A ROMANCE OF 'HIE SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13134, 24 March 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

A ROMANCE OF 'HIE SEA.

THE KINDLY BOATMAN AND THE ."GRASS WIDOW" Ax idyll of Teignmouth, the principal characters of which were an unhappy "grass widow" and a too sympathetic boatman, was told recently in the Divorce Court/ Mrs. Edith Catherine Bates, the daughter of an army officer, sued for a judicial separation from her husband, Mr. Reginald Melville Bates, a Transvaal Civil servant, on the.ground of cruelty; and Mr. Bates brought a,cross-petition for divorce, alleging misconduct .between his wife and the boatman, William Shaptei, who was described as a'®Teignmonth " institution.''

% Mr. Bates served through the South African war in the Imperial "Yeomanry, and was present at the relief of Ladysmith. On his return to England lie met the lady who afterwards became his wife, and they were married m January of last year. Apparently, however. Mr. Bates' expectations concerning his wife's fortune were unfulfilled. lien she was married she had £150 and an allowance of £50 a year from her mother. as well as expectations from a grandmother. IW'FULFII.LED EXPECTATIONS. After the marriage they went to Johannesburg, where Mr. Bates secured an appointment at £300 a year. They lived happily together for six months, and then Mi's. Bates returned to England for her health, and went to stay with her mother at Teignmouth. While she was there, it was alleged, her husband began to complain by letter ,of his unfulfilled expectations. Among the letters read in court was the following: — " I think your mother or youi aunt ought to give you at least £200 a year. If I had known what I know now I would not have married you. I thought that you would bo quite comfy when your grandmother died. You won't like to come out here again. Your mother is rude not to write to me. If you had £200 a year you could come out here."

[ It was ill consequence of one of these letters that the boatman entered into the case. Mrs. Bates was in the habit of going out to sea in his boat, and while she was reading one of the letters she began to cry. The boatman asked her what was the matter, and on her telling him he sympathised with her, and, finally, put his arm about her and kissed her. Mrs. Bates declared tnat she indignantly pushed him away, and that the incident ended there. SEEK THROUGH A TELESCOPE. Mi'. Bates' counsel declared, however, that lie would call a coastguard who saw other happenings through a telescope, and witnesses who saw Mrs. Bates and the boatman walk up and down the beach like lovers, and that he expected to prove that they stayed at a hotel together. The*alleged acts of cruelty took place after Mr. Bates' return to England last autumn. He complained that his wife received him coldly, and accused her of entertaining an affection for other men. She told him of the boatman's kiss, and then, she declares, he struck her in the face, making her nose bleed. Mr. Bates denied the blow, but admitted that he pulled her nose. After that Mr. Bates left his wife, and she received the following letter from him: " Your confession of*love for a low man is more than substantiated by evidence I have obtained at Teignmouth. " I had an interview with your boatman lover in the presence of a witness. He is prepared to keep you and to come to London to see you." TWO MOTHERS'IX-LAW. Under cross-examination, Mrs. Bates ad- ] mitted having written the following letter j to her mother-in-law: —

" I asked him to forgive me and give me another chance. I cannot write in the letter the details, but I expect he has told you. We had an explanation, and I asked him to forgive me." A scene between the two mothers-in-law was the subject of cross-examination when, Mrs. Florence Dobson, Mrs. Bates' mother, was in the witness-box. " You and your daughter went to see Mrs. —your son-in-law's mother?" M'rs. Dobson was asked. " Yes," she replied. " Did you admit to Mrs. Bates that your daughter had been kissed and cuddled by William Shapter?" "No, nothing of the sort." " Did you say your daughter was a fool to confess to anything at all, and that ' William' had only kissed her once, and put his arm round her?" / "No." Mrs. Dobson could not remember whether Mrs. Bates said that her son had gone to Teignmouth to see "the man your daughter loves.'' The hearing of the case was adjourned.