A DISGRACE TO MANHOOD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, 23 January 1907, Page 1

A DISGRACE TO MANHOOD.

DISCARDED SUITOR'S DESPICABLE -CONDUCT. 1 GIRL THREATENED WITH PISTOL OR POISON. A case presenting some painful and r.nusual features- came before Mr B. W. Dyer, S.M., in the Police Court, Auckland recently. A young married man named Frank Thomas was charged with using threats to a young woman, who feared that he would do her actual bodily harm, and asked that the defendant should be ordered to find sureties to keep the peace. In stating the case, Sergeant Hendry said that the facts in the case were painful, and simply showed to what a contemptible state a man would allow himself to sink. The complainant was a highly respectable young lady, who met the defendant during a visit to Cambridge. Thomas represented' himself as a single man, and they ultimately became engaged to be married. The lady received some information, which " caused her to ask the defendant if he was married; he denied it, and their" friendship remained unbroken until the lady returned to Auckland. Fur- 1 ther disquieting information resulted in the engagement being broken off," the lady returning the defendant all his! presents. "From that time the unfortunate girl has been threatened and bul- J lied by this man," continued Sergeant Hendry. He wrote her numerous let- 1 ters, asking her to send him her jewellery, and on another occasion asking for 30s. One day he came to the e§-j tablishmcnt in which his former fiancee was employed ,and, producing a revol-j ver, :tdld her that "this will do for both of us. A bottle labelled "Poison" ■ was shown again, and a similar threat used. Hie painful part of the case was that Thomas was a married man, with a young family, living in Auc^ t land. He was neglecting his Jjguig) terrifying this girl, and' trying to ex> tort money from her, She' had been reduced tq such a state that she was afraid to take a tram to get home, and . had gone out by. train with a friend, j "All the girl wants is protection," said the sergeant, "and that she is entitled to ask. 3 I I The complainant, in her evidence, reiterated the facts related by the sergeant', and said that all she wanted I was to he left alone. i I The defendant : I hope your Worship will take a lenient view of it, -Mr -Dyer: I certainly will not take a lenient view. I think you have acted the part of a perfect blackguard. The complainant asked his Worship to be lenient to Thomas, saying that she would trust to his honour as a gentleman not to annoy her again. Sergeant Hendry: What honour. can. thore be in a man who will write such letters to a girl? The_ defendant said he had not v spoken to the lady since the day after New Year's Day. j Mr Dyer : I am going to bind you over, and if you cannot find sureties you wil go to gaol. That is, unless the police ask to withdraw the charge. Sergeant Hendry : I will not. I cep.; sider that if your Worship had powec to flog it would not be too severe. Mr Dyer: It is one of the most contemptible cases I have heard of. For a married man to intimidate a girl ag girl as you have done, is the act pf a blackguard. You will be hound over to keep the peace, and if you cannot find sureties you will go to gaol — probably! the best place for you. I will bind you in your own recognisance of £S0 and~two sureties of £25 each. . Sergeant Hendry : I think the sureties should be more substantial in a case like this, where a man takes revolvers and poison to intimidate girls. 1 Mr Dyer: Very well. I will make it two sureties of £30. (To the aeetised :) Anything more blackguardly 1 I have never heard. You are a disgrac4 to manhood. "'." 1 The alternative, in default of ih.e ' sureties beinj; obtained, was fixed at three months' imprisonment. 1

A memorial window to the memory of the late Mr John Hay was unveiled in the Jewish Temple at Philadelphia recently. This is the first time a Christian has ever been so honoured by Jews. 1 The Dreadnought's 12in guns are half again as powerful as the old type of 12in guns. |