilant Sergeant Butledge. His fears proved to be groundless,, however, and as the Te Anau proudly out of Bluff Harbour, two individuals might have been seen on the bridge congratulating each other upon the measure of success which had . attended them so far. But their congratulations were doomed to be short-lived. Four hundred miles from port, and on a day when a stiff head wind was blowing, the ndws flashed through the vessel that an accident had .occurred which would necessitate her return to Kew Zealand waters. Days rolled on, and then, to the horror and disgust of both parties, the steamer anchored off the Bluff. . Meantime the creditors of the expublican hod been made aware of his sudden departure,, and armed with the necessary legal E recess, their agents literally came down upon im like a pack of wolves. He found in a short space of time his £9OO had d windled down to j nearly £7OO, and that there was a prospect of still further- trouble should his wife fake any action. She did not, however, being satisfied with an unemeumbered publichouse 5 and the “ publican and sinner, after loafing about Invercargill for a day or two with the girl for whom his dam of affection had bimstj.was pßowed to proceed over jbhe briny waters without further, interruption.