GREBNER'S GRAB.

NZ Truth, Issue 78, 15 December 1906, Page 4

GREBNER'S GRAB.

German Gardener's Gritty Gall. Forged Testimonials and Apparently False Swearing. Fritz Fuiiks the Fierce Fire of CiossExaiiiination and. Throws up the Sponge. Before Dr. McArthur, S.M., en Wednesday Fritz Grebner, expert gardener, sued Evans and Son, nurserymen, of Taira, to recover the sum ,of £103 Os cd, mads up, according to the statement of claim, of wages duo. seeds supplied, plans prepared, a cloihes-lino, and halt and breach of contract. Evans and Son r.ued Grebnc-r on. a counter claim ''of £327 15s, but of which £127 15k was abandoned so as to bring the' case within the jurisdiction of the Court. They set forth that GrebneT had .falsely and fraudulently represented himself to .be a skilled propagator and had thus induced the firm to engage him under a- contract for 1.2 months at &3 per week. Grebner had proved incompetent for th' 3 work he was en gas-ad to ■do and' it was claimed that r by his neglect and 'unskilful treatment ot slants Evans and Son had suffered loss to the extent' of the amount cja.imed.' . , Mr Bmmy, m opening the case for Gretoer, laid stress on tlie statement that his client had- had experience m the Royal ■ Gar-derm at Dresden and Potsdam, Germany, and the Crystal Palates' 'G-ardl-ns , '.fcondbii, Ish'd- held*teson a -high plane "m his profession-! Fritz 'Grebner,'' exam hied by' Mr Bunny, deposed, very volubly, that he had worked m. his father's gatden at Dresden- and thenos went to a horticultural school at Potsdam, after leaving which he sot a position at the Royal Gardens, at Dresden, which he filled for 7, or 8 years and thence went to fill an' appointment at" the Crystal Palace Gardens, where he remained 6 or 7 years. He then emigrated to Australia and set up as a nurseryman at Moonee Ponds, near Melbourne, and had there his brother Frank working with him. Frank al-to was a practical gardener and subsequently went to Brisbane. Witness proceeded to trace his subsequent career down to ; July last, when he came to Wellington, where he was engaged by Mr Evans as propagator at the nurser j at Taita. He required a propagating-house and Mr F. H. Evans had cue built for him. - He then explained m technical terms what was expected of him as a propagator. On Sept. 22 he had to go to Maori Bay, to Mr Turnbull's resi'denco to prepare plans and as . he did not work on Sunday, when iie returned on the Monday, he found that things were not all right m the pro j-aga ting house. A number of plants seemed sickly and he . mentioned the fact to Evans, who told -him that he knew nothing about his work. They should have been watered m his absence and the neglect was not due to him. Defective shading m the propariatinp; room was also advanced by Grebner as the reason why other plants had been destroyed. He had told Evans to sprinkle his cuttings m the heating house, but Evans had neglected to do so. He discovered next that the fire was out m the furnace and he said "Damn," and Evans resented his "swearing" m his presence. He declined .to go out and assist Charles Evans digging, and said he would dp only the work he contracted for. On Oct. 11, Evans ordered him off tlie premises and though he made repeated applications to resume his propagating work Evans declined to allow him to do so, or to allow him to have what work he had done inspected by other experts. When Grebner threatened to see his solicitor about it and to take the matter to court Evans said "Damn your solicitor and magistrate ; I defy you." Twenty days after that Grebner saw his plants and I hey were all destroyed ; a threat Evans had made before. Having itemised his claim, Grebner went on to say that he had received.. £12 m wages and £1.2 was/ owing. He was now working for Mr Reynolds, of Taita, «at £1 10s ncr week, and he produced another testimonialfrom Reynolds. Mr Bunny then took Gretner through a lonn; list of plants which Evans and Co. averred had been destroytd through his neglect and unskilful treatment. He was reminded that it was for Evans to prove that he had been negligent and unskilful, yet he denied that he had been and m [ many instances attributed the damage j done to the ignorance of Evans, sen., I himself. , ■ Mr Young, for Evans and Son, then took Grebner m hand, and after a brief reference to the visit to Maori Bay entered upon a series of questions concerning Grebner's experience. You were enraged as a specialist ? —I was engaged as a propagator.

