"COOLED OFF"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22991, 19 March 1938, Page 2 (Supplement)

"COOLED OFF"

YOUNG MAN'S LOVE PROMISE TO WED BROKEN JUDGE'S COMMENT ON ROMANCE Comments and questions by Mr. Justice Hawke, in the King's Bench Division, .London, enlivened a suit for breach of promise brought by a young woman against a 30-year-old insurance collector. "The parties may have thought themselves just as romantic as Antony and Cleopatra," the judge declared, referring to counsel's description of the engagement as "unromantic." "1 have yet to learn," he went on, "that people in humble circumstances may not develop very strong affections and have strong regard for the marriage vow." "Did you cuddle?" he asked the insurance collector, George Henry Griffiths, of Wandsworth. "I was never passionate," replied Mr. Griffiths, who was sued by Miss Winifred Martha Searle, of Battersea. Mr. Griffiths pleaded there was a mutual agreement to separate, or, alternatively, that Miss Searle herself broke the engagement. This Miss Searle denied. Met at a Dance For the girl, Mr. I. H. Jacob declared the promise to wed was made on Boxing Day, 1934, after the couple had known each other for about three years. They met at a dance in 1931, when Miss* Searle was 20 and Mr. Griffiths 23. Shortly after his promise the young man bought an engagement ring worth £l4. Miss Searle gave him cuff links, an attache case, and other gifts. "Mr. Griffiths collected insurance premiums," went on Mr. Jacob, "and was earning £3 to £4 a week. Three or four times every week he took Miss Searle out to the theatre, the cinema, or dances. In 1935 they went on holiday together in Jersey, but in 1936 Air. Griffiths went for a camp holiday by himself. At his request the marriage, first proposed for July, 1935, was postponed from time to time. Finally, in October, 1936, he suggested that as they had not been 'hitting it off well together,' they should part. "Miss Searle protested," Mr. Jacob related, "and declared she had been in love with him for five years. In January, 1937, she went to his flat to ask whether he had changed his mind. He said nothing except that he had the same view as before. There was a clock on the mantelpiece which she had given him as a Christmas present, and she took it awav with her when she left." "Bottom Drawer In her evidence, Miss Searle told how, after the promise of marriage, she began to buy things for her "bottom drawer." "After Mr. Griffiths' camping holiday, ho cooled off," she went on. "He became less talkative." Mr. Justice Hawke: Most of us know what cooling off means. He was not so affectionate as lie was. He did not seem to want to kiss you so often? —No. For Mr. Griffiths, Mr. D. F. Brundrit asked, "When you were on a holiday in Suffolk at Easter, 1935, did you throw your engagement ring at Mr. Griffiths?" "We were playing together, and I threw it at him in play," Miss Searle replied. Mr. Brundrit: I suggest that you threw it at him in a temper because he would not join in a ball game on the beach? —He would not join in anything. "At a dance in 1936, when I sat waiting for him to dance, he was at the bar," she went on. "I asked him, 'Aren't you going to dance?' and he said: 'I am enjoying myself here.' " Mr. Brundrit: You had a real "flare up" and thought you had been badly treated ? —Yes. Mr. Brundrit: Did you say, "You have got the wrong girl. I hope the next one will be more suitable"? Miss Searle: No, I thought 1 was the right girl for hiin. Mr. Griffiths, in evidence, stated that his wages averaged £3 12s a week and commission, and ho supported his mother. He had told Miss Searle he was not in a position to marry. The jury assessed damages for Miss Searle at £SO.