PUTATIVE PATERNITY.

NZ Truth, Issue 97, 27 April 1907, Page 4

PUTATIVE PATERNITY.

A WANGANUI WORRY.

He Declined to Marry the Girl.

And Keep Another's Kid.

Elizabeth Culver, who is not certain of hen age, ami thinks she is 30, seems to be an extremely unfortunate, young woman, who has helped to keep the birth-rate normal, and who. moreover, for the sake of Societv ought to get married—if she can. Her little trouble was ventilated to Dr. MoArthur, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when she succeeded m forcing on one Wil- 1 Ham Thrupp the paternity of her illegitimate child, born m October last. William, of course, denied the soft impeachment^ and engaged lawyer C. oo>k to look after his interests, but Mr Dunn, who was on the other side, carried too many gains, principally because. William IS A GARRULOUS GALLOOT, and made to/o many admissions concerning his conduct With Elizabeth, who, according to William, is no better than she ought to ibte. This little romance is confined to Wanganui, where Elizabeth had for some time past been easja&ed as servant. She had worked at Summer's Hotel, Hunt's boarding-house, the Gentleman's Club and Riverview House, and it was while -at Riverview House she cultivated William's acquaintance, and that aaquaintanoe ripened into more than ordinary friendship, as her olive branch, born last October, seemed to show. Indeed, Elizabeth and William'had many a fine outing together. He took her to various parks, and for sundry walks, and even went so far .as to take her tp the Salvation Army. He!also gave her his photograph, >. >but took it back again, and promised to give her anottoer and better one, liut which promise he did not keep. This was all m the year 1905, and the early part of 1906, and it was in'. March that she came.'down to Wellington. When William was apprised of her condition, his ardour copied somewhat, and he gave her a wide berth. Moreover, she had told William 'that a,, &w» years before she had given Tiirth to another illegitimate!, the father of which was engaged; to marry her, but he took ill and died, and she had from that out supported that child. . - ] ,- Mr Cook wanted to know the name of the man, but the Magistrate did not see the reason why the dead man's name should toe dragged into the case, so Mr Cook contented himself with questions . which went to show that Eliza/beth' was not over particular with whom she associated and that she had lived 'with a number of men as ttonir wives. Hunt's tyoardwig-bcuse was One of the placesalleged at which she had been: a temporary wife, but''Eliza'be'th/denied it, and said that there had been a woman living at that place very much like her m appearance. She had had two children altogether. Sha denied having been m Queen's Park at the back of the Police Station with a man named O'Brien on New Year's Day, 1906. She repudiated the idea'of 'having' jwalked arm m arm t ' WITH. A SALVATION ARMY MAN, and she was just emphatic that she had seen and been with Thrupp: after January 1, i9OK>.; She had seen, him several times before she came to Wellington, • and she averred that nearly every n«#it that she went out with Thrupp something- happened. She had not written and told him of the ibirth of i>he child, only summoned him ; this she explained was because she ha-d put the matter m the hands of the police. The summons, it seemed had ibeen served on Thru.pp' some distance out of Wanganui, by Constable Fitzgibbon\ Thrupp was- bush-falling, and told the copper that he -'did not expect the summons and alleged that he was not th© only one who had had anything, to do with Elizabeth. Had he known of her condition 'he would have fixed her. up, and then he promised to go down to Wellington and see what he could do as he did not want the affair to go into Court. ' : ; Thrupp admitted haying been intimate with the girl' sometime about Christinas, 1906, and denied that he was • the father of the child. Since New Year's Day of 1906 he had not seen the 'complainant to speak to. William gave his version of the interview with Constable FitzgiiWbon. He took that copper to be a sta-tion-owner by the way he talked, and as he invited him to a couple of nips of whisky, William's tongue was' loosened somewhat, though hedenied having made any such admissions as the constable had sworn to. Having got Thrupp pretty good, the copper said he had a "bluey l"/ for him, and for the life of him he could not understand, who it could be from. Then the copper advised him to go tp Wellington and marry the girl, but William was' not havdng any, and said that he refused '■ TO MARRY THE GIRL, and keep another man's child. Dr. McArthur, however, looked on William as the father, , and declared him to be so. He accordingly made an Order for the, payment of 7s 6b per week, and the payment of costs amounting to . £9 Os. '