You don't do ordinary gardening ? -No. You're rather too old to do heavy work ?— No. Earlier he declared that it was impossible for him to do coarse work. What is your age ?— 4l . "Thank you," said Mr Young significantly, and went on to refer to a testimonial alleged to have been signed by a nurseryman named Wright, of St. Kilda. s In a long story Grebner toltl how lie had oniv pottered about Wright's nursery, having made the acquaintance of Wright's foreman and had from him received the testimonial. .Did Mr Wright write that reference? —No, his man did. Wli'ere. m Melbourne or New Zealand ?— ln Melbourne. Grebner next denied that he had -told Mr Evans, senr., that he had been employed by nurserymen named Bunning and Hackett m St. Kilda (Vie.) and. Adelaide (S.A.). Were you ever m Mr Woods' employ at Brisbane ? — No, my brother was. You have ' not . a reference from Woods ?— No. Well, I Will read one for you ? Mr Young then carried his threat into execution, reading from a letter from Mr Woods. A11 J that GiTebner replied was. that it referred to his brother Frank. k Dr. Mc-Arthur : ' Well, Prank is the name m that cutting from the Camberwell newspaper which you claim refers to "^ou. Mi- Yoimn; next read a paragraph from tile January, ; 1&O4, number of the.. "Australian /Nurseryman," m which, Woods, under, date Dec. 4, '03, issued a warning 'to' nurserymen to consult him teforS'^employina; a. man named Grebnsr. Mr Young : Is that your brother ?— I don't know : I think I can explain that. My brother often used my testimonials to obtain work. . And you used his 7— No response. ;Mr Young then proceeded to read a letter from the manager of F. H. Woc-d, a Brisbane nurseryman. You were never employed by Wright?— No. Yet you produce his reference ?— Mo, no. • Can you give any reason why Wood advertised you so ?— No. Or your brother ?— No. Your brother was not at the Crystal Palace Gardens, was he ?— No. Were you superintendent at- the Crystal Palace Oar-dens ?•— I. was head gardener. Reference was again made to . the reference purporting to tye signed by Dr. W. G. Grace, and m invitinr; the Magistrate to note it Mr Young of- 1 served that for a learned- man very 'lxwi ; grammar was used. Now have voa been at the Crystal Palace ?— Yes. . . This certificate is dated 1-89S ?— Yes. And you .worked there six years ?— Yes. ' How is it, then that you came to Australia m 1892 ? At first Grebner dented saying so, but a reference to the Magistrate's notes show that be had sworn tl. t he canve ouj; to Victoria m that year. After giving the name of Davis as I one of the rjuperin ten-dents at the Cry--1 stal Palace, Grebner fell into a trap. Was the other superintendent named Johnson ?— Yes. The triumphant smile that lighted Mv\ YcttiE^: as' he. obserWas sufficient to show that Grebner had fallen m and he attempted to get over his error by observing that the ' name was something like that. With a charming nonchalance he next assured Mr Young that , if he was allowed to peruse a journal that that gentleman held m his hand he could probably tell the name ; but Mr Young was not having any. 'A new topic was entered upon by Mr Young when he wanted to know if .G-refoner had not, after his agree- | ment with Evans, stated that he had been offered £3 10s a week by Evans and hod endeavored ,to obtain employment from a Mr Horton at £4 a week. The unblushing German 9aid he wished to explain, but was curtly told by Dr. McArthur that he was "all explanations." Mr Young : I suppose the "Damn the solicitor and magistrate" episode was just mentioned to prejudice Evans' case ?— No, no. I am telling the truth. si suppose had it been before the Supreme Court, it would have been "Damn the judge" was Mr Young's last shot prior to the Court rising for lunch. On resuming Grebner threw up the sponge. Mr Young mentioned that, acting: on Mr Bunny's advice, Grebner had abandoned his claim against Evans and had consented to a verdict of £.40 being given against him on the counter claim. Judgment was therefore given to Evans and Co. with costs amounting to £S 13s. This case is one to which the widest publicity should be given m the interests not only of the nurserymen of New Zealand and the many other parts of the globe where "Truth" is read, but to ths general public. This German fraud, Fritz Grebner, has given at least two States of the Commonwealth and New Zealand a turn and it is time that his "career of misrepresentation and false pretence, should. be cut short. He came to Messrs Evans and Sons and presented testimonials that have been indubitably, proved to be forgeries. One purported to be firom no less a celebrity than Dr. W. G-. Grace, the famous cricketer, who is manager of the Crystal Palace, and it was dated 1898, and it alleged that this Grebner had been one of three head gardeners m the Palace grounds. Enquiries prove that there is only one head gardener tnere and that no person of the name of Grebner has ever been engaged there since Dr. Grace took charge for the Company. A flattering testimonial, alleged to be signed by Mr James j Wright, nurseryman, of Melbourne, | has been absolutely repudiated by | that gentleman, who" writes that he i never had the man m his employ, I though he knew him by having met j him at the Moonee Ponds bowling i green ; and he most certainly never ?ave the fellow a testimonial. In 1893 Mr T. H. Wood, seedsman and nurseryman, of Brisbane, advertised for a nurseryman to take charge I find on the strength of testimonials Grebner forwarded he induced Mr j { Wood's manager to pay nearly £10 j for first-class fares for himself and j wife from Melbourne to Brisbane. That gentleman gave Grebner absolute charge of the Silverdale nurseries at Mt. Gravat, and writes : "With the result that I sincerely Vv'inh I bad never seen him, much less employed him. lam an oli\

English nurseryman and I declare t 0 you that I have seen plenty of laborers there who could give him points m anything except talking and telling lies. Re his testimon- . ials. His wife told me m my office, m his presence, that same were false and that he. paid someone m Melbourne to write them for him. THis was on an occasion when Grebner was abusing her and she came to me (knowing I was a J.P.) and asked me to have him locked up for abuse and maltreatment. If he has any knowledge of the profession, or ability, I never saw it, the eight or nine months he was with me. He certainly planted me out 13,000 or 14,000 rose stocks, but when they were ready v for budding he bolted, m my opinion because ne could not bud them. When he came to me I had an immense lot of valuable caladiums planted out m beds. To give you some idea : one man offered me £30 for a bed of arqyurites. I wanted £40, so unluckily did not sell. "The lot were worth about £150 ; but where they went to I don't know. He said they rotted and did show me one or two that certainly had, -.and as I do not live within seven miles of the. nurseries and only so there about once a „ fortnight, I ' had to be content with ■his' statement. The morning -he bolted he 6ame into ths store and borrowed £5, saying that< he wanted to send his wife back to Melbourne.- I have never seen him since. That's an instance of his honesty. . . . He is not -worth a position of any v description, let alone '.hat of a "first-class propagator." •- That is a "testimonial" that German "expert" Fritz Urelmer will not lie 2i2cely to show to any unfortunate nurseryman who might have the bad luck to get hold of this alien trearure "from the Kaiser's Palace Gardens, Dresden." The paragraph m the "Australasian Nurseryman" which Grebnfr was questioned on was a letter to the editor from the Mr Wood already referred to, and it read as follows : Brisbane, '4th Dec. 190?,.— Dear Sir,— lf any of. your readers have engaged or have any application for 'engagement, from a man known to me by the name ofi Grebner, and who states that he has been,employed at the Royal Gardens, Dresden, Crystal Palace, etc.. etc.. etc., and will kindly communicate with me. I can tell them something that will be. to their advantage. 'Signed, ThoS'. H. Wood, seed merchant and nurseryman. There's another plowing testimonial (hat Fritz 1h? Fraudulent Flowe-r Fructhier is hot. likely to flash m the faces of .possible employers ! Altogether, and ■ taking cne consideration with another. New Zealand can well soars this particular sample of Palace Gardens "propagator and all round nurseryman" aa lie styled himself m : the crcn'k testimonial he alleged to have b?f-Ti 'given him when he left Mr, James Wright's employ after two years and three .• months' service. What a ■rail these German crooks are possessed of, to be sure ! .